North Amberican Organic Beer Fest List

The NAOBF website has been updated with this year's beer list, and while many of the attendees are bring the same things as last year, there's some interesting new entries.

Assuming the weather holds out and I get to attend both days I'm sure I'll try just about everything, but here's the stuff I'm most looking forward to (in no particular order):

Elliot Bay Hop van Boorian - Belgian-style IPA: I've had several examples of this new hybrid style (how many commercial examples do you need to create a new category?), and while they've been hit or miss I appreciate the effort that goes into trying to create a harmonious whole out of two disparate elements.

Lakefront Organic Fuel Cafe Stout - We've had the Fuel Cafe in bottles for a while now, but I just received word from their distributor that they've teamed up with a local organic coffee roaster and reformulated the beer to make it organic, so I'm excited to try the new version.

Upright Brewing Reggae Junkie Gruit and Seven (aka #7) - I don't know if Alex and Gerritt want me to say anything about the gruit and ruin any potential surprises, so I'll just say that I'm really looking forward to this one. I'm also happy to see the #7 on the list; the first batch should be ready soon and popping up around town at the usual suspects, but for folks attending the fest from out of town this is likely to be their first taste of Upright. If the weather gets toasty Alex may regret bringing this instead of the ridiculously quaffable #4, but I'm sure it'll be a popular beer regardless.

Laurelwood is bringing the Green Mammoth, on of my all-time favorite local IIPAs, but I got a chuckle out of their second entry, simply labeled "something delicious." I'm sure that's just a fun way of saying TBD, but it would actually make a great name for a beer.

Lucky Lab Recession Session Lager - First of all, great name. Secondly, this looks like the pick of the fest when you need to tone it down for a while or simply quench your thirst and let your palate recover from all the hop bombs on the list.

Those are my picks so far; what's calling your name?

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.