10/13/2013

2013 Fresh Hop Festival: St. Paul, Oregon

Oregon Microbrews - St. Paul Fresh Hop Festival: St. Paul isn't a place you are likely to find featured in an Oregon travel guide, but the town is ground zero for Willamette Valley hops. The soil, climate, and rainfall of the Pacific Northwest are ideal for hop production making Oregon is the 2nd largest hop producing state in the U.S behind Washington. Most Oregon hop farms are family operations and include third and fourth generation growers.


The first annual St. Paul Fresh Hop Festival, held on October 12, 2013, was well worth checking out.


A lot of Oregon brew festivals can be quite expensive. The St. Paul fest was reasonably priced with an impressive selection of fresh hop beers from 18 local brewers. Admission was $10, which included a plastic mug and 5 tickets. Additional tickets were $1, and this would refill the mug 1/4 (four tickets for a full mug). The number of choices was impressive and included:


Even though brew fests are all about the beer, food is important too. The selection could have been a bit more robust here. However, the single food cart present (Burning Boar Barbecue) had some tasty options - veggie nachos available upon request.



Overall, I give the First Annual Fresh Hop Festival in St. Paul and enthusiastic thumbs up. I really enjoyed the small town atmosphere, and low key venue. There was no waiting in line for a taste, and who can't love fresh hops? You can't beat spending a fall afternoon sampling some outstanding brews in the heart of our nation's premier hop growing region. Oregon is pretty cool that way.

Location: Jaycee Bullpen inside the St. Paul Rodeo Fairgrounds
Admission: $10 (includes plastic mug and 5 tickets)
Extra Tickets: $1