Fresh Hops Kickoff Set for Bert Grant's in Yakima.

Business Editors

YAKIMA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 2000

Premium ale and beer lovers will gather at Bert Grant's Brewery on Friday, Sept. 15, for the hop event of the year.

Mounds of fresh, green Cascade hops will be taken directly from the hop fields to the kettles and brewed into a one-of-a-kind ale that can be enjoyed right on premise at Grant's.

This copper-colored ale, brewed only during hop harvest, is full-bodied and has a fresh, green, floral aroma. It will go fast, so hops fans are urged to be at the brew pub by 5:30 P.M. on Sept. 15 to line up for this occasion. Bert Grant's Brewery Pub is in Yakima's historic train station, 32 N. Front Street, in downtown. (Telephone [phone])

There will be free food and appetizers, and local radio station KATS will broadcast live from Grant's. More than 100 Harley Davidson lovers will get a police escort to the brewery pub from the Yakima Brewing and Malting Co. near the Yakima airport.

"Just as the French eagerly await the Beaujolais Nouveau wines each grape harvest, we look forward to this fresh hop ale in Yakima," said Dave Merfeld, pub manager at Bert Grant's. "It captures the essence of these great hops right out of the fields. There is nothing quite like it for premium ale and beer lovers."

When the hops are being harvested, the night air is filled with the roasting scent of drying hop cones. In the Yakima Valley, hops are a $75 million business annually, and the hops from this part of central Washington are prized around the world. They give the very best ales and beers that pungent, slightly bitter aroma and taste that are prized by connoisseurs of microbrews like Bert Grant's.

"We are indeed fortunate to have our brew pub so close to the great hop fields around Yakima," said Merfeld. "This is my favorite time of year, when we starting bringing in those hops and making this fresh hop ale."