The annual Sisters Fresh Hop Festival is taking place this Saturday the 29th, highlighting one of the things that make Oregon’s beer culture stand out from the rest of the country: Fresh hop beers.

Fresh hop beers are beers brewed with hops that are literally right off the vine—they are just-picked and still green (or fresh or “wet”)—and they give a different character to the beer than hops that are dried (which is the norm), one that can be terrifically floral, bright, fruity, and, well, fresh. And since Oregon is one of the world’s best hop-growing regions, our state’s breweries have gotten really good at brewing this unique style of beer.

Saturday’s Festival is taking place at Village Green Park right in the middle of Sisters from noon to 8pm. If it’s like last year’s Fest (which I’m assuming), they’ll have a main tent set up where the breweries will be pouring, and then tables in the open park area, with food vendors on the north side of the park and live music that will be playing (inside the tent).

There are 11 breweries planned:

• Three Creeks (Sisters)
• Oakshire (Eugene)
• McMenamins Old St. Francis School (Bend)
• Cascade Lakes (Redmond)
• Lucky Lab (Portland)
• Fort George (Astoria)
• Ninkasi (Eugene)
• Seven Brides (Silverton)
• Crux Fermentation Project (Bend)
• Alameda (Portland)
• Deschutes (Bend)

The cost is $5 for the mug, and $1 per ticket for a 4-ounce pour. Last year the “mug” was a really nice silkscreened pint glass, I don’t know for sure what it will be this year.

The only real concern is the smoke from the Pole Creek fire, but the latest live camera images look pretty good, so I’m hoping it will stay clear this weekend. Nobody wants smoke in their fresh hop beer!