Oregon Beer News, 02/16/2016
Here’s the Oregon beer news for Tuesday, the 16th of February. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often for the latest news. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted as well.
Belmont Station‘s event, Sweet | Tart: A Celebration of the Dark & Sour Sides of Beer, continues today: “For many reasons we won’t go into here, February seems like the perfect month to celebrate both the dark and sweet beers alongside tart and sour ales. So from Feb. 13 through 18, we will be featuring four taps of stouts and other dark beers and another four taps pouring sour ales. Grab a flight of your favorite type or one of each and hunker down against this leap year’s extra day of cold and dark days.”
Cascade Brewing (Portland): Their Tap It Tuesday at the Barrel House at 6pm tonight is featuring Mixed Plum: “a Northwest sour Red ale aged in a Pinot Noir barrel for 14 months with French, Italian and Blackamber plum varieties. Highlighting fruit grown in the Columbia Valley, this limited release offers soft flavors of fresh plums and plum preserves as well as some red wine characteristics and a subtle oak influence. 8.3% ABV.”
Deschutes Brewery (Bend) announced today their 2015 charitable donations amount in a press release: “Deschutes Brewery is excited to announce that they were able to give approximately $860,000 to charitable organizations across their distribution area in 2015. Several different giving programs, including a few new ones, contributed to this amount, which was triple the amount donated in 2014. Committed to building a healthier society, Deschutes Brewery distributed funds to hundreds of organizations that focused on the environment, youth & education, family services, animals and those supporting arts and cultural activities.” Their Street Pub events were a big part of that, as are their ongoing Tuesday Community Pints night events which donate a $1 of every pint sold to a charity of the month. Big kudos to the brewery for these efforts!
McMenamins Old Church & Pub (Wilsonville) has a fruity IPA on tap you might want to check out: “Zesty’s is back, this time with Zesty’s Best Citrus IPA! Dry hopped with a special blend of hops and zested citrus fruits, Zesty’s overflows with notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon and fresh pine. Beneath it’s lacy white head resides a tropical paradise of flavor where hops and fruit collide, creating a crisp, fresh and fun take on a Northwest classic. This beer is sure to please your inner hophead, while quenching even the mightiest thirst. Stop by and grab a pint today, because a beer like this won’t be on tap much longer!”
Mancave Brewing (Eugene) has an intriguing hint to an upcoming bottled beer release, saying, “Who is excited to grab a bottle of the first annual release of Irkalla?” Irkalla is a barrel blended Old Ale but no other details on when this bottling might be released, so I’ll keep an eye out.
There’s a nice article about Salem’s Vagabond Brewing in today’s Statesman-Journal, highlighting the last two years of growth as Vagabond prepares to celebrate their second anniversary coming up on the 27th. “Vagabond hit a point in the last year where it was selling everything it could make with the current equipment, so it added two 12-barrel fermenters this fall. A 15-barrel fermenter was added in late January. When the new fermenters come on line, production capacity will more than double. Vagabond also is finishing a new taproom in the Salem Arts Building downtown at 155 Liberty St. NE. Called Victory Club, the venture will occupy about 2,500 square feet of space and will help prime the pump to elevate Salem’s burgeoning brew scene.”