I’m travelling from San Francisco to Vancouver to watch the Socceroos first game in Vancouver tomorrow night. I’ve driven up the northern Californian and Oregon coasts, but had noticed that there is a minor league baseball team called the Hops – (yes, as in the beer ingredient). Based in Hillsboro, which is a satellite suburb of Portland and sorta kinda on the way to Vancouver.
The night I’d booked to see the Hops fortuitous™ly happened to be Craft Beer Appreciation night. What a fabulous concept. A dozen or so brewers assembled in a large astro-turfed section not far from right field. Pop up market stands were the go and included in my $11 general admission ticket were four tasters.
Based on my readings Oregon is generally regarded as being in the top five states when it comes to craft beer. California is the giant (history, number of breweries, innovation etc), but Oregon, along with Washington State, Colorado and Vermont are in the following pack. It was a knowledgeable crowd. You were either wearing a Hops shirt or a craft beer shirt.
I did have one Cerveza, but most of the choice were beefy IPAs, browns, sours and the occasional wheat beer. The punters loved it. Basically tasting started at 5.30pm, the game started at 6.30pm and tasting stopped at 7.30pm. When I looked over at about 7.15pm – the throng was still throbbing in the craft beer area.
Beer of the Day for me was the Gravelberry raspberry wheat, which sound terrible to some, but just a well-balanced wheat, which I love. It is brewed by a suburban Portland pub and brewery called Old Market. A close runner up was just about the best IPA I’ve had on tour Sixes IPA by Brujos Brewing, another Portland brewery that may cop a visit next week when I swing through Portland on my way back to SF.
As for the baseball, it was great. I love roaming around the ground, watching the game from different vantage points. It is so different to the TV. You hear the crack of the bat and the slap of the ball in the catcher’s mitt. There’s five levels of minor league baseball and the Hops are level three of High-A. There’s some talent on both teams. One pitcher was throwing 95mph fastballs.
The ground is brand new having opened at the start of the season. Capacity is about 6,000. There’s a grassy area behind right field that was jammed with kids. Wonderful atmosphere on a clear cool Oregon night. $15.60 for 600ml of Michelob Ultra. As the t-shirt says. Beer and Baseball. Not my last baseball game of this tour.
back of the ferry 