I hate you Neuroscience!

For getting in the way of this event. via Belmont Beer Station

Third Annual Fresh Hop Beer "Tastival"

Join your fellow hopheads in a joyous salute to our favorite flower. The first two years of this festival were held at the Golden Valley Brewery in McMinnville, OR, but apparently the Oregon Brewers Guild felt they'd have better attendance if the festival was moved to Portland, so the new NW Lucky Lab gets to play host to this year's event.

What's "fresh hop" beer, you ask? It's a showcase for the hop, a celebration of the harvest, and a chance to throw WAY too many hops into a beer. Quite simply, it's a beer made using fresh, "wet" hops picked from the bine and thrown directly into the beer. In many cases the hops are picked in the morning and trucked to the breweries where they're used the same day, especially here in Oregon. Living in one of the world's greatest hop growing regions gives our local brewers access to some of the freshest hops imaginable, and our hometown boys (and girls) go to great lengths to showcase these fresh-picked beauties in a variety of tasty beer styles. Most fresh hop beers tend to be pale ales, IPAs, and other traditionally hoppy beers, but some brewers are beginning to broaden the scope of fresh hop beers to produce fresh hop pilseners (look for one from BJ's in the coming weeks), brown ales, and a myriad of other styles. The process isn't cheap; using fresh hops (as opposed to dried) requires the use of 5-8 times as many hops as a "normal" beer in the same style. This can lead to slightly higher prices on fresh hopped beer, but most people feel the added expense is worth it for this once a year treat.


Here's the vital info:

Who: You and all the other hop heads in PDX
What: The Third Annual Fresh Hop Tastival, featuring upwards of 15 different fresh hop beers from some of Oregon's finest breweries
When: October 14, 2006 from 12 to 9 pm
Where: The Lucky Lab Beer Hall - 1945 NW Quimby
Why: You need a reason?
How Much: no info available, but I'd assume free admission