Without The Sports Center, Yakima's Fresh-Hop Week Pours Closer to the Farm

The spinning duck hunter on the marquee at 214 E. Yakima Ave. has been dark since July. The Sports Center had a bar at that address going back to 1912. For years, brewers and hop growers came through during harvest to see their experimental hops and seasonal beers on its taps. It closed without warning on Tuesday, July 21, about a month before the busiest stretch of its year.

So this is the first fresh-hop season in a long while without that downtown meeting point. The beer didn't go anywhere. It moved closer to where the hops were grown. This year's fresh-hop pours carry the names of specific farms, and the week now runs on a fixed route: a Friday party at a downtown brewery, then the Fresh Hop Ale Festival on Saturday, October 10.

What closed on Yakima Avenue, and what might come back

The Sports Center had already lived a few lives. It became a full-time card room, went out of business in 2003, and reopened as The Sports Center in 2006. Building owners Willie Edwards and Todd Widner took over the bar and reopened it in January 2022. They added Gus's Pizza next door and moved to a later-night Thursday-through-Sunday schedule with live music and dance parties.

Edwards told New School Beer + Cider that the bar was one of the busiest in town but had been losing money all along. He said he doesn't want the closure to be permanent. The owners hope to find new management and reopen under a more sustainable business model. As of early October, there's been no public word of a reopening date, a sale or a new manager.

Josie Hall, a Yakima Herald-Republic food columnist and former restaurant owner, remembered the bar's peak as a place that worked as a lunch spot by day and a bar at night. She wrote that she hopes the space will "come back to life." Until it does, the harvest beers are being poured at the breweries themselves.

This year's beers name the farm on the label

Look at what Yakima-area brewers released this season. Almost every fresh-hop beer names its farm, its hop variety and sometimes the weight of hops that went into the tank. Many of these beers start at the source.

Bale Breaker went first, releasing Fresh Hop Topcutter IPA in Yakima on September 11. Single Hill's two fresh-hop beers were listed with Visit Yakima from September 3 through October 5. That window closed yesterday, so ask at the bar before you count on either one still pouring. Valley Brewing, at 3215 River Road, recently listed both of its C&C Farms beers on its website tap list. The list has no update date, so call ahead.

Volcano Envy takes a short drive. Varietal's taproom is at 416 E. Edison Ave. in Sunnyside, and its online tap list showed the beer as of an October 2 update.

Fresh-hop beer is made with hops that go into the brew without being dried, so it only exists for a few weeks each fall. That's why this table goes out of date quickly, and why the next two dates matter.

Friday at Single Hill

Single Hill's taproom at 102 N. Naches Ave. has built its October calendar around the end of harvest. It stayed open Mondays from September 14 through October 5, and that extra day ended yesterday. Bingo is tonight at 7 p.m., and team trivia is Wednesday at 7.

Friday, October 9, from 6 to 10 p.m., the taproom hosts Fresh Func: Post Harvest Party. Its calendar still says details are coming. On Saturday, Single Hill closes at 6 p.m. Its calendar tells everyone to go to the Fresh Hop Ale Fest, which is where its staff will be.

The brewery also put together a fresh-hop case of six different four-packs for pickup at the taproom from October 8 through 11. The online store shows it as out of stock. Anyone who ordered one will be picking it up the same week as the party.

Saturday at State Fair Park

The 23rd annual Fresh Hop Ale Festival is Saturday, October 10, at State Fair Park, 1301 S. Fair Ave. Every brewery station must pour at least one fresh-hop beer. The roster includes Bale Breaker, Single Hill, Valley Brewing, Varietal, Cowiche Creek and Selah Springs, plus breweries from around the region such as pFriem, Fort George, Holy Mountain, Icicle and Ice Harbor.

So on Saturday night, the harvest gathering that used to happen at a downtown bar all season happens in one place for six hours. Here's the posted schedule:

1. 4 p.m.: VIP entry
2. 5 p.m.: General admission
3. 5:30 p.m.: Music starts
4. 8 p.m.: Beer judging
5. 9 p.m.: Last call
6. 9:30 p.m.: Taps close
7. 10 p.m.: Festival ends

Tickets, as listed on the festival's ticket page:

• General admission: $65 face value, $71.94 with fees. Includes 5 p.m. entry, a glass, four tasting tokens and music.
• VIP: $125 face value, $137.39 with fees. Includes 4 p.m. entry, six tokens, dinner and snacks, a glass, swag and casual seating.
• VIP table: $1,500 face value for 10 people with reserved seating.
• Designated driver: $44.66 for general admission or $71.94 for VIP, both with fees. Nonalcoholic drinks are included and alcohol is not.

Everyone attending must be 21 or older and show ID, and children aren't allowed on the grounds. Nevi headlines the main stage, with Crone and Peech also on the bill. Food vendors include Aunty Jam's Asian Kitchen, Big Dogs Grill, Blissful Bites Donuts, The Corn Guy, La Combi Taqueria, Polynesian Grill, Thai House Yakima and Uncle Sam's Kettle Corn.

The festival is run as a nonprofit. It says its proceeds support arts and science organizations in Yakima County, and it keeps only a small reserve to launch the next year's festival. The official event materials don't include parking or shuttle details, which makes the designated-driver tickets worth a look.

Downtown is filling in around the gap

The block around the old Sports Center is still changing. In her column, Hall listed the newer businesses moving into familiar downtown spaces.

• Brick Nine, 104 W. Yakima Ave., is a mini-golf course, bar and restaurant inside the historic Union Pacific freight building.
• Once or Twice Bar, 31 N. Front St., held its grand-opening party on July 11.
• Gatlin's Breakfast & Cafe, 5 N. Front St., took over the former Norm's space and serves breakfast and lunch.
• O'Noodles, 114 Staff Sgt. Pendleton Way, has served noodle and rice dishes since February.

Single Hill sits a few blocks from all of them on Naches Avenue. If you want to start in town, Friday's party is the downtown half of fresh-hop week. Saturday's festival at the fairgrounds is the other half.

If you're spending this week between Single Hill and State Fair Park and want to talk through which part of Yakima fits the way you live, Camren Jones is glad to compare notes over a fresh-hop pour or a phone call. Let's Connect.