One of the most affable craft beer personalities in Oregon is undoubtedly Jamie Floyd. The face of Eugene’s Ninkasi Brewing, Floyd’s passion for beer and people is infectious. These days it is seemingly unfathomable how much Ninkasi has grown from their start just a few years back. That is, until you spend a few moments talking with the company’s figurehead and the founding brewer who cut his teeth on Steelhead back in the 1990s. Always willing to spend time with friends and quaff a tasty brew, Floyd is undoubtedly one of the friendliest and most popular Oregon brew icons of recent history.

Brewpublic caught up with Jamie Floyd on a recent trip to the Emerald City and we were wowed by his brewery’s ongoing expansion that now includes a roughly 2000 square foot artsy office space and chic tasting space. On top of this the 30 barrel brewhouse with 100 barrel fermenters/brites is beefing up to facilitate around 32,000 barrels by the end of 2010 and making way for the possibility of cranking out around 90,000 barrels in the not too distant future as they are soon to install two 240 barrel fermenters sometime this month.

Brewpublic will be heading south this weekend to visit the beer hot spots in Eugene and Corvallis. As expected, the weekend here in Beervana promises a slew of great tasting opportunities that you might regret missing out on. Even if you don’t happen to find a keg much hyped Russian River Pliny the Younger before it blows, you might want to seriously consider making it out for the following pours:

Upright Brewing’s Oyster Stout Release Party

Unique folks who enjoy unique brews is one way of describing Beers For Queers. This promises to be a one-of-a-kind event, at Saraveza, a one-of-a-kind beer bar. Beers For Queers will celebrate diversity of people with a specialty line-up of beers curated by Saraveza’s Mickey Pollizatto.  Pollizatto is the creator and persona, Cabria Jones (CJ), a Tranny Pop Diva who has traveled the world entertaining crowds while sampling a variety of distinct beer styles.  Pollizatto will  be in character for this event and says event is about beer, but without the  music. Says Pollizatto: “I like to keep my act in the night clubs. But that will in no way take away from this party.”  It is also stressed that this event is not simply a beer night for the gay community. “Sarah (Pederson, owner of Saraveza) and I both have an interest in getting more unique people into good beer. The more interesting and diverse the better. (Beers For Queers) is a party to celebrate beer with Trans, Butch, Femmes, Sissy, Freaks, Geeks, their Allies and any other people who fall outside the Hetero, or even the newly established Homo-Normative profile.”

So what can people expect at this festive event?

Brewpublic and Saraveza’s My Beery Valentine event during Zwickelmania/Valentine’s weekend was good enough to scare up a grand ($1000) for Mercy Corps Haiti Relief Fund. Thanks to a great turn out and generous donations from breweries, chocolaters, and folks like our man Tyler “The Elder” Vickers, Portland’s craft beer community again came up big for those in need.

We at Brewpublic are delighted to announce that we’ll be on a great new Internet Radio show called Brew Happy today at 2PM. Brew Happy is on PDX.FM, a network of streaming radio and podcast shows based in Portland, Oregon. The network launched in September 2009 and, as of February 2010, has approximately thirty shows that stream live across two channels. Most of the shows premier live on either a daily or weekly schedule, and all but the music shows are available for download from iTunes as well as from the individual shows’ websites within a day of airing.

Brew Happy “airs” every Wednesday at 2PM Pacific Standard Time and older installments can be downloaded from PDX.fm’s site. Hosts Damian DeBrusier and Susanna Parker are on a quest to expand their audiences love and appreciate for brewing and beer culture. Damian is a bartender and Susanna works at Laurelwood. Both bring an interesting dynamic to the show. Past guests thusfar have included Brett Joyce, President of Rogue Ales, Van Havig, Senior Brewer at Portland, Oregon’s Rock Bottom Brewery, and Chris Spollen and Sean Thommen, both brewers at Amnesia Brewing. Today’s show with Brewpublic highlights the greater Oregon craft beer community and discusses some up coming events not to miss. We also promote our friends and sponsors Upright Brewing Company while tasting their Gose and Flora Rustica brews. There’s also a bottle of Cascade Brewing’s Sang Rouge sour blend in the mix. Tune in today and become a sponsor of those who support craft beer in your area. We are happy to say that Brew Happy is the latest sponsor of Brewpublic and we look forward to working with them more in the future! Cheers!

Cascade Brewing’s latest sour blend known as Noyeau was a huge hit at our My Beery Valentine benefit at Saraveza. During Zwickelmania weekend, we go the lowdown on this awesome brew from brewmaster Ron Gansberg.

Cascade Brewing’s Noyeau Blend from Brewpublic.com

Coffee and beer lovers rejoice! Laurelwood’s Organic Portland Roast Espresso Stout is back!

The brew is a collaboration between the brewery and Portland Roasting. It features a blend of Sumatran and Ethiopian coffees specially selected by Laurelwood head brewer Chad Kennedy. Laurelwood released a statement saying “These Organic and Farm Friendly Direct coffees blend nicely in our smooth and mellow Organic stout. This well-balanced creation has a nice coffee aroma and flavor that subtly compliments the roasted character of this dark ale.”

Yesterday I was riding my bicycle down through NE Portland and noticed Migration Brewing, a soon-to-be-open brewpub at 2828 NE Glisan. I’d met with brewer and co-founder Michael Branes a while back at Belmont Station and had read a post about the new spot from Bill at It’s Pub Night. Branes began brewing professionally at Barley Johns Brew Pub in Minneapolis, Minnesota and has been actively brewing beer for the past six years in Portland.  For the last three years, he worked as a distributor with Mountain People’s organic beer and wine distributing company. Branes’ partners in crime are McKean Banzer-Lausberg and Colin Rath. Banzer-Lausberg, a former pub manager at Lucky Lab, will run in-house finances, employees and kitchen management. Rath will handle bar management, outside marketing, and oversee community-based programs. His involvement with the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) makes him a great fit for this outpost.

As we written about earlier in the pages of Brewpublic, tonight is the night when beer sommelier and champion of all things related to craft beer, Preston Weesner uncorks and assortment of special Big Bottle beers. Thirty lucky citizens of Beervana will get a rare and limited opportunity to try a variety of big bottle vintage beers at 6:30 pm at Saraveza (1004 N. Killingsworth Street). This special affair will feature seven expensive and rare vintage large format bottles as the centerpiece of an evening of vintage beer tasting, beer and food pairing, and education about the beers and the changes they undergo in their mammoth bottles.

The all-star beer line-up of seven beers features 2006 Chimay Grand Reserve, 2007 Duvel Tripel, 2007 Samichalaus, 2008 St. Bernardus Abt 12, 2008 St. Feuillien Triple, 2007 Unibroue La Fin Du Monde and 2006 Val-Dieu Winter.

Lisa Morrison, aka the Beer Goddess, is hosting one of her popular women-only beer classes at Fort George Brewery & Public House on Feb. 20. It’s called Hoppy Housewives. You don’t have to be a housewife to attend, but you do have to be a woman! The two-hour afternoon class takes ladies on an entertaining and educational tour of several beer styles, as Lisa shares tips on pairing beer with food, cooking with beer — participants even get a take-home recipe book — and great stories about beer’s HERstory (instead of history). Light fare in the form of finger food and tapas will be provided so students don’t get hungry!

Don’t forget, it’s also Stout Month at the Fort George, with rotating stouts on draft from countless different breweries all month! Class attendees and their escorts are encouraged to make a weekend of it by booking a room at the newly opened Commodore Hotel, nearly right across the street from the brew pub! Details: http://www.commodoreastoria.com/