If you haven’t stopped by Belmont Station this week and you love fresh hop beers, now’s the time to get off your duff and scope it out. Thanks to the uber beer geeks at the Station, it isn’t necessary to wait for every hop fest to get your palate on some resinous lupin-loaded beers (though if you’re an uber beer geek like us, you’ll probably try and hit up all the events).

October 5th kicked off Belmont Station‘s week long (yes, seven whole days) FRESH HOP WEEK. Each night the folks at the Bier Cafe are tapping one of this year’s freshly hopped brews. The taplines are loaded. Look for such beers from Astoria, BridgePort, Beer Valley, Cascade, Deschutes, Fort George, Full Sail, Hopworks, Lucky Lab, Ninkasi, Oakshire, Sierra Nevada, Silver Moon, Upright, and yes, there will be more! Belmont Station encourages you to keep an eye on their website for daily draft updates: www.belmont-station.com

Belmont Station is located at 4500 Southeast Stark Street in Portland, Oregon. For more information, call (503) 232-8538.

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

Beer Valley Brewing in Ontario, Oregon may be known for being the state’s easternmost brewery (it is closer to Boise, Idaho than it is to Portland), but what really defines the brewery is brewer Pete Ricks’ love for brewing boldly hopped beers. We caught up with Mr. Ricks amidst hops harvest season to get more insight on his brewery that is nearly 400 miles from Portland to learn of the recent hoppenings and goings-on at Beer Valley.

You are a busy man, Pete, especially during the hops harvest season. What does the process of selecting hop and brewing your specialty fresh hopped beers look like?

Pete Ricks: All of our fresh hop brews start with Read More…

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer events, beer news, beer releases, brewpubs, places to drink beer

Fanno Creek Brewpub of Tigard, Oregon again hosts their semiannual Nano Beer Fest starting Friday August 6. The three-day event is slated to feature beer from fifteen Oregon breweries. While not all of these brewers are necessarily nano breweries (for example, Fort George now runs on a 30 barrel system), the festival itself might be safe to call nano. The event will allow craft beer lovers to sample a variety of styles from brewers from all parts of the state, like Beer Valley in Ontario, Walkabout in Central Point, Fort George in Astoria, Three Creeks in Sisters, and many others scattered throughout our vast landscape.

In addition to the three days of craft beer enjoyment, Nano Beer Fest will host an array of artists showcasing a wide range of media.

Some highlights pouring at Summer Nano Beer Fest 2010 include Walkabout Worker’s Pale, Caldera Dry-hopped Orange, Double Mountain Devil’s Kriek, Bend Brewing Black Diamond Dark Lager, Heater Allen Dunkel, and Fort George Sunset Pale Ale. Most of the brews at this fest you might be able to find on tap regularly around Portland, but in Tigard, this is a really cool showcase of craft beer. Further, the event promises great weather and should be a lot of fun.

For more details and to see a complete list of beers pouring at Summer Nano Beer Fest 2010, visit their website: www.nanobeerfest.com

Summer Nano Beer Fest takes place August 6-8, 2010; 11:30AM until close. Fanno Creek Brewpub is located at 12562 SW Main Street in Tigard, Oregon. For more information, visit their website, or call (503) 624-9400.

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

Wednesday July 14, 2010 offers a lot of options for Beervana craft beer lovers. Here’s a look at where and what you could be quaffing on this fine day:

Upright Reggae Junkie Gruit Release and Meet the Brewers – Upright Brewing has been turning the Oregon craft beer world upside down with some unique and fantastic beers. Since they opened just over a year ago, brewers Alex Ganum and Gerritt Ill have taken imaginative brewing to a new level. Known well for their French farmhouse style brews, on this fine evening at The BeerMongers, the Upright boys release their seasonal noteworthy hops-free herb beer known as Reggae Junkie Gruit. Brewed with a tantalizing blend of lemongrass, sichuan peppercorns, orange peel and hyssop, the gruit is another in a long list of innovative beers that Upright continues to put forth. Also tapping is a grassy loaded-with-hops Bavarian Engelberg Pils. 6-8PM.

The BeerMongers are located at 1125 SE Division Street in Portland, Oregon. For more information, call (503) 234-6012

Cascade Brewing Night at Puckerfest, Belmont Station – Puckerfest rolls on with more tart and wild brews than you can shake a stick at. Cascade brewer and sour champion Curtis Bain presents three very special sour ales on this night: The Manhattan Transfer, special blend of Pale Quad aged in Heaven Hill barrels, Tripel, and Sour Pie Cherry Kriek;  Noyeaux, a blend of Belgian spiced blonds, aged in white port barrels with raspberries and toasted inner pits of apricots used for the Cascade Apricot Ale; and the highly acclaimed dark, puckering, and complex Sang Noir. If you haven’t been by Puckerfest yet this year, what are you waiting for?! 6-8PM.

Belmont Station is located at 4500 SE Stark Street in Portland, Oregon. For more information, call (503) 232-8538.

Imperial IPA Fest Kick-off – Do you love hops? If so, this night is for you. In fact, the next five days are a dream come true for you. With more than 30 IIPAs being tapped throughout the week, Saraveza begins IIPA Fest with a bang. Tapping tonight: Beer Valley Leafer MadnessBlack Madness (a special blend of Leafer and the boisterously lupulin’d Black Flag Imperial Stout), Laurelwood Green Mammoth (debuting!), Oakshire Glen’s Hop Vice, and Ninkasi Tricerahops (gold medal winner at North American Beer Awards 2010). Brewer-owner Pete Ricks of Beer Valley, Oregon’s easternmost brewer, will in be in attendance, as will Laurelwood brewmaster Chad Kennedy. Folks with free tickets will receive a free Saraveza 32 ounce mason jar and get a fill for the price of a pint. Brewpublic is proud to sponsor this event. For more information go to http://brewpublic.com/events.

Saraveza is located at 1004 N. Killingsworth Street in Portland, Oregon. For more information, call (503) 206-4252

Hopworks Happy Hour Beer Pairing – Join Comune Accanto and the brewers of Hopworks Urban Brewery for a special marriage of happy hour delicacies and HUB’s award winning brews.

FRITTO MISTO – Fried shrimp, calamari, fennel, lemon and olives, Hub Lager

ROASTED APRICOT AND ARUGULA SALAD – With pancetta and aged balsamic vinegar, Evelyn Sunshine Imperial IPA

HOUSE MADE RABBIT & ROSEMARY SAUSAGE – With slow cooked sweet peppers ,onions and crispy polenta, Deluxe Organic Ale

TAGLIERINI ARRABIATA – With local porcini mushrooms, chiles and tomatoes, Survival “7 grain” Stout

LOCAL CHERRY AND BLUEBERRY CROSTATA – With basil crème fraiche gelato, Velvet Underground Imperial black ESB

HUB’s famous beer bike will be on hand as well with pint specials. Bon appetit!

Comune Accanto is located at 2838 SE Belmont Street in Portland, Oregon. For more information, call (503) 235-4900

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

This week long Imperial IPA Fest will feature an assortment of special bold hoppy treats, including the brewers who made them.

This night will feature Pete Ricks of Beer Valley in Ontario, Oregon, and Chad Kennedy of Laurelwood Brewing

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

The next Beer Tasting will be July 15th, our guest brewery will be BEER VALLEY from Ontario Oregon.

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

Oregon’s first meet-the-brew pubcrawl was a huge success. The culmination of great people, great beer venues,  outstanding beer, and spectacular weather was the perfect recipe for one hell of a time!

Victory Bar proprietor and barkeep Yoni Laos adds special beers to the chalkboard. You can always count on exceptional beers at Victory, but today was even more special. The pub usually opens at 5pm, but on this special day, Victory opened at noon to accommodate droves of thirsty craft beer drinkers. Brewers Matt “Speck” Speckenbach and Ben Love of Hopworks Urban Brewery (just down the street) were on hand to debut their new For Those About to Bock lager. From Double Mountain in Hood River, Oregon, Kyle Larsen was on hand to showcase his pitchy, booze-a-licious Imperial Choas Double Stout. Lots of other delicious geek-friendly beers adorned the taplines including Le Trappe Isid’or, Mt. Shasta Lemurian Lager, Mikkeller Single Hopped Centennial IPA, and Southern Tier Hoppe Imperial Extra Pale Ale.

After a great reception for the brewers at Victory and an hour and a half at the inaugural stop, the crowd dispersed and headed west down SE Division Street to stop #2 at New Old Lompoc’s Hedge House. The Hedge House is a beloved neighborhood watering hole and dining destination where the delectable beers brewed at two Lompoc breweries can be enjoyed. For this first day of spring, the sun was shining bright and the outdoor patio and lawn seating was a bonus.Pouring at the Hedge House were some brewhouse specialties including Lompoc’s peppery Saison the Beach, a tropically scented Simcoe Survivor Belgian IPA, the 69 Baltic Porter lager, and a handful of other quenching Lompoc brews. Lompoc’s NW 23rd brewery’s Zach Beckwith was on hand to greet the crawlers, many of whom made this their lunch stop as well.

Onward to stop #3 at Bar Avignon where Full Sail Brewmaster John Harris was on hand in his own neighborhood. Harris, a seasoned pro in the brewing industry has been an inspiration to many brewers climbing the ranks. His Full Sail Hop Pursuit was pouring at Avignon. The beer is a vibrantly hopped pale ale with no apologies. Quite refreshing and appropriate for such a day. To make things even better, Fort George brewer Spencer Gotter made the trek in from Astoria, Oregon to greet folks. Fort George’s Vortex IPA, a boldy hopped, yet well-balanced Northwest brew was featured to the delight of the crawlers. Avignon prepared special toasted hazelnuts for the event that went perfectly with the grubbin’ beers.

Finally, the crawl made its way to the stop #4, the last stop, at The BeerMongers. Though the bottleshop and pub has only been around a few months, they’ve been making quite a splash in the neighborhood. On this fine day three breweries were on hand to partake in the festivities. Walking Man brewers Jacob Leonard and Dan Munch made the trip from Stevenson, Washington to exhibit their sought after Big Black Homo Imperial Cascadian Dark Ale and to unveil a special new sour wheat ale known as Foot Funk. From the far expanse of Eastern Oregon, Barley Brown’s owner Tyler Brown and Brewmaster Shawn Kelso made the long haul to deliver two special beers: WFO India Pale Ale and the 2009 Great American Beer Festival bronze medal winning Tumble Off Pale Ale. From even further away, Oregon’s easternmost brewery Beer Valley’s Pete Ricks came through with the debut keg of his new Rosebud IPA. Ricks also brought a special blend of his Black Flag Imperial Stout and Leafer Madness Imperial Pale known as Black Magic. Not a less than killer beer in the whole bunch, this served as the perfect closure to a perfect day.

For more pictures from BrewPubliCrawl No. 1, visit our photo page

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer events, beer history, beer releases, beer reviews, places to drink beer

We knew when we began organizing our BrewPubliCrawl last year that we needed to get Walking Man Brewing on board. Not only are their beers some of the best on planet earth (no exaggeration!), but the names are appropriate and often quite clever. They usually pay homage to humans and our ability to put one foot in front of the other. An apparel item sold at Walking Man’s brewpub in Stevenson, Washington is an homage to their vastly popular Homo Erectus Imperial IPA and reads “Brewed in celebration of being erect for two million years.” Some of their other wittily named brews include Olde Stumblefoot, Perambulator, Somnabulator, Biped Red, Heaven’s Gait, Abbey Road, and Knuckle Dragger.

We are elated to have brewers Jacob Leonard and Dan Munch on hand for the SE Division Street BrewPubliCrawl. These gents and two home run hitting brews will be at The BeerMongers with the likes of Barley Brown’s and Beer Valley. In total, eight breweries and their brewers will be on hand for this event hosted by the four best beer bars on SE Division Street.

Here’s what Walking Man is bringing to the event:

Big Black Homo Imperial Cascadian Dark Ale: We make it a point to  hunt this beer down every time we hear of it’s existence. It’s kind of like Big Foot, the sightings are rare and sometimes out of focus. A spin on Walking Man’s beloved Homo Erectus, Big Black Homo is best described by Leonard as follows:

Big Black Homo is an Imperial Cascadian Dark Ale. It’s an aggressively dry-hopped version of Homo Erectus with an addition of English chocolate malt, and German De-Bittered black malt. We dry-hop with A-LOT of Columbus hops. It’s 8.5% ABV and 100 IBU’s. It smells like oily dank Northwest hops, and has an interesting light chocolate and rich malt backbone.

Also along for the peregrination will be a one-of-a-kind sour wheat brew we helped to cognominate “Foot Funk.” Of this unique specimen, the brewer bids…

“Foot Funk (I like this by the way) is something that we have been working on for about three years. It’s our American wheat ale, Crosswalk Wheat, that has an addition of orange blossom honey, bitter, and sweet orange peel in the kettle, then was inoculated with the Lambic blend of yeast and bacteria, and left to age in an oak barrel. We never really expected anything out of this, but are very happy with the end beer. It’s got strong Brettanomyces aroma, with a slight sour lactic acid “zing.” It’s very light golden color, and has flavors reminiscent of tangerines, peaches, and funky Brett character. It also has a subtle neutral oak character, that balances the acidity. It’s fun and strange, and I am really excited to get some feedback on it. We have about two more kegs of it and are kind of sitting on them, because we want to serve them at something special. Foot Funk is 5%ABV, and 18 IBU’s. Not that the IBU’s really matter.”

Make sure to walk, crawl, jaunt, or stroll over to The BeerMongers for great beer, and pay a visit to Walking Man’s Brewpub, recently named the 15th best in the world by RateBeer.com.

Walking Man, Beer Valley, and Barley Brown’s beer and brewers will be at The BeerMongers (1125 SE Division St.) from 4:30-6pm on Saturday March 20, 2010. For more information visit our events page.

If you are planning on attending the BrewPubliCrawl paying in cash would really help the bars and save time for everyone. Please know your limits. There’s a lot of beer to be had. Make arrangements in advance if you need a ride. Designated drivers, taxi cabs, and public transportation are encouraged. The BeerMongers is close to the #4 and #70 bus lines. Pace yourself and have fun! We look forward to seeing you there!

Posted under Beer personalities, beer events, beer releases

As you are probably aware (seeing as how you’re a beer geek reading this), there’s a lot going on craft beer-wise in Cascadia during the month of March. Really, there’s always a lot going on here. It seems the fun never ends. Here’s three can’t miss events that we recommend you attend for the love of great beer.

March 13 Double Mountain 3rd Anniversary Party

One of Hood River’s top three best breweries, Double Mountain, has been turning heads and captivating palates big time. Now just three years deep in the game, they’re throwing a blow out not to be skipped. Starting at noon on Saturday March 13 and lasting until 11PM, there will be lots of great DM beer, an array of great live music, and delicious food. All this under a heated tent outside of the brewpub. Read more at our earlier post here. We’ll see you there!

March 14 Fort George 3rd Anniversary Party

Another spectacular Oregon brewery, Fort George of Astoria, celebrated their third anno the very same weekend. Much like the Double Mountain blast, there will be great food, great music, and yes, great beer. Special musical guests Ma Barley will be performing later on in the evening and will have a special Fort George Jingle to share with the crowd. All of this while Fort George begins to beef-up their production with a newly acquired 30-barrel brewhouse. Check out more on this celebration at the Fort on their blog.

March 20 BREWPUBLICRAWL / Meet-the-Brewers

Okay, so we are tooting our own horn, but this event is really about the art of beer and the artists who brew them. Eight breweries will be providing beers and brewers for this one-of-a-kind event taking place at four of Division Street (Portland)’s finest craft beer pubs. From noon til 6PM (possibly later) eight all-star breweries including Fort George, Double Mountain, Hopworks, Beer Valley, Walking Man, Barley Brown’s, Full Sail, and New Old Lompoc will rock Division Street in SE Portland. For more information, visit out events page.

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