3rd Annual St. Johns Winter Beer Festival at Plew's Brews

Yesterday, we stopped by Plew’s Brews for their 3^rd Annual St. Johns Winter Beer Festival. We arrived around 1pm and found the place to be fairly mellow. Almost all of the tables and couches were occupied by folks sipping on beer samples, enjoying conversation and just taking in a relaxing Sunday. We did the same for a few hours with our friends Steve and Jeff.

Trevor, of Thurston Beer Events and many other things beer was manning the glass and ticket counter. He gave us some guidance on which beers to try and even came by to let us know when they changed out a keg. This is why we love Trevor! We were fortunate enough to try some uncommon brews, meaning not easy to find on tap. The ones that struck a chord with my taste buds were:

Fort George:  Balzac Barleywine
Ninkasi:         2011 Imperial Stout
Stone:           Stone Farking Wheaton WOOt Stout

Everything we sampled was decent though. No complaints here. We heart winter beer! Sunday was the perfect time to go too. There were no lines and a majority of the beers on the list were still active. The only complaint I have is that I wish I could have made it down for more of the festival. A big thank you goes out to Plew’s and Crew for making this event one of our favorites every Holiday season.

Santa's List (click to enlarge)

You'll find 2-legged and 4-legged friends at Plew's

Little Drummer Boy gives the
St. Johns Winter Beer Festival
5 stars!

Cancer Sucks IPA Tap Takeover Weekend at Plew's Brews

Next weekend on Friday, Febuary 10^th and Saturday, Febuary 11^th please make it a point to stop by Plew’s Brews in St. Johns for a Cancer Fundraiser for Steve Occhi, a member of the homebrew club, NoPo Brews. There will be an IPA tap takeover, some rare bottled beers, great live music and a raffle with some generous prizes. You know if it’s going down at Plew’s it’s going to be a good time.

Address:  8409 N Lombard St, Portland, OR 97203

Here’s the 411 from the source:

“Nopobrews is hosting a Cancer Fundraiser, Cancer Sucks IPA Tap Takeover Weekend, Feb 10th -Feb 11th @ Plew’s Brews to help out Steve Occhi, a fellow Nopobrews member, in his time of need.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer and just completed 2 rounds of chemotherapy. The good news is the cancer is responding well, but he will have more chemotherapy treatments coming up.  For a living, Steve is a self- employed contractor.  The chemo has put him unexpectedly out of work, and to top it off, the state’s Health Care plan has limits to its coverage.  To help with the crazy bills that are stacking up, Nopobrews and Plew’s Brews are coming together to put on a “hopping” good time.  The fundraiser will start off with an IPA tap take over Feb 10th.  8 epic selections of IPA will be on for everyone’s enjoyment starting at 7pm.  The list includes: Lucky Lab’s Superdog, Alameda’s Yellow Wolf, 7 Brides Frankenlou, Fort George Vortex, Stone’s IPA, Oakshire’s Watershed IPA, Ninkasi’s Tricerahops, and Boneyard’s Notorius which will be a 10 ounce pour. On the side, Nopobrews will have a tasting flight consisting of 6 -different single hop IPAs that were brewed by club members in the fall.  The experience shows you just how much one ingredient can change the flavor of the beer!  At 8pm, the music will start rocking with Michael Manning and the Carolina Pumphouse.  The Chancers, a local Irish Band, will follow with a rowdy set. Between songs and bands there will be a donation bucket passed around and winners of the raffle items will be announced.  You can win even if you are not present. Some of the prizes include a private party with appetizers for 25 people at Uptown Billiards, an upright bike made from St. John’s bike-builder, Neal Fegan, a signed copy of Lisa Morrison’s book, “ Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest”!  We’ll also have some VERY rare bottles from Hair of the Dog, Deschutes, etc.  Raffle tickets will be on sale for $1/piece before the event at Plew’s Brews.  Please check www.nopobrews.com for a complete list. Cheers!”

Steve rockin' some grains and representin' our Blazers.

1st Annual Winter Beer Festival at Plew's Brews

The 1^st Annual Winter Beer Festival at Plew’s Brews was a major hit this past weekend.  Key organizers, Greer Martin of NoPo Brews, Trevor Thurston (Plew’s Craft Beer Expert/Event Chair and Competition Co-Chair of NoPo Brews/The Festival's Organizer/Homebrew Exchange employee), and Randy Plew, Owner of Plew’s did an excellent job at making this first time event a huge success, but they couldn't have done it without all the kind volunteers that donated their time to make sure our glasses weren't empty. Excellent promotion significantly helped as well. Words written by beer bloggers, a few radio segments highlighting the event, a ton of posters tacked up around Portland, Facebook, and Twitter helped draw people from all over to wonderful, downtown St. Johns. I actually met a couple from Seattle that came down just for the festival.

Greer Martin of NoPo Brews / Festival Super.  One great gal!

Lee of NoPo Brews and Trevor Thurston of Plew's / Festival
Organizer.  Trevor contributes tons to the Portland beer scene
and we totally appreciate his dedication.

The Man himself! Randy Plew hanging with (2) lovely,
horned ladies.

The house was hoppin’on Friday when the doors opened and a continued steady stream of people kept the festival's momentum going strong until close on Saturday. Sunday afternoon was a little lighter, as to be expected, but Plew’s still saw its fair share of hardcore beer enthusiast. Many came to the 3-day festival to check out the offering being made by a brand-new brewery, Humble Brewing. Humble was serving up a CDA (Cascadian Dark Ale), which according to one of the brewers, Chad Freitag, is something a little different for them. Chad said that Humble’s aim is for a more simple, single-hop type of beer using minimal grain varieties. I’m sure whatever Humble does, it will be great. Their CDA was nicely done and the (2) kegs they brought ended up empty on Saturday.

Action packed evening.

Avid beer fan (name unknown), Jocelyn from The Homebrew
Exchange and Chad from Humble Brewing.

It was great to see some of Portland’s finest in attendance at Plew’s. The entire crew from The Homebrew Exchange popped in to partake in the action. Angelo, from renowned, Brewpublic made it by as well and volunteered his superior beer pouring skills behind the bar. I’ve know Angelo from his KPSU days. He always has something interesting to say that is worth lending an ear to, and if you have a question about beer, he’s the man. Bottles owner, Brant Kunze made it by too. If you haven’t been to his place on NE Fremont, check it out. They always have an excellent rotating draft selection and coolers stocked with bottles to go. Brant said that their famed outdoor patio is enclosed and heated for the winter months. Lastly, many members of the North Portland Fermentation Association (NoPo Brews) were roaming around. A friendly bunch of lads and gals that brought several homebrew kegs to the festival. Two that really stood out to me were their Sour and Dr. Pepper beer. The Sour was done with Chartreuse, a green liqueur which made the beer, yes you guessed it, green. I thought it was the ultimate Holiday beer! Their Dr. Pepper concoction was a little too sweet for my taste, but I heart Dr. Pepper and had to try it. It’s great to see NoPo Brews pushing the brewing boundaries with their unique creations.

Brant Kunze from Bottles, with his wife and friend.

Grinch approved green beer.  

Besides beer, the event also featured delicious food. Veggie and carne tacos, Philly Cheese Steaks, Silly Cheese Steaks (veggie version), hot dogs and sausages were available to tame hunger. Local vendors were also on-hand. Olive & Vine and Salty Teacup were there showcasing their products. If you still need to complete your Holiday shopping, check them out. Olive & Vine actually supplied spices for the food that everyone enjoyed.

Salty Teacup and Olive & Vine showcasing
their goods.

Hot dog or sausage anyone?

The festival came to a close Sunday evening and it appeared that everyone was pleased with the results. Although we were all a little tired, it was well worth it. If you didn’t attend this year’s Winter Beer Festival at Plew’s, then you should at least stop by their 8409 N Lombard location for a pint. The price is right at $3.50 for 16 ounces of goodness, plus you can get your Growler filled for $7.00! It’s not the prices that make Plew’s attractive though, it’s the people and the atmosphere. You feel at home there. I can’t think of many places in Portland that have that vibe.

Some additional pictures just because - - -

My good friends, Jeff and Kay showed up
Saturday and Sunday!

The girls serving it up.  It was nice to meet you Ruth!

Plew's Brews ceiling entertained me for hours.

Sunday afternoon began with some nice classical
guitar Christmas tunes.

If I wasn't engaged...

Just one of the fantastic Hombrew Exchange posse.

Guys rockin' some ugly Holiday sweaters.

Where the awesome tacos and cheese
steaks were made with love.

Canine craft beer enthusiast are always welcome 

at Plew's too!