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4th Annual Hopfest at Brouwer's
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Fall is my favorite time of year. Temperatures drop, the air gets crisp and fresh hop beers are available. Each year, Brouwer's marks this time of year with their Hopfest, a celebration of all that's good and hoppy.
On Friday, hopheads flocked to Fremont to get their fix of the 60+ hoppy beers on tap: IPAs, Imperial/Double IPAs, fresh hop ales, hoppy red ales, even a dry-hopped stout and a hoppy Belgian beer. These were my favorites:
Iron Horse Dry-Hopped Fresh Hop Ale was my favorite of the several beers I sampled. An easy-drinking, lighter-bodied beer that lets the fresh hop smell and taste come through strongly. I easily could've enjoyed it all weekend.
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid is one of the best-tasting and most drinkable double IPAs you'll find, along with Russian River's Pliny the Elder. If you love hops and you see this or Pliny on tap, you must have one (or two).
Amnesia Copacetic is a tasty and balanced IPA from Portland. If only this beer were regularly available up here. It could give a local favorite like Boundary Bay a run for its money as an everyday IPA.
I also tried the Iron Horse Black Eye P.A., Big Time Fresh Hop Pale Ale, Port Townsend Carter's Dry-Hopped Red Ale, Port Brewing Wipeout, Ninkasi Tricerahops and Sierra Nevada Chico Estate Wet Hop Harvest Ale. They were all worth a taste, but other than the Iron Horse and Amnesia beers mentioned above, nothing stood up to past favorites like Hop Stoopid and Russian River's Pliny the Elder.
Today, Brouwer's announced the Audience Favorites from Hopfest's opening weekend. They were:
1. Russian River Pliny the Elder
2. Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
3. Iron Horse Dry-Hopped Fresh Hop Ale
What can I say? I promise I didn't stuff the ballot box--Seattle beer drinkers just have good taste. I believe that many beers from the original 60+ are still on tap. I might have to head back over there. The beers aren't going to drink themselves, you know.
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