A Few Weekend Events

Another Friday leading into very beery weekend! I almost let the week pass me by again without posting about some of the events happening around the area.

First up Roscoe's is having their monthly Beer Summit today April 29th, beginning a 4 pm. This month will feature 14 different Oregon made Belgian-Style beers.  Some of the breweries featured will be: Oakshire Brewing (Frederic's Lost Arm), Hopworks Urban Brewery (Muscles from Brussels), Boneyard Brewing (Whitshack Wit), Upright Brewing (Rose City Seven), Laurelwood Brewing,
Deschutes, Prodigal Son (Neuer Morgan), Fort George, Double Mountain,
Cascade Barrel House, Beetje, and many more.

PCTBB 2010

Speaking of Belgian beers the 5th Annual Portland Cheers To Belgian Beers is being held tomorrow Saturday, April 30 noon to 9 pm. at Metalcraft Fabrication (Metalcraft makes brewing systems and tanks for brewers in Oregon and beyond). Located at 723 N Tillamook St. This year's featured Belgian yeast is Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity. This is usually one of my favorite springtime festivals and I'm really looking forward to this event. Find all the information including the list of the beers and a map to the event at the Oregon Brewer's Guild website. Hope to see you there!

Oregon Garden Brewfest 2010

And last but not least, the Oregon Garden Brewfest is also this weekend in Silverton, Oregon Friday, April 29th, 2011 - 4pm - 11pm and Saturday, April 30th, 2011 - noon - 11pm. For more details go to The Oregon Garden website.

My wife and I attended the festival last year and had a really nice time. The festival beer list is mainly Northwest oriented but also features beers from around the country and a few international beers as well. The best part is when you need a break from drinking beer (and the crowd) you can go outside (weather permitting) and enjoy a walk in the beautiful Oregon Garden! It makes for a great time.

And that's just few events this weekend! There are many more events in the coming weeks now that "festival season" is upon us. Have fun and choose wisely.

Brewing up Cocktails Today Featuring All Flip Cocktails and Oakshire Brewing Beers

Sunday April 24th 5-8pm
Spints Alehouse
401 NE 28th Ave. Portland, OR 97232
503-847-2534
http://spintspdx.com/

For the fourth edition of Brewing up Cocktails, events exploring the interplay of beer and spirits to create new drinks, writers and mixologists Ezra Johnson-Greenough and Jacob Grier have taken on yet another challenging theme. This time they’re focusing on the 'Flip' class of drinks using whole eggs and will be partnering with Eugene, OR based Oakshire Brewing who will be providing the beers as well as farm fresh eggs from the brewery’s own chickens. Join them on a beery Easter egg hunt on April 24 at Spints Alehouse.

Flips are a class of mixed drinks that use raw eggs to create a rich and creamy texture. What many do not know about flips is that their origins are as a beer cocktail. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sailors first used the term as far back as 1695 to describe a mixture of beer, rum, and sugar heated with a hot iron poker. The first official record of the modern day interpretation of flips was in Jerry Thomas's 1862 How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon-Vivant's Companion. In this book Thomas states that:

"The essential in flips of all sorts is to produce the smoothness by repeated pouring back and forward between two vessels and beating up the eggs well in the first instance the sweetening and spices according to taste."

While modern day flips have fallen out of popularity and current definitions of what constitutes a flip vary to sometimes include cream, nog, egg whites, etc. for the purposes of defining the class of drinks and bringing it back to historical roots this chapter of Brewing up Cocktails shall use only whole eggs including the yolk along with beer and spirits to help bring along it's much overdue comeback.

This Easter Sunday April 24th from 5-8pm join Brewing up Cocktails mixologists as they ressurect forgotten styles in an exciting new fashion with beers from Oakshire Brewing, including Heart Shaped Box, Moose & Squirrel, Espresso Stout, Schwarz, and Imperial Stout, along with spirits ranging from apple brandy, Arbeg Scotch, dark rums, and Port wine.

About Oakshire Brewing
The name Oakshire represents Strength, Independence, Community and Bioregion, values held by our owners and employees.   Begun inOctober 2006 by brothers Jeff and Chris Althouse, Oakshire Brewing operates as a production brewery next to the train yards in Northwest Eugene.     We make three year round beers, available in 22oz bottles and on draft found throughout Oregon.  Oakshire makes a rotating seasonal beer available in 22oz bottles and on draft as well.  And the brewers at Oakshire craft a range of single batch beers only available on draft.  The brewery aims to make clean, consistent, high quality beer – humble brewers of delicious beer.

About Brewing up Cocktails

Founded by Ezra Johnson-Greenough, a brewer, writer, artist and event coordinator, Brewing Up Cocktails started as a one-time event for Oregon Craft Beer Month in July 2010 and has turned into something much larger. Johnson-Greenough asked hot local bartender/mixologist and writer Jacob Grier to collaborate with him in crafting some unique beer cocktails in the hope of proving that craft beers can be as good in mixed drinks as they are on their own. The venue they chose had to have great beer and an outstanding selection of fine spirits, and that is where partner Yetta Vorobik's property, North Portland hotspot The Hop & Vine, came in. In addition to a great location for events, Vorobik adds her creative spirit and an adventurous third palate to the mix. 
The July 2010 event was met with great interest, but it was not until the partners decided to do a follow-up event in the fall that the critics and public started to catch on. Beervana described one of Brewing Up Cocktails' signature drinks, the Hot Scotchy, as:

"The Greatest Beverage in the World" 

Mix Magazine opined:

"Straight-ahead beer fan that I am, I have to agree that beer cocktails open up a brave new world."

And Portland Monthly Magazine said:

"A merger of Portland’s craft beer and quality cocktail cultures could push the next evolution of our increasingly sophisticated drinking scene."
And finally the Associated Press caught on, with a story carried internationally, including on ABC News.

Brewpublic's Microhopic 3 Sat. April 23, 6pm

Our friends over at Brewpublic have put together another Microhopic event. Previous Microhopic events I have attended have been a blast. Always a great opportunity to try some beers that you won't find just anywhere. Hope to see you there!

Hey craft beer lover

BREWPUBLIC is pleased to announce our next event. MICROHOPIC is a series showcasing new and interesting breweries and beer styles from around Oregon. In our third installment of MICROHOPIC, our friends at Migration Brewing Company will host and participate in this unique tasting experience. In addition to Migration's fine house brews, we will also be showcasing newer releases from Amnesia Brewing,Beetje Brewery, Breakside Brewery, and Burnside Brewing. These five Portland craft microbreweries encapsulate the spirit of innovation in brewing amongst Portland's many distinct artisans. Plus, they are a younger, fresher face to the community that we are eager for you to experience first hand, therefor, brewers and brewery representatives will be on hand to discuss their work with folks. Here's the details of the event:

When: April 23, 2011  6PM-midnight
Where: Migration Brewing 2828 NE Glisan Street, Portland, Oregon (click here for map)
Why: Because we are crazy about craft beer.

Rich Bobkin 1956-2011

Rich Bobkin 1956-2011, a photo by Brian Butenschoen, Oregon Brewers Guild on Flickr.

Richard Bobkin 1956-2011 died while hiking the Siouxon Trail a mountain bike trail in Gifford Pinchot. Belmont Station will celebrate his life on Saturday from 2-6pm.

I shared many a beer with Rich at his favorite spot Belmont Station and count myself lucky to have know him. He will be is missed.

RIP Rich
Update 4/14 - This is what Belmont Station had to say about Rich in their email newsletter:

We first got to know Rich as a customer. But it wasn't long before he became a friend to all of us and even more than that, a part of the very fabric of Belmont Station. He stopped in to see us almost daily and if he didn't come by we worried about him.  If we didn't see him it was only because he was mountain biking or hiking or occasionally at a beer event across town. Rich regularly pushed me to add or change something at Belmont Station and I will dearly miss the lively conversation, debates about whether music should be free, and provocative good-spirited prodding that Rich Bobkin brought to us. And it simply will not be the same sitting in our Biercafe and not seeing Rich.

This Saturday APRIL 16 from 2 - 6PM friends, coworkers, and anyone who remembers Rich is invited to join us as we celebrate his life. We'll share stories, photos, and music , and toast  all the good times and good feelings Rich brought  us.


I know you're riding your mountain bike and sipping a real ale somewhere, Rich. Cheers to you mate!

HOPWORKS RELEASES ORGANIC RISE UP RED FOR SPRING

 I'm a little late (as usual) on this one. Hopworks is releasing their Rise Up Red today. This is a nicely balance Northwest red ale for spring time. I'm going to head down there today to Hopworks for the
release toast. Hope to see you there!


From the press release:

HOPWORKS RELEASES ORGANIC RISE UP RED FOR SPRING

PORTLAND, Ore. – Hopworks Urban Brewery’s (HUB) is releasing its award-winning Organic Rise Up Red ale beginning on Monday, April 4. The Pacific Northwest Red is available on draught and 22 oz. bottles at select Oregon, Washington and British Columbia bars, pubs and stores. The seasonal release won a gold medal at the 2009 Great American Beer Fest in the American Style Red Ale category and was one of the first beers the brewery produced.

Organic Rise Up Red is a classic Northwest red ale featuring a rich mahogany color while organic malts provide a mild caramel sweetness and smooth, bready flavor.  An ample dose of locally-grown Magnum, Cascade and Centennial hops delivers a floral and slight citrus flavor.  The beer checks in at 60 IBUs and 5.8% ABV.

Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) is Portland’s first Eco-Brewpub offering world-class beer and fresh food in a relaxed and communal atmosphere.  HUB’s 20-barrel brewery produces 6,400 barrels of beer a year for their brewpub and distribution in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.  HUB incorporates a range of sustainable practices in their operation and makes every effort to protect “our” future with a thoughtful alternative.  Hopworks is 100% renewably powered and “cradle to gate” carbon neutral. 

The Hopworks brewpub features ten different organic beers on tap and two cask ales at all times.  The brewpub is located at 2944 SE Powell Blvd and is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight. In early summer, Hopworks will open its second location, Bike Bar in North Portland, expanding the company’s love of beer, bikes and the environment

For more information, please visit Hopworks online at www.HopworksBeer.com or follow on Twitter @HopworksBeer.