The beer lovers at Belmont Station offer a massive day of tastings and special drafts represented by the people who brew them. Meet a bunch of great Oregon craft brewers, most of whom are not represented at the big Oregon Brewers Festival. All this is happening on Saturday July 24, 2010.

Noon-2PM

* HEATER ALLEN BREWING.  Brewer/founder Rick Allen will pour tastes of his authentic German-style lagers and weizens brewed in McMinnville, OR. Bottles always for sale at Belmont Station. Isarweizen and Pils on draft.

* HOP VALLEY BREWING.  Brewer/owner Trevor Howard will pour tastes of Alphadelic IPA, Natty Imperial Red, and Elias Briggs Cream Ale from bottles (we will also have a limited supply of bottles for sale for the first time in Southeast Portland). Hop Valley Natty Imperial Red and VIP Porter on draft.

2-5PM

* FIRE MOUNTAIN BREWING.  Brewer/founder Henry Gorgas will pour tastes of his Oregon Pale Ale, Bad Henry IPA, and Steam Stout brewed in Carlton, OR. Bad Henry IPA on draft.

3-6PM

* PALE HORSE BREWING.  Brewer Josh Frank and one of the Pale Horse founders will pour tastes of their Amber, Pale, IPA, and Stout brewed in Salem, OR.

Also featured throughout the day:

* GILGAMESH BREWING. Nick and Lani Radtke and likely a few more members of this Turner, OR family brewery will be here with some of their super-creative drafts: Chocolate Mint Stout, Monster IPA, and Mamba beer brewed with tea and no hops.

* BONEYARD BEER. The founder/brewers of this new Bend, OR craft brewery will be here to chat about their beers. Bone-A-Fide Pale Ale and Black 13 on draft.

* BARLEY BROWN’S BREWPUB. Brewer Shawn Kelso’s WFO IPA (cask conditioned) on the beer engine all day. This is one of the best IPAs you may never have tasted and it’s even rarer to have it on cask. From Baker City, OR.

* BREWERS UNION LOCAL 180. Brewer/owner Ted Sobel will be serving two of his authentic British style Cask Conditioned Beers from traditional Beer Engines: “Wotcha” Best Bitter, (4.4%) & “60 Love” Hoppy Amber Liquid Refreshment (5.4%ABV).

Brewed in Oakridge, OR. These real ales will be served Saturday only. If you miss them you have to go to Oakridge (worth the trip when you have the time!)

We spoke with Belmont Station owner Carl Singmaster about this day of Oregon craft beer. Here’s the interview:

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer awards, beers on film, places to drink beer

In this second part of two, Portland Beer and Music‘s Jason Wallace explores some of the breweries of Eastern Oregon. Check out Jason’s great website at: pdxbrewtunes.blogspot.com.

Mt. Emily Alehouse:  This brewery has been open in downtown La Grande since January of 2009.  Brewer Jerry Grant attended the UC Davis Master Brewer program and spent time at Shasta Brewing.  A 7 barrel system is in place.  On two visits I had a chance to try several beers.  Nothing was mind blowing in quality but most were serviceable examples of the style.  The house beer, The Big, is described as “…defies categorization, but we feel it resembles an old English ale with toasted caramel undertones crossed with the piney hoppyness of a West Coast IPA.” The Big was my favorite and was more towards the English ale in that it had a strong malt profile with some caramel flavors. It only hinted at underlying hops.  I have to give Mt. Emily Alehouse props for having the bar staffed by a knowledgable bartender who obviously had an interest in craft beer and made my visits much more enjoyable.

Mutiny Brewing:  Situated in the beautiful town of Joseph, Oregon, between Lake Wallowa and Enterprise, Mutiny Brewing just released their first beer a few weeks ago after spending over a year getting the restaurant side of the brewpub up and running.  Brewer Kari Gjerdingen first got into commercial brewing in her home state of Indiana, attended the brewing course at UC Davis and ended up brewing at Terminal Gravity. She fell in love the Enterprise/Joseph area (I can see why – beautiful country and great people) and looked to open her own brewery.  I drove in on a Saturday after seeing a facebook post announcing the release of their first beer.  Unfortunately, the release date had been pushed back a few days.  Kari was kind enough to drop what she was doing and offer me a couple of tastes of the first two beers from the tanks.  Kari has a small 4-barrel system running.  Both beers I tried were very good.  The nearly complete wheat beer had great depth of flavor with strong citrus flavors and a hint of chamomile.  The porter had only spent a week or so in the tank but still threw out some great chocolate notes.  Both beers have since been released to the public and I believe the wheat beer is running out soon.  

Terminal Gravity Brewing:  My first visit to TG in Enterprise was great.  I mentioned in a recent post that I hope for two things when visiting breweries with larger distribution such as TG:  the opportunity to try beers that might not make it out of the brewery and a chance to enjoy the ambiance of the taproom/brewpub.  TG hit it on both accounts.  The taplist had all the standards plus two single hopped double IPAs (Centennial and Millenium hops), a barleywine, and a just blown CDA.  The ladies working the bar were knowledgeable and friendly, as were the locals.  The little house the brewpub sits in surrounded by mountains and the food is good.  What is not to like?  Can we move it closer to Portland please?    

Barley Brown’s Brewpub:  My final trip was one of my most anticipated and disappointing.  Barley Brown’s is in the small town of Baker City in far Eastern Oregon.  They have been increasing their distribution to Portland and all of the beers I had been lucky enough to try had been excellent.  The brewpub sits on the small main street and obviously serves as one of the gathering places for the locals, which is great.  The beer was not disappointing.  In fact, the Tankslapper Double IPA was probably the best single beer I had during the two weeks – a potent, floral hop bomb of goodness.  The problem was the brewery took a back seat to the restaurant.  There was not a single person working the floor or the bar who knew anything about the beer or brewing process.  I left knowing no more about the brewery than when I arrived.  Owner Tyler Brown was kind enough to respond to my blog post and apologize for my experience.  Hopefully, I will make a return trip soon.     As you can see, what once may have been considered a barren stretch of Southern Washington and Northern Oregon in the craft beer world is now ripe with options for good brews.  I didn’t even mention the breweries in and around Walla Walla.  As you make your summer travel plans, I hope my reviews will help you quench your thirst if you find yourself near one of these breweries.  Hell, even if you find yourself stuck at the Wild Horse Casino just outside of Pendleton they have $3 pints of Ninkasi Tricerahops!  Good luck.

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

Last week at the conclusion of the Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago, the biannual World Beer Cup (WBC) was held.  This global competition with a majority of American entries, has run since 1996 with an ultimate goal to create “greater consumer awareness about different beer styles and flavor profiles while promoting international brewing excellence.” A panel of certified beer judges were in place to honor the top three beers in 91 categories with gold, silver, and bronze awards. The World Beer Cup, one the most prestigious beer competitions in the world, witnessed 13 Oregon breweries take home medals in 2010. Here’s a look at some of the winners.

WINNERS

Oregon breweries claimed six gold, four silver, and three bronze medals at the 2010 WBC, second to only California who claimed 45 medals (but also entered 185 more beers than Oregon). Among the Oregon winners, was Bend Brewing Company (BBC). Accomplished brewmaster Tonya Cornett continued her winning ways for BBC. Cornett won top honors in the strong ale beer style category for its Outback X, a beer Cornett describes as demonstrating “roasted malt with hints of hops in the nose leading to a rich, roasted malt flavor with a background of dried fruits and sherry.”

“The Outback X was originally brewed for our ten-year anniversary,” Cornett explains. “We re-brewed it because people liked it so much, and I am thrilled that it just keeps doing as well as it does.” This is the third gold medal for Outback X.

This year, 642 breweries from 44 countries and 47 U.S. states vied for WBC awards, making for the world’s largest-ever commercial beer competition. Winners were selected by an international panel of 179 beer judges, including Cornett, who served a first-time WBC judge this year. “Sixty-five percent of the judges are from other countries,” she says. “I felt really fortunate to judge alongside and learn so much from them.”

In addition to the gold medal win for Outback X, Cornett garnered glory for her traditional stein lager recipe, which won a silver medal for Lost Abbey Brewery of San Marcos, California. Cornett teamed with award-winning Lost Abbey Head Brewer Tomme Arthur last year to brew two versions of traditional stein lager using molten rocks to set the wort to boil. Hot Rocks Stein Lager, created by Cornett and brewed by Arthur, took silver at WBC.

BBC has won 12 brewing competition medals in the last four years. This is Cornett and BBC’s sixth gold. In 2008, Cornett was honored as the first woman to win the title of World Beer Cup Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year. BBC simultaneously won Small Brewery of the Year. “I am actually better known in the international brewing community than I am in Bend,” jokes Cornett.

Shawn Kelso of Barley Brown’s Brewpub in Baker City, Oregon, much like Cornett, has been proving that it doesn’t take a large brewery to rake in medals. Kelso, on Barley Brown’s four-barrel brew system took home gold for Shredders Wheat, in the American-style wheat category. The same brew that landed the brewpub a Silver at the 2009 Great American Beer Fest (GABF) was now at the top of the pack. Look for more great beers from Kelso and Barley Brown’s to come. Rumor has it the brewhouse could be seeking out a larger brew system in the 10-15 barrel range to keep up with increasing demand for their delicious brews.

Caldera Brewing of Ashland scooped up two wins at this year’s WBC including a gold medal for their Rauch Ur Bock in the Smoked Beer category, and a silver medal for their Pilot Rock Porter in the Brown Porter category. Look for more innovative releases from brewer Trevor Kemp and Caldera founder Jim Mills. The brewery has recently kicked of their Kettle Series in 22-ounce bottles. This series includes the Rauch Ur Bock, so you can also taste the gold medal winner. Also in the Smoke Beer category, Rogue Ales of Newport snagged a silver for their Smoke Ale.

The Pelican Pub & Brewery and Brewmaster Darron Welch won a silver medal for MacPelican’s Scottish Style Ale at this year’s WBC. The staple Pelican brew won the medal in the Scottish-Style Ale category and was one of 29 entered.

“As an experienced World Beer Cup judge, I can say that this year’s event was one of the most competitive I have seen,” said Welch. “The quality I saw even in the preliminary rounds was very high and there were lots of outstanding beers that didn’t receive medals. The fact that MacPelican’s Scottish Style Ale was honored this year is extremely flattering.”

Upright Brewing and founder brewer Alex Ganum won a bronze medal for their Gose, a mildly tart wheaten ale, in the German-style Sour Ale category. For Ganum, this is his first WBC win, but hey, it’s only the first year his brewery has been in existence. We expect a lot more bling-bling for him in the future.

Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) continues to do well in just a few years since opening to the public. HUB claimed a silver medal at WBC for their Organic Velvet ESB in the  Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter category. Look for Christian Ettinger, Ben Love and company to accumulate a healthy collection of beer competition medals as time goes by.

Widmer Bros took home two WBC rocks this year. Their Drop Top Amber was crowned with the gold in the Ordinary Bitter and their original Alt pocketed a bronze in the German-Style Brown Ale/Düsseldorf-Style Altbier circuit.

Rounding out the Oregonian wins Full Sail of Hood River receiving a gold in the American-Style Dark Lager field for their Black Session; Deschutes nabbed a gold for their well-known Bachelor Bitter in the Special Bitter or Best Bitter field; Hop Valley of Springfield sealed the bronze honors for their DD Blonde, American-Style Wheat Beer.

Congratulations to all the winners at this year’s World Beer Cup. Prost!

Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, beer news

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?

Shawn Kelso: They’re basically the same recipe. On the ’08 I usually take a barrel or two…actually I should say a keg or two…and I have a neighbor with a whiskey barrel. Instead of putting the beer in the barrel, I put the barrel in the beer. In this case (the ’08), I used Wild Turkey and soaked some American oak chips, stick it in a keg of beer, and let it sit for a year. What we’re getting is some nice vanilla notes…definitely woody. It’s just a nice overall beer.

Now, we’ve got the Barley Brown’s Chaos Ale on tap. It’s a cool 11% Cascadian Dark Ale (That’s a black IPA for those who aren’t familiar). Where did this one come from and how the hell does something this magnificent and complex come out of Baker City?

SK: (Laughs) We’ve been brewing a Cascadian Dark Ale, or Black IPA, since ’04. Our (regular) Cascadian Dark Ale is called Turmoil. That one  is usually between 7.8-8% alcohol…with huge hops. We thought “What the hell?” a few years ago and decided to brew a double version. Being that you’re in Oregon, you always want to push the envelope. So we brewed a double version of this black ale and came up with Chaos. This year I stepped it up a little more and threw in just huge amounts of Columbus and Amarillos (hops) and a hell of a lot of grain and came up with 11% (ABV). It’s a huge beer; very nice and unique.

Before I bust your chops over ingredients, I have to about a few other beers on tap this evening. Barley Brown’s Cherrywood Smoked Ale is probably one of the most unqual and perturbing beers I’ve had. Ultimately, it’s distinctly smoked beyond belief with a deep, earthy cherried flavor. What went into making this beer?

SK: It’s a play on our Whiskey Malt Ale which is a staple we’ve had forever at Barley Brown’s. It’s a nice amber, slightly smoked, nice sweet character, big malt, no hops basically. I should say it has a nice balance. In this case, I heard Briess (Malt & Ingredient Company) made of cherry-smoked malt and I thought “What the hell.” So, always trying to push the envelope, I doubled the amount of smoke I normally put in the beer and came up with just a huge frickin’ bonfire…or should I say one that’s been put out. Extremely smokey and definitely for the faint of heart.

Tonight we also have access to a cask WTF IPA described as a Northwest-styled IPA with Columbus and Amarillo hops at about 7.5% ABV and dry-hopped with Amarillo as well.

SK: Normally our IPA is called WFO IPA but here I’ve brewed the WTF, Winter Time Fun (laughs)…Yeah right. Normally in the winter I brew the Turmoil and the summer I brew the WFO (Wide Fuckin’ Open). I’ve been getting harrass lately about not having an IPA so I thought “What the fuck, let’s brew an IPA!”  And I just loaded it up with Columbus, Amarillo, a little Bomlander, some Two-Row, and came up with a really nice West Coast IPA.

This was a good year for hops in the Pacific Northwest, and Barley Brown’s is obviously no exception to this. You are off the chain with your monstrous ingredients…quite so for a little Four-barrel brewery especially! Are you guys going to step it up and start doing some barrel-aged brews?

SK: I know we’re always going to load our beers up with hops. I’d like to do more with malt. I just brewed an old ale that’s all Weyerman Munich Two-base that I put down a minimum of six months but more than likely a year. I think I’m going to call it Old Grumbler Olde Ale and we’ll see how that goes. But as far as barrel aging, I just need more space. Tyler Brown, owner of Barley Brown’s need to step up and buy old Shawn a bigger brewery.

Callin’ him out!

SK: (Laughs) Exactly!

At the Great American Beer Fest this year , Barley Brown’s took home a couple of prestigious medals.

SK: In 2006 we won a gold medal for American Style Pale Ale for Tumble Off Pale. In ’09 we got a silver for American Style Wheat (Shredder Wheat) and a bronze for American Style Pale Ale with Tumble Off Pale Ale.

What do you think it was about this year that made the judges recognize your beers?

SK: I don’t know. It’s a lot of guess work as to why we were recognized this year and not in the past. But all of our beers did really well. We just got the judging notes back from (GABF) and all of our beers went to the later rounds. That was really cool. But I don’t know, it’s all a roll of the dice sometimes. There’s a lot of luck to play.

Do you ever feel more connected with the Idaho beer community than the Oregon beer community being that you are closer to Boise than Portland?

SK: At times I did. If you would have asked me a year ago today, probably yeah, I would have felt that way. But since December when Carl Singmaster (owner of Belmont Station) asked me to come to Belmont Station and sell our beer here…and I did. In March was the first time and in May we did our first meet the brewer…We were all geared toward Boise, but Portland was really nice in accepting us and for us, standing out in this kind of market is just a bigger blow to your ego. It’s really cool.

Last question: Are there any Oregon breweries out there better than Barley Brown’s?

SK: No. None whatsoever, and if Ettinger thinks he has a better brewery he can go fuck off. (Laughs)

If you’re heading east on the I-84, Barley Brown’s encourages you to stop by for some of the best beer available in the Pacific Northwest. the brewpub offers delicious food, a relaxed sociable environment, and access to a unique part of Oregon’s beautiful landscape you won’t  find west of the Cascades.

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer

On a Friday we left Portland heading eastbound toward the Southeastern corner of Washington State. As previously mentioned, any trip along the gorge demands a stop at Double Mountain Brewpub in Hood River. Here we visited our friend Charlie Devereux who shared a hoppilicious pint of Killer Green and a sweet and sour snifter of Devil’s Kriek. After this needed pit stop an hour or so out of town, we continued on our way east along the I-84. Hood River is the dividing line where you can see the climate change from temperate rain forest to high desert. Douglas-Fir trees are replaced with Ponderosa Pines and wet green terrains evaporates into pillowing glacial pastels. The town also marks the end of craft beer abundance in Oregon. Dispersed along the Interstate are some great pours such as Barley Browns in Baker City and Beer Valley in Ontario, but for the most part, once you pass Hood River, you will find your self in Bud Country where cowboys and ranchers are as commonplace as tumbleweeds and livestock.

Beyond The Dalles, we crossed the Columbia River into Washington and headed up US-97 toward Yakima past giant wind turbines through a surreal country of breath taking views and rolling colorful hills. From afar the white windmills look minuscule and unimposing, but up close, they are truly domineering and appear as though they are straight out of a sci-fi movie. Jagging through no man’s land past small towns like Goldendale, many familiar names of towns and streets appeared on roadsigns and on our trusty road map. Names like Simcoe and Ahtanum make the mouth water. There was even the idea of the town of (Hop)Zilla being related to a once produced Bert Grant’s double IPA.

Eventually the landscape leveled out as we headed east on the I-82 near Topponish. From here more agricultural impact became evident. Sights of barren hopyards, unharvested corn crops, and the smell of pumpkins and peppers were quite nice. However, further east, the stench of cow and chicken manure was not nearly as pleasant.

As the sky drew its curtain for a fall evening to set in, we approached Sunnyside, Washington, a blue collar farm town with an overwhelming cowshit odor.  We were at least rewarded with the most fabulous and daring beers of our entire journey. Snipes Mountain. Situated in a large log hunting lodge, Snipes Mountain is home to some of the best beers in the Pacific Northwest. Brewer Chris Miller, formerly of the now defunct Pacific Rim Brewing Company in Seattle, has an uncanny talent for concocting some of the most innovative beers we’ve ever had the pleasure of wrapping our palates around. Miller’s Coyote Moon Brown took home a bronze medal at the 2009 Great American Beer Fest. The low alcohol mild ale is a perfect session beer with a full-bodied character. Even better, we came at the right time to quaff on Miller’s Harvest Ale which won 1st Place at this year’s Yakima Fresh Hop Festival after finishing second in 2008 (This is especially noteworthy considering the Yakima Valley is the country’s number one producer of hops). With a delicious bouquet of Simcoe and Citra hops, the highly drinkable floral ale was the zenith of an incredible day.

We were giddy with craft be delight as Miller gave us a special tour of the brewhouse where barrel-aged specialties like an Imperial Coyote Moon aged in oak left a creamy residual on our tongues. There were even some other experimental hop beers we were grateful to sample out of the brite tanks.

Coming soon: Interview with Snipes Mountain brewer Chris Miller.

Posted under beer reviews

…and we’re drinking it up on the left side…

Barley Brown's Shawn Kelso flaunts his GABF Bling

A rare treat is in store for Portlanders who make it to Belmont Station for Tuesday night’s tasting of some exclusive Barley Brown’s brews from Baker City, Oregon. Said Belmont’s Chris Ormand a few weeks ago, “We’ll be tapping a cask conditioned keg of Barley Brown‘s most excellent Turmoil Black IPA. Plus Shredders Wheat and WFO IPA. Brewer Shawn Kelso of this small brewpub consistently creates some of the finest brews around. (we’re betting we’ll be toasting at least one GABF award–fingers crossed). Shawn can’t be here but his beer will be!”

Barley Brown's owner Tyler Brown sharing some award winning brews

Well, Chris was right, Barley Browns chalked up two medals including a bronze for their Tumble Off Pale, and a silver for the afforementioned Shredders Wheat.

BARLEY BROWN’S NIGHT @ BELMONT STATION will take place on Tuesday September 29 from 5-11PM

Posted under beer awards, beer events

Tonight we were able to get our palates around a flavorsome new maltilicious Full Sail fresh hop beer. Despite the hoparazzi not having many cameras handy, we can confirm that Oregon Guildmeister Brian Butenschoen was on hand to quaff the birra delicioso. Here’s an incriminating cell phone photo taken by Brewpublic’s own Margaret Lut.

Gearing up for our Brewpublic Anniversary event at Saraveza on October 9th and our KillerBeerFest at Bailey’s on October 10th, we couldn’t help but feel the vibe of the harvest season. Though we didn’t anticipate the event to be much of a fresh hop event since the Portland fresh hop festivities will be in full effect the same day at Oaks Park, we were happy to recently discover our event will feature some fantabulous wet hop brews exclusive to the weekend. For example, our friends from Barley Browns, owner Tyler Brown and head brewer Shawn Kelso of Baker City were kind enough to share a gem of a beer from their four-barrel brewery’s library. Making the five hour trek from their Eastern Oregon hotspot, these guys brought us a one-of-a-kind Wild Fresh Hopped American Strong Ale. They will also feature some of these unique highly sought after brews at Belmont Station in the near future. During their brief stay in Portland Brown and Kelso also dropped off eight beers to MacTarnahan’s/Pyramid to submit them in this year’s GABF. Expect some medals from these chaps.

After meeting with the Baker City crew, I headed out to Hillsdale to gratefully partake in a blending and taste panel at Cascade Brewing where brewmaster Ron Gansberg and Curtis Bain pained palates over a series of test blends to come together for a never to be tasted again concoction. This year’s KillerBeerFest will not only feature a divine puckering pour from now defunct BJ’s of PDX, but also this to die for fruity and complex Raccoon Lodge lush lactic.

Plenty more great beers to be announced as the October dates approach. We are enormously stoked!

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Posted under beer events