Portland Fruit Beer Festival's Beer List and Behind-the-Scenes Making of Video

The full beer list for the 2012 Portland Fruit Beer Festival has been released alongside a behind-the-scenes, making-of style video for one of the beers, Laurelwood's 'Cascara Obscura'.

Expanding from 15 regular entries at last year's fest, the 2012 edition has 25 entries--24 beers and one hard cider. That number doesn't include the addition of a super-special batch of cider from Bushwhacker Cidery, Brooklyn Sour, that is limited to just 2 kegs. The list should please many, with its range from classic fruit beer flavors like cherries, to exotic offerings like papaya, to bourbon barrel-aged and sour beers. There will be something for everyone.

Last year one of my favorite beers was Block 15's beer brewed with guava. This year Block 15 has switched it up a bit with a beer made with papaya, based a similar sounding partially barrel-aged recipe. I can't wait to try it.

Two of the most popular beers from last year, Widmer's Gose and Alameda's Huckleberry Hound, are back but slightly tweaked. Last year the original Gose from Widmer used raspberries, but this year's has marionberries. The Huckleberry Hound was an Imperial IPA last year, but now it's been toned down to a regular-strength IPA.

Ninkasi is sure to sell out fast with its first-ever bourbon barrel-aged beer featuring the base of this year's Renewale, which was a smokey porter I loved. I bet it will be sublime with the addition of bourbon and cherries.

Breakside Brewery is trying something crazy as usual by throwing whole strawberry rhubarb pies into the beer at every stage, from mash to boil to fermenter.

The Commons Brewery, fresh off its World Beer Cup medal, has a really tasty sounding exotic beer inspired by Vietnamese cooking and featuring mangos, Thai basil, lemongrass and lime.


The Beer List:

10 Barrel Brewing: Raspberry Sour

Raspberry Sour will slap you in the face with raspberry tartness then slaps you again with an undeniable sourness. It ends refreshing and dry daring you to take another drink.
ABV: 5%
IBU: 4

Alameda Brewing Company: Huckleberry Hound

Huckleberry Hound is a light bodied, sessionable India Pale Ale with a new twist.... HUCKLEBERRIES! Take German Pilsner malt, American hops, an ale yeast strain, northwest huckleberries, artfully brew with them and you will have this amazing beer. This isn’t any wimpy fruit beer, it really is an IPA with 6.5% ABV and 55 IBU”S. It is just the perfect beverage to kick off the warm days of summer, whether you are out in the mountains gathering berries or relaxing on the river. Just watch out for the black bears.
Malts: 2-Row, Pilsner. Hops: Millenium, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 55

Bend Brewing Company: Ching Ching

Ching Ching is a whimsical take on a German Berliner Weisse. It is effervescent with a Swee Tart tanginess. Pomegranate and hibiscus make this a perfect summer thirst quencher that just might push the boundaries of what you consider beer. Bronze medal winner at the Great American Beer Fest 2011.
ABV: 4.5%
IBU: 4

Block 15 Brewing Company: Tropical Storm

Farmhouse style ale brewed with Pilsner malts, Palm Sugar and Nelson Sauvin Hops. Conditioned with yellow papaya and blended with a one year old barrel of Ferme de la Ville Provisions.

Boneyard Beer Company: Femme Fatale

Raspberry Tart Ale. Red to brown in color, 12.5lbs per barrel raspberry pitched into the fermentation. Influenced by Belgium sour brown and Flanders red.
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 12

Breakside Brewery: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

A malty golden ale made with whole strawberry rhubarb pies (crust included) in the mash, kettle, and fermentor.
ABV: 6%
IBU: 20

Burnside Brewing: Red Light District

An Imperial stout brewed with 44 pounds of Belgian chocolate and 400 pounds of strawberries aged in Pacific Rum barrels

The Commons Brewery: Saigon Saison

Light colored, full bodied saison. The spicing and fruit additions should be refreshing and be indicative of Vietnamese cooking.
ABV: 5.75%
IBU: 16

Deschutes Brewery: Extinction Stout

Raspberry Stout. Deep velvet chocolate malt decadence folded with delicate raspberries. This stout combines two of life’s finer flavors into drinkable glory.
ABV: 9.5%
IBU: 65

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

1. Festina Peche

A tart and refreshing wheat beer. Festina is fermented with loads of peaches and makes a great summertime thirst quencher.
ABV: 4.5%

2. Tweason’ale

Gluten-free with gusto. The hints of molasses and pit-fruit in this sorghum-based beer are balanced by vibrant strawberry and honey notes.

Elysian Brewing Company: Yuzu's Belgian-Style Golden Ale

Light. Refreshing. Good.
Yuzu’s is made with 100% pale malt, Turbinado sugar and Belgian Golden ale yeast. Bittered with Magnum and finished with Styrian Goldings hops. Organic dried lemon peel is added at the end of the boil, and yuzu juice is added both pre- and post-fermentation. Starting gravity 12°P (1.048).
ABV: 4.5%

Flat Tail Brewing Company: Strawberry Rhubarb Corvaller Weisse

Our Corvaller Weisse fermented 100% in barrel, then refermented on stainless with fresh strawberries and local rhubarb.

Fort George Brewery and Public House: South

South, a Strong Summer Fruit Ale Brewed simply, yet deftly with only Organic Pilsner malt, South is aged in Argyle Pinot Noir barrels for two months then conditioned in a bright tank with 100 pounds of frozen raspberries creating a stunning sunset hue that evokes tropical transcendance. The oak gives complexity to the body and a little Cascade and Amarillo are the spice that reminds us there can be bitterness in paradise.
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: Mild to Medium Bitterness (Note the qualitative rather than quantitative bitterness rating)

Gigantic Brewing Company: Hot Town, Summer in the City

Back of my neck getting burnt and gritty. Imperial Black Saison aged with a myriad of chili peppers. A beer that will prepare you for the zombies, concrete and fire.

Hopworks Urban Brewery: Belgian Apple Beer

Belgian Golden Apple: 70% Organic 2 Row, 30% Organic Wheat, OG: 14. Apples are organic apples sourced from Hood River.
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 10

Laurelwood Brewing Company: Camera Obscura

Belgian Style Dark ale/dubbel. 18 Plato, Fruit is Hawaiian Cascara, i.e., the cherry off of the coffee bean.
ABV: 7.8%
IBU: 25

Lompoc Brewing: Bomb.com

A blend of 3 different beers; Kick Axe fermented in Maryhill Winery Port barrels with tart cherries, Cherry Bomb, and Lompoc Wheat Wine. It has pleasant notes of vanilla and berry fruit, a light mouthfeel, and a tartness coming from the sour cherries.
ABV: 6%

Lucky Labrador: Lychee Lager

A light lager flavored with lychee.

New Belgium Brewing: Hip Hop Saison

Our Valentine's Day beer brewed with raspberries and rose-hips. Fermented with a French Saison yeast, a little tart, a little sweet, really delicious.
ABV: 7.5%

Ninkasi Brewing Company: Cherry Bourbon Renewale Porter

Renewale Robust Porter that has been aged in Heaven Hills Bourbon Barrels with cherries.
Bittersweet chocolate, caramel, pleasant fruity esters and a smooth malt creaminess combine to create a flavorful, drinkable and true-to-style Robust Porter. The bourbon barrels bring out vanilla and a hint of coconut while the cherries brind fruit to the nose and a subtle tartness.
ABV: 5.9%
IBU: 38

Oakshire Brewing: Whack & Unwrap

Orange Chocolate Porter. A creamy Chocolate Porter with hints of juicy oranges.
ABV: 6%
IBU: 20

Upright Brewing: Levinator

The Levinator is a barley based bock brewed with Bavarian weisse yeast, lending the characteristic fruity and spicy character beers fermented with it are known for. It's matured in two wine barrels with Oregon black currant puree for an extra fruity and snappy profile.
ABV: 7.2%

Widmer Brothers Brewing: Marrionberry Hibiscus Gose

Gose is a traditional cloudy German style of beer that balances tart and slightly salty features with a soft malt background. Our unique take uses a healthy dose of Oregon-grown Marrionberries as well as organic dried Hibiscus flowers for a tart, floral profile with clove and coriander flavors to round it out. Goseanna! Original Gravity - 11.8o Plato. Fruit – Oregon-grown Marrionberries.
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 15

CIDER:

2 Towns Ciderhouse: The Bad Apple

Semi-Dry Cider, hand crafted in Oregon with all Northwest ingredients, The Bad Apple is a rich & bold cider with notes of fruit and vanilla. This complex cider is aged on brandy-cured Oregon White Oak. The Bad Apple is surely a cider to savor.
ABV: 10.5%

Bushwhacker Cider: Brookland Sour

The Brookland Sour is a cherry cider, made with Oregon apples. The cherries used are tart and sour, and then the batch was dry oaked. Fermented with London ESB yeast, the juice was first infected with lactobacillus, to try and get as much sour flavors. The cider name comes from the original name of the neighborhood that Bushwhacker is located in.
ABV: 10.5%

Those are just a few of many many beers I am dying to try.
The pertinent info:

2012 PORTLAND FRUIT BEER FESTIVAL F.A.Q.

Friday June 8th Pre-Fest Homebrewers Dinner 6 - 9pm

FESTIVAL

Saturday June 9th 10am - 11pm VIP Hour

Saturday June 9th 11am - 9pm

Sunday June 10th 11am - 6pm

Purchase Advanced Tickets: http://portlandfruitbeerfest.strangertickets.com/

LOCATION

7th & E. Burnside on the North side of the street. Taking place between Burnside & Couch streets on 7th and in the parking lot of Burnside Brewing Co. at 701 E. Burnside Portland, OR 97214