‘Tis the season for fresh hops. There’s no where else like the Cascadia and the Pacific Northwest when it comes to ripe citrus, piny alpha hops. To celebrate this year’s harvest, The Lucky Lab is encouraging you to get your savory homegrown strobiles together and bring ‘em over to their Hawthorne Beer Hall on September 2nd starting around 3PM. Hops supplied will be used to brew The Mutt, a special hop mix-up brew brewed by brewers Ben Flerchinger, Abby Sherrill, and Casey Lyons. This annual co-operative picking is a great gathering of beer and hops lovers. Complimentary pitchers of beer will be provided and wort-brined chicken wings will be ready around 5PM.It is encouraged that pickers wear long sleeves and gloves.
Help the Lucky Lab break last year’s record of 215 pounds of fresh picked hops (which doubled 2008′s total). Tell your friends and bring those hops!
The dog days of summer aren’t over yet! On September 11, 2010, starting at 10 AM, hundreds of cyclists will take to the streets of Portland to ride in the third annual Tour de Lab, a bicycle tour of the four local Lucky Lab brewpubs, in support of the DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital. It’s sure to be the perfect combination of Portland favorites: bikes, beers and four-legged friends.
Ride Highlights
* Riders can choose from two route options: an 18-mile “Puppy” course (visits three pubs) or a 30-mile “Big Dog” Hill Climb Challenge (visits four pubs).
* Riders will earn their dog gear (collar, nose) at rest stops and enjoy human treats as they make their way to the finish line festival – the Dog Park at Lucky Lab Northwest.
* All-you-can-eat hot dog bar at the finish line.
* Commemorative Tour de Lab etched pint glass and a complimentary pint of Lucky Lab’s handcrafted ale for all participants.
* Gigantic “Best in Show” costume contest will award prizes for the best costumes in the categories of “dogs” and “things that dogs chase.”
More Information
* Discounted online registration before September 10 is only $35
* Registration fee for children is only $10
* Riders may register on site the day of the event
Tour de Lab is a benefit for the DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital, Portland’s only non-profit emergency animal hospital open 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. DoveLewis partners with the area’s leading veterinarians to provide critical care, education and community outreach. More information: DoveLewis.com
Deschutes Brewery Street Fare Features Portland’s Finest Food Carts Street vendors pair their fare with Deschutes ales, all to benefit the kids
Deschutes Brewery is closing down the street in front of their Portland Pub on August 12, 2010 from 5-9PM for the all-new Deschutes Brewery Street Fare. A benefit for Morrison Child & Family Services, the Street Fare will feature Portland’s best street carts along with local indie music. These popular vendors will pair their specialty dishes with Deschutes ales for an evening of street food, live music and craft beer.
An entry fee of $5 includes the first food and beer taster, and additional taster tickets are only $4. All proceeds benefit Morrison Child and Family Services.
For more information, call Deschutes Brewery at (503) 296-4906.
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.
Vancouver, Washington’s premier bottleshop, By The Bottle, has recently opened a great new taproom this past week. Though this is a soft opening, and the grand opening week is scheduled for later this month, patrons can now enjoy some amazing craft beers on tap. Many of the beers showcased at By The Bottle’s tap room include those currently unavailable in the state of Oregon due to state-regulated distribution laws. This means that the Portland metro area now has a new destination for draught brews that are not found elsewhere in the greater Portland area.
Owners David and Arlene Nunez have made By The Bottle a destination for beer lovers on the move for more than three years, offering more than 400 bottled craft beer, also many of which are not available in Oregon. These include Lost Abbey, Port Brewing, Silver City, Scuttlebutt, Left Hand Brewing, Port Townsend, and many more. Now with their new licensing and the ability to provide Washington-only brews, this opens the door to an even greater expanse of sought after craft brews.It also means that the bottled beers available at By The Bottle may be enjoyed on premise now as well.
Upon visiting late last week, we were pleased to discover eight rotating taps. These include Three Skulls Hop the Plank IPA, Southern Tier Farmer’s Tan Imperial Pale Lager, Port Brewing Mongo Imperial IPA, Boundary Bay IPA, Iron Horse Quilter’s Irish Death Imperial Itish Stout, Lazy Boy Porter, Dogfish Head Pangea, and Unibroue Trois Pistoles. Look for more fantastic kegs to show themselves as the day, weeks, and months pass. The cozy, relaxed taproom features gorgeous salvaged old growth Douglas-fir panels and bar top and a state of the art draught system.
Currently, By The Bottle’s Tap Room is open Monday-Thursday 3-10PM, Friday-Saturday Noon-11PM, and Sunday Noon-8PM. However, the new pub states: “As we trial-and-maybe-error our way through the next week, or so (!)…hours are subject to change. Thanks for your patience.”
By The Bottle is located at 104 W. Evergreen Blvd. in downtown Vancouver, WA. This is less than 8 miles from Concordia Ale House; less than 6 miles from Saraveza, The Hop & Vine, and Breakside Brewery. By The Bottle is adjacent to the Salmon Creek Brewpub, too. For more information, call (360) 696-0012.
I like to come to Québec to visit my family, friends and their kids and also for the summer festival. We had a real good edition with plenty of concerts from artists like Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Rush, Social Distortion, GBH, Jello Biafra and so on. But what about the beer? Unfortunately, the festival was sponsored by Molson and the only products available on the site were Molson Dry, Molson M and Aquafina, which is the only bottled water that has an ugly taste because it is bottled from tap water (thanks Pepsi). Well, I can understand that only macro breweries have the money to sponsor such a big event, but it is always boring to attend a rock concert without anything good to drink.
Nevertheless, I took the weekend to pubcrawl Québec’s breweries, too. Here’s where I went:
La Korrigane The name of La Korrigane comes from an Icelandic codfisher transformed into an exploration ship. Their expedition in 1934-1936 brings back a collection of 2000 ethnic objects of Polynesia, Indonesia and Egypt.
I have been very lucky and a bit insolent to attempt to the newest brewery in town, La Korrigane. In fact, the place wasn’t really opened. It was just a practice for the real opening night and only family and friends were invited to this event where the new staff was experiencing a new location, with new equipment and the first batch of recipes that hasn’t been tested with the water of the city. So, okay, I promised to the owner to be objective in my comments and I wrote one page for the suggestion box. The renovations of this huge building present a location easy to access (Corner of St-Joseph and Dorchester) with a terrace and eventually a kitchen (please offer more than burgers). It will certainly help for the revitalization of St-Roch neighbourhood.
Beers tasted there revealed much potential. I will surely return to measure the evolution when the installations will be fine tuned. The only thing I could notice was that the beers had a mouth felt too thin. I experienced a witbier (Mary Morgan) with good aroma of banana, citrus and a bit of yeast. The blueberry beer (Emiliy Carter) didn’t impress me because I found it too acidic. The red and the oatmeal stout (Cornik) presented a some acidic taste, too, but where quite interesting. The blonde (Vila) was my preference with a light touch of flowers and honey.
L’Inox As I remember, this brewpub is the oldest (1987) that is still opened in Québec. They recently move to a new location, so the occasion was perfect for a visit. Only three beers were on tap because the affluence of the summer festival. Simply called Blanche, Blonde and Rousse (white, blonde and red), I had glasses (no tasters available) of beers that respected the standards. The white presented touches of citrus and the red some caramel malts. The best was the blonde, American pale ale that presented a hoppy taste from five different hops. It was simply great on a sunny terrace. I shall visit this place when seasonal beers will be available, but on such a touristic street (la Grande Allée), I think this brewpub will now have the happy problem to fill up the mass of tourists instead of the local beer geeks. Good for the volume, but please don’t forget to brew funky things.
Microbrasserie Le Corsaire Le Corsaire is located in Lévis, just next to the ferry boat of the St-Lawrence River. So the best way to access it is to take this ferry which gives an exceptional view of Québec and his Frontenac Castle. The brewer, Martin Vaillancourt, made some of his classes at the aforementioned L’Inox as well as in England, so this brewing style is strongly and well represented here since 2008. Here is what I’ve tried:
Tanaka blanche, wheat ale with ginger, Seeräuber Pilsner, Galère pale ale, Bristol ESB, Maya blanche au miel, Corsaire Alt, Davy Jones Stout, Session bitter and Session bitter on cask. Unfortunately, no IPA was on the board, but I had something very hoppy with the Session Bitter on cask. What a great beer! 80 IBU and only 3,5 % of alcohol. I would have took pints and pints of it but had to leave to take the last ferry back to the north shore.
I’ve been lucky (and lonely) because I was the only passenger for this travel on a ferry that can carry close to 40 cars and a bunch of pedestrians. David Suzuki would have certainly not agreed with this, but there were no other options. A good thing is that this session bitter will probably be Le Corsaire’s next beer to be canned (no bottles, but cans for this brewery). At least, this travel didn’t produce five tons of CO2 for nothing… Sorry Mr. Suzuki and Mrs. Earth.
To conclude, well I have to admit that the Québec City beer scene is away from what we can have in Montréal. Of course, the quality is improving, but with the exception of the cask bitter, I haven’t tasted a lot of really exceptional beers. On the other side, all the tasted beers were correctly brewed and did not present any technical defaults.
If you’ve already come to Québec, you’ve probably taken note that I’ve forget to visit a brewery. No, I haven’t forgotten. I visited it but won’t talk much of it. When you have a tasting tray and three of the beers are totally acidic, it is not normal. The worst is when you mention it to the staff, they agree but still continue to pour it, because the place is full and people just don’t make the difference. I don’t like that. Instead of giving my money for default batches, I would prefer to make a donation for cancer research.
Brewpublican Marc Demeule lives and quaffs craft beer near Montreal, Québec and is an honorary citizen of Beervana. Marc@Brewpublic.com
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!
Standing Stone Brewing Company in Ashland, Oregon, whose mantra is “where the Bard meets the brews, for great craft beer,” has announced a new edition to their summer beer lineup.
This session style beer is flavorful with lower alcohol, and intended for savoring a long summer afternoon. It is golden and light bodied with balanced malt (Organic Pilsner, Ashburne Mild, Organic Crystal 15, Organic Carapils, Acidulated) and hop (bittered with Centennial; Hersbrucker and Willamette for aroma) flavors and a dry finish.
Original Gravity = 9.7 Plato, Alcohol by Volume = low 4% range
Standing Stone Brewing Company is located at 101 Oak Street in Ashland, Oregon. For more information, call (541) 482-2448.
On July 1st, pint glasses of beer were raised statewide to celebrate the kickoff of Oregon Craft Beer Month. This special 31 day party highlights a year-round phenomenon of abundant craft beer in our fine state. With seemingly countless craft brew-centric events from Astoria to Ashland, Klamath Falls to Ontario, this fifth annual month-long celebration is unlike any other in the world. Perhaps the most notable toast to inaugurate yet another OCBM was a special toast at McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public Housecoordinated by theOregon Brewers Guildand president Brian Butenschoen. At this location, Oregon’s first brewpub since Prohibition was opened to the masses. For the July 1, 2010 toast, McMenamins’ co-founder Brian McMenamin was on hand to read words of his late father, himself a lover of beer.
At the McMenamins Hillsdale kickoff several brewers and brewery representatives were in attendance to celebrate the prosperity and growth of their trade that has accounted for a health portion of the state’s economy and livelihood. Last year marked the first year in which Oregon surpassed 1 million barrels, an apparent sign of our continued success and devotion toward craft beer. Oregon ranks in the top five in the country for craft beer produced, consumed, number of breweries, and breweries per capita. In Portland, more breweries exist than in any other city on the planet!
‘Tis the season for fresh hops. There’s no where else like the Cascadia and the Pacific Northwest when it comes to ripe citrus, piny alpha hops. To celebrate this year’s harvest, The Lucky Lab is encouraging you to get your savory homegrown strobiles together and bring ‘em over to their Hawthorne Beer Hall on September 2nd starting around 3PM. Hops supplied will be used to brew The Mutt, a special hop mix-up brew brewed by brewers Ben Flerchinger, Abby Sherrill, and Casey Lyons. This annual co-operative picking is a great gathering of beer and hops lovers. Complimentary pitchers of beer will be provided and wort-brined chicken wings will be ready around 5PM.It is encouraged that pickers wear long sleeves and gloves. 
![For The Love Of Beer](http://brewpublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/For-the-Love-of-Beer-Trailer-Release1.jpg")
