Brewer Shake-Ups: Vasilios Gletsos replaces Chad Kennedy at Laurelwood, looks to open Production Brewery

Vasilios Gletsos / Chad Kennedy

Updated 10:15pm Friday 7/1 with Comments from Vasilios. Scroll to bottom

Laurelwood announced today that acclaimed brewer Vasilios Gletsos would be filling the shoes of departing Brewmaster Chad Kennedy. Many in the beer community know Vasilios as one of the most knowledgeable brewers around. He has spent time at BJ's, with Alex Ganum of Upright Brewing taking the reins when he left, then with Van Havig at Rock Bottom, and, more recently, at Pyramid/Mac's heading up the MacTarnahan's line of beers and injecting some fresh new beers and styles. While I am happy to see him capably fill Chad Kennedy's shoes, I am sad that he is not going to be making some of the more experimental and small run batches he was planning to do on the revitalized Pyramid pilot system in Seattle. But there is even more to the news: Laurelwood brand ambassador and marketing guy Micah Camden leaving to take on a job with Oakshire. He'll be doing sales for them, looking to foster their continued growth and leading the push more into the Portland market, as well as Seattle (probably sooner than later).


Recently I visited the main Laurelwood pub on NE Sandy and found the Workhorse IPA out. I jokingly blamed Chad Kennedy's departure, but the real reason is the demand for Laurelwood's beers--the IPA in particular is in too high demand for the modestly sized brewery, which has an increasing market to supply in Seattle. Laurelwood owner Mike DeKalb, whom I interviewed recently, tells me that Vasilios will be assisting them in opening up a brand new production brewery in a big box building of some kind. The early speculation is that they are still working out logistics including funding and location, but this sounds like a terrific opportunity for Vasilios, and for Laurelwood to expand.

The departing Chad Kennedy announced via social media that he was going to Bend to help open a new brewery. Details on that new venture have been scarce, but tips I have received point to a production-based brewery opened by a founder of Point Blank distributors and Chad that will have a 50 barrel brewhouse. I wondered what ever happened to the small nano system that Chad and Mike at Laurelwood told me about not long ago that they were trying to get started up in their Battle Ground, WA location. Chad promised Mike he would do a brew on that system, and today (June 30th) is Chad's last day at Laurelwood, so he is spending it in Battle Ground fulfilling his promise. Tomorrow he plans to announce more details on the new Bend venture. Congratulations and good luck to him and Vasilios on the future.

Vasilios shared this comment with me on the news of the new gig:

"it's an honor, as a brewer, to go to work for Laurelwood. I have the highest respect for the brewers who have worked there and the ones that still do. Chad has put so much of himself into that brewery, I hope to bring that some level of passion to my work with the team there. I am really proud of the beers we came up with for Mactarnahan's and Pyramid, from the standards to the one-offs, and I will miss all the brewers, bottlers, marketers, admin, maintenance & lab folks that made great beer happen each and every day. I am also really thankful to brew in the best place in the world to do so, and am totally devoted to all the brewers, bloggers, bar owners and beer geeks that have made Portland beervana, and support and rewarding me for doing what I love. Thanks a bunch for all you do and cheers! Let's raise a glass to Oregon and Beer Month. See you around."

Eugene, Oregon Craft Beer Month & Cheese Wars

As part of Oregon Craft Beer Month the Oregon Brewers Guild is dedicating a week to Eugene (July 18-24) and changing up the usual pace for the month a bit. I heard rumors a while ago that some of the month would be split into more focused weeks and I am guessing this is part of those labors. It is a good idea and gives Eugene almost a second beer week after they recently kicked off their first. 16 Tons one of the coolest new spots in Eugene that was also integral in organizing Eugene Beer Week is again front and center with a few events, among them Cheese Wars II an event I was lucky enough to be a part of in it's first iteration and tba Brewers Union event.

Final Beer List for The Cans Fest

Here is the final list of cans that will be available at the upcoming street party outside The Guild Public House on July 9th, dubbed 'The Cans Fest'. This list represents the must-have staples from Oskar Blues, Caldera, and 21st Amendment, as well as some of the newbs like Anderson Valley and Fort George. More interesting, though, are several beers never before seen here in cans, like Central City Brewing, Kenai River, SanTan, Ska Brewing, and Two Beers. Also featured will be the debut of a new beer and first canning from local nano Natian Brewing.

Full Beer List below

Neighborhood vs. Hophouse

Yesterday The Oregonian reported on the troubles of the 15th Avenue Hophouse, the upcoming 2nd location from the owners of the Hawthorne Hophouse that is coming soon to 1517 NE Brazee (I reported on the new location here). Apparently owner Leah Lockwood and her husband are having trouble with their neighborhood association just outside of Hollywood. I was pretty surprised to hear this, considering that the Hawthorne Hophouse has a pretty solid reputation for being a friendly neighborhood spot for the family, whether you like it or not. According to the Oregonian article, neighbors seem to think it would be a disturbance and are concerned about noise and live music. This is very strange, since the Hawthorne Hophouse only has unamplified live music a couple of days a week.

Special Events and New Beer Releases at Breakside Brewery

With the start of Oregon Craft Beer Month only days away, the brewing and front-of-house teams at Breakside Brewery (820 NE Dekum) have been busy planning events and brewing specialty beers to help contribute to this great celebration of all things beer.

At the pub itself, two fun celebrations will punctuate the month. First, on July 6, visit the brewery for a horizontal tasting during its Night of the Alsatian Blonde Ales. Brewer Ben Edmunds created a French blonde ale using a saison yeast; the batch was then split three ways and aged on three different types of white wine grapes common to the Alsace region of northeastern France. This night, Breakside will serve taster trays of the individual strains—riesling, gewürztraminer, and muscat—as well as the Cremant Gentil, which is a blend of all three.

Then, on July 16, join Breakside for a night at the beach—the official Beach Saison Release Party. This party will celebrate one of the brewery’s exciting new seasonal beers. Edmunds worked with Cascade Brewing’s Sean White to create a Dupont-style saison for the summer season. Since everyone’s trying to look their ‘beach season’ best, the pub will offer drink and food specials to anyone who comes dressed in beach attire. The night will also include a special release of a second version of the Beach Saison aged on Oregon cherries.

Meanwhile, other special releases, including some barrel-aged beers, will be available throughout the month. Edmunds and new assistant brewer Sam Barber have prepared a series of experimental beers, still released each Wednesday. Upcoming brews include a Curacao Gruit (June 29), Heffenhoofer Hopfenweisse (July 13), Belgo-Scottish Ale (July 20), and Gin-Barrel Double Wit (July 27).

The small-batch experimental brews will complement other rotating seasonals. Currently on tap are Strong Saison, Summer Gruit, and Just the Tip Spruced Wheat. Coming soon, expect to see a sessionable Scottish 70 Shilling, low alcohol wheat Grisette, and a pale ale brewed with Ahtanum hops. And don’t forget, Mango Mondays—where a single keg of the sought after Mango IPA is released each week—will continue throughout the summer.

In addition, Breakside beers will be on tap at many smaller festivals and events during Craft Beer Month. The Summer Gruit will be served as part of the Kick-Off Dinner this Friday, July 1. Look for the Saison de Roxanna—a brew made in collaboration with the Saraveza staff—to be on tap during that bar’s Double IPA fest in mid-July; and Breakside’s Barrel-Aged Gose will be part of the lineup for this year’s Puckerfest at Belmont Station. Finally, look for a debut tapping of the brewery’s Peach Hefeweizen at BenFest on July 25.

Canning A Revolution

In just a few weeks (July 9th, to be exact) The Guild Public House will present a street party celebration of canned craft beer, The Cans Fest. Perhaps the biggest trend in craft beer right now is the reintroduction of cans as packaging, so a festival with some of the Oregon pioneers of the canning revolution, like Fort George and Caldera, just makes sense. Many other canned beers not usually found in Oregon also will be representing, like Oskar Blues. Another I am pretty stoked about is Central City from BC with their Red Racer, a beer I compared favorably to Racer 5. The fest is even trotting out some other breweries I have not even heard of, including one from Alaska. If we are lucky we might also see the first Boneyard cans and maybe even some stuff from Surly. In all we can expect over 30 beers from over 17 breweries.

Fort George founder Jack Harris will be on hand to do two lectures on the benefits of cans, and the Beer Goddess Lisa Morrison will be signing copies of her book 'Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest' right after her Beer O'Clock radio show is broadcast from the fest at 3pm. You can also expect beer can-themed games, live music, and barbecue along the streets. Admission is free and the event is open to all ages (though a tasting mug and tickets are required to sample the beer). Follow the slow rollout of beer announcements on the event's Facebook page.

Personally I am hoping they have these slap wrap can coozies from Fort George for sale. Media test samples, anyone?

Exciting New Beer Releases From Upright, Deschutes, Caldera, & Allagash

There is lots of exciting news on the beer release front this week, with Upright Brewing changing things up with some surprising new styles of beer, Deschutes introducing new bottle packaging (including bottling one fan favorite seasonal draft only brew for the first time), and Ashland, OR's Caldera Brewing releasing a limited bottling of one of my favorite beers from last year's Oregon Brewers Festival. Let's also not forget Allagash's highly anticipated spontaneously fermented beers made with its new Coolship.

Check it:

Collaborations

From CraftBeer.com comes a well made video about the making of the beer "Savor Flowers". It's another in the ongoing trend of collaboration beers, this one coming from Dogfish Head and Boston Beer Co., aka Samuel Adams. There is recent news that Dogfish Head is collaborating with The Bruery for a beer, and that Russian River will be making a Brettanamyoces beer with Sierra Nevada at their brewery.

Collaboration beers have been happening for quite awhile now. I remember the first one that started the trend (I think) from Avery and Russian River (4 or 5 years ago?) that was called "Collaboration not Litigation" because both breweries had beers with the exact same name. I remember getting excited to try a beer from two beloved brewers working together and being underwhelmed by the results. Since then the trend has taken off, and some of the most buzzed-about beers of the year are often collaborations. Still, I wonder if these beers are any better than each brewer's solo efforts--maybe it is just that our expectations are raised when there is a colloboration. Have you ever had a collaboration beer that was better than what the brewers typically produce on their own? Or do these beers just strike you as having been made with too many cooks in the kitchen?

Review: Black Butte XXIII

Twenty three years ago Deschutes Brewery opened its doors in Bend, OR, and just three years ago the brewery began releasing an annual special commemorative brew--an Imperialized/Double version of one of its flagship beers, Black Butte Porter. Last year's version was famously was ruined in the bottle from the addition of a fatty chocolate that came out in globs. The draft versions snuck out and were still delicious, though the bottles were never to be found. This probably added to the hype and anticipation of this year's third version, Black Butte XXIII, which is being billed as a perfected version of the last. Yesterday Deschutes tapped the beer at its two pubs for what was effectively an unpublicized soft release. The same day I received a sample bottle in the mail, which I review for you today.

Two New Brewers Beers Hitting the Taps: Occidental and Rusty Truck Brewing

Two new under-the-radar Oregon breweries are finally producing beer, each in quieter, less-populated areas, and both with a unique story. First off, I have learned that the first beer released from St. Johns-based Occidental Brewing is now on tap at local favorite Plew's Brews. It is a Hefeweizen, an easy style to brew but a hard style to get right. I suggest getting over there now to try it.

The second newcomer, Rusty Truck Brewing, aims to be the first new coastal brewery in recent memory. The New School first reported on it with just a brief mention in a Beer News post a few months ago. Unable to find anymore information and with no returned calls for comment, I had very little info to go on, only word that it would be going into popular Lincoln City bar and restaurant Roadhouse 101. Yesterday I learned that not only is the brewery now a reality, but the beers are already flowing at the roadhouse and they will be officially celebrating their Grand Opening early next month.

Even More Beer News

Harvester Brewing, America's First All Gluten-Free Brewery, Coming Soon
Founder and Brewer James Neumister has finally leased a space for his production brewery. Once rumored to be setting up shop in Milwaukee, OR, the facility will now be in the new brewery hub of SE Portland, right off 7th St near Lucky Lab's Hawthorne location and the soon-to-be Beetje expansion. When built out, inspected, permitted and installed, the new brewery will feature a brand new 7 barrel brewhouse currently being fabricated at Metalcraft. James says he will start out with just two 7bbl fermentation tanks but will have plenty of room to grow. The brewery will not have a pub or tasting room but will concentrate on gluten-free beers for a wide audience, packaged in 22oz bottles with very limited draft availability. The hope is that other breweries and bars will stock these brews for the poor souls dragged along to breweries where they cannot partake in the liquid refreshment. The flagship beer will be in the pale ale style with a low IBU content (around 30), but with an emphasis on hop flavor over bitterness, and even more so on aroma with lots of dry-hopping. The brewery also plans to add an amber ale and hopefully a dark beer like a porter soon.

Horse Brass' Blind Self-Distributed IPA Challenge Results
I haven't seen this posted anywhere, so I thought I would share the results of last week's blind IPA tasting event at the Horse Brass, which was held in the vein of Concordia Cup. The overall winner was the #8 tap, Migration, which is surprising indeed. Now they go up against some of the larger, more widely-distributed breweries.

Tap #1- Gilgamesh - Runner-up
Tap #2- Burnside
Tap #3- Hop Valley
Tap #4- Off the Rail
Tap #5- Prodigal Son
Tap #6- Bend
Tap #7- Flat Tail
Tap #8- Migration - Winner

Saraveza, By the Bottle, and Brewvana Team-Up for Bridging the Taps
This Saturday, June 18, meet at Saraveza, hop on Brewvana's bus, and "Bridge the Taps" at Washington's premiere bottle shop, By The Bottle. While there you can savor 8 brews UNAVAILABLE in Oregon (think Lost Abbey, Black Raven, etc.). Spend your time enjoying Washington's most elite, then travel back to Saraveza to enjoy some of Oregon's finest!

Bus Pass includes 8 beer tickets (to use at Saraveza or By the Bottle), bus entertainment (live music, beer trivia, raffles, prizes, and snacks), unlimited round trip bus rides between Saraveza and By the Bottle, and a 5% off coupon for your next visit to By the Bottle. Bus Passes are $16 in advance or $20 the day of. Bus Passes available at Saraveza or By the Bottle.

Bus Schedule:
2pm - 1st bus departs Saraveza
2:30pm - 1st bus departs from By the Bottle
Bus returns to each location approximately every half hour.
Bus stops running at 8pm sharp

By the Bottle's List:

Odin Brewing Freya's Gold Kolsch - Seattle, WA
Fremont Brewing Interuban IPA - Seattle, WA
Port Brewing Mongo Double IPA - San Diego, CA
Port Brewing Shark Attack Imperial Red Ale - San Diego, CA
Naked City Brewing Jack the Ripa Rye IPA - Seattle, WA
Black Raven Brewing Trickster IPA - Redmond, WA
Iron Horse Brewing Irish Death Specialty Dark Ale - Ellensburg, WA
Lost Abbey 10 Commandments Belgian Strong Dark Ale - San Diego, CA

Saraveza's List:

Migration Brewing Black Hearted CDA - Portland, OR
Amnesia Brewing Dusseldorf Alt Bier - Portland, OR
Coalition Brewing "Hanso" Stout - Portland, OR
Flat Tail Brewing "Some Like it Hop" IIPA - Corvallis, OR
Burnside Brewing "Alter Ego" IPA - Portland, OR
Vertigo Brewing Amber - Hillsboro, OR
Heater Allen Brewing Pils - McMinnville, OR
Block 15 Brewing "Psidium" Guava Farmhouse Ale - Corvallis, OR

Session Beer Festival, presented by Naked City and NW Beer Guide

Seattle's Naked City Brewery and Taphouse is hosting a 10-day festival in July dedicated to session beers. Info is as follows:

Calendar of Events

Session Fest Thursday, July 14th, 2011 thru Sunday, July 24th, 2011

There is no admission cost and beer pricing will be based on whether a schooner or pint is consumed.

24+ beers featured through the week with only 12 made available any given time.

Note, Current Draft List is being created and will be sent out shortly. Currently we have unique offerings from Elysian Fields, Two Beers Brewing, Epic Ales and a few others. Once we have the proposed draft list we will forward you the updated information.

Session Fest Brewers Night July 14th, 2011 Approx. 6 PM

Look for brewers who have contributed to this year's festival to be in attendance.

Note, Details are still being completed but the hope will be to feature prizes and maybe even a few surprises.

Naked City Brewery & Taphouse (http://nakedcitybrewing.com)

8564 Greenwood Avenue North Seattle, WA 98103 (206) 838-6299

For More information contact Paul Orchard (northwestbeerguide@gmail.com), follow the festival on Twitter (@sessionfest) or visit http://nwsessionfest.blogspot.com.

Double Mountain's Kriek Kamp - July 13-15

Double Mountain has put together a unique event for Oregon Craft Beer Month and the release of this year's Devil's Kriek.

From the press release:

In honor of our most special of beers, we hereby invite the you to join a limited cadre of Double Mountain fanatics at our first-ever "KRIEK KAMP", an immersive celebration of all things Kriek-y and good. You'll get to hang out with our brew staff; see the full picture of how our Devil's and Rainier Krieks make the voyage from the farm to the glass; and even join in the process yourselves.

Our main goal as usual is to have a boa...tload of fun.

We're still fine-tuning the details, but here's a peek at the itinerary:

Wed 7/13 pm -- Pizza Party w/ Kriek Seminar and Vertical Tasting, led by Brewmaster Matt

Thurs 7/14 am -- In-depth Brew Tour and Sensory Training at the Brewery; Lunch

Thurs 7/14 pm -- Brewery Tour at Logsdon's Farmhouse Ales in Odell; Cherry Picking Party and Barbecue at Matt's Orchard in Odell

Fri 7/15 am -- Cherry Crush at the Brewery; Farewell Lunch.

Cost: $150 includes meals, beers, and transportation to/from our events in Odell. To make your reservations, please call the Taproom at 541-387-0042 during business hours.

Space limited to 20 intrepid Kriek-lovers. Hope you can join us!

For more info contact Charlie Devereux at 503-939-0606 or charlie@doublemountainbrewery.com.

Beer News

Hopworks Bike Bar official Grand Opening Celebration on Wednesday
On Wednesday, June 15, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland’s first “Eco-Brewpub” will celebrate the opening of its second location, BikeBar, with a charity fun ride from the original Hopworks location and $2 beers and bike checkups at BikeBar.
BikeBar is located at 3947 N. Williams Ave. in the ecoFLATS building.
Here’s the details:

Wednesday, June 15 – 5 p.m.
HUB to Pub charity ride: Hopworks will celebrate the new location’s opening with a fun ride including owner/brewmaster Christian Ettinger. Led by Portland Bicycle Tours, the ride departs from Hopworks Urban Brewery (2944 SE Powell Blvd.) and travels along the waterfront before hooking up with the Williams Ave. “Bike Highway” and arriving at BikeBar. Hopworks is asking riders to make a donation to North Portland Bike Works, a nonprofit community bike shop focused on commuting and teaching people how to work on their bikes. The ride departs Hopworks at 5 p.m. and is expected to arrive at BikeBar at 6 p.m. Signups for the ride begin in the back parking lot at 4:30.
A $10 donation gets you BikeBar schwag and 2 tickets for free beer at BikeBar’s grand opening. Wear your favorite HUB shirt and get an extra ticket.
Local brewery tour company Brewvana will also run a shuttle from Hopworks to the new location between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m.

BikeBar Grand Opening: Grand Opening festivities at BikeBar begin at 5 p.m. with $2 HUB organic beers.  From 6 – 8 p.m. the BikeBar back patio will host mechanics from Bike N Hike conducting free bike checkups, the world-famous Hopworks Bar Bike pouring beer and guests can challenge their washer tossing skills with a game of washoes.

Grand Opening link: http://hopworksbeer.com/bikebar-grand-opening

Solstice Brewing to Open in Prineville

It's always nice to see a dream come to fruition, especially when we were there in the early conceptual days like we were with Solstice Brewing. One of the first stories written on The New School was of Joseph Barker and Tim Czuk's vision for a family friendly brewpub in SE Portland's Woodstock neighborhood. It was an idea that became slowly less and less likely to happen after the two were unable to find a good location. I thought for sure that Solstice Brewing was done for until I saw it mentioned on The Brew Site that they were opening in Prineville. I am trying to catch up with owner/brewer Joseph Barker on what the change of location means.

Deschutes Portland Base Camp Week

Earlier this year Deschutes began putting on "Base Camp" weeks at various cities throughout the midwest and east coast during various Beer Weeks. I went to what was perhaps the first Base Camp week in San Francisco in March, and the Deschutes promo team has been doing them ever since. Well, Base Camp is finally coming to Portland during the second week of August with what promises to be the biggest of the series. Last year's successful Street Fair outside of the PDX pub was a big success, and this year's 2nd annual Street Fair (August 18th) will be a part of Base Camp. The week will also include lots of special tappings, tastings, and beer dinners. The full schedule is coming soon. No word yet on how Deschutes feels about the upcoming Base Camp Brewing Co. slated for SE Portland.

Hawthorne Hophouse Opens Second Location - 15th Street Hophouse

Hawthorne Hophouse is already working on a 2nd location, despite being open less than a year. The new location will be called the 15th Street Hophouse to go with its location at 1517 NE Brazee, next to Foster & Dobbs. It will have more taps than the current location (32 to be exact), but otherwise sounds like it will be the same classic, family-friendly pub/restaurant. 15th Street Hophouse is scheduled to open in late July.

Bull Ridge Brewpub

A new 3-part business plan has just been recommended for approval by the OLCC in Baker City, OR (also home of Barley Browns). The Bull Ridge Brewpub will have an outdoor and sports theme and will first open with guest taps from other parts of Eastern Oregon, such as Pendleton. The next step would involve building their own brewhouse. Owner Julie Blank reports that a brewmaster has already been lined up for the job. The final phase of the development is to create themed rooms in the upper level of the building. It's unclear if these rooms are meant as dining or party spaces or overnight lodging. We will continue to follow Bull Ridge's development.

Burnside Brewing Releases Berliner-Weisse Today

Hopefully just in time for some good weather this weekend, Burnside is releasing my favorite style of summer beer -- a refreshingly tart wheat based Berliner-weisse. This low-alcohol style (3.3%) is both the perfect refresher and a great introductory beer to sours with its mild tartness. There will also be some fun twists on the traditional flavored syrups served with the beer in Germany: Gooseberry, Carrot and Satsuma Mandarin Orange syrups will all be available.

A Guide to the Portland Fruit Beer Festival

The Portland Fruit Beer Festival happens this weekend, and though a lot has been said about it already, I have a few things to add. Many people have labeled fruit beer "chick beer" or "girl beer", as Boneyard Brewing has called one of its beers (a beer that will not be at the festival). While there is some truth to that notion, there is a whole hell of a lot more that fruit beers can bring to the table that should be considered. In the same regard, there are a few other unique offerings and aspects of this festival worth discussing, not the least of which are the 31 Flavors of fruit beer that will be represented.

Weekend Beer News & Notes

Portland U-Brew - Soft Opening Today

Today at 11am the long awaited Homebrew shop, Brew-on-Premises and Brewpub in one Portland U-Brew opens its doors for a soft opening. I cant make it because of work but you should stop by. On tap  will be Deschutes Twilight, Bridgeport Kingpinm, Full Sail Amber Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Fort George Cavatica Stout, Ninkasi IPA, Max's Fanno Creek Vanilla Porter and a 2 year lagered Pilsner from Max's Fanno Creek (Owner Jason Webb brewed these beers when he was Brewmaster at Fanno Creek).

Samurai Artist and Fruit Beer Fest on KOIN 6

Yesterday I made an appearance on the motion picture box. It is painful to me to view myself but all in all it was not completely unwatchable.

Craft Dash tickets going Fast

The 3rd annual Craft Dash is coming up on July 9th. The pub crawl/5k race through North Portland taphouses and breweries is a guaranteed good time. Here is my experience doing it last year. And more on the event and how to sign-up on The Hop & Vine's website here.

Upright Brewing Sole Composition Rose City Seven Release

Also on Friday Upright releases just 10 cases of this years Rose City Seven which debuted last year at the NAOBF. The base beer for RC7 is of course Upright's Seven a strong golden saison that was then aged in Pinot Noir and White Wiskey barrels with Rose Petals and some wild yeast. The final beer is tart, floral, spicy, citrusy and tangy. Should be a great beer to age.

Slick new Beer Commercial going Viral

A new beer commercial has been making the rounds and getting a lot of hype on the web as the best beer commercial of all time.

OCI Heritage Pig Project: Trailer from Actual Industries on Vimeo.

OCI: Heritage Pig Project

The touching story of 3 Red Wattled Pigs raised by professors and aspiring chefs from youth to being served up as food pairings with Upright Brewing beer. Ok actually it's a little more complex than that but this mini documentary does follow 3 pigs, 2 raised in a pen and one in the pasture on 2 different farms and then finally served up to the table for a special dinner featuring Upright Brewing where the attendees try to taste the difference between pen raised and pasture raised pigs. So it is only tangentially related to beer but definitely worth watching. The above video is really just a preview. To watch the whole series go here.

One last chance to try the Kopstootje Pairing at The Hop & Vine

There is a lot of Upright Brewing news this week what with one of if not thee last chance to try this unique pairing of Bols Genever a spirit and Upright Brewing's Kopstootje Biere de Garde brewed just to be paired with it in traditional Dutch fashion. I wrote all about it here. Try them together today (Friday) at 5pm at The Hop & Vine.

Brewmaster Larry Sidor Leaving Deschutes Brewery

Samurai Artist and Deschutes Larry Sidor from AllOverBeer.com

Ah, damn, big news just made its way to my inbox. Longtime Deschutes Brewery Brewmaster Larry Sidor is stepping down to pursue a secret new project. I just interviewed Larry on Behind the Pint a couple of weeks ago. Below is a Q and A with Larry from Deschutes marketing person Marie Melshimer about his time with the company and his future. We are simply re-publishing this interview, so we are unable to fill in a few of the gaps and ask any hard questions.

Hazy Memories of the Emerald City - Part 1

Having recently returned from Seattle Beer Week, I thought I may share some of my unique experiences with you. I journeyed to the Emerald City for just 2 days along with Yetta Vorobik of The Hop & Vine and Kat Martin of Grain & Gristle to meet up with the Ninkasi and Hopworks crews. Our main purpose was to host a couple of Brewing up Cocktails events, but we did so much more than that.

Fire On The Mountain - Brewpub Coming Soon

The rumors have been swirling, and now inside sources are confirming that the uber-popular local beer and hot wings mini-chain Fire on The Mountain will be opening its own brewery. This will be located alongside its new restaurant in an abandoned market space in NE Portland, kitty corner to the Rose City Cemetery. The space was originally considered for Alameda Brewing's future production brewery.

Oregon Breweries By the Numbers

The other day I came across some really interesting info on the sales numbers of taxable barrels of malt beverages reported to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission so far this year from Oregon breweries. The numbers only reflect sales through March, which is the most recent published report, but they are quite revealing and could launch numerous articles. Breweries are listed from largest volume to smallest based on year-to-date sales. The first number after each brewery's name is the barrels sold during the month of March, and the second number the barrels year-to-date.

First Look: Hopworks Bike Bar - Opening Today

Today, Sunday, June 5th, Hopworks Urban Brewery aka HUB opens its second location, the 'Bike Bar'. The New School got an early sneak peak at the more streamlined and much more bike-friendly pub. Located on the busiest bicycle corridor in the state at 3947 N. Williams, inside the brand new ecoFlats building, it is a smaller endeavor that does not have its own brewery.

Beer Lists: Breakside's Collaboration Fest & Amnesia's Single Hop Fest Revealed

It's another busy weekend in PDX, beginning today with the annual Zoo Brew and continuing Saturday with two mini fests: Amnesia's Single Hop Fest and Breakside Brewery's Collaboration Fest. All of them are worthy of your time. While the Amnesia and Breakside events have seen previous coverage on this blog and others, no one has reported much on the individual entries that will be available at each event. I spent a little time catching up with the various brewers to bring you much more detailed lists that you will find below.

Pelican Brewery Planning Big Expansion and Second Location

Rendering from Kelly Edwards of Scott Edwards Architecture LLP

From the Tillamook Headlight Herald comes word that Pacific City, OR's acclaimed Pelican Brewery is planning to build a second location in cooperation with the the Port of Tillamook Bay on port property. This location would feature an on-site production brewery, packaging plant, restaurant, and perhaps even a bakery and coffee roastery. The expansion would double the brewery's size, increasing output from 5,000 bbl a year to 10,000, and would add 79 jobs. I talked to friends at the brewery to confirm this news. They were at first caught off guard, having just heard of this themselves, but later got confirmation from co-owner and Brewmaster Darron Welch.

It's interesting that Pelican is not opting to open a new space in Portland, which is a growing market for them with their own storage house in Portland already and their slow ease into Washington distribution. I can only speculate that Tillamook County offered significant incentives to staying in the area.

"A facility visible from the Coast Highway would attract locals as well as tourists," said Michelle Bradley, the Port of Tillamook Bay general manager "The port board is hoping to see the domino effect of bringing in an excellent anchor tenant."

Judging from the conceptual artwork above, this would be a huge tourist attraction and looks like a massive jump in scale and stature. I have reached out to Darron Welch for comment and hope to update this post when I hear back...

All Hail Ninkasi

The hippest brewery in Oregon - and more Portlandia than any in town - Ninkasi just dropped a new blitz of various non-traditional marketing and packaging strategies. A series of new video commercials on each of its beers, a Ninkasi-ized version of classic boardgame Hungry Hungry Hippos, and a cool new Four Pack of 22oz bombers. What makes the four pack unique is that it comes with a Ninkasi Northwest Local MP3 Compilation download code. All of this comes on the heels of the brewery's recent rollout of 6-packs for its core lineup, and the announcement that OLCC sales numbers put them above the likes of Bridgeport Brewing. Lots more on these below...

Review: Bridgeport Summer Squeeze

When I first heard about Bridgeport's Summer Squeeze I was cautiously intrigued. Bridgeport is super hit-and-miss in my opinion, and other than the Hop Czar the brewery has been pretty much all misses for awhile. The idea of a summer quaffer that uses lemongrass and Yuzu fruit, however, seemed like a good and interesting choice. The question is whether they would dive into the possibilities of these unique ingredients or use them more in name alone.