Welcome back to the Brewsletter!

Welcome back to the Brewsletter, I’m your host, Matt the Beer Guy. September is a busy month in the beer world: hop harvest is in full swing in the northern hemisphere, and Munich’s Oktoberfest (perhaps the world’s largest festival WITH BEER) kicks off. Journey with me as I explore these topics and others.  In preparation for reading, please return to your seat, fasten your seatbelt, raise your tray table up, and make sure your seatback is in its upright and locked position. Then sit a spell, grab a beverage, and enjoy!  

Local Hops & Hopping Around

In the fields outside Greenleaf and Wilder, ID, on skyward-reaching bines, hop cones bursting with lupulin sit ready for harvest. It’s a magical place this time of year as the heady cones perfume the air with a grassy, piney, citrusy incense. Row upon row of vigorous green growth creates a separate space: living curtains frame an impossibly blue sky, evoking an open-air cathedral. Church is in session. The Bittercreek & Red Feather team, composed of members from both the front-of and back-of-house crews, recently traveled to Gooding Farms to witness the beginning  of the 2024 harvest and to learn more about what puts the “bitter” in the beer.

In addition to playing hop harvest host to the Just Eat Local crew, Gooding Farms maintains a constant pursuit of more sustainable and efficient practices. Fewer inputs on agricultural products are good for both producer and consumer. Through timely interventions, increased crop diversity, and experimental companion planting programs, Gooding Farms builds systemic resiliency in hopes of farming hops in southwest ID for generations to come. 

Changing weather patterns currently play an outsized role in agricultural production. For a look into how the beer, and more specifically hop, industry addresses this issue, here’s Andy Crouch writing for Pro Brewer: Hops and Climate Change – ProBrewer

As for the future, if the current climate trajectory continues, we might be seeing more Vista-hopped beers, which might not be a bad thing: Vista Hops

Fun fact: For over 150 of its 200+ year history, Oktoberfest has occurred primarily in September due to more favorable weather conditions = another example of climate jamming up folks just trying to enjoy their beers.

Featured beer style(s): Fresh Hop Beers and Festbiers from our favorite local, regional, national, and international breweries

You know the distance in kilometers, the average travel time, and the frequency of trains between Köln and Düsseldorf, the traditional homes of Kölsch and Altbier respectively

You tell a humorous anecdote about a pour size quarrel… and reference centiliters

You have a #Stangelife tattoo - Stange is the purpose-chosen glassware for the aforementioned traditional German beer styles. The glass is similar to a stemless champagne flute - delicate, straight-sided, and often small in volume for quick and easy consumption of its contents  

You argue the merits of a ceramic stein over those of a glass Maßkrug

You know the names of the six Munich breweries allowed to serve beer at Oktoberfest - Augustiner, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, and Spaten - but you can’t recall what you ate for lunch yesterday

Let's Sing A(I) Campfire Song!

B-artificial Intelligence prompt: write an “original” beer drinking song (in English) for Oktoberfest in Boise

 

(Verse 1)

In the land of hops and barley, the beer it flows so free,

We raise our mugs in kinship, a time of jubilee.

With lederhosen and dirndls, we join one and all,

To sing and dance and revel, in Boise's festive halls.

 

(Chorus)

Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest, a time to drink our beer,

The golden brew that brings us joy and fills our hearts with cheer.

With every sip, we raise our glass and toast to friends so dear,

Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest, the best time of year!

 

(Verse 2)

The oompah band is playing, the pretzels now do shine,

The wursts are a’sizzlin’, the beer is so divine.

We link our arms together and sway from side to side,

We sing along to music, aglow with beer and pride.

 

(Chorus)

Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest, a time to drink our beer,

The golden brew that brings us joy and fills our hearts with cheer.

With every sip, we raise our glass and toast to friends so dear,

Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest, the best time of year!

Vote for Us!

Craft Beer & Brewing is currently holding a 2024 Best in Beer survey, and we'd love it if you would consider Bittercreek Alehouse and Diablo & Sons Saloon in all your beer bar voting activities! Other categories include best brewery, professionally brewed beers, North American beer city, & more. Survey answers will be put together and featured in the Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® Winter 2024 issue. All votes must be submitted by midnight, September 30th, 2024. Thank you for your consideration!!

Photos: ImageFX (1), Guy Hand (2-7)

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