Hood River Hops Fest Goes All Fresh Hops for 2013

The streets of Hood River will be taken over by our fragrant, citrusy, delicious hops on Saturday during  the 10th Annual Hood River Hops Fest.  This annual celebration of hops is one of the best ones going when it comes to the amount of fresh hop beers being offered. If you’re a hophead be sure to make your way to Hood River on Saturday.

Fresh hopped beer will be the main attraction at this year’s 10^th annual Hood River Hops Fest on Saturday, September 28,2013. And this year for the first time all the festival beers will be from fresh hops—with 44 breweries participating, showcasing 65 fresh-hop beers.  (See brewery list here.) An expanded menu of local culinary favorites, a host of arts and crafts vendors, a great selection of Gorge wines, a children’s play area, and a day-long lineup of live music guarantees fun for the entire family. You can read what Brewpublic experienced at last year’s Hood River Hops Fest here.

The Hood River Hops Fest runs from Noon- 9pm and is situated in downtown Hood River, Oregon between 5^th and 7^th streets and across the street from Full Sail Brewing in the city parking lot. Visitors can supplement their beer tasting with great local cuisine, from wood-fired pizza to American pub fare to vegetarian dishes that will be offered throughout the festival grounds.

Something new that the organizers are offering this year is that attendees may pre-purchase tickets at Brown Paper Tickets to secure quicker entry into the event. Also new is the VIP TICKET, which allows entry at 11pm for an early preview of the beers plus 4 additional tokens.

The other change this year is decreasing the taster size from 4oz to 3oz. Maybe organizers took the lead from what the Oregon Brewers Festival did this past summer.

“Hops Fest started as a tribute to the great, fresh-hopped microbrews of the Pacific Northwest, and that still is the reason that thousands of people attend,” said Ashley Huckabee, Event Coordinator of the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the event.

“Hops Fest in Hood River has become a well-loved annual tradition for beer lovers, both local and from around the world,” said Huckaby. “It’s an event that brings a great group of people to downtown Hood River, and one the Chamber looks forward to every year.”

Admission is as follows:

• 21 and over:
  • $10 General Admission includes beer-tasting stein and 4 taste tokens of 3 ounces each
  • $20 VIP Admission allows early (11am) entry into the event to preview the beers, and includes a beer-tasting stein and 8 taste tokens
  • $1 each for additional taste tokens
• Wine drinkers and Designated Drivers: $4.00
• 20 and under: Free and welcome until 5pm

Brewery list is as follows:

• 10 Barrel – Goodin’ Fresh – Harvest Ale
• Alameda – 100# Cascade – IPA
• Amnesia – Mother Plucker – Pale Ale
• Backwoods – Fresh Hop Logyard IPA – IPA
• Backwoods – Big Cedar IRA – India Red Ale
• Barley Brown’s – Fresh Hop Pallet Jack – IPA
• Barley Brown’s – Fresh Rye’d – Rye Pale Ale
• Base Camp – Hopularity Contest – Oatmeal Pale Ale
• Beer Valley – Fresh Hop Leafer Madness – 2IPA
• Beer Valley – Many Farms Fresh Hop Ale – Pale Ale
• Big Horse – Strictly Rude #6 – Double IPA
• Big Horse – Pale Rider – IPA
• Breakside – If It’s Wet and Not Yours, Don’t Touch It – Moist Hopped IPA
• BridgePort – Hop Harvest Pilsner – Pilsner
• Burnside – Prime Meridian – Pale Ale
• Burnside – Freshy Oatmeal Pale Ale- Pale Ale
• Cascade Lakes – First Street Fresh Hop Ale – Ale
• Commons – Fresh Hop Myrtle – Farmhouse Ale
• Crux – Crystal Zwickle – Kellerbier
• Crux – Off The Fence – Belgian Pale Ale
• Deschutes – Chasin Freshies  – IPA
• Deschutes – Fresh Hop Pine Drops – West Coast IPA
• Double Mountain – Killer Green – Dry Hop IPA
• Double Mountain – Killer Red – Dry Hop IRA
• Elysian – Kama Citra Wet Hop Red – Wet Hop American Red
• Everybody’s – Head Stash – Fresh Hop Pale
• Everybody’s – Country Boy IPA – IPA
• Fort George – Fresh Hop XVIth Chapel – Belgian-Style Double IPA
• Fort George – Hopstoria – Pale Ale
• Full Sail – Fresh Hop Pilsner – Pilsner
• Gigantic – Sodbusted Simcoe – FN Legit Fresh Hop
• GoodLife – A Different Season – Fresh Hop Pale
• Hop Valley – Citra Self Down – Pale Ale
• Hopworks – Powell Estate Fresh Hop IPA – IPA
• Hopworks – Bitchin’ Camaro – NW Craft Lager
• Humble – Larch Creek Harvest Ale – IPA
• Ice Harbor – Fresh Hop IPA – American IPA
• Ice Harbor – Fresh Hop Double Red – Imperial Red Ale
• Laurelwood – Fresh Hop Free Range Red – American-Style ESB
• Laurelwood – Fresh Hop Workhorse – India Pale Ale
• Logsdon – Fresh Hop Seizoen – Seizoen
• Migration – Wild Style – Farmhouse Ale
• Ninkasi – Total Crystalation – IPA
• Ninkasi – Hop Fraiche – Pale Ale
• New Old Lompoc – Harvest Man Red – Ale, brotha!
• Oakshire – Bout a Hunerd – Pale Ale
• Old Town – Cents & Sensability – Pale Ale
• Old Town – Freshtoberbrau – Oktoberfest
• pFriem Family Brewers – Fresh Hop Mosaic Belgian Wheat – Belgian Wheat
• pFriem Family Brewers – Belgian Strong Dark – Strong Belgian Ale
• PINTS – Oldtown Oktoberfest – Oktoberfest
• Sasquatch – Celilo CDA – Cascadian Dark Ale
• Sasquatch – Fresh Hopped Oregon Session Ale – Cream Ale
• Silver Moon – Hoptopotamus – IPA
• Solera – Chubby Bunny – Double IPA
• Solera – Berliner No Weiss – American Sour
• Upright – The Hop and the Abstract Truth – Saison/Belgian-Style Pale Ale
• Vertigo – Vertigo Hop Harvest IPA 2013 – IPA
• Walking Man – Fresh Hopped Knuckledragger Classic – Strong Pale Ale
• Widmer Brothers – Dark and Dank Fresh Hop Lager – Red Lager
• Widmer Brothers – Bring the Boom Fresh Hop IPL – India Pale Lager
• Worthy – Fresh Hop Session IPA – Session IPA

The music lineup is as follows:

• 12:00 – 3:00pm – The Poor Sports
• 3:30 – 5:00pm – Tess Barr Band
• 5:30 – 7:00pm – Big City Wind Down
• 7:30 – 9:00pm – Tony Smiley

Beyond all the beer and music there will also be various food vendors to meet everyone’s needs, Naked Winery pouring their vino and other various businesses on site. This list of vendors can be found here.

For information about beer vendors and event updates as they occur, you can follow the event on the Hood River Hops Fest Facebook page, #HRHops13 on Twitter, or visit the Hood River Hops Fest website.

Make sure to have a designated driver or a close place to rest your head near by. With this stellar lineup of fresh hop beers you will definitely want to sample many of them. Hope to see you out enjoying our fall’s bounty in downtown Hood River on Saturday.