Harvest Fest: Celebrate the Harvest and the Bounty Through Washington Beer

Fresh hop season, yes, but that ain’t all

The Washington Brewers Guild’s first Harvest Fest is a celebration of the incredible agricultural bounty we enjoy as Washingtonians. The event takes place on Saturday, September 26th, from 1:00 – 5:00. The location is Seattle’s Stoup Brewing (Capitol Hill).

“This celebration of the bounty of Washington agriculture will feature fresh hop beers, seasonal lagers, curated paired food items from Project Feast, and sensory education activities from our friends at CLS Hop Farm, LINC Malt, and Cold Stream Malt & Grain.”

I share more details about the event below, but here is a prelimiary list of the breweries and cider makers involved, along with the beers and ciders they’ll pour at the event. This is not the final list, but it should give you a good idea of what to expect: a lovely mix of fresh hop beers and festbiers, along with some other goodies.

Breweries and Beers

• 7 Seas Brewing Co — Yakima Valley Fresh Hop IPA (Fresh Hop IPA); Oktoberfest Bier (Festbier)
• Aslan Brewing Co — Das Boot (Festbier)
• Bizarre Brewing — Behind the Rows (Festbier); Zip Zinger (Extra Fresh Hoppy Table Beer)
• Chuckanut — Fest Bier (Festbier)
• Dru Bru — Festbier (Oktoberfest-Style Lager); Fresh Hop West Coast IPA (India Pale Ale)
• Fremont Brewing — Field to Ferment (Fresh Hop Pale Ale)
• Garden Path Fermentation — The Wet Hopped Ship (Barrel-Aged Fresh-Hopped Saison); Heirloom Blend Cider (Traditional Dry Cider)
• Georgetown Brewing Company — Tomtoberfest (Oktoberfest Style)
• Human People — Herbivore (Fresh Hop West Coast IPA)
• Icicle — Thora Fresh Hop IPA (Fresh Hop West Coast IPA); Strata Fresh Hop Pilsner (West Coast Pilsner)
• Ilk Beer — Helsing Junction Farmhouse Ale (Specialty Barrel-Aged Saison); Let Hop Be Your Gardener (West Coast Pilsner)
• Kulshan Brewing Co. — Kulshan Oktoberfest (German-Style Festbier); Strata Fresh Hop (Hazy IPA)
• Ladd & Lass — Fresh Hop Cloud Sipper (Hazy IPA)
• Logan Brewing Company — Festbier (Festbier); Fresh Hop IPA (IPA)
• Lucky Envelope Brewing — Ground Provisions Harvest Lager (Harvest Lager); Pumpkin Emoji Cream Stout (Pumpkin Stout)
• Machine House Brewery — Totally Fuggled (English-Style Bitter)
• Rooftop Brewing Company LLC — Palouse Helles Lager (Helles Lager); Unfiltered Fresh Hop NW IPA (Fresh Hop IPA)
• Single Hill Brewing — Energy Cone (Fresh Hop IPA)
• Stoup Brewing — Stoup Festbier (Festbier); Fresh Hop Fiend (West Coast IPA)
• Valholl Brewing — Valholl Oktoberfest (German-Style Märzen)
• Yonder Cider — Sixth Anniversary (Cider, Apple Blend); Palisades (Cider, Blackberry & Sage)

An incredible selection of fresh hop beers, seasonal lagers, and curated food & beer pairings. Plus, the opportunity to chat with industry experts from CLS Hop Farm, LINC Malt, and Cold Stream Malt & Grain.

• Only 250 tickets, so grab them while you can! Tickets are $125, with a VIP option available at an additional cost.
• 30 beer tastes; look forward to fresh hop ales, seasonal lagers, and other specialties.
• Curated beer & food pairings. We are working with Project Feast and the pairings will feature eclectic and diverse samplings from around the world.
• Exploration of sensory education activites offered by CLS Farm, LINC Malt, and Cold Stream Malt & Grain. Ultimate time to nerd out with industry professionals.
• Intimate setting with only 250 attendees!

Full details on Food & Beer Pairings to be announced, but expect the items below*.

• Malay Chicken Satay Marinated chicken thigh skewers with traditional spicy peanut sauce.
• Trini Aloo Trinidadian potato hand pie with green chutney. Vegan.
• Beef Kofta Tender beef meatballs with garlic, onion, and warm spices served with tzatsiki sauce.
• Cold Chili Garlic Noodles Noodles, garlic, ginger, green onions, and spices. Vegetarian.
• Baklava Buttery layers of phyllo pastry filled with walnuts and spices topped with cardomom lemon syrup. Vegetarian.

A New Harvest Festival Celebrating More Than Hops

Across the Pacific Northwest, harvest season means one thing to most beer-loving people: fresh hop beer. In recent years, the beer-drinking public has gone certifiably mad for anything brewed with hops still wet off the bine — and since we grow the vast majority of the nation’s hop crop right here in the PNW, maybe that obsession is just baked into our regional DNA. Can’t really blame us.

But here’s the thing about grain — and I promise that’s not a typo, stick with me — hops aren’t the only harvest-time crop worth bragging about around here. Washington grows plenty of the other stuff brewers need too: barley, wheat, specialty grains, the whole supporting cast. A good chunk of the barley in your pint still comes from big farms in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Canada, and in some cases even Germany; however, the barley actually grown here in Washington often comes from smaller growers cultivating less common, more interesting varieties. It’s nerdy, albeit delicious, stuff.

Anyway, I actually do have a point buried under all that grain talk: when PNW beer lovers think “harvest,” they go straight to hops. Fair enough — hops earned that reputation. But there’s a whole second half of the harvest story that rarely gets its moment, and this new festival is finally giving it one. Along with hops, of course. Can’t forget about those yummy cones of lupulin goodness.