As you may know, Oregon isn’t just a powerhouse when it comes to beer making—we grow the goods, too. Last year, we produced more than 8 million pounds of hops throughout the state.

And with the annual harvest upon us, fresh hop ale season is here once again.

To kick it off, McMenamins held its “Running of the Brewers”—a race to deliver more than 1,000 pounds of newly-harvested hops to the brewers who craft their seasonal Thundercone Fresh Hop Ale in a single day.

Starting bright and early on September 1, a handful of dedicated brewers loaded up 1,120 pounds of Simcoe hops from Sodbuster Farms outside Salem and delivered the hops to 20 different breweries as far away as Roseburg and Seattle. This year’s mad dash covered over 1,500 miles in just over four hours.

Soon we can all reap the benefits of that epic trek. Thundercone Fresh Hop Ale (brewed with those same fresh Simcoe hops) will be available at McMenamins starting September 18th until it runs out.