The best bit about what we do at Loughran Brewers Select is spending time with the people who work in beer. Each year in September we head out to Oregon for the Pacific Northwest US Hop Harvest, and for the last few years, we’ve asked some of our brewing pals to join us too. The trip is about so much more than just meeting up and rubbing some hops. We invite our brewers to hang out with us for the week, renting an AirBnB together, hitting the hop farms, touring the fields and processing facilities, and sharing (many) pints of incredible fresh hop beers across the many fantastic bars in Portland and beyond.
To celebrate the arrival of Crop 2025 hops from the Pacific Northwest USA on our spot list, we’re looking back at that fab week in Oregon in September 2025 by catching up with George Parker Collins, head brewer and co-founder of Bluntrock Brewery in Cornwall.
The below blog post first appeared on the Bluntrock website.
Over to you, George…
The gang at the Crosby Hops processing facility in Woodburn, Oregon. L-R: George Parker-Collins (Bluntrock), Dale Deakin (Loughran Brewers Select), Nolan Russell (Crosby Hops), Rob Hamilton (Loughran Brewers Select) and Jay Krause (Cloudwater).
"Simply being invited to attend the hop harvest in Oregon was for me, the pinnacle of my brewing career."
Bluntrock Brewery Using Hops from Oregon, USA
Without this sounding too gushy…
Simply being invited to attend the hop harvest in Oregon was for me, the pinnacle of my brewing career. When I started brewing professionally a decade ago, the idea of simply being invited for hop selection seemed like something which was only offered to the big established brewers.
So, when I was asked by Loughran Brewers Select to go with them to Oregon for hop selection, alongside Jay from Cloudwater, the answer was never going to be anything but “yes!”
That invite to hop harvest felt like something more too. It was an affirmation to all of us at Bluntrock about where the brewery is going – and a recognition of the quality of the beers we produce. I don’t think those beers would have been possible without the vast improvement in the quality of raw ingredients, particularly hops, that are now available to UK brewers – and that, in no small part, is thanks to Loughran Brewers Select.
When I was first trying (and failing) to chase the big, clean hop flavours my favourite brewers were able to get from their beers I remember almost falling out of love with brewing. Because of the lesser quality of hops that were available to small UK breweries at the time, it was a near impossible task to emulate those beers, and it made me question my ability as a brewer to make modern beer styles. But in recent years we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the availability of quality hops, with smaller, independent hop producers emerging, – and ones which had previously been impossible to source here in the UK. Not only has this emergence offered UK brewers the ability to brew with new world class hop varieties – such as Indie Hops Strata® & Luminosa® – it has also given the bigger players in the hop market a tremendous kick up the arse, and the overall quality of imported US hops is on a steep increase.
"I don’t think our beers [at Bluntrock] would have been possible without the vast improvement in the quality of raw ingredients, particularly hops, that are now available to UK brewers – and that, in no small part, is thanks to Loughran Brewers Select."
Cornish independent breweries assemble for the Bluntrock x Crosby Hops 'Big Friendly Comet' collab at Blunrock Brewery in July 2025. L-R: Braslou Biére, Driftwood Spares Brewery, Cold Frame, Pipeline Brewing Co., Firebrand Brewing Co, BrewKegTap, Howl Brewery, Tintagel Brewery, Mason Brewing Co. & Atlantic Brewery.
New Beer Ideas & Trends from Portland, Oregon
After a slightly bumpy flight, I landed in Portland at 17:30 on the Sunday evening. And would you believe it – just two doors down from our AirBnB there was a brewery called Stormbreaker Brewery, and they had 3 fresh hop beers on next door. Perfect.
The sheer amount of fresh hop beers available in Portland during hop harvest season was really amazing to see. Being from Cornwall, getting hold of fresh hops (and certainly US ones!) in a quantity to actually brew with is near impossible. With such an abundance of fresh hop beers to sample, I began to properly understand the taste of fresh hops in beer and how they present across different beer styles, from Hazy IPAs to Pilsners.
Pints at the Pagan Arms with the Cornish independent brewers for the Bluntrock x Crosby Hops 'Big Friendly Comet' collab. L-R: Bluntrock Brewery, ColdFrame, Tintagel Brewery, Lallemand Brewing, Mason Brewing Co., Atlantic Brewing Co., BrewKegTap, Loughran Brewers Select and Pipeline Brewing Co.
The proliferation of hop-forward lagers across Portland was interesting. Just over a month before our trip, we’d actually brewed a single hop West Coast Pilsner – ‘Big Friendly Comet’ in collaboration with Loughran Brewers Select, Crosby Hops™ and an assortment of independent Cornish breweries. When Nolan from Crosby Hops™ had suggested brewing a single hop Comet West Coast Pilsner I’d actually been a little skeptical. But since then, it’s become my favourite beer we’ve brewed at Bluntrock. West Coast Pils beers aren’t well known in Cornwall at all, but since being out here, I’ve seen how common they are and for good reason. It was truly refreshing to see so many other hop forward lager styles out there across Portland. Food for thought…
The ‘Big Friendly Comet’ collaboration and the hop harvest trip really opened my eyes to the opportunities of presenting hops in non-hazy beers. In some ways, I’m starting to feel a bit of haze fatigue in the UK. Whilst I still love to drink hazy beers, the seemingly never -ending releases of “brand new <6% hazy IPA” can start to take the excitement out of hop forward beers. In and around Portland, they use hops as the forefront of the beer across a much wider spectrum of beer styles. It’s something I think the UK could really learn from.
"When Nolan from Crosby Hops™ had suggested brewing a single hop Comet West Coast Pilsner I’d actually been a little skeptical. But since then, it's become my favourite beer we’ve brewed at Bluntrock. West Coast Pils beers aren't well known in Cornwall at all, but since being out here, I've seen how common they are and for good reason."
Bluntrock Brewery X Cornish Independent Brewers x Crosby Hops 'Big Friendly Comet' 5.6% West Coast Pilsner
Taproom Inspiration from the Pacific Northwest USA
Big surprises were abundant, having never been to the US before. When people say “everything is bigger in the US”, they’re right. The main thing that surprised me was the amount of space brewers have at their disposal gives them the opportunity to be incredibly creative with their taprooms – and we certainly sampled a few – Stormbreaker, Wayfinder, Grand Fir, everywhere, Von Ebert and Baerlic – as well as bars like BeerMongers! From the sheer amount of beer lines pouring (all of which are tasting great), to the inclusion of arcade areas, kitchens and other non-beer attractions in these taprooms- all of which require a lot of space – it’s something which is very hard and expensive to come by in the UK.
One of many visits to the Baerlic Southeast Brewery & Taprooom. L-R: Rob Hamilton & Dale Deakin (Loughran Brewers Select), Rik Hall (Baerlic Co-founder), Jim Solberg (Co-founder Indie Hops), George Parker-Collins (Bluntrock) & Will Avery (Loughran Brewers Select).
George’s Favourite 2025 Hop Harvest Beers in Portland
My favourite beers of the trip were neck and neck. It’s a toss-up between Stormbreaker Brewing‘s ‘Fresh Hop Strata’ or Von Ebert‘s ‘Clubhaus American Light Lager’. Two extremely contrasting beers, both of which I haven’t seen UK brewers try to produce, partly due to the lack of availability of fresh hops…
As well as being one of my favourite beers, ‘Fresh Hop Strata’ was also the first beer I had when I arrived- our AirBnB was two doors down from Stormbreaker remember!
I did wonder if maybe my objectivity in judging ‘Fresh Hop Strata’ was compromised by the magic of my first experience. The excitement of arriving in Portland for the crowning trip of my brewing career, heading straight to the brewery next door and choosing the freshest fresh hop beer on tap, then having my first sip of US beer sat on a wooden bench under hanging hop vines and barrels of fresh hops dotted around the beer garden. But after returning 3 more times throughout the week to drink that same beer, I realised that it wasn’t just the over excitement in the moment – it was genuinely one of the best examples of both Hazy IPAs and fresh hop beers I’ve had.
Whilst Von Ebert‘s ‘American Light Lager’ doesn’t sound quite as exciting, it was a great grounding beer for me. I had it just after we’d done our Strata® hop selection at Indie Hops HQ on SE 11th Avenue with some tacos. I think I needed a palate and olfactory reset from the insane hop aromas I’d been taking in over the previous few hours. ‘American Light Lager’ is a great example of a clean, crisp and unassuming lager, only brewed by a small, independent brewery, and not a macro behemoth. And of course it gave me a break from the abundance of hop heavy beers when I really needed it!
US Beer Inspiration for Bluntrock Brewery
Most of the beer we drank out in Oregon was hop forward, but unlike the UK, the variety of beer styles showcasing hops was extremely broad. On the Sunday of my flight home I was drinking a fresh hop US Tettnang Saison which is something I can’t say I’ve experienced before!
It seems that US brewers are more willing to use hops in an interesting and a less predictable way than UK brewers. That might simply be because of the abundance of top quality hops in the Pacific North West, or simply the consumer desire for a wider range of beer styles. But for me, the main inspiration I’d most like to take back to Bluntrock is a willingness to explore a greater range of beer styles in a modern, hop forward way.
"The main inspiration I'd most like to take back to Bluntrock from Oregon is a willingness to explore a greater range of beer styles in a modern, hop forward way."
Hands full of hop oil from the Indie Hops Strata selection at Indie Hops HQ in Portland, Oregon.
Indie Hops Strata® Hop Selection Advice from Bluntrock Brewery
Our first hop selection session of our trip was for Indie Hops Strata®. It was actually my first time ever selecting hops, so I followed the advice from others, like Jim and Matt of Indie Hops, Jay from Cloudwater, and Will from Loughran Brewers Select. Between us, we selected the UK’s lots of Strata®, Audacia®, and Lorien®. Jim and Matt are dab hands at hop selection at this point, and they know when to sit back and let you get immersed in the hops, and when you might need a little gentle guidance or second opinion. During hop harvest, the Indie Hops office is a revolving door of top brewers selecting their hops, like Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River, or the gang from Green Cheek. Hop selection is easier when you already know what to look for in each hop. However, in this case I was fairly new to Strata® as a hop. So I just went with my gut and looked for the characteristics I find most appealing which with Strata®, was very easy.
Bluntrock 'Clickedy Click' 6.6% Hazy IPA with Indie Hops Strata®.
At Bluntrock, we’d actually only just released an IPA (‘Clickedy Click’) with Strata® as a headliner a few weeks before the trip. It was pretty special to be selecting the lots we’ll all be brewing with here in the UK over the coming months. As a process, the Strata® selection was eye opening. I didn’t anticipate quite how much variety there would be between lots of the same hop. My hands were yellow for the next 2 days from the insane amount of oil in the hops!
With one selection session under my belt – rounded off with that American lager at Von Ebert and then the ‘Strata® Fresh Hop Hazy IPA’ at Stormbreaker, plus a few other places (!) – I was eager for our selection session at Crosby Hops™ the next day.
Selection notes for the lots of Indie Hops Strata® from the hop selection session at Indie Hops HQ.
Crosby Hops™ Centennial Lot Selection in Woodburn, Oregon
Crosby Hops™ is a seriously impressive facility. It’s brand new, with what is possibly the best pellet mill in the industry. A Crosby Hop pellet is a work of art, and the consistency is amazing! A huge amount of investment has obviously gone into Crosby Hops™ which really shows when you visit. We’ve been loving Crosby Hops™ in our beers, and we’re using a big range of public variety hops and private variety hops from Crosby, including Amarillo®, Azacca®, Centennial, El Dorado®, Idaho 7®, and more, across both T90 & and CGX®.
"Crosby Hops™ is a seriously impressive facility. It's brand new, with what is possibly the best pellet mill in the industry."
Nolan Russell from Crosby Hops™ demonstrating the squish & consistency of the Crosby Hops™ T90 pellet.
It was particularly special seeing the Crosby facility after our ‘Big Friendly Comet’ collab brew day back in July at Bluntrock. On that day we’d hosted a load of independent Cornish brewers, and Nolan from Crosby Hops™ had joined us too – he’d led a hop sensory session and talk. Being able to actually deliver cans of the beer from that day – ‘Big Friendly Comet’ – to Nolan at Crosby HQ in Woodburn, Oregon was really something!
Dry Jay of the Crosby Hops™ Experimental Hop Nursery with bags of experimental hops fresh from the kiln.
We did the lot of selection for some of the UK’s spot lots of Crosby Hops™ Centennial for Crop 2025 before going on a full tour of Crosby, where we were lucky enough to catch Crosby’s in-house hop developer Dr Jay Kalous, who let us rub three new prototype varieties straight off the kiln!
We also joined in the iconic Crosby Hops ‘Hop Harvest Party’ – it would have been rude not to. This is a special brewing industry-focused event held at Crosby’s Topwire Hop Project (their own hop farm and processing tap room!). If you’re based in Portland, Crosby lays on a party bus to ferry brewers over to Crosby HQ in Woodburn, which is pretty neat. On arrival at TopWire we grabbed some beers, said hello to the guys at Crosby and found a table in the shade where we tried to cool off with a cold beer. We were given a pass to head to the Crosby bar, closed off from the general public, where we could try some fresh beers brewed with experimental new hop varieties. I was particularly impressed by the Crosby staff putting fresh hops in their beers. The end of the evening consisted of drunken karaoke on the bus home…
Crosby Hops™ Centennial Selection is a serious business. George in the Crosby Hops cold store in Woodburn, Oregon, in front of fresh bales of Centennial.
World Class Hop Growing in Oregon, USA
I’d never been to a hop farm prior to the trip, so my first experience was at Coleman Agriculture Farm – a seventh generation family farm in St Paul, Oregon. These guys grow some of the hop lots for Indie Hops, as well as other hop producers. DEYA has been regularly selecting Oregon terroir and particularly Coleman Ag grown Mosaic® for ‘Steady Rolling Man’ for the last few years. Seeing a hop farm – from harvest, pick, kiln and bale, everything was new to me. The picking machine was awesome – it was almost giving a Wallace and Gromit style mad machine with so many moving conveyors, and shaking motors. Simple and complicated at the same time.
Will Avery (Loughran Brewers Select) & Max Coleman (Special Project Manager, Coleman Agriculture) at the Crosby Hops™ Hop Harvest Party.
We also headed to Goschie Farm to meet Jim from Indie Hops and watch some more harvesting. The farm had a brand-new hop kiln which was really interesting to see. We even walked out into the hop fields to try some of Jim’s hops in development. They were smelling great, I picked up on a strong hit of rhubarb…
Rob Hamilton of Loughran Brewers Select sampling some Indie Hops experimental varieties in the Goschie Farms Hop Fields.
Hop Industry Insights from the PNW USA Hop Harvest 2025
I think everyone, after a certain amount of time in the industry, loses some of the passion they had when they started. For me, I can’t remember the last time I went out and tried over 12 different beers (not all pints!) and talked exclusively about the beers I was drinking and the brewers who made them.
One of several bar crawls around Portland with Jim Solberg from Indie Hops. L-R: Loughran Brewers Select's Dale Deakin, Jim Solberg, & Bluntrock's George Parker Collins.
Day drinking with Jim from Indie Hops has reignited my love for beer and the industry. His passion for what he does and the industry is contagious. So contagious that every time we met up with him, we ended up on a bar crawl talking about nothing but beer. In fact, after all the others had left and before my flight home on the Sunday, Jim took me on another tour of all the Portland beer spots we didn’t manage to fit in during the previous week! What a trip.
Jim and the team at Indie Hops are behind some of the most exciting new hops in the industry; Strata®, Luminosa®, Audacia®, Meridian® to name a few… Because Indie Hops is such a small team, they have an intimate knowledge of the development of new hop varieties from the first vines all the way to the brewing and feedback. You can be sure that if it’s a new hop variety from Indie, you’re going to want to get some.
"Jim and the team at Indie Hops are behind some of the most exciting new hops in the industry... You can be sure that if it's a new hop variety from Indie, you're going to want to get some."
The Crosby Hops Hop Harvest Party. L-R: Will Avery, George Parker Collins, Nolan Russell & Rob Hamilton.
Advice for Brewers on Hop Contracting
Hop contracting has helped us lock in a great variety of quality hops from both Crosby Hops and Indie Hops at a great price. We generally contract enough for two or three brews of each variety of hops that we know will be great in one-off specials. This gives us a wide selection of guaranteed availability for our brew schedule, and takes away the unpredictability of buying on spot.
Indie Hops Strata® Lot during hop selection in Portland, Oregon.
Chat to your sales manager for the best prices on top quality hops & ingredients
Cheers to George for being fantastic company on our awesome week in Portland, Oregon last September, and to the wonderful teams from Crosby Hops™ and Indie Hops for hosting us. Bluntrock Brewery are just one of many breweries who guarantee their supply of world class Oregon-grown US hops by balancing their spot hop purchases with a hop contract too. We offer hop contracting on varieties for as little as 5kg, and a hop contract with Loughran Brewers Select can open the door to discounts on other brewing ingredients too. Talk to your sales manager today to get the most competitive pricing on your hops and other brewing ingredients.
