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.

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!

Workshop: Craft Beer Appreciation for Women @ Fort George

From the desk of the fine folks at Fort George Brewery in Astoria, Oregon:






Announcing an upcoming workshop: Craft Beer Appreciation for Women, with Lisa Morrison, Saturday February 9th from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at the Fort George Brewery & Public House in Astoria.

Here’s an exciting opportunity to get ahead of the curve on the booming craft beer industry—a fascinating workshop by a woman for women. Beer is no longer reserved for the stereotypical man on the couch watching football. Rather, it’s a dynamic part of our culture, bursting with complexity, much like fine wine.

Increase your knowledge and confidence in purchasing, and consuming craft beers. You’ll learn about proper beer etiquette, the brewing process, styles of beer, tasting techniques, food pairing, and a history of women and beer.

Lisa Morrison, also known as the “Beer Goddess”, is a beer writer from Portland. She’s traveled the globe testing beer and has taught several of these classes.

The class includes instruction, written materials, samples of at least eight beers from a variety of top craft breweries, decadent snacks, server gratuity, and a brewery tour. The cost is $25.00. Space is limited to 30 women and the class is expected to fill up fast.

Register at the Fort George Brewery and Public House, located at 15th and Duane Streets in Astoria, OR, or call the Fort George at (503) 325-PINT.


For more information, contact Cindy at (503) 791-8456 or Zetty at (503) 791-8869.


Fort George Brewery and Public House
1483 Duane Street
Astoria, OR 97103
(503) 325-PINT
www.fortgeorgebrewery.com