Portland, Oregon, January 20, 2011 — On January 23rd, the first U.S. chapter of Barley’s Angels launches with an educational tasting at Rogue Ales Public House hosted by Megan Flynn, Publisher and Editor of Beer West Magazine.  Barley’s Angels is a group created to educate and encourage women to develop their interest in craft beer.  Barley’s Angels was founded by Teri Fahrendorf, who in 1989 became the second female brewmaster at a craft brewery in the USA.  Teri is also the president and founder of the Pink Boots Society, a group of over 500 of the most prolific women working in the craft brewing industry.  Barley’s Angels accepts all women that have a thirst for education and an interest in creating a female beer enthusiast community.

This event, which marks the first official opening of a Barley’s Angels chapter, will be attended by Teri Fahrendorf and radio host Lisa Morrison.  Megan Flynn will briefly discuss the role her magazine plays in the beer industry including the recent expansion from Beer Northwest to Beer West.  The panel will then lead a general discussion on how to taste beer, from the initial pour to the amount of head, aroma, and taste.  The ladies will put these tips to the test with 6 Rogue Ales: XS McRogue Scotch Ale, XS Old Crustacean, Shakespeare Stout, Chocolate Stout, Mocha Porter and Santa’s Private Reserve.  The event begins at 5:00 PM, at Rogue Ales Public House on 13th & Flanders.  For more information about Barley’s Angels, please vist http://www.pinkbootssociety.org or www.rogue.com.

The Chatoe Rogue Tasting Room and Hop ‘N Bed remain closed today January 18, 2011 due to continued flooding. The Willamette River which runs along the Chatoe is currently at 25.6 feet.

The Chatoe Rogue tasting room and Hop ‘N Bed will be closed today January 17^th, 2011 due to flooding. The Willamette River which runs along our Micro Hop yard rose to 21.1 feet today as a result of the weekend rains and flooded parts of Wigrich Road.

The explosive popularity of hoppy beer has become bittersweet as the total American harvest was off 30% for the year, according to December’s USDA hop harvest report. Especially screwed now are those brewers relying on smaller-yield, aroma-centric American hops to make mainstream-barreling IPAs, since Simcoe, Citra and Amarillo are largely (if not totally) sold for the year.

IT SHOULDN’T BE A SURPRISE.  Unlike 2007’s sneak-attack, this scarcity was established back in June, according to the BA’s Chris Swersey.  That’s when members learned that both acreage and years were significantly down. It’s just now coming to a head, however, as brewers wonder if they’ll have enough of specific varieties.

IT’S NOT JUST A PROBLEM FOR SMALL PRODUCERS, who are already all over message boards trying to buy specialty product they thought they’d snatch on spot (Stone head brewer Mitch Steele says they’ve already been approached, but even they are “tight”). If that 60-plus IBU Simcoe, Citra or Amarillo bomb you put in several states has really hit, you might not have contracted enough specialty hops – and might need a substitute.  That could be a reality for Sierra Nevada this year, as they’re held to the hotter fire of whole leaf hope rather than pellets. “Oftentimes we can find excess amounts of certain varieties, but only in pellet form, so we may have to substitute,” Sierra’s Bill Manley told BBD.

THE ANSWER? More contracts could ease part of the pain, at least in the future. “When a grower puts something into the ground he’s making a choice” based on demand, said Chris, referring to the ratio of macrobrewer-bought alpha acreage vs. the smaller allotment of aroma-rich varieties craft producers prefer. Ironically, farmers had been ripping out Simcoe hops — which are now in short supply — because there wasn’t enough perceived demand.  In fact, only about 65 – 70% of craft brewers buy their hops on contract, according to Chris, who is heading to the 2011 American Hop Convention next week to help facilitate communication between both producers and brewers.

But beyond that, there’s still the uber-crowded marketplace and unprecedented demand. And hundreds of new breweries coming online (500 newly registered breweries, we’ve heard).

THE GOOD NEWS is that the problem should be relatively isolated. Chris estimates that 99% of craft beer volume is produced by brewers with hops under contract. We’ll see.

-Beer Business Daily

Rogue poets unite!  On National Haiku Day, Rogues around the nation unleashed their creative energy to come up with some of the finest poetry in Rogue literary history.  These haikus are the fruits of their labor.  Think you have what it takes to be a Rogue poet?  Send your Rogue haiku, limerick, sonnet or whatever to julieh@rogue.com.