Blog

Fort George Tap Takeover Friday, October 5th, 5p-9p Sellwood Public House 8132 SE 13th Ave. Portland, OR 97202

Once and a while stars collide and we can all bathe in the magic of the heavenly dust as if floats gently to our souls. And if that’s too much of a funky concept dig this: one of my favorite places to hunker down with brew and friends is The Sellwood Public House. They are hooking up with another favorite of mine, Fort George Brewery, for a full tap takeover this Friday night. You should go.

If you don’t make your way down into the Sellwood area often, shame on you, its great. Sellwood is where Hawthorne hipsters go when they grow up and start families - baby bjorns mixed with fiscal responsibility with a hint of an eclectic Mayberry vibe. There is plenty of parking along the streets the you’ll be surprised with how much space and Sellwood Public House has to offer. Great food, art, people...and there’s a full on game room if you need to go sweat out some toxins over ping-pong, darts, pool, or poker (The real kind—no videos here).

As for the beer? Yes, they are always rotating great stuff from a ton of different breweries. Fort George is often in the mix and I think it’s great that you can save a trip to Astoria and really get into the amazing beers they offer. Friday night there is something for everyone! You’ll be able to taste the following:

1811 Lager 5.1% abv

Two centuries ago, on the site of what is now the Fort George Brewery block, fur magnate John Jacob Astor’s expedition boldly built a trading post they called Astoria—the first US settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. Today, we’re proud to craft the Official Bicentennial Beer of Astoria. Many West Coast brewers in the 19th century had no ice, so they improvised an effervescent beer by brewing lager yeasts at higher-than-normal temperatures. Described as a “refreshing drink, much consumed by the laboring classes,” it’s the inspiration for 1811 lager. More flavorful than most modern lagers, and fermented at warmer temperatures, 1811 is lovingly concocted from 2 row malted barley and cracked maize; corn was a popular beer ingredient in pre-Prohibition days. 1811’s hop character gives it a distinctive Northwest style worthy of Astoria’s 200-year history.

Nut Red 5.1% abv

While hops and bitterness are all the rage today this beer takes time to explore the complexity and character of malt. This red is really more of a rich scarlet and is created from a wide variety of specialty malts carefully milled together to form layers of toast, roast, and biscuit, with a nutty finish. These are balanced with mild and complementary hops resulting in a beer neither too bitter nor too sweet.

Vortex IPA 7.7% abv 97 ibu

India Pale Ales were designed to withstand the long voyage to India. Today, it seems one has to design the IPA strong and hoppy enough to make the trip back as well. Vortex IPA is Fort George’s contribution to the IPA arms race. With generous additions of Amarillo, Simcoe and Centennial hops throughout the brewing, fermentation and conditioning phases, balanced with heaps of organic pale malt, we designed this to not rip the taste buds off your tongue, but rather vigorously stimulate them and your palate into a lupulin-ecstacy of pleasure.  During the cross-country truck trip our brewery made to find its home in Astoria it was nearly scattered to the cornfields of Nebraska by a tornado. We try to capture some of nature’s intensity in every pint.

Drunkin Pumpkin 5.6% abv

Fall brings about so many great things.  The beautiful colors, the smell after the first rain, and of course, pumpkin beer!  We bake off roughly A LOT of pumpkins and throw them into the mash to draw out that deliciously smooth taste.  The pumpkins create a a creamy and subtle after-taste to the rich, malty core that is this autumn ale.  Enjoy this beer as you plan some Halloween tricks and treats!

Omegatex 9.7% abv 100+ ibu

Inspired by the tried and true Vortex IPA, but bigger, hoppier and just as balanced as the Vortex that Fort George drinkers have been keen to since the brewery was almost scattered in a corn field.  The brewers at Fort George were making A LOT of Vortex, but just felt like it needed more umph.  After a rather strong early batch of Vortex in the pub, the regulars agreed, but this was not for the full pint.  This beer is not for everyone, but surely hoppy and big enough for many in the Pacific Northwest. Heavily hopped with Summit and Cascade hops, check out OMEGATEX.

Co-Hoperative Ale 5% abv

Fort George was founded on the idea that many hands make light work. We extend this philosophy to the creation of our annual fresh hop beer, Co-Hoperative Ale. The call goes out to all Fort George fans to bring in their hops that bloom on fences, barns, and houses.  We then spend a day picking all of them off the vines, not even knowing the variety of many!  12 donors lended their crop to this year’s batch, which equated to the heaviest hopping schedule yet.  It smells like teamwork and tastes like unity.  Enjoy this light, crisp, amber beer and take note of its harmonious spirit.

Fresh Hop Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale (OPA) 5.2% abv

This is the same great Oatmeal Pale Ale that has been making mornings easier to bear, but now is fresher and danker than ever.  For this batch, Fort George brewers used whole fresh hops shipped directly from Hop Union in Yakima WA, and threw them into the kettle that very same day.  They had used so many hops during the four previous fresh hop beer-brews this season, that all of the remaining hop sacks remained happily torn.  So they did this one the dirty way, and pitched the entire batch of whole hops right into the kettle.  Amarillo, Citra, and Centennial hops were used to make this hoppy pale.   Dirty=Delicious.

Fresh Hop Vortex IPA 7.7% abv

For this batch of Vortex, Fort George moved its production back to the pub system, “Sweet Virginia,” where it all started, and vowed to make the freshest, hoppiest Vortex yet.  The hops were shipped directly from Hop Union in Yakima, WA after harvest and the whole hops were thrown directly into the kettle.  Oozing of luplulin, the sticky-icky fresh hops added were Simcoe, Amarillo, and a light hand of Citra and Centennial.

Hopstoria 4.4% abv

When people think of Astoria, two words come to mind. Fresh and enigmatic.  This beer is Astoria.  The aroma has been modeled after the smell of the late summer rain that has crept its way into Astoria this time of year.  Hopstoria has a golden hue that complements the crisp, subtle taste of the woods. With mild notes of pine, roast, and a hint of spruce, Hopstoria is our liquid adaptation of why people love Astoria and why they feel compelled to come back.

Bourbon Barrel Cavatica Stout 9% abv

What could make our Cavatica stout even better? Bourbon! We let our house stout sit in Makers Mark barrels for two months.   There in the dark, bourbon soaked barrel our stout soaked up as much bourbon quality that it could before we sent it off to the bright tanks. With an up front bourbon taste backed by our dark, malty stout, the Bourbon Barrel Cavatica is a deliciously potent brew that demands a taste.

Flanders Nut Red Ale 5% abv

The Fort George brewers noticed something funky in a couple of past bourbon barrels in 2011 and decided to put some of our Coffee Girl Stout into the special oak.  This bacteria had happily infected the wood imparting the “Tart” in our Kentucky Tart Girl, and was not leaving. This happened to coincide with a brewer-beer love affair with a lady known as “The Duchesse De Bourgogne,” the epitome of the Flemish style red ale.  This Fort George brewer, Michal Frankowicz, had a brainstorm and decided to take a stab at the style.  He filled the barrels with Fort George’s Nut Red Ale and let them age for a full year.  Three months into the process, another batch of NRA was kegged and set to the cellar.  After a full year, the deliciously sour barrels were tastefully mixed together with the aged kegs, bringing together flavors of roasted oak, sweet sugar, a hint of vinegar and bourbon into this murky red ale.  It’s little bit nutty, but with a pucker of sour flavor followed up by a clean finish.

So gather some friends, find the person who lost the bet and ask them to drive. Enjoy a great evening of beer and food with the discovery of Sellwood Public House and Fort George Brewery. You may just have to brush off that pesky stardust in the morning. Cheers.