Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Urban Brewery Construction

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Hopworks Urban Brewery, the new brewery owned by Christian Ettinger — the award-winning former brewmaster at Laurelwood Public House — it not yet open and looks to be several weeks away, especially the public area upstairs in their location at SE 30th and Powell. The brewery, which is located downstairs under the bar and restaurant area, is a little closer to completion and apparently the bottling line has already been delivered and is just waiting to be installed. Christian and his assistant brewer, Ben Love (who recently left Pelican Brewery), held an open house for OBF attendees to show off their progress in getting the brewery up and running. They were pouring their IPA (which was, of course, brewed elsewhere) and grilling brats outside the brewery in the back. It was great fun seeing their enthusiasm for getting it up and running. They’re feeling like it’s so close they can taste it. It will certainly be fun to see it next year when it’s fully operational.

HUB brewers Ben Love and Christian Ettinger.

For more photos of the Hopworks Urban Brewery under construction, visit the photo gallery.
 

First Tastes of the Fest

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After the parade on Thursday was the annual media tasting led by Noel Blake. In years past it was conducted before the festival began, but because of the parade this was no longer possible. But that also meant we were crowded around all of the other early festival-goers, which happily turned out not to be as bad as I thought it might be. Noel Blake has been our host of this event as long as I can remember, and he does a great job picking out several representative beers for everyone to sample and also explains what led to his choosing those particular beers.

Noel Blake using a bullhorn so he could be heard telling us about the beer in our glass.
 

Some of the beers we sampled were the following:

Bourbon Barrel Abbey Dubbel. The original goal of OBF was to showcase beers from around the country to educate and expose local consumers to craft beer. So while most of the beer at the festival is either from Oregon or nearby states like Washington and California, there are a few from farther afield. Probably the farthest perennial exhibitor is New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery, which has been sending beer to the festival for countless years. This year it was their abbey dubbel aged in a bourbon barrel. Malty and nutty, with some fruity esters and only a hint of the bourbon’s alchemy it was decent lighter dubbel.
 

Not quite open yet, Hopworks Urban Brewery is the brainchild of former Laurelwood brewer Christian Ettinger. They were pouring their Organic IPA, which was made with Amarillo, Centennial and Ahtanum hops. It’s a big hop monster, thick with flowery and citrusy hop aromas and flavors that stick to the roof of your mouth. I also had a chance to visit the brewery, which is still under construction. Look for a later post with photos from the new place.
 

Laurelwood Public House was pouring their PNW Pils, a pilsner with not only traditional Saaz hops but also Brewer’s Gold. It’s so well-hopped that it may as well be a big northwest hop because it’s only reminiscent of a pilsner. Really, it was more of a pilsner on steroids.

 

The TG Triple from Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise, Oregon was one of my highlights for the festival. I’m not exactly sure how to describe it, because there’s no jumping off place to begin since it’s so far from what I think of when handed something called a “triple.” Strong, but not too strong (at 8.5% abv), rich, but not too rich, light, but not too light. It certainly tastes mild for a triple, but that’s not to say it isn’t full of flavor all its own. But really, who cares what it is, what’s important is that it’s a great beer.

 

At the media tasting: Rick Sellers, from Pacific Brew News, Merideth and Chris Nelson, The Beer Geek, and Meagan Flynn (at right) with her assistant, publisher of a new magazine — Beer NW — that will debut in October covering the beer scene in the Pacific Northwest.

Tom Dalldorf, publisher of the Celebrator, Fred Eckhardt, legendary Portland beer scribe, Meagan Flynn and our host, Noel Blake.

 

Mayor Leads Parade to Open Oregon Brewers Festival

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On Thursday, the 20th annual Oregon Brewers Festival began with a brunch at the Rogue Public House on NW Flanders in Portland. Afterwards, Portland’s mayor, Tom Potter, led a parade through the streets of town to the festival grounds at Tom McCall Waterfront Park along the Willamette River.

Mayor Tom Potter with Chris Crabb as the parade begins.

Eventually, after winding through the streets of Portland, everyone massed across the street from the grounds and crossed the street to enter the festival.

The mayor tapped the ceremonial keg and shared the first pint with festival director Art Larrance, and the festival was declared officially open.

For more photos from this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival Parade, visit the photo gallery.
 

Off to Portland

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I’m up waay too early to catch a flight to Portland for the 20th annual Oregon Brewers Festival. I get in at 8 a.m. and then it’s off to the Rogue Public House for brunch before the parade to open the festival at Noon. This is probably my second favorite festival of the year. Time permitting, I’ll try to post photos from the various events surrounding the festival and the festival itself, of course, each day.

Oregon Craft Beer Month Coming

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I’m glad to see Oregon has been keeping up with celebrating local and American beer during the month of July. The Brewers Association first promoted July as American Beer Month and encouraged events throughout the month, to mixed results. A couple of years ago, they quietly dropped it in favor of American Craft Beer Week in mid-May. And while I like the new May holiday, personally, I felt they abandoned American Beer Month too quickly without really giving it time to develop. Holidays normally take years and even decades to catch on. One that seeks to highlight a niche product in our society is bound to take even longer. That’s why I still continue to celebrate it each year, not that my lone voice will likely make any difference. Happily, the Oregon Brewers Guild, along with the support of the many beer enthusiasts in the state, have for three years made July Oregon Craft Beer Month. If we can’t have it nationally, at least we can have it in one of the best beers states in the union.

From the press release:

Oregon celebrates its profusion of good beer all year, but July is the state’s official Craft Beer Month. 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the Oregon Brewers Festival from July 26th to 29th. This year’s festival features 74 beers from craft brewers around the country along with educational displays and live entertainment.

Soft, pure water cascades down from the mountains, aromatic hops spring from the valley’s fertile soils, and barley thrives on the high plains over on the state’s dryer eastern side. Oregon beers are truly local and incredibly delicious. The state’s brewers produce traditional styles from pale ales to dark stouts, but they’ve also pioneered new beer styles, created organic beers, and breathed new life into the typical American beer style with handcrafted lagers.

Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland provides the Willamette River and Mount Hood as backdrops for the Brewers Festival. At least 50,000 beer enthusiasts are expected at the Festival during its four-day run.

Other Craft Beer Month events include a beer and sausage fest, cheese pairings by the dean of American beer writers, Fred Eckhardt, an Oregon Brewers Guild barbecue featuring 24 special beers that you can’t get at the Brewers Festival, and a rousing parade of brewers strutting along Portland sidewalks to the beat of the March 4th Marching Band.

“We are proud to be the only state that has designated a special month to recognize our local craft brewers,” said Brian Butenschoen, Executive Director of the Oregon Brewers Guild. ”Beer is one of Oregon’s iconographic agricultural products and Oregon Craft Beer Month is a wonderful opportunity to stop and lift a glass to all the passion and success we have had here.”

America’s beer revival began in Oregon in the early 1980s, and the state, the second largest producer of craft beer in America, is home to 82 craft breweries. Portland has 29 breweries, more than any other city in the world. Industry pioneers such as BridgePort Brewing, Widmer Brothers, McMenamins and what is now Pyramid Breweries started in Portland. Full Sail Brewing, Deschutes Brewery and Rogue Ales also started in Oregon and now have regional, national and international distribution. Emerging breweries such as Terminal Gravity, Ninkasi and Cascade Lakes beers can be found all around the state and local breweries like Amnesia Brewing, Laurelwood Brewing and Roots Organic Brewing offer unique beers on tap at their neighborhood pubs.

Another big media coup surrounding the month-long festivities is a 16-pg. pullout in the Portland Oregonian. Co-edited by Lisa Morrison and Chris Crabb, with help from Don Younger and Brian Butenschoen (with the Oregon Brewers Guild) along with a handful of others. It was a special section of the newspaper and is also available online. It contains of wealth of information about Oregon beer and the various events going on throughout the state during the month of July.

 

A Grill’s Best Friend

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My good friend and colleague, Lisa Morrison scored a nice coup in the Oregonian yesterday with the publication of an article by her entitled “A Grill’s Best Friend,” and not only just in the food section, but on the front cover. The Oregonian’s attitude toward beer has been much like that of the San Francisco Chronicle, which is to say adversarial and often condescending — in both cases quite odd given the vibrancy of their respective beer scenes — so it’s great to see her crack the glass bottle ceiling. Hopefully, it’s a signal of changing attitudes in the press generally or even in Portland, more specifically, whose attitude toward their local beer has been less hostile than in many places, at least.

Oregon Leads Small Brewers Caucus

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Last month, 34 members of the House of Representatives formed the Small Brewers Caucus to monitor and effect issues of interest to craft brewers. The week after the Craft Brewers Conference, on May 15, the caucus held its first meeting just prior to a reception on Capitol Hill celebrating “American Craft Beer Week” hosted by the Brewers Association.

From the original press release:

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The House Small Brewers Caucus, co-chaired by U.S. Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Greg Walden (R-Oregon), is currently composed of 34 Members of Congress who share an interest in the issues of importance to America’s small brewers. Brewers Association Board of Directors who were in Washington that day to participate in the American Craft Beer Week celebration, listened as Congressman Walden stated that the primary mission of the Caucus is to provide an interactive opportunity to learn about the dynamics of running a small business as a brewery, the brewing process itself and the quality and value of the beer and brewing activities. Several other Congressmen also in attendance spoke briefly to the group, among them Congressman DeFazio who is himself a homebrewer and a primary sponsor and leader in the successful effort to pass House Resolution 753 of 2006 commending American craft brewers and recognizing the first American Craft Beer Week.

“The fact that Members of Congress recognize the unique place small brewers and craft beer have in our society, is extremely gratifying and important,” said Brewers Association President Charlie Papazian also in attendance at the meeting. “There is a very real danger that the voice of the small members of the brewing community may not be heard over that of its larger brethren, so a group of legislators bound by a common interest in the history, tradition and excitement that are hallmarks of today’s small brewers, should help ensure our issues get fair consideration.”

The story is starting to get some attention in places where craft beer is closely tied to the local economy. For example, in Portland, Oregon, the Oregonian recently ran a story about the new caucus, focusing on the fact that both co-chairs are Representatives from Oregon. (Thanks Jim, for sending me the link.) Frankly, that makes sense given Oregon’s beer scene. With three other Oregonian members of the caucus from the Beaver State, that’s a total of five of the 34 members (or almost 15%). Most of the other members also appear to be from states with vibrant craft beer cultures. For example, California is the only other state with five members, including — I’m proud to be able to say — the Representative from my own District, Lynn Woolsey. She represents both Sonoma and Marin counties. New York and Pennsylvania have four members each, and there are three from Colorado, and two from Michigan. The eleven remaining members are each from a single state. Curiously, there’s no one from either Washington or Wisconsin. That seems surprising, since both states have quite a few breweries. It also appears to be a largely bipartisan group, with 20 Democrats and 14 Republicans.

It’s certainly nice to see our elected officials paying to least some attention to craft beer and the concerns of those who brew it.

The 34 members of the Small Brewers Caucus:

Rep. Peter DeFazio, co-chair (D-Ore.)
Rep. Greg Walden, co-chair (R-Ore.)

Rep. Harry E. Mitchell (D-Ariz.)
Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.)
Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.)
Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.)
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.)
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.)
Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.)
Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.)
Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa)
Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.)
Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine)
Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.)
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.)
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.)
Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.)
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.)
Rep. Mike Arcuri (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.)
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)
Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.)
Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.)
Rep. Charles Dent (R-Penn.)
Rep. Phil English (R-Penn.)
Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Penn.)
Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Penn.)
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.)
 

If your representative isn’t on this list, consider writing him a letter and asking him or her to join the caucus and support small businesses such as craft breweries in their district.

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Representative Peter DeFazio, Gary Fish, owner of Deschutes Brewery, and Representative Greg Walden — all from Oregon — enjoying craft beer at the Capitol Hill reception May 15.

Sasquatch Brew Fest in Eugene

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Last Saturday, while I was attending the Santa Rosa Beerfest, 550 miles to the north in Eugene, Oregon, another beer festival was taking place. The fifth annual Sasquatch Brew Fest is a benefit for the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation, a charity set up after the untimely death of the well-known Eugene brewer in 2002. The Foundation provides scholarships for brewers to attend the Siebel Institute in Chicago.

Shaun O’Sullivan, co-founder and brewmaster of 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, attended the festival and was kind enough to share some of his photos. Thanks Shaun.

Jamie Floyd, from Ninkasi Brewing, John Maier, from Rogue Brewing, and Nikos Ridge, also from Ninkasi.

Shaun O’Sullivan, co-founder and brewmaster of 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, and his girlfriend Adrienne McMullen.

For more photos from this year’s Sasquatch Brew Fest, visit the photo gallery.

Rogue Ales Brewery Tour

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Chris Garrett, a Rogue employee created this humorous tour of the main brewery in Newport, Oregon. I first saw it during a seminar about internet marketing at the Craft Brewrers Conference this year. The speaker singled it out as a good way to use humor to reach your customer, but toward the end of it Garrett makes a little dig at the brewery’s owner, Jack Joyce. Jack was in the audience at the time and told the attendees that Garrett had been fired. He said it with a straight face, but knowing Jack’s sense of humor it’s hard to tell whether he was joking or not. He probably was, at least I hope so. At any rate, I recently came across it on YouTube and thought I’d share it since it is entertaining.

Deschutes 19th Anniversary Golden Ale

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The newest beer from Deschutes is in celebration of their latest anniversary. The 19th Anniversary Golden Ale is also part of the Bond Street Series, which are put out in 22 oz. bottles for a limited time. All of the brewers at Deschutes get together and each pitches a style/recipe of beer they want to make in the pilot system as the next Bond Street beer. The brewers then debate the choices and pick the one they all like best, which is then the next beer in the series.

Inspired by the original Deschutes Brewery & Public House on Bond Street in downtown Bend, the Bond Street Series highlights a handful of our beers that began at “the pub.” These local favorites, both old and new, are brewed in small batches a few times a year, displaying Deschutes Brewery’s diversity and creativity.

From the press release:

“We felt we had to do something special to mark our 19th Anniversary,” said brewmaster Larry Sidor, “so we took a vow of silence and brewed our first Belgian style ale ever to be bottled.”

The straw colored Strong Golden Ale is made from an impressively international list of ingredients that acknowledge the diverse roots of craft beer. “We used Czech Saaz, Slovenian Golding, Pacific Northwest Liberty, and Brewers Gold hops,” said Sidor, “along with French pilsner malt, and Belgian white candy diamonds and bitter orange peel from the island of Curacao for a little extra kick and sizzle.”

The vow of silence, a nod to the Belgian monks who brew some of the world’s most revered beers, may have been the biggest challenge for the brewers at Deschutes. About half way through adding the 180 bags of malt, one of the brewers inadvertently exclaimed, “Good Lord, this is a lot of malt.” Keeping with the spirit of their Belgian counterparts, another brewer answered, “Amen, brother.”

Deschutes Brewery, a pioneer of Oregon’s craft beer industry, opened as a small brew pub in Bend in 1988. As the central Oregon town made the transition from timber and ranching to an outdoor lifestyle destination, the brewery expanded. Deschutes produces 160,000 barrels of craft beer in several distinctive styles which are available in bottles and on tap throughout the region. A new brewpub is scheduled to open in Portland next year.

The 19th Anniversary Belgian-style Strong Golden Ale will be available from June through September in 22-ounce bottles and limited draft.