Bend Brewing Company today sent out a press release announcing the three fresh hop beers it will be releasing this year, along with news about this year’s Fresh Hops on the Pond event. Short version—due to COVID-19 that event is canceled but BBC has an alternative option.

Here’s the press release:

Bend Brewing Company is excited to announce the arrival of fresh hop season with a trio of fresh hop beer releases, including two versions of Fresh Trop Fresh Hop IPA, and a brand new draft only pale ale, Strata Fresh.

Fresh Trop Fresh Hop IPA returns again this year with two different fresh hop variations on our flagship Tropic Pines IPA. First up, Fresh Trop-Simcoe features over 10 lbs per barrel of fresh Simcoe from BC Farms in Woodburn, OR and will be available in 16 oz cans and draft beginning Friday September 18 at our downtown Bend, OR brewpub. Fresh Trop-Simcoe will be available in limited quantities through Bigfoot Beverages and Running Man Distribution the following week.

Fresh Trop-Mosaic, featuring 10 lbs per barrel of fresh Mosaic from Coleman Farms in Independence, OR, will be released on October 2 at our brewpub with 16 oz cans and limited draft seeing distribution the following week.

New to BBC’s family of fresh hop beers for 2020 is Strata Fresh Pale Ale. Brewed with a classic pale ale malt base and hopped exclusively with Crosby grown Strata hops, including 180 lbs of fresh Strata. Strata Fresh will be draft only and on tap at our brewpub on Friday September 18 with very limited distribution the following week.

Finally, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic Bend Brewing Company will not be hosting our annual Fresh Hops on the Pond event this year. However, in the spirit of keeping the tradition alive we will be featuring all 3 BBC fresh hop beers along with select fresh hop beers from fellow Central Oregon brewers the entire weekend of October 2-4 at our brewpub where we have strict social distancing and cleaning protocols in place.

So if you’re keeping score, that’s two fresh hop beers dropping this Friday, the 18th, and another along with the weekend-long specialty fresh hop taps coming out two weeks after that. Make your pandemic-responsible plans now!