Coffee and beer lovers rejoice! Laurelwood’s Organic Portland Roast Espresso Stout is back!

The brew is a collaboration between the brewery and Portland Roasting. It features a blend of Sumatran and Ethiopian coffees specially selected by Laurelwood head brewer Chad Kennedy. Laurelwood released a statement saying “These Organic and Farm Friendly Direct coffees blend nicely in our smooth and mellow Organic stout. This well-balanced creation has a nice coffee aroma and flavor that subtly compliments the roasted character of this dark ale.”

Here’s a video involving some discussion between Oregon brewers about the emerging Cascadian Dark Ale beer style. This took place at a symposium hosted by Abram Goldman-Armstrong at Belmont Station.

Brewpublic at the Cascadian Dark Ale Symposium from Brewpublic.com

The past week has been teeming with mouthwatering, hoppy dark brews, starting back mid-last week when we attended a Cascadian Dark Ale blind tasting with friends. Here we were lucky to sample ten different CDAs and get a feel of the various nuances from a unique unbiased perspective. Now, as can be expected with any blind tasting, some were obviously more favorable than others. Style champion and all around beer geek Abram Goldman-Armstrong got us excited for the CDA Week at Belmont Station and the CDA Symposium he would be hosting on Saturday morning. All and all, we’ve probably never had as many of one style of beer as we did over the last week.

Thanks to Ezra for hosting and sharing and everyone who participated in the Cascadian Dark Ale blind tasting this past week. Here’s some notes on these ten beer offerings.

Following one of the greatest human disasters in the history of our hemisphere, an unbelievable outreach of relief has poured from countless Americans. The efforts are pronounced largely here in Oregon as well. Companies and folks from all walks of life have given to aid the seemingly endless victims afflicted by a devastating 7.0 earthquake that claimed several thousand lives.

Doing their part to help with efforts, Hopworks Urban Brewery announced today that they will donate 20% of all sales between Monday January 25 through Wednesday January 27. According to Hopworks’ Assistant Brewmaster Ben Love, HUB has chosen the following three Northwest non-profit groups to support in their recovery efforts in Haiti:

Christmas has passed but not without allowing us the pleasure of spending time with family and friends over some good beers. After maybe overindulging a little throughout the past couple of weekends, we decided to take it easy over this holiday weekend. That being said,  we still allowed ourselves some pretty awesome beers. The festivities started at my sister’s house for her annual Christmas potluck where family and friends gathered to enjoy holiday cheer. While the beer selection was not actually top notch, we did plan ahead and brought a bottle of the second release of the Nogne, Jolly Pumpkin, and Stone Collaborator Special Holiday Ale. This beer featured an assortment of Holiday inspired ingredients like chestnuts and spices, and was a treat to drink on Christmas, and provided a nice roasty flavor that was followed by the spicy sweet taste of Christmas tree and sage.

After partaking in our first potluck of the evening, we were off to our second potluck at Ezra aka Samurai Artist’s house. Here, the homebrews that were brought for sharing among friends were the highlights. The top mentions of the night included a Chocolate Peanut Butter Imperial Stout that Ezra brewed.  It was like no other beer I have ever experienced before. This rich brew reminded me of a chocolate, peanut butter milkshake and a small pour was of this thick offering went a long way. A Citra hopped Pale ale that our friend (and 2009 S.N.O.B. poster boy) Ritch Marvin brewed was also a treat to sample.  Furthermore, an Orval clone homebrew that Ritch acquired in a trade from someone in the Midwest was the perfect beer for capping off a great night.

On Saturday, after a quiet day of walking around town and enjoying the sunny but chilly air, we wondered over to our local beer shop, The BeerMongers. Remembering the Orval clone we had enjoyed the night before, we had to sit down and quaff the real deal served in appropriate glasswear. The BeerMongers really know how to do it right and the relaxed atmosphere was a great way to unwind on Boxing Day. The BeerMongers offer a great selection of bottle beers and a few on tap for a very reasonable price. If you have not checked the place out, it is an understatement to say that this is something that should be done soon. Being a quiet place to sit and enjoy a brew, you can always chat with the friendly owners, Sean and Craig. We had one more brew before we left the shop. It was Oud Beersel Oude Geuze, decked out with a tart sharpness and all the sourness we were looking for.

The past weekend could have been one of the best beer weekends to date. But to be perfectly honest the memory is a tad jogged. Down at the Holiday Ale Fest in Pioneer Square, it was amazing how many friends and brewquaintences you can run into, and even better, it’s great to meet new people and get their perspective on beer and life (which to us is pretty much synonymous). Laymen and brewers clicked their plastic HAF mugs amidst intermittent roars that rumbled through like “the wave” at a baseball game. As always, it is essential for the craft beer enthusiast to get down under the tents early. In fact, our weekend really started on Wednesday, as the organizers of the HAF did a nice job of preparing for the swarms of festivalgoers by adding this extra day.

Whenever there’s a cool festival in town, the fixture beer outfits around the city step up their game as well offering a great line-up of seasons. Between our few sessions at the Ale Fest, we made a few essential stops to the Horse Brass pub to pull back from the mayhem that would inevitable ensue down at Pioneer Courthouse Square. On Friday we also happened over to New Old Lompoc’s 5th Quadrant SideBar to meet with event staff coordinator Amy Casanova. She and the other nice folks at Lompoc helped Brewpublic raise nearly $800 for start-up community radio station KZME during our Cocoa Hop. We are grateful for Amy and Lompoc’s contribution in this noble cause, and also to all the brewers and chocolaters who gave of themselves, their time, and their products.

While at the 5th Quadrant we witnessed the brewers and Green Bottling put the yummy seasonal C-Son’s Greetings into 22-ounce bombers. We were also reminded of Lompoc’s upcoming 8 Malty Nights event coming up on the 11th to kick off Chanukah.

Further north, we found ourselves over the border in Vancouver, Washington to pick up some essentials at By the Bottle and check out the collaboration brewing of Salmon Creek Brewpub’s owner/brewer Larry Pratt with Seattle brewstar Tom Munoz. Munoz, a former brewer with Silver City teamed up with Pratt to put together a one-of-a-kind pale ale that should be ready to drink at Salmon Creek in a few weeks. See you there!

Later on Friday, we had a blast over at Belmont Station for a meet the brewer night with Bear Republic head brewer Peter Kruger. The Healdsburg, California brewer, we found out, has roots in Oregon brewing. Kruger was one of the early brewers at Full Sail in Hood River. Former Full Sail brewer Charlie Devereux of Double Mountain was on hand to say hello to his old friend and greet him with a growler of DM’s delicious Fa La La La La winter ale.Bear Republic’s delicious array of specialty and mainstay brews were the highlight of the night, and at the front and center was a Clobberskull wine barrel aged strong ale brewed with 10% split peas. Apparently the beer has a great history, and is of a recipe revitalized in Randy Mosher’s pioneering book Radical Brewing.

While at Belmont Station, we also meet with Michael Branes of Migration Brewing, one of Portland’s newest breweries. Branes, who worked for some time at Mountain Peoples Distribution, was join by fellow Mountain People’s Oregon sales manager Tim Ensign, who was pouring samples Bear Republic brews as well.

Saturday, as blogged about earlier found us back under the hearkening tents at 11AM stat for twitterworthy special tappings of select Bear Republic beers like the Trebuchet, a Belgian trippel aged in 100-year-old cognac barrels and two special fruited “The Grizz” super brown ale–one with nectarines and another with blackberries–to accompany the might Old Baba Yaga that was kickin’ ass since Wednesday. The boozier than all ungodly sin Trebuchet was the first thing to hit my stomach on this fair day. A brewer friend said it was too much “nail polish” for him, but to me, I rendered it my breakfast of champions. Several other wonderful beer rounded out my HAF weekend. I have to admit this was the best one yet. In fact, despite others’ gripes, I honestly didn’t experience on dud in the lot.

After escaping the mob scene that was Pioneer Courthouse Square, we trudged off some of the liver burn by hoofing a few miles home to Southeast. We were not extinguished yet. There was still Green Bottling’s holiday party at the cozy Horse Brass. Here, several local brewers raised a tall one to the great year and to Jack and Mike’s successful year of bottling up some of Oregon’s finest like Lompoc, Full Sail, and Laurelwood. After just a few more lighter beers to rehydrate (Full Sail and Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ales), this one was in the bag.

Sunday was relatively mellow, save for a few brews shared with fellow blogger D.A. of Beer Around Town. All said and done, I think I may just hybernate until the ‘10 Barley Wine and Big Beer Fest.

It’s been a great summer. The hops grew tall and plump and at last, the summer has wound down. As sad as it might seem, we’ve still got some sunshine and great harvest season events to look forward to. Over the weekend, we homebrewed a hoppy treat from our fresh off the bine nuggets. We pedaled over to BiKETOBEERFEST at Hopworks before enjoying the Beer & Art event at the Portland Art Museum.

Is art just imitation of life? If so tonight you can drink in life at the Portland Art Museum where artist and beer lover Eric Steen presents an event that marries the experience of enjoying beer and art. During this one night event, you can sample three new beers from Laurelwood, Lompoc, and Lucky Lab in the museum’s Exterior Sculpture Garden. A brewer from each of the three Portland microbreweries received a tour of the museum’s collection, selected an artwork, and made a beer that will complement that artwork. Sounds nutty? We think so, and that is why we will most definitely be there. According to PAM, this beer sampling is part of a one night event called “Shine A Light: A Night at the Museum”, an event that will host a number of performances, time-based art actions, music, and more. It costs $12 to get in, but the beer is free. Did we mention there’s art there, too. For more information visit www.portlandartmuseum.org

For a while there, there was some talk about taking a break on the beer consuming once Oregon Craft Beer Month aka July was over. Well, it seems as though things may have slowed down for a bit following the Oregon Brewers Festival, but with so many interesting events and deliciously innovative brews, there’s really no telling when the fun will end. We don’t suspect it will. Afterall, this is Oregon. Get ready for some hops.

Brewpublic just heard from Laurelwood Public House & Brewery’s Brewmaster Chad Kennedy about a mouthwatering new India Pale Ale about to hit on September 1st. “We’re very excited about our next bottled beer- Prevale IPA- to be released in 22 oz bottles on September 1st throughout Oregon and Western Washington.” said Kennedy in a recent email. “We’re excited not only because our brewers have created a great Northwest-style IPA, but also because the proceeds from each bottle sold will go towards a great cause.”

In collaboration with The Oregon Team in Training chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Laurelwood brewers created this noble benefit beer. “We asked anyone with some inspiration and creativity to name the beer and after hundreds of entries” Kennedy continued. “Prevale was chosen as the winning name. A portion of the proceeds from every bottle will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for cancer research.”