A little while back we heard about yet another Portland brewery about to open its beers to the public. The brewery I am referring to is Mt. Tabor Brewing. Fittingly, MTB got its start on the eastern hillside of the statuesque Southeast PDX butte. Founded by friends and Oregon natives Brian Maher and Eric Surface, MTB treated us to sneak peak of some of their delicious forthcoming brews.

On Tuesday night Barley Brown’s Brewpub of Baker City, Oregon made a rare appearance in Portland at a meet the brewer event at Belmont Station. Brewer Shawn Kelso and owner Tyler Brown were on hand to share some of their specialty brews from their four-barrel nanobrewery including a two year vertical of the Sled Wreck Winter Ale, an Imperial IPA, and an Imperial uber-hopped Cascadian Dark Ale. Following a successful trip to the Great American Beer Fest that landed Oregon’s Far Eastern pub two medals, the brewery has been making more of a presence in the Rose City. BB’s will also be participating in the forthcoming Holiday Ale Fest during the first weekend in December. Brewpublic was fortunate to sample the five brews available at the Belmont Station event and conduct a brief interview with Shawn Kelso whose passion for his craft and people is far from abstruse.

Two different versions of the Sled Wreck–an ‘08 and an ‘09. The ‘08 has a little bit of American oak character and some bourbon notes. How did this beer change?