Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: pFriem on Earth Day

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Seattle native Josh Pfriem began homebrewing at Western Washington University in his early 20s, then moved to Utah as a ski bum. He worked at Utah Brewers Cooperative for a few years before returning to his old college town of Bellingham to brew at Chuckanut Brewery, where he helped win the Great American Beer Festival Small Brewpub of the Year in 2009. He moved to Hood River, Oregon, to work at Full Sail but left in December 2011 to open pFriem Family Brewers — across the highway from Full Sail, along the banks of the Columbia River — in August 2012. The brewery prides itself on its strong family focus and community involvement, as well as its ingredients — while many craft brewery websites list the notable spices and hops used in their brews, none we’ve encountered boast the encyclopedic cataloging of every ingredient the way pFriem does. Since it’s Earth Day, and pFriem released an Earth Day IPA, we decided to let pFriem have our Tuesday beer flight, Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: pFriem Earth Day.

Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: pFriem on Earth Day

pFriem Earth Day IPA

6.6% ABV

Crafted with purpose, Earth Day IPA combines Salmon-Safe hops from Coleman Agriculture with malt from Admiral Maltings using Western Rivers Conservancy’s eco-driven barley, resulting in a refreshing West Coast IPA. The barley was grown as part of WRC’s efforts to preserve key riparian habitat along the John Day River. With aromas of guava and lychee and juicy notes of pineapple and red currant, this beer finishes bright and clean. A beer for our planet, with every sip supporting rivers conservation, watershed health, wildlife habitat preservation, and access for all.

pFriem Vinifera Saison

6.5% ABV

With any local produce, it starts with the farmers. pFriem prioritizes growing relationships with local purveyors throughout the Columbia Gorge, Oregon, and Washington. They believe this is the best way to ensure you receive quality ingredients. Flower to Flour Farm officially began growing produce for commercial sale in 2012 – the same year pFriem opened its doors. They supply pFriem’s Tasting Room with seasonal produce as early as April and, depending on the year, as late as December. pFriem 2024 Vinifera Saison is a Rosé-inspired barrel-aged farmhouse ale with grenache grapes, brewed with Le Doubblé Troubblé Wine Co. It pours a light and vibrant shade of cherry blossom pink, under a bright white cap of foam, with champagne-like effervescence. Opens with lively aromas of fresh wild strawberries, grapefruit, watermelon, and a hint of peach. These ripe aromas carry over to the palate and are accented by fresh florals, mint, and minerality notes. It finishes soft and dry with a tart cherry on the tongue.

pFriem Cold IPA

6.2% ABV

Apart from partnering with organizations like The Freshwater Trust, Protect Our Winters, the Deschutes River Alliance, the Native Fish Society, and Oregon Wild, to name a few, pFriem also invests heavily in reducing the environmental impact in the brewery. In the past year, pFriem has installed equipment to reduce its electrical power usage significantly, has made strides to reduce water and chemical usage, and has decreased nearly 40 percent of its process CO2 usage by installing energy-efficient equipment to generate food-grade nitrogen from ambient air. If you love the hoppy invigoration of an IPA, yet crave the icy refreshment of a lager, pFriem’s Cold IPA hits the spot, with pungent aromas of tangerine, grapefruit, melon, guava, and citrus rind, followed by smooth flavors of candied papaya, Meyer lemon, and white gummy bears. Expect a crisp, cold finish that leaves a resinous flavor.

pFriem Breakside New Zealand IPA

6.5% ABV

Ninety-nine percent of what pFriem produces is sold in Oregon and Washington—and so they know what people are doing when they’re drinking these beers, whether they’re getting done with a mountain bike ride, skiing, hiking, flyfishing or whatever type of après experience. pFriem tries to thread that needle of local lifestyle and flavors. Breakside New Zealand IPA, a unique IPA, was born from a shared passion for innovative brewing and a desire to create something truly special for the occasion of opening up pFriem’s new tasting room in Milwaukie, Oregon. Combining expertise, pFriem and Breakside Brewery carefully selected a blend of hops known for their vibrant tropical fruit character to rest upon a light and dry malt bill that adds just a touch of sweetness from using rice.

pFriem Von Ebert West Coast IPA

6.8% ABV

To commemorate the opening of pFriem’s second tasting room in Milwaukie, Oregon, the Hood River brewery collaborated with Von Ebert Brewing on this expressive West Coast IPA. For this beer, they used all American hops — Mosaic, Krush, and Strata — that emulate the characteristics of New Zealand hops. The product of this experiment is a tropical beer with notes of peach, passionfruit, and guava, which finishes dry and crushable.

LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory