by Michael O’Connor of Bailey’s Taproom

Most people’s basements don’t collect anything more interesting than dust. Bailey’s basement, on the other hand, is where all the beer that’s too good to drink must be hoarded until such time as the world is about to end or we announce another annual festival spotlighting the best in rare and delicious brews.

As of this past Monday, Belmont Station’s Bigger, Badder, Blacker Beer Week has been in full effect. Perfect for the throes of winter, now there’s no need to feel let down after the end of your big New Years celebration. The Belmont boys and girls are bringing out barrels of big bold brews to blow you away. Each day a new treat hits the rotation and by the end of it all on Friday, count on a mind and liver-bending experience like no other. Beers such as Deschutes The Abyss and Black Butte XXI Imperial Porter, Alameda Imperial Stout, Great Divide Chocolate Yeti, Sierra Nevada Life & Limb, Alaskan Baltic Porter, Wednesday Full Sail Black Gold, Widmer Cherry Doppelbock, He’brew Jewbelation 13, Beer Valley Fresh Hop Black Flag, Oskar Blues Ten Fidy, Firestone Walker Velvet Mirkin, and Rogue Mogul Madness will be there for your much needed beatdown.

As a special treat, it has just been announced that Double Mountain will be unveiling their first Imperial Stout in the Portland market.

“IMPERIAL CHAOS“

(or at least try)

Okay, here’s our second straight post with no pictures.  This is to make up for having two consecutive posts with no words. Prost!

It’s been hotter than a cactus out there in the Pacific Northwest this week and the forecast says it is just gonna keep getting warmer. It’s very important to drink plenty of water, and in between those savory hydration sessions, you might want to consider enjoying these top choices for beer quenchers:

Brewpublic just caught wind of the beers that will be featured this year at the Oregon Brewers Festival Buzz Tent. This will be the first year for this tent that will showcase uber-geek beers, cellared specialties, one-offs, and other brews you might never see again. OBF’s Chris Crabb explains “This year, we’ve switched it up by asking the brewers to create not only the (one featured OBF brew) beer, but the buzz as well.”These beers are highly prized, very expensive, and our selection is very limited in quantity. Many of the brewers of these beers will be on hand in the tent to talk up their product.”

The list of beers is mind blowing for anyone who loved this sort of thing. Here’s more details we received in a press release from Chris:

In Brewpublic’s quest to seek out the oddity and even extreme brew that might captivate a beer SNOB’s interest, it is often easy to overlook some great beers that you might want to consider, if not revisit.  It is easy to forget about some of these fabulous beers because of the bounty we are fortunate enough to have access to ’round these parts. Here’s a short list of brews that you can get around town that are great after a long day at the office.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA: The latest IPA from the West Coast’s largest craft brewer.  Our visit in November to Chico had us very impressed with how much love this big brewer puts into its product.  With a Wet Hop IPA and a Southern Hemisphere (hops from New Zealand) IPA in bottles, Sierra Nevada follows in the footsteps of their quintessential Pale Ale to deliver a florally hopped yet nearly sessionable and piquant India Pale that is a definite crowd pleaser.  Bring a six pack of this orangy bodied gem and watch ‘em disappear.  We have to say, we’ve enjoyed this SN IPA more than the coveted Chico IPA release last year. On a side note, we were lucky enough to pop over to Woodstock Wine and Deli in SE Portland and discover verticals of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale verticals dating back to 1999.  How cool is that?!

Deschutes Inversion IPA: We smiled and thanked the beer gods the day this beer replaced the brewery’s Quail Springs IPA.  Nothing against QS, but the light crisp copper-amber body that emits a fruity hops essense is so inviting, its easy to power through, and find yourself on the wrong side of a six pack of these bad boys.  A lingering, resinous warm finish for this 6.8% killa is where most of our choices leaned toward before the extreme and Belgian waves recalibrated our palates.  Just like Sierra Nevada, Deschutes continues to put forth solid products despite growing in production and expanding into new markets.

Here’s some interesting news from Saraveza, North Portland’s finest craft brew hot spot:

This Thursday, January 22nd from 7pm-midnight, brewers from the New Old Lompoc will be pouring four Lompoc specialties at Saraveza. Come to taste them all, or sip on a goblet of your favorite. Brewers, Brian and John will be there to talk to you through the series.

Oregon Brewers Guild Announces First Annual Statewide Brewery Open Houses

This President’s Day weekend, dozens of Oregon breweries and brewpubs will open their doors to visitors for the state’s first annual Zwickelmania, a one day event similar to the open houses held by Oregon wineries over Memorial Day and Thanksgiving weekends. Zwickelmania, hosted by the Oregon Brewers Guild (OBG), is a free statewide event that offers visitors a chance to tour Oregon breweries, meet the brewers and sample their favorite beers – all during Oregon’s Sesquicentennial weekend.

As expected the weekend brought sloughs of folks thirsty for the hardily spectacular beers showcased as this year’s Holiday Ale Fest.  Upon showing up around 5PM on Friday, one could observe the queue of prospective imbibers out the festival tent and to the corner of Yamhill Street where Max trains passed within inches. The addition of a back tented area allowed for more beers than ever before. It was merry mayhem, elbow-to-elbow action.

Here is post number 100 of hopefully many many more.

Today Brewpublic hit the highway southbound to experience more beer.  As I type this we are in Gold Beach, Oregon, about 45 minutes drive from the California border and six hours from Portland.  A beautiful ocean view outside of my hotel window is almost compensation for a dearth of craft beer.  Luckily the trunk is packed with Oregon and Washington micros to be shared with friends old and new along the way.  Today, we made a pit stop in Eugene at two of our favorite beer spots.