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!

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.