This past weekend was great for many reasons. Great weather, great company, and of, course, great brew. On top of these three key factors, one of the coolest parts about the weekend was two awesome beer events right in our neighborhood. Brewpublic headquarters (this is fancy talk for our house), is off Southeast Division Street in Portland. Friday and Saturday witnessed the celebration of two spectacular new establishments in our little corner of Beervana that we suspect will not be leaving us anytime soon.
Friday: Apex Bar Grand Opening
We’ve mentioned this place a lot recently, and for good reason. Jesse McCann is the kind of guy is like a puddle of beer on a slug farm. Apex, his new pub at the corner of 12th and Division has been softly open for a few weeks now, but after announcing his official cork popper for Friday, swarms of who’s who in the local, and even West Coast brew community flooded the gates to wish McCann well. We showed up around 4pm before things were too crazy, and joined a thick crowd of pubgoers who were already soaking in the Friday rays in Apex’s frontside outdoor area.
As the hours weighed on, we saw lots of our favorite beer celebrities like Kurt and Rob Widmer, Full Sail Brewmaster John Harris, Double Mountain’s Charlie Devereux, Hopworks’ Ben Love, Preston “Beer Guy” Weesner, and so many others. The night was unbelievably fun with great draught pours that included Laurelwood Workhorse IPA, Cascade Spring Gose, and Lagunita’s Little Sumpin Wild.
Many thanks to McCann and his crew for doing it up right. As a special surprise, some rare bottles of brew made rounds to friends and family. We were fortunate enough to get a taste of Duvel served from a Jeraboam as well as a superbly hard to find 3-liter bottle of Toronado 30th Anniversary ale, a sour brewed special by Russian River. There was even a dolo pour of Skookum Cascadian Brown Ale from Phillips in Victoria, B.C., brought down by Jesse’s dad Dermot, who helped with much of the worked needed to get the bar open.
Saturday: The BeerMongers’ Bar Baptism
Kitty-corner from Apex Bar across SE Division is another top notch beer destination. The BeerMongers opened their doors to the public last fall and have been a staple craft beer bottle shop ever since. A wide variety of bottled craft beer from around the globe at very affordable prices has exemplified owners Sean Campbell and Craig Gulla’s proletariat passion for the pint. Recently, with the help of handyman and friend Christopher and plumber Dean “Dean’s Scene” Pottle, The ‘Mongers added a beautiful countertop and standing bar, made from Tropical Salvage wood.
To christen the new bar, Campbell showed thanks to his customers and community by opening some special bottles of his own while tapping a mix of Oregon and import brews. Special bottles included Urthel Hop-It!, Scaldis Prestige de Nuits, Upright Four Play, La Chouffe Belgian Golden Ale, and Sierra Nevada-Dogfish Head Life and Limb collaborator brew. On tap, a dry-hopped Fire Mountain Bad Henry’s IPA was a maltilicious piquant favorite. Other tap highlights included Heater Allen Pils, The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner-Weiss, Weihenstephaner Kristal Weissbier, Off The Rail Coal Porter, and Goose Island Matilda.
The official christening of The BeerMongers’ bar came around 5pm when Campbell gave a speech thanking his customers before uncorking a Methuselah (6-liter bottle) of Val Dieu Grand Cru. The crowd roared in appreciation before a few more beers from the cellar came out. These included a Rogue Chocolate Bear Stout, export Buckwheat Ale, both more than eight years old, and two ten year old bottles of McMenamins’ Hammerhead Ale.
Live music ensued as folks showed thanks for the great beer available and the cool dudes who made it all happen.
Sunday
After two big days in the ‘hood, Sunday was a day to relax and spend time with our moms. On this day or rest, we enjoyed 70 degree sunshine on the Columbia River in a boat sipping Zywiec Porter.
Hope your weekend was good to you and your mom.
Posted under beer events, beer news, beer reviews
This post was written by Angelo on May 10, 2010
“Foot Funk (I like this by the way) is something that we have been working on for about three years. It’s our American wheat ale, Crosswalk Wheat, that has an addition of orange blossom honey, bitter, and sweet orange peel in the kettle, then was inoculated with the Lambic blend of yeast and bacteria, and left to age in an oak barrel. We never really expected anything out of this, but are very happy with the end beer. It’s got strong Brettanomyces aroma, with a slight sour lactic acid “zing.” It’s very light golden color, and has flavors reminiscent of tangerines, peaches, and funky Brett character. It also has a subtle neutral oak character, that balances the acidity. It’s fun and strange, and I am really excited to get some feedback on it. We have about two more kegs of it and are kind of sitting on them, because we want to serve them at something special. Foot Funk is 5%ABV, and 18 IBU’s. Not that the IBU’s really matter.”
Another weekend has come and gone. This past one involved Spring-like weather in mid-February, something we are lucky to enjoy here in the Pacific Northwest. The cherry trees blossoming and several others budding made it clear that the coldest and darkest days of winter here are finally behind us. This lends itself to better accessibility to better beer. And, as you might expect, we took full advantage of this golden opportunity.
Friday kicked off with more of the same fantastic weather that would ensue all weekend long. The perennial crocuses made an appearance to soak up the warm sunshine along with a number of other budding plants that had remained dormant all winter. We enjoyed it the same, opening the glass facing on the screen door to let the warmth of this pseudo-spring in.
After enjoying the sunshine during the day, Friday night we went to the Portland International Film Fest. This great event showcases some of the best independent film-making from around the world. After a fun time at the fest, we visited our friend Jesse McCann at his soon to open 
corner will surely be a hit in SE Portland. Apex, happily, will feature 50 craft beers on tap and has the cooler capacity for about 1500 bottles. The bar has not yet been built, but with the way things are going, an OLCC permit should be passed soon and things should be well on their way toward opening. Apex will also promote bicycling by offering about 60 parking spaces for the non-carbon burning commuters. The remainder of the lot will be utilized for outdoor seating, and a small portion will be set aside for a some motorcycle parking. Jesse’s involvement with New Belgium Brewing Company and love for bikes is evident and seems like a perfect fit for the spirit of Portlanders.
n artist who lives in British Columbia, has been in town helping with much of the work needed to get the new bar open. Friday was Dermot’s 60th birthday and a small group gathered to celebrate whilst checking out the progress of Apex. It was a sort of beer potluck with some delicious beers being shared. On tap, Hopworks Lager, and New Belgium Ranger served as delicious refreshers, and a selection of bottles were shared. One particular highlight was a bottle of Lost Abbey Cable Car, an American Wild Ale that is hard to come across. All the hype aside, this sour brew was incredible with a world of out of this world complexities. Brewmaster Tomme Arthur sure does put forth some spectacular beers, and this one was a true delight. Thanks to Renata for sharing!
aps the highlight of the night besides just checking out the spot and gathering with other beer folks, was the appearance of Matt Phillips of Victoria, BC’s Phillips Brewing. According to Abram, Phillips’ Cascadian Dark Ale, known as Black Toque, is the first commercially released incarnation of the style. Friends with Dermot, Matt made the trip down with cases of his dankly delicious Hop Circle IPA. The beer possessed a citrusy fresh flavor that was very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing!
sun still on center stage, some spring yard work was in order. Pulling some weeds and hedging a bit while quaffing a few bottles of Samuel Adams Noble Pils and Deschutes Red Chair NWPA was on the agenda early on before heading out into the day to see what was doing. We met with the good folks at Bar Avignon to discuss our upcoming BrewPubliCrawl. On March 20th, SE Division Street in Portland will feature a pub crawl/meet the brewers event including the best beer bars on the rue and some of the best beers and their brewers in Oregon. More details to come soon, but one thing is for sure: Avignon offers some awesome craft beers on tap. An under the radar Full Sail Bourbon Wassail blend that was featured at the Holiday Ale Fest is currently flowing, as is a Walking Man Belgian Pale Ale, Ninkasi ESB, Fort George’s North III and Vortex IPA, Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye on cask, and the venerable North Coast Old Rasputin on draught. Owners Nancy Hunt and Randy Goodman’s great little tap selection is often overshadowed by their unbelievable collection of wines and spirits, but it is surely a classy spot not to be overlooked by a true beer geek.
irthday party at the Hop & Vine, another top notch beer spot just down the street from Saraveza. In the back yard a fire burned warming us during the clear cool February night. Another beer potluck was underway. Rare bottles of commercial beer as well as delicious homebrews flowed. Highlights for us included Jimmy Blum and Ritch Marvin’s Cascadian Dark Ale collaboration homebrew, a bottle of Cascade’s tart Apricot, and Dogfish Head’s Palo Santo Strong Brown on tap.
![For The Love Of Beer](http://brewpublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/For-the-Love-of-Beer-Trailer-Release1.jpg")
