Nation’s economy is down, but it’s not reflected in beer sales

Attendance at the 13th annual Holiday Ale Festival stays consistent, bringing in 17,000 beer lovers

from organizer Chris Crabb

PORTLAND, Ore. – Dec. 12, 2008 – Sunny skies and mild temperatures set the mood for the 13th annual Holiday Ale Festival, which witnessed attendance consistent with the year prior: final numbers reached 17,000. The West Coast’s most prestigious winter beer festival took place Dec. 3 through Dec. 7 at Pioneer Courthouse Square.


Organizers added a fifth day to the event this year, which was well-received by the public. According to event manager Preston Weesner, the goal was to have 500 attend on opening day: more than 1,000 turned up, many to sample an additional eight special beers that weren’t available the rest of the weekend. A new annex with a third bar was also deemed a success, as it helped to alleviate the crowds in the main tent.

The Belgian Beer and Brunch, an auxiliary event held on the Sunday of the festival, sold out, with more than 80 people sampling prestigious beers and noshing on pastries, meats and cheeses.

The Holiday Ale Festival presented more than 50 robust winter craft beers on draught, all of which were either created for the event, or were rare or vintage beers not readily available in the state. These winter warmers were all designed to ward off the chill of winter and warm both the palate and soul. Complex in aroma and flavor, these beers were rich in color, big in body, and high in alcohol.


The People’s Choice winner, which was determined by the beer that went through the most kegs, was Collaborator’s Hallucinator Olde Ale, followed by the Holiday Ale Festival/Hair of the Dog Commemorative Blend Jim II.

Festival attendees stayed warm and dry under a large clear-topped tent that covered the venue while allowing for views of the city lights. Gas heaters created a cozy ambiance under the boughs of the city’s Christmas tree.

In addition to beer tasting, the Holiday Ale Festival also featured on-site food from Rogue Ales, event merchandise, complimentary Crater Lake Sodas for designated drivers, organic cheese pairings, mead sampling, and seasonal background music.

Next year’s Holiday Ale Festival will take place Dec. 2 through 6, 2009. For more information about the Holiday Ale Festival, visit www.holidayale.com or call 503-252-9899.

Did You Miss Out on the Fresh Hop Fest

Night of the Living Hops
Long lines and kicked kegs get you bummed out at this year's Portland Fresh Hop Festival? Well, fret no more, brave Lupulin lovers. Belmont Station still has some hopolicious brews for you to try (on tap and in bottles). I scanned the menu of beers from Monday October 20's Hop Night. Not sure what is left, but there's a lot to love. Check it out here: http://brewpublic.com/places-to-drink-beer/hop-revival/
Hop to it!

BridgePort Brewing Company to Release Its Inaugural Fruit Ale

By Angelo De Ieso II

On April 24, 2008, Oregon’s oldest craft brewery, BridgePort will release the Stumptown Tart—a Belgian ale aged in pinot noir barrels and blended with a healthy amount of fresh Oregon marion berries. BridgePort brewmaster Karl Ockert says of the Tart “I’ve never done a beer like this. Period.” The base beer for the Tart was a Belgian golden ale that finished at about 8% ABV. “We split off about a third of that and we went to Carlton Wine Studio and picked up 23 French oak casks.




On April 3rd, with the other two-thirds Ockert and company employed 2,000 pounds of Oregon marion berries and refermented with the fruit. They then blended the two with yeast and sugar for bottle fermentation. The beer was bottled on April 7th. The Stumptown Tart is a bold, extreme beer for which Ockert is realistic. “It’s an expensive beer to produce. We may never do this again.” He also recommends tasting the beer sooner than later. “It should age fairly well, but the fresh fruit character will be lost over time. It’s probably best to enjoy over the summertime and move on.” “We’re bottling up 1,800 cases (of 22-ouncers) and hoping to sell it throughout the summer” says Ockert. “I’m not sure if we’ll need any more or not.”






So what was the inspiration behind this innovative new brew? “I’ve always been impressed with a good friend of mine in New Glarus, Wisconsin named Dan Carey who makes something called the New Glarus Red” explains Ockert. “It’s a really great Belgian cherry red ale with a really delicious little tart, sour finish to it. So I wanted to do something like that. So, I emailed him to ask him how to do that. And he promptly emailed back and said, ‘I’ll tell you about anything else in the brewery, but I won’t tell you how I make New Glarus Belgian reds.’ So I kind of came up with this one on my own.”









BridgePort’s Stumptown Tart ale will be made available following it release party at the BridgePort brewpub and bakery at 1313 NW Marshall St. in Portland, Oregon on April 24, 2008 from 5pm-8pm. Bernie Dexter, the model who appears on the bottle’s label with also be present at the kickoff to sign labels. This is a free event.

How Much?

Alright loyal readers, here's a great chance to make your opinion known. Based on our web traffic I know that there's only 1-2 comments per 100 readers, but I'm hoping that some of the lurkers will give me some feedback on this one. We've been given a chance to pre-order some cases of the Ola Dubh series from the Harviestoun brewery in Scotland. Essentially, it's an 8% imperial porter aged in Highland Park casks. For the first run, they've aged the beer in 12yr, 16yr, and 30yr Highlannd Park Single Malt barrels. If the project is well received they'll continue the series with 40 year and 60 year barrels.

My question to you is this: How much should we get? Outside the reviews, the only information I have is that the bottles are 11.2oz and will apparently cost $10-11 for the 12yr, $11-12 for the 16yr, and $16-18 for the 30yr (Don't quote me on that, prices subject to change, blah,blah blah). I would assume that the more we order the lower the aggregate shipping cost will be, and I'm not sure we'll be able to get more than one order, so I was hoping I could use this post to gauge interest in this series.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm intrigued enough that I'm going to order at least a couple cases of each no matter what, but I want to make sure we get enough for everyone who'd like to try it. Considering the recent frenzy around barrel-aged beers like Abyss and Top Sail, I figured I'd do what I can to keep people informed.