Hopworks’ new IPA supports NW Trail Alliance

A longtime and local bike-friendly business has once again shown their support of our community with release of a new beer. Hopworks has released Trail Time Summer IPA, which they say was inspired by “the thousands of miles of bike trails that wind through the forests and mountains of Oregon and Southwest Washington.”

If just any old brewery released a bike-oriented beer, I wouldn’t put it on the front page. But Hopworks is legit when it comes to Portland’s bike scene. Not only have they been a BikePortland advertiser in the past (hi guys, let’s talk again!), but they’ve sponsored lots of bike racing and other events, and their co-founder Christian Ettinger is a daily rider and racer himself. And it’s not even their first time making a bike-themed beer.

When it comes to this latest effort, Ettinger says, “NWTA builds trails that flow like beer—smooth and refreshing with a lot of hops!” Yes that’s sort of cringey, but we love the enthusiasm! And Ettinger has earned the right for some corny copy because he’s shown up for our community so much since the start of his company 15 years ago. Remember the “Bike Bar” that opened on North Williams Ave in 2011 and became an instant hot spot? That was a Hopworks thing. And who remembers the Hopworksfiets beer bike? Or the Biketobeerfest event? Or the Handmade Bike & Beer Festival? All that stuff happened at Hopworks.

And with their new Trail Time IPA, Hopworks collaborated directly with Northwest Trail Alliance, Portland’s off-road cycling advocacy group. A portion of all 4-pack sales of the new beer will benefit NWTA. You can grab them through August at Hopworks’ locations on SE Powell Blvd (at SE 29th) or Vancouver (17707 SE Mill Plain Blvd).

For NWTA, the money raised will help them boost morale of trail maintenance crews as they keep the over 250 miles of trails they maintain in good shape.

If you’re a beer person and want to know what to expect when you grab a Trail Time, here are the tasting notes:

Trail Time is a crushable, fruit-forward IPA with notes of pineapple, orange zest and papaya. It finishes light and crisp, with a nice, drying bitterness. The hop profile is a balanced blend of Chinook, El Dorado, Centennial, Strata and HBC 638 hops, providing a big, fruity boost. 6.5% ABV/50 IBU.

This new collab builds on a strong legacy of Portland cycling culture and beer. In 2016, Base Camp Brewing wrangled a platoon of cargo bikes for a group ride from their brewery in the Central Eastside to a farm in the Willamette Valley for the “Fresh Hop Century.” We collected bags of hops and then rode home and dumped them directly into the brewing tanks.

If you’re a mountain-biking-beer-lover, or just love good beer that’s good for our community, show up to the Trail Time IPA release party tonight (Wednesday May 10th) from 4:00 to 9:00 pm at Hopworks on Powell. A share of all beer sold at the event will be donated to NWTA.