Growler’s Taproom Announces DIY Invitational Beer Lineup

Over the past couple of months, owners Binh Pham and Joe Rodgers have transformed the former Growlers Hawthorne space into the freshly remodeled Growler’s Taproom. In this transition Pham and Rodgers have transformed the once growler fill shop into a full beer bar. The new business will still fill growlers in your own container along with new smaller sized Crowlers in 8oz, 12oz and 16oz cans. However the focus on the new business will to feature beer that is consumed on premise and inside its newly added beer garden.

During this change over the two business partners brought in Jim Parker to assist in the taproom as Ruby Fusaro continues on as the beer buyer. Prior to coming to Growler’s Taproom, Parker previously worked at Baerlic Brewing for the past few years. In his position at Baerlic he was part of the brewery’s distribution team. In a nutshell he was the person that did sales and delivered kegs to the brewery’s accounts. Baerlic is similar to many other breweries that self distribute its beer and do not rely on an outside beer distributor to do so.

So to bring to light many of these smaller breweries that also self distribute, Growler’s Taproom will present its first DIY Invitational on Saturday, September 9-10, 2017. The DIY in DIY Invitational stands for Deliver It Yourself!

The two-day event will feature beers from 30 self-distributed breweries, four self-distributed cideries, four self-distributed kombucha brewers and a self-distributed ginger beer brewer. Admission into the DIY Invitational is free and all beers, ciders, kombuchas and soda will be available in 4, 12 and 16-ounce sizes.

The whole idea behind this event is to show that no matter what your taste, there is a self-distributed producer in Oregon making something you will love,” said Parker in a statement. “Self-distributed makers are the ultimate in independent producers. When you buy from a self-distributed maker, you know the money is staying in the community.”

Beers range from simple and sublime — the last keg of Montavilla Brew Works’ Korabrau Helles Lager and the first run of Heater-Allen Bobtoberfest; to the wild and crazy – Agrarian Ales’ Resplendent, described as “chips and salsa with lime in a glass.” In between, there is everything from German hefeweizen, English Summer Ale, Kolsch, pale ale, red ale, a couple of stouts, a host of IPAs and sours as well as every other style you’d expect to find on a Portland taplist. Ciders range from a single origin Newtown Pippen from Carlton Cyderworks to an oak-aged kiwi cider from Wildcraft.

There’s even a beer with a little history for event organizer and Growler’s bartender Jim Parker. Baerlic Brewing, where Parker worked for nearly two years as sales manager, is sending a keg of Old Bald Farts, a strong ale Parker helped brew last November that has been aging nine months in a Bull Run Distillery whiskey barrel. The beer is from a 1997 recipe Parker created at his first brewing job.

And since the DIY Invitational happens to be taking place on the same day as BenFest (Saturday, September 9th at Gigantic Brewing), a portion of the total DIY Invitational proceeds will be donated to the Ben Flerchinger family. In addition, all profits from the sale of the keg of Benvention, a beer brewed by Coin Toss Brewing in honor of Flerchinger who passed away earlier this year, will go to the family as part of Growler’s Charity Tap program.

Here’s a rundown on the beers that are expected to be pouring at the DIY Invitational.

In addition to beer, cider, kombucha and soda drinking, Saturday will feature a performance by bluegrass band Bigfoot Mojo from 7 to 9 p.m. There will also be cornhole games out in the beer garden on both days.

You can always find what is pouring on any of the 40 taps at Growler’s Taproom by clicking its What’s On Tap. Growler’s Taproom is open 11:00am-11:00pm seven days a week.

Growler’s Taproom
3343 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97214