This past weekend, in preparation for our upcoming release of Mountain Standard Reserve ’10, A Double Black IPA, we filled a couple Subarus with brewers, beer and camping gear, and set off on a little trip through the hop growing regions of Palisade, Montrose, and Paonia Colorado. With these small artisan farmers growing high quality Organic Hops right here in Colorado, we could not pass up the opportunity to meet the growers, visit their fields, and enjoy some beers with the fine folks who work to produce the ingredients we use to craft our beer. We stopped by a farm we have selected hops from before; Glenn Fuller’s Rising Sun Organic Farms, www.coloradoorganichops.com to see his mature Cascades. We made our way to Montrose to meet with Randy at San Juan Hop Farms, www.sanjuanhopfarms.com, and were very impressed by his beautiful Chinooks. Lastly, we visited the new kid on the block… or rather a new school teacher on the block… Hippie Chicks Organic Hop Farm in Palisade. Julie, with the help of her volunteer Hippie Chicks, is in her first year and is already off to a beautiful start. We were so impressed with her operation that we decided to set up our sleeping bags right in her field and wake up amidst the hops to Palisade’s “Million Dollar Breeze.” We are really looking forward to working with Julie and the Hippie Chicks’ hops in our beers. Check out their story and photos of their “girls” (read: hops) at:

http://hippiechicksorganichops.tumblr.com

And… If you ever find yourself in Palisade, make sure to check out the delicious offerings at Palisade Brewing Co. and Peach Street Distillers… Those Palisade Peaches aren’t bad either. So, after spending the weekend walking through Glenn, Randy, and Julie’s fields of high quality, mature hops we selected beautiful Chinook and Cascade varieties that we contracted from each grower for this and next year. We will be using these hops in our upcoming Mountain Standard Reserve ’10, Double Black IPA. Our motivation with our Mountain Standard Reserve offering is to brew an inspiring beer that uses ingredients from Colorado craft farmers, whenever supplies and quality permit, as well as to support these local craft farmers and ensure the sustainability of hop farms throughout Colorado’s western slope. We had a lot of fun picking these hops and having a beer with these growers, we hop(e) you enjoy our upcoming Double Black IPA which will use these special hops!