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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 2021)
Wednesday, September 22, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 21 HOPS: PNW9s crop makes for popular seasonal beers WEEDS: Forest Service will use herbicides to treat invasive plants Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 season in late summer, early fall. Think of it as an herb: dried vs. fresh. You will still get the herbal notes from the dried herb, but when it9s fresh, you can really taste the difference.= McVey is also assistant brewmaster for the larger 7,000-barrels-per-year oper- ation off Barclay Drive that is unceremoniously called the <production facility.= The firm9s beers are distrib- uted throughout the Pacific Northwest and parts of California. Most of the United States9 hop production takes place in the Pacific Northwest, given its rich soil, rainfall, and mild air. Driving along Highway 200 or Highway 126, hop vines come into view. Hops are fast growing, herbaceous perennial vines that grow from underground stems to as much as 25 feet in one season. They are a prime ingredient in beer dating to the ninth century. What9s used for brewing is the flower. There is a male and female of the species and only the female plants are used in commercial pro- duction. In addition to their bitterness, hops, like grapes, impart floral, fruity, or citrus flavors and aromas. Brewers are very picky about their hops and with good reason. Beer recipes are highly guarded secrets and hop content is critical to the process. The hops we see along the roadside in Sisters should remain on the trails and are encouraged to keep dogs leashed during active treatments. Ribbongrass, reed canarygrass, perennial peavine, and yellow flag iris are aggressive invasive plants overtaking native sedges, wildflowers, and shrubs within the river9s riparian habitats. These inva- sive plants out-compete most native species and present a major challenge to protecting unique native vegetation and habitat of the Metolius River. Restoring and protecting the Metolius Wild and Scenic River and its values includ- ing fish, wildlife, water qual- ity, ecology, scenery, and cultural values is a priority of the Deschutes National Forest. The two herbicides being used were approved through an environmental analysis in 2005 and a supplemental environmental analysis in 2012. Past treatments have been highly successful, and the population appears to be reduced by about 75 per- cent with each treatment, according to the Forest Service. For more information on the invasive weed proj- ect, contact Sisters District Botanist Elizabeth Johnson at 541-549-7727. PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT Hop vines are a common site across the Pacific Northwest, which produces much of the nation’s hops. Country do not meet Three Creeks9 requirements. They prefer a selection of Saaz hops from as far away as New Zealand and the Czech Republic, the latter being origin for the renowned hops going back 700 years. When The Nugget visited, McVey showed us hops from the Yakima Valley. They were not green, aromatic flowers fresh from the vine. All craft brewers use a pel- letized form of hops (think rabbit food). Growing, har- vesting, drying, and pelletiz- ing hops is a highly complex procedure requiring acres of production 4 another rea- son Three Creeks cannot use local hops. What we see driving by are micro in nature and prob- ably for home brewing, more of a hobby. The largest hop farm in Sisters Country is close neighbor Tumalo Hops, owned by Gary and Susan Wyatt. Ninety percent of the output from their hop yards is taken by Bridge 99 Brewing Check Out AWD, newer tires, well maintained, seats 5, 92K mil les miles $ in Bend. The Wyatts grow six varieties of hops including a northwest craft brew favor- ite, the Cascade. It can take anywhere from one to four pounds of hops per barrel, McVey says, and one of their brews takes 20. Hops are the featured ingre- dient in some dozen year- round and seasonal offerings. The hops have names that are part of a sophisticated branding scheme. In their Crowdpleaser IPA for exam- ple, Amarillo, Mosaic and Simcoe hops get top billing when promoting the brew. Crowdpleaser was voted Best of the Northwest Region in the 2020 U.S. Beer Tasting Championship. Speaking of fresh hops, their Conelick9r Fresh Hop IPA won Gold Medal at last year9s Great American Beer Festival. That seasonal batch took 300 pounds of wet Centennial hops from BC Farms in Woodburn, Oregon. The hops went from farm to kettle in four hours. THIS WEEK’S NUGGET INSERT! 16,900 B i us your trade-ins Bring t d i and low-mileage consignments! Sisters Car Connection 541-815-7397 192 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters That9s fresh. McVey, Head Brewer Jeff Cornett, and owner Wade Underwood have more than an emotional disappointment in having to cancel the Hop Fest. McVey made quite a bit of fresh hop beer, more than can logically be consumed at the brew pub. Nowhere in Oregon are the many tradi- tional autumn beer fests and Oktoberfests taking place in the current COVID-19 environment. <This is the time of the year, after a full-bore sum- mer meeting peak demand, we as an industry look for- ward to kicking back a bit with our fellow beer makers sharing in the joy and dedi- cation of our work,= McVey said, with a tinge of sadness. But he quickly recovered: <There9s always next year.= Let9s drink to that. 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