Coffee Beer, Collabos, Barrel-Aged Beer Fests and Portland’s Newest Taproom

Brewer Carston Haney’s new Ross Island Brewery opens its taproom today. (FoystonFoto)
2015’s NW Coffee Beer Invitational happened on a day so bright you had to wear shade…that’s fest co-founder and brewer about town Dave “Chowdah” Fleming in the middle of some coffee beer fans including brewers Bryan Kielty, left, and Sam Pecoraro. (FoystonFoto)

Coffee beer, collabos, barrel-aged beer fests and Portland’s newest taproom and all of the other craft beer events for the week of January 26th.

Ross Island Brewing Taproom Opens Today
3 p.m. – midnight Thursday Jan. 26, Friday Jan. 27, Ross Island Brewing, 730 SE Powell Blvd.;
Carston Haney’s new brewery has a soft opening of its new taproom Today and Friday and a taplist that includes Ross Island TNT IPA, a couple of guest taps and my favorite new beer, Bad Precedent Vienna Lager brewed with the Burnside Brewing crew…

Lagunitas Tasting
5-7 p.m. Thursday Jan. 26, Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark St.;
Belmont Station celebrates the release of Lagunitas Hop Stoopid IIPA in six-pack bottles by sampling everything from their classic IPA to Pils, and, of course, Hop Stoopid. They also have a special keg of High West-ified Imperial Coffee Stout on tap in the taproom.

New Breweries of Oregon Summit
2 p.m. Friday Jan. 27, Roscoe’s, 8105 SE Stark St.;
Roscoe’s celebrates the seventh Annual New Breweries of Oregon Summit and welcomes many of the great new breweries have opened in Oregon in the past year, including Great Notion with their new Mandela IPA, Ruse Brewing with their new Vernacular IPA, Alesong with a single barrel brett Saison, Zoiglhaus, Ross Island with their new TNT IPA, Climate City with a Bourbon Porter and Happy Endings Pils, and more. Here’s your opportunity to meet some of the brewers and owners and to try their beers, which will all be tapped by 2 pm – and various brewers will be in the house throughout the night.

Melt the Ice Inventory Sale
Friday Jan. 27-Sunday Jan. 29, Cider Riot Pub, 807 NE Couch St.;
The recent snow days translated into not so great sales at many small local businesses, including the recently opened Cider Riot. To make up for lost revenue, Abe is hosting Pomme Boots Society Yoga led by Jana on Saturday morning, and he’s liquidating some stocks of cider including the limited Black Bloc reserve series at great prices for this weekend only.

Fourth Annual NW Coffee Beer International
Noon-7 p.m. Saturday Jan. 28, Goose Hollow Inn, 1927 SW Jefferson St.; $15 includes festival glass and eight tix. All ages.
Sample craft brews from 16 vendors. Types will vary, from ales to porters to ciders, but all have one thing in common: coffee was involved and the results can be surprising, which is why this event has evolved into one of Portland’s favorite beer tastings…and the heated tent and live music help, too…
Participating breweries & cideries: 7 Devils Brewing • Chetco Brewing • Cider Riot! • The Commons Brewery • Deschutes Brewing • Fire on the Mountain Brewing • Georgetown Brewing • Gigantic Brewing • Great Notion Brewing • McMenamins West Linn Brewery • Montavilla Brew Works • Portland Cider Company • StormBreaker Brewing • Uptown Brewing • Yachats Brewing • Zoiglhaus Brewing

Base Camp’s Collabofest stainless steel cup and passport booklet. (photo by Cat Stelzer)

Base Camp Collabofest
2 – 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, Base Camp Brewing Co., 930 SE Oak St.; $25.
Collabofest celebrates the collaborative spirit and creativity of Portland’s innovative breweries by pairing local breweries to create new and exciting collaboration beers especially for this event. By working with local breweries, local nonprofits, and Travel Portland, Base Camp’s Collabofest is a festival that not only celebrates great beer and great people, but also the unity and camaraderie within the Portland craft beer community.

This year’s line up includes Alameda Brewing Co., Baerlic Brewing Co., Culmination Brewing Company, Ecliptic Brewing, Ex Novo Brewing, Fat Head’s Portland, Gigantic Brewing Company, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Laurelwood Brewing Company, Mt. Tabor Brewing, Occidental Brewing Company, Ruse Brewing, StormBreaker Brewing, Uptown Market, and Widmer Brothers Brewery and Pub.

Barrel Aged Beer Festival
Noon-Nidnight Saturday, Jan.28, Civic Taprooma and Bottle Shop, 621 SW 19th Ave.; Drink tix $2/ea.
The Civic is dedicating all taps to barrel aged beers and ciders for a Saturday full of special beers collected over the last several months. Each keg has been hand-picked by The Civic’s Sean Hiatt and Chelsea Riedel, and customers can sample a complete tasting flight of every barrel aged beer and cider on tap.

Beers
Pelican Mother of All Storms
Wild Ride El Luchador
Lagunitas Willeta19
Samtiam Vlamese Rode
Epic Big Bad Baptista
Crux Tough Love
New Holland Dragon’s Milk
Ordnance Radagast
Golden Valley Atlas Elevator Dopplebock
Deschutes Abyss ’14
Deschutes Abyss ‘15621 SW 19th Ave
Deschutes Abyss ’16
Deschutes Abyss ’16 NITRO
Ciders
Nectar Creek Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee Mead
Wildcraft Pinot Barrel Aged Pinot Cherry
2 Towns Riverwood Brut
Wandering Aengus Golden Door

Homebrew Classes
Noon-2:30 p.m. Saturday Jan. 28, F.H. Steinbart, 234 SE# 12th Ave. $45. Class size is limited, so call 503-232-8793 to register.
Where better to learn the art of hombrewing than at F.H. Steinbart, the country’s oldest homebrew supply shop at nearly a century old. Better yet, they’ve upgraded the curriculum and the Beginner Brewing Class has been redesigned to make it more hands-on and in-depth. They’ll cover best practices for extract brewing from the boil to the bottle. Learn how to hone your recipes with a wide range of specialty grains; plenty of hop options, and the best yeast selection in town. Each attendee will take home a one-gallon jug of beer wort made in class (with stopper, airlock, yeast, and 2 gallon plastic bucket) to finish fermenting at home.

Ramsay’s Dram Whiskey Classes
2-5 p.m. Sunday Jan. 29, Lewis Room in the Paramount Hotel, 808 SW Taylor St. $80 Registration and pre-payment required: 503-805-6763.
Stuart Ramsay knows his whiskies, and after you take his classes, so will you. This class on American whiskey is the second of four in-depth, comprehensive classes exploring major categories. Each class is three hours long (with a food break provided by the Swank & Swine restaurant), and will cover the history, culture, production methods, and flavor profiles of the whisky category. At least five classic whiskies will be sampled per class, representing regional and production styles, and every participant will receive a whisky booklet related to the class. Ramsay’s own WhiskyBack beers, designed to pair with whisky, will be integral to the experience.

Charity Meat Raffle
2-5 p.m. Sunday Jan. 29, Saraveza, 1004 N. Killingsworth St.;
On Sunday, Saraveza holds its ninth annual Meat Raffle, which is just what it sounds like… buy a raffle ticket and you may be walking home with a steak, a package of brats, some ham or some gourmet salami… All proceeds go to Street Roots, Portland’s non-profit that provides jobs and a voice to those in need.

In addition to Saraveza brats, expect to see cuts of meat, sausages and salami from Corfini Gourmet, Nueske’s and Chop Butchery. Ninkasi Brewing will be donating a keg and all proceeds from this keg will go directly to Street Roots. They start selling tickets at 2 p.m. Raffle times are 3:30 & 5 p.m.

Gigantic’s Van Havig prepares to consign several dozen Netatrts Bay oysters to the depths of the brew kettle for a batch of Giganti’s new oyster stout. (image courtesy of Gigantic Brewing)

Oyster Social Sundays
Noon-4 p.m. Sunday Jan. 29 and every Sunday in February, Gigantic Brewing Co., 5224 SE 26th Ave.;
Gigantic teams up with Tournant to bring you Oyster Social Sundays starting this Sunday with the release of Nevørmind Oyster Stout. They traveled to Netarts Bay for oysters from Nevør Shellfish Farm. They put 12 dozen oysters and 45 liters of oyster “liquor” into the boil to create a roasty and chocolatey stout, with subtle mineral and briney notes that pairs perfectly with fresh oysters on the half shell, shucked to order from Tournant.

Oyster pricing:
$3 ea.
2 for $5
$15 half dozens
$30 dozens

Widmer Hefe Hopfruit Release Party
3-9 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 31, Century Bar, 930 SE Sandy Blvd.;
Widmer Brothers is releasing some new Hefeweizen variations this year including Hefe Berry Lime and Hefe Blood Orange – available in spring and summer respectively – and Hefe Hopfruit, which is available now. Hefe Hopfruit is a hoppy, citrusy twist on the Original American Hefeweizen, brewed with grapefruit peel and Citra and Chinook hops. This juicy, cloudy offering is a refreshing session beer for any occasion, and offers Hefe fans a citrusy complement to the Oregon-born classic…

“The goal of our new line of Hefe-inspired beers is to add interesting, complementary flavors to Hefe, while still staying true to the original,” said Rob Widmer, co-founder of Widmer Brothers Brewing. “We received great feedback on Hefe Shandy, which came out in 2015, and we wanted to continue to build on that with some new variations that are still wheat beers first and foremost, and not too sweet like some other fruit beers on the market.”

The Hopfruit party will be a joint venture with the Portland Timbers, with the brewery helping the team celebrate the coming start of the season. Widmer Brothers Hefe is the Official Craft Beer of the Portland Timbers, and the Timbers and Widmer Brothers will be kicking off 2017 with the release of Hefe Hopfruit at Century. Timber Joey and Jack Jewsbury will be in attendance, and there will be Widmer Brothers’ specials throughout the night.