Golden Valley's Mark Vickery with Pinot Noir barrels filled with stout

Brewpublic took a day trip to McMinnville, Oregon, where, in the heart of Oregon Wine Country Golden Valley Brewery pours up some delicious handcrafted beers. GVB Brewmaster Mark Vickery was on hand to discuss their most recent release, a highly anticipated small batch Imperial Stout aged in Pinot Noir barrels. Barrels from neighboring Panther Creek Cellars, one of Oregon’s highest regarded producers of Pinot, are used for this pioneering brew known as Black Panther. A version of GVB’s regular stout was also aged in the barrels and available on tap exclusively at the brewery. The first commercial brewery in Oregon to use Pinot Noir barrels to age beer, Golden Valley’s big cat is an out of this world dark, rich beer with a melange of notes ranging from creamy oak and earthy tannins to robust roasty malts and piquantly cherubic hops. Each year we make certain have a couple of these laid down in our building vertical.

Zwickelmania weekend was awesome! Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to visit every spot that we wanted to. Still, we did hit up some favorites. Here’s what went down:

Heater-Allen at Bailey’s Taproom

Just in time for Zwickelmania, Pelican Pub & Brewery of Pacific City, Oregon unveils two new red ale. First, say hello to Riptide Red, a new spring seasonal from Brewmaster Darron Welch and company.

Darron Welch describes Riptide Red:

There’s a lot going on at Cascade Brewing these days. Their Raccoon Lodge was recently named as one of the world’s top 50 brewpubs in the world by RateBeer.com (See other breweries’ Northwest’s RateBeer accolades on a post here by Geoff Kaiser of Seattle Beer News). Further, nationally circulated Draft Magazine named Cascade’s Vlad the Impaler as one of the best 25 beers of 2009. Cascade’s Apricot Ale made Draft’s 2008 best of list as well.  On top of all this, the Cascade crew are working vigorously to get a new spacious barrel room and pub open at SE Belmont and 9th. They hope to be open some time this spring. We can’t wait!

Cascade brewmaster Ron Gansberg peruses through Draft Magazine

It’s nice to see a mild ale being released amidst all of the gargantuan brews of late. Enter: Redhook Mudslinger Spring Ale… a soft highly sessionable nut brown ale from the Craft Brewers Alliance. Sure, uber extreme beer geeks fresh off a Beer Advocate tasting might scoff at such a beer, but I say kudos to such an approachable offering that I can sink my teeth into and not be belly up after three glasses. Redhook brewmaster Greg Deuh puts it plainly “Mudslinger is one of my favorite beers.”

The American Brown Ale is far from a shocker and that is why it is so good. Traditional notes of caramel and sweet malts, the overall impression is not far off from most browns your father has grown to love. Amidst the up-flexing of other large brewers to accommodate an seemingly ceilingless growth in big hops and world of American bigness, here rests a beer that is just a beer and designed with the utmost precision.  5.8% ABV, 30 IBU, perfect. Don’t get me wrong…I love boldly hopped, high octane, and sour beers, but those are the now beers; the chic fads. We are witnessing more dynamic breweries scrapping their brown ales but thankfully, the real heads still know what’s up. A brew like this is one that you could pour yourself over and over and be impressed with not only the drinkability but the subtle complexities Yeah, I know it sounds pretty cliche…but what can I say…I am a brown noser.

Just as Double IPA’s have been for some time, barrel aged brews, much like sour beers, are in vogue these days. And why not. The range of flavors and complexity the booze-soaked wood offers the brewer’s product can be quite wondrous.

Keeping on pace with this zymurgilogical trend, Rogue Ales have developed their own barrel-aged series. This unique marriage of barrels and brews remains in line with Rogue’s vertically integrated practices utilizing the company’s liquor barrels from their award winning distillery in conjunction with their award winning beer. Enter: John John.

Brewpublic visits BridgePort Brewery to check out the new Highland Ambush Scotch Ale, the latest in their Big Brew Series.

In this video, BridgePort’s assistant brewmaster Jeff Edgerton explains the work that went into producing this new barrel aged beer.

On Tuesday November Beer zealots in Portland lined up around the block of Deschutes Brewpub to be some of the first to get their paws on this year’s Abyss. Promptly at 2PM, the side door on NW Couch Street opened and the faithful were received by pub staff with platters of samples before heading through the restaurant and toward the front entrance. Deschutes’ Portland lead brewer Cam O’Connor welcomed the drooling masses while the first 48 in line who opted to purchase at least six bottles (but limited to twelve bottles on this day) were allowed to purchase a single bottle autographed by Deschutes brewmaster Larry Sidor.

This year’s Abyss was characteristically robust but appeared a bit boozier than in years past. Lots of bourbon up front could indicated that some cellaring might not hurt. The 11% ABV wax dipped imperial stout was at the epicenter of the pub on this autumn day. What’s in your cellar?

Brewpublic just heard from Laurelwood Public House & Brewery’s Brewmaster Chad Kennedy about a mouthwatering new India Pale Ale about to hit on September 1st. “We’re very excited about our next bottled beer- Prevale IPA- to be released in 22 oz bottles on September 1st throughout Oregon and Western Washington.” said Kennedy in a recent email. “We’re excited not only because our brewers have created a great Northwest-style IPA, but also because the proceeds from each bottle sold will go towards a great cause.”

In collaboration with The Oregon Team in Training chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Laurelwood brewers created this noble benefit beer. “We asked anyone with some inspiration and creativity to name the beer and after hundreds of entries” Kennedy continued. “Prevale was chosen as the winning name. A portion of the proceeds from every bottle will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for cancer research.”

Oakshire Brewing to Participate in Collaboration Brewing Project.

From the desk of Oakshire Brewmaster Matt Van Wyk:

Collaborative Evil returns…with more breweries and a bit of leeway. In 2008 three brewers decided to create a beer recipe and then brew it at their respective brewhouses. The beer a Strong Dark Belgian inspired Ale brewed with Honey, and spices. Each brew had a unique ingredient distinguishing it from the others. This effort was intended to get the beers to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver so that they could be served at the same time under one roof. Two of the three beers managed to get there and be served to the public, the third alas was there but not able to be judged or served at the time of the festival. The founding brewers Zac Triemert of Lucky Bucket Brewing Co. La Vista, NE, Matt Van Wyk of Flossmoor Station, Flossmoor, IL and Todd Ashman of FiftyFifty Brewing, Truckee, CA.