Thanks to +Russ on Flickr for the image.

My favorite time of the year has arrived. The Cubs are going to the playoffs (no, seriously…they are), the Seahawks are going to make everyone forget about their 0-2 start, we are enjoying some beautiful crisp and sunny fall days, and most importantly, fresh hop beers are starting to arrive in full force. For the next month or so, you’ll find fresh hop beers on tap at local breweries and in bottles/cans on the shelves at local retailers. I suggest drinking as much as possible in the next month.

So far, I’ve sampled fresh hop beers from Two Beers, Breakside, Holy Mountain, Flying Bike and Fremont. There will be many more to come in the following weeks.

The best way to try a few fresh hop beers at once is to attend one of the events here in Seattle that focus on them. Following is a list of what is coming up. Let me know if I missed any other events taking place in Seattle.

The Fresh Hop Throwdown at The Noble Fir
Saturday, September 26
There will be 18 fresh hop beers from Washington & Oregon on tap when the doors open at 4pm. There is a private judging of the beers earlier in the day and the top 3 beers will be announced at the start of the event. I’ll post a beer list tomorrow.

Fresh Hop Week at The Beer Junction
Saturday, October 3 to Sunday, October 11
No details on this one, but I’d expect a whole bunch of fresh hop beers rotating on tap throughout the event. Don’t forget to take some bottles home.

Hopfest at Brouwer’s Cafe, Bottleworks and Burgundian
Sunday, October 4 to Saturday, October 10
Hopfest is a long running event at Brouwer’s that they’ve pushed back in timing over the years to include more fresh hop beers. This year, they are expanding the fun to Bottleworks and Burgundian as well. The kickoff will be at Brouwer’s on 10/4, with events to follow at all three venues throughout the week. Check out the event page on Facebook for updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/922428281134421/.

Fresh Hop Fest at The Pine Box
Thursday, October 15
More than 40 fresh hop beers will be pouring all at once. Participating breweries include: 3 Magnets, 7 Seas, Backwoods, Bainbridge, Bale Breaker, Ballast Point, Bellevue, Black Raven, Breakside, Crux, Deschuttes, Double Mountain, Ecliptic, Elysian, Everybody’s, Fort George, Fremont, Gilgamesh, Good Life, Hales, Heathen, Holy Mountain, Hop Valley, Lagunitas, Laurelwood, Loowit, Maritime, Melvin, Odin, Outer Planet, Pacific Brewing, pFriem, Pike, Reverend Nat, Ruebens, Schooner Exact, Silver City, Snipes, Spinnaker Bay, Stoup, Two Beers, Wander, & More.