Required Events:

Since the Oregonian pullout about Craft Beer Month was released this week, people are planning for events in July.  There are limitless possibilities, but here are some of the events that are worth going out of your way to attend. Some are not in the pull out, but they will still be fantastic opportunities for excellent beer.

Every Friday:  New Old Lompoc, 1616 NW 23^rd Ave.
Zach Beckwith has built his own Randall style piece of machinery and will pour a different IPA through it every Friday. 

Every Tuesday: Cascade Barrel House, 939 SE Belmont St. 
A live barrel is tapped at 6pm every Tuesday.  Get there early to get a seat close to the Sour Shower. 

Everything at The Beermongers, 1125 SE Division St.
And while you are there, the staff will help you start your cellar collection.

Friday 7/1: Boneyard IPA Night 6PM

Friday 7/8: Bend Beer Night 6PM

Friday 7/15: McTarnahan’s & Pyramid Brewers Night 6PM

Friday 7/22: Oregon Farmhouse Brewers Night 6PM

Wednesday 7/6: Night of the Alsatian Blondes, Breakside Brewing, 820 NE Dekum St.

A horizontal tasting of four Belgian blonde ales each aged with a different French white wine grape.

Saturday 7/23:

Brewer’s Feud at Migration Brewing, 2828 NE Glisan St.
Brewers and Industry members will be in a game show hosted by Ben Flerchinger, Lucky Lab Beer Hall brewer. 2pm-5pm

LOLA: A Day of Celebrating Women in Beer, Saraveza Bottle Shop, 1004 N Killingsworth.  The taps will be taken over all day by female brewed beers including a special tapping of a LOLA/Coalition collaboration Hibiscus IPA at 7:00pm and Meet the Brewer event.

 

Monday 7/25:

BenFest, Grain & Gristle, 1473 NE Prescott St.
5PM, Brewpublic and Portland Beer & Music bring you a celebration of brewers named Ben.  We have no less than 6 in the Portland area and over a dozen in the Pacific Northwest.  These guys deserve their own night.  Several new Ben beers will be released and Bens will be there so you can say, “I’ve Ben drinking.”

Saturday 7/30: 

Fringe Fest, Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark St.
Beers and Brewers not in the OBF.  Last year at Fringefest, I had some of the best beer that Oregon has to offer.  It was one of the highlights of Oregon Craft Beer Month 2010.

Zach Beckwith of New Old Lompoc

 
Beer from Lompoc Brewing has been a Portland craft beer staple for some time. There have been many different brewers and different beers at Lompoc through the years, but one consistent characteristic of the brewery is excellence. Zach Beckwith is one of the brewers continuing the Lompoc family tradition of providing great beer. Since early 2009, Zach has brewed at New Old Lompoc on NW 23^rd Ave.. Before landing in Oregon, Zach brewed beer at Oak Creek Brewing Company in Arizona, where he worked in both the brewpub and the brewery production facility. 

Zach moved to Portland with his wife Jessica, a Portland native. His time in Arizona was spent making, “normal beers,” the generally accepted ambers, pales, etc. Upon his arrival in Portland, Zach went to several breweries (and several times) in search of work. Even with years of professional experience, he was still competing with other brewers who could match his own. But not all of the competition could match his heart and persistence. In the end, Zach ended up volunteering some of his time for Lompoc’s famous winter beer release month, and the former brewer at the NW location saw something special in Zach and recommended him as his replacement. 

New Old Lompoc is still a small batch brew system, and Zach appreciates the freedom that he has been given by Lompoc owner, Jerry Fechter. Several seasonals and most of the Lompoc’s one-off beers are produced at the historic Nob Hill neighborhood brewery. Lompoc has a history of ensuring that they have something special at most events and festivals, like the Organic Notorious IPA, which was brewed by Zach for NAOBF.

Another great Zach beer in recent memory is the 2010 Crystal Missile. The Crystal Missile is, “one of the most fun beers to brew,” says Zach, and it was one of the Portland Beer and Music crew’s favorite fresh hop beers to drink.  He drove to the hop farm to retrieve the fresh hops.  When fresh hop season comes, some beers get lost in the mix, but the Crystal Missile had the signature Northwest hop profile, while still being able to taste other ingrediants.

Zach knew he wanted to be a brewer at age seventeen. On his eighteenth birthday, his dad bought him a homebrew kit, and he quickly made the transition to all grain brewing by building his own system. Growing up in Michigan meant that Zach had access to the stellar products from Bell’s Brewery, New Holland Brewing and many other Michigan breweries, and Zach used Ratebeer.com to rate them before that site was cool. He brewed in college at friends’ apartments and even ran a small “brew school” where he was able to share his knowledge of the beauty of craft beer.

The University of Michigan had an essay requirement for entrance when Zach applied, and when the question, “What book changed your life,” was posed to Zach, well, any home brewer knows what book he picked.

Zach is honest about how physical the work of brewing is and he knows it's not all drinking and glory. Running hoses back and forth between tanks is a big part of the day, and that day does not conform to regular business hours. Even on his days off, Zach regularly comes in to check gravity and temperatures. “Dealing with a living product, it doesn’t keep a schedule,” rolls off his tongue as if he has made that point to people many times in his life.  There is one task that many brewers will describe by telling you what muscles they use…the mash-out (or grain-out or bail-out) uses the abs and biceps. Generally, it involves a lot of pulling, but Zach has one of the most challenging mash-outs in Portland. He stands over the tank on a stepladder and uses a five gallon bucket to remove spent grain. He balances, scoops, lifts, dumps and repeats.  He isn’t sad or frustrated when talking about a task that most brewers don’t have to get very creative with at any time during their careers. “It’s all about the love.  I made it and I like to see people drinking and enjoying the product.”

When Zach is not at work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, hiking, disc golf, and tasting beer. He enjoys stouts during the winter and hoppy beers during the summer. He also likes to, “see what my friends in the industry are doing.” Zach started out as a beer geek and still is one at heart. 

Zach is constantly working on making every one of the beers he makes better. He believes that, “real craft brewing is constantly working on developing a beer over time into a better beer.” He appreciates when brewers try to brew beers they don’t particularly like. Zach does this, and, “it is a challenge,” but he seems to manage.

Zach would, of course, like more people to come visit New Old Lompoc on NW 23^rd Ave.He says, “I am laid back, the pub is laid back.” One of the best patios in town is housed in the back of the pub. Portland Beer and Music can attest to the quality of the service too. Friendly, knowledgeable servers are always ready to help with beer recommendations and questions.

The ever growing Lompoc empire has a new grain silo at 5^th Quadrant and and has expanded the hours at Sidebar, but you can always be sure to find special beers made by a special brewer at New Old Lompoc on NW 23^rd Ave.

Read about the Not So Pro Beer Blogger's trip to New Old Lompoc.

Things That I Am Doing This Weekend

NAOBF (North American Organic Beer Festival):

The best part of the festival, of course is the beer, but the venue is amazing.  The sun drenched Overlook Park has plenty of room to walk around, socialize and simply enjoy the scenery.  The music is an added bonus which you won’t find at all beer festivals.

Make sure you bring 3 cans of food or your Trimet ticket for a discount on festival admission.  The cans will be donated and taking Trimet is the only logical way to get there, not only because your carbon footprint is reduced, but there is little to no parking in the neighborhood.

Some of the beers are available year round, but some are brewed just for the NAOBF.  For some brewers this is their first time brewing a beer with organic ingredients.  I am looking forward to the Beetje Tonic 42, the Lompoc Notorious IPA and the Natian Brewing CDA.

Gorge Blues and Brews:

This event is a great opportunity to travel to Stevenson, WA for beer, wine and music.  Since the Gorge is a tourist destination this time of year, it is a great way to showcase Pacific Northwest beverages and the overall cool factor of the region. 

This year there is more food options and a family friendly atmosphere will make it even better.  This is from their press release, “Along with our traditional summertime barbecue entrees, we're introducing new flavors to mix and match with your beverages, including gyros, tacos, burritos, grilled salmon and wraps. Another new feature will be a designated child care zone courtesy of Child of Mine Early Learning Center. Space will be limited.”

The Best Portland Beer Fest You’ve Never Heard Of: Bill & Bill’s 6th Annual Brewfest

 By Jim Bonomo

I recently ventured cautiously up to Northeast Portland and saw a rather ordinary house standing in front of me, I had no idea what bacchanalian excess of craft beer would eventually be revealed in the backyard. Two local home brewers named Jared and George (aka Bill & Bill) brew all year long in order to fully stock fifteen plus taps with rotating beers all day long, for one day, once every year. This year was the sixth annual Bill & Bill’s Brewfest, yet it was the first time I’d heard anything about it.

Bill & Bill (Jared and George) at the taps

A friend from San Diego was invited as a guest brewer, which put this event on my typically keen radar. Another local Portland guest brewer showcased two beers, one of which was a spot-on Gumballhead clone called ‘Douchebaghead’ . Between the four brewers, there were 23 styles of beer, 40+ kegs and hundreds of gallons of excellent brew. All involved seem to have loftier commercial aspirations for their recipes, and the event provided valuable feedback from both homespun pros and regular Joes. A popular choice from the Bills was their Illegal ALEian, a self-described ‘microlite’ which started as a Corona clone, but morphed into a hoppy amber steam-style beer over the years to satisfy changing palates. Technically speaking, their hefe and dunkel showed signs of professional quality beer in the making, and were surely the two most solid of their selections. The pair shot for the moon with a Pliny the Elder clone which seemed quite popular with the crowd, but the best of their lot was the flawless Ugly Betty blonde ale which was the perfect poundable sessioner for an 80+ degree Portland afternoon.

I had to make it over to try Eric’s SoCal-inspired beers, of which he had 10 rotators over the course of the day. The most popular and certainly most sessionable was a clone of the Stone/Ballast Point/North Park collaboration West Coast Bitter made in conjunction with the original brewer. The 4% IPA was full of flavor and bitterness yet totally chugworthy. His Maori IPA brought together several varieties of NZ hops, bringing a distinct OJ flavor without the use of peels or oils. An expertly aged Wee Heavy was a nice evening sipper, but it was the ‘Cosby’ which piqued the beer nerd interest: a huge Imperial Stout brewed with Jell-O Pudding.

Not only did the California contingent bring homebrews, but a dozen or more growlers were stashed away in their cool boxes. Beers were sampled from Ballast Point (barrel-aged Tongue Buckler, Piper Down, Sculpin), Alpine (Ugly, Nelson), Pizza Port (Bacon & Eggs, Poor Man’s IPA, Killer Dana, Cho-Saiko), and many more. The Poor Man’s IPA, with its resiny, oily body and lemon-tinged, grassy finish, may just be the best Double IPA this note-taker has ever consumed, ever. Traders need to get right on this stuff.

Eric Worthington from La Mesa, California ready to pour his guest beers

In addition to all of this beer, the $15 cover charge included the entertainment of a live band, some comfortable surroundings, and all you can eat from a hearty BBQ spread. The rec room of this Northeast abode was converted to an actual bar complete with billards and brewery-themed mural, which opened out on a large deck with installed 10-tap bar, which led to the tented yard complete with seating for 50+ people.  The environment provided the perfect mix of beer geek pleasing variety and a crowd-phobic comfort zone. Also, for an event with great beer, you had a very low geek factor. The need to dissect everything I put in my mouth was not present, and I was able to balance my serious tasting with some more frivolous imbibing.

Perusing the tap list/scorecard

I can’t imagine that the Bill & Bill’s crew made any money on this adventure, so what’s the point? Are they trying to get their name out there in to the local beer world?  Do they just want to throw their friends (and friends of their friends) an awesome annual party? These types of questions were met with mysterious responses. If I was a betting man, I’d imagine we’ll see some of these brewers crafting ales and lagers in a professional capacity somewhere down the road. I couldn’t nail them down to any specific plans, but a shifty sideways smile and wink seemed to accompany the responses to those inquiries. They definitely dug the idea of this article and the chance to spread the word about their adventure into the world of beer.

Now for the big question which I’m sure you’re all ready to ask: How do I get invited to this? Answer: Keep your eyes and ears open. Find the guys on facebook. Put $15 in your piggy bank. Keep your fingers crossed.

Beer and Protection

The Portland Fruit Beer Fest is getting quite a bit of buzz because it is the first of its kind in this area and the lineup is stacked with beers, many of which you will only have the opportunity to try if you attend.  Ezra Johnson-Greenough has been working for months to bring you the event and you can read about many of the local bloggers’ takes here.     

It's Pub Night
Brewpublic

PortlandBeer.org

Not So Pro Beer Blog

Beervana

Even though the beers are expected to be great, it is still an outdoor festival, so here are some reminders on how to prepare. 

Bring your own bottled water.  Water should be used for hydration of your body, but also for rinsing your glass as needed.  As much as you try to swallow the last few drops of beer at the bottom of your glass, there will be residual beer in it.  Rinse stations may be available, but to avoid lines, it is okay to bring your own water. 

Apply sunscreen before you leave home and bring the bottle with you.  The weather is prepared to cooperate, with about seventy-two degrees as the high and mostly sunny.  You will be there for several hours, not just trying beers, but socializing with your old friends and you are bound to make some new ones.  Reapply the sunscreen as needed.

Wear sunglasses.  Even if the clouds make an appearance, you should still plan to protect your retinal health.  Squinting is exhausting, so you will make it longer if you don’t wear out your eyes.

Carry a small backpack or a large purse.  Make sure there is enough room to carry your tasting glass home.  This will prevent the possibility of dropping it and the coverage will be discreet if you take the bus home.

Speaking of transportation, because of the location you have several options to get to Burnside Brewing Company and back.  The Brewvana bus is available for a special price that includes a ride to and from and the tasting glass and tickets.  On Trimet, the #20 bus runs on Burnside Street, the #15 bus runs on Belmont Street.  Check Trimet for route information.

The last thing to do is to thank Ezra when you see him.  Thank him for giving you the opportunity to try several fruit beers in one place.  Thank him for the location and the affordability of the Portland Fruit Beer Fest.  As usual, the most important thing is to have fun.

Beer Organized

July is Oregon Craft Beer Month.  There are festivals, beer release parties, beer dinners, and other beer-related events.  So how do you keep track of everything?

You can rely on publications such as the annual insert from the Oregonian, but there will be events that don’t have a lot of notice.  The first thing that you do is make sure that you are available and in Oregon for the month of July.  Next, keep a calendar within close proximity of your body at all times.  If you have a smart phone, use the calendar app or another option in your email calendar.  Most free email accounts such as YAHOO and GOOGLE have free calendars already built in.  Even if you have to carry a piece of paper in your pocket, just have some source that you can refer to and to document dates. You have already been looking for a reason to, “get organized,” so here it is.

The next step is a Twitter account.  You don’t need a fancy handle and if you are concerned about privacy, then enter something besides your name in the, “Name,” field.  It is common to put the handle name in the, “Name,” field.  There is no requirement for a picture, if you don’t upload one then it will default to the Twitter egg.  Twitter is a great way to get a short amount of information out and quickly, so by following beer related Twitter accounts, you will receive notifications of all different types of events.

Next, you might be wondering who to follow on Twitter.  The best place to start by viewing the list of who your friends follow or who follows your favorite brewery or pub.  These lists are public, so there is no extra work in following people from your friends list.  It can become a little intimidating following hundreds of different Twitter accounts, but keep in mind, most people don’t constantly tweet all day long.  You always have the option to stop following someone who is not providing you with the type of information that you are looking for.

Facebook is a great option for looking at more detailed information on events.  You can, “Like,” the places or people that you are interested in following.  The same concept applies to Facebook as it does to Twitter, check out what your friends like or what the beer geeks are following.

Whether you use Facebook or Twitter, check the feed at least twice per day.  I will warn you, it is addictive.

If you are the kind of person that needs to have more notice and plan things out a little further, still use your calendar function, but there are some websites that do an excellent job of posting events.  Oregon Brewers Guild, BrewPublic and PortlandBeer.org are the best websites for event listings.  They update their sites regularly and work vey hard to bring you a comprehensive listings of events.

Some of the best events in July are Meet the Brewer sessions.  These are held all over the state.  Drinking a beer with the person who brewed it, is a privilege that most people in the United States don’t get to experience.  Go to as many of these as you can.  They are held not only at breweries, but many bottle shops and good beer bars will host brewers and their beers. 

Maybe you simply want a short list of recommended events. If so, pay attention to the people who have a palate similar to yours.  There might be a blogger that you follow, if so, then watch for their recommendations.  Talk to your favorite Beertenders at craft beer bars.  Whatever your preferred method of information, websites, blogs, social media sites, newspapers or verbal interaction, just get it done.  Make that calendar, carry it with you, and keep watching for updates.

The most important thing to do during July is to have fun.  If you live in Oregon, you have elite access to some the best beers in the country.  Do not pass up the chance to be a part of the amazing beer experience that is Oregon Craft Beer Month.