I don’t even know where to begin, but I suppose I will start somewhere… It really irks my bones when I can’t pump out some juicy craft beer fodder for the readers of Brewpublic, and the past few days have been lacking. I know it. I mean, Brewpublic prides itself of giving you a steady, daily glimpse into some of the many many goingson in and around Cascadian brewing and a little more. Being on planes, trains, and automobiles with a Smartphone, a thirsty palate, and a hankering to round up as many beers as possible makes the blogging a bit lacking at times, but it’s not because of will.

They say the road to hell is paved in good intentions, and we intended to scare up some goods for you the past few days, but we were short a laptop, a spare liver, and more daylight hours (heck, we can often muster just fine in the dark!). On Monday we scheduled details for rounding up as many kegs as we could while in and around Portland, Oregon. The reasons were many. SF Beer Week events, a new pub opening, and simply to blow Bay Area artisan beer enthusiasts’ minds. Spending much time in the East Bay of the San Francisco area, it has been my goal to inject as much of the Cascadian craft beer culture into the locals down here as I possibly can. With SF Beer Week about to pop off (February 8-17, 2013), I couldn’t think of a better way to exemplify what amazingness Oregon’s uniquely saturated yeast culture has to present. Don’t get me wrong, Northern California is home to some legendary breweries and beer halls that rival some of the finest in this world. Further, NorCal is booming with new breweries that vivaciously illustrate the significance of the modern day Post-Prohibition beer revolution. Thus, it makes perfect sense that while living here, I find myself working at an Oakland pub named Beer Revolution with the best selection of regional, national, and international fermented malted pours. Soon, the adjacent revamped train depot in Jack London Square will beef up the neighborhood’s selection almost two-fold. Looking to open very soon, the Olde Depot Taphouse will assert the community as an even more undeniably world class destination.

Appointed to manage Olde Depot is seasoned professional Dan “Bully” Bollwinkel who has further inspired us to take things on the West Oakland craft beer scene to the next level. Bully and I jaunted to Portland on a plane, rented a modest Dodge Caravan and sought to stock up on as many different beers as we could safely drive back 600 miles south to Oakland. On our journey, we even went a little overboard and maxed out the payload to the point where the chassis began to woefully sag toward the earth. With just 36 hours to obtain an optimal variety of mostly 1/6-barrel kegs and a few bottles, we were focused on making the most of our precious time.

Immediately upon touching down at PDX International Airport with just the clothes on our backs and Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, Beer & Art, Beer personalities, beer releases, beer reviews, Beer Travel, brewpubs, craft cider, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

By Alex Ganum, owner & brewmaster of Upright Brewing

As is usual, I’ve got beer on my mind. Brewing really never gets old, and enjoying beer sure doesn’t either. Here and there I find myself headed to Upright late at night, after 10 p.m. Maybe I need to check on a fermentation, or crop yeast at an especially opportune time, or maybe I just want to start getting setup for the next day. That’s likely an excuse to go in and actually unwind, which to me is turning up the stereo and tasting samples from barrels. We recently started renting a bit of extra space for more barrel aging, so I’m pretty floored about producing several new annual releases. Many of the ones in mind were made in extra small batch form in the past, like the Special Herbs, Five aged in Fantasia casks (we need a name for that one Angelo), Lactovasilios, and single cask Provision. There’s also completely fresh recipes in the works, like a Fantasia-esque brew made with beautiful muscat grapes, a wine barrel-finished whiskey version of the recent Spollen Angel tripel, and a barrel-aged coffee stout fermented with saison yeast. I’d really like to do an annual whiskey barrel aged English-style barleywine too. And we’ve got four casks of 2012 Flora Rustica in motion too, which will further rusticize (Breakside Ben – is that a halfway legitimate term?) one of the brewery’s most historic-tasting beers. Read More…

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

Connoisseur Tour with Sean Burke

PORTLAND, Ore.  ? The November installment of BREWVANA’s monthly Connoisseur Tour series  takes Sean Burke, brewer for The Commons Brewery, on the bus where he will lead the tour to his favorite Portland spots. A Eugene native, Sean started as a home brewer and joined The Commons after graduation from the Doemans Academy. The tour will take place Sunday, November 18^th from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

The tour will begin at The Commons with a sampling of their European inspired beers made with Northwest grown ingredients and tour of the brewery. Next up the bus heads to Upright Brewing where owner and brewer Alex Ganum will give a tour of his facility along with a sampling of their farmhouse inspired beers made with a Pacific Northwest twist. A midafternoon lunch and beers will be served at Old Town Pizza and Brewing which launched its 7bbl brewing system earlier this year. The final stop on the tour will be Occidental Brewing Co. in the St. John’s neighborhood for a sampling of their German inspired beers.

Tickets for BREWVANA’s Connoisseur Tour are $85/person and include transportation, all food and beer, pretzel necklace, tasting journal and Pilsner glass. Seating is limited and reservations must be made in advance. To register, please call BREWVANA at 503-729-6804 or visit www.experiencebrewvana.com/tours. 

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

Posted under Beer Blogs, Beer Brewing, beer news, Beer personalities, brewpubs, Oregon beer, places to drink beer, press releases

Thursday July 19 New Belgium and Cascade

At 3PM we’ll tap an oak pin of New Belgium Oscar, one of the two Foeder-aged sour beers that Lauren and Eric Salazar use as the base blending beers for the Lips of Faith Series and we’ll also have a rare keg of Blackberry Whiskey Sour on tap beginning at noon. The Cascade crew are still deciding what blends they’ll deliver but you know they’ll be great!

In addition to these special Brewers Nights we expect to pour beers from Schooner Exact, Solera, Rock Bottom, Big Al’s, Buckman Botanical, Mikkeller, Bahnhoff, and more. We’ll see how they roll… Check Belmont-station.com for daily tap list and Puckerfest.com for updates.

In order that we can serve everyone as quickly as possible our Biercafe will be Cash Only during Puckerfest.

For more information: Carl Singmaster 503-232-8538

Posted under events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Wednesday July 18 5 – 8 PM Logsdon Farmhouse Ales &The Commons

Logsdon Owner/Brewmaster Dave Logsdon will tap Cerasus organic kriek beer, a barrel-aged Flanders style red ale with two pounds of fruit added per gallon of beer & Barrel-aged Seizoen Bretta, farmhouse Saison with Brettanomyces.

The Commons Brewers grace us with Eleanor, Wine barrel aged Farmhouse Ale made with magic (is that a legal ingredient?), BeneTibi, a 100% Brett Lambicus fermented beer with sour cherries and cider pressings, and a special one-off TBA.

Posted under events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Tuesday July 17 5 – 8PM Double Mountain

Charlie Devereux and Matt Swihart have led a parade of Puckerfesters each year with their phenomenal Krieks and fresh cherries. Let’s do it again! Can’t wait. More details soon.

Posted under events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Monday July 16 5 – 8PM Upright

Brewers Alex Ganum, Gerritt Ill, and Bobby Birk present another stunning display of barrel-aging and blending: Fantasia (barrel fermented with Baird Family Orchard peaches and a mix of souring yeasts and bacteria, lambic-esque), Lactovasilios (barrel fermented Berliner-weisse style sour ale), Blend Love (mix of barrel aged wheat and rye beers with raspberries and cherries), De la Seven (one-off variant of Upright’s strong saison fermented with yeast from the De la Senne brewery of Belgium and aged with brettanomyces in Patton Valley wine barrels), Belmont Station 14th Anniversary – a blend of gin and wine barrel aged wheat beer with apricot puree, Barrel aged Five (hoppy saison matured in former Fantasia barrels with the spent peaches), Late Harvest (farmhouse-style brown ale aged in Ransom wine, whiskey, and gin barrels). Plus we’ll sell a limited number of bottles of Belmont Station 14th Anniversary Beer

Posted under events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Sunday July 15 2 – 5PM Block 15

Brewer/Owner Nick Arzner serves up another of his famously amazing lineups: Golden Canary, 2011 Demons Farm, & 2011 Strawberry Fields, Belmont Station 15th Anniversary (Scotch Ale matured in rare fifteen year old Bourbon casks from Rip Van Winkle Distillery and then blended with select Bourbon barrel Oud Bruins, matured 9 & 24 months), and a special firkin of Golden Canary with Gooseberries

In order that we can serve everyone as quickly as possible our Biercafe will be Cash Only during Puckerfest.

For more information: Carl Singmaster 503-232-8538

Posted under events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Saturday July 14 Noon Gueuze Drafts and Cantillon Bottles

It’s pretty rare to have 3 authentic Gueuzes side by side. We’ll tap a keg of Cantillon Gueuze, Tilquin Gueuze, and St. Louis Gueuze. I remember the days when we had Cantillon bottles for sale constantly. That was before everyone caught on. Our last allotment was so small it seemed the best thing to do would be pour flights so a more folks can taste the brilliance of Cantillon. Flights of Cantillon Geueze, Kriek, and Rose poured from our very limited number of bottles.

Posted under events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer