Freshhop Ale Festival

I've been anxious to hit the Fresh Hop Ale Festival for a LOOOOONNNNGGGGG time. What brewer could resist tons of breweries pushing hoppy suds with other beer lovers skipping between tents to tell their friends about the great beer(s) that they had just tried. But $30/ticket seemed a bit steep. It does support charity, and a good one at that(Allied Arts), but still that's a lot of green for beer. My wife scoffed at the idea of attending until she read about it in the newspaper. The hoppy beers were just too much for her to resist. She decided that I was going and she was coming along. I love my wife!

The Yakima Homebrewers had a tent there and brewed a batch of beer throughout the day and into the night. Sometime around 20:00 the skies opened and it started to pour. It was an ironically unprepared collection of people. The folks from Seattle and Portland didn't bring any rain gear because, well, it's Yakima. The Yakima people didn't bring any rain gear either because, well the same reason. Heck, most of us don't even have rain gear. It doesn't rain in Yakima. Ever. Except for last night. It was about 40° and pouring. Fortunately it was dry enough long enough for everyone to get a good buzz going then when it started to pour people crowded under tents and scuttled to various pubs and restaurants nearby. People huddled around the brewing vessels in the Homebrewers' tent for warmth and the wonderful smell it provided. We dried out in the Sportscenter after a while of dodging the rain. Good beer was had by all. Particular favorites of mine were the beers from Beer Valley Brewing Company in Ontario, OR. They had an Imperial IPA(Leafer Madness) and an Imperial Stout(Black Flag). I need to explore their beers a bit more. A quick look at their web page indicates that their beers tend to be big ones. I don't see anything under 5%.

Thanks to my wife for buying the tickets. I hope that she's recovered sufficiently to deal with our son when I pick him up from the grandparents soon. Also thanks to Allied Arts for putting together a fantastic event despite the rain. Already looking forward to next year.