Press Release:

Portland, OR – The Commons Brewery will be releasing bottles of Fishing With Hallet for Eugene’s 16 Tons Cafe & Taphouse with two events on June 22nd and June 23rd.

Keeping with the 16 Tons tradition of naming their anniversary beer after one-armed authors, Fishing with Hallet was inspired by Belgium’s Jean-Pierre Hallet, a naturalist famous for his work in the Congo, which included fishing for predatory crocodiles with dynamite.

Fishing with Hallet is a Belgian Dark Strong ale aged in 2nd use Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. First fermented with yeast cultured from De Dolle Brouwers, this is a nod to their Oerbier and is currently rich and malty with a touch of floral Brettanomyces character. The beer was intentionally bottled young and is meant to be stored at cellar temp to allow the Brettanomyces to continue developing.

Fishing with Hallet will be released in Read More…

Posted under beer events, Oregon beer, press releases

Press Release:

PORTLAND — Portland Beer Week released the first round of events in this year’s events calendar, revving things up on June 6 with a Kickoff Party at Lucky Lab Beer Hall, 1945 NW Quimby, and ending with the Beer & Cheese Festival at The Commons Brewery , 1810 SE 10th, on June 16.

Portland Beer Week organizers are excited to announce the release of an official 2013 beer, a dry hopped Northwest India amber ale conditioned with Brettanomyces a collaboration between Breakside Brewery and Gigantic Brewing. Very limited quantities of this beer will be released on draft and in bottles to Portland Beer Week sponsor bars and retailers.  Read More…

Posted under beer and food, beer events

It has been said quite often amongst those in the craft beer circuits across America “The Belgians are coming!” Well, in Oregon, with events like Portland’s Cheers To Belgian Beers pubs like Bazi Bierbrasserie, that the Belgians are already here. In American’s top craft beer destination, Portlanders have embracea many a-style of zesty, piquant, and effervescent beers unlike what those who witnessed the early years of the modern day craft beer revolution were accustomed to enjoying. Spicy, tart, and prickly on the tongue; unbridled imaginations employed and largely extricated from the doldrums of the bitters of England, the massively hopped IPAs nearby, and the restrictive Reinheitsgebot-mandated lagers of Bavaria… Belgian and French Farmhouse-style ales are now a thriving segment of beer that a large constituency of American craft brewers are realizing deserve the attention of their respected brewhouses.

Sure they’re not for everyone, but these wondrous and often wild offerings inspired by rural brewers from across the pond have certainly been embraced by some West Coast palates to the point that entire breweries such as Upright, Commons, and Logsdon (read about Brewpublic’s Farmhouse Brewers Night event at BeerMongers in 2011) find these styles at the core of their ingenuity. On Saturday March 30 and Sunday March 31, 2013, our friends at Saraveza are sharing an evening dedicated to the rustic farmhouse traditions of France and Belgium with their Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival. More than 20 breweries will participate in this sure to be memorable event. Here are the details: Read More…

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

Press release:

Portland, OR – The Commons Brewery will be releasing the third beer from the Beetje Series on Thursday, February, 21st at 5:00pm at the brewery.

Brotherly Love is our Belgian Dark Strong Ale, Little Brother, aged in second-use Bourbon barrels with Northwest grown sour cherries and Ecuadorian Cacao nibs roasted by Woodblock Chocolate in SE Portland.

While just 150 bottles were released in 2012, production was increased this year to yield 50 cases. This year’s vintage has an enhanced chocolate note provided by the nibs selected during a tasting at Woodblock Chocolate.

Brotherly Love will be available in 750ml capped bottles for $15 per bottle and $160 a case. On the release day we will have both the 2012 and 2013 versions on tap, as well as chocolate from Woodblock using the same Ecuadorian cacao as the beer.

The Beetje Series is a celebration of The Commons Brewery’s Read More…

Posted under beer events, beer news, beer releases, brewpubs, Oregon beer, press releases

By D.J. Paul

With another President’s Day Weekend now behind us also means another Zwickelmania is also in the books. This year we celebrated the 5^th Year of this annual day of Oregon brewery open houses put on by the Oregon Brewers Guild. Last year I traveled to Bend with Brewpublic’s Angelo De Ieso to Zwickel. This year I decided to stay closer to home and take in some breweries across Portland.

Knowing that the day will be a long one of consumption I headed to SE Portland via TriMet to meet up with my Zwickeling companion Snob Ritch. Both of us realized that we needed to get a good food base in us so we met at Taco Express, for a breakfast burrito. Fortunately this excellent taco truck is located across the street from our planned first stop, Gigantic Brewing.

With breakfast burrito in hand we walked over to Gigantic Brewing to eat our warm burritos in their tasting room. From perusing their beer menu we decided to go with their new seasonal release, The Time Traveler, a nice roasty porter that paired quite well with our breakfast burrito. Gigantic brought their A game on Saturday. They had Zwickelers enter the brewery from the rear parking lot. Once inside Joey Bosworth poured samples of their year-round IPA and their Royale: Belgian Pale Ale as free tasters alongside a backdrop of beers aging in wooden barrels. Then Ben Love was roaming the brewery to answer any questions from the masses while Van Havig poured The Time Traveler from the zwickel in the midst of the brewery. From there they shuffled the Zwickelers to the front tasting room to purchase a pint while waiting on the next Brewvana Bus to arrive. Read More…

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

Portland, Oregon is a city filled with dozens of noteworthy breweries. In fact there are more breweries in Portland than any other city in the world. This is why the town is known as Beervana to many. One particular brewery is a big part of why Portland is becoming even more of a craft brew travel destination. This is The Commons Brewery. Lead by brewmaster and owner Mike Wright, the brewery recently celebrated their first year anniversary and hosted a two-day party featuring special releases and a “potluck” bottle share. Beer Traveler Charlie Herrin speaks with Wright to garner a bit of insight to The Commons first year as we learn how they come correct with a Read More…

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

Happy holidays y’all! Hope you are enjoying your day with family and loved ones. During these cold and dark days of winter punctuated with bright lights and delicious beer, we’ve come up with a list of twelve beers that we plan on enjoying to celebrate. Feel free to chime in with your favorites. Cheers! Read More…

Posted under beer releases, beer reviews, Oregon beer

On Saturday & Sunday December 15-16, warm up your Winter at 16 Tons Taphouse, in the heart of Eugene. Located smack dab between the University of Oregon and Downtown. 16 Tons at 13th & High Street will serve up more 70 Craft Beers including: Belgian Strong Ales, Barrel Aged Ales, Spiced Ales, Barley Wines, Imperial Stouts, Imperial Browns, Strong Sour Ales, Traditional Old Ales, and Winter Style IPAs. For the Craft Beer lover, this is a not-to-be-missed event.

The Festival provides a unique opportunity to sample seasonal, one off, and rare beers from renowned brewers from Oregon and beyond. A few of the most coveted beers include Boneyard’s Suge Knite Imperial Stout (Bend, OR) and Block 15′s Barrel Aged Figgy Pudding (Corvallis, OR) which, like many of the beers, are extremely limited in release and very highly regarded. For the novice and the experienced beer enthusiast this event is an incredibly fun opportunity to sample and savor some of the most sought after beers in the world. Bring your friends and share some sips.

Headlining breweries: Read More…

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

The Holiday Ale Festival at Pioneer Courthouse Square will certainly be at the front of every beer lover’s mind this weekend. Each year the event offers a vast array of specialty releases to warm the cockles of your liver while providing an excuse to head into the festive sights and lights of downtown Portland and catch up with family and friends. Here under the heated tents, merriment is shared amongst many, illustrating the collective Cascadian love for great craft beer, a signature element of our region.

For some, the weekend crowds of Holiday Ale Festival may be a bit intimidating, especially if you head out on Friday and Saturday night when things are in full swing. Thankfully, here in Portland, there are plenty of wonderfully enticing satellite events that may offer a bit more intimacy, if not just simply serve as a nice supplement to Holiday Ale Festival itself. In addition to the in-tents fest downtown, here’s a look at where we plan to be quaffing great beer: Read More…

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

Sean/Shawn/Shaun Fest at The BeerMongers was a lot of fun. Brewers Shawn Kelso (10 Barrel), Sean Thommen (Amnesia), Sean Burke (Commons), Shaun O’ Sullivan (21st Amendment), Sean Green (homebrewer), and publican Sean Campbell (The BeerMongers) were among the many who shared the namesake on this fun, festive, and flavorful evening.

• Beers for the night included a range of Sean/Shawn/Shaun brews:
• 10 Barrel (Bend, OR) “My Name Isn’t Shawna” Stout-Shawn Kelso
• Amnesia (Portland, OR) “DesolaSean” Keg hopped IPA-Sean Thommen
• 21st Amendment (San Francisco, CA) “ShaunO’s Strong Red” blend-Shaun O’Sullivan
• Lazy Boy (Everett, WA) “The Shawning” IIPA-Shawn Loring
• The Commons Brewery (Portland, OR) “Plum Brett: Limited EdiSean”-Sean Burke

Here’s a bunch of photos from the event: Read More…

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