Above: Representatives from Single Hill Brewing, Hetty Alice Beers, Grand Fir Brewing, and Living Haus Beer on Fresh Hop Rodeo brew day.
A lot of breweries around the Pacific Northwest produce outstanding fresh hop beers, taking advantage of their location in the region where the vast majority of North America’s hop crop is grown. It’s hard to say that one of them does it best, but Single Hill Brewing in Yakima is at the top of many people’s lists. The brewery does fresh hop beers very well and perhaps more prolifically than any other brewery on earth. This year, as farmers around Yakima harvest the 2024 crop, Single Hill will produce 16 different fresh hop beers.
Single Hill Brewing operates two taprooms: one at the brewery in Yakima and the other in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. A visit to either location during fresh hop season is a sort of pilgrimage for hopheads. While you’ll find plenty of freshies at both spots, but the mothership in Yakima offers the broadest selection. Last year Kim and I visited the Yakima taproom in October and found nine different fresh hop beers on tap.
Fresh Hop Rodeo
As the hops are harvested, brewers from around the world descend on Yakima to observe the harvest and make decisions about the coming year’s hop supply. Single Hill Brewing takes advantage of this seasonal wealth of brewing talent to create a series of collaboration beers with freshly picked hops. Some of the collaborators are other PNW breweries and some are from farther afield. Some of those collab beers are part of Single Hill’s Fresh Hop Rodeo.
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Here’s how the Rodeo works. On each brew day, Single Hill collaborates with three guest breweries to create a base beer. That base beer is then divided into three separate beers, with each brewery putting its twist on the fresh hop formula. Each brew day results in three unique fresh-hop beers. In the end, the Fresh Hop Rodeo involves nine different beers. Draft only. Available at Single Hill Brewing’s taprooms.
It’s a friendly, subjective competition. The Fresh Hop Rodeo is divided into three rounds with three beers in each round. As of September 24th. the first round is complete, the second round is now underway, and the third round lies ahead. The people’s choice winner from each round advances to the final. Living Haus Beer has now advanced from round one. The collaborators and the schedule are outlined below.
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In addition to the Fresh Hop Rodeo collaboration beers, this year Single Hill Brewing also created fresh hop collab beers with Zeeks Pizza, Full Throttle Bottles, Bottleworks, Peaks & Pints, and Bridge & Tunnel. But wait, that’s not all. They also created beers with Minnesota’s Surly Brewing, Texas’ Pinthouse Brewery, and Yakima’s own Roy Farms.
2024 Fresh Hop Rodeo
Round 1 (beers brewed on 8/23/24)
- Grand Fir Brewery (Portland, OR)
- Hetty Alice Beers (Portland, OR)
- Living Haus Beer Co. (Portland, OR)
Round 2 (beers brewed on 9/6/24)
- Fast Fashion Brewing (Seattle, WA)
- Ladd & Lass Brewing (Seattle, WA)
- Ravenna Brewing (Seattle, WA)
Round 3 (beers brewed on 9/20/24)
- Firestone Walker Brewing (Paso Robles, CA)
- Kings and Daughters Brewery (Oregon)
- Double Mountain Brewery (Hood River, OR)
To learn more about what’s up at Single Hill Brewing, follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
