Fresh Hops Week: Just how many are there?

How many fresh/wet hop beers are out there? That’s what I’m wondering. One the one hand, it’s a trend still in its infancy (or at least toddler years), so there’s a finite number of fresh hop beers floating around out there; on the other hand, it seems like every time … Continue reading

Fresh Hops Week: Hop Trip

Fresh Hops Week: Hop Trip

Ah, Hop Trip, Deschutes Brewery‘s flagship fresh hop ale. My third year reviewing it, and (I think) the third year it’s been brewed—this makes it especially interesting because I can track how it has evolved over time. The first year (2005) it was strongly hopped and green and potent—not unlike … Continue reading

Fresh Hops Week: On the origins thereof

Even though the fresh hop craze has been percolating nicely across the (American) brewing scene, it has much of its origins right here in the Pacific Northwest. With Bert Grant, more specifically, according to Jeff: In the mid-90s, he decided to take advantage of the vast wealth of hops that … Continue reading

Fresh Hops Week

Since I announced it, it’s come to pass: Theme Week here at The Brew Site, and this month’s first theme is Fresh Hops. It’s harvest season and the (rapidly) growing trend these past few years have been to brew beers with fresh—or "wet" or "green"—hops, literally right off the vine. … Continue reading

Oregon winners at the GABF

The Great American Beer Festival wrapped up today, and the 2007 winners are announced. Naturally I’ve gotta highlight the Oregon winners, with a big congrats to my local breweries: Deschutes Brewery and Bend Brewing Company. Deschutes brought home 3 gold medals and the BBC brought home a silver: 4K Pils … Continue reading

Ridgeway Bitter

Ridgeway Bitter

Ridgeway Bitter has the distinction of being one of Men’s Journal’s infamous picks for the best beers in the world a couple of years ago—in fact, it got the "gold" of their Ales & Bitters category. This is a true session beer, at only 4% alcohol by volume, and it’s … Continue reading

Great! American! Beer! Festival!

Great! American! Beer! Festival!

No, I’m not there but I wish I was. The officially GABF starts today and I’ll be watching reports coming out of it. In the meantime, here’s some pre-show links: Flying Dog Brewery is photoblogging the GABF and taking Photo-on-Demand requests while there; read the details here. Stan drove(!) to … Continue reading

Pyramid Imperial Hefeweizen

Pyramid Imperial Hefeweizen

Yes, I admit, ever since I posted about Pyramid‘s new Imperial Hefeweizen, I’ve been itching with curiosity. I found it this weekend and was able to scratch that itch. It’s 7.5% alcohol, which isn’t necessarily huge these days, but it’s high for a wheat ale. I like the bottle, and … Continue reading

Theme Week

I’ve decided to start a new feature here at The Brew Site: Beer Theme Week. My thought is that the third week of each month will be dedicated to a specific theme—style, production method, whatever—and I’ll spend that week writing (mostly) on the theme topic. For simplicity’s sake, I’ve decided … Continue reading