On May 9, 2013 I scored a bottle of Russian River Pliny The Elder IIPA at my local liquor store in Berkeley, CA. It was the freshest bottle of Pliny I’ve ever had the pleasure of opening. You see, the beer was bottled on the same date that I purchased it. In fact, the Russian River Brewing Co. driver arrived just as I was about to leave Pliny-less. Score!

For safe measure, I thought it’d be best to sample a comparable East Coast Imperial India Pale Ale to Pliny. No better offering seemed to fit other than The Alchemist‘s Heady Topper Ale. A bold 8% ABV double Read More…

Posted under beer events, California Beer

Press Release:

Portland, OR – Laurelwood Brewing Co. is proud to announce its victory in the 6^th annual Brewing News National Imperial IPA Championship, with Megafauna Imperial IPA. Championship round was Saturday, March 9^th. Laurelwood had some tough competition throughout the four round bracket system showdown. In the end Megafauna prevailed. Brewmaster Vasili Gletsos was inspired to brew this imperial IPA by the availability of new hop varietals and keeping that big West Coast IIPA in mind. When asked about where the name came from, Gletsos’ said it is his affinity to dinosaur documentaries, “one scene in particular in which a great ground sloth clobbers two saber toothed cats at the same time.”

This beer was produced in conjunction with Read More…

Posted under beer awards, beer releases, Oregon beer

The Portland release of Double Mountain Brewery‘s Molten Lava Imperial IPA will be this Friday, March 1, 2013 at 5 p.m. at the Horse Brass Pub (4534 SE Belmont Street). This beer will be bottled this week as well, and available to accounts as early as Friday.  Here’s more information on Molten Lava IIPA:
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Posted under beer events, beer releases, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

I love naming beers for breweries! The puns and goofball names for craft beer seems endless and is always a kick in the pants. When I heard that Breakside Brewery, one of my favorite Oregon brewhouses was using a name and concept I came up with while BS’ing around with brewmaster Ben Edmunds, I felt extremely honored.

I really enjoy celebrating figures in the craft beer industry. Upright Brewing‘s Blend Love and Blend Edmunds are two of my proudest beer namings. Their nomenclatures pay homage to two of my friends and favorite brewers in Portland, Ben Love and Ben Edmunds respectively. Upright Brewing founder and brewmaster Alex Ganum has taken a shine to my zany naming abilities and has utilized a number of my ideas in his beers. A few others that have paid tribute to some friends/regional brewers include Upright’s Lactovasilios Berliner-style Weiss (named for Laurelwood brewmaster Vasilios Gletsos) and Upright’s Spollen Angel Belgian-style Tripel (named for Amnesia brewer Chris Spollen).

One of the most fun events I helped to put together was Van Night, a tribute to longtime community brewer and friend Van Havig, current co-owner and brewmaster of Gigantic Brewing (along with Ben Love). Several beers possessed Van Havig themes, such as Widmer’s Van Helles Lager (I even have a t-shirt to prove it!), Barley Brown’s Van Havoc (a re-naming of Shawn Kelso’s infamously hopped up Havoc ale), and Ninkasi Brewing’s Havig Your Way.

Even Breakside Ben helped us formulate and brew a beer for 2011′s KillerBeerFest dedicated to the beloved Ganum. A rooibos infused ale aptly named Alexander Legume. Now, our fun-lovin’ buddies at Breakside have made use of another tribute name that is actually a beer developed by the man for which it is named. Breakside Brewery’s Barberhop Quartet is a double IPA named for senior brewer Sam Barber. Making use of four wonderfully aromatic hop varietals, this bombastically bold West Coast release is sure to satiate the most lupulin hungry hopheads around. Here’s more on the new Barberhop Quartet from the Breakside brewmaster: Read More…

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

By D.J. Paul

Another year is coming to an end, which means a plethora of holiday beers from Lompoc Brewing are ready to be released. Since the temporary demise of The Old Lompoc Pub on NW 23^rd Ave, Lompoc Brewing is now down to only one operating brewery (NW 23^rd location will be back open as a pub only in May or June 2013). Because of this new found capacity restriction, Lompoc is releasing 7 Holiday Beers this season, down three from last year’s 10 Holiday Beer Releases.

Present from Lompoc Brewing for the media tasting was owner Jerry Fechter, head brewery Bryan Keilty and their newest brewer Josh Merrick.

Here’s an in-depth look at this year’s holiday releases from Lompoc: Read More…

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

 We received such a limited supply of this insanely high demand beer that we have to limit it to ONE BOTTLE PER PERSON.  Join us at 7PM, pick up your bottle of 120 Minute IPA and stick around to enjoy Tim Roth’s, solo jazz guitar, in the Biercafe. -Belmont Station

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

Lovers of craft beer in Northern California now have a great new brewery to get excited about in Berryessa Brewing of Winters.

Folks in the Pacific Northwest, particularly Washington State are quite familiar with the craft beers from brewmaster Chris Miller. Miller’s award winning beers during his tenure at Snipes Mountain Brewing in Sunnyside, WA garnered attention from beer lovers across the West Coast and even nationally. From the easy drinking and award winning Coyote Moon Brown ale to Miller’s signature Zombie Killer Fresh Hop IPA that won people’s choice at the Yakima Fresh Hop Festival, the brewer captivated the hearts and palates of those who were fortunate enough to experience his liquid wares. Miller’s exploration of barrel-aging and wild ales also proved to be an invaluable part of his artisan repertoire.

Now, after nearly four years at Snipes Mountain, Miller has relocated in Northern California in the town of Winters and has started Berryessa Brewing, his very own 20-barrel brewery in the heart of wine country that shares a site with the popular Berryessa Gap Winery (Read our original post “Snipes Mountain’s Chris Miller Leaves for California to Start His Own Brewery“). The name Berryessa comes from Lake Berryessa, which is depicted on the brewery’s logo. Lake Berryessa is the largest lake in nearby Napa County where boating and recreational sporting is enjoyed. The lake is also a major source of water and hydroelectricity to the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. About an hour north of San Francisco, up the I-505, the area offers an escape from the big city’s hustle and bustle.

Berryessa Brewing quietly opened on October 1, 2011 but is ramping things up for their official grand opening party this Sunday November 11, happening from noon until 7 p.m. On this day, taplines with be stocked with several of Miller’s interesting and innovative brews. Miller’s lovely wife Lori is in charge of managing the taproom.

Beer, Food, Live Music and More Beer

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Posted under Beer & Music, beer and food, beer events, beer news, Beer personalities, beer releases, brewpubs, places to drink beer, Washington Beer

“Vote For Your Favorite Imperial IPA” election night coverage. We will feature a single-blind Imperial IPA Tasting with four world-class Imperial IPAs. The beers will be served side-by-side in five ounce tasters. Voters will be given a face-down list of the beers so that you can view them as you see fit. We will feature ‘Pliny the Elder’ from Russian River, ‘Racer X’ from Bear Republic, ‘Imperial IPA’ from Green Flash, and to represent from Oregon we will have ‘Omegatex’ from Fort George. We will also feature some other specialty kegs on tap. All kegs will be tapped by 5PM.

Posted under beer events, events

Late summer and early autumn is a rare and special time of year here in the Pacific Northwest. As the daylight begins to noticeably diminish from the evening sky and the nights begin to cool, the harvest bounty presents itself as ripe for the picking. Throughout the world of beer this means a celebration that includes Oktoberfest and Märzens as well as several different types of Pumpkin brews. Here in Cascadia, we not only have access to these sort of beers, but one that is even more celebrated – Fresh Hops!

The female species of the humulus lupulus comes to fruition during the fall harvest and nowhere else in the world has a celebration of this beer spicing and balancing agent than they do in Hood River, Oregon at the annual Hops Fest. This year marks the 9th time that the scenic Columbia Gorge village at the foot of mighty Mt. Hood celebrates the essential hop and all its majesty. 2012 marks the biggest festival of fresh hop beers to ever take place anywhere on the planet with more than 50 wet hopped beers from nearly 40 Northwest breweries.

The window for enjoying these farm fresh special brews closes fast, so it is highly recommended that you jump on the opportunity while you can. Hop heads rejoice and don’t miss out on your chance to enjoy so many unique craft beers in one setting.

Here’s the full lineup of beers for this year’s Hood River Hops Fest with descriptions and details. Cheers!

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Posted under Beer & Music, beer events, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Hops ‘n Pops Tasting Menu Laughing Dog Imperial IPA Malts are a little less sweet in this hop bomb, allowing the piney-hop character to pack plenty of  a hop punch 8% ABV, 127 IBU Paired with Chile Lime Potato Pop Chips HUB Ace of Spades Imperial IPA Huge spicy and citrus hop aroma and flavor with a deep bitterness and alcohol bites, a hopped-out beast 9.2% ABV, 100+ IBU Paired with Jalapeno Potato Pop Chips Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA Esquire Magazine said, “perhaps the best I.P.A. in America.” An Imperial I.P.A. brewed to be savored from a snifter. A big beer with notes of malt, brandied fruitcake, raisins, and  citrus. 9% ABV, 90 IBU Paired with Barbecue Pop Chips  Mendocino Brewing Imperial IPA A full body delivers the perfect balance of heady bitterness and luxuriant sweetness 8% ABV. Paired with Sweet Potato Pop Chips Meet the New Brewer at the New Salmon Creek Brewery & Pub Thomas Munoz, Salmon Creek’s new brewer will be working the room on Friday night. Tom is a very decorated brewer not just with the medals he has won in the brewing industry, but with his personality, charm, and good looks! Tom has been a dear friend of ours for many years, and when we learned of his availability to brew again, it was right at the time that Salmon Creek was in need for their new brewer, so we quickly snatched him up. You may not see Tom around a lot because he lives in the Seattle area, and is only able to commute at this time. When he’s here, he’s busy brewin’! So, this Friday he will be able to join you in the brewpub or the patio just to say “hey” and tip a glass or two. Stop by to say,”hi” and get yourself a $3 pint of any Salmon Creek brew: Weizenbock, Porter, India Red Ale, Extra Pale Ale, or a Belgian Blonde.

Cheers! By the Bottle

Posted under beer and food, events