I don’t even know where to begin, but I suppose I will start somewhere… It really irks my bones when I can’t pump out some juicy craft beer fodder for the readers of Brewpublic, and the past few days have been lacking. I know it. I mean, Brewpublic prides itself of giving you a steady, daily glimpse into some of the many many goingson in and around Cascadian brewing and a little more. Being on planes, trains, and automobiles with a Smartphone, a thirsty palate, and a hankering to round up as many beers as possible makes the blogging a bit lacking at times, but it’s not because of will.

They say the road to hell is paved in good intentions, and we intended to scare up some goods for you the past few days, but we were short a laptop, a spare liver, and more daylight hours (heck, we can often muster just fine in the dark!). On Monday we scheduled details for rounding up as many kegs as we could while in and around Portland, Oregon. The reasons were many. SF Beer Week events, a new pub opening, and simply to blow Bay Area artisan beer enthusiasts’ minds. Spending much time in the East Bay of the San Francisco area, it has been my goal to inject as much of the Cascadian craft beer culture into the locals down here as I possibly can. With SF Beer Week about to pop off (February 8-17, 2013), I couldn’t think of a better way to exemplify what amazingness Oregon’s uniquely saturated yeast culture has to present. Don’t get me wrong, Northern California is home to some legendary breweries and beer halls that rival some of the finest in this world. Further, NorCal is booming with new breweries that vivaciously illustrate the significance of the modern day Post-Prohibition beer revolution. Thus, it makes perfect sense that while living here, I find myself working at an Oakland pub named Beer Revolution with the best selection of regional, national, and international fermented malted pours. Soon, the adjacent revamped train depot in Jack London Square will beef up the neighborhood’s selection almost two-fold. Looking to open very soon, the Olde Depot Taphouse will assert the community as an even more undeniably world class destination.

Appointed to manage Olde Depot is seasoned professional Dan “Bully” Bollwinkel who has further inspired us to take things on the West Oakland craft beer scene to the next level. Bully and I jaunted to Portland on a plane, rented a modest Dodge Caravan and sought to stock up on as many different beers as we could safely drive back 600 miles south to Oakland. On our journey, we even went a little overboard and maxed out the payload to the point where the chassis began to woefully sag toward the earth. With just 36 hours to obtain an optimal variety of mostly 1/6-barrel kegs and a few bottles, we were focused on making the most of our precious time.

Immediately upon touching down at PDX International Airport with just the clothes on our backs and Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, Beer & Art, Beer personalities, beer releases, beer reviews, Beer Travel, brewpubs, craft cider, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Tonight Alameda releases Stubbs Old Crow, a hazelnut porter.  Alameda’s brewmaster Carston Haney and brewer Marshall Kunz will join us, so stop in and meet the guys behind the beers.  In the bottle shop we will pour free samples of Stubb’s Old Crow hazelnut Porter Klickatat Pale Ale, Yellow Wolf IPA, Black Bear Stout and El Torero IPA. Yellow Wolf IPA and Stubbs Old Crow Porter on draft in the biercafe.

Posted under beer events, events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Over the weekend Brewpublic teamed up with one of our favorite craft beer haunts Saraveza Bottle Shop & Pasty Tavern to present the third annual My Beery Valentine. This decadent event showcased 13 of the region’s finest breweries in an array of one-off beers designed especially with sweethearts, sweet tooths, and craft beer lovers in mind. These rich and robust offerings were each made with Valentine’s Day appropriate ingredients such as chocolate, fruit, and many of them were barrel-aged for added flavor.

My Beery Valentine 3 paired up these wonderfully dessertif ales with the choice sweets from Sugar Pimp, Saraveza’s own beermeister Lori Adams Clinton to result in one amazingly mouthwatering experience unlike any other. Read More…

Posted under beer and food, beer releases, beer reviews, Oregon beer, places to drink beer, Washington Beer, weekend in review

It was another wild weekend in Beervana. Still no letting up with the mayhem. Now that Portland Beer Week is over, can we expect a Portland beer hour to follow? Is there ever to be any rest in the foreseeable future? Survey says: “not likely.”

Fresh hop season is knocking at our doors. So to celebrate this, we joined forces with Portland U-Brew in Sellwood, who have been tirelessly working with their community to produce a ton of great pro beers with homebrewers like us. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As usual, the weekend started early. On Thursday, we visited Alameda Brewing to get a taste of Bre Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer reviews, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Alameda will be celebrating its 15th Anniversary on August 27, 2011 with bands and brews outside in the parking lot. The parking lot festivities with run from 12-8 PM with $2 drafts all day long. The bands include Wow and Flutter (loud post punk indie mess), Ultronz (garage surf rock), and Country Side Ride (Rockabilly/Honky Tonk). Brewmaster Carston Haney says “I’ll be introducing our Black Orca (extravagantly hopped India Black Ale) and pouring some other vintage beers from the cellar.”

Alameda Brewhouse is located at 4765 NE Fremont Street in Portland, Oregon.

Posted under beer events, beer news, Beer personalities, beer releases, brewpubs, events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

On Friday, August 12th the brewery will be releasing a garlic beer that was brewed for the Elephant Garlic Festival in North Plains. Brewer Carston Haney says “When we were asked the brew it by the festival organizers I shuddered thinking about how horrible it could turn out. Then I started thinking about it more and what an interesting challenge this project could be.” Long story short the “Stinky Rose Garlic Beer” is a wheat ale ringing in at 4.2% ABV and 15 IBU. Haney describes it as possessing a “unique” aroma and flavor comes from ten pounds of mild garlic added to the mash and another five pounds steeped in the kettle post boil. The brewmaster says “This flavor is complemented by subtle additions of Tettnanger hops and soft Canadian red wheat. It pairs well with spaghetti, Italian bread, and kissing your partner. We only have two half barrels at the Brewhouse, so it won’t be around long.”

Posted under beer events, beer news, Beer personalities, beer releases, brewpubs, events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

There’s lots going on at Alameda Brewhouse these days. You’ve likely already heard about their forthcoming expansion that includes a new production brewery in Southeast Portland. On Friday, August 12th the brewery will be releasing a garlic beer that was brewed for the Elephant Garlic Festival in North Plains. Brewer Carston Haney says “When we were asked the brew it by the festival organizers I shuddered thinking about how horrible it could turn out. Then I started thinking about it more and what an interesting challenge this project could be.” Long story short the “Stinky Rose Garlic Beer” is a wheat ale ringing in at 4.2% ABV and 15 IBU. Haney describes it as possessing a “unique” aroma and flavor comes from ten pounds of mild garlic added to the mash and another five pounds steeped in the kettle post boil. The brewmaster says “This flavor is complemented by subtle additions of Tettnanger hops and soft Canadian red wheat. It pairs well with spaghetti, Italian bread, and kissing your partner. We only have two half barrels at the Brewhouse, so it won’t be around long.”

In addition to this pungent new beer, Alameda will soon be celebrating its 15th Anniversary on August 27, 2011 with Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer news, Beer personalities, beer releases, brewpubs, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Portland Fruit Beer Fest (PFBF): What better way to celebrate the arrival of warm weather than with a festival featuring more than 30 beers brewed with fruit?

Okay, okay, so maybe some of you reading this are thinking to yourself “Ick! Fruit in beer…beer isn’t supposed to have fruit in it.” Ease up, Turbo, this isn’t your typical assortment of circa 1995 Berryweizens and Bud Light Limes. This wonderful new festival is of a new school of thinking, literally.

You see, one of the events main organizers, Ezra Johnson-Greenough, who also runs the New School Beer Blog, is known for always looking for the next scoop on new breweries and events as well as trends in the brewing world. According to Ezra, “Fruit beers are the red-headed stepchild of craft beer, often overlooked by beer lovers because of preconceptions that they are sweet, boring, or artificially flavored.” So how is the first annual Portland Fruit Beer Fest going to be more than a Reinheitsgebot loyalist’s nightmare? He said “The first annual Portland Fruit Beer Festival aims to change all that and open minds to the strange and exotic possibilities that fruit beers can offer.” And judging by the list of beers that the PFBF has to offer, you either have to be a crotchety old SOB set in his ways or full-on closed-minded not to appreciate the awesomeness of this event.

More than 15 breweries, mostly regional, will showcase never before tasted one-off brews at PFBF. Also, two rotating taps featured inside the “rare tent” will showcase even more exclusive offerings to the appeasement of the uber geeks. These will run the gamut of styles and for the most part are not just brewery mainstays with fruit added. They are carefully planned and cautiously executed liquid works of art. Wild ales, barrel-aged brews, sessions and low-alcohol beers, hoppy brutes – you’ll find all of this at this year’s event.

Last week at an exclusive media tasting preview, Ezra and a group of featured brewers took us through an all-star line-up featuring an assortment of sureshots from this year’s PFBF. Take heed, the following are some of the best brews pouring at the festival and will likely never be Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer reviews, brewpubs, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Thanks to APEX for killing it with over 20 taps of Bear Republic brews for their 4-20/4:20 Tap Takeover. We had a lot of fun and were pleased to get a chance to catch up with Brewmaster Peter Kruger. Thanks to Ginger Johnson of Women Enjoying Beer for letting us use her camera while ours was in the shop. All the beers we tried were damn delicious!

Posted under Beer personalities

The brewers at Alameda Brewhouse just tapped a new beer for Valentine’s day:  My Bloody Valentine is a deep red-hued Blood Orange Saison.  This dry, citric, tart, and spritzy farmhouse ale is incredibly drinkable at 5.5% ABV.  According to brewer Sean White, it pairs well with dark chocolate and sweets (“hint: the chocolate brownie here at Alameda”. White adds “The orange aroma and a little of the flavor comes from the use of dried orange peels in the kettle, followed later by the addition of hand squeezed blood orange juice to the finished beer. Saaz hops complement the peppery aromatics from the saison yeast and the citrus flavor adding yet another dimension to an already interesting beer. We also hand bottled and waxed a limited quantity (just 21 cases) of the Bloody that will make great Valentine’s day gifts and are for sale at Alameda Brewhouse only.”

More information about Alameda’s My Bloody Valentine: Read More…

Posted under beer releases, brewpubs, Oregon beer, places to drink beer