Timbers’ 2016 season opens with a party tonight with two new beers from Widmer

Timbers’ 2016 season opens with a party tonight with two new beers from Widmer Brothers Brewing brewed in collaboration with the Portland Timbers coaching staff.

Timbers Collabo Beers Release Party
6 p.m. Thursday March 3, Widmer Brothers Pub, 955 N. Russell St.;

Here’s the press release: The Portland Timbers season starts this weekend, and Widmer Brothers Brewing is tapping two new Timbers-themed beers at a kick-off party, where the MLS Cup will also be on display.

To celebrate the Timbers MLS Cup championship, Widmer Brothers brewed a small-batch collaboration with Head Coach Caleb Porter and the Portland Timbers coaching staff called First Star. Named for the gold star worn by MLS Cup champion teams to signify their title wins, this being the Timbers’ first, First Star is a rye altbier that is dry hopped with Ella hops, an Australian varietal with tropical fruit notes that balance the robust maltiness of the rye altbier.

The brewery is also tapping Thrill of Victory Cascadian Dark Ale, which is the promised collaboration with Columbus Brewing that came about after a bet between the two breweries before last year’s MLS Championship game between the Timbers and the Columbus Crew. Thrill of Victory is brewed with white and chocolate wheat malts and Azacca hops and experimental X-438 hops, which give the beer a slight roastiness with notes of passion fruit and juicy fruit.

Culmination/Base Camp Taste-Off & Meet the Brewers
5-7 p.m. Thursday, March 3, Belmont Station, 4500 S.E. Stark St.;

Brew teams from both Culmination and Base Camp will be on site as they both share their beers from a recent collaboration: Base Camp’s Steamin’ Street Common and Culmination’s Cascadian Uncommon. The Station will also have another beer from each brewery — Base Camp’s 3rd Anniversary Belgian Strong Dark Ale and Culmination’s Blackberry Lime Kaffir Sour, plus the brewers from both Culmination and Base Camp will be in the house to answer questions and talk beer…