Craft Beer Month Preview

A month of beer drinking, liver straining, palate bending fun is almost upon us. In addition to the NAOBF this weekend , there are over 120 beery happenings scheduled for the Month of July.

Roll Out the Barrels!

We'll be kicking things off one day early with 5 oak or barrel-aged beers going on tap at 5pm, Monday June 30th. 3 of the 5 beers are from Oregon, so I guess you could call it an Oregon beer event, but we'd prefer to think of it as the pay off for waiting several months for our new walk-in and draught system to be installed. Click here for more details...

Oregon Craft Beer Month Begins!

The festivities begin in earnest on Tuesday July 1 at the Horse Brass Pub. The folks at the Brass have searched high and low for the best that Oregon has to offer, including several rarities like Oak Aged Jubel and Bridgeport Hop Harvest.

Here's the details and a partial list of beers. Knowing Don, I'm sure he'll have a couple other surprises up his sleeve.

Tuesday, July 1st at 5:00 p.m.
Horse Brass Pub
4520 SE Belmont
Portland, OR 97215

• Bridgeport Brewing Co. 2007 - Hop Harvest Fresh Hop IPA
• Deschutes Brewery - Oak Aged Jubel
• Double Mountain Brewery and Taproom - Molten Lava Double IPA
• Eugene City Brewery - Track Town IPA
• Full Sail Brewing Co. - 2007 Vesuvius
• Hopworks Urban Brewery - Washoe Weizen
• Laurelwood Brewing Co. - Belgian NW Red Infrared
• Lompoc Brewing Co. - 2007 C-Son’s Greetings
• Mia & Pia’s - Whiskey Barrel Aged Barley Wine
• Mt. Hood Brewing - Wee Heavy - Cask
• Ninkasi Brewing Co. - Tricerahops - Dry Hopped in Keg - Cask
• Rock Bottom Brewery - Kolsch 55
• Rogue Ales - Imperial YSB
• Terminal Gravity Brewery - Tripel

Also on Tuesday July 1:

Rogue Ales kicks off the month by tapping a firkin of Latona Ale, the newest John's Locker Stock release. The Latona is a hazy, unfiltered amber ale brewed with a variety of specialty malts and hops for a delicious, complex flavor. The firkin gets tapped at 5pm, so you might want to head down there before going to the Brass.

Portland Distillery and Public House
1339 NW Flanders St., Portland
503-222-5910
www.rogue.com

Friday July 4th:

If you're heading to the northern section of the Oregon coast next weekend consider stopping by Astoria for some tasty beer and exploding things. Fort George Brewery will be hosting a 4th of July Parking Lot Party. "Join us as we celebrate the Nation's birthday! The city of Astoria puts on a display of fireworks on the waterfront which will be visible from our parking lot celebration!" The party starts at 6pm and runs until after the fireworks display.

Fort George Brewery and Public House
1483 Duane St., Astoria
503-325-PINT
www.fortgeorgebrewery.com


I think that's enough for today. For a huge (almost complete) list of Craft Beer Month events, pop on over to John Foyston's Oregonian blog. Tune in Monday for more highlights!

Last, but not least, we got our allotment of Deschutes Black Butte XX. It's going fast, even in this heat.

Deschutes Black Butte XX and more...

Greetings beer lovers! Just a couple quick notes for today:

Deschutes 20th Anniversary Releases - The Deschutes Black Butte XX and 20th Anniversary Wit will be arriving tomorrow afternoon. Due to incredibly high demand (and low production) for the XX we'll be implementing a 3 bottle per person limit for the first few days in order to spread the beer out as much as possible. The 20th Anniversary Wit will not be subject to any restrictions, and with the weather predicted to be in the 90's it strikes me as a perfect beer to beat the heat this weekend.

North American Organic Beer Festival - The NAOBF kicks off at 3pm tomorrow. With 70+ beers to sample you could spend most of the weekend sampling organic goodies without drinking the same thing twice. I should also mention that we still have a limited number of voucher/ticket combos left. As previously noted, they are $15 each (1 mug + 10 drink tickets) and we are only able to accept cash for the vouchers. Remember, purchasing a mug and tickets in advance allows you to skip the regular line and speed your entry into the fest.

The Rogue XS Family is Growing - The XS Imperial Younger's Special Bitter ( aka XSIYSB?!?) is coming back as a year-round product, and the new XS Imperial Porter will be making it's bottled debut. We should have several cases of each available tomorrow afternoon.

That's all for now. Tune in tomorrow for a weekend round-up, and the first in a series of posts highlighting some of the best events coming up in July. Check out the Brewer's Guild site or the new (so new it's not quite live) oregoncraftbeer.com for more details on the 120+ events taking place during the next month. Remember - Think Oregon, Drink Oregon!

Roll Out The Barrels on Monday June 30th!

We've finally gotten the new walk-in finished, the system is dialed in, and we've got 16 glistening new Perlick taps just waiting to dispense some delicious beer. If you read the previous post you may recall that I said 12 taps, and maybe you're wondering where the four extra taps came from. It's simple; taps 1-12 will be filled with interesting, eclectic, rotating beers all year, and the other 4 are set aside for future growth and special events like the one you're reading about.

Anyway, enough jibba jabba; here's the details:

Join us Monday June 30th as we celebrate the Grand Opening (grand tapping?) of our new draught system. We'll have at least 5 oak or barrel aged beers on tap and perhaps some other surprises too! The event kicks off at 5pm, and the kegs will run until they're gone.

The Beers:

Ft. George Bourbon-aged Cavatica Stout: This was the centerpiece of Ft. George's Stout Month back in February, and we're happy we squirreled away a keg. It's rich, full bodied, and leaves a long trail of vanilla, bourbon, and oaky tannins as it glides across your palate and down the hatch.

They describe it as "an immense, bold, black as night, American-style beauty; there's nothing dry or Irish about it. The name reflects the brewer's affinity for arachnia. Be forewarned: this beer WILL stain your clothes."

Ft George Bourbon-aged Illuminator Doppelbock: A couple kegs of Illuminator have popped up around town, but this is quite the rarity. I've haven't had a chance to try it yet, so I called Chris Nemlowill (brewer/owner) yesterday to get a little more info. It was brewed last fall and modeled after the classic German beers that created and defined the style; Salvator, Celebrator, Optimator, but adds an extra dose of hops to help brace all the malt. Chris took it one step further and gave it the barrel treatment for several months and basically ignored it until spring.

He wanted the bourbon to integrate rahter than overwhelm the beer, so he used barrels that had previously held a batch of Cavatica, hoping that the first beer would have absorbed the bulk of the sweet brown liquor. However, after 6 months in the barrel he discovered that the Illuminator had become a bourbony beast of it's own, so it was blended with the remainder of the batch that had been resting quietly in stainless kegs all winter. The result: a malt-lovers dream come true. Waves of caramelly, fruity malts carry the subdued bourbon essence across the tongue, and a solid blast of hoppy bitterness keeps all the sugar in check.

Stone Oaked Bastard: This is the only beer that hasn't actually spent time in a barrel, but it's so good that we'll forgive Stone for simply using oak chips instead. Becoming a year-round bottled product hasn't dampened people's enthusiasm for the arrogant brew, but kegs of OAB are still a rare treat and we're happy to have one here to help us celebrate summer with our new system. On most days this would be a heavy hitter, but at only 7.2%abv, this will probably be the most "sessionable" beer in the line-up.

Allagash Curieux: This is another special treat. Bottles of Curieux only come out once or twice a year, and this is the first time any kegs have made it this far from Maine. Curieux started out as Allagash's deliciously complex Tripel, and 8 weeks in a Jim Beam barrel added several more factors to the equation. Spices, wood, bourbon, caramel, fruity yeast esters; this brew will have you scratching your head as you pull flavor after flavor out of the glass. If you're hoping to try this one I'd suggest getting here as close to 3pm as possible. We only received a 5 gallon keg, so this will be the first keg to blow on Monday.

BJ's (Portland) Whiskey Barrel Stout: We're still a bit upset about BJ's corporate and their decision to cease brewing in PDX, but hopefully this beer will leave us with a fond memory of the place. Fresh, "unwashed" whiskey barrels are used to age this beast, so this will be the most intensely boozy brew of the bunch. If you like your whiskey with a beer back, this is the one to reach for. To the best of my knowledge, this is the last keg of Whiskey Stout in existence, so enjoy it while you can.

To recap (feel free to cut, paste, and copy):

Who: You, me, and as many other beer lovers as we can squeeze into the cafe.
What: 5 deliciously potent examples of brewing excellence, aged to perfection.
When: Monday, June 30th, from 5 to 11pm
Where: The BierCafe @ Belmont Station - 4500 SE Stark St PDX, OR 97215
Why: Because we've been waiting a long time for the new taps.
How Much: Free (as always) to get in, beer prices will vary.

Cheer, and enjoy the long-awaited sunshine!

Mug and Ticket Pre-Sale for NAOBF

We love beerfests, especially local ones, so we jumped at the chance to help out the North American Organic Brewers Festival when they asked us to be a pre-sale location for mugs and tokens.

First, some fest details:

The North American Organic Brewers Festival (NAOBF) returns to Portland’s Overlook Park on Friday, June 27th, 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. • Saturday, June 28th, 12:00 to 9:00 p.m. • Sunday, June 29th, 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. The event is Free and open to the public. Participation in beer tasting is $5 for a reusable, yet compostable, cornstarch tasting glass and samples are $1 a ticket. Children are welcome with guardians. Service animals only. Beer sales are restricted to people 21 years and older with valid ID. Discount of $1 off of tasting glass with validated MAX ticket or three (3) 4 oz cans of food. No Parking is provided for this event, making Tri-Met's MAX Yellow line the easiest way to attend.

Here's how the pre-sell works:

Come into Belmont Station anytime between now and the Thursday June 26th. For $15 dollars (CASH ONLY) you'll receive one of the compostable tasting glasses and a voucher good for ten (10) tasting tickets. Go home happy.

On the day of the event there will be a special line for everyone that bought mugs ahead of time. Breeze through this line (try not to laugh at the poor suckers in the regular line), show them your ID, and trade your voucher for 10 tasting tickets.

A quick note about the tasting cups: They are made out of cornstarch, and they break down rapidly when exposed to sun and heat. I was assured by the organizers that there's no risk of the cup melting in your hand while you're drinking beer at the fest, but they suggested keeping the cup in a dark, cool place until the day of the event. In other words, don't leave it sitting on the dashboard or you'll end up with a pile of mushy corn goo all over the A/C vents.

...And Then There Were 9

First off, I apologize for the lack of posts recently. Maybe it was writer's block, or the weather, but for whatever reason I couldn't motivate myself to sit in front of the computer any more than I already have to.

However, today is a new day, and with it comes big news. After months of planning, designing, and lots of waiting, our new draught system is almost complete. We now have 9 tasty selections to whet your whistle, and with any luck we'll be up to 12 by the end of the week. We'll still continue to rotate through all your favorite locals and imports, and the added capacity will allow us to feature a broader range of styles at any given time.

We're also going to bring in some "forgotten favorites" on occasion; classic craft brews like Pike Pale Ale, Mad River Jamaica Red, and Rogue Imperial IPA that you may not have had in a while.

It's all a work in progress as far as styles and selections, but if there's anything in particular you'd like to see on tap please leave a comment or mention it to the bartender next time you're in the cafe. With that, here's the list...

On tap as of now:

• Alameda El Torrero IPA
• Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA
• Lagunitas Gnarlywine
• Pike Pale Ale
• Warsteiner Premium
• Weihenstephan Hefe Weissbier
  
• Cascade Lakes Monkey Face Porter
• Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
• Six Rivers Framboise (aka Losen Frambozen)
  

Speaking of the Warsteiner, some of you may have received our email last week mentioning the 2 liter boots that are now available. We have plans for those boots as well (I'll save the details for another post) and if you've seen the movie Beerfest you should have an idea of what we've got in mind.

UPDATE: Thursday June 5, 2008 @ 5pm

We got 3 more lines up and running, which brings us to 12 taps. In addition to the list above, we've also tapped:

• New Belgium's Le Fleur Misseur (their spelling), a 6.5% Belgian-style blonde fermented entirely with brettanomyces. It's fairly light, a little funky, and pretty tough to come by, so stop in and have a pint. It's about as close to Orval as you're going to get on tap...
  
• Allagash Black, a delicious Belgian-style imperial stout from the other Portland. Smooth, silky, and full bodied, it's a truly rare treat to sip.
  
• Schneider Aventinus Eisbock. (Coming tomorrow) I don't recall ever seeing this on tap before, so I'm as excited as anyone to try a glass of this.

That's all I got for now. Don't forget about the Dick's beer tasting on Tuesday (June 10th) from 6-8pm. Dick's Brewing makes perhaps the widest range of bottles of any brewery in the region, and I don't know what all we'll be offering, but I can guarantee there'll be at least 7-8 different bottles to sample. We'll also have a keg (or two) of something tasty pouring in the cafe. Check the events page for more details on this and other upcoming tastings.

Viva la Choice!

One last note for the anonymous poster requesting AK Smoked Porter: I'm not sure if the distributor has any left, but I'll do what I can to scrounge one up!