We're just a little over two weeks away, and counting down, to the 2021 Fresh Hop Ale Festival in Yakima. In the heart of the nation's hop country, this delicious event has earned its' place among the Top Ten Beer Festivals in the country.

Not having the festival last year due to COVID, beer lovers are especially eager to taste those fresh brews this year. However, it won't be business as usual, and COVID will still be a factor in how the event is conducted and experienced.

The Fresh Hop Group announces Covid 19 Updates:

In a press release today, The Fresh Hop Group announced:

Due to the increasing number of Covid-19 Cases in Yakima County, the Fresh Hop Group will be implementing additional Covid-safety protocols at the 2021 Fresh Hop Ale Festival Saturday, October 2nd for all attendees, volunteers, and vendors.

If you've attended or plan to attend other large public gatherings in Washington, these new protocols will not come as a surprise.

The Fresh Hop Group will follow the same measures implemented by Washington’s pro and college sports teams (Seahawks, Huskies, and Cougars) that were announced on September 7. The new measures are based on recommendations by the Yakima Health District YHD-Event-Guidance-8-25-21 (yakimacounty.us) and the State of Washington Department of Health (DOH) Proclamation 20-25.

What Must Attendees, Vendors, Volunteers, and Contractors Do to Comply?

All festival attendees, vendors, volunteers, and contractors must present ONE of the following to gain admission to the festival grounds:

● Negative Covid-19 Test within 72 hours of the festival (at home test not accepted) OR ● Proof of full vaccination, which is defined as two weeks following the second dose of Pfizer or Modera vaccines, or two weeks following the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

In addition, all in attendance will be required to sign a Covid-19 Liability Waiver prior to entering the gates of the event. The waiver will be used for the participant to attest that they are not experiencing a number of specified COVID symptoms.

Considering The Fresh Hop Ale Festival is Outdoors, Are Masks Mandated?

Yes. In fact, just like all Washington State events held outdoors, if there are 500 or more in attendance, masks must be worn at all times unless sufficiently distanced or while in the act of eating or drinking.

No Fresh Hop Tickets Will Be Sold at The Gate.

Keep this in mind, all tickets must be purchased in advance, and no ticket sales at the gate.

To further reduce the risk for those attending the festival, the Fresh Hop Group will NOT be selling tickets at the door. All Tickets must be purchased prior to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 2nd. Anyone wanting to purchase tickets at the gate will be turned away.

Get more information HERE.

Check Out These Action Photos from Fresh Hop Ale Festival 2019

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

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