1988 was apparently a good year to start a craft brewery. Across the country and especially here on the West Coast, a number of new breweries opened this same year. Known as the Class of ’88, breweries such as Deschutes, Rogue, North Coast, Grand Teton, Boulevard, Great Lakes, Goose Island, Vermont Brewery & Pub, and Wynkoop are among the most notables to open for business in 1988.

Posted under beer news, beer releases, California Beer, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Press release:

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27TH AT 6:00 PM, Saraveza and UINTA Brewing Co. present a five-course food and beer pairing dinner in the Bad Habit Room.

Tickets are on sale now in our Beer Boutique.

Posted under beer and food, beer events, places to drink beer, press releases

By D.J. Paul

Once again, Lucky Lab Beer Hall in Northwest Portland will host another installment of their Annual Barleywine and Big Beer Tastival next month. This year’s tastival takes place on Friday, March 8^th and Saturday, March 9^th from Noon-10:00pm each day.

This annual fest has been going strong for at least 16 years. Originally held at the Lucky Lab on SE Hawthorne the tastival moved to their NW Quimby location after they converted this former Freightliner warehouse to a brewery and pub back in 2006. With their massive amount of pub space along with a nice outdoor patio this space allows for an enjoyable atmosphere while quaffing some strong barleywine samples.

From the recent media preview I did learn some promising updates to this annual tasting. According to Lucky Lab brewer and tastival organizer, Ben Flerchinger, this past year he along with a few others went through their stockpile of barleywines and disposed of the ones that have not aged all that well. This was one of the reason that I skipped the tastival last year. In 2011 I had few more oxidized barleywines than my palate could handle. From this re-tooled cellar of barleywines we were able to sample 7 different ones with each one offering their own unique flavor. Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer reviews, brewpubs, Oregon beer, places to drink beer, vintage beers

By D.J. Paul

Another year is coming to an end, which means a plethora of holiday beers from Lompoc Brewing are ready to be released. Since the temporary demise of The Old Lompoc Pub on NW 23^rd Ave, Lompoc Brewing is now down to only one operating brewery (NW 23^rd location will be back open as a pub only in May or June 2013). Because of this new found capacity restriction, Lompoc is releasing 7 Holiday Beers this season, down three from last year’s 10 Holiday Beer Releases.

Present from Lompoc Brewing for the media tasting was owner Jerry Fechter, head brewery Bryan Keilty and their newest brewer Josh Merrick.

Here’s an in-depth look at this year’s holiday releases from Lompoc: Read More…

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

Pyramid Brewing Co. has been working on a new barleywine that will surely come as a delight to craft beer lovers across the country. Currently the beer is just in its trial stages, according to Pyramid’s Portland brewery manager Doug Hodges. “Kim Brusco just did a trial for us in Seattle, and we just got a sample here yesterday” says Hodges. The official beer to be released will be brewed this summer at their Berkeley location and will be featured as a part of their fall variety pack slated to release on August 1, 2012. “There will be a limited amount of draft for the alehouses” Hodges adds, informing us “The trial was pushed along pretty quickly, not given much time to age. We mostly wanted to make sure we could Read More…

Posted under beer news, Beer personalities, beer releases, brewpubs, Oregon beer

The Bier Stein of Eugene (345 E. 11th Ave.) celebrates strong ales with Starkbierzeit (German meaning “strong beer season) in the tradition of the Munich festival that begins each year on St. Joseph’s Day, March 19. According to the German Beer Institute, Starkbierziet is “a noble tradition started by none other than pious Paulaner monks hundreds of years ago.” The tradition of the Benedictine monastery lives on today with great celebrations throughout the world.

The Eugene Starkbierziet event at the Bier Stein is happening on April 4 and 5, 2012 and showcases many big, boozy, and flavorsome treats that are brewed stateside and highly revered internationally. Here’s the lowdown from the Stein’s uber geek Dave Stockhausen on the event and beers you can expect to find:

starkbierzeit –

noun

a. a festival in celebration of strong ales

b. an often periodic celebration or program of events or entertainment having a specified focus

c. gaiety, conviviality

Featuring strong (9% to 18%) and vintage ales around the US that we have been cellaring for the last few years.

Each draft is individually priced or available in a flight The Bruery Cuir 3rd Anniversary Ale, Deschutes Dissident 2010, Dogfish Head 120 Minute, Stone Vertical Epic 11-11-11, Block 15 Pappy’s Dark, Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Life and Limb 1, Firestone Walker Parabola 2011, Full Sail Topsail Imperial Porter 2012, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2010, Flat Tail Bourbon 6 a.m. Stout

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

The Bier Stein of Eugene (345 E. 11th Ave.) celebrates strong ales with Starkbierzeit (German meaning “strong beer season) in the tradition of the Munich festival that begins each year on St. Joseph’s Day, March 19. According to the German Beer Institute, Starkbierziet is “a noble tradition started by none other than pious Paulaner monks hundreds of years ago.” The tradition of the Benedictine monastery lives on today with great celebrations throughout the world.

The Eugene Starkbierziet event at the Bier Stein is happening on April 4 and 5, 2012 and showcases many big, boozy, and flavorsome treats that are brewed stateside and highly revered internationally. Here’s the lowdown from the Stein’s uber geek Dave Stockhausen on the event and beers you can expect to find:starkbierzeit –

noun

a. a festival in celebration of strong ales

b. an often periodic celebration or program of events or entertainment having a specified focus

c. gaiety, conviviality

Featuring strong (9% to 18%) and vintage ales around the US that we have been cellaring for the last few years.

Each draft is individually priced or available in a flight The Bruery Cuir 3rd Anniversary Ale, Deschutes Dissident 2010, Dogfish Head 120 Minute, Stone Vertical Epic 11-11-11, Block 15 Pappy’s Dark, Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Life and Limb 1, Firestone Walker Parabola 2011, Full Sail Topsail Imperial Porter 2012, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2010, Flat Tail Bourbon 6 a.m. Stout

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

There are a lot more new beers making their way down the pipeline here in the Pacific Northwest. Deschutes Conflux No. 1 Release, a collaboration with  Hair of the Dog called “Collage” is soon to be released in bottles. This 11% ABV beer is a malt beverage aged in distilled spirit and wine oak barrels and has been highly anticipated for more than a year. The label refers to this blend of several sought after brews as an “artistic expression.”

Widmer Brothers continues to wear their collective creative cap and lead the way with more experimental India Pale Ales. Next up, X-443. They’ve also got an oyster stout dubbed “Cloyster”, an 8%ABV draught only selection. The brewhouse continues to impress not only with imagination but with execution. Look for their Rotator Shaddock IPA (brewed with grapefruit), Hibiscus Gose, Raspberry Imperial Stout, and Old Embalmer ’12 Barleywine Ale (featuring Bravo hops) from their Alchemy Project.

Looks like Hopworks Urban Brewery will be kegging up a new series of single hop IPAs known as the IPX India Pale Ale series. Further in the hoppy realm, Pike is not only releasing draught of a new 4.9% Hop Session Ale, their gearing up for their 25th Anniversary with a special bottle release of their Space Needle Golden Anniversary 2012 Vintage IPA, a 6.5% ABV 58 IBU brew with an array of Yakima Valley Hops. Elysian Brewing also  of Seattle is gearing up to release the next brew from their Read More…

Posted under beer news, beer releases, Oregon beer, Washington Beer

The Bier Stein of Eugene (345 E. 11th Ave.) celebrates strong ales with Starkbierzeit (German meaning “strong beer season) in the tradition of the Munich festival that begins each year on St. Joseph’s Day, March 19. According to the German Beer Institute, Starkbierziet is “a noble tradition started by none other than pious Paulaner monks hundreds of years ago.” The tradition of the Benedictine monastery lives on today with great celebrations throughout the world.

The Eugene Starkbierziet event at the Bier Stein is happening on April 4 and 5, 2012 and showcases many big, boozy, and flavorsome treats that are brewed stateside and highly revered internationally. Here’s the lowdown from the Stein’s uber geek Dave Stockhausen on the event and beers you can expect to find: Read More…

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

We turn the taps to thick, dark, extreme brews for one cold week. Expect limited beers from Barley Brown’s, Great Divide, Deschutes, Full Sail, Fort George, He’brew, Emelisse, Brewdog, Evil Twin, Mikkeller, Block 15 and… isn’t that enough blackness already? Watch the next email for more specifics.

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