Standing Stone Brewing Company (SSBC) and Rogue Creamery are a common pairing. The award-winning creamery makes a Standing Stone Stout Cheddar and the acclaimed craft brewery/restaurant features Rogue Creamery cheeses on its menu.

The two have taken their collaboration a step further to advance their common mission around sustainable business. Standing Stone has inspired Rogue Creamery to give free commuter bikes to employees who have worked at least 1,000 hours and who agree to bike commute 45 times in a year, replicating a program SSBC recently launched.

It all started with a wager made over a few pints of ale. Rogue Creamery co-owner David Gremmels stopped by for a beer and asked SSBC co-owner Alex Amarotico about the new commuter bike program, mentioning that his team members expressed interest in it. “I casually offered to buy a commuter bike for cheesemaker and plant manager Craig Nelson if he committed to bike to work at least 45 times, and if David and co-owner Cary Bryant agreed to buy bikes for their team members making the same pledge,” says Amarotico. “I was pleasantly surprised when David told me Craig and the Creamery were in.”

Amarotico will present Nelson with a Standing Stone Kona commuter bike at 12:30 PM on Friday, Oct. 16 at the historic Rogue Creamery, 311 North Front Street, Central Point, OR.
Rogue Creamery will launch its bike commuter “Nellie Green Pedal Power Program” later this year. The business has established a sustainable program called the Nellie Green program committed to the community, environment, recycling and conservation. Its bikes will have the same green hue as the Creamery’s iconic milk truck, also signifying their commitment to environmental and social responsibility. The company has earned the Food Alliance’s “Certified Sustainable” seal, sources local sustainable and organic milk from pasture-fed cows, and strives to reduce resource use and waste.

Gremmels and Bryant are geared up to begin the program, “When we heard what Standing Stone was doing, we thought it would be great to do ourselves. We’re excited to find ways to improve our environmental impact, benefit our team members and enjoy the community while biking to work.”

Like the Creamery, SSBC is committed to cutting-edge efforts that reduce its environmental footprint and benefit employees and the community, such as using local and organic food, reducing energy use, installing solar, diverting almost 80% of waste materials from landfills and supporting diverse community causes. Amarotico is glad his efforts have inspired others. “It would be great to see even more businesses get rolling in this direction.”

Posted under beer news

Whether you pride yourself on your home brewing skills – or wish you had some, this may be the chance of a lifetime. Today, Travel Oregon launched the “Cuisinternship” (pronounced: quiz-een-turn-ship) contest, which will award seven lucky people with the opportunity to shadow a notable Oregon culinary personality in a week-long cuisine-internship. The winner of the Brew Master category will spend their time making craft beer with Jamie Emmerson of Hood River’s Full Sail Brewery.

These are the words we received in an email regarding the Travel Oregon’s Bounty Food & Drink competitions to live out your dream of being a pro in the culinary arts. According to a recent press release, seven winners lucky contestants will be offered an all-expenses paid trips (this includes airfare, lodging and a $1,000 food stipend) during which they will spend one week shadowing an Oregon expert in his or her field of culinary crafts. This is part of Oregon Bounty’s push to promote tourism while celebrating the state’s artisan culinary prominence. Oregon Bounty Cuisinternships are offered in the following categories:

· Artisan Food Producer: Become a culinary artisan in Southern Oregon with chocolatier Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms and cheese maker David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery.

· Brew Master: Turn hops and grains into craft beer with brew master Jamie Emmerson of Hood River’s Full Sail Brewery.

· Chef: Immerse yourself in Portland’s dynamic food scene working alongside chef Gabe Rucker-one of Portland’s culinary provocateurs-learning how to turn out inventive, gourmet meals that delight diners at the award-winning Le Pigeon restaurant.

· Rancher: Saddle up and herd cattle while learning sustainable ranching on two of Eastern Oregon’s Country Natural Beef ranches with the Pickard and Boyer families, who have been in the business for generations.

· Fisherman: Head out to sea with charter boat skipper Lars Robison of Dockside Charters and learn the fine art of catching the Oregon Coast’s prized wild salmon and rockfish.

· Winemaker: Walk the Willamette Valley vineyards of Penner-Ash Wine Cellars with renowned vintner Lynn Penner-Ash, learning the hands-on techniques involved in vineyard designate winemaking.

· Distiller: Get an advanced degree in mixology and learn about Oregon’s booming craft spirits industry with distiller Jim Bendis of Central Oregon’s Bendistillery.

“Oregon has a rich and varied culinary landscape,” said Travel Oregon’s Director of Brand Strategy Holly Macfee. “It’s a down-to-earth-place where visitors can meet the people who craft the wine and beer, grow the produce, cultivate the cheese and create the chocolate confections,” she explains. “We’re inviting foodies to enjoy Oregon’s culinary abundance, whether through a Cuisinternship or a self-guided tour with family or friends. Our online culinary trip planner is now available to help travelers research, plan and organize the details of their next visit.”

To enter the Oregon Bounty Cuisinternship Contest, applicants must submit a short video, along with a statement containing no more than 140 characters, describing why they are the best candidate at www.TravelOregon.com/Bounty. Seven winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Oregon to shadow their mentor for one week. Entries must be submitted between Aug. 24 and Sept. 18. A panel of judges, including the Cuisinternship mentors, will select winners which will be announced beginning Sept. 28.

To give entrants an idea of what they can anticipate on their trip, Travel Oregon produced video vignettes of each culinary mentor and the experience their Cuisinternship offers (view them here: www.TravelOregon.com/Bounty). A longer video will also be available, which follows Chef Gabe Rucker as he visits the seven cuisine-related locations and mentors with the goal of making the perfect Oregon meal. The video culminates with all participants gathering together for an Oregon feast at Rucker’s restaurant, Le Pigeon in Portland, where the culinary masters discuss why they consider Oregon to be the ultimate foodie destination.

Posted under beer news, beer releases

Brewpublic ventures to Southern Oregon for yet another beer excursion. This time, our travels take us to Medford, Ashland, Central Point, and beyond, once again proving that there is great Oregon beer to be experienced outside of the state’s Northwestern quadrant.

SOB founder Tom Hammond (left) and brewer Scott Saulsbury

Monday, April 20, 2009

While unusual, it happens. Monday I headed on another out of town trip for work. This week’s travels brought me to Medford, Oregon.

The drive to Medford takes about five hours and is filled with some very beautiful scenery of rolling green hills and mountainous peaks. There are many sheep farms off the highway and all of the sheep appeared to have

Southern Oregon emus

been just sheared for the season. Once I arrived in Medford and finished my workday, I couldn’t wait to experience what Southern Oregon had to offer in the way of food and beer. I decided to head down to Ashland, about a 15 minute drive south, and hit up Standing Stone Brewing.

Having been to Standing Stone before, I knew I would not be disappointed with their food menu or tap line-up. The only seasonal beer available at Standing Stone was a Saison, which I had to try. While it was not the most incredible Saison I have ever tasted, it was very refreshing with a light fruity taste and a subtle hop finish. It was the perfect answer to the 90-degree weather I was experiencing in Ashland.  A quarter of every seasonal brew sale goes to a local charity chosen by the employees.

Standing Stone Brewing prides itself on being sustainable (check out a past Brewpublic post on this) as well as community oriented. Also, almost all the grains used at the brewery are organic and next year the hops will be grown for them at the Handley Farm in Central Point, Oregon, about 20 minutes north of Ashland.

The one thing to know about dining out in Ashland is that it is the only Oregon town to charge a “tourist” tax for food and beverages. So don’t be surprised when you see it added to the bill.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

On Tuesday, I decided to have a happy hour dinner at Porter’s Restaurant in Medford. Porter’s is located in an

Porters in Medford

old train station in the downtown area and has about 12 taps of mostly Southern Oregon area breweries. While not having experienced many happy hours in Medford, I’d have to say that overall, Porter’s has a great one for the food. There are about 16 items; two of each are daily specials (one from the grill and the other a pizza) plus a range of items from small appetizers (fries and salads) to mini meals (wraps and finger foods). The happy hour food starts at $2.50 and ranges to about $5.

As for the beer, I was excited to see the Workers Pale from Walkabout Brewing on the tap list. What a great Pale! In true Northwest fashion this pale had a nice hop bit to the finish, which was not overly bitter. This was also a very refreshing beer to have on a 90-degree day.

Located in Central Point, OR, Walkabout Brewing is probably the most elusive and hard to find Oregon

Walkabout Workers Pale

microbrewery.  The only places to find their beer are in Southern Oregon bars and restaurants. The brewery has no tasting room and when I tried contacting the brewery, I received no response. The voice on the answering machine had an Australian accent and, with some of the names given to the beers, it makes me wonder about the history of this place and who owns it. Some beer names include; Wallaby White, Jabberwocky Strong and Outback Stout.  Maybe on another trip to Southern Oregon I’ll be able to get a hold of someone and find out more about Walkabout.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

On Wednesday, after a busy and frustrating day of work I had to indulge myself with some local cheese, chocolate and beer. My first stop was the Rogue Creamery located off of Highway 99 in Central Point. The Rogue Creamery, of course, has a line up of cheeses made with Rogue ales. The very friendly cheese lady behind the counter let me sample the Morimoto Soba ale cheese. This cheese was very mild with a light nutty taste. Some of the other Rogue beers used in the cheeses made there are the Chocolate Stout and the Chipotle Ale. For a cheese and beer lovers traveling through the area, this is a must stop.

Chocolate Paintings

Located in the same parking lot is Lillie Belle Handmade Chocolate. While

Chocolate Sculpture

there are no beer-flavored chocolates, there were some liquor chocolates, and what I think is starting to be the newest craze in the chocolate world, chocolate covered bacon. I have some bacon friends that would probably just be thrilled to death to sample such an item. BTW, there were free samples of the bacon chocolate (I’m a vegetarian so I did not partake in sampling it) along with a few other samples. Probably the most notable thing about Lillie Belle chocolates is the sculptures and painting that are on display made from chocolate. Just image a blooming cheery tree in a park setting made entirely of chocolate. Amazing!

The last stop on my indulgent tour was Southern Oregon Brewing (SOB). Located in the outskirts of Medford off Highway 62 towards Eagle Point, SOB is mainly a production brewery with a taproom that is open Wednesday through Saturday. The beers available are the same beers that are currently available in bottle (Gold, Pale, Porter and Red). SOB did have a keg of their Barleywine left but with the hot weather I was experiencing in Medford I was really not in the mood for a sample of the barleywine. What I liked about the tasting room is that you can order 4, 12, 16 or 20 ounces of any of the four main beers. I opted for the sample tray, which included 4-ounce pours of each beer.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Thursday came fast and it was time to head back to Portland. Of course, my lunch time stop would be at a brewery. I did not mention stopping at the McMenamins in Roseburg on Monday because to be honest, it was nothing special. Having said that, I knew I was not going to stop there for lunch again this trip. I decided to stop in Springfield at Hop Valley and see how the place is doing. Back in January, before Hop Valley opened, I stopped by and interviewed Brewmaster Trevor Howard. There was no beer available for sampling at the time of the interview so this was the perfect opportunity to stop in and have a taste.

Well, the name of the brewery says it all, this place is a hop lovers dream come true. I think I counted the word hop at least a hundred times throughout the restaurant. The décor of the place consists of pictures that tell the history of the Willamette Valley hop fields. The beers are very full-bodied and each sip packs a punch of hops to the palate. Despite not have a full pint of anything while I was there (I had to drive and I was on the clock), I did have a sample of the Vanilla Porter and the Alphaholic IPA. These were two great beers that I hope to fully enjoy another time. The porter had a great chocolaty vanilla taste. It was almost like a dessert in a glass. The IPA had a very intense hop taste to it. Think West Coast IPA but with even more hop flavor, if that is even possible. Hop Valley is definitely to place to watch carefully in the next year. They are really going to take off and become an Oregon favorite amongst the hopheads.

My trip to Southern Oregon was really just a sampling of breweries and pubs in the area. Some honorable mentions that I did not visit this time around but will when I return for another work trip in, I think, September are: Wild River Brewing in Central Point, The Black Sheep Pub and The Siskiyou Pub in Ashland and the Osprey Pub in Medford. Oregon really is a bounty of libations.

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