Salmon-Safe is a nonprofit environmental certification program. The organization recently partnered with the inaugural Hood River Orchard and Ale Fest to promote sustainably grown hops and the beers brewed with them. The Drinker’s Choice award went to Fill Your Cup IPA, a beer brewed by Oregon’s Kings and Daughters Brewery using Salmon-Safe Certified hops from Coleman Farms. See the press release below for complete details.
Winning Beer for Salmon-Safe’s Drinker’s Choice Competition Brewed by Kings and Daughter’s Brewery with Coleman Hops
Hood River, Oregon—Environmental nonprofit Salmon-Safe partnered with the inaugural Hood River Orchard and Ale Fest on October 4th to promote sustainably grown hops and the beers brewed with them through a Drinker’s Choice Fresh Hop Beer Competition. More than a quarter of the thousands of festivalgoers voted for their favorite among the 17 beers brewed with Salmon-Safe Certified hops at the event. Today it was announced that the crowd favorite beer was “Fill Your Cup IPA” by Kings and Daughters Brewery, featuring Simcoe fresh hops from Coleman Hops in Oregon. Coleman Agriculture in the Willamette Valley is a longstanding Salmon-Safe certified farm, meaning its hops are grown using practices that protect water quality. These include reducing pesticide use through integrated pest management, conserving habitat and biodiversity, preventing erosion, and using water efficiently.
“We take pride in caring for and growing our hops with the health of our local waterways top of mind,” said 7thgeneration hop farmer Max Coleman of Coleman Agriculture.
The results of Salmon-Safe’s Drinker’s Choice Fresh Hop Beer Competition were:
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- Overall Grand Winner: Fill Your Cup IPA by Kings and Daughters Brewery in Hood River, Oregon featuring Simcoe hops from Coleman Hops.
- Gold: Cherry Season Saison by Evasion Brewing in McMinnville, Oregon featuring Indie Hops Lórien, grown by Coleman Agriculture.
- Silver: Fresh-Bomb from Stickmen Brewery in Happy Valley, Oregon featuring fresh Centennial from Goschie Farms and dry-hopped with fresh Strata and Luminosa from Indie Hops.
- Bronze: Fresh Hop Happy Place by Breakside Brewery in Portland, Oregon featuring Indie Hops Strata from Westwood Farm.
Hood River Orchard and Ale Festival organizer Lee Perry is a passionate fisherman, and was excited to have the Salmon-Safe cause participate in the Festival. “It’s great that the festival could help more beer fans learn about Salmon-Safe Certified hops,” said Perry.
Kings and Daughters Brewery opened in just 2021. They have been getting attention for their delicate and balanced approach to craft beer, and co-owners Kyle Larsen and Kacie McMackin recently opened a tasting room in Hood River. Now they can add the Salmon-Safe Fresh Hop Drinker’s Choice Competition to their list of early accolades. In addition to bragging rights, Kyle and Kacie won a year’s worth of wild salmon from the world’s largest salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska.
“Living in the Gorge for twenty years, the river has been part of our daily life in a variety of ways. It’s rewarding to reflect that connection in our beer by brewing with Salmon-Safe hops,” said Larsen.
Founded by Pacific Rivers in 1997, Salmon-Safe is a nonprofit environmental certification program that has worked with Northwest hop growers since 2007 to farm in a way that protects local watersheds and the cool, clean water that salmon need to thrive. Thanks to forward thinking hop farmers, many local beers are made with hops or malt grown according to Salmon-Safe standards. Learn more at salmonsafe.org.
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