Ahh, the fresh hop… It’s that time of year that we clap and clamor for those little green beauties that bring us so much joy. With our brewery just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Oregon and Washington hop fields, we always try to be first in line to hold out our burlap sacks for our favorite farmers to fill with precious and delicate fresh hop cones.

From Bine to Brew Kettle:

The heart of fresh hop beer lies in its primary ingredient: the hop cone. Hops are the flowers of the hop plant (Humulus Lupulus) and are responsible for imparting bitterness, flavor, and aroma to beer. What sets fresh hop beers apart are the hops harvested within hours of being added to the hopback. Unlike traditional dried hops, which are used year-round and can be stored for months, fresh hops must be used directly after harvest to capture their unique qualities.

This year, we are thrilled to offer four distinct limited-edition brews that celebrate the art and flavor of freshly harvested hops straight from the bine, but grab them quick; their availability is short-lived. 

Do you like the flavor and aroma of your beer turned all the way up? Cool, us too. Read on to see what beers we’re bringing back this year and a special new brew, too! 

Pert Near – Fresh Hop IPA

First up, we’re brewing Pert Near Fresh Hop IPA with Centennial hops from our friends at Goschie Farms. 

If you remember, we brewed this beer with McKenzie hops last year, but this time, we’re highlighting Centennials for a bold citrus take. 

Limited-release 16oz cans and on tap

Look for it everywhere around Labor Day weekend!

6.9% ABV | 50 IBU  

Strataday – Fresh Hop IPA

Strataday Fresh Hop IPA is brewed at our Bend Tasting Room, starring multiple doses of Strata hops from Crosby Farms. Strataday serves up a combination of Crosby’s experimental CGX™ fresh hop lupulin product along with their famed whole cone fresh hops- this single hop wonder delivers notes of melon, pineapple, and green tropical fruit with a subtle dankness.

Limited-release 16oz cans and on draft

This one will only be available at our Bend Tasting Room & Portland Pub in mid-September!

6.5% ABV | 60 IBU

New Favorite – Fresh Hop Hazy IPA

New Favorite is brewed with, you guessed it, our new favorite experimental hop; this year, it’s the #586 in all its unfiltered glory. This intensely tropical hop explodes with mango, guava, lychee, and orange flavors with a slightly peppery finish and smooth mouthfeel.  

Limited-release 16oz cans and on draft 

Look for it everywhere in late September!

6.5% ABV | 45 IBU

NØ MØ Fresh Hop IPA – Non-Alcoholic

We brewed this freshest installment of our NØ MØ lineup with Fresh Amarillo Hops. Because there’s just no substitute for the bright, ripe flavors of just off-the-bine hops, we’ve crafted this limited edition NØ MØ using only traditional brewing methods to capture all the fresh goodness of our favorite season with none of the alcohol. 

Limited-release six-pack cans will be available in our Bend Tasting Room & Portland Pub and online in late September!

Contains less than 0.5% alc/vol

Fresh hop beer is a celebration of nature’s bounty, innovation in brewing, and the artistry of creating exceptional flavors. It’s a reminder that beer is a product of time, place, and craftsmanship. Join us in raising a glass to the harmonious symphony of flavors that only fresh hops can create. Cheers! 

Coolship is a cool word. It’s also the name of the vessel we hitched to our van and took to Rainshadow Organics Farm on a balmy, clear afternoon in December 2021.

We filled the coolship with warm, just brewed wort. Its shallow basin and long sides allow for an even distribution of temperature. The idea is that the wort cools as it picks up wild yeast in the air. We left the wort overnight to do its open-fermentation thing, then packed it up in the morning and brought it back to our facility to let it ferment and age in oak barrels, which gave this special beer even more depth and complexity.

Rainshadow Organics is a 27-acre farm located just outside Bend that practices sustainable and traditional organic farming methods that pre-date commercial farming methods.

We called on our friend and Bend-based illustrator again for the label Sweet Pea Cole, and she did a fantastic job. Sweet Pea even incorporated Rusty, Rainshadow’s own purebred Brahma bull who recently passed away.

Rusty lived on the farm for six years and was responsible for breeding the cows at the ranch that Rainshadow used for their beef program. He was an outstanding bull who liked neck scratches and had to be sure he was in charge of making decisions; he did not like being pushed into things. Ashanti (Tall) Samuels, co-owner of Rainshadow, said Rusty was his best bud and will miss having him around.

Tall and our head brewer, Ryan Atagi, have been good friends since Ryan first moved into the area. So this project was a collaboration of friends, and as Ryan puts it, “It was cool people making cool beer in a coolship on a cool day in cool Central Oregon. Cool, huh?”
Yup. Very cool.

Our 5th coolship experiment is one of our favorites, with round tartness and soft notes of apple, pear, honey, and orange blossoms complimented by a subtle farmland funk.

We had a great time brewing it and bringing it to you, and we hope you enjoy this one with your coolest friends.

Cheers.

Venturing beyond beer has always been in our DNA. Last year we set out to make whiskey the newest chapter in our pursuit of fermented perfection. And while beer is always our first love, we have continued to press into the distilling world with our second batch of straight bourbon whiskey we distilled in partnership with Pursuit Distilling Co., to be released in our tasting room Friday, March 17th. 

In order to use the moniker straight bourbon, the whiskey must meet specific criteria set by the U.S. government. The grain mixture must contain at least 51% corn, with the remaining portion comprising other grains such as rye, barley, or wheat. It must be distilled at no more than 160 proof (80% alcohol by volume) and barreled at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume).

Straight bourbon whiskey must be aged in new, charred oak barrels and bottled at a minimum of 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume). 

Not only did we meet these government standards with our 100 proof whiskey, but we went on to age it for an extra six months in our Lost Love barrels. The additional aging in Imperial Rye Stout barrels gives this whiskey more layers and complexity while picking up some rye character, adding a mellow wood input, and making it a touch spicer. 

With a fresh distilling license in our hands, we can now bottle and sell our own whiskey. Moreover, it sets us up for new distilling adventures in the future. 

Look for whiskey in our tasting room on Friday, March 17th. Bottles will be available to purchase at $79.95 each, with a limit of two per customer. We produced just shy of 1,500 bottles, and we’re holding back enough to pour at both our Portland and Bend locations. If we sell out, don’t fret just yet, we plan to release an additional wave of bottles the following Friday. The idea behind the staggered release dates is to allow more guests access to buying our whiskey if they’re traveling into or out of town. 

Starting Friday, we will also offer a special taster tray using Glencairn glasses, including Batch 1, Batch 2, and Lost Love. 

The Glencairn glass you see above with our logo etched into it is also available for purchase.

Beyond Bend, but still in Oregon? 

Forty cases will be available to liquor stores throughout Oregon the week of the 20th with a one-case limit per store. Check with your neighborhood liquor store to see if they will bring it in.

Like beer, whiskey is full of possibilities. So, join us in raising a glass and savoring this special moment. 

Cheers!

It was our head brewer, Ryan Atagi, fourth-generation Japanese-American who set out to make our very own Japanese Rice Lager, Bochi Bochi. Ryan was determined to make it using the best possible ingredients and, in his mind, correctly.

“As a Japanese-American, it’s important to me to make a proper Japanese Rice Lager to pay homage to my culture and heritage,” Atagi reflects. We used Goschie Farm-grown whole-leaf Tettnang hops and Calrose, whole-grain rice. “The result is dry, crisp, and you get that bit of rice in the background that adds to the complexity and generally rounds out the overall beer.”

Bochi Bochi is an Osaka slang word, when translated, vaguely says that things are neither going extremely well nor are they going terribly; it’s so-so. A subtle nod to our 2020-2021 year. “I thought it was a good term for what we went through during the Covid days. We were doing okay but making it through, somehow.”

What sets our Japanese rice lager apart is our use of 40% Calrose, whole-grain rice, while most others use flaked rice. We didn’t quite know what would happen when we brewed it for the first time on our tasting room brewhouse system. There were many trials and heat recalculations to dry out the beer properly and dial back the sweetness. But thankfully, the stickiness didn’t give us too many problems, and it was a success! Atagi remembers, “once we successfully brewed it there, we scaled it up and made a bigger batch at the production facility. It turned out to be a damn tasty beer.” 

Tasty indeed! So light and crisp, with a clean finish, this beer has nowhere to hide. It’s a delicate lager, so any problems would shine through, making it easy to mitigate any issues quickly during brewing to create a solid beer. 

“When I visited Japan,  I remember buying a Kirin in a vending machine for 500 yen (like a 4-dollar coin) and finding a quiet spot on the river to sit and enjoy it.

“That’s what I hope this beer is, a small respite out of your day to sit and enjoy the view.” 

Experimental hops are typically new hop varieties still being developed and tested by hop breeders. They may offer unique flavor and aroma profiles not found in more established hop varieties. It’s also a great way to explore the newest and latest flavors in beer.

With our Aromatic Variance series, brewers use the same recipe but change the hops each time. Now, we’re on our tenth version of Aromatic Variance and to celebrate this momentous occasion, we sat down with our Assistant Brewmaster, Grant McFarren, to give insight on the Aromatic Variance series:

-Is it common to brew with just one hop? 

Grant – To test it out, yes. Very common with home brewers. We would rarely continue with a single hop in production without adding another hop for variance. In this beer, we add the hop at four different stages in the brewing process.  

-FOUR TIMES?! That seems like a lot. 

Grant– No, it s pretty typical for this style of beer. Plus, adding hops at different times of the brewing process lets the layers of hops express themselves in flavor and bitterness.  

-Tell us about this beer. What kind of recipe do you use? 

Grant– The Aromatic Variance recipe is a balanced IPA with a lighter body. We’re always aiming for around the same ABV, so nothing else about the beer changes except which hop we are testing out. During the boil addition, we do slightly tailor it so that the beers have the same level of bitterness in terms of volume. 

-How many Aromatic Variances do you brew a year? 

Grant: We brew about two to five a year, depending on how many experimental hops we get.

What can we look forward to in the future of the Aromatic Variance series?

Grant: We might expand out of West Coast IPAs and into the world of lagers…

In Aromatic Variance #10, we used the hop HBC 638 (experimental hops start out with a number instead of a name ) from the Hop Breeding Company. The aroma is bright, citrusy, and sunny, with tropical and stone fruits. Additionally, it’s described as herbal, sweet, and floral. 

Brewing with experimental hops, brewers can help to support hop breeding programs and contribute to the development of new hop varieties. This can help ensure a steady supply of high-quality hops for brewers to use in the future.

Aromatic Variance #10 will be poured straight from the zwickel at Zwickelmania on Saturday, Feb 25th, 11-4, and will be on tap soon after. 

Imagine if you could be a hop. You wouldn’t want to be just any hop; you’d want to be an Oregon-grown McKenzie hop. You’d twist and shine on the bine until one day, you’d be plucked and gently folded into the most beautiful liquid on the planet: beer. You’d be the belle of the ball because the McKenzie hop isn’t just any ordinary hop. It’s special. It was bred to be a superhero, designed to be sturdy and to fight against pesky things like fungal diseases, which in turn, creates a lower impact on the environment. 

The McKenzie hop is from West Coast Hop Breeding and grown here in Oregon. You can find it nestled in the Willamette Valley, a place our Co-Founder, Larry Sidor, calls “one of the best hop terroirs in the world. And that produces, in my opinion, THE BEST hops in the world.” We can’t argue that wisdom.

Since we’re big fans of heroes and not big fans of fungal diseases, we knew we wanted some of that luscious McKenzie hop for ourselves. 

What did we do with the McKenzie hop?

We lovingly used it in March ’22 to make Future Forward IPA, highlighting only Oregon-grown ingredients and partnering with Bend Sustainability Fund, Visit Bend, and Travel Oregon.

Then we brewed with it in the Fall for Pert Near Fresh Hop IPA, which really let that little hop shine. 

And here we go again; we’re bringing the McKenzie back into an updated and improved Future Forward Northwest IPA. We’ve also partnered with Bend Sustainability Fund and Visit Bend again to donate a portion of our draft sales to protecting this very land that we love so much. 

We’re excited to offer Future Forward both on tap AND in 16oz cans. 

What does McKenzie hop taste like in beer? 

Sidor describes it as “Centennial hop on steroids.” There’s a distinct stone fruit characteristic, and the aroma has a layered complexity when you brew with it. 

Floral, cedar, and citrus notes mingle with the boldness of dank pine. Future Forward is an easy-drinking, low-bitter, full-flavor IPA. 

How is it Environmentally Friendly?

The McKenzie hop requires less water, labor, and less impact on the land. Since it is an efficient crop during the growing and harvesting process and is resistant to fungal disease, it’s a sustainable choice. 

At Crux, we practice what we preach with our low-impact efforts, and we love to partner with others who value the planet and are conscience of minimizing the trace we leave behind. 

So raise a glass to keeping Oregon beautiful, drinking local, and moving the Future Forward. 

Cheers! 

Larry Sidor, our Co-Founder, has been in the brewing industry for over 50 years. His journey towards brewing our non-alcoholic (NA) line-up, NØ MØ, started about 40 years ago. “I was making an NA beer for a brewery in Missouri and was told to increase volume. I tried everything possible, through arrested fermentations, dealcoholization using thin film evaporation, and vacuum distillation; needless to say, I failed. I made some terrible beers back then.” 

Larry has always been a fan of NA beers, but never believed it was possible to brew a great craft NA.

A few years ago, Larry recognized there was still a market for NA beers and recalled, “I needed redemption!

“My fellow brewers and employees thought I was a little off my rocker, so a challenge was set. We brought in all the NAs we could find and tried them all. Some were good, and some were not so great, which began our experimental route of brewing a decent NA. 

 “The first one we brewed was a glimmer of hope, but we ended up dumping all of it,” Larry remembers. “The second version, we sold in the pub, and we were excited about it. Then we went on to brew a handful of variations. The one you’re drinking now is worthy of redemption for me.

“When we first started brewing NØ MØ IPA, we stumbled upon the health benefits and that it’s only 30 calories! It tastes good, and it’s good for you, making it a win/win!” 

Our NØ MØ brand keeps evolving; we’re constantly adjusting and refining our process. 

After the success of NØ MØ, our NA IPA brewed with Citra and Mosaic hops, Sidor and his team went on to brew NØ MØ Hazy IPA, which we released for the first time at the beginning of 2022, and now we’re proud to present our third NØ MØ: Strata Gold. We crafted this alternative golden ale with an aroma full of peach, apricot, and honeydew notes. A familiar, full-bodied mouthfeel and crisp malt backbone round this near beer out.

Because we’re on a wild pursuit of perfection, continuously refining our recipes, and growing with demand, we think NØ MØ Strata Gold may be our best NA offering yet. 

Strata Gold is seasonal and will run until summer. Then, we’ll be rolling out the next big thing in NA: NØ MØ Hoppy Red. 

So, stay thirsty because we’ve got you covered. 

It’s been over a decade since my husband, Jason, and I moved to Bend. From what we hear, it is the classic Bend story. We had been living out of our 1992 Toyota truck- teaching acrobatics and adventure racing around the world. After multiple years of collecting gear, repacking, and packing all out of our tiny yet awesome truck, it was time to find a landing spot. I (Chelsey) had lived in Bend for a year before I met my husband, and I remember loving everything about it. We put it on our short list of places where we could see ourselves settling down. After one mountain bike ride and a beer at Deschutes Brewery (Crux wasn’t open yet!), Jason looked at me and said, “this is it. I don’t want to look anywhere else.”

Within a month of the bike ride, we put in an offer on a house (the prices were much lower then) and convinced our teammate Daniel to move up here as well. Our dreams of having a place where we could do all the adventurous sports we love, and drink a craft beer at the end of the day were fulfilled. 

Since, we have grown our business and team, BendRacing. We now have nine athletes on our team; four live here in Bend, and the other five visit often for training weekends. We put on around nine adventure races, adventure race camps, and swim runs a year that attracts athletes and their families from all over the world to experience this special slice of heaven we all live in.

While Jason, myself, and the rest of the team still enjoy the occasional beer from time to time, we have found that as we age, our bodies can’t recover as quickly from a nightly beer, no matter how incredible it is! After we were offered a NØ MØ IPA by our fellow friend and Crux athlete Serena Bishop, we were hooked. The crisp and full-body flavor is like no other non-alcoholic beer we have tasted, and it only has 30 calories! NØ MØ has become our post ride/run/paddle/climb/big mission dream come true. Even better, it’s made right here in Bend, Oregon – a place we all have grown to love so much. 

There’s rarely a day that doesn’t end with a NØ MØ. And while we do still enjoy the occasional craft beer Crux offers, our go-to is NØ MØ IPA (unless NØ MØ Strata Gold is in season). Once a week, we ride to Crux, enjoy the beautiful sunset, and reflect on a good week with our favorite people and beers. And our kids play in their big yard, so they’re happy with this arrangement too. Our business and team strive to support and be supported by local companies like Crux, which, if you haven’t guessed it already, happens to be our favorite local brewery. 

We are excited to share NØ MØs with other racers at our events and to crack a cold one on the finish lines of many races to come. 

A big thanks to Serena for introducing us to this incredible non-alcoholic craft beer and to Crux for graciously inviting us to be on their team.

– Chelsey Magness

Beer is the ultimate beverage, so why not put in in our food!? We’ve whipped up a series of Thanksgiving recipes that use our favorite on tap brews that will take your Turkey Day to the next level.

Glow Stick Hazy IPA Brussels Sprouts 

Ingredients: 

1 pound of brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise 

1 pound of bacon, diced

1 onion, diced

1/2 cup of Glow Stick Hazy IPA

Fresh herbs, minced (we used rosemary and thyme)

Add bacon to a hot cast iron skillet and let cook. While the bacon is doing its thing, dice your onion and trim your brussels sprouts. Once the bacon is rendered, remove it from the skillet and add chopped onion. Let the onion cook until transparent (we let ours cook longer and get a fair amount of color on it, and we’re not mad about it–You be the judge). Add the brussels sprouts and some generous pinches of salt. Let them cook down until they caramelize a bit. Deglaze the pan with Glow Stick Hazy IPA, and then let cook a little longer. Move to a serving platter, season with sea salt and some hearty cracks of your pepper mill. Top with bacon and fresh herbs.   

Crux Cider Apple Pie

We don’t can Crux Cider, but you can grab a crowler of it at our tasting room. 

The dough: 

Make ahead or purchase ready-made pie crusts 

The filling: 

5-6 apples peeled and thinly sliced (we used Granny Smith apples, but don’t be afraid to mix it up and vary the variety)

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1/4 granulated sugar 

Juice of one lemon 

3/4 cup of Crux Cider

1 tsp. of cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom 

1/4 tsp. of ground nutmeg 

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. of vanilla extract

2 tbsp. cornstarch 

3 tbsp. chilled butter cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Toss together apples, sugars, lemon juice, cider, spices, salt, and vanilla extract in a medium pan and cook over medium heat until apples soften and tiny bubbles form.

While the filling is simmering, roll out pie crusts and place one in a deep pie dish.
Slice the other into 10 long strips about 3/4” wide and keep cool while finishing the filling. 

Add some of the juice from the apples to a small bowl with cornstarch, whisk and return to pot to thicken the filling.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pie crusts dot with butter and top with lattice pattern. 

Bake for 60-75 minutes in 350 degree oven checking for golden crust and bubbling filling. Transfer to a rack to cool and leave it to set for at least 2 hours. But if you can’t wait that long, serve it up hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, top with caramel and pour yourself a pint of Crux Cider, you deserve it. 

Tough Love Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients: 

1 bottle of Tough Love 

1 cup of brown sugar

6 or so medium sweet potatoes

Fresh herbs: rosemary, sage, thyme

1/4 cup of pecans 

4 tbsp of butter

Kosher salt

Add a bottle of Tough Love to a heavy-bottomed pan with a cup of brown sugar and cook on a low heat for about 2 hours or until reduced and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. 

Peel and cube sweet potatoes to fill a baking dish. 

Prep herbs and toast pecans.

Once the Tough Love is thick and reduced, add four pats of cold butter to the sauce and cover the sweet potatoes.

Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake for 25 minutes at 350 or until easily pierced with a fork, and top with toasted pecans and herbs.

It’s fresh hop season, and the air is filled with verdant anticipation.

After the kids return to school and the sun becomes slightly less intense, hop farmers will open their doors to local breweries for a short window of time. Brewers, in return, wake before the day breaks, hold out their burlap sack, and watch as fresh hop cones cascade into their bags.

In most beers, the hop component is pelletized or dried. This method works great to seal in flavor at peak conditions and keeps the hop sturdy for shipment and storage. But for a select few weeks, usually in September, the hop is plucked off the bine and used immediately to make a truly stunning beer. The fresh hop lends itself to more hop intensity. The natural ingredients shine through; the result is more character, more potency, and more flavor.

For the championed hop, the clock starts ticking as it starts its swift sojourn. It only has mere hours to make it into the kettle before it becomes less intense and the characteristics start breaking down. Our brewers work fast to lock in that fresh hop flavor. It truly is a labor of love and an homage to the craft of beer making.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we’ve got three fresh hop beers coming at you!

Pert Near Fresh Hop IPA – JUST RELEASED

Whole cones of bright and tender McKenzie hops, developed by West Coast Hop Breeding, an exclusive to the Willamette Valley, were lovingly lowered into this brew to bring you a dank and piney pint. Lively notes of jammy berry alongside juicy tropical flavors and floral aromas. It’s pert near the best fresh hop beer around. with McKenzie hops. Find it in 16oz cans and on tap in our tasting room and be on the lookout; it will appear in markets soon!

New Favorite Fresh Hop Hazy IPA – WEDNESDAY SEP 20 RELEASE

Brewed with fresh #1019 hops, that are known for their mighty and satisfying tropical vibes, along with notes of juicy citrus and stone fruit. This fresh hop hazy will become your fast New Favorite. Find it on draft and in cans in our tasting room and beyond.

Crosby Strata Fresh Hop IPA –  WEDNESDAY SEP 20 RELEASE

Featuring, the new and experimental Strada CGX™ Fresh Hop Lupulin, along with whole cones of fresh Strata to pack in BIG HOP taste and aroma. With tasting notes of pineapple and mango and a vibrant tropical aroma, it’s not for the hop faint of heart. Available in cans and on draft, as a tasting room only release.

Fresh Hop Fests – We’ll be featuring our beers at these fine festivals:

Sisters Fresh Hop Festival Sept 24

Fresh Hops on the Pond in Bend, Sept 30

Portland Fresh Hops Festival Sept 30-Oct 1

Yakima Fresh Hop Ale Fest Oct 8

Come out, drink some tasty beer, and say hi!