Here’s some mid-week, hump day beer news for  you to satisfy your Oregon beer cravings. Or something! I’ll be rounding up the news as I find it throughout the afternoon and posting it here with occasional updates—so be sure to hit refresh periodically for the latest.

Block 15 drive-thru beer release on Saturday

Corvallis’ Block 15 Brewing shares details of this Saturday’s drive-thru beer release and sale in its email newsletter, featuring Love Potion No. 9 and the latest Turbulent Consequence, L’Ancienne:

We’re wrapping up January with a double release at our south Corvallis Tap Room, featuring the seasonal release of Love Potion No. 9 in 16oz cans, and Turbulent Consequence, L’Ancienne in 500mL bottles!

Love Potion No. 9
Chocolate Raspberry Stout
This sweet stout was brewed with a tantalizing blend of specialty dark malts and conditioned on chocolate and a delightfully tart combo of red and black raspberries. A most romantic concoction, Love Potion No. 9 balances rich malt and chocolate flavors with vibrant berry character.
7% ABV
$4.00, plus deposit / 16oz can

Turbulent Consequence, L’Ancienne
Spontaneously Fermented Ale
L’Ancienne, our most mature Turbulent Consequence release to-date, blends stock from barrels aged 36, 48, and up to 60 months old. Turbulent Consequence is brewed using classic lambic methods from the Senne River Valley in Belgium, including a multi-step turbid mash, inoculation with resident flora in our wild cellar’s coolship, and spontaneous fermentation and extended maturation in oak barrels. Mature barrels are then used in various blends throughout the year.
6.7% ABV
$11.50 / 500mL bottle

Upcoming Alesong beers for February

The email newsletter from Eugene’s Alesong Brewing arrived today as well, highlighting the brewery’s February releases:

Our winter release is just around the corner and we hope you’re as excited as we are! We’re releasing five new beers on February 12th — here’s what’s just around the corner:

• Maestro — Aged in bourbon barrels, this English-style barleywine is rich with caramel and oak flavor, finishing with a touch of dried fruit!
• Cocoa Maestro (Club Exclusive) — Our bourbon barrel-aged barleywine conditioned on mountains of locally roasted cocoa nibs. A deviantly decadent duo!
• Kriek — An Alesong ode to the Belgian cherry ale of the same name, ours with a touch of vanilla bean in the blend provides balance and rounds out its zip of acidity!
• Pacific Bliss — A crisp and refreshing barrel-aged grisette, dry-hopped to add tropical fruit aromas. Perfect for the coming sun!
• Breakfast Suit — Our signature bourbon barrel-aged imperial milk stout blended with cold brew, hand-sliced vanilla, cinnamon and heaps of cocoa nibs!

The Suttle Lodge announces 2nd Annual Winter Beer Fest

One of the last beer events I attended last year before the pandemic shut everything down was the Suttle Lodge’s inaugural Winter Beer Fest, a fun event I wrote about here. So I was surprised to get an email today announcing the 2nd annual iteration—virtually!

Nothing is going to hold us back from raising funds for our non-profit of choice this year! Join us virtually from the comforts of your abode as we cheers for a good cause.

ONLINE: February 20th, 5-8pm

THE GOAL: Raise $50,000 for the Independent Restaurant Alliance of Oregon while enjoying the best local beer & cider that Oregon has to offer.

THE DETAILS:

Drink from home! Join us online where we’ll have talks with local brewers, music from some PNW favorites including Loch Lomond, Tré Burt, and Jeremie Albino, Drag Bingo and prizes with Peachy Springs, cooking tutorials with local chefs Jason French (Ned Ludd), Diane Lam (Sunshine Noodles), Thuy Pham (Mama Dút), Jarrott Moonitz (Suttle Lodge), and a truly crazy raffle with prizes.

De Garde new releases made with Pinot noir grapes

Tillamook’s De Garde Brewing has two new beers releasing today, brewed with Pinot noir grapes from the Willamette Valley: The Archer and The Archer Reserve.

One of our most precious yearly components are the Pinot Noir grapes we receive from our favorite Oregon vineyard growing that varietal, in the Dundee Hills. Today, we’re releasing two different beers made with fruit from this vineyard.

The Archer
Each harvest, we make an early drive to the vineyard to receive our freshly picked grapes. We rush them back and lightly crush them all into oak tank where they are joined with barrels of our spontaneous base beer that have been aged for two years. Post secondary fermentation, the beer is transferred back into oak barrels for further aging, typically lasting another year.

The Archer Reserve
This is a quite different expression of the same fruit and base beer.
From some vintages and some varietals, we’ll save a barrel or two for further aging.
This blend incorporates a 500L barrel from the 2018 harvest, and one from the 2019 harvest. Each was initially composed of two year old beer prior to the grape fermentation and secondary barrel aging. The younger component spent a total of three years in wood, while the elder spent a total of four. The age and blending of favorite components from each vintage have added additional complexity to what’s already a favorite.

More new beers

Here’s a list of other new beers announced by various breweries:

• Gorges Beer Company (Portland): Golden Grind: “It’s about that time again for a brand new beer. We teamed up with @beansmithroasting to make the perfect morning beer. This golden ale was blended with an Ethiopian cold brew and it’s just asking to be taken on a camping trip.”
• Great Notion Brewing (Portland): Super Baked: “We dialed up the potency of our pie-inspired series in Super Baked! Hot from the oven and bubbling with blueberry, lemon, vanilla, cinnamon, and milk sugar, this tart ale will leave you feeling super good. Get a slice of the action when Super Baked drops on the app Friday at 9 am for pickup orders at all locations (pickup begins at noon), local PDX delivery, and shipping. (8% abv) $22/4pack”
• Ruse Brewing (Portland): Abstract Places Triple IPA: “CANS TOMORROW! It’s cold, it’s rainy, it’s Triple IPA weather. Abstract Places is the TIPA version of our beloved Brain Glow IPA. By strategically controlling fermentation temps we keep the booziness to a minimum and allow a double dose of Citra, Mosaic and Galaxy to get all up in your face. 10% ABV. 1 case (six-4 packs) pp. Tomorrow at 3pm”
• Beachcrest Brewing (Gleneden Beach): I missed this earlier, but on Saturday Beachcrest released its first seasonal of 2021, Key Lime Pie Sweet & Sour Ale. “This refreshing session ale at 4% ABV tastes like a slice of the classic sweet and sour pie and features refreshing Key lime juice, creaminess from lactose and subtly maltiness reminiscent of graham cracker crust.”

Fort George with new canned cocktails

While it’s not beer per se, Fort George Brewery revealed its new canned cocktail offering today, in cans that look like a Fort George brew: “We decided to add a little more to our menu and now bring you cocktails for here and cocktails togo with the purchase of a food item!” No word on what flavors/types available.