RSSFresh Hop Ale Festival -- Local brewfest getting bigger, better
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Talk about the little beer festival that could.
Saturday's sixth annual Fresh Hop Ale Festival is popping up on all kinds of craft brew Web sites, as well as garnering a little ink in such publications as National Geographic's Adventure magazine and the Los Angles Times' travel section, which deemed it one of the 11 great beer fests of the West.
And visiting this year's celebration of those aromatic green grains that give beer its punch is Alan Kropf, editor-in-chief of the new Los Angeles-based beverage publication Mutineer Magazine (www.mutineermagazine.com). Along with him will be the mag's beer writer, JJ Bagley.
"We make it our business to be part of the fine beverage culture," says the 25-year-old Kropf, a trained sommelier and Mutineer's wine writer.
Instead of offering up beer, wine and spirits ratings, Mutineer's focus is on telling the stories behind the beverages. The magazine, which is geared for a 20- and 30-something audience, also has articles on how to pick up a girl at a bar, how to order drinks in a restaurant and the best cinematic bar fights.
"We're two guys who are passionate about what we're doing," says Kropf.
The Fresh Hop Ale Festival runs from 6-11 p.m. Saturday in the Millennium Arts Plaza. However, the configuration of the event will be a little different to accommodate the Capitol Theatre's Best of Broadway series performance happening Saturday night as well. That means you should leave plenty early so you can find a parking space.
On tap are the best brews from 16 microbreweries stretching from Montana to California, including four festival newbies: Deschutes, Pyramid, Walla Walla Brewers and our own Yakima Craft Brewing Co.
Thirteen of those breweries will be bringing a fresh hop ale, which means the beer is made with hops that have gone from vine to vat in less than 24 hours. (Most beers are made with dried hops.) There's a good chance those fresh hops came from the Yakima Valley, which produces more than 70 percent of the nation's hops. Hence the festival's slogan: "Come to the source."
Those seasonal craft ales will be going head to foamy head for the title of best fresh hop ale. (Mutineer Magazine's Kropf and Bagley are among the judges.) Last year's winner was Laughing Dog Brewery out of Ponderay, Idaho. It beat out reigning champ Sierra Nevada, although the brewery from Chico, Calif., still claimed the most pours.
And for the second year, home brewers are bellying up for the judging. This year's competition nearly doubled with 20 entries, including one from Livonia, Mich.
The winners of both contests will be announced during the festival.
In addition to the beer, there will be local wines, food vendors, a cigar tent, home-brewing demonstration, a hop education tent and live music by Yakima's tropical-pop collective The Blue Tropics and classic rock favorites The Shreds.
Also, if you didn't pick up one of the hand-painted pint glasses featuring one-of-a-kind works of art by local artists -- they were sold during the second annual Painted Pints Party in early September -- several are still available to purchase at the festival for $25 each.
Presented by the Allied Arts of Yakima Valley, the Fresh Hop Ale Festival is the longtime nonprofit's biggest annual fundraiser.
Last year, about 2,200 people turned out and raised about $40,000 to help support such programs as Allied Arts' free summer ArtsVan, the family theater and outdoor movies series, and the juried poetry reading and coffeehouse, as well as maintain the Allied ArtsCenter.
If you go
WHAT: Sixth annual Fresh Hop Ale Festival.
WHEN: 6-11 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: The Millennium Arts Plaza, across from the Capitol Theatre, 19 S. Third St.
WHAT'S ON TAP:
* Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Ore.)
* Full Sail Brewing Co. (Hood River, Ore.)
* Georgetown Brewing (Seattle)
* Ice Harbor Brewing Co. (Kennewick)
* Iron Horse Brewery (Ellensburg)
* Lang Creek (Marion, Mont.)
* Laughing Dog Brewery (Ponderay, Idaho)
* Northern Lights Brewery (Spokane)
* Pyramid Brewery (Seattle)
* Rattlesnake Mountain Brewery (Richland)
* Rogue Ale (Newport, Ore.)
* Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Chico, Calif.)
* Snipes Mountain Brewing Co. (Sunnyside)
* Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Co. (Snoqualmie, Wash.)
* Walla Walla Brewers (Walla Walla)
* Yakima Craft Brewing Co. (Yakima)
ALSO: Local wines, food, a cigar tent, home-brewing demonstration, hop education tent and live music by Yakima's tropical-pop collective The Blue Tropics, and classic rock favorites The Shreds.
HOW MUCH: Tickets, which include a commemorative beer or wine glass and $6 worth of scrip, cost $30 in advance and $35 at the gate. For ticket information, call the Allied ArtsCenter, 966-0930, or visit www.freshhopalefestival.com. Proceeds benefit Allied Arts of Yakima Valley.
TAKE OFF, EH: Or not. Before, during and after the festival, the Yakima Sports Center, 214 E. Yakima Ave., will have continuous showings of the Canadian cult classic "Strange Brew" and the Broken Lizard comedy "Beerfest" on the bar's large projection screen. No cover.
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