Friday August 6, 2010, Laurelwood Brewing Company taps a new beer loaded with a plenitude of malts and hops. Brewmaster Chad Kennedy says this beer is “One of the more unique beers we’ve created.” This pale ale is made with six different malts including, barley, rye and wheat as well as four varieties of hops. To make it even more exciting, the beer contains fresh Bay Laurel leaves that were added in the fermenter and conditioning tank. Kennedy says the result of this 5.7%, 40 IBU brew is “a balanced pale ale with the pleasing aroma of fresh bay leaves- quite distinct from the dried version.”
Well, one of the biggest beer weekends in Beervana has come and gone and we somehow managed to survive. In fact, this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival(OBF) – four days of craft beer-fueled fun (not to mention the largest all-craft beer festival in the country) – broke its own record for attendance this year, according to aTwitter post from festival organizer Chris Crabb. Crabb and company invest a lot of time and care not only into OBF featuring more and more great beers each year, but in assuring continual growth is still able to comfortably accommodate droves of humans at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. In fact, the organizers are already prepping for next summer’s fest, scheduled to take place July 28-31, 2011 (OBF is always the last full weekend of July). Check out some of our photos from OBF here.
This past Friday, we enjoyed a special open house at the new Hair of the Dog (HOTD) digs located at SE Yamhill at Water Street. This was our second glimpse at brewer-owner Alan Sprints’ spacious new brewery since attending Fred Fest this spring. As he’s generously done each year on the Friday of OBF, Sprints and his staff offered samples of HOTD beers including the no hops gourd brew Greg, Blue Dot Imperial IPA, Fred, Adam, Doggie Claws Barleywine, and a special Cherry Adam in addition to a lovely spread of snacks. It was great to see the work that the brewery has put forth including the installation of many brewhouse components and an attractive bar in the front space. We look forward to enjoying more beers here in the near future.
Later in the day on Friday, which was a very warm day, we ventured over to Belmont Station‘s Biercafe for a special event featuring the music of Lagunitas Brewing founder Tony Magee. While folks enjoyed the air conditioned pub space, special Lagunitas brews like Lil Sumpin’ Sumpin’, a wheaten summer IPA, and a delicious Fusion II, described by Magee as a “strong mild ale.” Essentially, it was a 4.5% mild brown ale with a gratuitous helping of West Coast hops.
Also pouring at Belmont Station was a number of specialty brews from Green Flash Brewing of Vista, California. Green Flash brewer Ryan Pearson was in house to greet folks and discuss the featured beers of the night: an Imperial IPA, Barleywine, and two new to Portland brews, a Summer Saison and a Citra Session Pale Ale. The latter was another low ABV beer with a big dose of pungently dank hops.
To make the time at Belmont Station even cooler, 21st Amendment co-founder Nico Freccia was on hand while samples of the San Francisco brewery’s Hell or High Watermelon Wheat ale (a favorite at the OBF), Live Free of Die IPA, Monk’s Blood Belgian Ale, and the new to cans, Back in Black IPA (a Cascadian Dark Ale).
On Saturday, Full Sail‘s Riverplace brewpub at McCormick & Schmick’s held its annual gathering while celebrating the birthday of Brewmaster John Harris. Friends of the brewery, including notable Oregon brewers like Full Sail’s Phil Roche, Ninkasi’s Jamie Floyd, Widmer’s Rob Widmer, Rogue’s Brett Joyce, and Hopworks’ Ben Love, beat the heat with newly released Full Sail brews that included the A Pleine Voile Saison and the Sanctuary Belgian-style Dubbel. Folks were kindly offered seasonal IPAs and the Vesuvius Tripel on tap in addition to buckets filled with ice and two kinds of the brewery’s Session ale in signature stubby bottles. Cigars were passed out and Harris was toasted to a happy birthday song and a big cake.
On Saturday evening The BeerMongers and Brewpublic hosted a special meet the brewers event highlighting MacTarnahan’s Brewing. For this night, Mac’s Amber and Summer Grifter IPA poured on tap while bottle samples of the Lipstinger Saison and brand new Ink Blot Baltic Porter were made available for sample in bottles. Brewers Tom Bleigh, Vasilios Gletsos, Eric Wathen, Ryan Pappe, Steve Fraser, and brand manager Mark Carver were in the house for this fun event. Also in attendance were Boneyard Beer brewers Tony Lawrence and Clay Storey. Look for more Boneyard and Mac’s Beer on tap this week at The Mongers.
Sunday marked the conclusion of the OBF as we headed north to Seattle to catch a baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox. As is usually the case when the Red Sox come to Seattle, more Boston fans are in the stands than are Mariners (the M’s being in last place in their division doesn’t help their cause at this point in the season either). Before hitting the game, we visited Elysian Fields near the ballpark. Here we discovered less Elysian brands gracing the taps as in years past. Many guest taps were made available. In fact more guest taps now than Elysian’s own. It was also disheartening to be served beer at a not packed bar in plastic cups. We feel doesn’t appear to exhibit regard for the environment. Still, being offered were the likes of Elysian’s The Wise ESB, Zephyrus Pilsner, Perseus Porter, Dragonstooth Stout, Men’s Room Original Red, Bifrost Winter Ale, Avatar Jasmine IPA, and our option, Immortal IPA on cask.
At Safeco Field, we were excited to discover more craft beer on tap than ever before, most of which was regionally produced. Despite a hefty $8.75 price tag for 20 ounces of brew, it made us happy to be able to decide between more than your typical Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, etc, that you see at many sporting arenas. Luckily things are changing for the better in America’s beer world, and leave it to the Pacific Northwest to lead the charge. Beers of interest that we noticed included Lazy Boy Pilsner and IPA, Alaskan Summer and Pale, MacTarnahan’s Amber, Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen, Sierra Nevada Pale, Hale’s Kolsch, Snoqualmie Grand Slam Amber, Skagit River Skullers IPA, Dick’s Best Bitter, and our pick, Fremont Brewing’s Summer Solstice, a great sessionable pale ale with a big floral hop aroma. A nice thing about Safeco, despite the expected sporting event beer price gouge, is that spectators are permitted to bring their own food into the arena. This helps soften the blow of steep beer prices for those who plan ahead.
After the game ended, and the Mariners took a 4-2 win, we headed back to Portland, Oregon aka Beervana in attempts of surviving the final week of Oregon Craft Beer Month. Cheers!
Join Double Mountain founders and brewer rock stars Charlie Devereux and Matt Swihart for a special release party of their 2010 Devil’s Kriek sour ale brewed with cherries grown on Matt’s orchards. This distinct event at Belmont Station Bier Cafe will allow folks to enjoy a glass of the 2010 Kriek alongside a vintage 2009. Draft only. This will serve as a seemingly perfect pre-party for Belmont Station’s week-long wild and sour beer bonanza known as Puckerfest.
Belmont Station again expects long lines for this popular event. In order to ensure a shorter wait time, Devil’s Kriek will be cash only.
(L to R) Amy Singmaster, Matt Swihart, Charle Devereux, Carl Singmaster
After nearly a decade at NE 40th and Sandy Boulevard, Laurelwood Pizza Company, the first public house property in a successful branch of pubs, will be closing its doors for good. The Hollywood District brewpub was at the forefront of the family friendly, organic and sustainably minded model that we see today at their other locations and at places like Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB). In fact, HUB’s founder and brewmaster, Christian Ettinger cut his teeth putting out some nationally recognized award winning beers at Laurelwood Pizza. Moreover, Ettinger was brewing beer in this space before Laurelwood took over, In over a year prior to Laurelwood’s run began in 2001, the young brewer was producing beers for Old World Pub & Brewery. “I basically started in the ashes of a failed brewpub. I was hired to help develop (Old World).” said Ettinger in a past interview. “It went out of business and Laurelwood opened on the same site and took over the lease. And I represented the landlord for that space just to show the tenants what kind of potential that place had. I saw that it was really underutilized by the former management. You can see what happened with a good operator and with good beer.” In 2003, Laurelwood acquired current brewer Chad Kennedy who brewed with Ettinger and eventual took the reigns at their brewmaster. The addition of Kennedy proved a seamless transition and his role in the company is undoubted as invaluable as anyone’s at Laurelwood.
As it turns out, the current landlord has been trouble for Laurelwood, and this is big part of the decision to move on. Laurelwood co-founder Mike De Kalb says the brewpub signed a 10 year lease with options. “We never got along (with the landlord) since probably day number 30″ says De Kalb. “It’s too bad, but we’re moving forward.” De Kalb and company recently finalized the sale of Laurelwood Pizza to a brewery from Utah known as Sun River Brewery. After Monday July 5th, 2010, the business will change hands. As a final hoorah and thanks to all of the patrons who made the family establishment a success, Laurelwood will be offering happy hour prices all night.
In a recent newsletter email, Laurelwood made the following statement:
For many of us the original Laurelwood Public House and Brewery on NE 40th and Sandy Boulevard was our first Laurelwood home. We opened in March of 2001 and in 2007 when we took the main production facility and pub up the street, the 40th location became Laurelwood Pizza Company. We have had a great run with so many great memories and great beers! We feel so fortunate that we have made so many friends and literally watch many of our employees and customers children grow up. For nearly ten years you have helped us make Laurelwood a staple in not only the Hollywood District but also all of Portland and we want to say thank you. So this Monday, July 5th from 5pm-10pm we want to invite all of you to come out and raise one last pint of beer with us in memory and in honor of all the great times we had at our original brewery! Thank you all for so many great years!
As you probably know, July is Oregon Craft Beer Month and Laurelwood has a lot planned. De Kalb says two of the biggest events include a firkin and cheese pairing on July 7th at Laurelwood’s NW 23rd Ave Public House and a Luau to happen on July 28th at their NE 51st and Sandy Blvd brewpub.
Brewery Invites you to Meet the Brewster and to Toast Oregon Craft Beer Month
“As craft brewers we are proud to be part of this heritage of brewing diverse, local beers as well as a beer culture that welcomes women. So we thought it only fitting that we should have our “Brewster” Kristy Holsopple brew the beer to toast the start of Oregon Craft Beer Month,” said Full Sail Founder and CEO, Irene Firmat. Full Sail Lab Supervisor, Kristy Holsopple, an avid home Brewster, crafted ”Dunkopple” a German Dunkles Lager as part of our Brewer’s ShareOregon Craft Beer Month. series, just in time to toast the beginning of
In recognition of the positive impact that Oregon craft brewers have made to our communities, the entire month of July has been designated by the Governor as Oregon Craft Beer Month. “To lead the Oregon Craft Beer Month kick off toast and to have the opportunity to highlight women’s role in craft brewing with one of my own recipes is a great honor. Dunkopple is traditional German Dunkles lager with a northwest twist. It’s a dark, yet easy drinking, moderately hopped, malty brew. Traditionally, Dunkles use Noble hops, so I chose northwest descendants of those varieties, Mt. Hood and Citra, to make it my own,” said Holsopple. ABV 5.2% IBU 25
Full Sail has scheduled two “Meet the Brewster and the Beer” events to showcase this new beer. The first is at the Full Sail Tasting Room and Pub in Hood River, on Thursday, July 1 from 5:30 to 7:00PM. At 6:00PM (Pacific Time) the Full Sail crew will lead a toast along with brewers, brewsters, and craft beer enthusiasts from all corners of Oregon (a.k.a Beervana) to signify the official kick off of Oregon Craft Beer Month. Join in, no matter where you are, and raise a toast to celebrate Oregon Craft Beer. The second Meet Brewster and the Beer event will be at Full Sail at Riverplace in Portland, Tuesday, July, 6th, from 5:00 – 6:30PM. Join the Full Sail crew to celebrate Oregon Craft Beer Month and toast a pint of this new brew with Kristy.
The Brewer’s Share series is a line up of small batch draft beers where each Full Sailor takes a turn hand-crafting a single batch recipe of their choosing. Full Sail’s Brewer’s Share beers will only be available on tap at Full Sail’s Tasting Room and Pub in Hood River, Oregon, and at Full Sail’s Brewery at Riverplace, in Portland, Oregon. Growlers to go are available. The next Brewer’s Share will be crafted by Full Sail Brewer Adam Bulson, and is expected in early September.
Kristy Holsopple along with Full Sail CEO and Founder, Irene Firmat, are both members of the Pink Boot Society. The mission of the Pink Boots Society is to inspire, encourage and empower women to become professionals and advance their careers in the Beer Industry. http://pinkbootssociety.org/
Thanks to a recent facility expansion, the team at Hood River’s Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom are now able to deliver even more variety to their already-robust lineup of tasty brews. The brewery is very proud to welcome “THE VAPORIZER” as a full-time brand, joining “Kölsch”, “India Red Ale” (aka “IRA”), and “Hop Lava” Northwest IPA on the year-round roster. Double Mountain brewed “THE VAPORIZER” as a seasonal last summer, and it was so well-received that they’ve decided to promote it to the starting lineup.
“THE VAPORIZER” is a golden-hued Pale Ale that features a beautifully hoppy aroma and flavor. The malt is 100% Gambrinus Pilsner, the brewery’s sweet and supple house malt from Gambrinus Malting in British Columbia. The hops are primarily of the Challenger variety, grown on a single farm in the Yakima Valley. Brewmaster Matt Swihart and his team of brewers dry-hop “THE VAPORIZER” to pump up the hoppy goodness. It’s an appetizingly dry, clean and pure-tasting take on a hoppy Pale Ale. 6.0% alcohol by volume, 50 bittering units.
Double Mountain will be celebrating the widespread release of “THE VAPORIZER” with a Kick-off Party atApex, the hot new beer bar recently opened by local craft beer impresario Jesse McCann. Come on down Thursday June 10 from 5 to 9pm — the Double Mountain brewers will be hanging out and raffling off Vaporizer t-shirts and other goodies. Apex is located at 1216 SE Division in Portland.
In other news, the Brewery’s popular Taproom will be open for lunch seven days a week all summer, from Memorial Day Weekend on through to September. Summer hours are 11:30am to 11pm Sunday through Thursday, and 11:30am to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. They’ll be adding a few new lunch-oriented items to bolster the food menu, too. Be on the lookout for “The Jersey Sub”, “Jamon Torta” and other goodies, including more daily specials, as the season progresses.
On our “about” page, we aren’t kidding when we say “Brewpublic leaves no beer behind in the quest to bring thirsty Brewpublicans information on the finest craft ales, lagers, yeast culture, and all things beer and brewing related.” So, to cover the vast and expansive region of Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon, we’ve enlisted the assistance of one of our favorite beer journalists. Welcome Jason Wallace of Portland Beer and Music. Jason’s informative site not only explores the great brews he seeks out from his home in Portland where ever his life takes him, he also keeps his finger on the pulse of alternative and independent music. If you haven’t paid Portland Beer and Music a visit, make sure to check it out. We’re confident Jason’s voice is one you’ll be interested in hearing.Take it away, Jason…
I want to thank Angelo and the crew at Brewpublic for giving me the opportunity to take up some of their valuable bandwidth. I write a relatively new blog called Portland Beer and Music. The tagline from my blog reads: “A Portland father with a healthy obsession for craft beer and live music brings you information and thoughts on both.” I think that sums it up pretty good. I have a full time job, a wife who doesn’t like beer, a two year old daughter and another daughter on the way. So, the cards are stacked against me in getting out to drink beer and see live music. While I don’t get out as much as my blogging brethren (and I read their tweets with envy), I try to make it to as many festivals, beer releases, and music/beer events as I can. I also seek out live music, breweries and craft beer bars whenever I travel, whether it be for work or leisure.
As part of my job, I spend about six weeks a year working in Hermiston, Oregon. Hermiston is located along the Columbia River about 30 minutes west of Pendleton. While Hermiston itself is pretty much a craft beer wasteland (save for the bottle selections at Safeway and the nearby restaurant The Farmer’s Kitchen), there are at least 13 breweries within a two hour drive. I recently spent two straight weeks working in Hermiston at the beginning of May. To keep myself from going crazy with boredom, I decided to visit a number of these breweries. A couple I had visited during a previous week in March. I went into greater detail on my blog about each of these breweries and I offer you here a quick summary of each:
The Prodigal Son Brewery and Pub: Owners Tim and Jennifer Guenther opened this new brewery in Pendleton, OR about 6 weeks ago. The brewery and pub occupy a huge space just off of main street. During my first visit on a slow Sunday afternoon the space seemed cavernous. However, my second visit on a Friday night found the place packed and lively. Brewer Brian Harder grew up in Pendleton and spent a few years working at Rogue. On a 10 barrel system, Brian has thus far produced a British IPA, porter, hefeweizen, amber, and most recently a NW style IPA. I enjoyed each of the first four and the Bruce/Lee porter is my favorite – a good combination of chocolate and coffee flavors. I look forward to trying the NW IPA next week.
Tri-Cities, WA: Thirty miles north of Hermiston across the Columbia River sits the Tri-Cities, which is home to three breweries – Ice Harbor Brewing Company, Atomic Ale Brewpub, and Rattlesnake Mountain Brewing Company. Ice Harbor is clearly the best of the bunch, with a quality lineup of beers including a stellar IPA. Ice Harbor also produces several exceptional seasonal beers, most notably fresh hop ales. The two locations are just a mile apart but worlds apart in atmosphere. The original brewery and pub in downtown Kennewick is blue collar and the fancy new brewpub on the waterfront is more upscale. Brewpublic has detailed posts on Ice Harbor as well. I have only visited the other two breweries once but the beer did not excite me enough for return visits. Atomic Ale serves good pizza but sits in what seems to be a renovated Pizza Hut with zero appeal for me. Rattlesnake Mountain sits overlooking the Columbia River and would be a great spot to drink a pint and enjoy the view. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the beer.
Prosser, WA: A little further north along I-82 in Washington is the small town of Prosser which is situated along the Yakima River amidst vineyards and hopfarms. A population of roughly 5,000 people are lucky to have TWO local breweries trying to convert the macro loving locals. My favorite was Horse Heaven Hills Brewery which will celebrate its one year anniversary on July 4th. The brewery was started by two married couples who have been long time friends and residents of Prosser. The brewery sits in a renovated laundromat and utilizes a 7 barrel copper system shipped by train from a brewpub adjacent to the campus of Auburn University. Gary Vegar and Dave Keller turn out a wide range of styles from transitional beers (Ruby Spur Amber and Honey Girl) to an IPA and dark cherry stout. Although the team is still tinkering with recipes honed on smaller homebrew systems, the beers were surprisingly good, especially the hefeweizen. I had a chance to taste the hefe straight from the tank and it was excellent, with strong banana flavors. I look forward to trying this one again soon.
The other brewery in Prosser, Whitstran Brewing Company, is worthy of a visit as well. Also operating on a 7-barrel system, they seemed a little more willing to push the limits here, offering a couple of Belgian ales, a chocolate stout and a dry hopped pale ale. While I didn’t think the flavors came together completely on all of the beers, I did enjoy a nice Belgian Brown. There are very few options for Belgian style beers in this region and I am glad they are willing to give it a go brewing these styles.
Snipes Mountain Brewing: Less than 15 miles further north on I-82 in the cow town of Sunnyside, WA sits one of the better breweries in Washington in my opinion. Snipes Mountain brews a wide selection of excellent beers. The fresh hop ale they produced last year was a revelation. I won’t go into much depth on this brewery as Brewpublic has offered more detailed reviews in the past. I will offer that I try to visit this brewery each time I am in Hermiston. Oh, and they have fabulous prices on their growler fills!
Stay tuned as Jason reviews his visits to more Eastern Cascadian craft beer spots. To be continued…
Friday August 6, 2010, Laurelwood Brewing Company taps a new beer loaded with a plenitude of malts and hops. Brewmaster Chad Kennedy says this beer is “One of the more unique beers we’ve created.” This pale ale is made with six different malts including, barley, rye and wheat as well as four varieties of hops. To make it even more exciting, the beer contains fresh Bay Laurel leaves that were added in the fermenter and conditioning tank. Kennedy says the result of this 5.7%, 40 IBU brew is “a balanced pale ale with the pleasing aroma of fresh bay leaves- quite distinct from the dried version.”
![For The Love Of Beer](http://brewpublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/For-the-Love-of-Beer-Trailer-Release1.jpg")
