For the first time since its inception, the Sisters Fresh Hop Festival will not take place in Village Green Park near downtown Sisters. Instead, it moves this year to the production facility of Three Creeks Brewing, located on the north side of town. This will allow for “a more brewery-like atmosphere,” according to the press release.

Otherwise, most everything else stays the same, and the event, Central Oregon’s largest fresh hop festival, returns this Saturday, September 29 for its ninth annual iteration. Each year Three Creeks and the Central Oregon Brewers Guild raise money for a non-profit with this fest. Last year they raised over $10,000 for the American Cancer Society; this year’s beneficiary is Ronald McDonald House Charities.

I trust we all know about fresh hop beers at this point, right? Freshly-picked, un-dried hops added to a beer within hours, offering up the freshest, greenest expression of the harvest season in a glass… It’s one of my favorite times of the year in beer, and accordingly the Sisters festival is a favorite as well.

It runs from noon to 8pm, at the Three Creeks production brewery at 265 E. Barclay Drive in Sisters. It’s free to attend, and if you want to drink then a tasting package is $15 which gets you the glass and five tasting tokens. Each token is good for a four-ounce sample, and you can get additional tokens for $1 each.

Here is the list of all 25 breweries attending (as of this writing), and the beers they will be pouring (along with fresh hop varietals, and ABV and IBUs if known):

• Avid Cider
  • Fresh Hopped Apricot – Chinook – 6.2% ABV
  • Fresh Hopped Pom Cherry – Cascade – 5.8% ABV
• Bend Brewing
  • Valley Rally Fresh Hop Red – Amarillo – 5.9% ABV
• Breakside Brewing
  • What Fresh Beast – Mosaic – 7% ABV, 72 IBUs
  • Fresh Hopped Cascade Wanderlust – Cascade – 6.2% ABV, 62 IBUs
• Bridge 99 Brewery
  • Fresh Hop IPA Cascade 2018 – Cascade – 6.5% ABV, 53 IBUs
• Buoy Beer
  • Strata Fresh – Strata – 6.3% ABV, 49 IBUs
• Burnside Brewing
  • Stratocaster Fresh Hop IPA – Strata – 5.9% ABV, 60 IBUs
  • Prime Meridian Fresh Hop Red – Meridian – 6.1% ABV, 50 IBUs
• Cascade Lakes Brewing
  • Sizzle Juice Fresh Hop IPA – Simcoe, Cascade – 5.8% ABV, 37 IBUs
• Crux Fermentation Project
  • Dr. Jack Fresh Hop IPA – Cascade – 6.9% ABV, 50 IBUs
  • Way Two Fresh Fresh Hop Imperial IPA – Mosaic, Simcoe – 8.5% ABV, 65 IBUs
• Deschutes Brewery
  • Fresh Hop Strata Gose – Strata – 4.1% ABV, 9 IBUs
  • FH Hop City IIPA – Centennial – 8.4% ABV, 70 IBUs
• Double Mountain Brewery
  • Killer Green – Centennial, Simcoe – 7.6% ABV, 95 IBUs
  • Killer Red – Perle – 7.3% ABV, 78 IBUs
• GoodLife Brewing
  • Fresh Hop Descender IPA – Centennial – 7% ABV, 70 IBUs
• Immersion Brewing
  • Rollin’ Freshies – Cascade – 6.2% ABV, 70 IBUs
  • Get Along Little Freshies – Cascade – 8.1% ABV, 70 IBUs
• Kobold Brewing
  • F.H. Dragon’s Blood India Red Ale – Amarillo, Cascade – 8.8% ABV, 77 IBUs
  • F.H. Chaotic Neutral IPA – Cascade – 6.5% ABV, 65 IBUs
• Mazama Brewing
  • Green Magic – Centennial – 5.5% ABV, 40 IBUs
• McKenzie Brewing
  • Peaks and Valleys Pale Ale – Cascade – 5.5% ABV, 35 IBUs
• Ninkasi Brewing
  • Fresh Hop Strata – Strata – 5% ABV, 40 IBUs
• Ordnance Brewing
  • BC Fresh Hop EOD – Centennial – 7.8% ABV, 80 IBUs
  • Citra Fresh RX, featuring BC Hop Farm’s Hops – Citra – 5.6% ABV, 34 IBUs
• Pelican Brewing
  • Elemental Fresh Hop Pale Ale 2018 – Strata – 5.7% ABV, 50 IBUs
  • Carronade Fresh Hop Pale 2018 – Centennial – 5.7% ABV, 45 IBUs
• pFriem Family Brewers
  • Fresh Hop Centennial IPA – Centennial – 6.9% ABV, 55 IBUs
  • Fresh Hop Oregon Amarillo Pale – Amarillo – 7.1% ABV, 35 IBUs
• Silver Moon Brewing
  • Hydrosphere – Strata – 6.7% ABV, 70 IBUs
• Stickmen Brewing
  • Centennial Fresh Hopped IPA – Centennial – 6.8% ABV, 70 IBUs
  • Cloudy with a Chance of Strata – Strata – 8.6% ABV, 42 IBUs
• Sunriver Brewing
  • D’Bomb Fresh Hop Amarillo IPA – Amarillo – 6.8% ABV
  • D’Kine Fresh Hop Mosaic IPA – Mosaic – 6.8% ABV
• Three Creeks Brewing
  • Cone Lick’r Fresh Hop Pale Ale – Centennial – 5.2% ABV
  • Comet Down Fresh Hop IPA – Comet – 6.5% ABV
• Wild Ride Brewing
  • 3 Sisters Wet Hopped Red Ale – Cascade, Centennial – 6% ABV, 45 IBUs
  • Journey to Planet Fresh Hop Pale Ale – Nugget – 6.6% ABV, 40 IBUs
• Worthy Brewing
  • HopStar – Cascade – 6.1% ABV

If you’re attending and interested in the spread of hop varietals, here are the numbers:

• Amarillo – 4
• Cascade – 12
• Centennial – 10
• Chinook – 1
• Citra – 1
• Comet – 1
• Meridian – 1
• Mosaic – 3
• Nugget – 1
• Perle – 1
• Simcoe – 3
• Strata – 7

Some additional details, from the press release:

There will be food trucks, a photobooth, and music from Watkins Glen, Leadbetter Band and ​Tony Lompa. Vendors from Warfighter Outfitters to Wild Roots Distillery will be set up around the beer tent.

Don’t miss out!