Come out to the farm for a weekend (or two) of some end-of-summer fun! Help pick some hops (in the shade) while enjoying some BBQ and an exquisite selection of ales and sodas. Bring the family, your appetite, and your camping gear…..you won’t want to leave early!

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

Just when you thought the craft beer life would calm down, in just a blink of an eye, Oregon Craft Beer Month has slipped into harvest season. With less than a month left of summer, 2010 has been a mildly comfortable season for most folks in the Willamette Valley, the nation’s second largest hop growing area specific to the greater Cascadian region where approximately 30% of the world’s hop supply comes from. Washington State’s Yakima Valley to the north accounts for around 75% of the nation’s hop rations. The Willamette Valley boasts 15%. Before the turn of the 20th Century, the Willamette held a stronghold on hop production, but modern agricultural practices, especially irrigation techniques have aided in Yakima’s rise.

Still, there is no where like Portland, Oregon, which is unique in its close proximity to bountiful hopyards. Where Seattlites find themselves more than two hours from the vast humulus lupulus orchards of Yakima Valley, Portland aka Beervana rests less than an hour from places like Mt. Angel, Woodburn, and Hopmere. The latter destination is the home of Sodbuster Farms, run by Doug Weathers and his skilled crew. Full Sail Brewing generously organized a tour of the farm for roughly forty lucky people from the craft beer industry including many pub owners, bartenders, and media. The trip was replete with provisions of Full Sail’s Session, Black Session, IPA, and Pale Ale.

The tour started in the hopyard where we were able to witness firsthand the felling of the mighty hop bines that grew up substrates almost twenty feet to the summer sunshine. Weathers reported that 2010′s harvest was  not on par with last year’s bountiful yield due to a late start to summer and cooler weather. Still, the dank fields of Magnum hops we watched being harvested were plump and resinous. According to Weathers, these cones possessed about 18% alpha acidity, which is on the high end for most hops.

After spending about an hour frolicking like bemused children through the enchanted columns of seemingly infinite hops (according to Weathers the farm grows on about 500 acres of land) while truck after truck zipped away with loads of sticky green, our group headed up the road to the processing plant. Here the individual clumped bines were attached to a conveyor and suspended from the ceiling above, then shucked of their fruits before multiple custom-made belt, ramp, and screen filterings honed the lush cones down to their desired form. After this, the cones where brought to a heated kilning loft above the farm to dry and eliminate risk of mildew and other undesirables. The scent in this warm loft was pure heaven for those who enjoy the olfactory of ripe resinous hops. The same could be said of the vast refrigeration unit that housed the kilned hops bailed into 200 pound quantities. From about ten feet to the massive cooler door, the whiff of air was unfathomably luring.

Concluding the detailed tour by Mr. Weathers, our crew was treated to a barbecue under two large outdoor tents in front of Sodbuster Farms. As a special treat, our group was presented with to two quarter barrels of hoppy Full Sail beers including the Brewers Reserve Spotless IPA, and the champion of the day, Read More…

Posted under Oregon beer, beer news, brewpubs, places to drink beer

Brewery Invites you to Meet the Brewer and the Beer and Support Local Charity

As the hot summer winds down and the days get shorter, dreams of cold mountain air, skiing and snowboarding start to swirl in our heads. That can mean only one thing: it’s time to start praying for powder. To celebrate the upcoming wintry season, Full Sail will release a new beer in their Brewer’s Share line up that is sure to entice the snow gods to bless the season with plenty of powdery snow. Brewed by Full Sail Brewer Adam Bulson, “Adam’s Malty Bomb” is pray for powder porter that’s sure to make our mountain snowy white all season long.

Porters are Adam’s favorite beer after a day on the snow, and he thought releasing his own version preseason would be a good omen for a great winter. Adam’s Malty Bomb is a robust porter with a big body and lots of dark, caramel/toffee flavor, yet it won’t weigh you down like heavy snow. It’s hopped with just enough hops to balance out the malts, and finishes smooth with no sharp edges. Bomb’s away! (ABV 5.3% IBU 41)

Full Sail has scheduled two “Meet the Brewer and the Beer” events to showcase this new beer. The first Meet Brewer and the Beer event will be at Full Sail at Riverplace in Portland, Tuesday, September, 7th, from 5:00 – 6:30PM. The second is at the Full Sail Tasting Room and Pub in Hood River, on Thursday, September 9th from 5:00 to 6:30PM. Join the Full Sail crew to celebrate the upcoming season, toast a pint of this new brew with Adam.

With Adam’s brew comes a new feature of the Brewer’s Share series—each brewer will pick a local charity of his or her choice to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sales of their beer. Adam chose Hood River Adopt-a-Dog – Hukari Animal Shelter, so every keg of Adam’s Malty Bomb benefits local animals in need.

The Brewer’s Share series is a line up of small batch draft beers where each Full Sailor takes a turn hand-crafting their own single batch recipe and a portion of the proceeds benefit a local charity of their choosing. Full Sail’s Brewer’s Share beers will only be available on tap at Full Sail’s Tasting Room and Pub in Hood River, Oregon, and at Full Sail’s Brewery at Riverplace, in Portland, Oregon. Growlers to go are available. Full Sail will also offer Adam’s Malty Bomb at the Hood River Hopsfest on October 2nd. The next Brewer’s Share will be collaboration beer crafted by Full Sail’s Pub crew, and is expected in mid-November.

Posted under Oregon beer, beer news, beer releases, brewpubs

With nearly 50 breweries and seemingly countless pubs within the city limits, seeking out the best of Portland’s craft beer hot spots can be a daunting task. But now, thanks to Pubs of Portland Tours, such an undertaking will be much easier to tackle.

Founded by craft beer experts Marc Martin and Charles Culp, Pubs of Portland Tours will be open for business starting on September 1, 2010. We at Brewpublic can attest to the depth of knowledge that both Martin and Culp bring to their latest endeavor. Martin has a Masters Degree in Education, but more importantly, he is walking beer encyclopedia. Not only will he tackle the intricacies of the brewing process, but he will offer a practical and historical understanding of the brewing environments the tours will cover. Culp is equally as savvy of all things beer and has worked as a professional brewer in his home state of Texas. Both men will undoubtedly do a great job of providing an intimate and fun atmosphere for exploring, learning, and quaff the best that Portland has to offer. Tours are designed for between 2 and 12 guest in most cases, and five hour tours (times and group sizes are flexible) run less than $30.

On a truncated sneak peak of the Pubs of Portland Tours designed for members of the media, we were accompanied by our friend John Foyston of the Oregonian. The tour kicked off at Pioneer Courthouse Square and made its first stop at downtown Portland’s Rock Bottom Brewery where Martin provided an interesting history of the building and the neighborhood. After some delicious seasonal samples that included a wonderful Black Toad IPA and a Cascadian Pilsner, our group hopped on the Max Train where we quickly linked up with the city Street Car and landed at the uber-cool Deschutes Public House & Brewery. At Deschutes, we met with brewer Cam O’Connor and several friendly staff members who provided us with samples of the brewery’s Fresh Squeezed IPA featuring dank Citra hops, the lupulin-loaded Hop Henge Imperial IPA Batch 8, and a new Bourbon-aged Graveyard Stout featuring nine different specialty malts.

Normal tours would have lasted much longer than ours, but we had to depart early. All that is needed to participate in the fun-packed tours will be a Tri-Met public transportation fare and a passion for great beer.

For further information on this affordable, eco-friendly experience by true professionals, check out their website: www.pubsofportlandtours.com or call (512) 917-2464 between 9AM and 6PM Monday through Saturday.

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer history, beer news, places to drink beer

Brewers Publications, a division of the Brewers Association, announces the publication of its latest title, Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation by Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff.

Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation is a resource for brewers of all experience levels. The authors adeptly cover yeast selection, storage and handling of yeast cultures, how to culture yeast and the art of rinsing/washing yeast cultures.

Sections on how to set up a yeast lab, the basics of fermentation science and how it affects your beer, plus step by step procedures, equipment lists and a guide to troubleshooting are included.

“This is a great addition to brewing literature, and it should find its way on to the bookshelves of every eager brewer,” says Charlie Bamforth, professor, Department of Food Science & Technology at University of California Davis.

Mitch Steele, head brewer/production manager at Stone Brewing Company, also praises Yeast for containing “Loads of sound information and techniques that will work for brewers at all levels, from beginning homebrewers to production brewers at any sized brewery.”

Chris White earned his doctorate from the University of California and founded White Labs Inc. in San Diego in 1995. The company’s focus is liquid yeast cultures for homebrewers and professional brewers.

Internationally respected homebrewer Jamil Zainasheff co-authored Brewing Classic Styles with John Palmer. Jamil shares his passion and brewing prowess with homebrewers internationally, hosting podcasts on The Brewing Network.

Both authors will attend the Great American Beer Festival, September 16-18, and will be on hand to sign copies of Yeast.

Posted under beer events, beer news, beer releases

Portland’s organic and carbon-neutral beers now available in most of Cascadia region

Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) recently expanded distribution of its beers to British Columbia and Seattle. Kegs and bottles of the company’s organic, sustainably-produced beers can be found in leading taphouses, bottle shops and markets in both regions.

Christian Ettinger

“We wanted to share our beer with these markets to demonstrate great tasting beer can be made in an environmentally responsible manner,” said Christian Ettinger, brewmaster/owner of Hopworks. “Our goal is to grow regionally while raising the high standards of our beer even further. One of the ways we do this by adding new tanks to maintain our cycle times while increasing capacity.”

Last year, Hopworks expanded its brewing capacity with the addition of two 40-barrel fermenters increasing the brewery’s potential annual output to 10,000 barrels.

Hopworks Urban Brewery is located at 2944 SE Powell Boulevard and is open Sunday through Thursday from 11AM-11PM and Friday and Saturday from 11 AM to midnight. For more information, visit Hopworks online at www.HopworksBeer.com or call (503) 232-4677.

Posted under Oregon beer, beer news, brewpubs, places to drink beer

Through our friends at By The Bottle in Vancouver, Washington, we recently found out about a forthcoming brewery in Vancouver, Washington. Known as Loowit Brewing Company, the undertaking is a partnership between avid homebrewers and longtime friends Devon Bray and Thomas Poffenroth. Says Bray “We’ve been homebrewing together for about 7 or 8 years. The brewery is still essentially in the planning stages but we’ve been operating with full commitment to start a brewery, which is why we’ve made the monetary commitments that we already have. Location will be on the west side of Vancouver somewhere…the east side is a wasteland of strip malls.”

To begin, the Loowit will be Read More…

Posted under Beer personalities, beer news

For several years, a group of brewers have been brewing unique, distinctive beers in an experiment of sorts that aims to demonstrate the diversity in brewing styles, techniques, and ingredients. Todd Ashman of FiftyFifty Brewing Company, Truckee, CA initially created the Collaborative Evil group with industry friends Zac Triemert Co-President and Co-Founder of Lucky Bucket Brewing Company, La Vista, NE and Matt Van Wyk, head brewer for Oakshire Brewing Company, Eugene, OR. This group did not collaborate in the way other groups have worked together in the past. They simply agreed upon a specific beer style and would each incorporate their own unique ingredient or technique in their respective brews. No parameters or recipes were set and the results were interesting, diverse, and delicious. The beers were then entered into the Great American Beer Festival, the most prestigious beer competition in the country. The goal was to earn medals of course, but also to give festival goers a glimpse into how each brewer has his own style and interpretations in the world of beers.

Over the years, the group has grown to include a total of eight brewers from across the nation. Unique ingredients or techniques have included exotic sugars, a variety of honeys, and wood aging. At the GABF, the response has been positive from judges and festival-goers alike, there has even been a Bronze medal awarded to one of these entries. An enthusiastic crowd has been seeking out each brewers Collaborative Evil brew and appears to be quite fun for those who set out on the search.

This year, the brewers have agreed to create an Imperial or Baltic Porter. This style is characterized by big rich malt and roast character (or not in the case of Baltic) and higher alcohol content than other styles of Porter. This year’s style will lend itself to complex beers with Read More…

Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, beer news, beer releases

As a Wholly Owned Subsidiary Kona Brewing Will Remain Hawaii-based, Enhance Distribution and Marketing Capabilities

Portland, Ore. (August 3, 2010) – Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. (CBA) (Nasdaq: HOOK), has entered into a merger agreement that will strengthen a nine-year partnership with Kona Brewing Co. (Kona).  As a result of the merger agreement, Kona will become a wholly owned subsidiary of CBA and have the opportunity to expand its brand and distribution while maintaining its craft brewery operations in Hawaii.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kona Brewing fully into the Craft Brewers Alliance family,” said Terry Michaelson, CEO of CBA. “Over the past nine years, we have worked alongside Kona to help build the brand in Hawaii and on the mainland, and we have been continuously impressed by the quality of Kona’s hand-crafted beers and their reflection of Hawaii’s heritage and culture. We look forward to new opportunities to grow the Kona brand.”

Read More…

Posted under beer news, press releases

Deschutes Brewing announced three of their popular seasons will be once again returning to the shelves of your favorite beer stores. Look for these three brews in the coming months in a ll 15 states where Deschutes beers are sold:

Jubelale

When: October-December

What: Winter Seasonal (6-packs, 12-packs and draft)

Every year, fall’s crisp, cool air signals the imminent arrival of winter. Thoughts of snow, friends and family, the holidays, and — Jubelale. Brewed with dark crystal malt creating a luscious holiday note with bountiful hops to excite your taste buds— it’s easy to see why Jubelale is the perfect complement to the season.

6.7% ABV, 60 IBU

The Dissident

When: October

What: Reserve Series (22-ounce wax-dipped bottles and draft)

Eighteen months in isolation, The Dissident is a distinctive Flanders-style brown ale, with a fruity aroma and flavor. Our only wild yeast beer, brettanomyces and lactobacillus impart its characteristic sour taste. Lavished with whole western Washington cherries – pits, stems and all – (which, by the way, our brewmaster picks out personally during family vacations, to the tune of much eye-rolling from his children). It’s our wildest, most expensively pampered beer.

9% ABV, 30 IBU

The Abyss

When: Late November

What: Reserve Series (22-ounce wax-dipped bottles and draft)

The Abyss has immeasurable depth inviting you to explore and discover its rich, complex profile. Hints of molasses, licorice and other alluring flavors draw you in further and further with each sip. And at 11% alcohol by volume, you will want to slowly savor each and every ounce.

2010 marks the fifth release of this dark and mysterious imperial stout.

11% ABV, 65 IBUs

Posted under Oregon beer, beer news, beer releases