Oregon Homegrown 2026: A New Twist on Cascades

 
 

This week, the latest Oregon Homegrown collaboration has its debut at The BeerMongers in Portland. This is the second year Celebrate Oregon Beer—the other project I work on—has convened all this Oregon talent. This year, fifteen breweries have brewed different beers to showcase a single Oregon-bred and Oregon-grown hop, defining those styles with the use of an Oregon-based yeast lab, Imperial Yeast. The purpose of the collaboration is to showcase the depth of beer culture Oregon boasts—and with two yeast labs, a few malting barley farms, twenty hop farms, and over two hundred breweries, we have so much to showcase. With this collaboration, you will be tasting the “Oregon” in your beer.

Oregon Homegrown Tap Takeovers
Where will you be able to taste these beers? Glad you asked! This year we have five wonderful taproom partners who will be featuring these beers:

This year’s featured hop is Cascade, which is easily the most important American hop ever bred. I’ll have the full story tomorrow, but just to remind you: Cascades were bred by the USDA in Corvallis and released in 1972. They became the signature hop for the small breweries that were founded later that decade and in the following years, and they set breweries on a course that would lead to the focus on hoppy beers.

But wait, there’s more!

 
 
 
 

To add a twist to the choice, we partnered with Crosby Hops, who started experimenting with picking times a couple years ago. They found that when they left Cascades on the bine longer to ripe, they built up their essential oils, creating a juicier, more modern flavor profile. Unlike some varieties, they lack that thiol that concentrates to produce onion-garlic flavors the later they’re picked. Crosby started selling these as “Deep Cut” Cascades, and all the beers in Oregon Homegrown will showcase them. Cascades are one of our most versatile hops, and I’m excited to get down to The BeerMongers on Wednesday to start sampling.

 

The Breweries and Their Beers

We have a very cool lineup. Celebrate Oregon Beer promotes all things beery in the state, which means trying to bring attention to some of our smaller and less well-known breweries. So in addition to some big names, we have a couple smaller ones: Arbor Lodge, from Portland, and the new brewery from Sherwood, BearKat. We have one gluten-free brewery in the mix (Evasion), and one wild ale brewery (de Garde). We have lager breweries (Wayfinder and Occidental), hop-focused breweries (Sunriver and Breakside), and everything in between. Not all of these breweries will be present at every tap takeover, so make sure to visit them specifically to try the beers.

I do hope you seek these beers out and let the breweries or taprooms know about it. Oregon really is a special place for beer. Very few places on the planet breed and grow their own hops. Moreover, because we have a cool-weather climate, Oregon hops are not quite the same as those grown in Washington and Idaho. These Cascades are truly unlike any other hops in the world. That we have not one but two commercial yeast labs in Oregon is also a testament to the beer culture here. So Oregonians, feel proud. If you’re visiting the state and have a chance to try these or any beers, take note of what we have going on here. It’s pretty great.

Okay, here are the beers.

Arbor Lodge Rarität HefeWeizen (citrusy hefeweizen), 5%.
A hefeweizen style beer dry hopped with Deep Cut Cascades, Azacca, and Cashmere to provide Mandarin/grapefruit flavors below the banana esters. Great with a zest of lime or orange. 

Baerlic Why Rye? (rye lager), 5%.
Description to come

BearKat Cascade Berry Lager (wheat lager), 5.1%.
American wheat fermented with lager yeast and a light marionberry addition on the cold side, hopped with Deep Cut Cascades.

Block 15 Devil’s Staircase (Pacific Northwest pale ale), 5.7%.
Pacific Northwest pale ale featuring Crosby Deep Cut Cascade, Crosby Estate Comet, and Chinook.

Breakside Untitled (American pilsner), 5.3%, 31 IBUs.
Contemporary American pilsner with Crosby Deep Cut Cascade.

de Garde Deep Green (dry-hopped spontaneously-fermented ale), 5.5%.
Barrels of spontaneously fermented wild ale aged 3-5 years, brewed with Oregon malt, raw wheat and aged Oregon hops, then dry-hopped with ‘Deep Cut’ Cascade from Crosby.

Evasion Liberty at Risk (Anchor Liberty Ale homage), 6.3%.
An Anchor Liberty tribute APA/IPA with Deep Cut additions at 30 minutes, 45 minutes, whirlpool, and dry hop. 

Ferment Forest Gnome IPA (Belgian IPA), 6.8%.
A unique and enchanting IPA featuring Deep Cut Cascade hops and a yeast strain little-known in these parts (Imperial Gnome

Heater Allen American Zoigl (traditional American lager), 5.5%, 30 IBUs.
American amber lager made with corn adjunct Oregon-grown Goschie Farms Promise malt.

Kings and Daughters Sentinels of the Sea (IPA), 5.7%, 60 IBUs.
American Style IPA featuring Deep Cut Cascade CGX, Crosby Estate Grown Chinooks, and Indie Strata.

Occidental Northwest Pilsner (hoppy pilsner), 5%.
Pilsner dry-hopped with Crosby Deep Cut Cascade.

Steeplejack Homeslice McGee (WC Pale), 5.6%
West Coast pale ale with Deep Cut Cascades and Mosaic hops.

Sunriver Green Label, Deep Cut Version (American pale ale) 5.6%, 40 IBUs.
Classic APA with Crosby Deep Cut Cascade T-90 and NUVO CGX, including Oregon-grown Goschie Promise malt for a clean and balanced palate with grapefruit, pine, floral, and citrus.

Von Ebert Predicting the Past (Australian XPA), 5.3%.
Aussie-style XPA with Deep Cut Cascade, Citra Cryo, and Chinook. Notes of Sweet citrus, complex floral notes, papaya, and baking spice.

Wayfinder Same Same but Different (pale mild), 4.3%.
A British-style golden mild ale with Deep Cut Cascades and Crosby CGX.

Jeff AlworthComment