Barrel aging beer is certainly an emerging trend amongst craft breweries. The depth and complexity of this added dimension is an unquestionably benevolent element that, if properly executed, lends much to any stalwart brew. Full Sail Brewing knows this well.

On Wednesday February 2, 2012, Full Sail unmasked four renditions of their Top Sail Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Porter at McCormick & Schmick’s Riverplace brewpub. This “horizontal” featured three whiskey cask-aged pours of the brew and a final blend of each that married each into one exquisite conclusion. Each spent a full year soaking in and amalgamating the nuances of the bold base beer with the notes provided with each barrel.  Read More…

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer events, beer releases, beer reviews, places to drink beer

The weekend before last we found ourselves in Oregon’s largest town east of the Cascades. Here in Bend, we discovered a breadth of exceptional breweries. And, for a city with the same population as Asheville, North Carolina, which has been dubbed “Beer City USA”, Bend has more breweries. In the coming months, at least a handful of new breweries will emerge in Bend pushing it up to around 15 within the city.

In our last post about our most recent excursions in Bend, we mentioned the new on the scene GoodLife Brewing Co., which has been breaking ground into their 22,ooo square foot warehouse with some promising flavors, as well as the bursting at the seems Deschutes Brewery, which is at the top of Oregon’s players when it comes to artisan beer production. Read More…

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer reviews, brewpubs, places to drink beer

For some time, going to Bend, Oregon in the midst of winter was a tradition of mine. There’s something about being in Oregon’s high desert hub this time of year that feels like a magical winter wonderland escape. Perhaps its the snow falling on Ponderosa pines alongside lava flows near the Deschutes River. Or, perhaps, more realistically, it’s the supply of excellent beer produced locally here in the state’s biggest city east of the Cascade Mountains.

Deschutes Brewery

A no-brainer for any beer lover in Bend has remained the Deschutes Brewery, a staple not just here in Bend, but in our great state as well. Since 1988, Deschutes has been a pioneer of the craft brewing movement, starting with their Black Butte Porter, which at the time of its initial release, was quite a daring undertaking. Today, with more and more craft breweries springing up around the country (more than 1,700 at last count), Deschutes bravely Read More…

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer reviews, brewpubs, places to drink beer

The weekend was wickedly winning as we welcomed The Beer Wench aka Ashley Routson to the Pacific Northwest. This was her third visit to Portland and there was still many great beer spots which she had not yet been to, so we had to try and knock these out. Granted, hitting up all the best Portland craft beer bars is somewhat of a daunting task that requires an intense commitment. But, we knew it was imperative to at least get a few of the essentials out of the way. Ashley’s trip was to be brief – only 36 hours in the Portland area, so every minute had to count.

First, let us preface the telling of our adventures with more about Ashley. Known widely in the craft beer world as The Beer Wench, she is first and foremost a wine sommelier with extensive knowledge of the many tiers of the craft beverage world. She has worked on many levels within the industry from bar managing, tap crafting, event coordinating, and product inventory to writing her world renowned “Drink with the Wench” website and more recently her attention-grabbing and palate wowing “BeerMixology” site that tackles the emerging trend of beer cocktails. Perhaps most impressive about Ashley is that on top of all this, she also works for Bison Brewing as their official “Director of Awesomeness”, a title well deserved. Her presence is felt vertically integrated throughout the entire brewery from the most simple and essential of tasks to those most complex and labor intensive. She has even helped to brew beers such as the popular seasonal Saison de Wench that will be released again soon.

So, as you can imagine, this wasn’t just any beer geek that we were striving to entertain. Our journey logically began at our favorite Read More…

Posted under beer reviews, places to drink beer, weekend in review

So, picking up where we left off in Part One of our recent Bay Area Excursions bit, we headed north from Berkeley, CA into the heart of vino country. Ironically, we didn’t explore the vast and seemingly endless world of artisan wine from this region, save for a glass of non-regional Chianti. And for some reason, every time I enjoy a fine glass of the stuff, it always brings to mind the below clip from Silence of the Lambs. I digress…

The string of days with sunny warm weather (in which highs reached the mid 60′s during the day) rolled on as we rolled into Calistoga. Not too far east from several nationally recognized breweries such as Russian River, Lagunitas, and Bear Republic. However, we kept our travel plans simple and relaxing. The idea was to not return from vacation feeling more in need of a vacation than when I left. Thanks to Calistoga Inn ambassador Peter Stetson, our Read More…

Posted under Beer personalities, beer and food, beer reviews, places to drink beer, weekend in review

A long weekend away in the San Francisco Bay Area recharged our beer batteries while allowing us to soak up some much needed sunshine.

Thursday involved trekking out the PDX International in order to fly out to Oakland for a much needed getaway. Before departing, it was necessary to hit up Laurelwood’s airport pub for a a bowl of chili and a delicious pint of the resurrected Workhorse IPA. Not long after boarding a small Alaskan Airlines plane decked out in Oregon Ducks design, the stewardess offered up complimentary pours of Full Sail’s Black Session Lager. After a few cups of this delicious nectar, the landing gear dropped and we touched down at our destination: Oakland International Airport.

The Beer Read More…

Posted under beer reviews, places to drink beer

Cascadians are getting geared up for the holiday season. Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa,  Solstice and more…the colder darker months are a great excuse to amp up the celebratory brews.

We officially kicked off our weekend on Thursday December 15 hitting up a bunch of regional beer hotspots, namely Bottles and Belmont Station. Bottles, located in the Beaumont Neighborhood of NE Portland (5015 NE Fremont) was hosting a tap takeover for St Johns’ Occidental Brewing. Six of brewers Dan and Ben Engler’s brews flowed from the taplines. A highlight was the brewery’s newly released Lucubrator Doppelbock. In addition to the Occidental brews on the menu, Bottles also poured a limited 5-gallon keg of Pelican’s Bad Santa Cascadian Dark Ale.

Not long after Read More…

Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, beer reviews, places to drink beer, weekend in review

By Chris Crabb

More than 17,000 beer lovers gathered  at this year’s 16th annual Holiday Ale Festival

The Holiday Ale Festival continued its run as one of Portland’s favorite holiday traditions, as more than 17,000 gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square over five days to raise a mug to the big, bold craft beers of winter. The celebrated winter beer festival took place Nov. 30 through Dec. 4 and featured more than 60 winter craft beers.

The beers served were either made or blended specifically for the event or were vintage offerings not commonly served in the region. In some cases, the kegs tapped were the last known kegs available of a particular beer.

Wednesday and Thursday of the event were all about beer appreciation, as true fans took off work to come early and avoid the typical weekend lines. These same fans took advantage of a real-time mobile website that listed the beers, their on-site location and descriptions, and up-to-the-moment updates on special tappings. There were an additional 22 limited tappings in addition to this year’s main lineup of 42 beers.

While all the beers were Read More…

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

By Jean De Ieso

Mid November may seem a strange time to travel to Stowe, Vermont, most noted for its winter ski resorts and summer balloon festival, but if an opportunity to attend one of Mr. Pickwick’s  2011 Ale Tasting Dinner Series presents itself, one MUST go.

The event, consisting of  five courses, each paired with a classic ale, served by candlelight and complemented by the innkeepers story telling, was a once in  a lifetime experience.

The restaurant, located in the Olde England Inne, provided charm and warmth reminiscent of earlier visits to England. Read More…

Posted under beer and food, beer reviews

If you are a craft beer lover and were fortunate enough to be in the best beer city on Earth between November 30 and December 4, 2011, then you more than likely were in attendance for the 16^th Annual Holiday Ale Fest. This magical marvel of merriment tented more than 50 of the most palate wowing one-offs and seasons to be found on earth; beers designed with the Beer Advocate and uber geek in mind. Now, in our fair village of viscosity, more satellite celebrations and salutes are scheduled to round out the holiday season such as the forthcoming  Amnesia’s Winter Ale Fest (December 10, 2011) and Plew’s Brews’ Winter Beer Fest (December 16-18, 2011). These undertakings are a testament to our never-ending appreciation for perennial prosting that occurs here on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Here at Brewpublic there is nothing we like more than soaking in the colder, darker, and more aqueous days with some of the year’s finest heartier offerings. 2011 is no exception to the breathtaking bounty of beauteous brews making their way to shelves and taps of some of the region’s best establishments. Here’s a look at 50 wintry warmers that you mustn’t forgo: Read More…

Posted under beer releases, beer reviews, brewpubs