Mashing-In News: WA Fresh Hop Awards, Salmon-Safe Award
GOOD MORNING, SOUTH PUGET SOUND!
Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 — Viggo Mortensen turns 66 today!
From farm-fresh hop triumphs and river-friendly IPAs to New Zealand’s aromatic enigmas and cider education crossing the border, today’s craft beer news reads like a global toast to adaptation — proof that brewing’s heart still beats loudest in the fields, taprooms, and classrooms where innovation and community keep the glass half full.
Trap Door, Ladd & Lass, Cloudburst Shine in Washington’s Fresh Hop Awards
Washington’s annual Fresh Hop Beer Competition crowned its 2025 champions, with Trap Door Brewing dominating multiple categories, Ladd & Lass taking golds in both Hazy and Imperial divisions, and Cloudburst, Watts, Lumberbeard, and Ice Harbor among other standouts—proof that the state’s brewers remain masters of the fleeting, field-to-ferment freshness. (Washington Beer Awards)
Kings and Daughters’ Fill Your Cup IPA Wins Salmon-Safe Drinker’s Choice
Oregon’s Kings and Daughters Brewery earned the Salmon-Safe Drinker’s Choice Award at the inaugural Hood River Orchard and Ale Fest for Fill Your Cup IPA, brewed with Salmon-Safe Certified Simcoe hops from Coleman Farms—celebrating sustainable farming, watershed stewardship, and beer that’s as kind to rivers as it is to palates. (Washington Beer Blog)
Kiwi Conundrum: How to Harness NZ Hops’ Beautiful Chaos
New Zealand hops pack layered, high-octane aroma—from lime, gooseberry and passion fruit to flinty diesel—that demand a different playbook: select by farm and lot, watch pH and sulfur, lean on cool-pool/dip-hop and precise dry-hop blends (Motueka/Riwaka/Nelson), and avoid over-extraction and hop burn for brighter, more stable haze and drinkability. (Craft Beer & Brewing)
American Cider Association Expands North with Brock University Partnership
The American Cider Association has partnered with Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute to bring its internationally recognized Certified Cider Guide™ program to Canada—marking the ACA’s first official expansion north of the border and offering Canadian cider professionals a pathway to global certification through one-day workshops in Ontario. (Brewpublic)
Taprooms > Truckloads: Why Beer’s Future Is Local
The beer industry isn’t collapsing—it’s evolving back to its roots: away from multi-state distribution and toward hyperlocal taprooms, small-batch creativity, and diversified beverages (cider, seltzer), proving that despite tariffs and soft retail aisles, community-centric brewing is stronger than the shelf numbers suggest. (The Brewer Magazine)
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
