I don’t even know where to begin, but I suppose I will start somewhere… It really irks my bones when I can’t pump out some juicy craft beer fodder for the readers of Brewpublic, and the past few days have been lacking. I know it. I mean, Brewpublic prides itself of giving you a steady, daily glimpse into some of the many many goingson in and around Cascadian brewing and a little more. Being on planes, trains, and automobiles with a Smartphone, a thirsty palate, and a hankering to round up as many beers as possible makes the blogging a bit lacking at times, but it’s not because of will.
They say the road to hell is paved in good intentions, and we intended to scare up some goods for you the past few days, but we were short a laptop, a spare liver, and more daylight hours (heck, we can often muster just fine in the dark!). On Monday we scheduled details for rounding up as many kegs as we could while in and around Portland, Oregon. The reasons were many. SF Beer Week events, a new pub opening, and simply to blow Bay Area artisan beer enthusiasts’ minds. Spending much time in the East Bay of the San Francisco area, it has been my goal to inject as much of the Cascadian craft beer culture into the locals down here as I possibly can. With SF 
Beer Week about to pop off (February 8-17, 2013), I couldn’t think of a better way to exemplify what amazingness Oregon’s uniquely saturated yeast culture has to present. Don’t get me wrong, Northern California is home to some legendary breweries and beer halls that rival some of the finest in this world. Further, NorCal is booming with new breweries that vivaciously illustrate the significance of the modern day Post-Prohibition beer revolution. Thus, it makes perfect sense that while living here, I find myself working at an Oakland pub named Beer Revolution with the best selection of regional, national, and international fermented malted pours. Soon, the adjacent revamped train depot in Jack London Square will beef up the neighborhood’s selection almost two-fold. Looking to open very soon, the Olde Depot Taphouse will assert the community as an even more undeniably world class destination.
Appointed to manage Olde Depot is seasoned professional Dan “Bully” Bollwinkel who has further inspired us to take things on the West Oakland craft beer scene to the next level. Bully and I jaunted to Portland on a plane, rented a modest Dodge Caravan and sought to stock up on as many different beers as we could safely drive back 600 miles south to Oakland. On our journey, we even went a little overboard and maxed out the payload to the point where the chassis began to woefully sag toward the earth. With just 36 hours to obtain an optimal variety of mostly 1/6-barrel kegs and a few bottles, we were focused on making the most of our precious time.
Immediately upon touching down at PDX International Airport with just the clothes on our backs and Read More…
Posted under Bay Area beer, Beer & Art, Beer personalities, beer releases, beer reviews, Beer Travel, brewpubs, craft cider, Oregon beer, places to drink beer
This post was written by Angelo on January 31, 2013
Tags: Alameda, Alan Sprints, Alex Ganum, Apex Bar, barrel-aged, Bay Area, beer releases, Beer Revolution, Ben Love, Block 15, Bobby Birk, Brettanomyces, brewpub, Brewpublic, Burnside Brewing, Bushwhackers Cider, California, canned beer, Carston Haney, Cascadia, Chip Conlon, Christian Ettinger, Columbia River Brewing, Corvallis, Craft Beer, Dave Fleming, Dave Marliave, Elan Walsky, Flat Tail, Gigantic Brewing, Green Bottling, Hair of the Dog, Heather Burkhardt, Hops, Hopworks, Hopworks Urban Brewery, IPA, Jason McAdam, Jeff Smith, keg, Kiley Hoyt, Matt Van Wyk, Mike Weksler, Morgan Miller, Nick Arzner, Ninkasi, Northern California, Oakland, Oakshire, Olde Depot Taphouse, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, Portland, Rick Burkhardt, Southeast Portland, Steve Altimari, Todd Ashman, Tom Bleigh, Upright Brewing, Van Havig, Willamette Valley, wine, wine-barrel aged
