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Beer In Art #90: Louie Van Patten & Cara Thayer’s Collaborative Beer Paintings

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Today’s paintings are part of an exciting new project by a married couple working collaboratively on their Beer Paintings. Louie Van Patten is from Des Moines, Iowa but studied painting in Central Oregon. His wife, Cara Thayer, learned her craft at the Art Institute of Chicago, but she’s originally from Bend, Oregon, and that’s where the pair now make their home. Their regular art, showcased at The Gryllus has been exhibited in Bend and from Palo Alto to Vancouver. But being in Bend, home to Deschutes, “phenomenal beer is unavoidable and is bound to convert anyone who tries it,” as was the case with Thayer and Patten. So they decided to combine their love of good beer with their art, and the result is the newly launched Beer Paintings project. The very first painting was done for their local beer store, The Brew Shop.

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They’ve also been painting bottles, cans and crowns. Here’s a representative sample below.

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North Coast’s Imperial Stout Old Rasputin.

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Oskar Blues’ imperial stout Ten Fidy.

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A crown from Three Floyds Brewing.

I asked Patten about the beer paintings.

These beer paintings have been somewhat of a side project, with our regular, very different body of work being the paintings at The Gryllus. Craft beer has always been a huge part of our painting ritual and one of our biggest interests outside of art. We did the first painting as a gift to The Brew Shop, but we found there was something really enjoyable about merging our hobby of collecting and drinking craft beers with our full-time painting practice. There is also something we like about the idea of an un-ironic contemporary still-life, especially in the case of painting something like Oskar Blues’ Ten Fidy, with canned beers typically being derided for their aesthetics. Ultimately, these paintings are about externalizing the beer drinking experience into something that can be enjoyed when you can’t imbibe. We like the idea of giving people who are passionate about good beer another way to show it, with the dignity it deserves.

And here’s their most recent painting, featuring some more really great beers, including a few local ones to me.

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Widmer’s Craft Brewers Alliance To Buy Kona Brewing

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The Oregonian is reporting that the Craft Brewers Alliance (essentially Widmer, with RedHook and distribution of Goose Island and Kona) will purchase Kona Brewing for $13.9 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Kona will become a “wholly owned subsidiary” and Mattson Davis will remain at the helm, with brewing for the mainland continuing to be done at Widmer and RedHook breweries.

Portland Food Writer Goes Negative

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This is just disappointing. A writer at the Portland Mercury, Patrick Alan Coleman, missed the point of the Beer City USA poll by Charlie Papazian and the Brewers Association and instead took things negative with this missive.

Normally I wouldn’t be concerned about something from the Examiner. But Asheville, NC? We’ve got to take them down. We’ve got more “beer city” in the backwash at the bottom of our pint glasses than can be found in all of their pubs and breweries.

Dude, you should be ashamed of yourself. This is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be about civic pride, beer pride, beer community pride and building up support for your hometown. It’s not supposed to be about tearing down the other communities. It’s not about insulting other communities. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess you’ve never even been to Asheville or probably any other beer towns, either, because you come off like a provincial bigot. You’re not helping your community. Both towns have a lot to offer, beer-wise. It goes without saying that I’m a huge fan of Portland and have many, many friends in the Rose City. And I hope they all do the right thing and denounce you for being so antithetical to what makes the broader craft beer community so great: the sense of community that’s bigger than any one town.

Toby Day Day This Sunday

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I heard the sad news while I was in Chicago for CBC. On April 5, Toby Day, who owned NW Craft Brands and worked for Anderson Valley Brewing, passed away suddenly. Apparently he’d been battling a serious health issue for many years but kept that information from all but a select few friends. Although Toby lived in Eugene, Oregon, he was a fixture at many beer events throughout the west coast and our paths crossed frequently over the years. He always had a smile on his face and seemed to truly enjoy his work promoting craft beer. The world is a poorer place without Toby in it.

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This Sunday, April 25, an event has been set up — Toby Day Day — to honor Toby’s memory and also raise money to help out his family. An Event Facebook Page has been set up, and here are the particulars:

On April 5th, Anderson Valley Brewing Company lost a dear friend and co-worker. Toby Day passed after battling a variety of ailments. Toby was a consummate ambassador of beer and a champion for AVBC since he started working with us in February of 2005.

“Our industry, the beer community, Toby’s family and friends have just lost a very special individual. I lost a friend.” Said AVBC Sales Director Ron Ziomek.

AVBC’s General Manager John Kuhry remembers Toby as “one of the nicest guys you will ever meet with an incredible passion and knowledge of beer. I am glad to have known him.”

On Sunday, April 25, craft beer establishments from Santa Cruz to Seattle will be honoring the life of Toby Day. Many accounts will have special beers on tap in his honor. The proceeds from this “Toby Day Day” are earmarked specifically for Toby’s family to help them pay for outstanding medical and funeral expenses, and to assist with the education of his daughter Lilly and son Tristan, 12 and 9, respectively.

Well wishers can leave their thoughts on his Facebook Page.

Please join us Sunday in raising a glass to a true friend of world-class beer and a world-class guy himself: Toby Day.

I’ll try to get a list of “official” places hosting events and also a way donations can be made directly to the family, if possible. If you can, please help out and honor a terrific guy who made great contributions to the craft beer community.

Eugene:
Sam Bonds Garage
The Bier Stein
Cornucopia (2 locations)

Portland:
The Moon & Sixpence
Concordia Ale House
Roots Organic
The Horse Brass Pub

Seattle:
Uber Tavern
Brouwer’s Cafe

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UPDATE:
An account has been set up where donations can be made directly to Toby’s family, should you wish to help out his two children. Donations may be made at any U.S. Bank location across the country. Here are the details:

Account Name: Toby Day Foundation Trust
Account: 153662428728
Tax Donation EIN For Donations: 61-1615294

Oregon Brewer Cuisinternship Winner Announced

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Oregon Bounty, who is the sponsor of the Cuisinternship contest to find interns for seven uniquely Oregonian artisan and craft pursuits, has begun announcing the winners, one each day.

The Brewmaster Cuisinternship winner was announced this morning. From the many entries, the finalists were whittled down to seven. From those seven, I chose three finalists. The winner was then chosen by Jamie Emmerson, brewmaster at Full Sail Brewing in Mt. Hood, where he’ll spend his beer-filled week.

The beer intern winner was Kevin Kozlen of Bloomington, Illinois. Here’s his video entry. Here’s what Kevin should experience:

Along the shores of the mighty Columbia River Gorge, Kevin will get a week-long lesson from some of the country’s craft brewing pioneers. From the hop farm to the mash tun to the microscope, he’ll feel, smell and taste beer from beginning to end. If he can tear yourself away from the tasting table, he’ll be able to explore the charming town of Hood River, unofficial U.S. capitol of windsurfing, beer drinking and hanging out.

Congratulation, Kevin. Have a great time.

Win An Internship At An Oregon Brewery

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Oregon Bounty, which promotes travel to Oregon and specifically its local food and beverages, is sponsoring a very cool contest. They’re offering seven “cuisinternships” to local artisan businesses. You can be an intern chef, cheesemaker/choclatier, distiller, fisherman, rancher, winemaker, or — the coolest of the seven — craft brewer. Winners get an all-expenses paid trip to Oregon which includes round-trip airfare, six-nights lodging, and $1,000 cash spending money. You’ll then intern for five days.

You can enter online with a two-minute video and/or your 140-character essay on why you deserve to win an Oregon Bounty Cuisinternship. That’s basically a twitter post; a tweet. The deadline to enter is coming up; it’s Friday September 18. There’s also an FAQ if you have any questions about the contest.

The brewery Cuisinternship is with Jamie Emmerson at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon. I’ve known Jamie for a long time now, and he and the staff of Full Sail couldn’t be nicer people. Plus, Hood River is an absolutely gorgeous part of the world.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll be doing if you win: Tour the Great Western Malting and Hop Farm, learn about mashing and the mash tun, learn about sparging and the lauter tun, understand the spice of the beer and the contributions of the hops and kettle, pitch the yeast (the magic ingredient), look under the microscope in the lab, partake in bottling at 500 beers per minute, fill kegs, and — most importantly — taste the rewards of your hard work. Whew, that doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Here’s how the website describes it:

Along the shores of the mighty Columbia River Gorge, get a week-long lesson from some of the country’s craft brewing pioneers. From the hop farm to the mash tun to the microscope, you’ll feel, smell and taste beer from beginning to end. If you can tear yourself away from the tasting table, explore the charming town of Hood River, unofficial U.S. capitol of windsurfing, beer drinking and hanging out.

I’ve also been asked to judge the submissions and help pick the winner, so be sure to answer the question. “Why do you deserve to win?”

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Mayor Sam Adams Tapping Keg At OBF

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While there are plenty more photos to share from this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival, I wanted to get out this fun little video I took from the end of the OBF parade on Thursday morning. After marching to the festival, a little ceremony takes place to officially open the festival. First, this year’s brewery host, Full Sail Brewing, hands over the ceremonial keg hammer to next year’s sponsor, who will be Deschutes. The video begins with Gary Fish, owner of Deschutes, accepting the hammer and then handing it over to Portland mayor Sam Adams so that he can tap the keg. Be sure to watch the video at least through to the tapping.


To view it larger, visit the YouTube page.

Beer Dinner du Pelican

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January 18th was the first of the Beer Chef’s beer dinners for 2008, and featured the beers of Pelican Pub & Brewery in Pacific City, Oregon. Brewmaster Darron Welch was on hand to talk about his beers. Three times Pelican Pub & Brewery has been named brewpub of the year at the Great American Beer Festival.

Pelican Pub brewmaster Darron Welch with the beer chef Bruce Paton.
 

For more photos from the Pelican Pub Beer Dinner, visit the photo gallery.
 

Full Sail Re-Boots LTD Series

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Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon will be re-launching their seasonal LTD series that they debuted in 2007. Though curiously, they’re starting over again with Recipe 01, so perhaps re-booting might be more accurate.

From the press release:

Full Sail proudly announces the return of its lager seasonal program — the LTD series. Our first offering is a wonderfully balanced medium, copper colored lager with subtle hop accents, and a caramel aroma, that goes down smooth – perfect for the winter season. Since its release last year LTD has been embraced by both the critics and consumers alike winning a gold medal in the World Beer Championship and becoming one of the fastest growing new beers in the U.S. (I.R.I 12/02/07) “We are excited to be able to branch out and brew some interesting lager beers as they are such a huge part of brewing tradition. It is one of the best parts about being an independent, employee owned company – we get to celebrate our creativity as well as the rich heritage of beer styles,” said Brewmaster Jamie Emmerson. “It is such a pleasure to brew these beers and have them develop such a fervent following — it is why I love my job!”

LTD Recipe 01 will be available in six-packs and in draught and will begin shipping from the brewery again in January 2008. The bottle labels describe LTD Recipe 01, as an easy drinking, nonetheless way tasty limited edition lager. Featured on the six-pack is a “Malt-O-Meter” that will tell you at a glance that LTD is a medium body, perfectly balanced malty beer with a lovely hop aroma and caramel notes. For the beer aficionados, or the aspiring ones, the bottom of the six-pack features an easy to read chart of “Today’s Recipe”, including hop (Czech Saaz, Hallertauer) and malt varieties (caramel, chocolate and wheat), Plato (16 degrees), I.B.U. (26), alcohol by volume (6.4) and even secret sauce! Full Sail will follow up with a limited edition bottling of LTD Recipe 02, this spring.