Five Top Five Lists for 2011

It’s that time of year. Everyone is coming out with top five lists, top ten lists, top this and top that lists. I’ve decided that Portland Beer and Music needs a few. Five to be exact, cause it seems to be the currently trending value. Five top fives. Has a nice ring, no? In no particular order, here they are:



Top Five Surprises on Brewpublic’s ‘The People’s Top 5 of 2011’

5. Gerritt Ill named Upright Kopstootje one of his top five beers of the year.

4. Jacob Leonard named Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde one of his top five beers of the year.

3. JT Thompson named Portsmouth’s American Mild one of his top five beers of the year.

2. Joe Jasper named Watershed IPA, Overcast Espresso Stout, AND Ill-Tempered Gnome three of his top five beers of the year.

1. I wasn’t on it!



Top Five Silly Comments Relating to our ‘Women Only’ Article

5. “Greek only beer tasting! This Friday - No Turks or Albanians Allowed!!” – Theo Skourtis

4. “I will just be depressed. Not because I can't go, but because I look ridiculous in a dress.” –Roy

3. “THE PORTLAND BEER BURKA!” –Anonymous

2. “This article is not about me last I checked” –Ezra Johnson-Greenough

1. “If only you all knew how cool it was to have a 1hour convo witha girlfriend on the Phine (sic) about homebrewing. It's rad!” –Anonymous



Top Five Crazy WTF Satori Nominations on Beervana

5. Hair of the Dog Little Dogs – With the exception of Matt, these have been a hoppy, muddled mess. Nice try, but Party Gyle brewing requires a string of happy accidents to be good- not just a wheelbarrow full of Cascades.

4. New Belgium Clutch – I drank some infected homebrewed imperial stout once. Guess what it tasted like? Yep. Also, good job reading the part that said ‘Oregon brewed’.

3. Fort George 1811 Lager – Attention people! This is not a lager! Maybe it’s the fact that you keep referring to it as such that irritates me so.

2. Firestone Walker XV – If Satori is Swahili for diabetes-inducing, then I agree. Also, see #4.

1. Logsdon Seizoen Bretta – I understand you’re excited about a mythical farm with special cherries and mutant animals that produces beer from the best, most uberrare yeasties EVAR. Fact is, the beer is just OK. Logsdon needs time before their beers are at the award-winning level (yes, Kili Wit, I’m talking about you, too)



Top Five Oregon Beers of 2011 (Jim-Style)

5. Breakside Pumpkin Biere de Garde – Pumpkin flesh actually gives this beer flavor, not a crapload of spices. It’s also a bang-up Belgian beer that avoids the estery mess of many low-abv fancy Euro-ales.

4. Deschutes Aphrodite Stout – For those lucky enough to try this beer, it gave Abyss-haters the imperial stout that we always knew Deschutes could serve up. Dark fruit and a touch of sweetness accent a big, bold stout with mild roast and layers of dark chocolate.

3. Laurelwood Cardinal Sin – It was like tasting Three Philosophers for the first time all over again. Too bad the bottle is so friggin’ expensive.

2. Boneyard Hop Venom – What everyone else said. Oregon is finally churning out some world class IPA’s thanks to the gearheads in Bend.

1. Burnside Brewing Sweet Heat – The beer that started out as Calypso Wheat at Roots Brewing has blossomed in to a sessionable, balanced, and clean fruit-forward wheat beer with character. Flavorful and layered with infinite drinkability. A big nod also for the imperial version featured at The Hop & Vine’s Fire and Brimstone festival with smoked chiles.



Five Baseless Predictions for 2012

5. Cam O’Connor will leave Deschutes to replace Christian Ettinger who will leave HUB to replace Ron Gansberg who will leave Cascade to replace Alan Sprints who will leave Hair of the Dog to start a micro-nano called Humongous Brewing in his own basement.

4. Shawn Kelso’s hop extract farm will become the next Logsdon’s.

3. Portland U-Brew will rebrand themselves as Portland We-Brew; you will pay them money and they will brew beer for you while you watch. There will be bleachers and free popcorn provided.

2. Breakside will release ten new collaboration beers brewed with the cooks from the top ten taco trucks in Gresham. The first should be a Mexican golden lager with cilantro and Serrano peppers.

1. The next Upright beer label will have the biggest boobs of them all!

Hope you all have a Happy New Year and a great start to 2012! Did I miss anything?

All images taken by Jim Bonomo, except the ‘Boobs and Beer’ pic, which was taken by Robby Virus. Thanks, Robby!

Bring Your Family to The Beer Mongers Tonight

Tonight The Beer Mongers will host the 2nd Annual Christmas Eve Eve party.  Last year, Manager Josh Grgas had a keg of Figgy Pudding from Block 15 Brewery and wanted to create an event not only to tap the special beer, but make a fun night of old and new friends taking a break from the holiday crunch and just relaxing.  One year later, I can still remember how much fun that night turned out to be.

This isn't just an event for beer geeks, it is for everyone.  I encourage you to bring your out-of-town visitors to The Beer Mongers tonight and show them what an impact Craft Beer has on our community.  While tasting a glass of beer from the focused tap list, browse the bottles that wrap around the store.  Wine is not the only beverage for special occasions anymore.  Purchase a beer that will make your holiday meal special.  The Beer Mongers staff is knowledgeable in helping you pick from thousands of bottles.

Taplist:
*Block 15 Figgy Pudding
2010 He’Brew Vertical Jewbelation
2010 Sierra Nevada Celebration
*Lompoc 8 Malty Nights
Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza
*Oakshire The Nutcracker Gingerbread Imperial Porter (Wow Matt! I am excited for this one)
10 Barrel Pray for Snow (Brandy Aged Strong Ale)

*PB&M picks

1125 SE Division St. | Portland, OR 97202

Women Only: Craft Beer Segregation?

On November 29th of 2011, a women-only beer tasting event was held at the Supreme Bean in Eugene, Oregon. This event was promoted on the Brewpublic blog as a “Beer Tasting and Discussion,” and featured special guests Alison Grayson (Producer/Director of the femme-centric ‘The Love of Beer’ documentary), Erin Kemplin (Stone Brewing rep), and Em Sauter (founder of Pints and Panels). According to the event listing, minors were welcome. Why not men? I have always most enjoyed inclusive beer events where women, men, and all those in between are enjoying beer together. To be told there is a public beer event that I am not allowed to attend based on my gender identity or physical structure was maddening. For a community that impressed me most by its inclusionary, laid-back, and overall friendly nature, this seemed like the antithesis of Portland beer culture.



I made my way over to Brewpublic to post a critical comment underneath the promotional event listing and noticed that someone had already done it. Ashley Routson (aka ‘The Beer Wench’) had left the following opinionated response:



My opinion was reinforced, and I was glad to be sharing a viewpoint on this issue with a seemingly intelligent, open-minded woman. In an effort to expose the other side of this issue, I sought out Grayson, one of the event’s special guests, to educate myself in the benefits of such community division.

In Grayson’s opinion, “Beer can be an intimidating beverage.” She finds these women-only events to be situations which “provide women with a warm, perceptually safe environment for them to enter a beer bar, talk to a friendly beertender, and start learning about beer.” She believes that the women who attend these events enjoy the opportunity to “educate other women, share beer, and have their own night.” I understand the desire to want a night out with the girls, but Grayson’s use of the phrase “perceptually safe” was troubling. Does the presence of a man at a craft beer bar indicate danger? Routson believes that “[this] is more of a personal problem than a direct fault of the craft beer industry.” I brought this up to Ezra Johnson-Greenough of The New School blog, who responded with the following comment:

“Are you telling them that they have to drink around only other women to be comfortable? How is that helping matters? Teri Fahrendorf hinted at this in [an] interview that perhaps the best way to promote women to drink craft beer is not marketing specific beer to them or creating exclusive groups but making them feel comfortable and welcome… Go out and have a beer and sit at the bar like any other guy might.”

If comfort and safety are really the issues here, why aren’t these groups hand-picking acceptable men? I’d happily submit to a background check or interview in order to gain the acceptance and trust of the female members of the Portland beer cognoscenti. The philosophical answers that I encountered while interviewing this varied group made me think there was more exclusionary business going on than I had initially imagined. I never really thought twice about local ladies’-based beer club LOLA (Ladies of Lagers and Ales) being totally exclusionary until Johnson-Greenough dropped the following bomb on me:

“I heard about the group forming and I am friends with many of the women that were in the group and I thought it sounded like a great fun idea. My original impression or what I was told was that it was just a social beer group for women and nothing about exclusivity. I asked a couple of my friends (Amy Welch, Nicole Kasten, Alison Grayson) in the group about coming to a meeting and they all thought it was a great idea. Then after apparently bringing the issue up in a meeting or on the groups forums or something they came back to me saying that I was denied… Once I was told I could come to a meeting but I had to dress in drag.”



If Johnson-Greenough’s comments are indeed correct, LOLA’s brand of ‘exclusivity’ is bordering dangerously on sexism. I attempted to join LOLA’s forum on Facebook in early December to elicit some responses to this accusation, but have not been granted access. Perhaps my attempt to give them a fair say here was hindered by their lack of male acceptance. Or maybe they’re still mad at me for jokingly creating DONG (Dudes of Northwest Grog).

Back in early 2010, I was enjoying some fine ales with friends at a neighborhood bar when the LOLA crew arrived to hold a meeting. It was made clear to me that the area of the bar designated for their meeting was not to be violated, and I was not welcome to join in their beer sharing. At the time, I thought my rejection was only a product of my lack of prior commitment. Angelo De Ieso of Brewpublic has had a similar experience: “I've been asked to leave a few places where women were to gather for meetings. I respect these people's wishes, though I don't necessarily think that men need to be excluded or silenced in order to empower the position of women in our community of craft beer.” Frustrated, I briefly entertained the idea of creating a male-only tasting group. I went as far as designing a logo, but no actual meetings or enlistment ever occurred. The reaction I received upon sharing the initial concept of DONG was so overwhelmingly negative and a lesson was learned. De Ieso was one of the biggest critics of DONG at that time, enforcing what he referred to as “feelings and interests I felt obligated to protect for personal reasons.” Having almost been through the experience of becoming a total hypocrite, I imagined there must be other local men-only beer groups or events, so I checked.

I came up a bit short. This is all that I found after hours of scouring the Oregon beer scene:



And after checking in to it deeper, turns out women were also welcome (and actually encouraged). All of this negativity just seems to go towards bolstering a simple statement that Johnson-Greenough made to me, “Starting an exclusive group is sort of like building a wall around yourself.”


Article contributors: (l to r) Ezra Johnson-Greenough, Alison Grayson, Angelo De Ieso, Ashley Routson

You’ve got women like Grayson, and the decision-makers at LOLA, who appear to foster this exclusionary behavior in order to fully enjoy their personal craft beer experience, yet Grayson herself doesn’t encounter a biased world. “Occasionally, you still find the rare person who thinks that beer and brewing is a man’s place, but that’s definitely not the norm.” Still, “as a woman, going to a bar by yourself isn’t a particularly positive experience.” In my opinion, it all goes back to the “personal problems” referenced by Routson. Perhaps I choose to surround myself with the inclusionary people; those who have found their places as valuable community members, those who do not rely on the crutch of segregation. I would understand if the Portland-area craft beer scene was a big, woman-hatin’ boys club. And if I thought it was, I’d say so. I can assure you that it is not. In general, Routson agrees: “not one single man in this industry has ever talked down to me because of being a woman.” Making her mark as an bold, opinionated, often-audacious, and well-informed female may help. Perhaps the bias in the beer world is reserved for all newbs, and it’s those with a thin skin that need to be held up by their peers.

It’s difficult to neatly conclude my thoughts here. I’d prefer for you, as the reader, to form your own conclusions and encourage discussions surrounding this topic. I’ll leave you with a question that Johnson-Greenough posed to those involved in women-only groups and events:

“What is your objective as a group? Is it to promote craft beer to women? Or is your goal to be a [women-only] social group? [If] you want to have girls’ night I don’t think anyone would think twice about it. But your promoting exclusivity.. is promoting a separation between the sexes.”

Is this where we are heading?

Some images have been liberated from various facebook accounts, and some screenshots taken from brewpublic.com. Used freely under the Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing United States Entrepreneurship Act of 2007. All original content is copyright 2011 Portland Beer and Music.

Saturday Night Here I Come

Greetings.  I have been absent for awhile beer geeking out and working on helping people promote beer from behind the scenes.  Jim Bonomo has had some amazing stories on PB&M in recent months to quench your thirst.  My life has been better having Mr. Bonomo's words in it and I know that yours has too.  People tell me that they are addicted to his wit and creativity and I can't imagine life without his view.  I had to pop up for a minute to remind you of one of my favorite events, Brewing Up Cocktails.

The winter celebration is here.  Below is some info on the location and menu.  I strongly recommend bringing some friends, ordering everything and sharing.  Once you have identified your favorite, and I promise that everyone will, order your own.  Please do not be skeptical of beer cocktails.  Prior to the premier, I told Ezra Johnson-Greenough, one of the founders, that, "it scared me."  He told me something to effect of, "don't be scared, we worked really hard and we are very proud of what came out of it."  Okay, so the quote may be a little off because it is from about 18 months ago, yeah, they are still going strong after that long and he was right.  I tried it, loved it and have been to every Portland Brewing Up Cocktails.  Notice that I said, Portland, because the crew has made it to other states and Canada with the amazing recipes.  I can't emphasize enough that if you miss out on Brewing Up Cocktails, then you are missing out on supporting the expansion of craft beer.  See you on Saturday.

Brewing up Cocktails presents Winter Holiday Special Edition at The Hop & Vine!
Saturday December 10th 6-9pm
(Drinks individually priced)
The Hop & Vine
1914 N. Killingsworth
Portland, OR 97217
503.954.3322
http://thehopandvine.com/
http://brewingupcocktails.com/

Hot Drinks

Wassail

Returning from last year's hit Brewing up Cocktails is the hot mulled classic Wassail made with a base of Deschutes Jubelale slowly heated in a crockpot with brandy, sherry, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and orange. Served warm in a mug with a lemon slice.

Hot Scotchy

Beervana described the Hot Scotchy as "The Greatest Beverage in the World." Perhaps the most popular beer cocktail to date, made with hot unfermented beer and Scotch. It may be the perfect winter brewers beverage.

Hot Choklat

A new creation served steaming hot, it is one boozy treat. Starting with a base of dark rum, a little Galliano Ristretto is added and then topped off with steamed 9% abv Choklat Imperial Stout and a float of whipped cream. Served with or without a dash of chili powder.

Cold Drinks

Trade Winds Punch:

Rum, gin, vanilla Beans, grapefruit zest, ripe guavas, Chinese five spice powder, and a stalk of lemongrass are infused over night and then built into a tasty beer punch the next day with fresh lime juice, citrusy IPA, and sugar. This is our recreation of punch originated by Washington, DC bartender Jon Harris. You have never had anything like it, we promise you.

Euclidean 75

The lightest and most refreshing of the bunch, the Euclidean 75 is made with gin, lemon, and sugar, then topped off with an effervescent and refreshingly tart Berliner-Weisse. A creation from Denver bartender and beer cocktail afficionado Ryan Conklin of Euclid Hall.

Furburger

The lovingly named Furburger returns from the very first Brewing up Cocktails. Black and thick as night with chocolate and roasty creaminess from Great Divide's Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, balanced with herbal Chartreuse and bourbon.

Smoked Vanilla Bean Flip

This creamy dessert of a beer cocktail has an incredible melange of flavors, from the anise-tinged aquavit to cream sherry, rhubarb and chocolate bitters, one whole egg, and Stone Brewing's Smoked Porter.

2011 Holiday Ale Fest: Good Beer Requires Good Strategy

OK, maybe not a recap. Still important stuff.

I can tell you all about the awesome beer that I drank at the 2011 Holiday Ale Fest (there was plenty). I can tell you all about the meh beer that I drank at the 2011 Holiday Ale Fest (there was more than expected). I can tell you all about the awful beer that I drank at the 2011 Holiday Ale Fest (surprisingly little considering the wacky spices and experimental stuff present). But I won’t. Why? Because everyone else already has. I will say that it was a great way to kick off the Holidays, full of Christmastime smells, sights, and Santas.



What I think will be of real use to the craft beer drinker is a little strategy talk. I talked to a bunch of seasoned beer festival-goers, read reviews and blog entries from previous years, and used a bit of common sense before hitting the fest this year. What most people tend to perceive as one of Portland’s biggest beersterf*cks can actually be an enjoyable, casual, enriching experience for the true beer lover if done right. Read on and bookmark this for your 2012 usage.



Timing is everything. If you wait until John and Jane Doe get out of work on Friday night and wander over to the fest with their drinkin’ shoes on, you’ll be ass-to-ass with some of the most annoying, repulsive fair-weather beer drinkers in town. Are you hearing group chants or screams? If so, you’re at the fest at the wrong time. Wednesday at opening and Thursday at opening are your best bets for easy table-claiming and an overall relaxed experience. The area between the stairs and the upstairs Sky Bar was full of group tables and maintained a relatively low-key, warm climate. Make note of beers you want to try before going, and do so between opening and the afternoon special tappings. Around the time of the tappings, the fest starts to fill up. Finish your day with the rare beers and get on the bus home right as the heshers and beer bongers arrive with their pretzel necklaces.



Get the most out of your experience. As you may know, I’m not a fan of drinking from plastic cups. This year, I brought along a 12 ounce snifter and decanted all of my beers into it. Sure, it required double-rinsing, but it allowed for the enjoyment and appreciation that these specialty beers deserve. On a related note, bring tap water from home. Lots of rinsing and hydration requires it, and at $1 a pop, your water bill can rival the monthly one you receive in the mail. I kept my glass at the table to prevent breakage, and used my mug to procure fills.



Value is king. You’re already $25 in with only $8 in beer script. You just spent $17 on what will essentially become a toothbrush holder in your spare bathroom. As the crude chart will show you, there is a difference, albeit small, in the way the Holiday Ale Fest charges. In the rest of the world, those who buy in bulk tend to receive a discount. Inside the HAF tent, however, things are different. 14 ounces for $4 versus four ounces for $1. I know, I know.. sometimes you want that full pour. I’ve only found one way to alleviate this problem: get multiple 1 ticket pours and decant them. Borrow your friends empty mugs and get samples in each at one ticket per four ounces. Four mugs later, you’ll be two ounces ahead of the frivolous plebians.



Kind of like the instructional sex book in American Pie, I hope this tome of forbidden knowledge lives on for generations, helping inexperienced festgoers make the most of the Holiday Ale festival. I skipped it last year because I had such a rough time with crowds and such, but was able to have a smashingly good time this year thanks to a little preplanning, some extra thought, and the wisdom of those who came before me.