Congratulations to Deschutes Brewery for the reopening of their Bond Street Pub in Bend Oregon! Doubling their size and rebuilding from almost the ground up, they’ve spared no expense to make their patrons feel at home—and quite frankly, a little spoiled.

I took a walk around the Bond Street Pub a couple of weeks ago before their official grand reopening on February 1st. They still had a bit of work to do, but I captured some of the smaller details of the updated location. Although it wasn’t installed yet, I was told that in the same vein as the gorgeous custom woodwork at the PDX Pub, there will also be iron hop trellises put up.

I also posted this behind the scenes shot of this shot on the day I was roaming around.

Check out the rest of the photos here.

Those of you that came out to my Of Pints and Men beer photography show at Gigantic Gallery, got a sneak peek at Chainbreaker White IPA graciously donated by Deschutes Brewery. In fact, we kicked an entire 13 gallon keg in a matter of a few hours! I’m so proud of us.

But playing around with an IPA is a dangerous proposition. It’s obvious that we take pride in our huge floral and citrusy IPAs here in the Northwest. Messing with that recipe can be its own recipe for disaster. Luckily, Deschutes Brewery has a lot of thirsty guinea pigs at its Bend and Portland pubs! Testing out new recipes and variations on eager, honest—and hopefully forgiving—patrons is a great way to find new avenues of beer exploration. The addition of wheat and spices to a hoppy base beer brewed with a Belgian yeast strain makes this a truly different IPA. I can attest—alongside those that helped me finish off our keg of Chainbreaker White IPA—this recipe makes a delicious, easy drinking, exceptional IPA. But, you don’t have to take my word for it, check it out for yourselves when it hits the store shelves at the end of March. From the official press release:

25 January 2012 – Bend, Oregon – Why not? That’s a favorite question around the Deschutes Brewery brewhouse. This mindset spawned the creation of Chainbreaker White IPA a hop-forward, citrus-packed beer with an unmistakably smooth character. The new beer is slated to be released at the end of March to the Pacific Northwest, with distribution expanded to the remainder of Deschutes’ 19 state network over the next few months.

“We’re always experimenting with new ingredients and new styles at the brewery,” said Cam O’Connor, brewmaster for Deschutes. “In the case of Chainbreaker our experimentation really paid off: the marriage of wheat, spices, yeast and hops have all come together to make a very drinkable, complex White IPA.”

The name Chainbreaker White IPA was inspired in part by a legendary mountain bike race in Central Oregon called the Cascade Chainbreaker. The challenging race features a demanding course with multiple terrains, just as this beer challenges the palate to expand with a fusion of wheat and spice low notes alongside significant hop highs. Sweet orange peel and coriander round out the flavor profile for a refreshing ride.

First introduced at the Deschutes Brewery Bend and Portland pubs, as well as appearing at various special events, Chainbreaker White IPA was so well-received that the team decided to take it to the next level and make it part of the brewery’s year-round line up.

Vital stats: 5.6 % ABV; 60 IBUs

Chainbreaker White IPA will be available in six-packs and twelve-packs in Oregon, Washington, Idaho starting in late March 2012. The beer will continue to roll out to additional states in the brewery’s distribution network later in 2012.

Shrapnel from the annual New Year’s Eve Tasting.

• La Ferme de la Ville Provision (2011), Belgian Farmhouse, Block 15
• La Folie (2011), Sour Brown, New Belgium
• Clutch (2011), Dark Sour, New Belgium
• Kriek (2011), Barrel Aged Kriek, Cascade Brewing
• The Dissident (2010), Oud Bruin, Deschutes Brewery
• Love Buzz (2011), Barrel-Aged Brett Saison, Anchorage Brewing Company
• Bourbon Barrel LSD, Bourbon Barrel Strong Ale, Lompoc Brewing
• 14 (2010), Barrel Aged Blend, Firestone Walker
• Labyrinth (2011), Rye Barrel Aged Black Ale, Uinta Brewing
• Abyss (2010), Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, Deschutes Brewery
• Abyss (2011), Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, Deschutes Brewery
• Bourbon Abominable, Barrel Aged Winter Ale, Fremont Brewing
• Kentucky Breakfast Stout (2011), Barrel Aged Coffee Stout, Founders Brewing
• Old Knucklehead (1996), Barleywine, BridgePort Brewing
• Cockeyed Copper (2011), Barrel Aged Barleywine, Uinta Brewing
• Hellshire I (2011), 100% Barrel Aged Barleywine, Oakshire Brewing

“You will find no cloying, mouth-puckering bitterness here. In its place is a straight-up, succulent, citrus punch to the nose.” Brewer John Abraham

Traditionally, a Northwest Style Pale Ale is very hoppy: big floral aroma, huge citrus taste, and a giant bitter backbone. Deschutes Brewery has bucked that tradition with their version of the Northwest Pale ale, Red Chair. Now this beer is still hoppy, but retains none of the bitterness usually associated with this style. What you are left with is a sweet, caramel malt body that dances perfectly with the citrus flavors of the hops.

The brewers at Deschutes have pulled off a masterful experiment here as it’s really hard to delineate the origin of some of these flavors. Cascade and Centennial hops are known for their huge citrus and big floral profiles, while the Crystal and Carastan malts create caramel and light toffee notes, all hitting the palate at the same time.

Red Chair will be available on tap and in bottles tomorrow at the Portland Pub. It will appear on store shelves in bottles in January, sticking around through May.

Red Chair Portland Pub Launch
11am – 11pm
Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House
210 NW 11th Ave.
Portland, OR

Beer Stats: ABV: 6.2% | IBUs: 60 | Malt: Pale, Crystal 75, Crystal 135/165, Munich, Carapils, Pilsner, Carastan | Hops: Cascade & Centennial

Nov. 15, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House
210 NW 11th Ave., Portland
(503) 296-4906

We promised details, and he they are!  You’ll see me there for a four year vertical.  If you haven’t had the willpower to store away bottles for the last three years, this will be your only chance to try all four years side by side. From the official press release:

2011 marks the sixth release of The Abyss, which is the heart and soul of Deschutes Brewery’s Reserve Series. Notes of smooth chocolate, silky caramel and a creamy coolness adorn a luxurious body designed for indulgent interruptions to the everyday. Double “kettle to the metal” mashes included brewer’s licorice and blackstrap molasses. Tempered with vanilla bean and cherry bark and aged in Bourbon, Pinot Noir and Oregon Oak barrels, the phrase “outrageously coddled” comes to mind.

For the 6th year in a row, Deschutes Brewery will be releasing The Abyss and throwing a party at its pubs to celebrate. Beginning at 11 a.m. bottles of The Abyss 2011 will be available for purchase (6 bottle limit per person) as well as an array of The Abyss wearable merchandise including:

• Men’s t-shirts
• Women’s burn-out hoody tees
• Zip up Abyss hoody sweatshirts
• Stylish fedora hat

AND a special menu that Executive Chef, Jeff Usinowitz, created just for this event using The Abyss 2011. Plus, after 5 p.m., temp your taste buds with a vertical flight of The Abyss 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011!

More Information: http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/event/abyss-release-party-portland-pub

Sorry for the cell-phone-nature of this photo, but I had limited time due to things like being required to drink a (different) vertical of beer, write about it, and photograph the process. Oh, the horror! I know, there could be worse ways to spend my time. Regardless of how I spend my time, free time can be very scarce. Unfortunately, you are the ones that have to pay the price by being subjected to that pixelated nonsense above. Official release date is November 15th at the Bend and Portland pubs.

Fresh hop beers are meant to be consumed as fresh as possible, keeping the floral and spice characters from receding into oblivion. This year, Deschutes Brewery’s Hop Trip is on the shelves in six packs. Get ‘em now and enjoy some of the last bits of the lost Northwest summer!

I am very excited to announce that two of us from portlandbeer.org are being featured in the show “Of Pints and Men” at Gigantic Gallery.  Ian Seniff and I are taking part in this month’s exhibit, which includes photography, paintings and illustrations all about beer.

I will be showing photography from several breweries: Amnesia Brewing, BridgePort Brewing, Deschutes Brewery, Full Sail Brewing, Hair of the Dog, Hopworks Organic Brewing, Laurelwood Brewing, Lucky Lab Brewing, Rock Bottom Brewery, Roots Organic Brewing, and Widmer Brothers Brewing.  For this show, I want to show the hard work behind your favorite beer and the beauty of the equipment in the brewery.  I will be displaying some of my favorite shots from the past five years, some of them historical shots that can never be captured again.

Ian “South Bend” Seniff is a Portland based bloke who makes paintings. His work has been shown on many walls, some not his own. Ian’s work is a result of his childhood obsessions meeting his adult obsessions. However, it should be noted that many of his childhood obsessions have remained unchanged for over 25 years. Want to know if Captain Lambic (pictured right) comes out at night to deliver beer to the needy, or does he instead rob you of your favorite beer to feed his own needs?  Well, show up on opening night and ask Ian.

I’m also excited to see the work of the other contributors to the show that I have not met yet: photographer John Carleton and illustrator Jonathon Hill-Jacquard.

Any self-respecting beer related event will also have beer.  Thanks to a generous donation from Deschutes Brewery, Gigantic Gallery will also be pouring Chainbreaker White IPA on opening night! So, come on out, drink some beer, and and see beer from the perspective of four Portland artists!

Of Pints and Men

Opening Night: Thursday Oct. 6th, 5:30pm-10:00pm (Show runs through the month of October)
Facebook Event Page
Gigantic Gallery
1720 NW Lovejoy #103
Portland OR 97209

Mirror Pond next to it’s first-time-bottled fresh hop counterpart. Oh yeah, Otto wants your attention too.  And a treat.

In Fresh Hop Mirror Pond, light herbal and grassy notes come through from the fresh hops. These new hop additions also seem to cut down on the usual sweetness of Mirror Pond, leaving the body feeling a bit lighter, though there are no changes to the malt bill.  While dry-hopping with fresh hops won’t increase the bitterness, I expect the fresher floral and citrus flavors of the hops are taking the focus off of the malts a bit.  Do yourself a favor and grab one of each to do your own comparison. Delicious, and on shelves very soon!

From the Deschutes Brewery: This noble, fresh hop version of our classic American pale ale arose from a single plot of heirloom Cascade hops. Revived by our brewers from the original rootstock developed at Oregon State University, grown by Goshie Farms in Oregon, this very limited release is just for you.

“We are in the craft beer industry and we care about quality, which is why we asked the hop farmer to keep a field idle for two years – we actually paid them to not grow anything,” said Sidor. “This gave us a ‘pure’ field to start with, using cuttings from the original Cascade hop plant and we grew them up for more than two years.”

Details about this year’s Jubelale are starting to leaking out, even thought the beer won’t hit the shelves until October.  Jubelale rears it’s beautiful head around Oregon in many shapes and sizes around Oregon throughout the year.  A few weeks back, Tonip Lebuj (Jubelale aged in Pinot Barrels) was on tap at the Portland Pub.  Two weeks ago, bottles of Jubel 2010 (the Once in a Decade Reserve Series version)  mysteriously reappeared in Portland. Vintages of this beer will also pop up from time to time for special occasions at finer taprooms.

Every year, Jubelale wears artwork from a different regional artist.  You can read more about this year’s art and the artists below from the official press release:

Deschutes Brewery will soon perform an annual holiday season ritual: the releasing of Jubelale, its festive winter seasonal ale. Jubelale, the first beer ever bottled by Deschutes Brewery, epitomizes the season with a big malty, spicy, sweetness, an assertive hop presence, and a welcome, warming alcohol temperament. A new regional artist is commissioned every year to create an original work of art, inspired by Jubelale, to be transformed into label and packaging art.

The collaborative art of Central Oregon artists Cara Thayer and Louie Van Patten adorns the label in 2011. Their work explores a ‘painted dialogue of human forms.’ They focus specifically on the hand and how it illustrates the human condition. The artists wanted to capture the essence of Jubelale from within this framework.

Cara Thayer reveals, “We wanted to create something for the outside of the bottle that was as artful as what is inside. Our goal was to do something that had a sense of action, along with creating a playful image. The beer itself was hugely inspirational for the painting, as craft beer is an art that we respect. For us, drinking Jubelale every winter is a memorable highlight of the season.”

Thayer also explained that the hand-knitted mitten and scarf reflect the handcrafted character of Jubelale, while the snowball in motion evokes the fleeting nature of winter.

Memorable works of art, like Jubelale, offer fitting tribute to any seasonal gathering one might attend. Distinctive flavors establish Jubelale as the ultimate luxury to share with friends and family.

Jubelale will be available in 6-packs, 12-packs and draft this October through December.

Pairings:
Roasted turkey with rosemary dressing
Slow-cooked beef brisket with apricot and apple fruit sauce
Warm pumpkin pie with real cream

Alcohol by Volume: 6.7%
IBUs: 60