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

Posted under beer events, Beer personalities, beers on film, brewpubs, Oregon beer

Press Release;

Portland, OR – Laurelwood Brewing Co. is excited to announce the return of the extraordinary Workhorse IPA. Workhorse will make its grand entrance back into the Laurelwood’s handcrafted product line at the beginning of 2013, in 22 ounce retail packaging and draft. Dock sales of Workhorse will resume at the brewery but only in limited runs. With the return of Workhorse IPA, Laurelwood will be saying goodbye to Gearhead IPA. Laurelwood’s Marketing Director Micah Bell stated, “Having two competing IPAs in your line up is hard to maintain. You have one IPA taking market share from the other, and that doesn’t help highlight the strengths of the brewery and the quality of the product we put out.” Ring in the New Year with a Workhorse IPA in your hand. Read More…

Posted under beer releases, Oregon beer, press releases, Washington 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

Read More…

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

Fresh Hop Fests will be held across the state between September 29^th and October 20^th, 2012.   Fresh Hop Fests hours vary and can be found at http://oregonbeer.org/freshhopsfest/. Most events start at Noon and Souvenir tasting glasses are required to sample beers.  Individual beer samples are $1 each.  Food will also be available for purchase.  Fresh Hop Fests dates and locations include:

• October 6th – Portland Fresh Hops Fest, Oaks Amusement Park, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way, Portland.  $ 15 for a glass and 5 drink tickets.  $ 20 for a glass and 10 drink tickets.  Cash only – Minors permitted – Glass sales till 7 PM – Drink ticket sales till 7:30 PM.  Free root beer for kids courtesy of Portland U-Brew & Pub.  Homebrewing demonstration by Portland U-Brew & Pub.
• October 20^th—Willamette Valley Fresh Hops Fest, Lane Events Center, Eugene, OR

For more information or to view video of last year’s Fresh Hop Fests, please visit http://oregonbeer.org/freshhopsfest/
 
About the Oregon Brewers Guild
The Oregon Brewers Guild is Oregon’s non-profit trade association for the state’s independent breweries. The Guild, which receives no state funding, comprises 90 brewing companies, 63 Associate or supplier members, and nearly 3,300 enthusiast members or S.N.O.B.s (Supporters of Native Oregon Beer). For more information, visit www.OregonBeer.org.
 

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

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

Fresh Hop Fests will be held across the state between September 29^th and October 20^th, 2012.   Fresh Hop Fests hours vary and can be found at http://oregonbeer.org/freshhopsfest/. Most events start at Noon and Souvenir tasting glasses are required to sample beers.  Individual beer samples are $1 each.  Food will also be available for purchase.  Fresh Hop Fests dates and locations include:

• October 6th – Portland Fresh Hops Fest, Oaks Amusement Park, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way, Portland.  $ 15 for a glass and 5 drink tickets.  $ 20 for a glass and 10 drink tickets.  Cash only – Minors permitted – Glass sales till 7 PM – Drink ticket sales till 7:30 PM.  Free root beer for kids courtesy of Portland U-Brew & Pub.  Homebrewing demonstration by Portland U-Brew & Pub.
• October 20^th—Willamette Valley Fresh Hops Fest, Lane Events Center, Eugene, OR

For more information or to view video of last year’s Fresh Hop Fests, please visit http://oregonbeer.org/freshhopsfest/
 
About the Oregon Brewers Guild
The Oregon Brewers Guild is Oregon’s non-profit trade association for the state’s independent breweries. The Guild, which receives no state funding, comprises 90 brewing companies, 63 Associate or supplier members, and nearly 3,300 enthusiast members or S.N.O.B.s (Supporters of Native Oregon Beer). For more information, visit www.OregonBeer.org.
 

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

ALEIAS
Brewed by Boneyard Beer in collaboration with John Harris long time Oregon Brewmaster.

Tony Lawrence, Boneyard’s  Brewmaster and Co-Owner, and John Harris met up many moons ago back in their days at Deschutes Brewery. Back then John hired Tony to “wreck his life” as a cleanup brewer. Now 22 year’s later Tony is rocking it down at Boneyard Beer. He called up John and said “we need to brew a beer together and ferment it in the “Harris” tank.”  John said the what tank?  Tony explained that he names his tanks at Boneyard after people. John said “Wow. you named a tank after me”

So on September 10th Tony and John met up at Boneyard to brew a India Wheat Ale (IWA).  Featuring a good portion of wheat malt along with pale malt and a touch of crystal then hopping it well beyond Boneyard’s RPM IPA. Simcoe and Amarillo were used exclusively throughout the process. Aleias IWA has a crisp malt character with loads of citrus and tropical hop flavor coming from  using 3.5 pounds of hops per barrel.  Aleias was dry hopped 3 times. Only 40 barrels of this 7.1% beer were produced. Get it while you can!

Aleias will be released on October 4th
Roving release party. Come hang with Tony and John.
5pm Belmont Station
6:30ish Horsebrass Pub
8:00ish Apex

Posted under beer news, Beer personalities, beer releases, events, Oregon beer

By D.J. Paul

With the recent arrival of fall along with harvest season comes a special time for Pacific Northwest craft beer drinkers, Fresh Hop Fests. This past Saturday was the kickoff with the granddaddy of them all with the 9^th Annual Hood River Hops Fest.

Saturday morning arrived with sunshine and warming temperatures that made for a great day of drinking some fabulous fresh hop beers. Fortunately the fear regarding the smoke from the area’s wild fires did not affect downtown Hood River on Saturday thanks to some nice westerly winds that arrived later on Friday afternoon to move the smoke eastward. Getting a pre-fest breakfast in at Egg River Café made for a great start to the day. After this satisfying breakfast, a short stroll downtown to Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom took place to pick up some of their freshly filled bottles of Killer Red Fresh Hop IRA and Killer Green Fresh Hop IPA.

From there a walk to the Hood River Hops Fest was in order. Gates were set to open at noon and there was a lengthy line forming when we walked up at 11:50 a.m. We decided to wait for the line to recede a bit so we ventured across the street to Full Sail Brewing to try their fresh hop Hopfenfrisch. This clean, crisp fresh hop lager hit the spot to get the ole’ body flowing again from the imbibing that took place during the previous night. After our round of beers we Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer reviews

 
Fresh Hop Fests will be held across the state between September 29^th and October 20^th, 2012.   Fresh Hop Fests hours vary and can be found at http://oregonbeer.org/freshhopsfest/. Most events start at Noon and Souvenir tasting glasses are required to sample beers.  Individual beer samples are $1 each.  Food will also be available for purchase.  Fresh Hop Fests dates and locations include:

• September 29th  – Sisters Fresh Hop Fest, Village Green Park, Sisters, OR

September 29, noon to 9 p.m. at the Village Green. The 2nd annual event! Admission is free and open to all; children are welcome. A taster pint mug is available for $5 and tasting tickets are $1 per 4-oz. taste. With live entertainment. For more information call the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce at 541-549-0251 or e-mail jeri@sisterscountry.com.

For more information or to view video of last year’s Fresh Hop Fests, please visit http://oregonbeer.org/freshhopsfest/
 
About the Oregon Brewers Guild
The Oregon Brewers Guild is Oregon’s non-profit trade association for the state’s independent breweries. The Guild, which receives no state funding, comprises 90 brewing companies, 63 Associate or supplier members, and nearly 3,300 enthusiast members or S.N.O.B.s (Supporters of Native Oregon Beer). For more information, visit www.OregonBeer.org.
 

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