Holiday Cheers and Winter Beers!

HOLIDAY CHEERS AND WINTER BEERS!

Tis the season for the Holiday Ale Festival, a joyous winter tradition at which to celebrate the most wonderful time — and beer — of the year. The 11th annual event will take place Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

The roots of brewing special winter and holiday beers trace back to the mythologies of Greece and Rome. The pagan celebrations of the winter solstice marked the return of light to the world, and triumphant ale was brewed to mark the occasion. In the Middle Ages, monasteries encouraged the brewing of special beers for special occasions, particularly Christmas.

Today, these “winter warmers” ward off the chill of winter and warm both the palate and soul. Complex in aroma and flavor, these heavier beers are big in body and high in alcohol.

Thanks to an extra dose of malt, most of these beers are rich and bold, with chocolate, caramel or coffee flavors; others benefit from the addition of herbs, spices, and fruit.
There are literally hundreds of holiday beers available on the market. The Holiday Ale Festival has gathered together three-dozen winter craft brews on draft, making this the most prestigious winter beer sampling opportunity on the West Coast.

Many breweries have brewed a beer especially for this year's festival: Widmer's Regifted Red is based on its Northwest Red, but with more malt and a bit more hops. Pelican's Full House Ale, an Imperial American Brown, is named in honor of the three Gold medals, two Silver medals and “Large Brewpub of the Year” won at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival. And Walking Man's Ho Ho Homo Erectus is a holiday version of the brewery's award-winning Imperial IPA, aged in Jamaican rum barrels.

One of the most exciting beers is the debut of Jim, a collaboration between Hair of the Dog Brewing and Oregon Brew Crew member Preston Weesner. Jim honors the late Jim Kennedy, founder of Admiralty Beverage and a tireless promoter of craft beer. This Belgian Dubbel Maredsous 8 is blended with Hair of the Dog beers and aged on oak; it's a beer not to be missed, and the Holiday Ale Festival is the only place to get it.

Other highlights include Anchor's Old Foghorn Barleywine, on draft in Portland for the first time in many years; the debut of Ninkasi's first winter seasonal, Believer; Belgian imports Scaldis Noël and St. Feuillien Cuvée de Noël; and Samichlaus, the strongest lager in the world at 14 percent abv. All beers will cost patrons the same: $1 for a taste, or $4 for a mug, so anticipate the imports and specialty beers to run out early.

With gas heaters, evergreen boughs, cheery decorations and seasonal music, the festival creates a warm and cozy ambience underneath Portland's Christmas tree. In addition to beer, there's warm mead, a limited selection of wine by the glass, and a root beer garden. Craft vendors offer distinct handmade gifts, and a wide selection of beer apparel and souvenirs are available for the beer lover on your list.

On Sunday at 10 a.m., the third annual Brewers Brunch will take place on the upper level of the Square. The ticket price of $30 includes brunch and four exclusive beers not featured at the festival. View the menu or purchase tickets online at holidayale.com.
The holidays can be a stressful time; the Holiday Ale Festival offers the perfect venue to relax, unwind, and get in touch with your Christmas Spirit. And with Max Light Rail located outside the doors of the event, you can toast to your heart's content. Cheers!

For hours or more information visit www.holidayale.com or call 503-252-9899.

Side Bar Story

The Holiday Ale Festival’s Third Annual Brewers Brunch
The Third Annual Brewers Brunch will take place Sunday, December 3rd beginning at 10 a.m. thru noon. The auxiliary event will be held on the upper level of Pioneer Courthouse Square, adjacent to the umbrella man, at the corner of Broadway and Yamhill Streets. This is a great opportunity to mingle with brewers of the area and contribute some money to a good charity. The Oregon Brewers Guild will benefit by the purchase of these tickets.
The ticket price of $30 includes brunch and exclusive beers not featured at the festival.

~ The Beers ~

Full Sail Vesuvius
Hair Of The Dog Fred
Chimay Grand Reserve
St. Feuillien Triple

~ The Menu ~
~ Fresh croissants lightly toasted and served with your choice of either warmed Black Forest ham with Havarti or slow roasted turkey breast with Smoked Fontina. ~
~ A variety of local award winning cheeses from Willamette Valley Cheese Co
Brindisi Fontina, Eola Jack, Gouda.
~ Blue Cheese, Brie Cheese
~A selection of cured artisan salamis.
~ Mini Pain Au Chocolate, a heavenly puff pastry with a small ribbon of chocolate baked inside.
~ Chouquettes, a puff pastry ball sprinkled with rock sugar.
~ Mini Chausson aux Pommes, A French applesauce turnover.
~ Mini raspberry croissants.
~ A hand-carved fresh fruit platter
~ Fresh orange juice and strong black coffee will also be served.
To order tickets or get more information about the Brewers Brunch, visit www.holidayale.com or call 503-252-9899.

Beer News:

Just in time for your Hanukkah Celebration! Portland has the release of a beer for Hanukkah! HE'BREW gourmet Kosher beers from Schmaltz Brewing Company are having a release party at The Horse Brass (4534 SE Belmont Pdx , www.horsebrass.com (503) 232-2202) on Wednesday November 29th starting at 6:00 PM

From Cows To Kegs

By Elizabeth Ryan
Congratulations to our newest Honorary Beer Scribe!

Riding the rails through sleepy valley towns and breathtaking fall foliage, my husband and I embarked on a weekend quest for the best in Southern Oregon microbrews.
After meeting Rod Kucera, a Southern Oregon brewmaster, at the summer beer festival in Portland, we wanted to try out his beer on his own home turf, so we boarded Amtrak on a Friday afternoon heading for Klamath Falls and microbrews.
Mia and Pia’s Pizzeria and Brewhouse (3545 Summers Lane, Klamath Falls, www.miapia.com) began as a dairy farm, founded in 1967 by the Kucera family. Rod Kucera grew up in the 1960s and ’70s and learned the dairy business from his father.
It wasn’t until the ‘90s that Kucera decided a dairy farm was the perfect setting for a microbrewery. Mia and Pia’s Pizzeria features more than 20 of Kucera’s brews on tap. With a raucous atmosphere that caters to families — evidenced by the emphasis on pizza and video games — the bar appeared as somewhat of an afterthought, tucked away in the corner of a large pizza parlor.
But every barstool was taken and microbrews were flowing. We ordered the sampler and tried 14 (yes, 14!) beers at Mia and Pia’s, from lagers and pilsners to porters and stouts. Standing out for us was the Improviser IPA, a big beer bursting with flavor and hops. The Ra Ale, a seasonal choice, offered a hoppiness that was tasty and lingered on the palate. Otto Mulligan’s Irish Stout, named for Rod’s grandfather, pleased the palate with chocolate malt overtones yet was light enough to drink all evening.
As we were walking away from Amtrak, our luggage in tow, heading on foot to a motel half a mile away, a police officer pulled up next to us and asked us if we were OK. I guess a middle-aged couple pulling luggage, late on Friday night in a seedy side of Klamath Falls is enough to alert local authorities.
Our trip destination had been Mia and Pia’s, but the officer encouraged us to try out the Creamery — he called it a “great little pub.” So the second night in Klamath Falls was dedicated to investigating this tip from one of the city’s finest. The first thing we noticed when we entered the Creamery (1320 Main St., Klamath Falls) was the tremendous size of this great room, bordered by a stone fireplace and a huge movie screen, with large silver pipes, remnants from its creamery days, lining the ceiling.
The Creamery, once a favorite local spot for ice cream and milkshakes, had been sitting vacant for 12 years when Del Azevedo and Lonnie Clement bought and restored the building and moved their brewing business out of Lonnie’s garage into the old creamery. Homebrewers since 1994, Azevedo and Clement established Klamath Basin Brewing Company, using the Cascade range’s crystal-clear water that is heated by geothermal hot springs. This makes the Klamath Basin Brewing Company the only known brewing operation that uses geothermally heated water for the brewing process.
Maggie, our cheerful waitress, who left a career in marketing to work with the guys at the Creamery, brought us a sampler of 11 brews. The Belgian Blonde boasted a mild Belgian smoothness and was lighter tasting for such a big beer. The High Desert Harvest gave a spicy aftertaste and rich flavors of cloves and maybe ginger lingered.
Our favorite was the Ranch Horse Red, somewhat hoppy and big, described in the menu as a “dark malt ale.” Whether one was drinking Butt Crack Brown, in honor of the working man, or 8 Second Ale, which appeared to be a local favorite, the Creamery offered a warm pub environment with an outstanding variety of food. The menu listed steaks, pasta, “drunken” mussels, and fried dill pickles.
Look for Mia and Pia’s microbrews and Klamath Basin Brewing Company beers on tap in a pub near you. These Southern Oregon beers can be found in more than 30 fine drinking establishments throughout the greater Portland area. Better yet, hop on the train and make a weekend of it!

Beer News

Holiday Cheers the new BEERS! Besides the four new releases from New Old Lompoc mentioned last week, we are getting very excited about all the new beers being announced! From Roots Organic Brewery: Roots Winter Warmer on tap now! McMenamins releases Kris Kringle, a traditional Yuletide Ale. Laurelwood Public House and Brewery releases their Vinter Varmer (6.4% ABV), strong ale is as rich and complex as it is drinkable. A blend of six malts and four hops creates an ale with deep caramel character, spicy hop flavor and a dry roasty finish. It’s spelled differently because it’s Vonderful.
Stay tuned here for an announcement regarding a very special holiday collector's item beer release from Laurelwood.

One of the more exciting announcements for the Holiday comes from Pelican Pub & Brewery! A couple of fantastic sounding new beers…Full House (8.0% ABV) - Available on draft at the Holiday Ale Festival and Pelican Pub & Brewery December 1st! An Imperial American Brown Ale based on the Gold medal-winning Doryman’s Dark Ale! Full House is rich, dark red-brown in color, with an aroma of caramel, toasted malt, and cocoa-like chocolate malt with a pronounced floral Northwest hop aroma. The sweetness of the chocolate and crystal malts blend beautifully with the assertive flavors of Cascade and Mt. Hood hops. Full house finishes clean, balanced, warming and satisfying. And another offering coming in mid-December, Stormwatcher's Winterfest 2006 (12.4 ABV) Its deep amber-red color, massive toasted malt, toffee and caramel aroma, and full-bodied malty flavor lead to a smooth, soft and warming finish. The floral aroma and flavor highlights come from Hersbrucker hops, while a toasted malt sweetness balances a mild, subtle bitterness in the finish.

A Collaboration on the Collaborators! The Oregon Brew Crew has compiled a great list of the Collaborator Beers from the very beginning. You can find this list on their website at www.oregonbrewcrew.com! It worth the read!


Market your calendars! November 30th - December 3rd, 2006 Holiday Ale Festival- The only beer festival in the Northwest to be held outdoors in the dark, cold and often wet month of December! Attendees stay warm under a heated, clear tent under the boughs of the city's Christmas tree.

Sumerian Goddess of Beer

BY Angelo M. De Ieso II
Honorary Beer Scribe for Guest on Tap

Ninkasi Brewing of Eugene has given Northwestern handcrafted beer enthusiasts something to feel even more enthusiastic about.
Started by former Steelhead brewer Jamie Floyd and his two partners, Nikos Ridge and Tom Kamis, Ninkasi brings to the table a wealth of brewing savoir-faire with a business practice that is community-minded and environmentally cognizant.
The name Ninkasi is that of the ancient Sumerian goddess of beer who is believed by many to have created the original recipe for beer some 4,000 years ago.
For a decade, Floyd brewed at Eugene’s Steelhead Brewing innovating such delectable recipes as the monstrously hoppy Hopasaurus Rex. However, his taste in beer is not limited to American ales, but rather a variety of worldly favorites.
Kamis brings more than 14 years of kitchen experience from Eugene’s popular Cafe Soriah. Ridge is an erudite financial officer with a decade of experience working the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Combining backgrounds, the three share a deep-seated passion for handcrafted brewing and a sincere respect for their community.
Currently located at Sofia’s restaurant in Springfield’s Gateway District, the group plans on relocating in the not-so-distant future to downtown Eugene. With Kamis and Ridge holding down operations of late, Floyd has been been traveling in the name of quality beer.
Floyd’s ability to identify 10 out of 12 IPAs at a charity blind tasting at the 2006 Oregon Brewers Festival won him a trip to Munich, Germany, where he experienced the historical significance of brewing firsthand. He then jetted to Denver for the 25th annual Great American Beer Festival.

What was the inspiration behind starting Ninkasi?
Nikos Ridge: After having worked in such an abstract industry, the idea of creating a tangible, enjoyable product, where at the end of the day you have something real to show for your efforts, that isn’t just some number on paper.
Jamie Floyd: With this opportunity I can combine the creative and scientific aspects of brewing, the manual, physical labor with thought-provoking work. When I’m brewing I’m introverted, but when I’m sharing our work with the public, I’m extroverted. It’s a balance that I enjoy.

Any particular style of beer that is a favorite?
NR: It changes seasonally. Northwest-style ales are excellent, and I really like all the monastic breweries in Europe.
JF: I’m a serious beer geek. It depends: What season? What hour? I just returned from Munich tasting some incredible Münchner Dunkels … now I’m in Denver enjoying superhopped IPAs. I’m excited about brewing lagers, Belgians and different beers. I just love beer!

What is on the horizon for Ninkasi?
NR: We’re excited to start work on our permanent facility and hope to have it done in the next six months. We’re focusing on local distribution first, and when we’ve reached a saturation point in Eugene we’ll start with a larger focus on Portland and other areas.
JF: It’s been my lifelong cause to create quality beer and to educate people on the complexity of beer while continually learning. I think that many people are still unaware that beer is so much more complex and well-suited to a variety of menus than wine. Also, the long-term dedication to community is most important.


Beer News
Ninkasi sightings! In Portland, beers from this Eugene Brewery started by Jamie Floyd and his two partners Nikos Ridge and Tom Kami have been popping up all over town. “The Believer” at Higgins last week. “Goddess” at Concordia Ale House last week. Also, rumor has it that there is a great Ninkasi IPA out there along with a special 2003 Wheatwine which might be appearing at the Holiday Ale Festival on Thursday! Look for the Goddess!

Meet the Brewer! On Thursday, November 16th, Tonya from Bend Brewing will be available for a "meet the brewer" event at Concordia Ale House (#503-287-3929@ 3276 NE Killingsworth, Pdx ), she will have a few "special" beers available and also the coveted Hophead! Concordia Ale House from 6-9pm on Thursday.

The Second Annual Oregon Cask Beer Festival is November 17 to 19that Rose and Raindrop. It is only two months before R&R closes so you might want to catch this event.


November 23-26: Thanksgiving Weekend Rogue Garage & Warehouse Sale in Eugene, Newport, Portland, Issaquah, and San Francisco. Hours may vary, so check with your local Rogue Public House for details.

New Beers in town and more to come from the New Old Lompoc! Currently, on tap at all Lompoc establishments you will fine a big porter called “Monster Mash” checking in at 8% ABV. Coming on November 28th, the New Old Lompoc releases four new beers…Jolly Bock; Seasons Greetings; Holiday Cheers, and Blitzen! You might want to have a sleigh in waiting for your ride home!

Market your calendars! November 30th - December 3rd, 2006 Holiday Ale Festival- The only beer festival in the Northwest to be held outdoors in the dark, cold and often wet month of December! Attendees stay warm under a heated, clear tent under the boughs of the city's Christmas tree.

Widmer expansion by AP

7:16 AM PST on Friday, November 10, 2006
Associated Press
Widmer Bros., the sixth-largest craft brewery in the nation, is beginning a $22 million expansion aimed at introducing hefeweizen beer to a wider market.
Founders Kurt and Rob Widmer put a keg of their most famous beer in the back of the car earlier this year and hit a string of restaurants and bars to get Texans to sip their hefeweizen brew.
Earlier this week, the company broke ground on a new building that will house fermentation tanks and an additional kegging line. Once the expansion is completed, the brewery will nearly double its annual capacity to 550,000 barrels -- or more than 136 million pints -- of beer.
The brewing company has been straining against its current size in recent years as its beer gained in popularity. Its distribution is handled by beer giant Anheuser Busch Cos., which owns 40 percent of Widmer.
"We've been growing at double digits for the last four, five years," said Kurt Widmer, the brewmaster. "This will allow us to meet the ever-increasing demand ... and free up some capacity to pursue some beer styles that we haven't been able to do."
A Belgian-style beer, for instance. Or a double bock or some other maltier or more flavorful kind of beer, he said.
But the expansion will help the Widmers make and sell more hefeweizen, a gold-colored, cloudy, unfiltered wheat beer with citrus undertones that is the main franchise for the brewery, accounting for 82 percent of its sales last year.
For many, Widmer hefeweizen is the brew that turns beer drinkers into loyal craft brew customers, said Jim Parker, one of the owners of the Oaks Bottom Public House and former executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild.
"They're bringing people into the fold with that beer," he said.
The Widmers said hefeweizen has broad appeal to men and women, with a wide age range.
As part of the expansion, the flagship beer will also undergo a small makeover, as Widmer Bros. tries to better distinguish its brand from others, including Seattle-based Pyramid Breweries Inc., which also makes a popular hefeweizen.
Widmer Bros. plans to emphasize its name more prominently on the label, with "Hefeweizen" a bit smaller, in hopes of training customers to ask for a Widmer rather than a hefeweizen, said Rob Widmer.
Construction of the new building is expected to take about 18 months, and once the new site is fully operational, the company plans to add as many as 45 employees. It currently employs 185.

Top 10 cities for beer lovers:Sherman's Travel MSNBC

See <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15642039/>
10 cities for beer lovers
Oktoberfest may be over, but don't stay home and drown your sorrows
Sherman's Travel
Updated: 1:51 p.m. PT Nov 9, 2006
Munich’s Oktoberfest has come and gone, but that’s no reason for beer lovers to sit home and drown their sorrows in a frosty mug. The world is full of destinations where the natives know – and love – their beer, and where you can sample some local brew all year long. We sipped our way around the world and came up with ten great destinations for beer lovers – how about a visit to a German city that’s home to over a dozen beer gardens? Or perhaps a visit to the world’s oldest brewpub is more your pint of ale? And we can all probably agree that a city in Asia where beer is sold in vending machines is definitely worth a visit. So no matter how you say “cheers” – whether Prost! Na zdraví! Kampai! Salúd! – our list will help you raise a glass around the globe.
1. AmsterdamCozy, neighborhood watering holes serving beer (or pils as the locals call it), the Dutch way – with exactly two fingers' worth of foam on top – aren’t hard to find in this city. Heineken, Grolsch, and Amstel are three of the best-known native brews, but a sampling of artisanal blends and witte (wheat) beers from neighboring Belgium are also on the menu at Amsterdam’s cozy “brown” bars, so called for their antiquated, nicotine-stained walls. If your interest in hops goes beyond consumption, take a tour of the Heineken Experience, where tastings are encouraged.
2. BerlinIs there any place on earth better to sip Berliner Weise (beer with woodruff or raspberry juice) than in its city of origin? The city boasts more then 20 beer gardens where you can enjoy this local favorite – along with hundreds of other frothy ales. Though the city is a haven for beer lovers all year round, August in particular stands out, when the first week of the month is devoted to Bierfestival, and the city center turns into a 1.2 mile-long beer garden hosting 240 breweries from 80 countries, representing 1,750 different brands of beer.
3. BruggeSlightly smaller than the Belgian capital of Brussels, Brugge (also known as Bruges) is renowned for its fine lace, Godiva chocolate – and beer. Indeed, this tiny city is, amazingly enough, a prime place to sample over 450 unique varieties of Belgian brew, each served in its own specialized glass. You’ll find a preserved pub, Café Vlissinghe (www.cafevlissinghe.be), that dates back to 1515, breweries that still use antiquated brewing techniques, and even museums, like De Gouden Boom Brewery Museum, where beer has been produced since 1455.
4. BurlingtonSet between two beer-bustling locales – Montreal to the north, and Boston to the southeast – Burlington, Vermont is a university town with one of the best brew cultures in New England. Home to the quirky micro-brewery Magic Hat, visitors can do as the locals do and sample homegrown brews such as #9, Fat Angel, and Blind Faith IPA to name a few. Church Street, a four-block pedestrian-only zone buzzes with vibrant bars with top-notch beer on tap, including Vermont brewed Otter Creek and the Long Trail beer collection, whose specialty beers change seasonally.
5. DublinNo beer list of any kind would be complete without a nod to the Irish and its capital city of Dublin, where pub culture thrives and the favorite local pastime is imbibing in age-old taverns where luminaries like James Joyce perhaps once did. Dubliners and visitors alike can’t resist the smooth creamy flavor and dark body of Guinness, the city’s finest, home-brewed stout. The Guinness Storehouse, where visitors can watch the brewing process and learn to pour themselves the perfect pint, and The Porterhouse, Dublin’s first brew pub and a must on any pub crawl, are two of the city’s top draws.
6. Mexico CityUna cerveza por favor! These words will have you sipping Mexico’s finest in two shakes of a maraca. Corona, the signature Mexican brew, is produced in Mexico City, at Grupo Modelo, the country’s largest brewing company. While brewpubs are rare in the capital, fun taverns, mariachi clubs, and bars abound where you can taste your share of local beers. Our favorite brands include Negra Modelo, a chocolaty-smooth dark lager (also produced by Grupo Modelo), Bohemia, a pilsner-style lager with a semi-dry flavor, and Dos XX, a golden lager-style beer.
7. MontrealThere’s more to this Québec province then Labatt and Molson. Montreal, in particular, boasts several brewpubs, like Le Cheval Blanc, Dieu du Ciel, and Sergent Recruteur that serve up first-rate micro-brewed beer in flavors that typically change with the season. Rather than be classified as lager, ale, and the like, beer here is commonly differentiated by color – blonde, rousse (red), ambrée (amber), and noir (dark) – and are ordered as such at the bar. If you happen to be in town in early June, don’t miss the annual Mondial de la Bière beer festival.
8. PortlandIn Portland, there are plenty of drafts to go around. Indeed, with 28 breweries based here – more per capital than any other city in the country – this Pacific Northwest city clearly boasts the motherload of American microbrews. One of the city’s oldest and largest breweries, Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, produces over 200,000 barrels a year, including a top-selling German-style Hefeweizen; drop by on a weekend for free tours and tastings. Other popular draws here include Gasthaus, where hard-to-find brews like Snowplow Stout and Cherry Bomb are on tap, and BridgePort, Portland’s oldest microbrewery.
9. PragueBeer lovers love Prague for two main reasons – the first being the high quality of the beer brewed here, the second being its price – which is very inexpensive by North American standards. The city is home to U Fleku, the world's oldest brewpub, and one of Europe's most famous beer halls. It’s also home to the original (and many would say better) Budweiser, known locally as Budvar. Traditionally, beer halls only poured one brand, but have recently begun pouring two or three, so you won’t have to pub crawl to sample Prague’s best suds. For serious enthusiasts, Plzen, home of the world’s first beer museum and the original Pilsner, is just 50 miles away.
10. SapporoThink the Japanese sit around sipping sake all day? Think again. Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink here – so popular, in fact, that you can purchase it from vending machines on the street. The town of Sapporo, in northern Japan, is a name beer lovers are familiar with, thanks to the golden beverage that shares the town’s namesake and which usually appears in a silver tall-boy. Since Sapporo beer is the city’s most popular export, it makes sense that it has its own museum – the only one of its kind in Japan. Next door, a beer garden with a daily barbeque creates the perfect setting for kicking back with cold draft beer.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15642039/

Deliriously Portland

By Ken Kane

We beer drinkers are blessed to live in Portland. Selection abounds.
In fact, for breadth of beer choices, Portland doesn’t hold a candle to anywhere this side of, well, Belgium, whose borders are practically bursting with beer — luscious, quirky, expansive and, yes, alcoholic beer.
For those lucky enough to be called to this brewing mecca (as I was this fall), sampling the offerings is a religious experience — regardless of whether it’s a Trappist beer, an abbey ale or something secularly silly.
If it’s silly it could be Pink Killer, an awful-sounding but amazingly tasty concoction brewed in Silly in central Belgium. The beer is literally pink from the addition of ruby red grapefruit juice to beer wort.
Even for the fruit-beer fanatic Belgians, this is a stretch. But this quencher is a refreshing “low” alcohol alternative (4.7 percent by volume) to the tap right next to it at Brussels’ Delirium Cafe: the unbelievably smooth yet powerfully malty Bush Amber (12 percent).
Bush Amber (sold as Scaldis in the U.S.) is available in bottles at a few locations in Portland, including Belmont Station and John’s Marketplace. Alas, Pink Killer hasn’t arrived yet, though some other silly beers have.
The Delirium Cafe, located just off the restaurant row known as Rue de Bouchers, has only about 15 taps, but it’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the pub with the greatest selection: at least 2,004 of the world’s beers at any given time. Their beer menu rivals a phone book in size!
In Antwerp, the Kulminator Pub occupies a revered, if cramped, niche in the beer world. It stocks “only” 550 beers but many are vintage dated. On my visit I sampled a 1982 Thomas Hardy Ale — still big and bold after nearly a quarter-century in the bottle. Friends at my table savored a 20-year-old Chimay Grande Reserve. I’d tell you how it tasted, except my friends weren’t sharing — no fools they!
Unlike Delirium, this pub offered a Portland-brewed beer: Hair of the Dog Fred. Several years ago Hair of the Dog owner Alan Sprints left some Fred behind for a beer tasting. It’s been on the beer list ever since.
“I’m very proud to have my beer there,” he says. “Belgium was the main influence on my brewing style. Creativity and originality are the things I took from it.”
Don’t miss an opportunity to experience Belgian beer in Belgian pubs. But until then, be thankful for the Northwest’s abundance of Belgian imports and locally made Belgian-style beers, such as Bridgeport’s Supris and the Double, Trippel and Grand Cru from Dick’s Brewing Co. up Interstate 5 in Centralia. And, of course, Hair of the Dog.
In fact, Nov. 11 presents a great opportunity to experience Alan’s interpretation of the Belgian brewing tradition. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that Saturday, Hair of the Dog holds its 13th anniversary sale and open house at 4509 S.E. 23rd Ave. in Portland.
No one would mistake the brewery’s location beneath the Southeast Holgate Boulevard railroad viaduct for the Rue de Bouchers, but there’s sure to be a hint of Brussels wafting from Hair of the Dog that day!

Beer News

According to the McMenamins Hotel, Pubs & Breweries Calendar(Holiday Gift Ideas), we have 130 days ‘til St. Patrick’s Day as of today, November 7th! New Breweries in the Portland area! The Broadway Grill & Brewery (#503.284.4460) has opened at 1700 NE Broadway! This great new establishment is brought to you by the same people that launched the family friendly, Old Market Pub & Brewery (6969 SW Multnomah Blvd. Portland, #503.244.0450) in the Garden Home area. The brewmaster, Tomas Sluiter, from Old Market Pub & Brewery is producing some great beers for their new establishment which has been open for about a month. This family friendly pub and soon to be brewery has an excellent wheat beer called “Great White Wheat”! This is a modern version of the popular styles using an ale yeast rather than traditional cloudy “hefe” yeast.
It is that time of year, again. It’s Hair of the Dog’s 13th Anniversary Sale: This year’s 13th Anniversary sale will be November 11th from 10:00 till 4:00. HOD will be releasing 2006 Doggie Claws and some Fred from the wood from this years bottling. This is a classic must for Hair of the Dog Fans! Hair of the Dog http://www.hairofthedog.com/ (4509 SE 23rd Avenue * Portland * 503-232-6585)
The Second Annual Oregon Cask Beer Festival is November 17 to 19that Rose and Raindrop. It is only two months before R&R closes so you might want to catch this event.

This Thanksgiving, Give The Bird A Beer! Concordia Ale House is teaming up with Lisa Morrison (aka The Beer Goddess) to showcase a number of easy-to-find craft beers that will go great with the appetizers, salad, turkey -- and even the dessert -- served for Thanksgiving Dinner. The two-hour course, held at Concordia on Nov. 6 from 6- 8 p.m., takes diners through several samples of bottled beers to go with Thanksgiving fare so they can decide which artisan brews to serve with their own holiday meals. Attendees will also learn a bit about how to pair craft beer with food and will get a little beer history along the journey. Reservations are required. Cost is $30 per person Interested? Contact: Brittany Menjou Manager at Concordia Ale House Phone: 503-287-3929 (Concordia Ale House, 3276 NE Killingsworth, Pdx )

Author's background:
Ken Kane has been home-brewing for more than 20 years, virtually from the time he moved to Oregon. Ken designs and sells “beeraphenalia” — souvenirs related to Oregon in general and its distinctive wines and beers in particular. They are available at his Web sites, woodbloom.com and PortlandSouvenirs.com, and area events such as the Holiday Ale Festival at Pioneer Courthouse Square later this fall.

Beer Artisan brewers thrive in Wine Country by SFC

BEER Artisan brewers thrive in the Wine Country - Thom Elkjer, Special to The ChronicleFriday, November 3, 2006

The large cool room is full of stainless steel tanks and the smell of fermentation. The proud artisan pops a cork and pours a sample from a 750-ml bottle, watching keenly for my reaction as I sniff, sip and spit. So far, it's like being in any other Wine Country cellar.
Then the fermented beverage hits my tongue and lights it up with the savory flavors and yeasty natural carbonation of handmade, artisanal beer.
The delicious mouthful I reluctantly consign to the floor drain is not a French-style red wine called Pinot Noir, but a Belgian-style golden ale called Damnation.
Brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo, who makes Damnation and other specialty brews at the Russian River Brewing Co., is blurring the boundaries between beer and wine in delightful ways. He uses Chardonnay and Pinot Noir barrels purchased from Sonoma County wineries to give his brews noticeably winelike flavors, such as dried cherries and toasted hazelnuts. A mellow, biscuity finish is reminiscent of Champagne.
He is just one of many beer wizards who are hard at work transforming what "beer" means.
Twenty years ago, in the early days of the microbrewing revolution, most home brewers went into the commercial business to make a fresh, draft version of their favorite bottled import. Not anymore. While most brewmasters respect tradition and use the time-honored categories such as stout and ale when describing their beers -- just as winemakers do -- their flavors are moving into a different universe.
Cilurzo is well aware of the territory he's traversing, having grown up in a winegrowing family in Temecula (Riverside County). It gives him a special thrill, for example, to use a technique that causes full-body cringes when winemakers hear about it. Cilurzo has begun using the yeast Brettanomyces for the primary fermentations in some of his Belgian-style beers. "Brett," as winemakers (and now beermakers) call it, occurs naturally in some vineyards and is terribly hard to eradicate from wineries once it establishes itself there. While some wineries believe that in small doses it increases complexity in a wine, it's out of fashion because it produces odors that remind most people of barnyard manure, so many wineries do everything in their power to eliminate it.
While brewers, particularly in Belgium, tend to be more welcoming to Brett, Cilurzo is an out-and-out enthusiast. "It's great!" he says. "Brett is a surviving yeast, one that hangs in there deep into the fermentation, so it brings out things other yeasts don't get." With that, he pours out a sample of Temptation, a Belgian-style blond ale that was fermented with two different strains of Brettanomyces and aged in used Chardonnay barrels for 12 months. The beer is deliciously redolent of dried apples and roasted almonds, but Cilurzo thinks it's not at its peak yet. "Needs bottle age," he says matter-of-factly, and pulls another cork.
Though Cilurzo may be in the vanguard of this kind of beer making, he's not alone. Tomme Arthur of Pizza Port Brewing company in Solana Beach (San Diego County) is also well known for pushing the envelope, and it turns out that Arthur and Cilurzo swap ideas on a regular basis -- especially if one of them has recently been to Belgium, where complex, fruit-flavored microbrews are a centuries-old tradition. There are, for example, more than 400 different beers made at Belgium's Trappist monasteries.
It seems like a long leap from monks in Belgium to Fourth Street in Santa Rosa, but Sonoma and Mendocino counties were known as beer country long before they became known as Wine Country. That's because hops were grown and roasted along the Russian River until the middle of the last century. Roasted hops are one of the two essential ingredients in most beer (the other is malted barley). Hop Kiln Winery, on Westside Road near Healdsburg, is an atmospheric reminder of this era, as is the Mendocino town of Hopland.
Hop vines were grown on the rich, flat soil near the river, where the fog lingered and encouraged the spread of a vine disease called powdery mildew. When Prohibition ended and California's wine industry was reborn, the hops were replaced with a hardier vine -- Vitis vinifera, which produces wine grapes.
Beer is edging back into the picture these days because of a change in California law 23 years ago. Beermakers could not legally sell their wares directly to the public on their own premises until 1983. Soon after that law went into effect, Hopland Brewery opened in the town of Hopland to sell its . Others craft breweries soon followed throughout the North Coast, and the microbrew revolution rapidly rolled across the continent.
But it was too much, too soon. "A lot of people jumped in during the 1990s and made too much bad beer," explains Ken Allen, founder and president of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. "Fortunately the loyal fans stayed with us, but we lost a lot of other people. Now we've got to get them back."
One of the signs that local microbreweries are winning that battle is the emergence of newly planted hop fields. At tiny Moonlight Brewing in Sonoma County, Brian Hunt has recently introduced Greenbud ale, which he brews from 2-year-old hop vines he planted in front of his brewery. At Ukiah Brewing Co., brewmaster Bret Cooperrider persuaded a nearby Mendocino farmer to plant organic hops for him this year. "I get organic hops from England, Germany, New Zealand and Yakima Valley in Washington," he reports. "I'd much rather get them from up the highway. People grow organic grapes all over Mendocino; and if there's a market for them, there's got to be a market for organic hops."
Just as alcohol levels are rising in wine, many of today's microbrews are much higher in alcohol than mass-market beers. In addition to Damnation and Temptation, Cilurzo produces a dozen other beers with names like Desperation and Deification. The former is nearly 10 percent alcohol. The latter is about average for the lineup, at 6.35 percent -- but that's still around twice the average of mass-produced beers.
That's not to say that all microbrews will knock you over. North Coast brewpubs routinely feature at least one or two lower-alcohol "session beers," the kind you drink a few pints of during a long meal or evening at the poker table. One of the session beers popular in the pub at Russian River Brewing is Parking Violation, a beautifully balanced pale ale with a mellow, hop-flavored finish and deceptive 5.5 percent alcohol. Wine Country's microbreweries are also focusing on creating brews that will appeal to women as well as immigrants from cultures with lower-alcohol beer traditions. The flood of Mexican immigrants into Anderson Valley, for example, inspired Allen to create a light, refreshing cream beer with packaging in both Spanish and English. The alcohol is barely noticeable, and the flavor of hops is a soft kiss rather than a bear hug.
"There are only so many beer geeks in this country, so if the microbrewing business is going to keep growing, we have to make beer for the rest of the population," he explains.
Allen speaks from experience. He was an early fan of Hopland Brewery back in the early 1980s, about the time he was considering retiring from a successful career as a chiropractor. Almost on impulse he decided to launch himself into a second career as a microbrewer. "I spent 10 bucks to take a beermaking class in Santa Rosa," he recalls. "We opened our brewery in Boonville the day after Christmas in 1987."
In the ensuing two decades, Allen has supported America's microbrewing movement by mentoring young brewers (including Cooperrider at Ukiah Brewing Co.) and pouring at every beer festival in sight. The favors paid off. "Every time someone opened a new microbrewery somewhere in the country," Allen recalls, "I'd get a call from a distributor asking to carry my beer."
He has worked hard to make sure that his craft brews are as fresh as possible when they reach consumers. Despite his wide national distribution, for example, he does not produce 12-packs of his beer. "Grocery stores put six-packs in the cold case, but they stack 12-packs in the aisles," Allen explains. "The whole point of craft brewing is to deliver flavor and freshness you can't get from giant breweries, so I don't want my beer going 'flat' because it was exposed to heat and light."
Anderson Valley Brewing Co. will produce approximately 23,000 barrels of beer this year, and while most of it leaves Anderson Valley, some of it stays. That's because Allen has created a "destination brewery." From the bar in the tasting room visitors can see an oak-shaded beer garden, a paddock of shire horses that pull riders to town in a covered wagon, and the first few holes of an 18-hole, tournament-quality disc golf course. It's enough to make even serious wine drinkers forget that there are vineyards just down the road in either direction.
Local vintners, however, never forget about the brewery. According to one of the unwritten but rigorously observed rules of winemaking, "It takes a lot of good beer to make great wine." So I am not surprised to find winemaker Matt Meyer, from Meyer Family Cellars in Yorkville Highlands, limbering up for a late-afternoon round of Frisbee golf with local glass artist Ferdinand Thieriot. When I ask if players are allowed to drink beer on the course, he smiles and says, "I believe it's expected."
A Guide to North Coast Beer Country
Beermakers, who like to be called "brewmasters" or "brewers," love to talk about what they do and will usually give tours if you're curious. Microbreweries also like you to taste as many of their brews as possible, so in most brewpubs you can order a tasting of anywhere from 2 to 12 samples, served in small glasses on coded trays that help you keep track of which brew is which.
Remember that while artisanal beers are almost always lower in alcohol than table wine, they are much higher in alcohol than mass-produced American beer. They're also less expensive than most artisanal wine, ounce for ounce, so it's tempting to enjoy them in quantity. If you do imbibe liberally, stick around and eat something - you'll find the food at most brewpubs simple, hearty and well matched with the beverages. If you're planning an entire day of beer tasting, do what the wine tasters do: rent a limousine or choose a designated driver.
All the breweries below are worth a visit, and it's always a good idea to call ahead for hours, reservations and tour availability.
Anderson Valley Brewing Company. Tours, tasting room, beer garden, shire horses, disc golf course, lovely grounds in a beautiful valley -- a true destination brewery, and host to an annual springtime "Brew Fest" that draws an enthusiastic, eclectic crowd from all over the country. 17700 Hwy. 253, Boonville; (707) 895-2337, avbc.com.
Bear Republic Brewing Company. A homegrown, family-run operation right in downtown Healdsburg, with good brewpub food, a goofy gift shop and some seriously hop-heavy beers that recently won brewmaster Richard G. Norgrove a coveted "Brewer of the Year" award. 345 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg; (707) 433-2337, bearrepublic.com.
Downtown Joe's. Ten or more brews are on tap in this downtown Napa brewpub, just a short stroll from all the winery tasting rooms. Most are ales and stouts such as you would find in a pub in England, though summer's best-seller is an American-style wheat beer. 902 Main St., Napa; (707) 258-2337, downtownjoes.com.
Calistoga Inn Restaurant & Brewery. A real restaurant that happens to make 400 barrels of beer under the name Napa Valley Brewing Co. each year - and thus a good starting point for those new to artisanal beer. Four classics all year (wheat beer, Pilsner, red ale and porter) plus seasonal brews. 1250 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga; (707) 942-4101, napabeer.com.
North Coast Brewing Company. If you're visiting the town of Mendocino, by all means cruise a few miles farther north and visit this brewery and brewpub for a tasting session and lunch or dinner. Midday, you might meet the mayor; if not, there's always Brother Thelonious (a Belgian-style abbey ale). 455 N. Main St., Fort Bragg; (707) 964-2739, www.northcoastbrewing.com.
Russian River Brewing Company. Some of the more adventurous artisanal beers in America are made and served right here, in a lively-all-day pub setting. Everyone on staff is friendly and knowledgeable, the kitchen cooks, and they will give you a timer for your parking meter. 725 Fourth St., Santa Rosa; 707-545-2337, russianriverbrewing.com.
Sebastopol Brewing Company. Due to popular demand, this restaurant has added Monday nights and breakfast on weekends to its opening hours -- now you can enjoy house-brewed ales with your eggs the morning after you stay up late dancing to live music in the bar. 230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol; (707) 823-7837, sebastopolbrewing.com.
Silverado Brewing Company. You don't have to move more than a few steps off your wine-tasting route to sample the beers at this St. Helena restaurant, which offers three ales (pale, blond, and amber) and a tasty oatmeal stout on its regular list. Next door to Freemark Abbey Winery. 3020 St. Helena Hwy., St. Helena; (707) 967-9876, silveradobrewingcompany.com.
Stumptown Brewery & Smokehouse. As much community center as brewpub, this Russian River Valley hangout offers three of its own brews plus choice items from other local breweries, including Moonlight Brewing Company (local favorite: a stout called "Death and Taxes"). 15045 River Road, Guerneville, CA; (707) 869-0705, stumptown.com.
Third Street Aleworks. You would have to work hard to have a bad time here: In addition to the pool table, darts, beer garden and restaurant there are "beermaker dinners," rockin' fundraisers with local bands, and 20 percent off for anyone in the hospitality industry. 610 Third St., Santa Rosa; (707) 523-3060, thirdstreetaleworks.com.
Ukiah Brewing Company. Produces just 400 barrels a year, and everything is done in small batches with organic ingredients (including the food in the saloon-style restaurant). The beers are not filtered, and with one exception all are sold exclusively in the restaurant.102 S. State St., Ukiah; (707) 468-5898, ukiahbrewingco.com.
-- Thom Elkjer
Thom Elkjer writes about wine for books, magazines and Web sites in the United States and Europe, including "Anthony Dias Blue's Pocket Guide to Wine 2007." E-mail him at wine@sfchronicle.com.
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©2006 San Francisco Chronicle


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Don't be afraid of the scary good beers!

Don't be afraid of scary good beers
Boos and Brews-Halloween-themed Beers

By Angelo M. De Ieso II

Feeling like a hauntingly palatable devil’s brew to scare in the season?
Perhaps something creative that makes use of the harvest, like a spry fresh-hopped beer or maybe a spicy pumpkin brew. Perchance you desire something more devilishly delectable or cryptically crisp.
A number of handcrafted brewers produce morbidly mouthwatering beers suited perfectly for Hallows’ Eve. These beers should be available at Belmont Station or John’s Market.

Maudite: French for “The Damned,” this Belgian-styled Quebec brew made by Unibroue is dark and brawny (8 percent ABV) with a subtle coriander spiciness.
The label art reflects the Chasse-Galerie (the legend of the Flying Canoe), a tale about a group of woodsmen who make a deal with the devil in order to fly home in their canoes in time for New Year’s Eve.

Reaper Ale: Brewed by Green Flash of Vista, Calif., these eerily exemplary brews maintain a cryptic theme to all their styles, many of which are dark and stong like the Grim Reaper himself.
The legend of Reaper Ale is of a village brewer, his daughter and Death in a bizarre anecdote that uses beer as a temporary solution to the inescapable final fate.
The satirical yarn involves some of the brewery’s various offerings, such as Inevitable Ale, Redemption Red and the hellaciously hopped Sleighor Double IPA.

Bodysnatcher: Shefford, Bedfordshire, England’s B & T Brewery not only makes seasonal beers, but monthly beers in traditional cask ale styles to commemorate historical events and folk laws.
Their October/Halloween brew is bitter but very drinkable with three different malts and two rows of hops. The label on the beer depicts a ghostlike cartoon character peeking his nose out of a casket and asking, “Wot, no bodies?”

Dead Guy: One of Oregon’s most lauded breweries, Rogue began brewing this German-styled maibock in the early 1990s as a tribute to the Mayan Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos, aka All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2) for Portland’s Casa U Betcha restaurant.
With a creepily crispy malt presence, slightly candy caramel flavor and midnight purple hue, this gravely hopped brew quickly caught on and now is one of the brewery’s top sellers. The label depicts a grinning skeleton with a beehive on his head, sitting atop a barrel of beer while enjoying a mug.

While there are different histories of Halloween based upon varying cultural perspectives, it is often believed that this is the evening in which the dead and the living mingle.
Some embrace the notion that ghosts or spirits were embraced, while others pursue warding off such perceived nuisances.
For modern-day Americans, Halloween often is a great excuse to let our hair down and espouse our fears with friends and family. For beer enthusiasts, it is often another reason to try something bold and cold.

Beer News
Wednesday is the official Big THREE- OH for the Horse Brass. A new beer made specifically for the Horse Brass will be tapped everyday. November 1 will be the tapping of beer brewed especially for the Horse Brass Pub by John Maier, brewmaster of Rogue Brewing: the IMPERIAL Y.S.B.! Friday, November 3 - Pub Crawl! Join Don Younger for this adventure. Sunday, November 5 - All Day Music Marathon. A great way to top off a great week of celebrating. The music marathon features musicians who have performed at the Horse Brass throughout the years, and features Mick Wolf, Rites of Spring, Mary Bensen (of the Howling Gael), Peter Yeates, Tom May and band, Danny East (of the Darling Buds fame), David Rae, and other surprises! All this for the Horse Brass’s 30th Anniversary celebration which goes through November 6th. (4534 SE Belmont Portland, Oregon 97215 USA (503) 232-2202) for more info go to: http://www.horsebrass.com/brasstacks.html
Beer News:


This Thanksgiving, Give The Bird A Beer! Concordia Ale House is teaming up with Lisa Morrison (aka The Beer Goddess) to showcase a number of easy-to-find craft beers that will go great with the appetizers, salad, turkey -- and even the dessert -- served for Thanksgiving Dinner. The two-hour course, held at Concordia on Nov. 6 from 6- 8 p.m., takes diners through several samples of bottled beers to go with Thanksgiving fare so they can decide which artisan brews to serve with their own holiday meals. Attendees will also learn a bit about how to pair craft beer with food and will get a little beer history along the journey. Reservations are required. Cost is $30 per person Interested? Contact: Brittany Menjou Manager at Concordia Ale House Phone: 503-287-3929 (Concordia Ale House, 3276 NE Killingsworth, Pdx )

Scary but true! The Big THREE- OH! The Horse Brass Birthday Bash continues this week as the 30th Anniversary celebration goes through November 6th at the Horse Brass. A new beer made specifically for the Horse Brass will be tapped everyday. (4534 SE Belmont Portland, Oregon 97215 USA (503) 232-2202) for more info go to: http://www.horsebrass.com/brasstacks.html

New Beers around town: It’s a style that is not new, in fact, Saxer Brewing use to brew a great version of this style. German Dunkel Weizen is back. Blind Pig Dunkel Weizen Ale - “Dark Hefe”. The flavor has notes of chocolate and caramel combined with the cereal malt flavor contributed by malted wheat. Brewed by our Fish Brewing Company up north in the Republic of Cascadia (Olympia, Washington), this Leavenworth beer is unfiltered for maximum flavor! Other new beers of note? Please write us! Dave@guestontap.com

A new opening at Laurelwood! What some of you have been waiting for….Laurelwood is pleased to announce the opening of ….their online store. Now you can buy all your Laurelwood gear without leaving home. Of course, they hope you'll still stop by the pub a time or two for a pint. You'll find all the Laurelwood goodies at http://www.laurelwoodbrewpub.com/store.php. (Laurelwood Public House and Brewery, 1728 NE 40th Ave.
Pdx, #503.282.0622)

Time for a Road Trip! If you have always wanted to go on a trip to some great breweries with people that really know about beer, this might be your chance! The Oregon Brew Crew has organized a trip down the Valley for November 19th. Their might be a few seats left on the bus. If you are interested contact Yvette or John Lund at the Oregon Brew Crew ASAP. www.oregonbrewcrew.com