While we are getting geared up for next weekend’s Ladies of Lagers and Ales tastival, next weekend at Saraveza, we look back over the past weekend and remember an amazing flavorsome celebration of another group of females – hops.

You see, hops are the female flower clusters, or strobiles, of the hop species, Humulus lupulus. At this time of year, the herbaceous perennials are reaching to high heaven, and just recently, if you’ve observed your bines, you may have noticed the flowering finger-like fruits beginning to form spicy cones.

Saraveza’s 2nd Annual IIPA Fest took place on Saturday and Sunday, July 16 and 17, and was a celebration of the most regal, magisterial, and potent of all hoppy beers. Ah, the Imperial India Pale Ale (IIPA) – bigger and bolder, and often more bitter than its already amplified parent. Read More…

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

Migration brewer Mike Branes (left) with Lucky Lab brewer Ben Flerchinger

On July 16^th Migration will be hosting a Pig Pickin’ Party as part of craft Oregon Craft Beer Month. Migration co-founder Colin Rath says “We will be host to Lompoc’s Sour wheat beer a 5-beer blend, Uprights latest Monk and Mingus and a special keg of Coffee IPA from Migration.  These amazing beers will be set to pair with a pork centric plate of food supplied by local BBQ cart Robb’s Really Good Food.  Four local bluegrass, guitar pickin’, banjo strummin’ bands will accompany all this great beer and food.”

July 23^rd marks the date for Migration and Amnesia’s first edition of Brewer’s Feud at Migration Brewing. Participants will include: Read More…

Posted under beer events

It was a weekend filled with brews, birthdays, and beer bashes.

To keep the alliteration rolling, Friday was a Bend beer ball at The BeerMongers. Brewers and representatives from around the Bend and Central Oregon region made the trek to Portland to share some of their finer offerings. Highlights included having Tonya Cornett of Bend Brewing, Jimmy Seifrit of 10 Barrel, Tyler Reichert of Silver Moon, Ryan Schmiege of Deschutes, and Tony Lawrence of Boneyard Beer in the house.

The taps were loaded with some Bend’s best, ranging from sessionable to extreme. On the light side, Three Creeks of Sisters brought their Golden Ale, Deschutes supplied their Portland brewed Armory XPA (an American Extra Pale Ale), and Silver Moon tapped their GABF medal-winning Read More…

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

Join The BeerMongers guys, Saturday July 9, 2011 from 5-10PM, for a special birthday celebration for our friend John Foyston. John is the man behind the Oregonian’s The Beer Here blog and has been writing about craft beer here in Oregon for more than 15 years.

John says “I know there’ll be a keg of Anchor Steam and maybe Amnesia Alt unless we’ve drunk it all…”

In addition to the brew and merriment, Foyston will have Read More…

Posted under Beer & Art, Beer personalities, beer events

Join us for what is sure to be the talked about event of Craft Beer Month…The BREWERS’ Feud

Brewers’ feud is a friendly competition amongst 6 local Portland Brewers and 4 wide-ranging Portland industry personas; hosted by Migration and Amnesia Brewing. Brewers’ Feud will throw a Portland twist to the classic game show: Family Feud. This event is sure to be a highlight amongst the many events taking place during Oregon Craft Beer Month. Not only will there be an abundance of laughs, this will also provide a great opportunity to heckle a variety of local brewers in one location. Questionnaires will be compiled from beer drinking patrons of Amnesia and Migration Brewing providing wide- ranging classic responses only Portland’s beer culture could conjure up.

Posted under beer events, events

This coming Saturday, June 18th, Portlanders will have the opportunity to hitch a ride across the Columbia River to experience an array of beer on tap that are not available in Oregon.

Bus trips start at 2PM: Meet at Saraveza, hop on Brewvana‘s bus and “Bridge the Taps” at Washington’s premier bottle shop, By The Bottle, where you can savor 8 brews UNAVAILABLE in Oregon (think Lost Abbey, Black Raven, etc.)  Spend your time savoring Washington’s most elite and then travel back home on the Brewvana bus.

Here’s the beers you will get to try:

By The Bottle

Odin Brewing Freya’s Gold Kolsch-Seattle, WA
Fremont Brewing Interurban IPA-Seattle, WA
Port Brewing Mongo Double IPA-San Diego, CA
Naked City Brewing Jack the Ripa Rye IPA-Seattle, WA
Black Raven Brewing Trickster IPA-Seattle, WA
Port Brewing Shark Attack Imperial Red Ale-San Diego, CA
Iron Horse Brewing Irish Death Specialty Dark Ale-Ellensberg, WA
Lost Abbey 10 Commandments Belgian Strong Dark Ale-San Diego, CA

Saraveza

Migration “Black Hearted” CDA-Portland, OR
Amnesia Duseldorf Alt-Portland, OR
Coalition “Hanso” Stout-Portland, OR
Flat Tail “Some Like it Hop” IIPA-Corvallis, OR
Burnside “Alter Ego” IPA-Portland, OR
Vertigo Amber-Hillsboro, OR
Heater Allen Pils-McMinnville, OR
Block 15 “Psidium” Guava Farmhouse-Corvallis, OR

Get a Bus Pass and Get on Board*: Bus pass includes: 8 beer tokens (to use at Saraveza or By The Bottle), bus entertainment (livemusic, beer trivia, raffles, prizes & snacks), unlimited round trip bus rides (between Saraveza and By the Bottle), a 5% off coupon for your next visit to By The Bottle.  Available at Saraveza or By the Bottle. Ticket price $16 now / $20 day of.

Bus schedule:
2PM – 1st bus departs from Saraveza
2:30PM – 1st departure from By the Bottle
Returns to each location approximately every half hour.
*Bus stops running at 8PM.

Posted under beer events, events, places to drink beer

This coming Saturday, June 18th, Portlanders will have the opportunity to hitch a ride across the Columbia River to experience an array of beer on tap that are not available in Oregon.

Bus trips start at 2PM: Meet at Saraveza, hop on Brewvana‘s bus and “Bridge the Taps” at Washington’s premier bottle shop, By The Bottle, where you can savor 8 brews UNAVAILABLE in Oregon (think Lost Abbey, Black Raven, etc.)  Spend your time savoring Washington’s most elite and then travel back home on the Brewvana bus.

Here’s the beers you will get to try: Read More…

Posted under beer events, places to drink beer

Brewpublic’s Dan Culver provided us with some more great pictures from last weekend. We touched on some of the events in our most recent Weekend In Review including the Collaboration Beer Fest at Breakside Brewery and the Single Hop Fest at Amnesia. Cheers!

Posted under beer events

So… the meteorologist are saying something to the tune of 80 degrees this weekend in the Willamette Valley. Really?! Is summer going to grace us with a sneak preview? ‘Cause of late, the water levels have risen to the highest since 1996 when there was a big ol’ flood here. If you’ve been to the water front, you’ve probably noticed that the river isn’t far from the bridges. I digress…

This weekend, there’s a buttload of killer beer things cracking around Beervana. There has also been a bunch of great happenings that you might’ve missed out on (it’s easy to do ’round here). Okay, first let’s start with some of the events that have rocked this past week… Read More…

Posted under beer events

On Saturday June 4th Amnesia Brewing will host a mini beer fest dedicated to one hop beers. These are beers made with just one variety of hop throughout the brewing process from bittering to finishing. There will be eight guest breweries each with a unique style of beer and each beer made with a unique hop variety. Amnesia will also be featuring two single hop seasonals of their own.

Also, Along with each beer poured will be a whole cone sample of the hop varietal used and a description detailing the particular hop, such as their crossbreeds and flavor profiles. We live in the second largest hop growing region in the world and hops are one reason our region produces some of the best beers in the world. Celebrate the wonders of this herbaceous vine!

Breweries/hops: Amnesia Brewing- Saphir, Crystal Burnside Brewing- Amarillo Caldera Brewing- Willamette Cascade Brewing- Cascade Coalition Brewing- Northern Brewer Double Mountain Brewing- Cluster Migration Brewing- Centennial Rogue Brewing- Sterling Upright Brewing- Tettnanger At Amnesia Brewing 832 N. Beech St. Saturday June 4 th 12-8pm $2/ticket, 2 tickets=Full glass

Posted under beer events, events