I got an e-mail last evening from my friend Ralph Woodall, who’s the Director of Sales at HopUnion in Yakima, Washington. The Discovery Channel television show Dirty Jobs was in town last week shooting an episode on hop picking. Wikipedia describes the show as “host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, and/or messy occupational duties alongside the typical employees.” They got in touch with HopUnion owner Ralph Olson less than two months ago and showed up last Tuesday for two days of picking hops and working the kilns.

The Yakima Herald-Republic has a short story and describes the cable show’s stay in Yakima.

Rowe spent two days picking and inspecting hops, working the kilns that dry the hops and making bales, Olson said. In addition to visiting Hopunion, which provides hop leaves, pellets, extracts and oils to the craft brewery industry, Rowe worked in the fields at Loftus Ranches in Moxee.

Ralph tells me the show will most likely air sometime this winter, but there’s no exact air date yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Ralph Woodall with Dirty Jobs’ host Mike Rowe.

Ralph Olson with Mike Rowe and the crew of Dirty Jobs in the upstairs break room at HopUnion’s offices in Yakima.
 

As I’ve done for the last few years, Saturday morning I drove up to Moonlight Brewing to help out with picking the hops on Brian Hunt’s modest hopyard. It’s always a fun time, and harkens back to the time before hops began being picked by machinery. In those days, hop-picking was a community event, with entire families spending the day in the fields. When I told my own family my plans, my four-year old daughter Alice said she wanted to come along to pick hops, which warmed her father’s heart. So the day became “Take Your Daughter To Hop-Picking Day.”

Me and my daughter Alice, having her first hop-picking experience.

Moonlight Brewery owner Brian Hunt cutting hops from his hopyard to make his fresh hop ale.
 

For more photos from this year’s hop harvest at Moonlight Brewery, visit the photo gallery.
 

This is our 19th monthly Session a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday and Jim at Lootcorp 3.0 has chosen Deutsches Bier (or German Beer) as the theme, and he’s even offering bonus points for “Bavarian-themed posts.” Here’s how he put his intentions in his announcement:

I’ve decided to make September’s topic Deutsches Bier – German beer. I want you all to focus on the wonderful contributions our German neighbors have made to the beer world. You can write about a particular German style you really enjoy, a facet of German beer culture which tickles your fancy, or any other way in which Germany and beer have become intertwined in your life. Bonus points for Bavarian-themed posts.

It was that last sentence that caught my attention. Bavaria, eh? Well, I have over 2,000 photos I took during the press junket I took to Bavaria with a dozen other beer journalists last November. And I’d hardly had a chance to look at them … until now. So this Session seemed the perfect opportunity to get off my duff and get those photos posted. It’s taken more than a week to go through them all, choose the best ones and re-size them for the web. But, whew, happy to say that’s done now.

 
Seven Days in Bavaria
November 4-10, 2007
 
11.4 Miltenberg Sunday: German Beer Trip, Day 1
11.5 Miltenberg Monday: Faust Brewery Tour: German Beer Trip, Day 2
11.5 Wurzburger Hofbrau Brewery Tour: German Beer Trip, Day 2
11.5 Weyermann Malting: German Beer Trip, Day 2
11.5 Schlenkerla: German Beer Trip, Day 2
11.6 Bamberg Biermuseum: German Beer Trip, Day 3
11.6 A Walk Around Bamberg: German Beer Trip, Day 3
11.6 Mahr’s Brau: German Beer Trip, Day 3
11.6 A Quick Stop at Fassla and Spezial: German Beer Trip, Day 3
11.6 Schlenkerla Production Brewery: German Beer Trip, Day 3
11.7 Lammsbrau Organic Brewery: German Beer Trip, Day 4
11.7 Furst Carl: German Beer Trip, Day 4
11.7 Anheuser-Busch’s Hallertau Hop Farm: German Beer Trip, Day 4
11.8 German Hop Museum: German Beer Trip, Day 5
11.8 Kaltenberg, Part 1: German Beer Trip, Day 5
11.8 Kaltenberg, Part 2: German Beer Trip, Day 5
11.8 Dinner at the Hofbrauhaus: German Beer Trip, Day 5
11.9 Spaten: German Beer Trip, Day 6
11.9 Augustiner Brau Munchen, Part 1: German Beer Trip, Day 6
11.9 Augustiner Brau Munchen, Part 2: German Beer Trip, Day 6
11.9 Paulaner Nockherberg: German Beer Trip, Day 6
11.9 Ayinger Brewery, Part 1: German Beer Trip, Day 6
11.9 Ayinger Brewery, Part 2: German Beer Trip, Day 6
11.9 Dinner at Schneider Weiss Brauhaus: German Beer Trip, Day 6
11.10 Castle Mindelburg: German Beer Trip, Day 7
11.10 Meckatzer: German Beer Trip, Day 7
11.10 Zotler Brauerei: German Beer Trip, Day 7
 

The trip was organized by these trade groups in the hopes of bringing attention to beer from Germany. Despite not being coerced in any way to write anything specific, good or bad, there are critics among us who dogmatically insist objectivity is impossible under such circumstances. Just by accepting the trip, I’ve been corrupted already so anything I write about it suffers from that bias. This is apparently especially true if I write anything favorable, because I guess you’re not intelligent enough to decide for yourself if I’m being truthful or and am simply writing a puff piece out of gratitude.

All of the beers we had from these breweries were exceptionally good. Even they’re far from household names in America, I hope distributors pick them up and, assuming that happens, that people buy them and give them a try. There’s one style from each brewery available in a four-pack, with a good range of different German beers. From Lammsbrau, an organic brewery, their Lammsbrau Light is a mild lager, not a a low-calorie beer but a session lager (4.1% abv) that also full-flavored. Meckatzer Gold is a tasty helles. The Miltenberger Helles Hefe-Weizen is a great German-style hefeweizen, though I confess their Schwarzviertler was absolutely one of my favorites. The Zotler Bier Korbinian Dunkel is a nice dark lager. But don’t take my word for it — after all I’ve only been there — try the beer for yourself. These are great German beers. I’d say so no matter how I managed to get to Bavaria and visit these breweries.

MSNBC, through their partner Forbes Traveler, had a story today (sent to me by Pete Slosberg. Thanks Pete) that lists their choices for America’s Best Beer Festivals. It’s a surprisingly decent list, especially given other missteps Forbes Traveler has made with similar lists. A few months back, a magazine asked me to pick the top twenty beer festivals worldwide (but the assignment called for 25% abroad/75% U.S.) and eight of their eleven made my top twenty (or top 15 American festivals) and two more were listed as honorable mentions.

Here’s the Forbes list:

1. Great American Beer Festival
2. Oregon Brewers Festival
3. Philly Craft Beer Festival
4. Great Taste of the Midwest
5. Belgium Comes To Cooperstown
6. World Beer Festival
7. American Craft Beer Fest
8. San Diego Real Ale Festival
9. Vermont Brewers Festival
10. Great Alaska Beer & Barleywine Festival
11. Yakima Fresh Hop Ale Festival

The accompanying article has an extensive interview with my friend Marty Jones and also Julia Herz, of the Brewers Association. Overall it discusses the top few fests and also what makes a good beer festival. All in all, a decent job.

In a post entitled Obama beer-averse? ‘Come on, man’, on the Swamp, Tribune’s Washington Bureau, where the author reports that “Barack Obama, defending his beer-drinking credentials, says his party’s ticket won’t be out-blue-collared by the Republican ticket with the union and hunting family on it.”

In a recent 60 Minutes interview by Steve Kroft:

“But you tried really hard to reach these people,” Kroft pressed. “You went and sipped beer, which I know you don’t particularly like — I mean you even…

“Steve, I had a beer last night,” Obama interjected. “I mean, where do these stories come from, man?”

“I’m the one… [that] doesn’t drink,” Biden added.

“Where does the story come from that…I don’t like beer? ” Obama asked. “C’mon, man,”

“Umm, beer ….” Tell me he’s not looking at the beer and thinking, “damn, that’s really good.”
 
 

Given Cindy McCain’s ties to Anheuser-Busch, it’s a safe bet Obama’s not drinking Budweiser. The beer in the photo below looks to be a pale ale or amber ale at the very least. It’s certainly not a light beer. Does that make this election big beer vs. small?

The 2008-09 NFL Football season starts on Thursday, which means there are still two days left to join the 2nd annual Brookston Beer Bulletin football games. There are two to choose from, one is a simple no-spread pick ’em game where you try to guess who will win each game, each week. If that’s too much of a commitment for you, then the other game — Survival Football — is perfect for you. Just pick one game each week to win, but be sure about your choice because if you’re wrong, you’re out for the year. Last man or woman standing wins.

So far we’ve got 23 people signed up for the Pick ‘Em League, so there are still 27 open spots for you to take. And only 20 folks have signed up for the Survival League, meaning there are thirty more people we can accommodate. What are you waiting for, come on, play along. The more, the merrier. Both games are free (you just need a Yahoo ID, which is also free). Below is a description of each game and the details on how to play.

Pro Football Pick’em

In this Pick’em game, just pick the winner for every game each week, with no spread, and let’s see who gets the most correct throughout the season. All that’s at stake is bragging rights, but it’s fun.

In order to join the group, just go to Pro Football Pick’em, click the “Sign Up” button (or “Create or Join Group” if you are a returning user). From there, follow the path to join an existing private group and when prompted, enter the following information…

Group ID#: 29057 (Beer Bulletin Pick’Em)
Password: bulletin

Survival Football

If picking all sixteen football game every week seems like too much, then Survival Football is for you. In Survival Football, you only have to pick one game each week. The only catch is you can’t pick the same team to win more than once all season. And you better be sure about each game you pick because if you’re wrong, you’re out for the season. Last man standing wins.

In order to join the group, just go to Survival Football, click the “Sign Up” button and choose to “Join an Existing Group”, then “Join a Private Group”. Then, when prompted, enter the following information…

Group ID#: 8612 (Beer Bulletin Survival)
Password: bulletin

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article last week about an apparently growing trend, entitled Hop Farmers Find Growth Business. Essentially it chronicles how many people saw all the stories that began last fall reporting the shortage of hops and the huge rise in prices for the essential beer ingredient and saw an opportunity. As a result, despite the steep learning curve and heavy capital needed, a number of people have apparently turned to growing hops. Some are brewers hoping to control at least a small portion of their own destiny, some are part-time entrepreneurs looking to cash in, while still others are trying to make a go of at as full-time hop farmers.

I know several brewers who have planted small amounts of hops on their existing property or have bought or leased additional land just for that purpose. In no case will it meet all their hop needs, but it will be a great story to tell, that they’re using at least some hops that they’ve grown themselves. Plus, many of the brewers I’ve talked to think it will be fun (though they know it’s hard work) and just want to see if they can do it themselves and outside the ideal climate of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Hops did used to be most prevalent in upstate New York until the mid-1800s when a blight wiped out the entire industry there, so we know there are other climates where it will grow effectively. Curiously, at least two people told me they tried to get some help from the Hop Growers of America, a trade group that represents hop farmers in the tri-state area, but were soundly rebuffed. Their website states they “represent and promote the interests of U.S. growers” but dig a little deeper and you’ll see that’s not exactly accurate. Under “Growing Regions,” itself under “U.S. Hops,” the area even shown are the same three states of the Pacific Northwest Hop Growing Region. Since I know there are other hop farms — albeit quite small — around the country, when I inquired about those I was essentially told they were too small to matter.

This is one of those curious examples of how related, but competing, interests can diverge. It’s in the best interests of brewers to have a steady supply of all the hop varieties they want to use for an affordable price. I should probably say “lowest” price, but I believe most, if not all, brewers do sincerely understand and accept that hop farmers deserve a fair price. But, of course, the best interests of hop farmers is to get the best fair price they can and maximize the amount they can realize for their crops, usually on a per acre basis. The point of divergence often comes when trying to define what constitutes a price that’s “fair.” But you can also easily see why they would view any new hop farmer — no matter how small — as competition, especially outside the four main growing areas in the three typical Pacific Northwest states. And so they would be protectionist, and would not be willing to assist in their own demise or dilution of market share. I get that. But it is still a little disappointing that they wouldn’t be willing to help out a brewer growing such a small amount that it can’t be reasonably seen to be serious competition.

My friend Ralph Olson, who owns HopUnion, is quoted at the end of the Wall Street Journal piece warning that many of the new crop of hop farmers “won’t be in business in a few years. Prices will come down, and insects can wreak havoc.” And I think that’s essentially true. From everything I’ve learned talking with hop farmers and visiting the hop growing areas, hops is a difficult business that requires more effort than other kinds of farming. The processing equipment is capital intensive and dealing with potential pests and diseases a veritable nightmare. Many of the current hop growers are third or fourth generation, farming the same land as their ancestors. They say that hops gets in your blood and that is what keeps them in the game. Seeing what’s involved, I believe them.

But I also believe that the craft beer brewers got a little spooked by this last shortage, coming somewhat unexpectedly at a time when they were riding high on several years of double-digit growth. I myself had that sinking feeling when just as things seemed to be going so great for the industry, it appeared that the hop shortage/price increases might bring that growth to a screeching halt. Some brewers felt that the people who sell hops could have done a better job last year (and even before that) of managing the supply and the pricing and should have done more to warn the industry about the impending shortages. After the shortages revealed themselves, they encouraged every brewer to enter into long term contracts to ensure their price and supply, but prior to that time some brewers were unable to get a hop contract at any price.

Again, what I think we’re seeing here is competing interests, normally symbiotic, but occasionally — like now — less so. According to August 1st estimates, it appears this year’s harvest will be up 27% over last year. I haven’t seen that broken down by varieties yet, but most of the new acreage planted was the high alphas preferred by the large breweries rather than the diverse aroma hops that craft brewers need. So even with what appears to be good news overall, I expect that there will be some hop varieties still scarce and that prices won’t drop much, if at all.

But as long as there are still opportunities to make a living growing hops, we’ll see people try their hand at it. We can embrace them, as most brewers have done, or discourage them, like it would appear the hop growers, or at least the trade group that speaks for them, has done. While I can’t fault them for wanting to protect themselves and their market, especially those that have stuck with it during the lean times, it still strikes me as a somewhat bitter response. It will be interesting to see how many breweries make their beer with hops from unusual sources this fall, though in truth any hops planted for the first time last spring will not be at full yield (that takes three years). But with necessity being the mother of invention, I’m sure we’ll see a lot of creative innovation nonetheless.

Hops just before harvest time in Yakima, Washington, where over 70% of American hops are grown.

Stone Brewing released two new beers this Labor Day weekend at the brewery, and they’ll be in stores beginning Tuesday. Both sound pretty interesting. The first is Cali-Belgique IPA. It’s a California-style IPA brewed with Belgian yeast. It will be available year round, but in limited amounts.

The second release is a collaboration called AleSmith • Mikkeller • Stone Belgian Style Triple Ale. There’s a great story on the back of the bottle written by Mikkel Bjergsø, one of the three brewers involved in creating the beer. He’s the co-founder of Mikkeller, a great microbrewery in Denmark. In addition to Stone, the other brewery involved was Alesmith Brewing in San Diego. It’s a one-time beer and will be available only once. When it’s gone, it’s gone.

After Friday night’s Slow Food Nation Press Preview, the main events began Saturday morning, with two sessions scheduled for the day, and two more on Sunday. I volunteered to pour beer and answer questions in the beer pavilion and Beer Curator — don’t you just love that title — Dave McLean assigned me to the cask bar, one of three area in the beer pavilion. There was a bar for bottled and canned beer, one for draft beer, and the third for cask.

After Friday night’s Slow Food Nation Press Preview, the main events began Saturday morning, with two sessions scheduled for the day, and two more on Sunday. I volunteered to pour beer and answer questions in the beer pavilion and Beer Curator — don’t you just love that title — Dave McLean assigned me to the cask bar, one of three area in the beer pavilion. There was a bar for bottled and canned beer, one for draft beer, and the third for cask.

Once people starting arriving, the time just whizzed by, it was so different from the typical beer festival. First of all, there were very few frat boy types looking only to get a buzz. And even better, the majority of people who bellied up to the cask bar were actually interested in learning what cask beer was and which one they should try. It was so refreshing to have people truly receptive and open-minded, but perhaps the most fun was trying to pick a beer for someone, based on what they normally liked.

Me and Arne Johnson, head brewer at Marin Brewing, manning the cask bar in the beer pavilion.

Inside the main building that housed most of the 16 taste pavilions (beer, bread and native foods were outside by the entrance).

For more photos from the first Slow Food Nation convention in San Francisco, visit the photo gallery.
 

Just before the start of Slow Food Nation’s inaugural convention in San Francisco, the Beer Chef Bruce Paton put on a beer dinner with the beers of Stone Brewing. Co-founder Greg Koch was on hand to talk about his beers and enjoy the evening. As usual, a great time was had by all.

Greg Koch and Bruce Paton, toasting the evening’s meal with a yummy beer.

For more photos from Stone Brewing Beer Dinner at the Cathedral Hill Hotel, visit the photo gallery.