Hoptrip Day 8

As the 2025 hop season drew to a close, a few of us decided to stick around in Portland a little longer. We wanted to visit some brewing friends and maybe lay the groundwork for a collaboration or two. One thing became immediately clear: every brewer’s senses were completely shot after a week of intense hop selection. That said, the fresh hop season was still in full swing, so we switched from sniffing fresh hops to drinking them. 

Our main stop today was at Indie Hops, the pioneer of Oregon-grown hops. Since 2009, Indie Hops has been a quiet force in the hop industry in many ways, not least because of their proprietary hops. We were curious to smell some of their finest and pick their brains about Oregon’s place in the global hop industry. We met with Jim Solberg, Anca Solberg, and Matt Sager in their office located inside one of the few remaining Ford Model-T factories in the US. There, we talked shop and sampled a handful of extremely lively Strata, Lórien, and Luminosa from this year’s harvest. It’s crazy we hadn’t met up with them sooner. We’ll publish the interview with Indie Hops later this month.  

Afterwards, we got a call from brewers Jake and Clay at Deschutes inviting us to stop by their pub in the heart of Portland’s Pearl District. What was supposed to be a quick meet-and-greet ahead of our upcoming collaboration turned into a full-on drinking and chatting session over pints of Hachimitsu Mai, their award-winning Japanese-style lager brewed with Chilean ulmo honey, citrus, jasmine, and mint. We couldn’t get enough of it. After a few hours, the stage was set—in a few days, we guarantee we’ll brew something special together. The Deschutes collaboration will be the final highlight of a very busy few weeks before we head back to Holland. Going out with a bang!