(Or Where I Feel Comfortable Taking My Sometimes Cranky Weimaraner)

By Frank James

One of life’s quandraries for dog-owning beer lovers is what to do with your pooch when you want to go out to have a cold one. For Portlanders, the answer is pretty simple: take Fido with you. Here in dog-friendly Portland, the real question becomes a matter of where to take Fido.

Obviously, you never want to go someplace where you have to drink bad beer. And if it’s a hot, sunny day, the numero uno factor is whether the place has sufficient shade, cause roasting like a lizard in the desert is a no-go from the very start. (No need for further tanning here.) Location is always another factor that comes into play in one fashion or another.

And as important as any issue is whether your pooch actually likes the place, as nothing will ruin a pleasant pint like an anxious, unhappy dog. Now, if you own your typically easy-going, no-drama Lab, just about any place that will allow you to park your pooch under the table is okay. But if you have a dog who can be just a little finicky, you have to be a bit more selective. So, as I go through my decision making process, Binx, who can be more than a little finicky, gets a heavily-weighted vote.

Binx, a 6 year old, rescued Weimaraner, pretty much runs my life. Or at least he seems to think so. He’s a great dog, but he definitely has a very well-defined sense of his likes and dislikes and he’s pretty upfront about expressing his opinion about those issues. He lives to chase the chattering squirrels who tease him in our back yard and at the parks where he patrols like a manic, furry pinball, bouncing from tree to tree as he glares up at his tormentors. But he thinks chasing inanimate objects like sticks and balls and Frisbees is about the dumbest thing any self-respecting Weimaraner could ever do. He loves ice-cold, fresh water -preferably filtered by Brita – but will literally turn his nose up if he’s presented with old, tepid water that came from a tap, no matter how thirsty or hot he may be. He loves little dogs, but is extraordinarily wary of Great Danes, especially if there is more than one around at a particular time. A true Oregonian, he hates the hot sun and will literally run to find shelter in the coolest shade around, where he’ll plant himself until he’s forced to move. Binx also has certain favorites when it comes to the Portland area’s craft beer establishments. How do I know? Am I merely attributing anthropomorphic traits to a mute, four-legged creature who wouldn’t know one bar from another?

Possibly, but as any dog owner knows, it’s pretty easy to figure out whether your dog likes something or someone or a particular location. Their posture, their ease – or discomfort – and whether they are happy or displeased about being in a particular place becomes pretty apparent, pretty quickly. In fact, if a dog owner can’t tell whether their dog likes a certain place, they aren’t paying attention. All you have to do is watch them closely and you’ll get all the information you need. What are the spots that rank as Binx’s favorite spots, ones that I also enjoy? What are the craft beer establishments with outdoor seating that Binx feels most comfortable? And why?

This isn’t a “best craft beer establishment to take your dog to…” listing. No, it’s much more subjective, as it is simply a list of the places I like to go to because I know that my dog is most comfortable at those places. There are specific reasons, and I’ll note those reasons, but the establishments I’ll describe are simply the places Binx really likes and I’ll let you know why he likes the particular establishment. He’s a funny dog. He’s very friendly, but he also hates to be bothered by other dogs who can’t take a hint when he tries to nicely tell them to bug off. He’ll tolerate a certain amount of guff from another dog, but then he will lose patience. Binx usually has a very friendly, goofy, silly posture – he’s never started a fight or incident in the three and a half years I’ve owned him – but if another dog refuses to simply leave him alone, he will get this look that reminds me of Robert DeNiro’s Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, when Travis says : “You talking to me? You talking to me?” And that is usually enough to motivate a too-curious dog to move along. But obviously, I prefer frequenting places where that type of mini-drama is unlikely to unfold, where Binx can just chill, scavenge leftovers from our meals and get a cool drink of water.

Now, the human in this equation does get a vote. These places are on the list because they all serve good beer, either their own or via a series of taps that are consistently of good quality. But ultimately, if Binx likes the place, it’s cool with me.

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Posted under Oregon beer, brewpubs, places to drink beer

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

As you might suspect, Brewpublic takes a lot of time and energy. Thankfully, we’ve got some great sponsors who have been supportive of our efforts. Without these proponents who have a love for community and an appreciation for what we do, Brewpublic would be much more difficult to maintain. We don’t do this enough, but we would like to take a minute to thank the following supporters of Brewpublic:

Thanks to these awesome sponsors for their support as well as to past sponsors. If you haven’t visited these businesses or checked out their beer yet, you really should. And, please tell them that Brewpublic referred you.

If you would like to support Brewpublic by becoming a sponsor please visit our Support Us page. It’s a great way to show the Oregon and Northwest craft beer community that you like what you read here while getting great exposure for your business doing so.

Thank you!

Brewpublic

Posted under beer me

Through our friends at By The Bottle in Vancouver, Washington, we recently found out about a forthcoming brewery in Vancouver, Washington. Known as Loowit Brewing Company, the undertaking is a partnership between avid homebrewers and longtime friends Devon Bray and Thomas Poffenroth. Says Bray “We’ve been homebrewing together for about 7 or 8 years. The brewery is still essentially in the planning stages but we’ve been operating with full commitment to start a brewery, which is why we’ve made the monetary commitments that we already have. Location will be on the west side of Vancouver somewhere…the east side is a wasteland of strip malls.”

To begin, the Loowit will be Read More…

Posted under Beer personalities, beer news

Friday August 6, 2010, Laurelwood Brewing Company taps a new beer loaded with a plenitude of malts and hops. Brewmaster Chad Kennedy says this beer is “One of the more unique beers we’ve created.” This pale ale is made with six different malts including, barley, rye and wheat as well as four varieties of hops. To make it even more exciting, the beer contains fresh Bay Laurel leaves that were added in the fermenter and conditioning tank. Kennedy says the result of this 5.7%, 40 IBU brew is “a balanced pale ale with the pleasing aroma of fresh bay leaves- quite distinct from the dried version.”

Posted under Oregon beer, beer releases, brewpubs

For a moment we considered doing a month in review. We still might, but there’s just so much to reflect upon for the past Oregon Craft Beer Month (OCBM), we aren’t sure where we would. With several awesome festivals and unique events, OCBM 2010 was undoubtedly a huge hit filled with wonderful beers, memories, and the great people who make craft beer in Oregon the best month of beer appreciation anywhere in the world.

As previously mentioned here in the paper-free pages of Brewpublic, almost every day during the month of July featured multiple events and made for tough decisions about which event(s) to attend. Of course, there are worse problems in the world to deal with than an overabundance of spectacular beer.

This past weekend marked the final hurrah of OCBM, and as you might expect, there were at least a handful of noteworthy craft beer events worth involving oneself in. Bailey’s Taproom’s AnniBrew3 Barrel-aged Beer Fest was a go-to goings-on for the uber geeks that didn’t want to pass on once in a lifetime vintages of brews organized by proprietor Geoff Phillips and his faithful. Rogue’s Bones and Brew was a hot ticket item for those around Portland’s Pearl District looking to soak in some perfect summer weather, live music, and partake of the luring scents emitting from the grill. Concordia Ale House’s now well-known Concordia Cup was another chance for hop heads and S.N.O.B.s (Supporters of Native Oregon Beer) to blind taste a dozen different imperial IPAs (all brewed here in the fine state of Oregon) and help to decide which brewer will represent us in February’s Beer Brawl versus California and Washington.

For us, we were locked on our six hour meet the brewers pub crawl, aka BrewPubliCrawl. Featuring twenty breweries and some of their representing brewers. The crawl kicked off at Red Fox, a pub we haven’t spent much time at in the past. Not necessarily a beer geek pub, Red Fox serves up some of the best bloody Marys in town. However, they regularly carry Double Mountain and Laurelwood beers on tap. A third tap is devoted to Trumer Pils. Double Mountain and Laurelwood brewmasters Matt Swihart and Chad Kennedy, respectively, arrived at the noon kickoff time to meet and greet a healthy early crowd ready to get a day of craft beer under its belt. Laurelwood’s Deranger Red and Double Mountain’s Hop Lava seemed like a perfect beginning to this big day.

After a while enjoying the relaxed vibe at Red Fox, the crowd pushed on to nearby Saraveza pub, one of Portland’s finest destinations for beer geeks. Always replete with great service and excellent beer selections, Sarveza revealed Hopworks Velvet Underground Imperial Black ESB, Seven Brides Emily’s Ember Amber Ale, Fort George Vortex IPA, Heater Allen Bobtoberfest, Ninkasi Radiant Summer Ale, and more.

The next stop on the crawl was at Lucky Lab’s Overlook location where Deschutes Sage Brush Pils, Migration Pale Ale, Lompoc’s C-Note, Alameda’s Yellow Wolf IIPA, and a special Lucky Lab Pilsner, brewed for Pacific Rivers Council, were pouring in the eastern room at the venue. A great day made outdoor seating optimal in front of the establishment on N. Killingsworth. This fabulous weather would make the next stop perhaps the best of the day.

The pub crawl commenced at The Hop & Vine just a block away from the Overlook Lucky Lab. Here, jockeyboxes where set up in the spacious backyard where folks could relax and gather. On tap: a new Boneyard Beer RPM IPA, a new MacTarnahan’s Ink Blot Baltic Porter, Cascade Nightfall Blackberry Sour Ale, Widmer Gose, Natian Organic Golden Ale, Upright Auld Reekie Smoked Brown Ale, Vertigo Apricot Cream Ale, and Oakshire La Ferme Belgian-style Farmhouse Ale. All of these beers were excellent and it was great to have the brewers all on hand. At 6:00PM, Ninkasi founding brewer Jamie Floyd addressed the crowd and got everyone pumped up about the bounty of Oregon beer that makes our state so badass.

Thanks a lot to everyone involved in making the OCBM closing ceremonies so much fun. Thanks to Mother Nature for a tremendous day, all of the brewers for their time and top notch brews, and to staff at Red Fox, Saraveza, Lucky Lab, and The Hop & Vine for making this event a success!

Time for a liver cleanse now…

Check out more photos from BrewPubliCrawl and OCBM and more at http://brewpublic.com/photos

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

This year’s Oregon Brewers Festival (OBF) promises to be the biggest and best to date.  Make sure to get down to Tom McCall Waterfront Park this weekend and discover an unbelievable assortment of craft beers.

Several interesting beers were provided to us at the media preview led by Noel Blake on Thursday. In addition, the festival offers a spectrum of seemingly endless brews worthy of any beer lover’s undivided attention. Some highlights available at the festival included:

Caldera’s Hibiscus Ginger Beer:  Here’s a beer with a focus not on hops, but rather on ginger root, beets, and hibiscus flowers. This light golden  4.7% ABV brew also makes use of Belgian candi sugar and 2-row and Carafoam malts. While this beer might not be for everyone, it certainly gets points for uniqueness, as well as a balance of both complexity and drinkability. We love it!

Rock Bottom Oud Heverlee: With deep malt flavors, this Belgian-style brew made with dried tulips and specialty-aged “vloer suipt” Sterling hops. Peppery, floral, and mildly fruity, this beer is another shining example of Portland Rock Bottom’s imaginative spirit and brewing know-how lead by brewmaster Van Havig.

Collaborator Sunstone Pilsner: The Oregon Brew Crew in conjunction with Widmer Bros provides a platform for talented homebrewers to showcase their talents to the public on a commercial scale. This year’s Collaborator was a distinct spin on the traditional German-style Pilsner. Brewer David Haynes designed this 35% wheaten lager with the end result being, as media guide Noel Blake states a “perfect summer Pils.”

Upright Brewing Reggae Junkie Gruit: If you read the virtual pages of Brewpublic, you know how much we love Upright. This brew uses no hops, just an assortment of herbs and spices such as organic spelt berries, hyssop, bitter orange peel, Sichuan peppercorns, and lemongrass. The base malts of organic pale and Munich result in a pleasant 5.2% ABV summer quaffer. Upright also featured a special gin barrel aged brew exclusive to the Buzz Tent in limited quantities.

The Bruery 7 Grain Stout: Can Orange County, CA’s The Bruery do any wrong? We’ve yet to find a beer from them that we didn’t love. This Belgian-style Saison is no exception. Brewed with Two-row pale malt, rye, oats, unmalted wheat, flaked rice, flaked maize, and spelt, and moderate portions of Magnum and Sterling hops, here we have a very balanced warm weather brew. An astringent finish with residual spice character are highlights of this beer’s architecture. Cheers!

Widmer Captain Shaddock Grapefruit IPA: Named for a certain Captain Shaddock who some credit with bringing grapefruit (actually pomelo) to Jamaica in the late 18th Century. This particular Widmer brew makes use of the experimental GFX-75 hop, whose flavor is likened to grapefruit. And, even more interestingly dried grapefruit peel was added to the end of the boil to accentuate more of the citrus character in this dark amber colored 60 IBU brew. Hats off to Widmer for continuing to try new things and keeping our beer interesting.

Oakshire Overcast Espresso Stout: This award winning beer is available year round from the brewers at Eugene’s Oakshire Brewing. Made with five types of grain and Chinook and Willamette hops, this beer is cold-pressed with locally roasted organic espresso coffee. The result is a bold, dark, roasty coffee brew with additional notes of chocolate and rich maltiness. Perfect for a cold day, its also a great breakfast brew to get you going in the morning.

Double Mountain The Vaporizer: Hopheads rejoice for this beer, that was the first keg to run dry at this year’s brewers dinner. Now a year round offering from the Hood River brewers, The Vaporizer is a pale golden-bodied ale with Pilsner malts and copious amounts of citrusy US Challenger hops. A dry, clean, refreshing finish leaves us wanting more and more!

Cascade Summer Gose: An absolute must have at this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival, Cascade’s Summer Gose is a light quenching tart beer inspired by a tradition originated in the village of Goslar in Lower Saxony, Germany and launched by great popularity in nearby Leipzig. Imagineer Ron Gansberg and his talented staff of brewers utilize the standard high portion of wheat malt in the Gose. Citrus notes and the addition of salt and coriander spice meld to provide a wonderful summer seasonal perfect for the hot days on the waterfront. Look for other seasonal versions of the Gose as the months pass. Each brewed with interesting original ingredients.

These beers are just the tip of the iceberg at OBF. Discover your favorites this weekend at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. For more information on the OBF, visit the website at www.oregonbrewfest.com

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

It’s somewhat hard to believe that Oregon Craft Beer Month is about 60% complete. In one sense, the month, and summer has flown past us here in Oregon. With a late start to summer that, save for three 90 degree days, has been rather cool and reserved. However, in some ways, it’s amazing how many events have occurred so far here in Oregon, and with the biggest festival, the Oregon Brewers Festival, still to come.

For craft beer enthusiasts here in Beervana, the biggest “problem” is having too many options; multiple events each day and with only limited time and liver capacity to soak it all in. So, it is important to rely on careful planning and preparation in order to maximize the potential of each fortuitous July day. It is also key to accept the fact, that you will miss out on some events you’d really hoped to make it to, and do the best that you can. In some ways, it’s akin to a craft beer-minded tourist visiting Portland for a weekend, having never been before, and trying to sort out what places to venture. It’s a laborious task that requires both stamina and flexibility (yeah yeah, we know).

This past weekend was another big adventure in beer that really hasn’t seen a hiatus for us since… Not really sure. Between the Portland International Beer Fest (PIB) and Saraveza’s Imperial IPA Fest (IIPA Fest), we’re left anxiously looking ahead to the remainder of this wonderful month.

Portland International Beer Fest

Friday afternoon, we arrived at the fest upon the gates opening to the masses. As many have previously noted, and we have as well, arriving early on the opening day of a beer fest offers a relaxes, low stress atmosphere where you wind up running into a lot of beer geeks and industry folk who also know this virtue. So, on Friday, we scoped out the pleasant grounds of the North Park Blocks, a setting where kindly looming trees offer plenty of shade, but there is also ample sunshine to soak in if desired. This festival is well run with little notable belligerence if any.There’s a distinct culture, or perhaps aura, amongst festival goers here in Portland that focuses on community and appreciation for artisan brews. We’ve been to festivals in other regions of the country that played more like a drunk fest. In Idaho Falls, Idaho at the Mountain Brewers Beer Fest, we can recall several inebriated folks dipping their mugs in the dump bucket near the end of the festival. This is something, thankfully, you don’t see here. PIB is a relaxed atmosphere with lots of well behaved people and well behaved canines.

As far as the beer, this year’s fest was a little thinner on the mindblowing selections we’ve witnessed in years past, but this only proves the high bar to which the organizers have set for themselves. With some imported bottle beers costing multiple tickets, this year we opted to go for the taps, mostly in the one-ticket realm. Here’s what we viewed as some highlights:

Flyers Kentucky Uberfest: From Oak Harbor, Washington’s Flyers Restaurant & Brewery on Whidbey Island, this was the steal of the show for us. A traditional English-style barleywine brewed with bourbon-soaked oak chips, brewer Tony Savoy concocted with beer with inspiration from PIB organizer Rick Carpenter where it gets its name. Carpenter also runs Uber Tavern in Seattle, and this dark chestnut beer with a lavish creamy head and bold boozy oaken notes was designed initially for the bar. For just one ticket, this was one of the few beers we went back for multiple samples of.

Ninkasi Maiden the Shade: It’s easy to see why Ninkasi Brewing has a cult following here in Oregon. Not only do they have some of the nicest and hardest working folks in the business working for them but their uncanny skill at bringing generously hopped ales into the mainstream. One of the longest continual lines for PIB was the one leading to Maiden the Shade, a 7-hopped quencher with an adequate malt spine and a bounding floral nose. At 6.8%, 72 IBUs, this beer was a hit right off the bat, when it debuted last summer at the Oregon Country Fair. Also for just one token was a lesser known Ninkasi Strong Ale.

Great Divide Oak Double IPA: This beer for one ticket was well worth it, just as was Great Divide’s Chocolate Yeti Imperial Stout. Big, chewy malt character over run with a mighty hops girth and the pleasantry of creamy oakiness made this beer a stand out. Not necessarily a hard to find beer, but every brew can’t always be about rarity. This Double IPA is one you could be contented just sniffing at for a while. We’re planning a trip to Colorado in November and one of our most anticipated stops is Great Divide Brewing in Denver.

Laurelwood Workhorse IPA: Four ounces of one of the best IPAs in Portland for one ticket? Sold. Perfectly balanced combo of amplified hops and underpinning malts, this IPA rolls without too much of the catty, onion-garlic high alpha aroma hops you see trending these days. We feel this beer strikes the perfect balance and we absolutely love it. Laurelwood was also pouring their Green Elephant IPA, which is also amazing. Hop heads rejoice, for this is one hell of an India Pale Ale.

Hopworks Mystery Bourbon Barrel Aged Beer: This HUB beer could have easily been the best beer at PIB. A light, bodied, golden-orange hue with an out of this world nose of orange, tangerine, soft pine, and a flower bouquet. This beer was the last beer of the fest for us, and sent us on our way with a smile on our face. The bourbon character was quite subdued buy just hinted at in the background. Garnering both attributes of drinkability and complexity, this beer… oh, this beer…Just one ticket. Think we’ll ever see this brew this cheap again?

Unibrou Maudite: Unibrou’s Maudite is a beer we love to sip on during the autumn months. From Chambly, Quebec, Canada, this strong dark chestnut hued beer possesses a prominent malt character in both nose and flavor. Hints of orange zest,  fragrances of coriander and cloves, and adequate floral hop notes prelude a “robust maltiness and spiciness that is counterbalanced by an assertive crisp hop finish.” 8% ABV. This beer also reminds us of our pal Marc from Quebec, who we wish was here to enjoy the fest with us. Cheers, Marc!

Lompoc Bastille Day

Funny how life is filled with random adventures. This is no different in the world of craft beer. On Saturday while walking around North Portland passing out a few fliers for our upcoming BrewPubliCrawl, we noticed a van pass us by driven by New Old Lompoc owner and Bald Guy Brigade frontman Jerry Fechter. “Follow me to beer!” he yelled to us, then trumpeted to us with a vuvuzela. We obliged and found ourselves amidst the festivities of Lompoc and Pix Patisseries Bastille Day Block Party. A live band was playing to an audience of wildly adorned party-goers. It was a hopping scene with the sun shining down on a perfect July day. Our first inclination was to prospect the beer garden by the brewery where we enjoyed a newly released summer Lompeizer and Son of C-Note. We were happy to see brewers Dave Fleming, Sam Orlansky, Bryan Keilty, and Zach Beckwith all in attendance as well as Oregon Brewers Festival organizer Chris Crabb. The highlight of the party for us was poking our faces through a wooden cutout of Fechter while the rest of us watch in amusement.

Saraveza IIPA Fest

Five days of Imperial IPAs is a true test of will…and a whole hell of a lot of fun. Saraveza’s bonanza of boisterously bittered beasts was just that. Thanks to the hard work and planning of the bar staff, lead by Jonathan Carmean, Northwest Brewing News’ 2009 bartender of the year, IIPA Fest offered a wide range of such beers from what some might inaccurately perceive as a one dimensional style. Beers like Mikkeller’s I Beat YoU of Norway, brewed at BrewDog in Scotland, exhibited a big malty, chewiness, much like Southern Tier‘s ginormous Unearthly and Oaked Unearthly. Others such as Double Mountain’s Molten Lava and Alameda’s Yellow Wolf were far lighter bodied, though the hop character of these beers was equally as bodacious. In total, more than 30 IIPAs exhibited the diversity that this style can offer, while bringing forth a range of interpretations within the art form of brewing. IIPA Fest was a big success thanks to everyone who participated.

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

Brewpublic announces another special meet the brewers pub crawl. You might remember back on March 20, 2010 when we brought you the first of this kind on SE Division Street in Portland. Now, we’ve got a crawl, also with four craft beer bars, less distance to cover, and even more brewers to meet while you enjoy a plethora of great brews.

What: Meet the brewers pub crawl (aka BrewPubliCrawl). 18 Oregon brewers will be on hand for this exclusive 6 hour event, each with a refreshing and unique offering designed especially for the commencement of July (Oregon Craft Beer Month). Four craft beer loving bars will open their doors as normal, but on this day with a lot more artisan brews to share. We’re really excited to have you check this out!

Where: N. Killingsworth Street, Portland, Oregon.

The crawl starts at the Red Fox bar (5128 North Albina Avenue); moves to Saraveza (1004 N. Killingsworth Street); then Overlook Lucky Lab (1700 N. Killingsworth Street); and ends up at The Hop & Vine (1914 N. Killingsworth Street).

When: Saturday July 31, 2010 Noon until 6pm. Brewers with beers at each stop will be on hand for 1.5 hours at each stop. (Red Fox Noon-1:30PM; Saraveza 1:30-3PM; Overlook Lucky Lab 3-4:30PM; The Hop & Vine 4:30-6PM)

Why: Because we are nutty about Oregon Craft Beer and love our community and the artists who brew great beer here in Oregon. Also, we want to toast another great Oregon Craft Beer Month that is closing out on this day.

Other Details:  No tickets are required for this pub crawl. Folks 21+ will be able to purchase beer from the bars like you’d normally expect. The entire pub crawl route from start to finish is just 0.7 miles. Brewers in attendance with their beer pouring include: Alameda, Boneyard Beer, Cascade, Deschutes, Double Mountain, Fort George, Heater Allen, Hopworks, Laurelwood, Lucky Labrador, MacTarnahan’s, Migration, Natian, New Old Lompoc, Ninkasi, Oakshire, Seven Brides, and Vertigo. Also, Bailey’s Taproom’s 3rd anniversary barrel fest is happening on this day and we strongly recommend that you visit them for some of the rarest and most unique beers as well!

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

Saraveza presents a special week of killer IPAs, actually, make that Imperial IPAs. July 14-18.

Tonight: Seven Brides and Widmer Bros will be on hand with their brewers and some killer beers!

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