SeptemBEERfest!

I woke up Saturday morning to the sound and smell of rain and was thinking the weather was going to put a damper on this year’s Septembeerfest. Around 10 am, I packed up my truck in the wet drizzle and hit Interstate 5 southbound for Corvallis, Oregon. Fortunately, about half-way on my journey the rain ceased, but the dark, purplish-grey clouds still looked ominous. As menacing as the sky was, it never did rain at Septembeerfest. I think Mother Nature was looking out for us beer lovers.

Ominous clouds, but Mother Nature was on our side.

Septembeerfest commenced at 2 pm at The Benton County Fairgrounds and gained momentum within an hour. Soon, a line of folks were waiting to enter the festival; a welcomed site. The Brew Station school bus kept the line solid, hauling beer enthusiasts to and from downtown Corvallis. Many people opted to use pedal power and were given plenty of prime parking right beyond the entry gate. Scott Caul, the festival chair and his crew did an excellent job at providing alternative transportation options. Scott also did an outstanding job as the festival’s lead. Scott, Irene and several others were always roaming the grounds making sure everyone had what they needed.

A welcomed sight.

The Brew Station school bus got folks back and forth
from Corvallis.

Beer, bikes and pretzel necklaces.  What else do ya need!

Captain Caul did an excellent job.

I only managed to sample a few beers at Septembeerfest. I was singly manning the Eyeluvbeer mobile headquarters and could not stray far. I was in excellent proximity to Dave Wills and his Oregon Trail Brewery Covered Wagon Brew Truck. A unique, classic vehicle designed to deliver beer from its (4) built-in taps. Logsdon Organic Farmhouse Ales was also directly to the side of me. Joel Rea, owner and manager of Corvallis Brewing Supply furnished one case of Logsdon’s, Seizoen and another case of their Seizoen Bretta. The cases were kindly donated by Dave Logsdon. Both were in high demand and supplies dwindled fast. After I had a taste of both I could certainly see why. This stuff was like gold. I would not mind having a few bottles of Logsdon on hand for special occasions. Logsdon’s label, designed by Seaberg Einarsson was top notch as well. The only other beer I sampled at Septmebeerfest was Ninkasi’s Fresh-Hopped Tricerahops, which had a nice aroma to it as do most fresh-hopped beers. The brewery that I heard the most hype about at the event was Corvallis’s own Flat Tail Brewery. A brewery that I went to around 10:30pm post festival, but realized I better not go in or I would never leave Corvallis. I ended up heading east back to the 5 and north to Portland. Another visit will ensue.

Dave Wills and Co. setting up their famed covered
wagon brew truck.

Logsdon's label.  Designed by Seaberg Einarsson.
So nice!

To conclude, Septembeerfest was great and is only getting better. Granted, this was only my second year, but the event appeared to be more organized and had an improved layout. The increase in attendance also boosted everyone’s spirits, as this was a benefit for the Linn Benton Food Share and OSU Fermentation Science Students.

Don't be fooled by their cute faces...these guys knew their sh*t!

Rockin' into the night.  38 Special would be proud! 

Cheers to Eyeluvbeer!

We love EASTERN Oregon Beer

Guest Blogger Contribution from Mark and Brenda:

My wife and I have been enjoying craft beer around the Portland area for nearly a decade and a half, but we’ve been hankering to explore the wide-open expanses of Eastern Oregon and the bounty of great beer that the area offers. We finally took time off work, packed up the truck and dog and set out east. Our first stop along our Eastern Oregon beer quest was Pendleton. Neither one of us had spent much time in this town known for the Pendleton Round Up, but we were pleasantly surprised by its quaint downtown area, cowboy feel, and the newly established Prodigal Son Brewery. A taster tray introduced us to six of their ales. Their Wheatstock Hefeweizen, Bruce/Lee Porter and Fatted Calf Sacrificial Stout were real standouts along with the tasty food offerings.


The next stop along the way was Enterprise, home of Terminal Gravity Brewing. T.G’s IPA is a favorite in our household, and we were excited to visit the headwaters. The brewery/pub has a nice outdoor seating area. We didn’t mess around with a taster tray at TG. We promptly ordered a Weed Wacker, a session beer and a Cascadian Dark Ale that I can’t recall the name of. We also sampled their imperial IPA, which was quite tasty but we both preferred their original IPA. Before leaving, we filled up the growler and traveled the short distance to Joseph and Mutiny Brewing.

At Mutiny, there were only three beers on tap, but they were all very good: Sssswheat, Superpale and Saddler’s Brown. Now, typically, neither one of us is a big fan of wheat beers but the Sssswheat was flavorful and refreshing, especially in the Eastern Oregon heat. Mutiny also had a comfortable outside seating area where our four-legged friend, Raymond, could relax, and the wait staff was nice enough to bring our parched pooch a pale water.

After spending a couple nights on the banks of Wallowa Lake, we again hit the road in search of fermented goodness. Our journey took us to Baker City and Barley Brown's Brewing. Their small system allows them to brew many batches of beer, and they had 10 of their own on tap. We had to order a sample tray to taste them all. While we had only recently discovered Barley Brown's, it came as a surprise to us that they have been open since 1998. Some of the highlights from Barley Browns were the Shredders Wheat, the Whiskey Malt, the Turmoil (a black IPA) and Awesome CDA (originally brewed by a local homebrewer). Tyler, the owner, was kind enough to spend some time with us and talk about Oregon craft beer. We departed with a growler and a new appreciation for the fine work that is happening in the eastern part of the Beer-ver State!

The Tacoma Craft Beer Festival

First off, let me say that we loved The City of Tacoma and the people that we met.  Designated a City, Tacoma still has that small town feel; everyone seems to know one another.  A feeling I knew growing up, but unknowingly it slipped away when I moved to Portland.  I do love where I live now, but there are several things absent in a larger metropolitan area.

Tacoma rocks!

Okay, let us talk festival and beer now. The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and the location picked for this year's Tacoma Craft Beer Festival could not have fit the weather better.  For the past two years the festival had been held inside at The Foss Waterway Seaport Building on Dock Street; a nautical themed building with elderly charm. This year, organizers took the festival literally down the road and outdoors to the 21^st Street Park.  Situated beneath the structurally attractive 21^st Street Bridge, the park proved that it could make the event alfresco and imagine keep that way for years to come.

The grounds and with the structurally pleasing
bridge overlooking.

The festivities kicked-off at noon and slowly gained momentum.  At first, it was a breeze to fill your 5 oz souvenir taster without a wait in-line, but as the afternoon progressed, you may have found yourself 6-8 people deep; an easy feat by any means.  I pleased my palate with a number of fine beers throughout the day.  However, being the bad beer drinker that I am, I did not jot down a single note.  I typically add some chicken scratch to the event program which contains each beer and its brewer, but unfortunately at this year’s Tacoma Craft Beer Festival one was not furnished.  Granted, this was a minor glitch for this remarkable event. 

Let the tasting begin!

So, who was the winner at the festival?  Well, we thought we were!   We had a great time manning the Eyeluvbeer roaming HQ, chit chatting with folk, including our new friend  BrewDad and Tacoma staple The Pissed Libeerian (it was great to finally meet MGD), and of course, tasting the variety of amazing beers from Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Colorado, and even Canada. As much fun as we had, the real winner of this 4,000 person attended, sold out event was The Boys and Girls Club of South Puget Sound.  The sponsors, breweries, volunteers and the TCBF team all worked their booties off to bring us together for a great cause and some excellent beer.  A special thank you goes out from us to festival organizers, Roxanne and Bennett! You guys rock!

Super Powers: BrewDad and Eyeluvbeer.

Tim and Renee Rockey from M-T Head.
Love their beer!

Awesomeness!

Best display award goes to 7 Seas!

A big high five to TCBF and The Boys and
Girls Club of South Puget Sound.

Beer and Corn Hole go together like a horse and carriage.

Things picked up about mid-afternoon.

A few musicians were on hand to entertain.

Nice shirt.

My favorite shirt seen at the festival.

The Pissed Libeerian and MGD at the post TCBF get together
at the Parkway Tavern.  A place we fell in love with at first sight.

The 2011 TCBF Participating Breweries:

7 Seas Brewing, Airways Brewing Co., Alaskan Brewing, Alpine, American Brewing Co., Anderson Valley, Avery Brewing, Deschutes Brewing, Diamond Knot Brewing Co., Engine House 9 Brewing, Firestone Walker, GeorgeTown Brewing, Great Divide, Harmon Brewing Co., Hopworks, Kona Brewing, Lagunitas, Lazy Boy Brewing Co., Leavenworth Brewing, M. T. Head Brewing Co., Mac & Jacks Brewing Co., Mad River Brewing, Naked City, New Belgium Brewing Co., North Coast, North Coast Brewing, Odin Brewing Co., Pike Brewing Co., Port Brewing/Lost AbbyFish Brewing, Red Hook, Reel Ales, Schooner Exact, Scuttebutt, Silver City Brewing, Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Co., Sound Brewing, Spire Cider, Stone Brewing Co., Trade Route Brewing, Unibroue, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Wingman Brewing.

Ninkasi Pit Stop

We made it a point to stop at Ninkasi on our way to our favorite campground in the Redwoods.  Getting to Ninkasi from Interstate 5 was a breeze.  It only took a few extra miles and couple of turns before we reached their brewing command center.  On approach, we observed that the brewery’s architecture was rather industrial for the neighborhood that it inhabited, but then again, the City of Eugene has a pleasingly eclectic feel, so it made total sense.  The main street side attraction for us was the nicely crafted entry gate.

The sweet entry gate and Ninkasi HQ in background

The same industrial feel carried through to the inside.  We entered the tap room which was simple and clean, airy in height, but modest in floor space.  However, there was ample room outside to accommodate plenty of beer lovin’ folk.   We chose to order a sampler from the bar, which included a few beers that we have never tried before; Ice Nine, Vanilla Oatis and Quantum Pale Ale.  We were intrigued by the well engineered taster tray that they were presented on; made of a brushed metal, it was one of a kind coolness.  We also loved the fact that each taster came with a baseball-like trading card, naming the beer on the front and giving you the stats on the back.  The new beers that we sampled lived up to Ninkasi’s well known reputation of producing excellent craft beer.


After finishing our mini-beers on the outside patio, we headed inside to settle our tab.  This is when the lure of the taps convinced us to order one more pint before continuing our journey south on the 5. 

The bar area with some nicely crafted beer lights.

The goods

Beer stats similar to a collector baseball card.  NICE!

The expansive patio.

Tap list on our visit.

Indeed a success!  Congrats guys!

Had to add an ELB sticker to the chair.

Street view.

Dream job!

Our last stop before hitting the road to the Redwoods.
The Red Barn has a great beer selection, a quaint cafe and
is a nice, local grocery store.    

Deschutes Stoic Release & Black Butte Porter Reserve Draft Night at Belmont Station

If you have not been to Belmont Station before then shame on you!  Established in 1997, it helped pioneer the Northwest craft beer movement.  Today, Belmont Station’s bottle shop contains over 1,300 different beers and their Biercafé always has an amazing draft selection consisting of approximately 17 taps.  Tack on events and tastings that occur weekly and you will realize why I consider this place Beertopia.  

Last night proved once again why I love Belmont Station.  It was Deschutes Stoic Release & Black Butte Porter Reserve Draft Night.  Which meant Belmont Station was serving up Deschutes Black Butte XXI, XXII and XXIII, plus their latest reserve series, The Stoic.  The Stoic is described as an American Quadruple, remarkably smooth, yet complex, featuring pomegranate molasses, dark candy sugar, Pinot Noir and Rye Whiskey barrel-aging.  It would be my first time tasting all four of these on draft and they proved to be palate pleasers.  My favorite was the XXII.  Containing negro chilies, it gave the Porter a hint of spice.  I thought this beer would be great on a cool fall or winter day.  From what I read, the XXII is a draft-only release due to a problem with the chocolate that Deschutes used separating in the bottle. So if you can find it, consider yourself very fortunate.

The Deschutes Stoic and Black Butte XXI, XXII and XXIII and some frickin'  awesome nachos.

My new RV!

Mega Tap.

The line was out the door, and I was not sure if those were hops in the zip lock or  something else.

Cheers to great friends.

Philly was in da house.

Most expensive pint ever!

Angleo from Brewpublic and a local Portland rockstar!

It's your turn in the barrel.

Heaven's gate!

  

Casual Encounter with a New Growler

I came across one of these bad boys at the Hopworks Bike Bar on a recent trip to fill up my standard, glass Growler.

WIMPY!

HEFTY!

I was wondering what someone was doing filling up a giant water bottle with beer, so I asked if I could see it.  It said ‘Laurelwood’ on the bottle.  Was this a new type of Growler?!  It certainly was, and it was the best thing I have seen since my first encounter with sliced bread.  The Growler’s owner said they picked it up not long ago and really liked it.  They said they even gave it a test by accidentally leaving it in the trunk of their car on a hot sunny day for 8 hours.  The result: The beer was just as cold as when it left the tap.  This high-tech, double wall vacuum insulated beer transportation device is manufactured by Hydro Flask, which is located in Bend, OR.  You can find them in Portland at the Laurelwood Public House & Brewery for $49.99, which includes a beer fill of your choice, or on the Hydro Flask web site for the same price, plus $10.95 for shipping and handling.  Initially, I thought the price was a little steep, but after mulling it over I think it is a great investment, especially  if you like to take your beer to the beach, the disc golf course, hiking, etc.  Also, it will be something that you will have forever and I am sure will certainly cherish.

Standard 64oz Hydro Flask