Stout Month 2011: Fort George Celebrates in a New Tasting Room & Brewery

Fort George Brewery’s annual Stout Month will coincide with the opening of its new production brewery, canning line, and tasting room.  This means in addition to the public house, there will be a second spot on the Fort George block to sample some of the Northwest’s most coveted stouts throughout February.

“It’s an opportunity to drink a beer in our tasting room, watch the brewery running, tour our new space, see the canning line, and drink stouts that you don’t often get to try side-by-side,” Chris Nemlowill of the Fort George said.

There will be no shortage of beer, as the new 30-barrel brewery, per batch, will produce enough pints to go around the population of Astoria (10,000) one and a half times.  This second brewery will allow for more regional distribution, and the Fort George is keeping its original 8.5-barrel system for smaller batches of seasonal brews and other new recipes in order to continue offering an eclectic range of beers.  More space also means more room for barrel aging.

“Currently there’s stout conditioning in a dozen Maker’s Mark bourbon barrels.  This provides rich, warming characteristics and layers of complexity including vanilla, oak, and toffee,” Nemlowill said.

In addition to Bourbon Stout this February, Fort George will also be brewing its Cavatica Stout, Coffee Girl Imperial Stout, Murky Pearl Oyster Stout, and Spank Stout; a dry Irish Stout, which brewers say has a finishing warmth from several different peppers.

The starting lineup of rotating guest taps for Stout Month includes Deschutes Abyss, Stone Russian Imperial, Laurelwood’s Moose & Squirrel Russian Imperial, Bear Republic’s Old Baba Yaga, and Oskar Blues Ten Fidy.  The Fort George starts working with distributors several months in advance to collect these limited quantity stouts. Blind taster trays will be available at the pub as well as different stouts in the tasting room.

February 17^th, Fort George, hosts its Oysters & Stouts Dinner, a five-course beer and food pairing.  For those interested in attending the brewery recommends making reservations as soon as possible.  Log onto www.fortgeorgebrewery.com or call the pub at 503-325-PINT.

If you can’t make it to the Fort George in February, many other bars and restaurants throughout the region will be carrying several of the breweries’ stouts and other beers.  Plus, as the canning line gets up and running in February, look for cans of Vortex IPA and 1811 Lager in a store near you.