Hops festival on the menu for Sisters

The latest addition to Sisters' lively festival scene is set to roll out on Saturday, September 25.

The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce will host the first Sisters Fresh Hop Festival, Saturday, September 25 from noon to 9 p.m. at the Village Green Park. With more than nine breweries, the Sisters Fresh Hop Festival will serve a variety of "fresh hop" beers, live music, food and more.

What exactly is a fresh hop beer? Beer is flavored with hops; cone-shaped flowers that imbue the drink with its bitterness, aroma and essence.

"With fresh hops beers, whole hop cones are picked straight off the vine, then trucked to the brewery and added directly to the 'hop back' within hours of harvesting. The beer styles produced vary, but the results remain the same: Earthy beers that are redolent with intense herbal, floral and citric aromas and a pleasing bitterness.

"Using dried hops is like using dried spices in cooking, whereas using fresh hops is like going out to your garden and picking fresh herbs," explained Brian Butenschoen, executive director for the Oregon Brewers Guild. "Fresh hops have a more intense and delicate character to them that really expresses itself in the beer."

The Sisters Fresh Hop Festival is the first in a series of Fresh Hop Festivals across Oregon throughout the fall.

Admission to the event is free and open to all ages. A taster pint glass is available for $5 and tasting tickets are $1 per 4-ounce taste. Music throughout the day will be provided by Back From the Dead, Boxcar String Band, Annie Vergnetti, Anastacia, and Greg Botsford & Friends.

Breweries included at the Sisters Fresh Hop Festival include Bend's Boneyard Brewing; Cascade Lakes Brewing Company; Deschutes Brewery; Lompoc; Ninkasi Brewing Company; Fort George Brewery; Portland Rock Bottom Brewing; Sisters' own Three Creeks Brewing Company and more.

For more information contact the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce at 541-549-0251 or visit http://www.sisterscountry.com.