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Oregon Beer News, 01/31/2012

Posted: January 31st, 2012, 8:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the Oregon beer news for the final day of January 2012. I think I’m finally back on track from my site troubles and I’m getting caught up (I hope!) but there always seems to be plenty of beer-related topics to write about. At any rate, I will be updating this post periodically throughout the day, so if you have some news to share, please contact me and I’ll get it posted.

Fort George Brewery (Astoria): February is Stout Month at Fort George and it’s “all stout, all month long!” The Brewery has brewed up eight different stouts to feature during the month, and in addition, “Along side the 8 Fort George House Stouts will be a hand-picked selection of regional Stout favorites such as Deschutes’ The Abyss and North Coast’s Old Rasputin to round out the all Stout “Blind Taster Tray.” Different Guest Stouts will be released weekly.” And, as part of the festivities, the New School is teaming up with Brewvana Brewery Tours to offer a unique overnight tour to Astoria and Fort George (more details at the link).

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): They are set to release Chainbreaker White IPA in bottles by late March, their “hop-forward, citrus-packed beer with an unmistakably smooth character” that was developed alongside of the Conflux #2 collaboration beer they brewed with Boulevard Brewing—though I believe this was independent of the collaboration itself. Chainbreaker, which will be available in the year-round lineup in six-packs and 12-packs, is 5.6% abv and 60 IBUs and is brewed with sweet orange peel and coriander along with the IPA profile and (I think) a Belgian yeast.

Continue reading “Oregon Beer News, 01/31/2012” »

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Some photos of Deschutes’ remodel

Posted: January 31st, 2012, 6:00pm CET by Jon

On Saturday, we were able to hit up Deschutes Brewery‘s Bend Pub for the soft opening of their expansion and remodel, and while there I snapped a few pictures. It’s really nice, and they’ve done a good job of sprucing up the older space as well.

And, later today I’m attending a media event at the Pub, so there’s a good chance I’ll have more photos (and maybe video) as well.

Update: I also added 3 pictures my wife took of the new pizzas on the menu, and wine.

Deschutes Brewery sign

New and better use of waiting area space (southwest corner of the older part of the Pub)

Older Pub space has been remodeled with an attractive archway leading to a larger bar area (no minors allowed)

What used to be additional restaurant seating in the Pub, now part of the larger bar area; former kitchen is now the bakery and prep area

New, additional station of taps at the end of the bar to better serve the new space

Upstairs banquet area, which I believe will seat 80 people, and has it's own dedicated bar. Yes, workers were still there hanging artwork.

The new banquet bar, with the full 16 taps

Deschutes Brewery pub pizza

The new wine servings; notice they've done away with stemmed glassware and instead are currently serving in "mini pint" style glasses.

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Broken Top Bottle Shop, Bend’s newest beer bar

Posted: January 31st, 2012, 12:00am CET by Jon

You might remember earlier this month I wrote about how Bend’s Abbey Pub was changing, to become the Broken Top Bottle Shop & Ale Café; this past week one of the owners commented on the blog with details on the new beer bar, and this weekend I (along with my wife and kids) was able to visit, meet the owners and get a pre-opening tour.

Here are the details from the comments:

Broken Top Bottle Shop & Ale Café will be opening our Ale Café in early February!!! (Bottle Shop coming soon thereafter!)

The Ale Café will offer a rotating 12 tap selection of craft and specialty beer, along with wine and other beverages, to be paired with delicious, healthy food, such as smoked meats, panini sandwiches, appetizers, soups, salads, as well as awesome vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options (whipped up by Chef Bethlyn Rider). We’ll also have chilled single bottle and canned beer you can purchase from our coolers to drink at Broken Top Bottle Shop or take to-go. We won’t charge you a corking fee on the bottled and canned beer you buy to drink here. And, you can buy your to-go beer as single bottles or cans, mixed-and-matched in any number, 6-packs, and 12-packs. Come on by in early February and taste some great draught beer, have some scrumptious food, and pick up some beer to go!

COMING SOON… the Bottle Shop!!

The Ale Café portion of Broken Top Bottle Shop is only the beginning!! We’ll soon be expanding into the suite next door in order to offer you over 700 varieties of single bottle and canned beer in our retail Bottle Shop. Only Broken Top Bottle Shop & Ale Café will offer this unique combination of tasty food, a variety of draught craft and specialty beer, and a grand selection of bottled and canned beer for on- and off-site consumption.

After visiting on Saturday, I have to say I’m fairly impressed with the overall plan they have laid out for the new venture and the enthusiasm the new owners are bringing to the shop/beer bar. On the one hand, the space was already set up as a beer bar, so they’ve kept much of that the same, with some repainting, a new foot rail running along the bottom of the bar, more artwork for the walls, and so on.

On the other hand, they are revamping the kitchen—adding some equipment, reorganizing for efficiency—and have added an impressive smoker/grill/roaster that will sit on a corner of the patio and offer a whole new level of food than was available before. The menu is going to be vastly expanded, and yes, there will be a focus on vegetarian/vegan options (something that—in general—Bend is largely lacking).

And of course, the expanded bottle shop is going to be the biggest change: Broken Top will be gradually moving into the space next door, which previously hosted a wine shop and tasting room, and will be able to offer over 700 different beers (as noted above)—this is going to be huge and once fully realized, may well be the largest single selection in Central Oregon. (The Brew Shop currently has at least 500 different beers, and while I don’t know specific numbers both Whole Foods and Newport Avenue Market in Bend have fantastic beer selections as well.)

They plan to be open by this weekend (yes, the first weekend in February) though that will only be for the beer bar portion. They will be open seven days a week, from 11am to until 10pm, maintaining largely the same hours as the Abbey Pub (though the Abbey was closed on Sundays).

After meeting and chatting with the owners I can say I’m fairly excited to see the new place open: they are extremely nice and accommodating, and their enthusiasm for Bend and beer is infectious. I’m looking forward to heading over there (hopefully this weekend!) and sampling the new menu while drinking some really good beer.

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Received: Widmer W’12 and Spiced IPA

Posted: January 30th, 2012, 8:30pm CET by Jon

Just before the weekend I received a big package from Widmer, containing an imperial pint glass and four beers: two of the new W’12 seasonal, Dark Saison, and two of the latest in the Rotator IPA series, Spiced IPA. The W’12 should be hitting the shelves now, and the Spiced IPA is upcoming.

Widmer big box

Widmer shipment

As in the past, the package came in large, handsome wood box filled with shredded used coasters for packing material. They also included a prepaid packing slip to make it easy to send the box and material back, which is fairly forward-thinking (the previous two packages also did this).

Widmer W'12 Dark Saison and Spiced IPA

(Sorry for the sketchy photos, apparently my camera(phone) work needs work…)

These both sound like exciting beers to try, so I’ll have reviews and notes posted soon.

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Mississippi’s second brewery

Posted: January 28th, 2012, 6:59pm CET by Jon

One of my favorite sessions at last summer’s Beer Bloggers Conference was the one about beer laws, and in particular Craig Hendry’s work in Mississippi with Raise Your Pints, an organization whose goal is to get the state Mississippi to raise the alcohol limit on beer and to legalize homebrewing. A surprising takeaway from that was the fact that Mississippi only has one production brewery, and one brewpub, in the entire state.

Word hit this week than a new brewery is looking to get started in Mississippi, in the Jackson metro area, which would have the distinction of being only the second production brewery in the state: Lucky Town Brewing Company. Event Directory Angela Blackburn sent out an email to (presumably) bloggers detailing the brewery and linking to a Kickstarter project they’ve started to help raise seed money.

Lucky Town Brewing Company is a new planned brewery in Mississippi, and although there is no brewery within 150 miles of Jackson, the craft beer community here is thriving. As many of you know, Mississippi suffers from some of the strictest beer legislation in the country, which is one reason why there is only one production brewery located in Mississippi currently. Since the laws do not allow for many to bring their beer to Mississippi, we at Lucky Town intend to give the local craft beer enthusiasts a broader choice.

And:

Lucky Town’s ultimate goal is to stay true to our home-brewing roots by producing unique, artisanal, handcrafted ales and lagers. We intend to offer at least four year round beers that will roll out in pairs, but we also will be releasing small batch brews throughout the year that will be available in smaller quantities. Small batching will allow us more freedom to experiment with ingredients not normally found in beer that you find in Mississippi, providing for an ever-evolving product range rather than a fixed seasonal schedule. Examples include the southern pit barbeque inspired stout called “Stout of the Rising Sun” which uses smoked grains combined with roasted jalapenos and Lucky Town’s unique take on a winter warmer called “What the Elf?” that has cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, orange peel, figs and vanilla in it to give it a wonderful holiday flavor. Along with these will be the small batch Kaizen Saison, an ever evolving beer used to explore new flavor profiles and push the limits of what beer can be. We will never shy away from using non-traditional ingredients. Expect plenty of things aged in unique barrels, including sour beers that will spend as much as 3 years in the barrel getting funky.

They are looking to raise $20,000, and as of this writing they’ve raised over $7500 and still have 44 days to go. (And, I’m still extremely fascinated with the growing use of Kickstarter to fund beer projects; more on that down the road.)

I think right now it must be something between an exciting and a stressful time for the craft beer community in Mississippi, and it’s definitely interesting to watch it develop (even from afar). Let’s hope Lucky Town reaches its goal and becomes Mississippi’s number two!

Deschutes Pub grand reopening is just around the corner

Posted: January 27th, 2012, 6:00pm CET by Jon

The Deschutes Brewery Bend Pub is holding their grand (re)opening coming up this next Wednesday, February 1st—you’ll recall they closed down at the beginning of the month with a wall-smashing ceremony to finish the major expansion and remodel of the Pub—and owner Gary Fish waxed rhapsodic on their blog yesterday about the expandion and the fact that the Brewery has been holding a “soft opening” that’s been going on for about a week now.

In the nearly 24 years our pub has been open here in Bend, one thing has been abundantly clear, we need more room! We need room in the dining room, as no one really wants to wait 2 hours for a table, and we need more room in our kitchen which was never intended to serve the volume of food that has been required of it over the more than two decades its been in existence.

The so-called “quiet opening” has been underway for four days. Preceded as it was by five days of “friends and family” meals intended to give our staff, with 50-odd newcomers (they’re not odd, the number is . . . ) the opportunity to hone their skills in the new space. All our regular friends have managed to find their way back after being turned away for the past 20 days. And, the deft touch of architect and contractor, owner and enthusiast have created a warmer, more welcoming space where our bar has always stood. Additionally, the new space is more; more spacious, more seats, more comfortable, more engaging, more artistic, more . . . well, just more! Whereas we are not done yet, we have more things to hang on the walls, more details of menu and service to work out, suffice it to say, we are very pleased with the results. Even our toughest customers are very pleased with our results (and that is a relief).

I have an opportunity to check the Pub out this weekend sometime, as well as attend a media event on the 31st for the re-opening. From what I’d already seen at the beginning of the month, though, I can already safely predict that the new expanded Pub and menu is going to be a big success.

Can’t wait to see it “live”!

Server move

Posted: January 26th, 2012, 9:00pm CET by Jon

Though there aren’t any more hacking issues going on with this site, I’m in the process of switching servers so even though I have a ton of beer-related things to blog about, everything is on hold for the time being until the server move is complete.

In the meantime, there are many other good beer blogs that I highly recommend also.

Worthy Brewing logo revealed

Posted: January 25th, 2012, 4:38pm CET by Jon

Chad Kennedy, brewmaster of Bend’s upcoming Worthy Brewing, revealed the new brewery’s logo on Twitter (and Facebook) the other day:

I like it, it’s a strong, clean design with detail but not too much detail.

In addition, there is also a new Facebook page for the brewery here.

Site recovery

Posted: January 25th, 2012, 5:44am CET by Jon

I’ve most mostly offline these past few days, because I was recovering and cleaning this site (along with a bunch of others) from some malicious code that got inserted into the blog files due to the server account they reside on being exploited—or, in other words, the blog was hacked.

From a technical perspective it was innocuous enough: a bit of encoded PHP code (“PHP” is the programming language WordPress is built on) got inserted into the site files that simply redirected users coming from external links to spam or malware sites. The code itself was easy to spot and subsequently easy to clear out, but it had infected a lot of files so it took time, and of course I’ve been closely monitoring the sites since cleaning things up and locking them down to make sure it didn’t happen again.

So, if you’d tried to visit this blog over the past several days by clicking on a link from another site—Google search results, for instance, or Facebook posts—then you would have been redirected to something else entirely (possibly triggering a malware warning in your antivirus program). However, visiting the site directly—typing “thebrewsite.com” into the URL bar directly, or clicking from bookmarks—bypassed this redirection so if you didn’t know better, you wouldn’t know the site had been compromised.

Anyway, everything’s back to normal for the moment so I will resume blogging shortly.

Hop Henge (2012)

Posted: January 21st, 2012, 7:14am CET by Jon

I popped open and enjoyed a bottle of Hop Henge from Deschutes Brewery this evening, and rather than write a full review I thought I’d just jot down some thoughts. This is Deschutes’ “Experimental” IPA which masquerades as an Imperial IPA; at 8.5% alcohol by volume and 95 IBUs, this certainly qualifies in the “Imperial” department—the “Experimental” comes from the various techniques Deschutes has experimented with over the years to get more hops into this beer.

This is the bottle that Deschutes sent me at the very end of last year. I had opened a bottle (that I’d purchased) on New Year’s Eve and my impressions then are largely the same now: a bit of a damp cannabis quality to the aroma (“dank”), along with a sweet and green quality with a slight cattiness that seems to be Deschutes’ hop signature these last few years.

Hop Henge is a super-drinkable beer, with a creamy, soft and pillowy malt base infused with hops—not just bitterness, but the herbal, floral, spicy character that really highlights the hoppiness without ever being harsh. Deschutes handles hops better than almost any brewery out there: they know how to bring out the character of the hops without reverting to the scalding bitterness, or cotton-candy-over-hoppiness, that I find a lot of less-than-deft Imperial IPAs to possess.

And yet there is a hop burn, and a sweet sticky body, and all the hallmarks that hopheads seeking out the next Imperial IPA are looking for. It’s terrific. Don’t miss out.

The next Session: Growlers!

Posted: January 21st, 2012, 5:00am CET by Jon

The next Session has been announced, and it’s being hosted by Kendall Jones of the Washington Beer Blog: Growlers Galore:

These days people take growlers for granted. In my neck of the woods, growlers are a relatively new phenomenon. I don’t recall exactly when they appeared on the local beer scene but it could not have been more than eight or ten years ago. Maybe they existed in obscurity before. My memory fails me. Today growlers are everywhere. I think. Growlers are very common around the Pacific Northwest, anyway. I cannot speak to their popularity elsewhere. I’d love to know.

Tell us about your growler collection. Tell us why you love growlers or why you hate them. What is the most ridiculous growler you’ve ever seen? Tell us about your local growler filling station. Ever suffer a messy growler mishap? Anything related to growlers is acceptable.

I’ll be honest, this isn’t a topic I would have thought up. But I’m digging it.

The Session takes place on Friday, February 3rd; leave a comment at the Washington Beer Blog to participate.

Oregon Beer News, 01/20/2012

Posted: January 20th, 2012, 9:00pm CET by Jon

Happy Friday! Here’s the roundup of Oregon beer news for Friday the 20th and the weekend. I’ll be updating this post periodically throughout the day, so if you have news to share please contact me and I’ll get it updated.

Bailey’s Taproom (Portland) is holding their third annual Cellarfest tomorrow, the 21st, from 4 to 11:30pm. This year there’s no admission cost or souvenir glasses, just come and enjoy the fantastic beer lineup—each beer is available in 4oz and 10oz pours, though there are no sampler trays being served. With a beer list populated by a variety of vintages of terrific beers, this is one Portland fest you won’t want to miss.

Upright Brewing (Portland): Today is the official release of Fantasia, their soured wild-style peach ale that was fermented entirely in oak barrels. The beer will be on tap when the brewery taproom opens today at 4:30, and you’ll be able to buy wax-dipped 750ml bottles of it for $20 each (with a one-case limit). Would someone like to send me a bottle? Pretty please?

Gigantic Brewing (Portland) is the subject of a good writeup today over on the New School; Ezra visited the still-in-development brewery and provides a nice overview of their general plans, and gives a (tentative) opening date of March. Also, I was noticing and commenting on brewers Ben Love and Van Havig showing up around the state brewing collaboration beers, and the final paragraph gives a reason: “Meanwhile, Messrs. Love and Havig have been bouncing around Oregon, brewing guest beers at many local breweries. The strategy behind this–other than just being fun–is that when the tasting room is ready to open but the brewery does not have a lineup of beers, they will be able to save kegs of all their collaboration beers to have on tap. So far beers have been made in collaboration with Pelican, Breakside, Oakshire, Laurelwood, and Anchorage Brewing (yes, in Alaska).”

Below Grade Brewing (Bend): They’ve bottled up and released their latest beer in their lineup, Dangerous Kate: “Newport Market is now carrying Below Grade Brewing’s newest foray into the craft beer market, Dangerous Kate, an Imperial Cascadian Black Ale (also known as a double Black IPA). This ale is not for the meek; it is big and hoppy like an IPA but has roasted malt character as well. This is a great beer for a cold winter night, in front of a crackling fire with a good book or just good friends.”

Cascade Brewing (Portland) had a really interesting week lined up: “It’s Scottish Beer Week at the BBL House starting next Monday. We’ll be serving up Mc Shagger Strong Scotch, Lil’ Bo Peat Peated Pale, Black Sheep Stout and a Scottish IPA. Next week’s Tap It Tuesday will be Soured Mc Shagger, a 12+ month old barrel aged Strong Scotch.”

Oregon Beer News, 01/19/2012

Posted: January 19th, 2012, 9:10pm CET by Jon

Oregon Beer Here’s the beer news from around Oregon for Thursday, January 19th. I’ll be updating this news post periodically throughout the day so if you have some news to share contact me and I’ll post it.

MacTarnahan’s Brewing (Portland): They have a “New Year New Beers Brewers Dinner” tonight starting at 6pm, though information seems to be scarce about this even on their own website. From what I’ve been able to glean on Facebook, it starts at 6pm (though the event page says 5 to 8), cost is $35 for four courses. The Eventbrite page to purchase tickets, with additional details like the menu, is here. The beers that will be served are Discord IPA, Outburst IPA, Smoked Lager, and Maibock—which certainly sound like new beers to me!

McMenamins (Oregon): Next Wednesday, the 25th, is the 26th anniversary of their Hammerhead flagship beer and McMenamins is promising “Pints for $2.50 all day everywhere, contests here and on the McMenamins Pubs, Breweries & Historic Hotels FB feed, giveaways in the pubs and more.” Be sure to hit them up next Wednesday and definitely have a pint of Hammerhead!

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): The grand re-opening of the Bend Pub is scheduled for Wednesday, February 1st. Along with re-tooling the menu a bit (adding pizza, for instance), it looks like there’s a lot of excitement for the new space to open up. I know I can’t wait!

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

The Green Dragon (Portland): They are hosting a Meet the Brewer with Eastern Oregon’s Beer Valley Brewing tonight from 5 to 8pm. Head brewer Pete Ricks will be on hand to answer questions and pour beer.
Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland) will be in Beaverton tonight for a tasting: “Be sure to catch up with brewer Jaime at Monteaux’s Public House (16165 SW Regatta Lane #1000) tonight between 5 – 7 p.m. He’s bringing Secession CDA and Hopworks IPA for you to enjoy.”
Breakside Brewery (Portland) has their Brewer’s Dinner with Aquariva tomorrow, the 20th: they brewed their Italian Amber specifically to pair with this event, and for $45 you’ll be treated to a four course meal paired with the Amber as well as several other Breakside brews. Call 503-802-5850 for reservations.

Help Lew Bryson get on TV

Posted: January 19th, 2012, 6:45pm CET by Jon

I missed the boat on this the first time around, but Lew Bryson is the public face of a new Kickstarter project: “American Beer Blogger“, a proposed television show.

AMERICAN BEER BLOGGER is a half hour television series dedicated to all facets of the ever growing craft beer market. From home brewing, to micro beer; viewers will experience the very best of the craft beer culture. In each episode, Lew will visit a different brewer, each of which has their own sets of quirks and ways of doing things. Lew will talk to these brewers, get to know them, will show us first hand the various methods and techniques used in creating a craft beer. From the tiniest bottler to the largest manufacturer, Lew will get his hands dirty. Topics such as bottling, food pairing, manufacturing, distribution, history, technique (and so much more) will all be touched upon as Lew spends a day with these brewers. Some doing well in the business, others not so well. Thankfully, the DIY nature of this business can lead to some pretty different results, as Lew lends a hand and helps out in any way he can. Lew will show us all the kinds of micro-breweries currently out there. From the smallest, hippest label to large manufacturers.

The first time around, the goal was to raise $60,000 for a six-episode commitment, but they were unable to reach that goal. This time, it’s only $6000 for a pilot episode (and hopefully if that were to go well, then there would presumably be a chance for more).

And the goal will be met this time, I’m quite sure: as of this writing, with 10 days left to go, there has already been $5402 raised—which means there’s only $598 to go for the project to reach its goal. I’m pretty sure at this point the pilot will get off the ground.

Still, if you’d like to see “American Beer Blogger”, see if you can find some time to pledge to the project.

Oregon Beer News, 01/18/2012

Posted: January 18th, 2012, 9:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the Oregon beer news for Wednesday, January 18th, but there’s also another significant milestone today that you should be aware of: the Stop SOPA movement. I haven’t blacked out the entire site today but to show support I’ve got visitors redirected to a Stop SOPA page when they hit the blog the first time, and I hope you take the time to read the page now as well. In the meantime, I’ll still be updating this post periodically throughout the day as well, so if you have some news to share contact me and I’ll get it posted.

The New School blog today has an extensive 30-minute video interview with Greg Koch of Stone Brewing posted today—and it’s only part 1 of 2, so there will be more on the way tomorrow. If you’re a fan (or not) of Stone, CDAs (or Black IPAs if you prefer), and the beer industry in general, you need to find some time today to watch.

Laurelwood Brewing (Portland): On February 8 they have a unique Collaboration Brewers Dinner event, where Laurelwood has collaborated with guest brewers to produce unique beers to match up with a five course dinner. Brewers include Vasili Gletsos of Laurelwood, Van Havig of Gigantic Brewing, Alex Ganum of Upright Brewing, and Tom Bleigh of Hopwork Urban Brewery. Tickets for the event are $50 which you can pick up at the northeast Portland and Battle Ground (Washington) Laurelwood locations. This should be an amazing dinner event you won’t want to miss.

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

The Green Dragon (Portland): Tonight is their latest Big Beer Month release from the Green Dragon Brew Crew, Alternator Doppelbock, from 5 to 8pm: “A proper dopplebock brewed with Bohemian pilsner malt and supplimented with Munich, Vienna, and carafa II malts. A triple decoction resulting in a beautiful amber color with layers of malt flavor. Hopped with German Hallertauer hops providing complexity and just enough hop character to work with this malt forward beer.” 8.3% abv.
Seven Brides Brewing (Silverton): “Another Meet the Brewer promo tonight, this time down in Corvallis at Greenberry Store and Tavern on 99W… Josiah will be on hand pouring pints of Ember and talking about Seven Brides, so if you are in the area stop on in for a pint!” (via Facebook)
Fort George Brewery (Astoria): Tonight is their Indian Food and IPA Brewer’s Dinner featuring five courses plus dessert all paired with great Northwest-style IPAs. It takes place from 6 to 9pm and costs $65 per person or $120 for a couple; I think there are still tickets available.
Ninkasi Brewing (Eugene) will be in Bend tonight at the Reed Pub (1141 SE Railroad St. just off Reed Market) from 5:30 to 7:30pm, with beer and schwag to hand out.

Fort George 1811 Lager

Posted: January 17th, 2012, 10:00pm CET by Jon

Fort George 1811 Lager When Jeff of Beervana awarded the annual Satori Award to Fort George’s 1811 Lager, I figured it was high time to dust off the review notes I had written for this beer and get them published here. (I’m actually really behind on posting beer reviews of late.)

Fort George crafted this beer last year to honor the bicentennial of Astoria (the oldest U.S. settlement west of the Rocky Mountains), in the style of a Pre-Prohibition lager. Along with their Vortex IPA it was the first of Fort George’s beers to be packaged and distributed—in cans.

From their site:

Many West Coast brewers in the 19th century had no ice, so they improvised an effervescent beer by brewing lager yeasts at higher-than-normal temperatures. Described as a “refreshing drink, much consumed by the laboring classes,” it’s the inspiration for 1811 lager.

More flavorful than most modern lagers, and fermented at warmer temperatures, 1811 is lovingly concocted from 2 row malted barley and cracked maize; corn was a popular beer ingredient in pre-Prohibition days. 1811’s hop character gives it a distinctive Northwest style worthy of Astoria’s 200-year history.

1811 Lager is 5.1% alcohol by volume, and nicely unfiltered.

Appearance: Hazy golden-straw colored [my picture picked up a lot more "orange" than "straw"], lively bubbles, two fingers of nice fine white head.

Smell: Nicely hoppy aroma—Noble hops I think, spicy and floral—along with sweet maltiness that reminds me of corn.

Taste: Really pleasant zing of hops right up front, bright, bitter and popping out; they give way to a nice solid bitterness on the back of the tongue. Peppery and spicy, overlaying neutral malt backbone. Really tasty.

Mouthfeel: Light and crisp with lots of hop zing peppering the palate.

Overall: Excellent, mellow but big hops, and “zing” is the best word I can think of to describe the character here; it’s not hoppy like a big IPA but they’ve put the spicy, peppery, bright character of the Noble(?) hops to good use. I really like it.

1811 Lager on Untappd. BeerAdvocate: 85/100. RateBeer: 3.21/5, 72nd percentile.

Oregon Beer News, 01/17/2012

Posted: January 17th, 2012, 8:00pm CET by Jon

Oregon Beer Here’s the beer news from around Oregon for Tuesday, January 17th, and the snow is falling today! Here in Bend we’re predicted to get some 8-12 inches by tomorrow and though that seems unlikely, it’s still a good time to curl up with a nice stout or better yet, a barleywine of some kind. In the meantime, I’ll be updating the news throughout the day so if you have something to share, contact me and I’ll get it posted.

The Oregon Brewers Guild posts that applications are now being accepted for Falconer Foundation Brewing Scholarships: there are two being offered for 2012, one a web-based “Concise Course in Brewing Technology” open to brewers and individuals planning to enter the brewing industry, the other is for one of three Web-based modules from the International Diploma in Brewing Technology Program and is open to professional brewers only. All applications must be received by March 23rd; only people from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Northern California, Alaska, and Hawaii can apply. So what are you waiting for?

Bailey’s Taproom (Portland) is holding their 3rd annual Cellarfest this Saturday, January 21st: from 4 to 11:30pm you’ll get the chance to drink some beers that they’ve been “sitting on” (cellaring) for awhile, including such gems as 2007 Lucky Lab Old Yeller Barleywine, 2009 Lagunitas Brown Shugga, and Deschutes Black Butte XXI. There’s no admission cost or souvenir glasses, you can either purchase a 4oz. or 10oz. pour of any of the available beers—but no sample trays. Their event listing/beer list is here.

Speaking of Bailey’s Taproom, Draft Magazine has named it and several more (Portland) beer bars as among America’s 100 best beer bars for 2012. The others are APEX, Belmont Station, the Green Dragon, the Horse Brass, and Saraveza. Congratulations to all!

The Love of Beer—the movie about women in the beer industry, prominently featuring Tonya Cornett (formerly) of Bend Brewing and Sarah Pederson of Saraveza—is coming to Eugene next month, and Ninkasi will be a part of it: “The Love of Beer featuring women in craft brewing is featured in two screenings at David Minor Theater the evening of Feb 9. If you are coming into to Eugene for the KLCC Brewfest, show up a day early and come hang out with us! Beer and food available in the theater. Ninkasi tastings 30 minutes previous to each screening.” Incidentally, the KLCC Microbrew Festival is taking place February 10 and 11 this year.

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

Lucky Lab (Portland): Their Honey Bear Braggot tasting starts today at 4pm at their Beer Hall on NW Quimby. You don’t see too many braggots being commercially brewed so it would definitely be worth checking out.
Belmont Station (Portland): Today from 6 to 8pm they’re welcoming Moa Brewing from New Zealand. Four beers will be pouring.
Ninkasi (Eugene) will be in Bend tomorrow night, the 18th: “Tomorrow night we will be at the Reed Pub for a Ninkasi Night! Come down to 1141 SE Railroad St from 5:30 to 7:30. Aaron and Ryan will have shwag to give out.”
Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland): “Today at both Hopworks locations we’re officially releasing Huck IPA, the Best of Show winning beer out of 277 entries from the Oregon Brew Crew Fall Classic. Winning homebrewer John Huck will be at Hopworks on Powell around 5:00, so stop in, try his beer and say hi.” (via Facebook)
Seven Brides Brewing (Silverton): They will be as Scottys in Tigard this evening for a meet the brewer starting at 6pm.

Happy hours, specials, and cheap pours:

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Today’s Tap It Tuesday features “Gold Yeller”: “This NW style sour ale is one of our lightest offerings. Subtle aromas of honey and light bright lemon greet you in the nose. Soft malt and a lemony tartness on the palate give way to multiple layers of sour and oak that dance around the finish of this beer. 7.1% ABV / $6 glass.” Tapping at 6pm.
Bend Brewing (Bend): Tonight is Locals Night, with $2.75 pints from 4pm until closing.
Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): This week’s Growler Power Hour ($5 growler fills from 4 to 6pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) features Hound’s Tooth Amber and Badlands ESB.
Lompoc Brewing (Portland): It’s Tightwad Tuesday at the Fifth Quadrant and the Hedge House, featuring $2.50 regular pints all day long.
Three Creeks (Sisters): They have $3.25 pints all day.

Oregon Beer News, 01/16/2012

Posted: January 16th, 2012, 8:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the Oregon beer news for Monday, January 16th—Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. As usual I will be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so if you have some news to share, please contact me and I’ll get it posted.

The Washington Beer Blog points to the news that showed up in the Hood River News on the 12th that a new brewery is slated to open in Hood River by this summer: “Josh Pfriem, Ken Whiteman and Rudy Kellner expect their new brewery – called Pfriem Brewing Company (pronounced ‘freem’) – to be up and running by June. The three have signed into a five-year lease with the Port of Hood River to occupy the eastern portion of the new Halyard Building, and bids to ready the 5,600-square- foot space for the brewery and tasting room are due this week.” Josh Pfriem was formerly with Chuckanut Brewery in Bellingham, Washington, and most recently with Full Sail there in Hood River. In addition to the “classic hop-forward Northwest varieties” the brewery will also focus on Belgian-style ales, and in addition to the brewpub layout (with possible live music) they plan to bottle in 750ml bottles as well as distribute kegs across the Northwest.

Upright Brewing (Portland) is releasing their Fantasia specialty peach beer this Friday, January 20th, and Ezra at the New School has the lowdown: it’s 100% fermented in oak barrels that were also stuffed with peaches, and inoculated (of course) with wild cultures (lactobacillus and brettanomyces). “Bottles of ‘Fantasia’ will be wax dipped and sold in 750ml style champagne bottles for $20 a piece and $225 for a case with a 1 case limit at the brewery this Friday 1/20 starting at 4:30pm. There will also be just one 50 liter keg of ‘Fantasia’ pouring on draft on Friday.”

Fort George Brewery (Astoria): This Wednesday, the 18th, they have their “2012 Indian Food and IPA Brewer’s Dinner“, a five-course (not counting dessert!) meal paired with a variety of India Pale Ales—not just those from Fort George but from other breweries like Boneyard Beer and Russian River Brewing as well. The dinner takes place from 6 to 9pm and there are still tickets available, for $65 per person (or $120 for a pair). You can pick those up online here or call the Brewery directly.

Double Mountain Brewery (Hood River) has an experimental beer available that may not last long, but sure sounds interesting: “Just in time for the winter doldrums comes GRAVITAR, an aggressively hopped IPA that increases the earth’s gravitational pull by exact 34.2%, according to our estimable brewmaster. It’s got something to do with the experimental hop variety HBC 342 we used — a whopper of hop with citrus, passion fruit, lemon & pineapple notes. There are a mere 15 plants of “342” on the entire earth at the moment… let us know if you like it, maybe they’ll grow more. 7.2% ABV, 90+BU. Available in limited supply at fine beer bars around the Northwest, and at our Taproom for the next month or so.”

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

Cascade Lakes Brewing (Redmond): Belmont Station is hosting a tasting of the Cascade Lakes line-up tonight, from 5 to 8pm, including Monkey Face Porter, 20″ Brown, Cyclops IPA, Rosster Tail Ale, and Slippery Slope Winter Ale, and their King Kong Imperial Porter will be available on tap.
The Green Dragon (Portland) has two events this week: the next release of their “Big Beer Month” series on Wednesday, Alternator Doppelbock from 5 to 8pm; and Thursday they have Beer Valley Brewing in from Ontario for a Meet the Brewer from 5 to 8pm, where they’ll be sampling “the 2012 vintage of Highway to Ale Barleywine, Leafer Madness, Judas Yeast Winter Ale, and Delta 9 IPA.”
Lucky Labrador (Portland): Tomorrow, Tuesday the 17th, they are tasting a Braggot: “Brewer, Ben Flerchinger, is coming out with a new beer…kinda. HONEY BEAR BRAGGOT Tasting starts @ 4 p.m. Tuesday, Lucky Labrador Beer Hall, 1945 N.W. Quimby St.. Come try this truly unique “beer”!”
Belmont Station (Portland) is featuring a tasting tomorrow (the 17th) from 6 to 8pm with Moa Brewing out of New Zealand: “Taste 5 beers (4 here for the first time) from this Blenheim, New Zealand craft brewery, hosted by MOA’s own Gareth Hughes. This is our first visiting Kiwi dignitary so come welcome him and taste some fine Southern Hemisphere craft beer!”

Possible Elkton Brewing Company

Posted: January 14th, 2012, 7:26pm CET by Jon

This week I noticed this ad on Craigslist (Eugene, Oregon) which is looking for a Brew Master: “Brewer needed at Elkton Brewing Company. Send resume with history of brewing skills. Home brewers with carpentry or woodworking skills are encouraged to apply.”

Intrigued, I searched for “Elkton Brewing” and came across a skeletal website—elktonbrewingcompany.com—that has photographs that positively identify it as Elkton, Oregon, a small town of 200 about 54 miles southwest of Eugene and 37 miles northwest of Roseburg, on the Umpqua River and Highway 38 between Reedsport and I-5. On the city’s website nothing is listed for a brewery but there are four(!) wineries listed, so out of curiosity I sent off an email to the poster of the Craigslist ad (the email address listed on the website had bounced back).

Owner(?) Eric emailed back with a few hints and ideas of what they’re hoping to do with the brewery, which sounds like (in addition to the brewery itself) they’re wanting to offer a place for homebrewers to brew and showcase their talents (similar perhaps to Coalition Brewing’s “Coalator” program), though they are still in the early stages of things.

Elkton Brewing Company building

From the building picture on the about page (above), this is their location (Google Maps); if you look at it in Street View, it was clearly under construction in 2008 (the date of that particular image on Google). Currently it’s looking like a nice location, right on the main drag through town.

Hopefully the search for a brewer will pan out and Elkton Brewing will happen, joining the ever-growing rank of Oregon’s breweries. If you’re interested in being a part of it, send along your resume and help get them off the ground.

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Bites and Brews and Bend’s Pine Tavern

Posted: January 14th, 2012, 8:16am CET by Jon

Yesterday my wife clued me in to a local beer event that I had almost missed: the Pine Tavern, Bend, Oregon’s oldest restaurant (originally founded in 1936), was hosting an event with local breweries called “Bites & Brews“: a beer and food pairing event that brought in eight breweries and paired their beers with “food created by our Executive Chef especially for each beer, bringing out the natural flavors of each distinctly different Beer”.

I was able to attend, getting a ticket at the door (rather than reserved ahead of time), and I’m glad I did: it ended up being a terrific event for only $25, which was a great deal for what amounted to an all-you-can-eat-and-drink showcase of Central Oregon’s beer scene.

The breweries that were in attendance were:

Astute readers will note that one wasn’t actually local: Seven Brides Brewing is based in Silverton, Oregon (outside of Salem on the other side of the mountains); however, their rep in Bend, Aiden, is one of the brothers of the owners (they have a partnership of “three dads and two uncles” as the primaries) so it worked out well with the event.

Overall I think it was a good, successful beer event: the Pine Tavern is one of my favorite Bend restaurants, and they put together a delicious “bites” menu and did a great job organizing the (mostly) local brewers together to pour some terrific beers. I didn’t take advantage of the food as much as I could have, but what I did try—blue cheese-infused sliders, coconut breaded prawns, goat cheese and olive bruschetta, Dungeoness crab beignets—was delicious and I wish I’d helped myself to more.

But no matter— I was able to sample some beers I hadn’t yet had the pleasure of trying, and had the chance to talk to a number of brewery reps, and that alone was worth the price of admission. I started out my night with some Ching Ching from Bend Brewing (a fantastic beer, a sour Berliner Weisse-style infused with pomegranate and hibiscus) and a plate of food, and then moved into serious beer tasting and discussion.

10 Barrel: Founders Chris and Jeremy Cox and Garret Wales were present, and I chatted with them for awhile, along with sampling their Oregon Brown (a really nice, crisp and hoppy brown ale, malty with toffee character) and Pray For Snow (their winter ale, which is a strong ale with a lot of bourbon character this year). Among discussing their various “brewer acquisitions” (Tonya Cornett of Bend Brewing and Shawn Kelso of Barley Brown’s) we talked about their 50bbl brewhouse expansion which is coming right along; the actual 50 barrel brewing system should be in by Tuesday the 17th and Chris invited me to come tour the new brewery anytime after that.
Seven Brides: I had not tried but perhaps two Seven Brides brews before this night so I made it a point to sample the three that were available and introduce myself to Aiden Kelley, their Bend rep. On tap were Frankenlou’s IPA (ironically I have a bottle of this in the fridge that I have yet to open), Becky’s Black Cat Porter, and a Kölsch. The IPA was decent but not as hoppy as the IBUs on the label (105!) would suggest, the Kölsch I really enjoyed (a little rough around the edges which I kind of like in this style and a touch yeasty) and the Porter was great, with vanilla and licorice notes. I definitely need to make an effort to get over the mountains to Silverton to visit the brewery and try a lot more of their beers.
Silver Moon: It had been ages since I’ve had the chance to chat with owner Tyler Reichert, whom I knew from Bend’s old homebrew club before he started the brewery, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to visit and drink some Silver Moon beer, which for my money is some of the best beer being brewed in Bend right now. Among other things we chatted about the “IPA showdown” I participated in awhile back, the local brewery explosion, and beers I’d love to see on tap again at Silver Moon (particular the session Scottish Ale they had on tap way back in 2008—at 3.6% abv I really liked that beer). Also, Silver Moon currently has on tap “Trainwreck”, a bourbon barrel-aged barleywine that was brewed in 2010 and is 11.4% abv—which if you read this blog, you know a barleywine like this is catnip to me. I’m going to make an effort to get some of this beer this weekend.
Phat Matt’s: Other than their Golden Ale which I tried very early on, I hadn’t had the chance to really sample Phat Matt’s other beers—an IPA and a Red Ale, both of which were pouring. I was able to meet Paul Mercer, one of the partners, and chat with him a bit about the brewery and beers and what’s coming up. The big news: Phat Matt’s bottled beers are now being brewed entirely in Redmond. Previously, only the kegged beers were coming out of Redmond: the bottled beers were being contract brewed from (I believe) a U-brew facility in Belmont, California. However, Paul assures me that the very day of the Pine Tavern event was the first day that the beers were bottled in Redmond, so they were as fresh as they could possibly be. And they are decent beers: the IPA is an English-style IPA, more of a subdued, earthy and spicy hoppiness than the usual American citrus sucker punch; the Red Ale was my favorite of the two, having a nice, slight roastiness and malt backbone with a solid but complementary hopping. And, coming up, Phat Matt’s is developing a Pale Ale and a Pilsner for summer seasonal release.

I wish that I’d had more time to chat with the other brewery reps that were there, but sometimes that’s how it goes. As it was, I considered it a productive evening and well worth the $25 entry fee. I hope the Pine Tavern (or other restaurants in town) do this type of event again, I would easily attend future “Bites & Brews” pairings.

Oregon Beer News, 01/13/2012

Posted: January 13th, 2012, 8:00pm CET by Jon

It’s Friday the 13th! I’m not sure how that bodes for beer, but with lots of things going on today and into the weekend I’d venture to say “well”. As usual I’ll be updating this post periodically throughout the day, so if you have some new to share please contact me and I’ll update it here.

Golden Valley Brewery (McMinnville): Their new Beaverton location has apparently been trying out a soft opening, as Portland’s Hops & Barley Blog shared a view words and a picture: “The kitchen is backed up (shocker) but the Rye PA and Tannen Bomb are good omens for the success of the rebranding of this former Chili’s location.”

Today is the first day of the Oregon Wine, Food & Brew Festival over in Salem: two days of celebrating Oregon’s vineyards and wineries, breweries, and culinary culture, with live entertainment, demonstration, classes and more. It takes place at the Salem Fairgrounds and is $10 per day to enter; the Festival runs today from 4 to 10pm and tomorrow (the 14th) from noon to 10pm. For the $25 VIP package, you can purchase tickets online but that closes at noon. And 4 breweries will be in attendance according to their program: Astoria Brewing, Fire Mountain Brewery, Gilgamesh Brewing, and Seven Brides Brewing; Meletis Beverage Distributors will also be present in the “beer” column.

Lompoc Brewing (Portland): Today is the release of their Black Dawn III Coffee Stout, and it’s already generating buzz on the web. This is the third year they’ve released Black Dawn, a huge coffee stout that uses three pounds of beans per barrel (the beans were provided by Ristretto Roasters). In addition to the Black Dawn III (which all kicks off at 4pm), there’s quite a lineup: “There will actually be three different versions of Black Dawn III: one with all three coffees above, one with only the El Salvadoran beans, and one with only the Peruvian beans. We will also be pouring Black Dawn II, which featured Ristretto Roasters Beaumont Blend, and 2009 Pre-Dawn Imperial Stout (the base beer for Black Dawn I). We’ll have a taster tray available so you can taste all the different incarnations and compare flavors between the different coffee varietals.”

The EastBurn (Portland) has their annual Buckman-Kerns Brewfest this Sunday the 15th at noon, and it sounds like a great little fest: with Lucky Labrador, Coalition Brewing, Natian Brewing, Migration Brewing, Buckman Brewing, Cascade Brewing and Burnside Brewing all participating, the $10 entry (which includes a commemorative pint glass and four tickets) is a steal! You won’t go wrong with this one.

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

Oakshire Brewing (Eugene) has two Portland-based tastings today and tomorrow: today at Zupan’s Market on Burnside from 4 to 7pm, and tomorrow at Uptown Market from 3 to 6pm.
Speaking of Uptown Market, tonight they have Sierra Nevada Brewing in the house pouring their new Ruthless Rye from 4:30pm on.
GoodLife Brewing (Bend) is still in Portland today, doing a tasting and Meet the Brewers at Torta Landia from 6 to 9pm. They’ll be pouring their four currently available beers.
Flat Tail Brewing (Corvallis): They have a bottle release and tasting tonight at Belmont Station from 5 to 8pm. “Brewmaster Dave Marliave of this Corvallis Brewpub will pour complimentary tastes of his freshly bottled Big Fin Baltic Porter, Moustache Rye’d Imperial Rye Red, & Seriously Low Budget English Pale Ale in addition to his already available Tailgater Kolsch and Feathertop Pumpkin Stout.”
Upright Brewing (Portland): Today they are releasing their new Kopstootje over at The Hop & Vine; “Kopstootje is a Biére de Garde that has been made with the same herbs & botanicals as Bol’s Genever & we will be pairing the bier & Genever together Friday the 13th for an Awesome deal of 8 bucks! Alex Ganum of Upright Brewing & Jacob will be on hand for some conversation & toasting.” In other words, it’s a special shot-and-a-beer pairing that won much acclaim when it appeared last year.
Phat Matt’s (Redmond): They have two tastings today: In Redmond at the Cross Creek Cafe from 6 to 8:30pm, they’ll be pouring all three of their beers. And in Bend, over at Newport Avenue Market from 3:30 to 5:30 (also all three beers).

Oregon Beer News, 01/12/2012

Posted: January 12th, 2012, 9:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the news in beer from around Oregon for Thursday, January 12th. The week is winding down, and it’s about time to start thinking about the weekend! I’ll be doing just that as I’m updating news on this post throughout the day. If you have some beer news you’d like to share, please contact me and I can get it posted.

Full Sail Brewing (Hood River): Today is the day of their “Breakfast for Dinner” January Brewmaster Dinner, featuring four courses inspired by a breakfast menu and paired with Full Sail beer. Seating for the dinner starts at 5pm and lasts until they run out; cost is $30 per person which is a pretty reasonable price for essentially a prix fixe beer dinner (especially one as yummy-sounding as this one).

It’s never too early to start looking ahead to the coming months for events, and Zwickelmania is just around the corner: Saturday, February 18th, from 11 to 4, “President’s Day weekend, dozens of Oregon breweries and brewpubs will open their doors to visitors for the state’s 4th annual Zwickelmania. Zwickelmania, hosted by the Oregon Brewers Guild (OBG), is a free statewide event that offers visitors a chance to tour Oregon breweries, meet the brewers and sample their favorite beers.” Breweries will be offering tours, tastings, and sometimes more goodies for Zwickelmania, and in Portland, Eugene, and Bend there are even organized bus tours to take dedicated Zwickelers (just made that word up!) around to the many, many breweries. Mark your calendars!

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Today is their special “Four Goses of the Apuckerlips” tasting that I blogged about the other day; these are four Gose-style beers that were brewed for each season, and each one is spiced with (besides salt) different spices. “We’ll be serving four variations of our goses in teardrop glasses for $4.50 ($5 for vintage [Autumn]), or grab a vertical flight of all four for $8. Brewers & blenders will be on hand for questions and discussion.” The tasting starts at 4pm.

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

The Green Dragon (Portland): They have a Meet the Brewer tonight from 5 to 8pm featuring Hopworks Urban Brewery. Meet Christian Ettinger, and try the four beers that will be on tap: Helles, Secession CDA, Cask DOA, and Noggin Floggin Barleywine.
10 Barrel Brewing (Bend): They will be at Uptown Market tonight doing a sampling from 4 to 7pm. They will be pouring S1nist0r, Apocalypse IPA and Precursor barrel-aged strong ale.
Oakshire Brewing (Eugene) has a tasting in Portland today at Zupan’s Market (on Belmont) from 4 to 7pm.
GoodLife Brewing (Bend): They have a Meet the Brewer taking place at the Hawthorne Hophouse in Portland tonight, from 6 to 9pm. GoodLife beers will be on special for $3 a pint during this time.
McMenamins Edgefield (Troutdale): Tonight’s Limited Edition Beer Tasting is for La Dame Poire, a beer for which “Asian pears have been soaked for over a month in Edgefield Distillery’s Pear Brandy, then infused in our popular raspberry Ruby Ale.” The tasting takes place at the Edgefield Distiller Bar starting at 5pm and lasts until the beer is gone.
Pelican Pub & Brewery (Pacific City): “Today is the day! Riptide Red Ale and Nestucca ESB have officially released. Stop by for a pint today, order from our online store or watch for them in stores near you starting next Monday.” (via Facebook)
Brewers Union Local 180 (Oakridge): “‘Frost on the Bumpkin’, our eight grain Winter Stout, has been tapped and is awaiting liberation from the cask. We also have a rare guest cask of ‘Red Ryeder’ from Block 15, which will be followed by an even rarer cask of ‘Vortex IPA’ from Fort George in Astoria.” (via Facebook)

Oregon Beer News, 01/11/2012

Posted: January 11th, 2012, 8:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the Oregon beer news for Wednesday, the 11th of January. As usual I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day so if you have some news to share, contact me and I’ll get it updated.

The Green Dragon (Portland) has the latest release in their Brew Crew “Big Beer” month tonight: The Velvet Bulldozer, a strong ale split into two batches: one fermented in a Rogue Dead Guy Whiskey barrel at 8.5% abv, and the other the same blended with the beer aged in stainless at 9% abv. The tasting runs from 5 to 8pm tonight.

McMenamins (Portland): They have a special beer release happening tomorrow at the Edgefield Distillery Bar: La Dame Poire (literally, the “Pear Lady”). “[T]his Ruby has been dolled up for the winter season. Asian Pears have been soaked for over a month in the distillery’s “Pear Brandy”, and then dry hopped in our popular Raspberry Ale. An elegant fruit Ale, this beer is sure to please any sweet tooth.” There’s one keg only and the tasting starts at 5pm at the Edgefield.

And tonight, McMenamins Old St. Francis School here in Bend has a limited edition beer tasting also: Amaretto Gold. “Inspired by last year’s nutty Nutcracker Hazelnut Brown and the deliciously unique McMenamins’ Thompson Brewery creation Tequila Lime Wheat, we thought we would add a dash of Amaretto almond-flavor and touch of vanilla to our already famous Bagdad Gold.” Also starts at 5pm, and is limited to one keg.

Full Sail Brewing (Hood River): They’ve posted the menu for their Brewmaster Dinner tomorrow, the “Breakfast for Dinner” themed beer pairing dinner. With four courses consisting of things like Crab Cake Benedict, Smoked Pork Chop with Breakfast Potatoes, and Blueberry Blintz, this sounds like it would be an awesome dinner (or maybe that’s just me, I always like a good “brinner”!). $30 per person, and seating for it starts at 5pm.

Happy hours, specials, and cheap pours:

Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): Their Growler Power Hour continues today, from 4 to 6pm ($5 growler fills during that time), featuring Bridge Creek Pilsner and German Schwarzbier Black Lager.
Cascade Lakes Brewing (Redmond/Bend): At their Lodge in Bend tonight it’s Locals Night from 6 to 10pm, with $3.25 pints.
Occidental Brewing (Portland): Every Wednesday they feature $8 growler fills.
Coalition Brewing (Portland): Wednesdays they offer $2.50 pint specials all day long.
Boneyard Brewing (Bend): Wednesdays they offer $6 growler fills all day on their regular line-up of beers.
Three Creeks Brewing (Sisters): They have $3 pints and $7 growler fills from 4 to 8pm today.

Breweries with beers themed for the apocalypse

Posted: January 11th, 2012, 6:00pm CET by Jon

Because it is the year 2012 and it is popularly held as the year of the (Mayan) Apocalypse, at least two breweries so far are releasing apocalyptic-themed beers: Seattle’s Elysian Brewing and Portland’s Cascade Brewing. These releases caught my eye both because they’re clever and because I’ve got some Apocalypse-themed stuff brewing up myself.

Elysian Nibiru Yerba Mate Tripel label

Elysian is releasing “12 Beers of the Apocalypse” once a month through the rest of year; from the press release:

In a year-long run-up to the end of all time (according to the Mayan calendar), Elysian Brewing Company and Fantagraphics Books, both of Seattle, are planning a series of twelve beers, issued on the 21st of each month in 2012 and featuring the label artwork of Charles Burns. Taken from Burns’s weirdly apocalyptic work “Black Hole,” the labels will adorn Elysian’s “Twelve Beers of the Apocalypse,” featuring the creativity and unusual ingredients for which its brewing team is known. What twelve beers would you brew (and drink) if you knew they would be your last?

The three beers announced so far are:

January: Nibiru, “named for the mysterious planet X supposedly on a collision course toward Earth”, a Belgian-style Tripel with yerba maté;
February: Rapture, an ale flavored with heather tips;
March: Fallout, a pale ale made with green cardamom.

They are kicking off a Nibiru release party on Saturday the 21st from 4 to 7pm at the Capitol Hill location.

Cascade Brewing, meanwhile, is holding their annual “Four Goses of the Apuckerlips” event coming up this Thursday the 12th; Gose is of course the soured and spiced (typically with salt and coriander) wheat beer that’s been seeing something of a niche revival. From their release:

Our four Goses are designed and spiced for each season; they are light, slightly soured beers, all brewed with sea salt and various spices. Each comes in at about 5.5% ABV. Enjoy tasting how the different spices can affect the flavor profile. We’ll be serving them in teardrop glasses for $4.50 ($5 for the vintage Autumn), or grab a vertical flight of all four for $8. These will pour until they are gone. Spring Gose 2011 is spiced with wild chamomile, lemon peel and culinary lavender; Autumn Gose 2010 is spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peel; Summer Gose 2011 is spiced with coriander; and Winter Gose 2011 is spiced with rose hips, orange peel and cinnamon.

How can you pass up an event called “Apuckerlips”? I wish I could be in Portland Thursday afternoon to try all of these, they sound pretty amazing. That tasting starts at 4pm.

Oregon Beer News, 01/10/2012

Posted: January 10th, 2012, 9:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the beer new from around Oregon for Tuesday, January 10th. As usual I’ll be updating this post throughout the day with news that I find, and if you have some news to share please contact me and I’ll get it out there.

Widmer Brothers (Portland): This year’s Brewmasters’ Release “W” series beer is W’12 Dark Saison which sounds incredibly interesting (inspired by the Cascadian Dark Ale perhaps)—infusing a saison style beer with dark malts. And Sanjay over on the Not So Professional Beer Blog has the first review which affirms this: “I expect W’12 will be the first Saison that many beer drinkers will enjoy. So if you’ve never tasted a Saison, it’s time to give it a try.” I’m on the lookout.

Coalition Brewing (Portland) has a new beer on tap which if you’re a fan of nut brown ales you should check out: “Today is the day you have been waiting for….we put Mr. Brownstone on tap, in a special, limited release! Mr. Brownstone is a Hazelnut Brown Ale made with all local filberts, and it is frickin’ delicious!”

It’s still a ways off but the dates for the Portland Fruit Beer Festival have been announced: “The 2012 Portland Fruit Beer Festival will be June 9th and 10th with a special ticketed preview dinner event on June 8th!” That’s the second weekend in June, so get it on your calendar now.

Speaking of festivals, The Eastburn (Portland) is holding their annual Buckman-Kerns Brewfestthis Sunday, January 15th, starting at noon: “Come join us on Sunday January 15th at noon for the 2nd year of celebrating the excellent breweries we are so lucky to have in our neighborhood. Participants this year are Lucky Labrador, Coalition Brewing, Natian Brewing, Migration Brewing, Buckman Brewing, Cascade Brewing and Burnside Brewing! Admission is only $10 which gets you a Brewfest Pint Glass (a real pint glass, not plastic! Yeah!) and 4 tickets. Tickets are $1 each and 1 ticket gets you one taster or a full pint for 4 tickets. We’ll have great food and of course lots of great beers.”

And PDX Pipeline is giving away three pairs of tickets to the Buckman-Kerns Brewfest, you simply comment on that post to be entered to win. They’re drawing winners from the comments on Friday the 13th.

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

Oakshire Brewing (Eugene): Ice cream floats! “Oakshire Brewing and Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss will create their one-of-a-kind delicious floats, a combination of Oakshire Overcast Espresso Stout and Coconut Bliss’ organic, vegan ice cream. Join us for this uniquely Eugene treat. Free!” From 4 to 6:30pm at the Eugene, Cascades & Coast Adventure Center in Springfield.
Lompoc Brewing (Portland): “Join us starting at 4 pm on Friday [January 13] at New Old Lompoc for the release of 3 versions of Black Dawn III Coffee Stout, the third installment of our annual coffee stout. Our friends at Ristretto Roasters provided the coffee, cold pressing 20 lbs of their Beaumont Blend, El Salvadoran and Peruvian beans.” (via Facebook)
10 Barrel Brewing (Bend): They will be at Beaverton’s Uptown Market (the new bottle shop) on Thursday the 12th from 4 to 7pm, pouring S1nist0r Black Ale, Apocalypse IPA, and Precursor (single batch bourbon-barrel aged strong ale). If you haven’t tried the Precursor, this is a great opportunity to do so as it’s extremely limited.

Happy hours, specials, and cheap pours:

Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): This week’s Growler Power Hour ($5 growler fills from 4 to 6pm on Tuesday and Wednesday) beers are Bridge Creek Pilsner and German Schwarzbier Black Lager.
Bend Brewing (Bend): Tonight is Locals Night, which means pints are $2.75 from 4pm until closing, and appetizers are half-price from 4 to 6pm and from 9pm to closing.
Lompoc Brewing (Portland) features “Tightwad Tuesday” at their Fifth Quadrant and Hedge House locations, with $2.50 pints all day long.
Cascade Brewing (Portland): Tap It Tuesday today features “Strawberry”, a northwest-style sour aged in barrels for seven months, then on strawberries for another eight months. The tapping starts at 6pm.
Three Creeks Brewing (Sisters) has $3.25 pints all day long.

Big Horse Brew Pub / Horse Feathers

Posted: January 10th, 2012, 6:00pm CET by Jon

Back in October we made one of our semi-regular trips to Hood River to pick apples and other fruit and while there, stopped for lunch at the Big Horse Brew Pub (aka Horse Feathers). Big Horse is the third brewery within the Hood River city limits (along with Full Sail and Double Mountain), which tallies up one brewery for every 2400 people or so for the town, an amazing per-capita number (compare Bend at one every 8900 people—and we have a lot in Bend!).

Big Horse itself is housed in a large, picturesque multi-level lodge of a building that is built into a hill and backing Winans Park. To get to it you either park on the street below and climb a good number of stairs, or come in from the upper level (through the park presumably); however once you’ve made the climb you are rewarded with fantastic views of downtown Hood River and the Columbia River.

(Oddly Big Horse is one of those rare breweries/businesses that doesn’t seem to have a web presence of their own—no web site, no Facebook profile other than a Facebook “places” page—just the metadata of various review sites like Yelp and Urbanspoon that come up in a search instead.)

Climbing the stairs from the street below, there are three distinct levels to the building: the basement/cellar where (presumably) they store kegs and supplies; next the “lower” level that has a pool room, the kitchen window, and restrooms; and the upper level with the main bar and great views. There is also a wraparound deck that affords outdoor seating when the weather is nice. On the upper level there is even a small stage above the room where the Pub can host live music.

The decor and atmosphere inside is low-key, fairly typical “Northwest Brewpub”: lots of natural wood, various eclectic fixtures and decorations, friendly service. Aside from tables they also have a long booth with a raised table backing the bar, which we sat at (separated from the bar by a glass divider), with bookshelves built into the booth walls full of books and activities for kids.

Of the seven beers listed on their menu, only five were currently on tap: the two that were out were Red Fang and Vernon the Rabbit Slayer, which is a shame because I really wanted to try Vernon, a big fresh hop Imperial IPA that is a big favorite. Of the five remaining, I ordered the sampler tray, and these were my notes:

Easy Blonde: 5% abv. Hazy yellow, pale white lacy head. Tasty, a wheaty, tartish nose, but grainy and grassy in the mouth, easy to drink. Nicely hoppy for being so light.
Summer Pils: 5.1% abv. Pale, golden, effervescent. Earthy is the main impression; a little heavy for what I’d expect from a Pilsner. Not terrible, though I wish it were hoppier.
Pale Rider IPA: 6.7% abv. Brown-gold. Hoppy(ish) nose more spicy than anything “northwest” (like citrus). Flavor is earthy and full of spicy hops, nicely bitter but more English-style. An Americanized English IPA?
MacStallion Scotch: 6.9% abv. Looks right on to me, mahogany brown. A little diacetyl-y and a touch thin, but nice caramel-toffee maltiness.
Nightmare Stout: 6.5% abv. Velvety-smooth with a nose that reminds me of Guinness. Roasty, mellow, dark, easy drinking that belies its strength.

My two favorites from this group were the Easy Blonde and the Nightmare Stout, although all were fair-to-good brews. (There’s a picture of the beers in the gallery below.)

I’ll be honest, I don’t entirely remember the food, except that I think I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and I liked it: brewpub fare, but not overly heavy like many are. The lunch along with the sampler tray hit the spot as we were getting ready to spend the afternoon picking fruit; I’d love to visit again (several more times) to get an idea of other offerings and dinners.

Overall I really quite liked Big Horse; the built-into-the-hill, multi-level layout is funky and has something of an old school vibe along with the “Northwest Brewpub” atmosphere, the service is friendly and good, and the views are fantastic. I’ll return if/when I get the chance.

(Incidentally, I don’t know what “Horse Feathers” refers to even though that shows up everywhere as part of the name.)

[Show as slideshow]

Big Horse Brew Pub
115 W. State Street
Hood River, OR 97031
(541) 386-4411

Big Horse Brew Pub / Horse Feathers

Posted: January 10th, 2012, 6:00pm CET by Jon

The decor and atmosphere inside is low-key, fairly typical “Northwest Brewpub”: lots of natural wood, various eclectic fixtures and decorations, friendly service. Aside from tables they also have a long booth with raised a raised table backing the bar, which we sat at (separated from the bar by a glass divider), with bookshelves built into the booth walls full of books and activities for kids.

Easy Blonde: 5% abv. Hazy yellow, pale white lacy head. Tasty, a wheaty, tartish nose, but grainy and grassy in the mouth, easy to drink. Nicely hoppy for being so light.
Summer Pils: 5.1% abv. Pale, golden, effervescent. Earthy is the main impression; a little heavy for what I’d expect from a Pilsner. Not terrible, though I wish it were hoppier.
Pale Rider IPA: 6.7% abv. Brown-gold. Hoppy(ish) nose more spicy than anything “northwest” (like citrus). Flavor is earthy and full of spicy hops, nicely bitter but more English-style. An Americanized English IPA?
MacStallion Scotch: 6.9% abv. Looks right on to me, mahogany brown. A little diacetyl-y and a touch thin, but nice caramel-toffee maltiness.
Nightmare Stout: 6.5% abv. Velvety-smooth with a nose that reminds me of Guinness. Roasty, mellow, dark, easy drinking that belies its strength.

My two favorites from this group were the Easy Blonde and the Nightmare Stout, although all were fair-to-good brews. (There’s a picture of the beers in the gallery below.)

(Incidentally, I don’t know what “Horse Feathers” refers to even though that shows up everywhere as part of the name.)

[Show as slideshow]

Big Horse Brew Pub
115 W. State Street
Hood River, OR 97031
(541) 386-4411

Oregon Beer News, 01/09/2012

Posted: January 9th, 2012, 8:00pm CET by Jon

Happy Monday! It’s back to work for many of us so to help distract you here’s the Oregon beer news for Monday, January 9th. I will continue to update this post throughout the day with news items that I find, and if you have some news you’d like to pass along contact me and I’ll get it updated.

Deschutes Brewery (Portland): Their Portland Pub is closed today for a post-holiday employee celebration today, but will be back open for regular hours tomorrow.

Golden Valley Brewery (McMinnville/Beaverton): As I reported this weekend, the new GVB Beaverton location is slated to open on Monday, January 23rd, just two weeks away! Good news for folks in the Beaverton/Hillsboro area, and (relatively) convenient for those passing through as well, being located just off of Highway 26.

Gilgamesh Brewing (Turner) has a beer pairing dinner on January 23rd with Venti’s Cafe + Taphouse in Salem, and they have finalized the menu: three courses (with a palate-cleansing sorbet in between the first and second) paired with Gilgamesh beers (Filbert Lager, Cherry Coffee Cordial, and Blitzen Prancer Winter Ale) for $35. In addition, there will be an exclusive release of “Mega Mamba”, an imperial version of Mamba (their hopless, black tea beer).

Gigantic Brewing (Portland): The new brewery hasn’t opened yet, but founding brewers Ben Love (formerly from Hopworks) and Van Havig (formerly from Rock Bottom Portland) have been on a collaboration brewing spree around the state (as best as I can describe it from afar): brewing “Collabo Wabo” with Oakshire; with Pelican Pub for their Winter Brewers Dinner; and today with Breakside Brewery in Portland, a “Hoppy Hoppy Nanobrow” 8% abv IPA. The question is of course, where next? Hey guys, wanna come to Bend?

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

Oakshire Brewing (Eugene): Tomorrow (the 10th) from 4 to 6:30pm Oakshire is featuring “Coconut Bliss Floats” at the Eugene, Cascades & Coast Adventure Center—just what it sounds like, ice cream floats made with Overcast Espresso Stout and Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss vegan ice cream.
The Green Dragon (Portland): Wednesday the 11th the latest in the Green Dragon Brew Crew release for “Big Ass Beer Month” is The Velvet Bulldozer, a Belgian Strong Ale aged in a Rogue Dead Guy Whiskey Barrel, from 5 to 8pm. And on Thursday the 12th, they have a Meet the Brewer featuring Hopworks Urban Brewery.
Full Sail Brewing (Hood River): Don’t forget, their January Brewmaster Dinner is this Thursday the 12th, featuring a “Breakfast for Dinner” menu starting at 5pm and costing $30 per person.

Happy hours, specials, and cheap pours:

Lompoc Brewing (Portland): Miser Monday at the New Old Lompoc and Oaks Bottom locations yields $2.50 pints all day.
Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): Mondays are “locals” day, which mean $2.50 pints all day.
Migration Brewing (Portland): They offer $3 pints all day long.

Received: Hop Henge (2012)

Posted: January 9th, 2012, 8:46am CET by Jon

Deschutes Hop Henge I forgot to mention the beer I’d received from Deschutes Brewery last (New Year’s) weekend: the 2012 edition of Hop Henge. It came on Friday, New Year’s Eve eve, and ironically that same day I had seen it newly released in the store and had bought a bottle as well.

This is Deschutes’ Imperial IPA, ostensibly called their “Experimental IPA” that clocks in at 8.5% alcohol by volume and 95 IBUs. It’s “experimental” because Deschutes usually plays with the hop formulation in order to squeeze every last bit of hoppiness (not just bitterness) into this beer (previous years have seen such efforts as adding hops to the grain mill while crushing the grains for the mash).

And I already drank one of the bottles, split with friends on New Year’s Eve. Remembered impressions: “danker” than previous years—or, for those that dislike the adjective “dank”—more of a wet cannabis aroma to it. And it tastes pretty darn good.

Golden Valley Beaverton opening Jan. 23

Posted: January 7th, 2012, 6:50pm CET by Jon

Golden Valley Brewery has announced the opening date for their new Beaverton location: Monday January 23rd. I’d been following along on their Facebook page in my Oregon Beer News posts, where they have been posting photos of the expansion/construction, where they’ve been building out a handsome space with a lot of taps.

Golden Valley should be a welcome addition to the Beaverton-Hillsboro area, which is relatively brewery-sparse (especially when compared to Portland just a few minutes away!). Aside from a few McMenamins locations, the Raccoon Lodge (Cascade Brewing), Vertigo and Ambacht in Hillsboro, there’s really not much else (aside from bars). I’m pretty comfortable predicting that Golden Valley will do extremely well there.

The new location is at 1520 NW Bethany Blvd. in west Beaverton, just off the Sunset Highway (Highway 26).

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The Session #59: I Almost Always Drink Beer, But When I Don’t…

Posted: January 7th, 2012, 8:46am CET by Jon

It’s the first Friday of the month, and among beer bloggers that means today is the day of The Session: a collaborative beer blogging effort where a given host for the month chooses a topic, and everyone who participates contributes a post using that topic as inspiration.

This month our host is Mario Rubio of Brewed for Thought, and he’s chosen a theme that is less beer related than you might think: I almost always drink beer, but when I don’t…

So as we are all incredibly interesting people, and almost always drink beer, let’s talk about what we drink when not drinking beer. Maybe your passion for coffee rivals that of craft beer, or it could be another alcoholic beverage such as scotch. My daughter being a root beer fan would appreciate her dad reviewing a few fizzy sodas. Maybe you have a drink that takes the edge off the beer, be it hair of the dog or a palate cleanser during the evening.

Beer cocktails, wines, ciders, meads, you name it as long as it’s not beer. Try to tie it in with craft beer in some way for extra credit. Be creative and I’ll see you guys in the new year.

“When not drinking beer…” As hard as it might be to believe to someone who visits this blog regularly, I do not drink beer all the time. There are a number of alcoholic drinks I enjoy as occasional alternatives—spicy complex red wines, rustic dry whites, spicy rum, silky tequila—but the one type of drink I immediately thought of (as did many beer drinkers, I imagine) that I tend to gravitate towards is a natural for beer enthusiasts: whiskey.

It’s obvious, really, since whiskeys are for all intents and purposes distilled from beer. There are of course subsets of whiskey (which is primarily made from barley and aged in charred wood): Scotch (multiple distillations and aged at least 3 years in oak), bourbon (at least 51% corn), rye whiskey (at least 51% rye), and so on. In many ways I’m still very much a novice when it comes to whiskeys, so I’m always interested in trying new ones.

Whiskeys (Evan Williams Single Barrel and Oregon Spirits Distillers) When it comes to a regular whiskey—or, as it happens in my case, a bourbon—my “go to” is usually Evan Williams. Part of the reason, I admit, is that it’s inexpensive, especially when compared to Jack Daniels (for instance); but I found, once I started drinking it, that I quite enjoyed it and I feel in many ways it’s as good as (if not better) than some of the more expensive bourbons that I’ve tried. Their green label—a traditional 80-proof spirit—tends to be a staple in my cabinet, though I also have an excellent bottle of Single Barrel Vintage (seen in the picture) that my brother gave me for Christmas a year ago. I’ve been savoring that one, drawing it out, very much enjoying the vanilla and oaky character it possesses.

The other whiskey bourbon you’ll notice in my picture there is local: Oregon Spirit Distillers, based here in Bend, has been in operation for only a few years and while vodka is their primary product (2011 also saw a rum, an absinthe, and two cordials produced), they released their first bourbon late this past year. Being the budding liquor geek that I am (of course we already know that I’m a beer geek!) naturally I picked up a bottle; and while even I recognize that it’s a “hot” and young bourbon, I can tell there’s a lot of potential in there, and it’s vastly interesting to hold onto a bottle and taste it periodically as it matures.

Of course this is all just the tip of the iceberg; like beer, whiskey is a deep subject that can take years to explore—for instance, Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter, also wrote a number of authoritative books on whiskey over the years. While I won’t forgo beer for the harder spirits, I still continue to explore and enjoy this other world and anytime you don’t see a beer in my hand there’s a reasonable chance there’s a bottle of whiskey nearby…

Oregon Beer News, 01/06/2012

Posted: January 6th, 2012, 9:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the Oregon beer news for Friday, the 6th of January, and going into the weekend. What beer will you be drinking this first full weekend of 2012? As usual I’ll be updating this post throughout the day, so if you have some news you’d like to share please contact me.

This weekend seems to be “Greg Koch storms Oregon” as the Stone Brewing founder is making at least two appearances to promote both his new book and the collaboration brew with Ninkasi Brewing and The Alchemist: tonight, Koch is appearing with Ninkasi’s Jamie Floyd at Eugene’s The Bier Stein for the draft release of “More Brown than Black IPA” as well as a Tap Takeover; the Takeover starts at 5pm and the MBtB will be tapped about 7pm.

And then tomorrow, Saturday the 7th, Belmont Station in Portland is hosting Koch in a “Meet the Founder” and book signing event from 2 to 4pm. In addition to meeting Koch, there will also be several Stone beers on tap (the Vertical Epic 11.11.11, Double Bastard Ale, and Stone IPA confirmed) and there will be copies of The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. for sale.

The Commons Brewery (Portland) has an interesting set of releases this weekend, in a series dubbed “Yeast Series” (fermenting the same base beer with different yeasts): “We have two new beers we going on tap for this weekend. Both use the wort from a recent batch of Urban Farmhouse Ale, but were fermented with different yeasts. One with Wyeast German Ale yeast (reportedly Uerige) and the other with Wyeast Schelde (reportedly DeKoninck). The resulting beers show the significant impact the yeast has the beer. You can taste all three beers side-by-side for $5.” This is the kind of thing that would definitely be of interest to homebrewers (I know I’d be all over it). The Commons tasting room is open from 5 to 9 on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Lucky Lab (Portland) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their Public House on SW Capitol Highway tomorrow: “From 7pm till Midnight there will be 2002 prices on Lucky Lab beer starting at $3.50!! Plus a special release of Winter Wonderdog.” John Foyston describes Winter Wonderdog on his Beer Here blog today: “a new winter brew described as brick red, smooth, and malty — a winter beer with a sweet and nutty profile.”

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

Pelican Pub & Brewery (Pacific City): This evening at the New Seasons Market in Happy Valley (southeast of Portland) from 4 to 7pm Pelican will be pouring their beer, and at the New Seasons Hawthorne tomorrow (Saturday) they’ll be pouring from 4 to 7pm as well.
Elysian Brewing (Seattle) will be in Portland at the Uptown Market holding a tasting: “Join PDX Dave for an Elysian Beer Tasting at Uptown Market from 4-6:45pm! Order an Elysian Dragonstooth Stout on draft and walk away with your very own Elysian pint glass.” And then, across town at the C Bar, Elysian is featuring “6 beers at 6pm on January 6. A handful of tasty selections from New Belgium, including NB/Elysian collaboration brews Trip 10 ’72 El Dorado’ & Trip 11 ‘Nigel’! The fine folks behind the recipes of these tasty treats will be on hand to join in the jovial revelry.”
Oakshire Brewing (Eugene): Tuesday, January 10th as posted on Facebook: “Oakshire Brewing and Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss will create their one-of-a-kind delicious floats, a combination of Oakshire Overcast Espresso Stout and Coconut Bliss’ organic, vegan ice cream. Join us for this uniquely Eugene treat. Free!” This is taking place from 4 to 6:30pm at the Eugene, Cascades & Coast Adventure Center in Springfield.

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Oakshire’s Hellshire II has some infection issues

Posted: January 6th, 2012, 4:34pm CET by Jon

Oakshire Brewing‘s recent release of Hellshire II—a barrel-aged imperial stout—appears to be dealing with a lactobacillus infection. Brewmaster Matt Van Wyk posted on the Oakshire blog:

We regret to inform you that our recently released Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with Coffee, Hellshire II, has been found to contain some flavors that we did not intend. Through our own QC/QA program, we suspected there could be a problem. It has now been discovered through lab results conducted by our colleagues at Widmer Brothers Brewing in Portland that this beer may contain lactobacillus. In most beers, this is known as a beer spoiler and can lead to acidic and tart flavors.

Again, I’d like to apologize to you for not meeting the mark we set at Oakshire in terms of quality and consistency. We’ve assessed the situation and are confident that we can avoid similar challenges in the future. Also, please be patient with us as we traverse through this first time situation and correct it.

This sort of thing happens from time to time, even with the big breweries; remember that Deschutes Brewery’s 2009 Reserve Series (The Abyss and Mirror Mirror) dealt with a brettanomyces infection—and they’re one of the largest craft breweries in the country. It’s an inherent risk is dealing with barrels, and for my money it’s an entirely forgivable situation (unless of course it’s repeated over and over again).

Oakshire is stepping up to honor returned bottles of Hellshire II for unsatisfied customers, as well, offering the following options:

1) Keep your bottle, but consider storing it cold so that it doesn’t build more acidity.
2) Bring your unopened bottle to us at the brewery during the next Hellshire release and give us another chance. We’ll swap it out.
3) Bring your unopened bottle to the tasting room during open hours and we will trade you for an equal dollar amount of our regular bottled beer.
4) Bring your unopened bottle to the tasting room during open hours and we will reimburse you for your purchase.

You will need to bring your bottle in person, however, and do not ship it—the brewery can’t accept bottles shipped directly. Nor should you return it to your retailer, unless they accept returns on bottled beers.

I’ve had the Hellshire II (split a bottle with friends) and found no flaws with it. Though personally, in the same way that I actually liked a bit of brett in the Deschutes beers, I think I might well like a bit of lacto in this one—for me sometimes the unintentional flaws result in something new and not entirely unpleasant.

Regardless, I certainly commend Van Wyk and Oakshire for the handling of this situation—there undoubtedly are (or will be) the predictable complaints from some people about “bad” beers, but Oakshire has gotten out in front of it and is willing to accommodate folks without question, and that’s a class act.

Oregon Beer News, 01/05/2012

Posted: January 5th, 2012, 8:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the beer news from around Oregon for Thursday, the 5th of January. As usual I’ll be updating this post throughout the day, so if you have some news to share contact me and I’ll update.

GoodLife Brewing (Bend) has a series of Meet the Brewer events coming up in Bend and Portland, and tonight is the first two—in both cities. Here in Bend, it’s taking place at Timbers Bar & Grill from 5 to 9pm; and in the Portland area, it’s at Maher’s Pub in Lake Oswego. All four of GoodLife’s current lineup will be pouring (Mountain Rescue Pale Ale, Descender IPA, Pass Stout and Scottish Heart Scotch Ale). The next Portland events will be next week on the 11th, 12th, and 13th.

Next week, the 13th and 14th (Friday and Saturday, respectively) the Oregon Wine, Food & Brew Festival kicks off in Salem: two days of celebrating Oregon’s gastronomy and drink. The Fest runs from 4 to 10pm on Friday and noon to 10pm on Saturday; admission each day is $10 (though doesn’t include samples), and gets you access to reps from Oregon’s wineries and breweries, as well as culinary demos and classes, live entertainment, and more. It’s taking place at the Oregon State Fairgrounds, and a quick look at their current exhibitors list reveals the following breweries will be there:

Astoria Brewing
Fire Mountain Brewery
Gilgamesh Brewing
Seven Brides Brewing

Pelican Pub & Brewery (Pacific City): If you were wanting to attend their Winter Brewers Dinner on the 28th featuring Ben Love and Van Havig of Gigantic Brewing (in a collaboration with Pelican), there are only 8 tickets left for the event so you’d better jump on it. The cost is $75, and sounds like a great night (the collaboration beer between Gigantic and Pelican is “Schwartz Genug”, a Baltic Porter).

Oakshire Brewing (Eugene): Van Havig and Ben Love of Gigantic Brewing sure are getting around: today they’re brewing a collaboration beer with Matt Van Wyk of Oakshire, named “Collabo Wabo.” “Serious work happening at Oakshire today – A collaboration beer brewed by Oakshire Brewmaster Matt Van Wyk and veteran brewers Van Havig and Ben Love of soon to be open Gigantic Brewing Company. Look for Collabo Wabo to be out at the end of the month!” And based on both the limes and the tequila in the picture, one can only wonder what sort of beer these three are dreaming up…

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

The Green Dragon (Portland): Tonight’s Meet the Brewer event is featuring Seven Brides Brewing out of Silverton, from 5 to 8pm. Seven Brides posted some details: “Beers tapped at 5pm and Josiah will be there to chat about the beers at about 6pm, so drop on in… Frankenlou’s IPA, Drunkle, and Brandy Barrel Aged Black Cat will all be pouring this evening!”
The Bier Stein (Eugene): Tomorrow they are featuring the release party for the Ninkasi/Stone/Alchemist collaboration beer “More Brown than Black IPA”, including a Tap Takeover with Ninkasi and Stone brews. The Tap Takeover starts at 5pm, and the MBtB will be tapped around 7pm—and as a special feature, both Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi and Greg Koch from Stone Brewing will be on hand to celebrate! (Presumably Koch is kicking off his Oregon tour as he’s appearing at Belmont Station the next day.)
The Commons Brewery (Portland): They have a Brewery Dinner on January 26th starting at 7pm, with a cost of $42 per person. “Chef Ben Meyer teams up with The Commons Brewery to prepare a four course dinner paired with The Commons beers. The dinner will be held in the brewery where we’ll have seating for 30 people.”
McMenamins Fulton Pub (Portland): The release of Black ‘Ops CDA kicks off this Limited Edition Beer Tasting, starting at 5pm. “What we can tell you is that it is a very dark beer that has a garnet hue when held to light. It first greets the drinker with an aroma that is citrusy, piney, and faintly toasty. The flavor of this clandestine ale is mellow at first with both toasted and chocolate notes. From there, its aggressive citrusy, piney, spicy & resinous hop character takes control.” It’s 6.71% abv.

Oregon Beer News, 01/04/2012

Posted: January 4th, 2012, 9:00pm CET by Jon

Here’s the Oregon beer news for Wednesday, the 4th of January. As usual I’ll be curating and posting news items throughout the day, so contact me if you have something to share that you’d like to see here.

Worthy Brewing (Bend): The upcoming brewery and beer garden proposed for Bend’s east side was featured in an article in yesterday’s local newspaper the Bulletin, detailing out additional features of the brewery project and revealing that construction should break ground by the middle of February. “Aside from the 30-barrel system and a tasting room, the brewery will feature a laboratory, a yeast-propagation area, and a beer garden where customers will be able to eat and drink, according to plans the company has filed with the city of Bend. [Brewmaster Chad] Kennedy expects the brewery to start pumping out beer by the end of 2012.” Can’t wait for this one to open!

Golden Valley Brewery (McMinnville): Their Beaverton location is coming right along nicely, with furniture in place, the bar all set, and keg washing going on—they mentioned on Facebook that they should have a firm opening date to announce by Friday this week.

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

The Green Dragon (Portland): They kick off their “Big Ass Beer Month” today featuring Big beers each Wednesday through January. Tonight’s beer is “The Count” Russian Imperial Stout. This is a 9.5% abv brewed by the Green Dragon Brew Crew back in March of last year. The release starts at 5pm.
The Green Dragon tomorrow night has a Meet the Brewer featuring Silverton’s Seven Brides Brewing. Three beers will be pouring: Drunkle, Frank N Lou IPA, and Brandy Barrel Aged Black Cat Porter, and runs from 5 to 8pm.
Ninkasi (Eugene): They have a tasting at Fisherman’s Market in downtown Eugene, with a smoked salmon burger and beer special for $7.99. That’s taking place from 5 to 8pm tonight.

Happy hours, specials, and cheap pours:

Cascade Lakes Brewing (Redmond/Bend): It’s Locals Night at their Lodge in Bend, from 6 to 10pm, with $3.25 pints.
Occidental Brewing (Portland): Every Wednesday they offer $8 growlers.
Coalition Brewing (Portland): Wednesday features $2.50 pints all day.
Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): This week’s Growler Power Hour features Hound’s Tooth Amber and Bridge Creek Pilsner. The Growler Power Hour runs on Tuesday and Wednesday from 4 to 6pm and offers $5 growler fills on those two beers.
Boneyard Beer (Bend): Wednesdays they fill growlers for only $6.
Three Creeks (Sisters): They offer $3 pints and $7 growlers from 4 to 8pm.

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Bend’s Abbey Pub changing hands, name

Posted: January 4th, 2012, 6:00pm CET by Jon

There are changes in store for The Abbey Pub here in Bend: owner Geoff Marlowe has sold Pub to a group that is planning on expanding and adding an even larger beer selection. The announcement was included in the latest emailed draft list:

Finally, as some of you know I have sold the Pub and a new group of people are coming in. This is going to be exciting to see the changes that they are going to be implementing. They are going to be expanding into the space next door and adding an expansive bottle selection. So I need to drain the above kegs, thus ALL PINTS WILL BE $3.50 until the kegs are gone! I know several are getting low so if you want the best selection get on down sooner than later. Thanks for all your support over the last 2 1/2 years. Hope to see you soon.

After emailing for more details, I learned than it’s a group of four who are buying the Pub and are planning on expanding into the space next door (a former wine bar/tasting room named WineStyles) and installing a big cooler to hold many more bottles. Tentatively, the name will be “Broken Top Bottle Shop” but as with anything else that could change.

I’m sorry to see the Pub change, its a neat space and mellow bar with good taps—and who could forget it was the only Central Oregon venue to get a keg of Pliny the Younger last year? Though I’m glad it’s not shutting doors entirely, and let’s hope the new owners are successful in the transition.

Oregon Beer News, 01/03/2012

Posted: January 3rd, 2012, 7:00pm CET by Jon

It’s the first “Oregon Beer News” post for 2012 and there’s been some interesting things going on as 2011 closed out and the new year rolled in. I’ll be collecting news and updating this post throughout the day, so if you have something to share please contact me and I’ll update it here.

Barley Brown’s Brewpub (Baker City): The big news that broke over the weekend (I wrote about it here and here) is that brewer Shawn Kelso is leaving Barley Brown’s, destined to head up 10 Barrel Brewing‘s new Boise brewpub operation. Kelso will have free reign in Boise to brew whatever he likes (presumably along with the house beers) and is likely leaving Barley Brown’s in March (according to Brewpublic).

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): The Bend Pub is now officially closed for much (or most) of the rest of January, in order to complete the expansion project; last night (January 2nd) they held a “wall smashing ceremony” to open up the passageway between the old pub and the new addition, and I was there taking video of the event. The Pub will be closed at least 2-3 weeks, though since construction projects can be unpredictable, there’s no firm date set for the re-opening yet.

Full Sail Brewing (Hood River): Next Thursday the 12th they are hosting their January Brewmaster Dinner featuring a “Breakfast for Dinner” theme. (“Brinner”!) No menu posted yet, but these dinners are typically four courses and paired with Full Sail beers (of course) and cost $30 per person; it starts at 5pm and continues until they run out.

Belmont Station (Portland) has a big event coming up this Saturday, the 7th: Stone Brewing founder Greg Koch will be visiting for a “Meet the Founder” event from 2 to 4pm promoting his book The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: “This is the story of the 15 year history of Stone Brewing Co. with insights into the entrepreneurial story, and keys to business success. Plus stories behind EVERY Stone beer & 18 homebrew recipes for Stone beers — the largest collection ever. We’ll have copies to sell for the event. Stone 11.11.11 Vertical Epic Ale, Double Bastard Ale, and Stone IPA on tap.” (Read my review of the book here.)

Lucky Labrador Brewing (Portland): The Lucky Lab Public House location on SW Capitol Highway is turning 10 years old this Saturday, January 7th, with special prices and live music: “From 7pm till 12pm, there will be 2002 prices on all Lucky Lab beers. That means that all Lucky Lab pints will be starting at $3.50!!! Also!! There will be live music from 8pm – 11pm by local bands Wild Ones and Ish Phoenix! Come join us in celebration of the birth of our 2nd location and have a cheap pint with friends and family!!” The Public House is located at 7675 SW Capitol Hwy in Portland.

Happy hours, specials, and cheap pours:

Bend Brewing (Bend): Today is Locals Night, with $2.75 pints from 4pm to closing, and half-price appetizers from 4 to 6pm and 9pm to closing.
Lompoc Brewing (Portland) features their Tightwad Tuesday at Fifth Quadrant & Hedge House, with $2.50 pints all day long today.
Three Creeks Brewing (Sisters) has $3.25 pints all day on Tuesday.
Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): This week’s Growler Power Hour features Hounds Tooth Amber and Bridge Creek Pilsner. The Growler Power Hour runs on Tuesday and Wednesday from 4 to 6pm and offers $5 growler fills on those two beers.

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): “Silver Moon will be in Portland @ Stotty’s Pub tonight, 1/3/2012, sampling out our HopFury IPA! If you’re in the area swing in for a pint of HopFury IPA from 6-8 pm. 12122 Scholls Ferry Road, Tigard” (via Facebook)
The Green Dragon (Portland): The folks at The Green Dragon have declared January to be “Big Ass Beer Month” and each week will be featuring a Big Ass Beer: Tomorrow, Wednesday the 4th, they will be releasing The Count Russian Imperial Stout starting at 5pm: “The Count has a deep black color which coats the glass leaving dark swirls on the sides when you set it down. Truly, legs to die for. A tight, creamy head and the aroma of roasted malt complement the smooth delivery of high-octane from the first sip to the last. Layers of flavors with a persistent bitterness and the lasting presence of dark roasted malt make this beer easy to identify as stout. Made with seven malts and a liberal dose of Zeus flower hops this imperial stout is worthy of the royal court although many will not remember much after spending time with The Count (muahahaha).” Stats: 9.5% abv, 106 IBUs.
Cascade Brewing (Portland): Tap It Tuesday tonight is featuring “Filbert”, a “live barrel of NW-style sour ale that started as a strong blond barrel aged for four months, then additionally aged on pressed filbert nuts for three months”—sounds quite yummy! The pouring starts at 6pm, and it’ll cost $6.50 for a glass (8.2% abv).

Video and photos of Deschutes wall smashing

Posted: January 3rd, 2012, 4:00pm CET by Jon

Deschutes Brewery is adding a major expansion to their original Bend Public House, and Monday evening they held a “wall smashing ceremony” (akin to a groundbreaking) to celebrate the final weeks of the construction process. The wall smashing took place at 9pm, and people were packing into the Pub for the event well before; I was able to get down there before 8:30 to enjoy a beer (Imperial Bachelor Bitter) and shoot some video of the event, as well as grab some pictures of the new space.

Video of owner Gary Fish smashing through the wall (following a short speech):

And, a gallery of the pictures I snapped while I was there:

[Show as slideshow]

It’s a very impressive space, easily (to my eye) more than doubling the current capacity. I already predict the balcony seating during the summer will be the most coveted spots in the house!

Shawn Kelso IS joining 10 Barrel

Posted: January 2nd, 2012, 11:26pm CET by Jon

It would appear yesterday’s speculation about the future of Barley Brown’s brewer Shawn Kelso was correct, and now the cat is officially out of the bag: Kelso will be joining 10 Barrel Brewing at their upcoming Boise brewpub.

Brewpublic has the story, and just a little while ago 10 Barrel themselves issued a press release. Kelso has been with Barley Brown’s for 11 years, and should be moving to 10 Barrel in March.

Full press release after the jump.

Official Statement
Internationally Recognized brewer, Shawn Kelso, Joins 10 Barrel Brewing
All Star Brewer to head Boise Brewhouse and Join Product Development Team with Tonya Cornett and Jimmy Seifrit at 10 Barrel

10 Barrel Brewing Company is proud to announce another world class addition to our brewing team in Shawn Kelso, former Brewmaster of Barley Brown’s Brewing. Shawn is one of the highest decorated single brewers in the country, winning 50 national medals over the last seven years. He will be the Brewmaster of 10 Barrel’s second brewpub, opening this summer in Boise, ID. Shawn will also play an integral role in all product development for the overall company, working hand-in-hand with Tonya Cornett on our 10 Barrel experimental system in Bend.

“What I am most excited about is having the opportunity to work with such world-class talent in Jimmy and Tonya. Joining 10 Barrel is a chance to jump on board with a really aggressive young company that is working hard to push the boundaries of conventional brewing in the northwest. They are providing me an opportunity to not only contribute to that growth, but to play a critical role in helping shape the direction of the company and challenging myself as a brewer. Joining an up and coming brew scene in Boise will allow me to really showcase my talents in front of a larger audience, including the entire 10 Barrel footprint” Shawn Kelso.

Un-Official 10 Barrel Statement
Big Daddy Kelso Finally on Board!!

We started talking about expanding our brewery about 2 years ago. In our first meeting, we put together an impossible to obtain wish list of the top three brewers that we’ve always wanted to work with to lead our brewery. With the addition of Shawn, the list is now complete!

Forget about their talents in brewing, there aren’t three other people anywhere that we have more fun working, playing, and drinking beer with. We are going to completely turn these three loose and see just how far they can push the beer culture. From our perspective, it’s not about all of the medals they have in their resumes; it’s about their talent, passion, and shared desire to recreate the brewing wheel. As a team, we’re super excited about making one hell of a run with our new leaders at our Boise brewpub and new brewery.

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Today is the last day Deschutes’ Bend Pub will be open for a month

Posted: January 2nd, 2012, 8:00pm CET by Jon

Deschutes Brewery Public House Deschutes Brewery is in the process of remodeling their downtown Bend Public House, and today (Monday, January 2nd) is the last day they will have the Pub open for most of the rest of January.

Accordingly, tonight they will be holding a “wall smashing ceremony” to kick off the final stages of the remodel:

This Monday we will kick off the New Year with a bang…literally. The first Locals’ Night of 2012 will be the last in the Bend Public House as we know it. Come down and join us for this monumental “Wall Smashing” ceremony on January 2nd at 9 PM as Gary Fish, owner and founder of Deschutes Brewery, takes a sledgehammer to the wall that will connect the old space with the new (see archway above). And if that isn’t enough, we’ll be tapping ONE keg of Veronica Vega’s newest creation, Imperial Bachelor Bitter, at 5pm!

There’s no definitive word on when the Pub will re-open yet (as big construction projects go, even though there’s a target deadline that doesn’t always hold for a variety of reasons) but as soon as I get word of the official date I’ll post it here.

If you’re in Bend today, get your Deschutes fix while you can! (The tasting room and Portland Pub will still be open during this time of course.)

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Shawn Kelso is leaving Barley Brown’s

Posted: January 1st, 2012, 8:19pm CET by Jon

Some interesting news to ring in 2012, as announced on Twitter and Facebook last night by Barley Brown’s owner Tyler Brown: Shawn Kelso, Brewmaster of the Baker City, Oregon brewpub, is leaving.

As many of you have heard, Shawn Kelso is leaving Barley Brown’s to take a brewing job at larger brewery. We wish him the the best of luck in his new adventure.

No further details yet of course, and I’ve got an email out to Brown to find out more. I admit I’m both awfully surprised yet not-entirely-surprised; for when the New School wrote about 10 Barrel Brewing in November, this tidbit stood out:

But if all that is not epic enough, the big news is that the groundwork has been laid for yet another new brewery and brewpub in a very different locale–Boise, Idaho. Currently the brewery’s beers are not available outside of Oregon, so the move to Boise is a surprising jump, especially as most Oregon brewers move vertically to Washington or California. The Cox brothers believe Idaho is an untapped market and Boise is just a city they like. As a base of operations, a new 10 Barrel Brewhouse along with a brewpub is to be announced this coming year and the lease has already been signed. Much like the seasonal and experimental brews they hired Tonya Cornett to brew, they have again reached deep to hire another very well-known and well-liked award winning Oregon brewer who will be relocating for the job. As of now these guys are tight lipped about who said brewer is, but believe me when I say it will be quite shocking when said brewer makes his announcement and puts in his resignation from his current brewery.

I have to admit, my first thought when I read this was, “It’s Shawn Kelso”—partially because Baker City is (relatively) close to Boise, and partially because that would be a huge coup and shocking news.

Pure speculation, of course, and when I find out more I’ll post the news here.

In the meantime, big congratulations to Kelso wherever he lands, and I’m hoping for good news for Barley Brown’s as well.

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