Oregon Beer Week?

It is a very Big thing and it's coming to a state near you. Stay tuned for more about this fantastic idea from the people in Oregon!
Cheers,
Dave

A Collaborator Beer

BY Don Klover aka The Beer Shaman
Honorary Beer Scribe for Guest on Tap

Collaborator is a word widely associated with the shadowy realms of war and espionage. But here in Portland, collaborator just means more good beer. According to the Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. Web site, it's "a project between the Oregon Brew Crew (one of the oldest home-brewing clubs in the nation) and Widmer Brothers that identifies unique beer styles for distribution to the public." Looking for ways to promote diversity in microbrews, the OBC and Widmer teamed up and challenged each other to create unusual beers with a popular appeal. Essentially, Widmer supplies industry expertise and the Brew Crew supplies creativity. With an eye toward the future and hoping for ongoing success, they've agreed to contribute a portion of any profits to a brewing studies scholarship program at Oregon State University. This has been going on for eight years. The two groups get together and decide to focus on two or three styles.
Variations on those styles are test-brewed, tasted, analyzed and reworked until a single recipe is chosen for commercial production and local distribution. The process can take several months to complete, eventually resulting in a new release, usually with limited tap-only distribution. I've only recently run across news of this project, so I've missed out on some reportedly excellent beers. To date there have been fewer than two dozen Collaborator beers produced, with names like Hallucinator Old Ale, Bermuda Schwartz, Pre-Prohibition Lager, Saul's Stout and Hopnosis Double IPA. The Snowplow Milk Stout was successful enough to become a Widmer winter seasonal, reintroduced each year November through January. Only the latest one is currently available, the Big "C" American Stout steeped in the Northwest's own Cascade hops. Where to get Big "C" and more of these limited-production beers in the future? Clip this list and stuff it in your wallet or purse for future reference: Art Bar, Baraka, Hall Street Grill, It's a Beautiful Pizza, Red and Black Cafe, the Rose and Raindrop, Back to Back Cafe, Bitter End and the Horse Brass Pub. Just ask for the Collaborator and see what they've been up to.You can contact the Oregon Brew Crew, http://www.oregonbrewcrew.com/, for more news on the process (though that particular page is "under construction" right now), or Widmer, http://www.widmer.com/, for updated release information.
Beer News:
It's not your old brewpub! Following a 14-month, extensive renovation, the beloved BridgePort BrewPub is back with an updated look and a new moniker: bridgeport brewpub & bakery. The pub is christening the new space with a party for the public, welcoming back old friends, and making an entire set of new ones. The gala event will take place February 23 from 6 p.m. to Midnight at 1313 NW Marshall St. http://www.bridgeportbrew.com/ or by calling 503-241-7179

Homebrewers - The Innovative Force

BY
Gary Corbin
Honorary Beer Scribe for Guest on Tap

Brew Crew members demonstrating home brewing

on National Homebrew Day some years back.

The 2005 Pulp Bung awarded to "Guest on Tap" by the Oregon Brew Crew illustrates the close and mutually beneficial relationship between homebrewers and the commercial producers who used to lampoon them as producing sour, explosive swill in their basements. Before prohibition, many households brewed their own beer. Prohibition nearly killed off the hobby, as it did most of the small craft breweries. Homebrewing began its revival in the 1960's when Portland's Fred Eckhardt published "The Essentials of Beer Style" and started teaching home brewing classes in the 1970's. Homebrewing has evolved radically. Back then, home brewers couldn't get quality materials; they bought the residuals that commercial brewers didn't use. "In the '60s," Eckhardt told me, "we bought hops in chunks sliced off the leftover bales." They were likely as not to be stale and of an unknown variety. Today, homebrewers "have access to everything that the big brewers have." In fact, he says, "homebrewers are putting Oregon hop growers back in business." Photo of Best of Show panel at a Portland Brewing/

Norwester homebrew competition. Includes Fred.

Homebrewers are innovators, and their creativity has revolutionized the beer industry. Eckhardt rattled off several homebrew creations now produced by big producers, such as Great Lakes' Bourbon Stout and Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Ale. Widmer's Collaborator represents an entire line of commercial beers created by homebrewers. Many

Photo of Bob Farrell and I in my home brewery.

"It takes good beer to make good beer..."

pro brewers, including the Widmer brothers, started as homebrewers. Will it continue? "I don't see it tapering off. There are too many parts of the country where homebrew is the only good beer there is," says Eckhardt. But with all the high-quality micros on the market, "you have to have an adventurous soul" to make something the micro makers currently aren't. Do you have an adventurous soul? Join the revolution on National Homebrew Day, Saturday, May 6. For more information, visit http://www.beertown.org/.

Beer news: Mark your calendar for this Saturday, Feb. 18. The notorious Battle of the Belt rages at McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House during its 13th annual Hillsdale Brewfest. The daylong event features 18 brews, food, family fun and a competition for the Belt, an honor that includes the right to represent McMenamins at this year's Oregon Brewers Festival. The beers, breweries and contestant names are: Pimp My Rye, Roseburg Station Brewery, Tom Johnson; Vertical Drop, Old Saint Francis School, Mike White; Good Times, McMenamins on the Columbia Brewery, Mike Napier; Marchioness di Garibaldi, Dad Watsons Brewery, Tim Streeter; Monkey Wrench, McMenamins Queen Anne, Brian Lawrence; and Witches Castle, Oak Hills Brewery, James Whelan.Also, Krakatoa Coffee Porter, Hillsdale Brewery, John Keane; Mrs. Bryant's Black Gold, Fulton Brewery, Derek Einberger; Black Pearl, West Linn Brewery, Jeremy Wulf; Jake's Leg, Edgefield Brewery, Bruce Loux; Alternator, Thompson Brewery, Gary Nance; Contender, Highland Brewery, Ben Nehrling; Los Diablos del Paso, Cornelius Pass Roadhouse Brewery, Greg Balch and Corey Blodgett.In addition, Yürbock, Crystal Ballroom Brewery, Craig Gulla and Jim Montgomery; Heavy Hand, High Street Brewery, Lane Fricke; Northwest Dunkelweizen, Lighthouse Brewer, Jay Webb; Commonwealth Porter, John Barleycorns Brewery, Graham Brogan; and White Lightning, Concordia Brewery, Brian Riley and Tim Proctor. The Hillsdale Brewery & Public House is located at 1505 SW Sunset Boulevard in Portland, (503) 246-3938. http://www.mcmenamins.com/.
BRIDGEPORT BREWPUB & BAKERY OPENS ITS DOORS WITH A WELCOME BACK PARTY is having a reopening celebration on February 23 beginning at 6PM. There is a $10 cover that allows you food samplings, and a scrip for one beer. Bridgeport Brewpub & Bakery is at 1313 NW Marshall St.
Alameda Brewhouse announces the release of GABF gold medal winner, Black Bear XX Stout in 22oz bottles. You can find them at places like New Seasons Market, Belmont Station, Market of Choice (formerly Burlingame's), etc.

Chocolate...and Beer?

By Fred Eckhardt

It was 1988. People were talking about a great new idea: wine and chocolate. Experience had told me that it was a waste of time, but what about beer and chocolate? It would be fun to play with chocolate and craft beer combinations, write about it and thus earn the right to take some chocolate expenses off my taxes. Yes! And all I had to do was keep careful notes. If it didn't work, who'd care, aside from the IRS? What fun! I was delightfully surprised to find that some beers really were compatible with some chocolate, and the IRS could doggone well live with my expense sheet. I planned a tasting at the Dublin Pub, for Valentine's Day 1989, but I was a bit fearful that no one would be willing to try my combinations. I called as many chefs and brewers as I could, to get their choices. I didn't want to take all the blame. BridgePort's Karl Ockert picked chocolate chip cookies for his ale. Kurt Widmer chose Hershey's bittersweet for his Festbier. And so it went. Fred Bowman of Portland Brewing, chef George Posen and the late Jim Kennedy from Columbia Distributing all had suggestions, but the most remarkable idea was that of Greg Higgins, then Heathman Hotel executive chef, who suggested a Guinness ice cream float! This has become a national favorite, and a stout float has been a fixture at all of my tastings across the country and about the world (London and Tokyo) since that time. You can try it, too, at the Rogue Public House (1339 N.W. Flanders St.) at 6 p.m. Feb. 14 for our 18th annual tasting. Tickets are $30 at the door and $25 in advance and can be purchased at the pub or by calling 503-222-5910.
Beer News:
Mark you calendars for Saturday, February 18. The notorious Battle of the Belt rages at McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House during its 13th Annual Hillsdale Brewfest. The day-long event features eighteen delicious brews, tasty food, family fun and a competition for the Belt - an honor that includes the right to represent McMenamins at this year's Oregon Brewers Festival. McMenamins brewers present 18 beers in the infamous "Battle of the Belt".
And the beer contestants(Brewer's name) are....Pimp My Rye from Roseburg Station Brewery,(Tom Johnson)Vertical Drop from Old Saint Francis School(Mike White)Good Times from McMenamins on the Columbia Brewery(Mike Napier) Marchioness di Garibaldi from Dad Watsons Brewery(Tim Streeter)Monkey Wrench from McMenamins Queen Anne(Brian Lawrence)Witches Castle from Oak Hills Brewery(James Whelan)Krakatoa Coffee Porter from Hillsdale Brewery(John Keane) Mrs. Bryant's Black Gold from Fulton Brewery(Derek Einberger)Black Pearl from West Linn Brewery(Jeremy Wulf)Jake's Leg from Edgefield Brewery(Bruce Loux)Alternator from Thompson Brewery (Gary Nance)Contender from Highland Brewery(Ben Nehrling)Los Diablos del Paso from Cornelius Pass Roadhouse Brewery(Greg Balch, Corey Blodgett)Yürbock from the Crystal Ballroom Brewery((Craig Gulla, Jim Montgomery)Heavy Hand from High Street Brewery (Lane Fricke)Northwest Dunkelweizen from Lighthouse Brewery(Jay Webb)Commonwealth Porter from John Barleycorns Brewery(Graham Brogan)White Lightning from Concordia Brewery((Brian Riley, Tim Proctor)

East Coast Hop Monsters!

By Gary Corbin

The Northwest is well-known for its hop monster beers, from the tongue-scraping Rogue Brutal Bitter to the citrusy Bridgeport IPA or the floral Deschutes IPA. Often we think of East Coast beers as being tepid by comparison; I'm tempted to pack some Mirror Pond when I travel there. But as I discovered on a recent trip, the East Coast is catching on to the magic of humulones. Portland beer aficionados already know about Delaware's Dogfish Head's 60-minute IPA and their 90-minute Imperial IPA. These beers are noted for the radical hopping schedule: hop additions every minute for, as their names imply, 60 or 90 minutes, rather than the two or three additions most brewers add. The result is a beer rich in hop flavor and complexity, a great complement to any meal or to be enjoyed on its own. As if that's not enough, Dogfish now has a 120-minute IPA. In addition to its minute-by-minute additions in the kettle, the 120 is "dry-hopped"- meaning additional hops are added as it's fermenting - every single day. This is an intensely hop-flavored beer, friends. Pennsylvania's Victory Brewing offers Hopdevil Ale, coming in at 1064 original gravity and between 50 to 60 international bitterness units. Hopdevil would hold its own with most Portland IPAs, but even more impressive is their Hop Wallop, at 1080 OG and 80 IBUs, or what Portland hopheads might call "balanced." Flying Dog's Snake Dog IPA also is a respectable brew, although it doesn't quite reach Dogfish or Victory's hopping rates. At 48 IBU and 1056 OG, you can still taste the malt. True hopheads may pass on this one, but I found it very enjoyable
Beer News
From BridgePort Brewing Company, the new beer,: Supris. Described as big, beautiful and blonde, Supris clearly pays homage to the Belgian style, but with a distinctly American interpretation, is now on shelves around Portland. Stay tune for BridgePort BrewPub grand re-opening after the extensive renovations it should be sometime soon at 1313 NW Marshall St.

From Sandy, Oregon, comes new brew pub to checkout on your way to the mountain, Karlsson Brewing Co. is now open. It is located at 35900 Industrial Way - Suite 102 Sandy, OR (Behind Fred Meyer). karlssonbewing.com 503-826-8770