Your weekly roundup

UPDATES SUNDAY 12/6

– No-Li Brewhouse won the second-place people’s choice award at Saturday afternoon’s second session of Seattle’s Winter Beer Fest for its OMFG Stout (Rise & Grind barrel-aged with vanilla, chocolate and orange peel), and also took third place for best booth decoration . No-Li swept the people’s voting at all three sessions last year with a vanilla and coffee-infused Rise & Grind.

– Bellwether also has begun limited distribution. Look for their beers at Prohibition Gastropub, JJ’s Grill and Brewhouse and the Rocket Bakery downtown at First and Cedar.

Some odds and ends from the past week in local beer, and beyond:

– Cheney’s New Boundary Brewing is now opening at 2 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays (instead of the previous 4 p.m.) as well as Saturday, with $3 happy hour pints from 2 to 6 p.m., and has begun distribution to accounts including the south Growler Guys, north Onion and Black Diamond, with more to come.

– The Filling Station on 5th in Coeur d’Alene has started serving beer from its 23 taps at the neighboring Studio 107 wine bar and art gallery.

– The Yakima Valley-based Hop Growers of America reports that the U.S. hop crop was up 12.7 percent over 2014. While high early-season temperatures and irrigation issues from the limited snowpack caused poor yields among some aroma varieties, yields were above average for later-maturing bittering hops.

– In Seattle, craft beer pioneer Redhook announced it will revisit its smaller-scale roots by opening a new brewpub on Capitol Hill next fall, with a 10-barrel system turning out a range of offerings including exclusive small-batch specialties.

– And in case you haven’t heard, there are now more breweries in the U.S. than ever before: 4,144 (as of the end of November), topping the previous pre-Prohibition high of 4,131 in 1873. Happy Repeal Day !