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.

Cascade Brewing's First Annual Scottish Ale Festival

Update: The are allowing people to bring an old 14 oz  festival mug (think OBF mug) or you can buy a new Cascade mug for $3. What a deal!

This event is coming up tomorrow from 3 to 11 pm. Looks like it's going to be a lot of fun! Hope to see you there! Here are the press releases on the event:

"Here's to the heath, the hill and the heather, the bonnet, the plaid, the kilt and the feather" -- Traditional Scottish Toast "If it's not Scottish, it's crap!" -- Mike Meyers, Saturday Night Live Cascade Brewing to Host Portland's first annual Scottish Ale Festival Nine regional craft breweries will serve up their best Scottish and Scotch ales at Portland's first annual Scottish Ale Festival.  The event will take place on Saturday, January 29 from 3 to 11 pm on the production side of the Cascade Brewing Barrel House at 939 SE Belmont St.  The beer lineup includes Black Raven Brewing's Splinters Bourbon Barrel Aged Strong Scotch Ale, Cascade Brewing's McShagger Scotch Ale, Coalition Brewing's Brigadoonery Scottish Ale, Fearless Brewing's Strong Scotch Ale, Lucky Lab's Scottish Holiday, Rock Bottom Brewery's Highland Courage, Schooner EXACT Brewing's Hoppy the Woodsman, and Upright Brewing's House.  The event will feature traditional Scottish music by Cascade Brewmaster Ron Gansberg's band, Stone Porridge, plus a few bagpipers thrown in the mix.   The Cascade Brewing Barrel House will serve its regular menu, as well as a few Scottish specialties.  There is no cover charge for the event. Both Scottish and Scotch ales traditionally go through a long boil in the kettle for a caramelization of the wort. This produces a color ranging from deep amber to dark copper, and a higher level of unfermentable sugars that creates a rich mouthfeel and malty flavors and aromas. In Scottish ales, overall hop character is low, light floral or herbal, allowing the signature malt profile to be the highlight.  Scotch ales are sweeter and fuller-bodied, with a much more pronounced malty caramel and roasted malt flavor. About Cascade Brewing Barrel House The Cascade Brewing Barrel House is the barrel and blending house and tasting room for Cascade Brewing's award winning Northwest style sour ales.  The Barrel House is open Sunday through Tuesday 11 am to 10 pm, Wednesday & Thursday 11 am to 11  pm, and Friday & Saturday 11 am to Midnight.  Minors are allowed daily to 10 pm.  For more information, call 503-265-8603 or visitwww.CascadeBrewing.com. For daily updates, follow the Cascade Barrel House onFacebook and Twitter. For those who want to plan their drinking lineup, here is the list of the beers with descriptions: Black Raven Brewing Co Splinters Bourbon Barrel Aged Strong Scotch Ale (IBU 38 / ABV 7.1%) Redmond, WA  · www.blackravenbrewing.com Splinters is the Bourbon barrel aged version of the brewery's Second Sight Strong Scotch Ale. Aged for six months in various Bourbon barrels, they picked the best of the barrel for added complexity of flavor. All of the barrels were then combined and the beer was aged for another few months in stainless to meld and mature. Cascade Brewing McShagger Scottish Ale (IBU 26 / ABV 8.3%) Portland, OR · www.cascadebrewing.com This strong Scotch ale cuts the chill and warms from within.  A nose of sweet malt and a hint of chocolate and smoked peat start the journey.  Chocolate, kilned coffee and German Rauch malts combine to lend this big Scottish ale a hint of whiskey. Cascade Brewing Wee Ane Scottish Amber (IBU 20 / ABV 4.75%) This easy drinking Scottish small ale is just the thing to recalibrate your palate after all the holiday festivities.  Fuggles, Goldings and Crystal hops balance the Munich and chocolate malts to make this a genuine Scottish session ale. Cascade Brewing Black Sheep Stout (IBU 25 / ABV 5.14%) This easy drinking stout was designed to shepherd you at any time on your beer journey, be that breakfast, lunch or supper.  The sweet chocolate nose that greets you from the dark Crystal, chocolate, brown and black malts is what this beer is all about.  It's accented by roasted barley and kilned coffee grains that lead to a finish ending with a slight spiced hop bite that will linger and dry out your palate. Coalition Brewing Co Brigadoonery Scottish Ale (IBU 45 / ABV 6%) Portland, OR · www.coalitionbrewing.com Golden Promise malt forms the base of this classic Scotch style ale. The malt forward base is supplemented with dark caramel and a touch of peated malt for sweetness and a light smokiness. Wyeast 1728 gives slightly fruity phenolics to the beer. Fearless Brewing Co Fearless Strong Scotch Ale (IBU 48 / ABV 9.25%) Estacada, OR · www.fearless1.com This huge malty beer is brewed in the traditional Strong Scotch style. Hops are subdued, while a nutty, slightly roasty finish is the hallmark. Lucky Lab Brewing Co Scottish Holiday (IBU 35 / ABV 6.8%) Portland, OR · www.luckylab.com This is a true Scotch ale brewed with Scottish pale malt and only the finest English hops. Scottish Holiday is a rich, dark chocolate brew with hints of licorice and raisins. Alcohol content is moderate to high but it balances nicely with a hint of hoppy bitterness. This was the Lab's first and only holiday style ale. Rock Bottom Brewing Co Highland Courage Portland, OR · www.rockbottom.com No description has yet been provided; however, we do know that this was one of the last beers brewed by Van Havig before his departure, so it's sure to be delicious! Schooner EXACT Brewing Company Hoppy the Woodsman (IBU 60 / ABV 9%) Seattle, WA · www.schoonerexact.com Hoppy Holidays' big brother, this ale is last year's Hoppy Holidays winter beer that has been aged in Bourbon barrels for a year and then blended to perfection.  Oak and Bourbon flavors mix with roasted malt and a touch of Yakima hops.   Upright Brewing Co House (ABV 6.35%) Portland, OR · www.uprightbrewing.com Upright "House" is a spiced brown ale made with the famous Traquair House Brewery of Scotland in mind. Upright's take on the style uses coriander, long pepper and bitter orange peel along with a simple grist to produce a malty beer with burnt orange notes and a slight background spice. It's a one-off keg made just for this event. For more information, contact Cascade Brewing, 503-265-8603.  We look forward to seeing you this Saturday. Servus!

Another Visit Cascade Barrel House For Tap It Tuesday

Preston Weesner holding the tap for me

Last night I headed down to the Cascade Barrel House for "Tap It Tuesday" and have some beer with Nicole from Portland Beer and Music (who wrote this nice article about Cody from the Barrel House)  and her husband Paul. This week's barrel at Cascade was 2011 Kriek blended with Bourbon Quad. As luck would have it Ron Gansburg asked me to help tap the barrel! It was a great honor to be asked! Unfortunately I hit the tap like a little girl and the result was a "Sour Shower" - A new term for me.  Now,  of course, this is not the first time for me to be sprayed with beer. Having brewed beer at home and in various breweries I've been sprayed with hot and cold water, beer, sanitizer, and, of course, yeast. But there is nothing quite as sweet as  being sprayed with delicious sour beer!

 It's opportunities like these that make living in Portland, Oregon a magnificent thing indeed!

Preston yelling "Hit it like you mean it!" 

The result - "Sour Shower"

But enough about me. How was the beer? A wonderfully sour but balanced combination of cherries, malt, oak tannins, and bourbon. I highly recommend getting down to there to try this treat!

Thanks to Nicole and Paul for taking the above pictures.

Beer Of The Year? Perhaps.

Cascade Maker's Mark Single Barrel (Straight) Bourbonic.

Ladies and Gents I give to you my nomination for beer of the year: Cascade Maker's Mark Single Barrel (Straight) Bourbonic.  Cascade Barrel House tapped it last night as part of their "Tap It Tuesday" program. Last night my buddy Marc and I made out to the Barrel House to try this amazingly balanced and tasty beer.  If you live here in Portland and haven't been to Tap It Tuesday you owe it to yourself to go! They usually have the barrel on for at least a week (I think, maybe 2).  Get down there and try it!  What a great Christmas present from Cascade to the patrons of the Barrel House!

Nicole (and her husband Paul) over at Portland Beer And Music were bestowed the honor of tapping the barrel and wrote a nice post about it.  Check it out. I know there are going to be a lot of lists of best beers of the year soon, this beer and Cascade's Gluek Kriek (served hot with an orange slice studded with cloves and a sugar cube)  sits at the top of mine.  What beers are on your list?

 We also made it over to Belmont Station last night where they had all the ('05 thru '09) Epic beers from the now closed Roots Brewing.  It was rare treat get to try these beers again.  My favorites were the '05 and '06. If they still have them on tap you should head over there and try them!

Of course the only picture I got was of the Bourbonic (even that was an after thought)! Too much great beer to taste! It was truly a great night to be in Portland!

Cascade Barrel House Visit

"Live" Barrels in the Walk-in Cooler

 I was out early on Tuesday to get my OLCC server's permit and decided to head to the Cascade Barrel House afterwords. This was my third trip the Barrel House, so it was about time I posted about it.
The first beer I had was the Frite Galois. Here is the description of the beer from the menu:
Frite Galois
Frite Galois: 4.6% ABV / $4.50 Teardrop
This light farmhouse ale was aged for three months in white port barrels that were previously used to age our Noyeaux. This is a nice crisp sour beer with a trace of influence from the Noyeaux.


I found it to be light and refreshing with a nice but not overwhelming sourness to it.
Every Tuesday the Barrel House taps 2 different barrels for their "Live Barrel" Series. The next beer I had was from a barrel that was tapped the previous Tuesday called Cherry Bourbon Double Red (w/ Bourbacide).  This beer has a wonderfully delightful nose of cherries, chocolate, and bourbon with a sour and earthy finish. It reminded me of chocolate covered cherries (with bourbon, of course).

Ron Gansberg in the Blending Room

While I was there Cascade Master brewer Ron Gansberg came over to chat with me. We ended up having a great conversation about two of my favorite things, beer and barbecue after which he asked if I would like a tour. Well of course I did!

Here are a few pictures of the Barrel House. Thanks for the tour and great beer Ron! I can't wait for my next visit.

Barrels In The Blending Room

Related Post:

Bottle tasting at Cascade Brewing/Raccoon Lodge