Our last stop of the day was Oakshire Brewing, in an industrial section of Northwest Eugene.  While it’s not an easy walk from downtown, it’s definitely worth the trip to check out their offerings.  It’s currently only open on Saturdays for samples, but they have plans to expand your experience.  From their website: “Oakshire Brewing’s tasting room is open every Saturday from 12-4pm for tastings and tours. We currently are only able to offer samples during our tasting rooms hours but will soon be able to sell full pints as well! Some great plans are on the horizon to add some picnic tables outside and maybe even bring in some live music as the weather continues to improve.”  UPDATE: I grabbed the above from their website, but Matt Van Wyk informed me that they are currently serving pints and up to seven different Oakshire beers on draft.

Oakshire Brewing was founded in 2006 by brothers Jeff and Chris Althouse with a 4 barrel brewing system and 8 barrel fermenters.  For everyone that can do the math: yep, a lot of double batches to fill up those conicals.  They have recently expanded to a 15 barrel brewing system and added much larger fermenters, taking as many as five batches to fill up the largest.  Their current capacity is now 7500-800 barrels You can see the effects of the new capacity on the their production timeline:

• 2006: 6 barrels
• 2007: about 300 barrels
• 2008: about 1100 barrels
• 2009: about 2000 barrels
• 2010: about 3600 barrels (expected)

Oakshire Brewing.

Their flagship beers are the Watershed IPA and Espresso Stout, making up 50% of their total production.  Estimates on current bottle and draft production fall into the 88% draft, 12% bottles.

March 30th 2009 was the official start date for brewer Matt Van Wyk, who took over the brewing helm at Oakshire after an impressive and award winning career at Flossmoor Station in Illinois.  We toured the facility with Matt and tasted some beers from the fermenters.  Most surprising was their latest creation: O’Dark:30, a Cascadian Dark Ale.  With only two days in the fermenter, it already tasted quite good.  Usually, beer this young can taste very unfinished since it’s still in the middle of the fermentation process.  The O’Dark:30 still had a bit to go, but one sip of this creation easily pointed to the beginnings of a great beer. Portland will be able to taste the finished product when bottles and draft start hitting the shelves and taps this week.

So, keep your eye out for the Oakshire name on tap handles and bottles in your area.  Below is a summary list of their offerings.  Check out their website for the full list and more details on their year round and seasonal and single batch offerings.

Year Round Beers:

• Oakshire Amber – ABV: 5.4% / IBUs: 30 / OG: 12.8° Plato
• Watershed IPA – ABV: 7.1% / IBUs: 75 / OG: 16.1° Plato
• Overcast Espresso Stout – ABV: 5.8% / IBUs: 37 / OG: 14.5° Plato

Seasonals and Single Batch Beers:

• Cornucopia Frog’s Wort Pale Ale – ABV: / IBUs: / OG: ° Plato
• Smokin’ Bagpipes Strong Scotch Ale – ABV: 7.0% / IBUs: 12 / OG: 16.5° Plato
• Very Ill Tempered Gnome Winter – Ale ABV: 9.7% / IBUs: 100 / OG: 18.8° Plato
• Ill Tempered Gnome Winter Ale – ABV: 6.8% / IBUs: 65 / OG: 15.5° Plato
• Red Nugget American Red Ale – Fresh Hop Series
• Harvest Ale – Fresh Hop Series
• Cascade Conundrum Black Pale Ale – Fresh Hop Series
• Line Dry Rye – ABV: 5.5% / IBUs: 35 / OG: 12.0° Plato
• Perfect Storm Imperial IPA – ABV: 10.0% / IBUs: 100+ / OG: 19.9° Plato
• Glen’s Hop Vice Imperial IPA – ABV: 9.1% / IBUs: 100+ / OG: 20.3° Plato
• Oakshire Hindsight ESB Spring Seasonal – ABV: 5.8% / IBUs: 50
• Oakshire Sasquatch Stonge Ale – ABV: 9.3% / IBUs: 78 / OG: 19.8° Plato
• O’Dark:30 – ABV: 6.3% / IBUs: 70 / OG: 15° Plato

Check out the rest of the photos here.

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Related posts:

1. South of Portland: Hop Valley Brewing Company in Eugene
2. South of Portland: Ninkasi Brewing Company in Eugene
3. Oakshire Brewing Expands, Adds Brewmaster

In the Northwest, beers that showcase hops usually come in the form of  Pales, IPAs, or Imperial IPAs.  Once upon a time, a brewer pondered, “Just how many hops can I fit into a beer?”  Throw in high alpha hops for bitterness, big citrus hops for flavor, and tons of dry hops for a huge floral nose, and you’ll end up with some of big hop bombs known around Portland.

Brewer Paul Bergeman of Laurelwood Brewing Company loves hops as much as the next person, but decided to carry out a different type of hop experiment: the Single Hop Red Series.  Paul chooses one hop variety and uses it for all of the hopping stages in a Red Ale: bittering, flavor, and aroma.  The idea is simple, yet multi-faceted in it’s payoff.  First of all, we get to try great new beers–the best benefit of all!  Second, the person with the pint in front of them gets an education on different hop profiles.  Doesn’t it feel good to get smarter as you drink?  And third, brewers that push themselves are ultimately going to make better beers through experimentation and self-education.  Again, a win for those of us bellied up to the bar or walking out with a growler.

I asked Paul why he started the program and why he chose Red Ales.  “The program was developed to give people a better understanding of each hop variety’s components in beer as well as to utilize and identify each hop variety’s bitterness, flavor, and aroma qualities,” Paul stated.  “Generally, people are given beers and assume that because of it’s color, it’s going to a have a certain profile.  Whereas with Reds, each one you taste is almost always different.  The idea is that people don’t think right off that bat that it is going to be either extreme, it will be in the middle.  People believe that Pale’s are going to be hoppy, and Browns are going to malty.  With Reds it can go to either side of the spectrum or land right in the middle.”

If you’re new to this series, you’ve already missed out on a big chunk of Paul’s experiment.  He has already crafted single hop Red Ales with: CTZ, Magnum, Cascade, Centennial, Liberty, Saaz, Ahtanum, Simcoe, Summit, Northern Brewer, Nugget, Crystal, Amarillo…  Here are the descriptions and stats of a few of his creations:

• El Rojo: ”Red ales have become quite the thing since we first brewed our flagship Free Range Red years ago. This style now encompasses such a wide range of flavors from malty to hoppy that we thought we’d showcase another side red ales. El Rojo is a brilliant ruby colored heavily hopped beer. Using only Amarillo hops, this beer acknowledges the malty side of the style, then kicks it aside and gets all kinds of hoppy.” (IBU: 75 Plato: 15 ABV: 6)
• Gayle: ”Alright, hop nerds. Here’s our latest single hop beer- with a little something for all you that like both kinds of music- Country and Western. Gayle was brewed exclusively with Crystal hops. These low bitterness hops are similar to Mt. Hood and Liberty varieties. Pungent, Oregon-grown hops, Crystals are used primarily for their aroma qualities.” (IBU: 57 Plato: 16 ABV: 6)
• Le Rouge: ”Number six in our series of single hop Red Ales, Le Rouge brings us the wonders of the Ahtanum hop. Also used in our Boss IPA and Stout, Ahtanum hops are a fairly low bittering variety known mainly for their similarity to cascade hops. This beer is hopped like an American Pale Ale, with medium bitterness and a bit of dry hop aroma.” (IBU: 44 Plato: 14 ABV: 6)
• Liberty Red Single Hopped Ale: ”The seventh beer in our series of single hop Red Ales, Liberty Red brings us the wonders of the Liberty hop. Liberty hops are the American version of the German Hallertau and are known for their aromatic properties and mild bitterness. This beer features a nice citrus flavor with subtle earthy tones. Liberty Red is hopped like an American Pale Ale, with medium bitterness and a bit of dry hop aroma.” (IBU: 48 Plato: 14 ABV: 6)
• Saaz Single Hop Red: ”Another in our series of beers brewed with just one hop variety. This time we’ve looked to one of the greatest brewing countries and selected the Czech Saaz hop. Saaz hops are known for their spicy, herbal quality. Typically used in lagers, we’ve found they make great ales too.” (IBU: 35 Plato: 15 ABV: 6)

Paul Bergeman.

It’s not fair to the other hops if you pick a favorite, but when posed the question:  ”My stand alone favorite for personal taste would have to be the Centennial hop because of it’s sharp bitterness and it’s floral aroma.  However, my fall back—and most consistent hop—would have to be the Cascade hop because of it’s versatile use.  Cascades can be used in anything from an IPA for it’s clean bitterness and citrus like smell, to a Porter because it has hidden qualities that give the beer a hint of hoppiness but doesn’t take away from the maltiness that people prefer to enjoy in the darker beers.”

You can find El Rojo on tap at the NE 40th Avenue location—if you hurry.  And keep an eye out for the next beer in the Single Hop Red Series when Paul hopes to use Sorachi-Ace hops:  “I am excited to use this because I have yet to brew with this variety.  This hop comes from Japan and is said to have a lemon/citrus like characteristic.”

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1. Beer of the Month – Laurelwood Piston Pale Ale [May 2007]
2. 10 Questions with Chad Kennedy of Laurelwood Brewery
3. Beer of the Month – Laurelwood Break A Leg Rye [August 2007]

Well, I don’t need to tell you that Ninkasi (www.ninkasibrewing.com) is a brewing company in Eugene. If you haven’t heard of them or tried their beers, then you don’t live in the Northwest.  With beers like Total Domination, Sleigh’r, and Tricerahops, the company is anything but shy about their brewery or their beer.

Started in 2006, Jamie Floyd and business partner Nikos Ridge began contract brewing in the space that Hop Valley Brewing now occupies in Springfield (formerly Spencer’s Restaurant and Brewhouse followed by Sofia’s Restaurant and Bavarian Brewery).  Quickly reaching their maximum production levels, Jamie and Nikos moved into their own space in the Whiteaker neighborhood of Eugene.  And they didn’t stop growing.

Jamie must have closed his eyes and covered his ears, ignoring the recent and devastating recession.  In the last two years, the company has grown from 2 employees to 37, now including benefits (and a 1 barrel brewing system for the employees to “play with”).  The maximum production at their contract space was 1600 Barrels per year in 2006 and the output at the end of 2010 is estimated to be 32,000 Barrels.  But that’s not enough for Ninkasi, whose current brewery remodeling will raise the capacity to 90,000 Barrels annually.  The expansion also includes a new Krones bottling line capable of filling 240 bottles per minute.

Currently, Ninkasi’s flagship is their Total Domination IPA (6.7% ABV, 65 IBUs), which makes up about 60% of their total bottle production.  Other standards include:

• Tricerahops Double IPA: 8.8% ABV, 100+ IBUs.
• Believer Double Red: 6.9% ABV, 60 IBUs.
• Quantum Pale Ale: 5.6% ABV, 35 IBUs.
• Oatis Oatmeal Stout: 7.5% ABV, 45 IBUs.

And seasonals:

• Radiant Summer Ale: 6%% ABV, 40 IBUs.
• Spring Reign: 6% ABV, 38 IBUs.
• Sleigh’R: 7.2% ABV, 50 IBUs.
• Maiden the Shade

Ninkasi beer is beginning to appear all over the Northwest and beyond in bottles and draft.  But this outward distribution growth into other regions isn’t a reflection of their core principal of local community.  While wider distribution helps pay the bills, the focus of Jamie and Nikos, and by extension the company, is focused very locally.  No matter what their size, Jamie will always see Ninkasi as the village brewery and an integral part of their community.  By concentrating on regional sourcing as well as supporting local arts and direct community activism, the brewery and the employees are living out this philosophy.  One promoted idea at Zwickelmania is upcycling.  Where recycling is grinding everything down into a uniform substance of lesser value to be used as a new base material, upcycling is getting to the products sooner and trying to turn them into something of more value.  ”Upcycling refers to reusing an object in a new way without degrading the material it is made from, as opposed to recycling which generally involves breaking down the original material and making it into something else, using more energy,” (from Trash or Treasure? Upcycling becomes growing green trend on Reuters).

Philosophy, education, and community: the ingredients in every Ninkasi beer.

Check out the rest of the photos here.

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Related posts:

1. South of Portland: Oakshire Brewing in Eugene
2. South of Portland: Hop Valley Brewing Company in Eugene
3. South of Portland: Beers in Eugene and Corvallis

Our first stop of the day was at Hop Valley Brewing, 11:00am on Saturday. I usually don’t drink beer this early in the day, so I just keep telling myself that this is work.  Justifications come easy to me.

We meet with brew master and partner Trevor Howard who walks around their 15bbl brewing facility.  Trevor started his career at Rogue in Newport six years ago.  He moved back to Eugene and became brew master at Rogue’s Eugene City Brewery before becoming a partner at Hop Valley Brewing in 2008.

With Trevor at the helm, Hop Valley currently brews six standard styles:

• Stepchild Red (NW Red Ale): 15.5° Plato, 80 IBUs, 6.1% ABV
• Double D Blonde (Blonde Ale): 12° Plato, 20 IBUs, 4.9% ABV
• Alphaholic IPA (NW IPA — will hit the streets as Alphadelic IPA): 16° Plato, 90 IBUs, 6.5% ABV
• Impeller Pale (Pale Ale): 14° Plato, 50 IBUs, 5.6% ABV
• Vanilla Porter (Porter): 15° Plato, 50 IBUs, 5.9% ABV
• The Heff (American Hefeweizen): 11.5° Plato, 15 IBUs, 4.9% ABV
• Seasonals: Many other styles, including: Natty Red (Imperial Red Ale), and Alpha Centauri (Imperial IPA) which the First Place People’s Choice Award at that weekend’s KLCC Microbrew Festival.

Since it was Zwickelmania, what else could we do but zwickel?  While the word is strange, the meaning is simple: tasting beer directly from the tanks.  Depending on the style of beer, these samples can taste vastly different from the finished product.  In its earliest stages, beer is called wort. It’s the state of the beer before the yeast hits it in the fermenter. For first time samplers, it can be very difficult to draw the connection between the sweet, unfermented, uncarbonated wort and the final beer.  At this stage, it’s merely tasting levels of sweetness and bitterness, both of which will drastically change through fermentation.

Fermentation is the next stage, and that’s when “beer” becomes beer.  The yeast metabolizes the sugars from the wort into alcohol and CO2 and the beer begins to take a more familiar shape.  Of course, the beer is still warm from active fermentation and there is the residual sweetness of the unburned sugar, but tasting at this point is all about appreciating the progress of the beer. Though young, these beers are a very good indicator of what the they will be like when released to the public.

Education comes in many forms, but the best way to learn is usually hands on experience.  Talking to the brewers, spending time in the brewery, and sampling beer at different stages is a perfect way to spend a Saturday—and you’ll get smarter with every sip! Thanks to Trevor Howard for taking the time to walk us through his domain and show us where the magic happens.  Keep an eye out for Hop Vally’s beers by visiting them in Eugene, or finding them on draft or in 22oz bottles.

Check out the rest of the photos here.

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Related posts:

1. South of Portland: Oakshire Brewing in Eugene
2. South of Portland: Ninkasi Brewing Company in Eugene
3. South of Portland: Beers in Eugene and Corvallis

Red Cross Donation

For everyone that’s been following the auction, we’ve finally assembled all of the pieces and made our donation to the Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund!  Through the bidding wars, we were able to raise $381.00.  We rounded it up to $400.00 and made the donation on February 10th.

First of all, thanks to everyone for participating.  Several bloggers helped spread the word via their websites, twitter, and word of mouth.  Also, thanks to Deschutes Brewery, who not only helped spread the word, but got founder Gary Fish on board to sign the auctioned Deschutes prints as well, adding to the uniqueness of the items we had to auction.  With all of this help, I’m not surprised that the auction reached one of the winning bidders all the way in Denmark!

Finally, thanks to everyone who submitted bids!  Obviously we couldn’t have done this without you.  Even if you didn’t end up winning, your participation was essential to the whole process of starting us off quickly and getting to our total amount.  The five day auction was surprisingly exciting as the bids rolled along at a fast pace and continued up to the last minute.

While I’m extremely happy with the final outcome, I think we could have made some improvements.  The whole idea was to get this started and finished quickly so that the money would be donated as soon as possible.  This limited the amount of time to do the programming for the bidding engine, organize the participants, and get the word out.  Without this limit, we probably would have involved more breweries, added more items to the auction, and let the auction run a little longer.

And to the winning bidders: thanks for your patience!  I’ve been trying to figure out this shipping fiasco for awhile and finally have a grasp on what I’m doing!  The items are going out soon, all across the world.  But, first they’re going to Deschutes for the signing.  So, I’ve had to figure out how to:

1. ship a box of pre-shipped domestic and international boxes to Deschutes Brewery
2. within a FedEx designated time limit so that
3. Deschutes could drop the boxes off on my predesignated ship date

Sound confusing?  It was to me.  Now I’ve got it all straightened out and I’m finally getting the winning items out!

So, thanks again everyone–I’m glad we pulled this off!

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1. Beer Print Auction for Red Cross Haiti Relief (Day 2)
2. Brewpublic.com and Saraveza Presents: My Beery Valentine, A Benefit for Haiti Relief Efforts

I was invited by Travel Lane County, Visit Corvallis, and Travel Oregon to go on a trip last weekend to Eugene and Corvallis to visit six breweries over the weekend.  You know the routine: meet the brewer, drink and talk beer, and shoot some photos.  Well, a lot of photos.  I came back with over 10GB.

What’s the idea behind this trip?  Well, some of the Oregon Tourism sites like what we bloggers do in Portland, so we get invited to other areas so they can show off their goods as well.  In this case, luckily for us, their goods are beer.  While we do get a hotel room for the weekend, we don’t get paid for this trip and we don’t get paid to write any articles.  In fact, it’s mostly about having a good time, exploring the different beer scenes, and meeting the people that make it all come together.  Technically, I don’t have to write a single word or publish a photograph, but this wouldn’t be much of a website if I just drank beer and didn’t post anything.  It would kind of look like this.

Also on the trip with me were noted Portland beer celebrities, so check with them for their take on the events that unfolded:

• Abram Goldman-Armstrong (Northwest Brewing News, The Beerman Show, certified BJCP judge at the age of 21, and on and on…)
• Dave Selden and Bruce Kehe (BS Brewing)
• John Foyston (The Beer Here)
• Lisa “Beer Goddess” Morrison (Blog, Twitter, Beer O’Clock)

We were scheduled to hit three breweries in Eugene on Saturday and three in Corvallis on Sunday.  Both days were from about 11-4 with many samples served before we even thought about lunch.  Due to Saturday’s Zwickelmania, both days were completely different.  Saturday was busy, some large crowds, and a lot of celebrating at Hop Valley Brewing, Ninkasi Brewing, and Oakshire Brewing.  Sunday, on the other hand, was much more subdued and private as our small group hung out with the brewers and of course, drank more samples at Oregon Trail Brewing, Flat Tail Brewing, and Block 15 Brewing.

Check back as this is only the kickoff—I’ll be detailing the trip in future posts.

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Related posts:

1. South of Portland: Oakshire Brewing in Eugene
2. South of Portland: Hop Valley Brewing Company in Eugene
3. South of Portland: Ninkasi Brewing Company in Eugene

No details yet, but when it hits the shelves, I’ll be grabbing them by the handful!   After getting their beer into 22 ounce bottles not too long ago, Lompoc Brewing is doing a great job getting us some bottled seasonals as well: Barrel Aged Oak Doppelbock, Barrel Aged LSD, and now this.  Keep ‘em coming!

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We have teamed up with Deschutes Brewery to bring you some one of a kind photo prints to benefit the Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development.  100% of all proceeds will go directly to this program.

We have created a simple auction in hopes of raising more money than we could have individually contributed here at the site.  We haven’t done this before, but the Portland beer community is made up of a lot of great individuals who can hopefully drive some attention to our project. So, if you can’t bid, at least help us spread the word on this auction by posting, tweeting, or simply telling your friends.

Since Deschutes Brewery is helping us get the word out, we’ve selected four Deschutes themed photographs from our collection.  If you win the auction item, you’ll receive a professionally created 8×12 print, signed by Duschutes Brewery founder Gary Fish.  You will be the only person in the world with this item (and it’s a big, big world). Contributor Ian Seniff was kind enough to also donate a piece of his artwork to the auction as well.

Thanks for all of the support everyone!

Check out the rest of the auction items and participate here!

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1. Auction for Haiti Relief Conclusion
2. Brewpublic.com and Saraveza Presents: My Beery Valentine, A Benefit for Haiti Relief Efforts
3. Portland Beer Tools

Another year is upon us, and that means another Annual New Year’s Day Tasting for my family.  Overall, the tasting went great, but there were a few mistakes made that we can look forward to cleaning up next year.  In this article, we’re going to talk a little bit about cellaring beer–the whats, whens, and whys.  First though, let’s go through this years tasting list:

• Abyss (2007), Deschutes Brewing, Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
• Abyss (2008), Deschutes Brewing, Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
• Abyss (2009), Deschutes Brewing, Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
• Auld Battle Axe, Laurelwood Brewing Co., Scotch Ale
• Black Butte XX, Deschutes Brewing, Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter
• Black Butte XXI, Deschutes Brewing, Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter
• Black Xantus, Nectar Ales, Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout
• Bourbon Barrel Belgian-Style Quad, Boulavard Brewing, Barrel Aged Quadrupel
• Dark Horizon II, Nogne o, Unclassified
• Double Alt (25th Anniversary), Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.Double Alt
• Mirror Mirror, Deschutes Brewery, Barleywine
• Moose and Squirrel, Laurelwood Brewing, Russian Imperial Stout
• Old Boardhead (2007), Full Sail Brewing, Barleywine Style Ale
• Old Rasputin XII, North Coast Brewing, Russian Imperial Stout
• Olde Reliable, Laurelwood Brewing, Barleywine
• Paradox (Speyside), BrewDog, Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
• 2008 Stormwatchers, Pelican Brewery, Barleywine
• XII, Firestone Walker, Barrel Aged Blend
• XIII, Firestone Walker, Barrel Aged Blend
• Yeti Oak Aged Espresso, Great Divide Brewing Co., Imperial Stout

Malty beers with a low hop profile and a high ABV are best for aging, so it’s no surprise that this list is populated by some heavy, malty beers.  Hops are used for three primary purposes in beer: bitterness, flavor, and aroma.  If a beer is based on its hop profile, all of this resiny goodness will disappear over time, leaving you with a strange mess.  Imagine your favorite Imperial IPA.  Now imagine it with no hops.  Since beers like Stouts and Porters are low on the flavor and aroma hop scale, they make good aging candidates because this loss of hops does not adversely change the character of the beer.  However, since hops are used for bittering as well, an aged beer will lose a little bit of this bitter bite, causing the final product to reside on the sweeter side.

Why age a beer in the first place?  Complex beers have many layers attained from several parts of the beer making process.  From roasted malts and intricate grain bills, to variations in yeast type or fermentation with fruit, beers can become complex in the brewing phase alone.  Add on barrel aging or blending, and the final product can be a multi-layered showpiece.  When some of these beers are released, they can be rather untamed: too bitter, overpowering alcohol, overwhelming bourbon flavor.  It’s possible that any of the beers aspects are out of proportion with the rest of the beer.  This does not mean that the beer is bad, but people may describe it as too young, too hot, or that it simply needs some age.  Aging a beer like this can transform it immensely.  The biggest change you’ll see is that these beers mellow with some time, softening the sharp edges, creating a subtler beer.  The hotness of the alcohol dies down, fresh bitterness softens, and that overwhelming smack of bourbon now resides softly in the mix.

Aging beer is not complicated, but it depends on three things:

1. Darkness: keep beer away from sunlight.  Put the beer bottle in a (clean) sock.  Put the (clean) sock in a closed box.  Put the box under a black towel.  Put that box somewhere dark (basement, a closet, or that room with no windows that your neighbor doesn’t know about).  Well, it doesn’t have to be that drastic, but light is terrible for beer and will devastate your aging process, turning your masterpiece into a drain pour.
2. Cellar Temperature: 55 °F is ideal.  Fluctuating temperature does not do a beer any favors.  A small difference through the seasons isn’t that big of a deal, but you’ll want to stay away from repeating anything near several fridge to room temperature cycles.
3. Self control: if you ain’t got it, your beers won’t make it to the cellar.

With a total of 20 beers for our tasting, most weighing in around 12%, we had a lot of work to do. We paired the verticals up, and tried to weave in a couple of different styles along the way. The tasting was divided into 4 rounds of 5 beers over two days. We thought about squeezing into one day, but everyone was scared by that idea. Really scared. In the end, we had an odd mix of styles that didn’t always reflect well on the beer. For example, after the three year Abyss vertical, we decided on the Bourbon Barrel Quad as a “palette cleanser” before hitting the Old Rasputin XII. Well, this wasn’t as much a decision as it was a forced hand. We had so many giant beers and mismatching styles, that a perfect solution was hard to come by. I highly anticipated tasting this Quad, but sandwiched in between a whole bunch of barrel aged Imperial Stouts was not the way to showcase its qualities. A little more forethought into the tasting groups would have helped, but sitting there in front of all those bottles, we couldn’t delay any longer.

• For the ‘07/’08/’09 Abyss vertical, the 2008 was the favorite.  The blend of oak, licorice, chocolate, roasted malts, and bitterness struck a delicious balance, while the 2007 had faded into obscurity with all aspects falling on the far side of subtle.  It wasn’t that the ‘07 was bad, it was just lifeless next to its brethren.  While I like the 2009 right now, next to the 2008 it did seem a little young.
• The same was true for the ‘08/’09 Black Butte Reserve: The older beer achieved a phenomenal balance and smoothed out over time.  The ‘09, while immensely drinkable (I was only able to cellar 2 out of 12), was a bit rougher around the edges.
• Barleywines: We didn’t make it to the Stormwatchers, but the whole table loved 2007 Old Boardhead and 2007 Olde Reliable.  The affects of aging was most prevalent with these beers.  Barleywines tend to polarize people into the “love it” or “hate it” camps.  They are big, sweet, often taste of dark fruits, and can be very un-beer like.  These tastes were still noticeable in the aged beers, but they were more refined and quiet, turning everyone at the table into Barleywine fans.  This was especially surprising from my father, who usually finds this style too overpowering.
• Another favorite was the Moose and Squirrel.  After almost two years and at only 8% ABV, I wasn’t sure how this one would hold up.  In fact, I liked this beer so much at release time, I drank them all.  Luckily, my brother had stashed one away.  Again, same story: the aging had smoothed out the rough edges.

As indicated on the list above, two beers didn’t make it to the table: Stormwatchers and Auld Battle Axe.  We had to throw in the towel before prying these open.  It was a simple matter of too many beers and too little time.  The Stormwatchers made it back to Portland, but only briefly.  This was another of my highly anticipated beers and I had the choice of hiding it back in the cellar for another day or finally getting a chance to drink it.  It’s not in the cellar.  I’m sure I’ll think back at next years tasting and wonder what it would have been like with another year on it, but self-control doesn’t always win out for me.

Check out the rest of the photos here.

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1. AKA 2010 Lucky Labrador Barleywine and Big Beer Tasting
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3. 2008 Barleywine and Big Beer Tastival Beer List

Now, it would be pointless to try and recap every festival, tasting or beer release that happened this year. I did not attend every beer related event in Portland, nor did I try every beer released this year by Portland breweries. To do so would take more effort and more money than I am able to invest in my craft brew hobby. Gaping holes would fill my year end review due to my inability to be there for everything that was reviewable. What I can bank on though, is the fact that the majority of you reading this drank quite a bit of Portland beer and attended many beer-centric events in this fair city and amongst all of us, every event was attended and every beer sampled. So, in hope that no favorite is left unmentioned, I pose to you, faithful portlandbeer.org reader, these four questions:

1. What was your favorite Portland beer of 2009?
2. What was your favorite beer related event of 2009?
3. Which Portland brewery most impressed you in 2009?
4. What was your favorite beer based memory of 2009?

Answer one or answer them all. One of the best parts about drinking beer is discussing beer and any input on what impressed you this year is welcome to the discussion. To get things started, here are the answers to these four questions from two fellows named Matt and one named Ian. The one named Ian is me.

Matt Wiater (portlandbeer.org show runner, often wears a hat)

Moose and Squirrel Russian Imperial Stout.

What was your favorite Portland beer of 2009?
2007 Bourbon Barrel Cask Moose and Squirrel from Laurelwood. Technically, this beer was released in 2009, so I hope I can get away with this answer. Patience is the ultimate respect you can pay to the right beer. Letting it sit for two years in a barrel, in plain view, every day, takes a lot of willpower. In conjunction with varying amounts and types of malt, hops, and yeast, aging is another dynamic that can take a beer in a much different direction over time. Fading hops, blending malt flavors, and wood flavors leached from the barrel, can all add to a complex yet smooth creation. A surprise and quiet release of this aged beer on cask is just one example of what lurks in the dark corners of Portland.

What was your favorite beer related event of 2009?
Holiday Ale Festival. A mixture of different (mostly strong) beer styles, as well as a mixture of different (mostly strong) personalities makes for a great afternoon under a tent on a cold, rainy day in Portland. The early afternoon crowds consist of a lot of beer geeks using up a vacation day to drink and talk beer. All of the beers aren’t for everyone, but if you can’t find several outstanding offerings, you may want to ask yourself if you like beer at all.

Which Portland brewery most impressed you in 2009?
Cascade Brewing. Ron Gansberg and Curtis Bain have been somewhat quietly doing their own thing just over the West Hills. During the great onslaught of IPAs and DIPAs and other floral monsters making Portland synonymous with hoppy beers, Cascade Brewing was quite content at creating a mixture of fruit beers, sours, belgian-style beers, and barrel-aged beers. Well, not I guess they weren’t too content, since many of these beers were used in immensely complex blends such as Cuvee Du Jongleur, Bourbonic Plague, and Drie Zwarte Pieten. Cascade Brewing is always inventive and releases great beers all year long.

Baltic Porter Tasting at Upright Brewing.

What was your favorite beer based memory of 2009?
Baltic Porter Tasting at Upright Brewing. Beer is social. Hanging out with other people involved with the Portland beer scene–from drinkers, to writers, to brewers–is almost always a good time. Spending time in a newly opened Upright Brewing, tasting Baltic Porters from around the world, and hanging out with people who enjoy beer, is a great experience, not to be taken for granted.

Matthew DiTullo (Guy who makes videos about beer for BREWPUBLIC, wears hats less frequently)

What was your favorite Portland beer of 2009?
Bourbon Fred from the Wood. This year seemed to contain a lot of big releases from Hair of the Dog. Michael, Matt, Bob, and a handful of one offs (which may make their way into bottles). During Oregon Craft Beer Month, Alan Sprints hosted an open house at the Hair of the Dog Brewery. Portland was introduced to the “Four Freds.” The two standards, Fred and Fred From the Wood, as well as Bourbon Fred From the Wood and a Fred Flanders aged with a high bacteria yeast. The Bourbon Fred From the Wood was not only one of my favorite beers of 2009, but one of the best bourbon aged beers I’ve had. The Fred base seemed to mesh well with the oaky, vanilla, smooth and warming alcohol notes that the barrel aging applied. Man, would I kill to sip on another Bourbon Fred during these colder months.

What was your favorite beer related event of 2009?
Holiday Ale Festival. As with every year, I always look forward to the Holiday Ale Fest. I love big brews and this is one of the best showcases in the Northwest. You’ll find many great and unique Barleywines, Sours, Barrel Aged Beers, Imperial IPAs, Baltic Porters and more; all usually made especially for this event. You can’t beet the good company of fellow beer drinkers under the city lights and lit Christmas tree protected by a heated, cozy tent with some of your favorite brews.

Alex Ganum, Upright Brewing.

Which Portland brewery most impressed you in 2009?
Upright Brewing. Alex Ganum started this brewery at the beginning of the year in the Left Bank Project on NE Broadway. Within his less than a year of running he has established himself well within the beer community. Alex has been producing unique, farmhouse style beers inspired by those from Belgium and northern France. He uses a French Saison yeast that gives his beers a dry, refreshing edge and allows him to stand out from the rest of the hop bombs we find around here. His tasting room is a delight, where you can find one offs that are experimental as well as successful. One of my favorites was the Turkey On Rye, a rye malted saison aged in barrels with chocolate and dried, Turkish peppers.

What was your favorite beer based memory of 2009?
Not remembering the Barleywine and Big Beer Festival. Held during the weekend of my birthday this past March at the Lucky Lab on NW Quimby. Barleywines are my absolute favorite style, so I was super excited this was offered over my birthday. A wonderful variety of Barleywines, both fresh and vintage as well as Imperial Stouts, Belgian Quads and other Strong Ales. To cap it all off, after the fest we did a pub crawl in SE making it from The Morrison Hotel, to The Green Dragon, and ending at Roots Brewing. And to further cap off my birthday weekend a trip to Higgins was in order to enjoy a rare bottle of Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam From the Wood — Yum!

Me (Ian Seniff, portlandbeer.org contributor, enjoys the convenience of wearing hats)

What was your favorite Portland beer of 2009?
Bourbonic Plague. When I saw this on the list at Annibrew 2 at Bailey’s Taproom I was fairly skeptical. A sour porter did not seem like something I would have any interest in. However, after trying it my skepticism turned to elation. This was a huge eye opener for me as to what beers could be. Honestly, like nothing I had ever had before. My tongue had trouble trying to comprehend what was happening. That is why I had several tastings.

2009 Holiday Ale Festival.

What was your favorite beer related event of 2009?
Holiday Ale Festival. I figured I would make it unanimous for HAF. The cheerful setting and excellent big brews made it the perfect end to my beer year. A close second was Annibrew 2 at Bailey’s Taproom but the fact that the Holiday Ale Fest was 5 days long put it on top. I was also lucky enough to attend the Belgian Brunch on the final day and got to try a beer made with weasel poo (Mikkeller’s Beer Geek Brunch Weasel).

Which Portland brewery most impressed you in 2009?
Cascade Brewing. So none of my answers are very creative, so what? Not only is Cascade a great Portland based brewery, but Cascade showed me this year that they are one of the finest breweries in the country. Cuvée Du Jongleur, Sang Royal, Sang Noir II, Vlad the Imp Aler, and Bourbonic Plague are some of the best beers I have ever had and from the looks of things, Cascade seems to have a dynamite 2010 ahead of them as well.

What was your favorite beer based memory of 2009?
Porno Sweatpants Fellow and general people watching at Bailey’s Taproom. Due to Bailey’s location and my desire to sit outside whenever possible, I have seen a variety of strange things this year at Bailey’s. Drifters and people just out of Mary’s Club are frequently enjoyable viewing fodder and the day that the Insane Clown Posse played the Roseland gave me the chance to see a variety of people all ages freakishly painted and in various states of shirtlessness wandering around while I enjoyed a cask conditioned IPA. Some even stopped in for a brew before the festivities. While all of this would be very interesting for a people watcher like myself, Porno Sweatpants Fellow was the ultimate sight to see. It was August 1st and I was in line for Annibrew 2 at Bailey’s. I had arrived about a half hour early in order to get a nice place in line as well as a seat at a table. As my friend and I patiently waited in the summer heat for the tasting to begin a man exited the convenience store across the street and began walking toward us. The man, weighing in at about 240 and no taller than 5′7″, mustachioed and with stubble galore, proceeded to remove his recent purchase from its black plastic home. He then opened it to the center-fold and inserted one hand down his rampantly stained sweatpants. As he passed us, and all 30 or so people in line, he gave a little head nod that suggested that he knew exactly what he was doing and he could care less what this line of beer enthusiasts thought about it. Porno Sweatpants Fellow then headed down Broadway and into our hearts. Good-bye, Porno Sweatpants Fellow. You are remembered fondly.

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Related posts:

1. 12th Annual Holiday Ale Festival
2. Holiday Ale Festival 2009: Pretty Great
3. 2008 Portland Holiday Ale Festival: Preston’s Picks