The Ale List: Hood River Hops Fest returns Sept. 23

It all happens in the Columbia Parking Lot (between Fifth and Seventh streets and Cascade Avenue and Columbia Street). It is open to all ages from noon to 5 p.m., and adults ages 21 and over from 5-8 p.m. Food and non-alcoholic beverage vendors will also be on site.

Admission is $15 pre-sale and $20 day-of-event for entry, glass mug and five 3.5-ounch taste tokens, or $10 for an entry-only ticket.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at hoodriver.org/hops-fest, or at the entrance the day of the event.

New breweries, out of the 40 total, are Sedition of The Dalles, Allegory of McMinnville, Loowit of Vancouver, Culmination of Portland, Royale of Portland, RiverBend of Bend, Mother Earth of Nampa, Idaho, Cascade Lakes of Redmond, Mt. Hood Brewing of Government Camp, and Mazama of Corvallis.

Providing the music in 90-minute gigs, starting at noon, are The Antonyms (Hood River), Oakenfir (Hood River), pigWar (Portland) and Hillstomp (Portland).

For details, call the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce at 541-386-2000 or visit the official Hood River Hops Fest website and Facebook page.

Beer Brawl Sept. 29

Three Gorge breweries will bring their wares for the Bend vs. Gorge Beer Brawl on Sept. 29 at Bailey’s Taproom in Portland.

Double Mountain, pFriem, and Everybody’s will present their arguments for which is the better craft beer region, against “Bend breweries” GoodLife, and Boneyard, and (from Redmond) Wild Ride. Presented by Point Blank Distributing, the event is part of Bailey’s 10th anniversary events.

Beers tried, beers to come

• Joe Blondy, brewed by Giovanni Torres of Everybody’s Brewing, in the 6.0 neighborhood, is a refreshing ale mildly hopped and slightly floral, with a hint of lemon.

• Coming later this month: a collaborative ale in honor of Full Sail’s Jim Kelter, brewed up last week at Everybody’s by his Gorge brewing community friends. Kelter, who has been a mentor to many brewers over the years, will retire this month after 27 years with the brewery. (The beer has yet to be named; how about “Team Effort”? “Jim’s Dandy?” “Off Kelter?”)

• Jason Kahler of Solera Brewery in Parkdale has a new German-style pilsner (5.4 ABV) racked up, and cerveza El Padrino, brewed in August in memory of Nate Chavez, is still available. Proceeds help the Chavez family, and the beer is delicious. (Related photo, this page.)

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Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall is more than an obnoxious campfire song. It’s an event, happening Sept. 13, at Corvallis Brewing Supply, in which 50 or more vintage ales are presented at three pouring stations in the downtown Corvallis bottle shop. Full disclosure: CBS founder and owner is my brother, Joel “Lickspigot” Rea, who told me about the event when I visited recently, but I felt it fair to mention that Peche n’ Brett from Logsdon Farmhouse Ales and Black Gold and Top Sail from Full Sail will be among those featured at the fourth annual 99BoBoW.