Press Release:

PORTLAND — Portland Beer Week released the first round of events in this year’s events calendar, revving things up on June 6 with a Kickoff Party at Lucky Lab Beer Hall, 1945 NW Quimby, and ending with the Beer & Cheese Festival at The Commons Brewery , 1810 SE 10th, on June 16.

Portland Beer Week organizers are excited to announce the release of an official 2013 beer, a dry hopped Northwest India amber ale conditioned with Brettanomyces a collaboration between Breakside Brewery and Gigantic Brewing. Very limited quantities of this beer will be released on draft and in bottles to Portland Beer Week sponsor bars and retailers.  Read More…

Posted under beer and food, beer events

Naked City Taphouse in Seattle hosted this year’s Oregon Brewers Night during Seattle Beer Week. Founder and Brewmaster Don Webb served as emcee for this fun event featuring a nice assortment of beers from some of the Beaver State’s finest breweries.

In addition to six house offerings from Webb and Naked City, Oregon was represented by three different brews from each of the participating breweries including Deschutes, Fort George, Ninkasi, Oakshire, Double Mountain and Burnside Brewing. Brewers from 10 Barrel Brewing made an appearance as well. Notable brewers such as 10 Barrel’s Tonya Cornett, Oakshire’s Matt Van Wyk, and Ninkasi’s Jamie Floyd were in attendance for this fun event. Here’s a look at some photos from this fun and festive night:
Read More…

Posted under beer events, Beer personalities, Oregon beer, places to drink beer, Washington Beer

By D.J. Paul

As the saying goes you can judge a person by the company that he keeps. Well I can confidently say that Van Havig and Ben Love are doing just fine. Yesterday Van and Ben celebrated their 1^st year in business and what an outpouring of appreciation they received. For the entire evening the beer line extended out past the door and for a significant time all the way back to the bike racks.  The duo is obviously doing something right.

And for this milestone in being in business for one year was their first foray into barleywines. Massive! is what it’s called and it has no challenges in living up to its name. Word around the pub was how surprisingly mellow it is for being so young. Nothing overtly sweet with this one! They poured their only keg of this throughout the evening and released their pub only bottle sales. The artist of the label, AJ Fosik, has his sculpture, which was the inspiration to the beer label on display inside the taproom for the next few weeks. Make sure to stop by; it’s an amazing piece.

Now lets bring it back to Van and Ben’s company they keep. Tonight is one very special night at APEX. A few friends of Van and Ben from Chicago have sent one stellar lineup of beer Read More…

Posted under beer awards, Beer Brewing, beer events, beer history, beer news, Beer personalities, beer releases, brewpubs, places to drink beer, Uncategorized

On May 9, 2013 I scored a bottle of Russian River Pliny The Elder IIPA at my local liquor store in Berkeley, CA. It was the freshest bottle of Pliny I’ve ever had the pleasure of opening. You see, the beer was bottled on the same date that I purchased it. In fact, the Russian River Brewing Co. driver arrived just as I was about to leave Pliny-less. Score!

For safe measure, I thought it’d be best to sample a comparable East Coast Imperial India Pale Ale to Pliny. No better offering seemed to fit other than The Alchemist‘s Heady Topper Ale. A bold 8% ABV double Read More…

Posted under beer events, California Beer

Press release:
Golden Valley Brewery in McMinnville Oregon, is very pleased to announce that we have hired Jesse Shue as Brew Master to replace current Brewer Mark Vickery who is starting his own brewery later this year. A  McMinnville Native, who worked at Golden Valley in the kitchen in 1994, Jesse Shue will be taking over the brewery operations at Golden Valley in late May. Jesse will be leaving his current position as brewer for Hair of the Dog Brewing Company in Portland May 19.

Jesse also worked at Read More…

Posted under beer news, Beer personalities, Oregon beer, press releases

We’re now midway through the 3^rd Annual Eugene Beer Week with many more fun and exciting events left to take place throughout the Eugene area. Brewpublic was able to make it to Eugene to take in a few of the festivities over the past couple of days.

The nice attribute that Eugene Beer Week offers is that most, if not all of the events are very affordable. The events are geared for both the beer geek and the beer novice just beginning to understand what craft beer is all about. You can take in a free sensory analysis class at Ninkasi Brewing conducted by Jamie Floyd, a few various beer dinners for $35, a Whiskey Barrel Beer Fest with free admission and the list goes on. From my vantage point it’s a week worth of fun, easy going, casual beer events that anyone can attend and make a good time out of it without draining the pocketbook.

Once in Eugene our first stop was the newly relocated and much Read More…

Posted under beer and food, Beer Brewing, Beer Education, beer events, Beer personalities, beer releases, beer reviews, brewpubs, Oregon beer

Press release:

Portland beer lovers rejoyce (sic): Hop Valley Brewing Company’s popular products will finally be available throughout the metro area.

“We’ve self-distributed on a limited basis within the Portland area for a few years,” says Hop Valley co-owner Jonas Kungys. “We’re excited that our new brewing facility will increase our capacity enough to fully serve the market.”

Hop Valley has entered into new distribution agreements with Portland-based Maletis Beverage and Morgan Distributing for distribution over 10 counties in the greater Portland metro area.

This evening from 5-8pm Hop Valley will host a special event at Belmont Station. Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer news, Oregon beer, places to drink beer, press releases

By Tyler Kreis

The craft beer scene is booming in America right now. In fact, in 1993 there were only about 500 breweries making beer in America. Today, there’s about 2,700. Here, in the great state of Maryland, are a few breweries and brewpubs that are changing the beer world.

Duclaw Brewing was starting by Dave Benfield in 1995, and opened up to the unprepared world in 1996. He started out like many of us –homebrewing to produce the kind of beer he wanted to drink rather than be limited to that which was commercially available at the time.

Within one year of Read More…

Posted under beer reviews, Beer Travel, places to drink beer

Press release:

Widmer Brothers Brewing has released three limited release beers for summer, each offering an uncommon take on a traditional beer style. Citra Blonde Summer Brew, Marionberry Hibiscus Gose, and the latest in the brewery’s Rotator IPA series, Hopside Down India Pale Lager (IPL) are now available in select markets across the country.

These three beers, together with Widmer Brothers’ new year-round release Alchemy Ale and the brewery’s signature Hefeweizen, offer a broad spectrum of flavors, ingredients and styles, and are great choices for a range of summertime beer drinking occasions.

“We have been brewing seasonal and limited-release beers for a long time, and this year’s summer lineup is among the best we’ve ever had,” said Kurt Widmer, co-founder of Widmer Brothers Brewing. “Citra Blonde, Hopside Down, and our Marionberry Hibiscus Gose are three delicious and exciting beers, all different in their own way, and are the perfect complement to the warm summer months.”

Widmer Brothers will also include part of this great lineup in the brewery’s “Brothers’ Best” variety pack for the summer. Beginning in May, the variety pack will feature Hopside Down IPL and Citra Blonde Summer Brew, along with Alchemy Ale and Hefe. 

The seasonal releases will all be Read More…

Posted under beer releases, Oregon beer, press releases

One of the most anticipated craft beer events on the West Coast is undoubtedly the annual Boonville Beer Fest. This past weekend marked the 17th annual return of this event centered around the pioneering brewery that is Anderson Valley Brewing.

Located within the serene rolling hills and oak groves in the secluded town of Boonville, about 25 miles west beyond a winding mountainous pass from Ukiah in Mendocino County, Anderson Valley’s yearly pilgrimage witnesses a great deal of brewers, brewery representatives, industry folks and beer enthusiasts from all points north, south and east. With a large contingency of the turnout representing California, the festival showcased both popular and obscure, regional and journeyed companies for this unparalleled undertaking. Read More…

Posted under Beer & Music, beer and food, beer events, beer reviews, Beer Travel, California Beer, places to drink beer