One of Oregon’s most anticipated brew events kicks off this Saturday. On February 13, 2010, the second year of Zwickelmania, a celebration of craft beer, gives thirsty beer lovers across Beervana an inside glimpse into daily Oregonian brewhouse operations and even better, provides them with tastes of what we love.

Running from 11 am to 4pm, Zwickelmania, in conjunction with the Oregon Brewers Guild, is a free statewide event that offers visitors a chance to tour Oregon breweries, meet the brewers and sample their favorite beers.

Here’s some highlights of this year’s Zwickelmania that we recommend you check out if you get the chance.

Founder Jim Mills packages Caldera's first bottled beer

Ashland, Oregon’s Caldera Brewing has added a new dimension to their craft beer repertoire, a line-up of seasonal craft brews soon to hit shelves for distribution…in bottles. A pioneer in canned craft beer, Caldera is the first Oregon brewery to can their product since the craft beer revolution. Beginning with their brightly hopped Pale Ale and now also selling their India Pale Ale and Ashland Amber in cans, the brewery has won over the hearts and taste buds of several Northwest beer lovers. Now, with the help of Green Bottling, who works with more than 17 Northwest craft brewies, Caldera will feature a special seasonal line-up of beers in 22-ounce bottles. Known as “the Kettle Series,” this rotating assortment of brews, according to brewmaster and founder Jim Mills will feature eight different beers annually.

Standing Stone Brewing Company (SSBC) and Rogue Creamery are a common pairing. The award-winning creamery makes a Standing Stone Stout Cheddar and the acclaimed craft brewery/restaurant features Rogue Creamery cheeses on its menu.

The two have taken their collaboration a step further to advance their common mission around sustainable business. Standing Stone has inspired Rogue Creamery to give free commuter bikes to employees who have worked at least 1,000 hours and who agree to bike commute 45 times in a year, replicating a program SSBC recently launched.

It all started with a wager made over a few pints of ale. Rogue Creamery co-owner David Gremmels stopped by for a beer and asked SSBC co-owner Alex Amarotico about the new commuter bike program, mentioning that his team members expressed interest in it. “I casually offered to buy a commuter bike for cheesemaker and plant manager Craig Nelson if he committed to bike to work at least 45 times, and if David and co-owner Cary Bryant agreed to buy bikes for their team members making the same pledge,” says Amarotico. “I was pleasantly surprised when David told me Craig and the Creamery were in.”

Brewpublic recently visited Caldera Brewing’s new taproom in beautiful downtown Ashland, Oregon. There we met with founder and head brewer Jim Mills to learn more about one of Oregon’s best breweries that resides a stone’s throw from the California border. Caldera is Oregon’s first microbrewery to can its own beer and has aadding to the bold flavor profiles to give them a seemingly cult following around Beervana.

Brewpublic ventures to Southern Oregon for yet another beer excursion. This time, our travels take us to Medford, Ashland, Central Point, and beyond, once again proving that there is great Oregon beer to be experienced outside of the state’s Northwestern quadrant.

SOB founder Tom Hammond (left) and brewer Scott Saulsbury

Monday, April 20, 2009

Gov. Ted Kulongowski and Sec. of State Bill Bradbury present Oregon sustainability award to Alex Amarotico on behalf Standing Stone Brewery

Inspired by DA’s recent Beer Around Town post about Southern Oregon brews article, we have decided to do this little ditty about one of our favorite breweries, Standing Stone.  Alex Amarotico is the owner of the Ashland brewery whose commitment to sustainable practices has not only earned them the respect of their community, but recognition from the State of Oregon. Amarotico, a former Ashland city councilor, has set his sites on “net-zero” energy, a practice that attempts to produce only the amount of on-site energy that the facility utilizes. In additional to this philosophy and practice, Amarotico and company have made great attempts at minimizing waste and reducing carbon emissions.  The tidy downtown brewpub focuses on locally grown, organic foods, and employing sustainable practices whenever possible. Aside from these consciencious strides to thinking globally through local action, Standing Stone produces some of the most flavorful brews in the Pacific Northwest.  Their colorful sampler tray is a work of art that accentuates the clean and personable atmosphere of the brick-walled historical setting.

The California beer road trip was almost complete.  But you can only be on the highway so long before you need to sink your palate into some craft beer.  Luckily, Ashland, Oregon is a little hub for Southern Oregon craft brews.  Caldera is a fabulous production brewery from Ashland that produces some of the best beers in the state of Oregon.  We were not fortunate enought to hit them up, but we were quite fortunate to experience and old favorite, Standing Stone.

Open seven days a week for great beer and artisan food, Standing Stone Brewing Company in Ashland is located in a historic brick building that is part of the National Register of Historic Places.  Formerly the Whittle Garage founded in 1925, the now chic environment in the heart of the affluent Southern Oregon community. 

The service was stellar, the place was immaculate, and the beer was top notch.  Standing Stone is worth your time on any travel along I-5 through Southern Oregon.  Our bartender Robin served us a wonderful sample tray of seven house beers prepared by brewmaster Adam Benson with the utmost precision.

Oskar Blues: A canned beer pioneer

The first thought that leaps into many folks’ minds when they hear the phrases “canned beer” or “beer in a can” is the proverbial old swill that Pa used to drink after a hard day of work.  Perhaps quite fitting for this Pa character to be sittin’ in his favorite arm chair in a wifebeater watching the boob tube, or out on the porch counting cars.  These days the perception of Pa and his metal-clad accessory is changing thanks to breweries like Oskar Blues Brewing Company of Lyons, Colorado, who started hand-canning their flavorsome microbrews in 2002 and haven’t looked back since.  With full-bodied craft offering such as Dale’s Pale Ale, Old Chub Scottish Ale, and Gordon, a double red IPA, the microbrewer was the first of its kind to can its product. From those days of two-at-a-time hand-canning, OB first thought the idea of putting a “bold, hoppy pale ale” in a can to be humorous and claim it made them “laugh for weeks.”  This pale ale named after main man Dale Katechis changed a lot of misconceptions about canned brews.  Says Katechis: “We discovered that the belief that cans impart flavor to beer is a myth. The modern-day aluminum can and its lid are lined with a water-based coating, so the beer and the can never touch.”  The use of cans on quality brews serve other advantages over bottled brews.  “Cans, we discovered, are actually good for beer. Cans keep beer especially fresh by fully protecting it from light and oxygen. Our cans also hold extremely low amounts of dissolved oxygen, so our beer stays especially fresh for longer. Cans are also easier to recycle and less fuel-consuming to ship.”  Today, the Oskar Blues is still hand-canning their delicious beer, but with a more advanced mechanism that allows for five cans at once to be filled and sealed.