A Tour of Sodbuster Farms
Last week, I had the opportunity to join some of the Full Sail Brewing team and a bus-load of Portland-based beer writers, pub owners and restaurateurs for a day at Sodbuster Farms, a hop farm about 40 miles south of Portland. The trip was well-timed; Doug Weathers from Sodbuster Farms led us on a tour of the farms at the beginning of what will be about three weeks of harvesting hops around the clock. While we were busy drinking Full Sail beers throughout the tour, I did manage to capture some good shots throughout the day (Jeff and Angelo did the same).
The harvest in action
Rope Swing & Sunburn: Signs of Summer
Summer must be right around the corner. As if we needed more than a few 75+ degree days to get us excited for the summer months ahead, Widmer and Redhook recently had samples of their summer seasonals, Sunburn and Rope Swing respectively, delivered to my house. While I'm always skeptical of beers that carry names like these, both ended up being great compliments to warm sunny afternoons.
Redhook Rope Swing Summer Pilsner
From the brewery: "Redhook’s Rope Swing Summer Pilsner is the first Pilsner the brewery has released outside of its pubs. While craft brewers generally only produce ale style beers, Redhook’s brewers have enjoyed stretching their capabilities and testing out different styles through their limited releases and now Rope Swing Summer Pilsner. This particular Pilsner is brewed in a true Czech Lager Style. It uses 100% Saaz hops and is fermented for 4-6 weeks before packaging. Additionally, the beer uses Pale, Munich and a little bit of Caramel malts, as well as a special yeast strain with heritage rooting back to the Czech Republic. Redhook’s brewers were very careful to keep the process and ingredients as authentic as possible when developing the Czech Style beer. A big part of why they chose to do the Pilsner now was the adventure of trying something new. They already had a Blonde Ale and believed the challenge of a Pilsner, combined with the summertime weather, presented the perfect opportunity to test out something new for the season."
