It's the End of the Year As We Know It........

Well the end of 2014 is just a few hours away and we're feeling pretty good following a nice meal with the kids, (and a couple of beers)....so we decided its time to take a look back at freshpints.com and 2014. 

Us on the New Belgium Tour. Up in the brewhouse in front of the private bar

2014 has been a great year for us and freshpints.com. It seems like this year we really caught on with the beer community and we thank all the beer folks out in the world that have taken a look at freshpints.com.

The year of 2014 for freshpints.com was the year of travel both local and afar. First up, this year we traveled to Sonoma County in California to check out the great breweries....and yes some wineries as well! Sonoma County is literally flowing with great beer and wine, so our high expectations were met. The highlight of the trip  was stopping in at the famous Russian River brewing and enjoying one of the best sample trays we have ever seem.....and yes we went home with a bunch of sours and Blind Pig & Pliny the Elder, which we shared with some fortunate friends back home.

Russian River Tray

Next up on our travel schedule was San Diego for Beer Bloggers Conference 2014.

We love the San Diego palm trees!

 It's hard to summarize just how awesome the trip was but just imagine a huge room full of people (and at times a very cheerful busload of  people!) just like you.....beer nerds! We met so many awesome people from all over the U.S. who love beer enough to spend their own money to come together and meet up and learn all sorts of great beer stuff. Highlights from the BBC #14 were the pre-conference tour in Los Angeles, where we toured Golden Road Brewing, Angel City Brewing, Smog City Brewing, Monkish Brewing and The Bruery. One of the high points of 2014 for freshpints.com was going to The Bruery's barrel warehouse and just seeing tables full of beer and food to sample.....oh and getting a sample of a barrel-aged beer, poured straight from the barrel...awesome! Along with the great conference that Zephers Adventures put on, the best part was meeting so many great folks.
We met the famous Brew Dad from "Brewdad.com"...aka Mike Besser,

Blurry picture of Brewdad....yeah we got a little blurry after sampling so many beers

 we meet the awesome duo from Colorado, Jeff and Chris Estes, who have the great site "Bottle Makes Three", and David Bardallis who has the great site "All the Brews Fit to Pint"...and so many more awesome folks.

Chris, Jeff, Us, Dave

Sure we got to be beer VIPS at Karl Stauss, Yard House-San Diego, Stone Brewing (Big Thanks!), and Beer PR & Brewery folks came to us and put on beer parties and other events, but in the end just meeting folks like us was amazing.

Foudre at Monkish Brewing

Fresh Beer we pulled from Golden Road Brewing Canning line

Ken Grossman giving the Keynote speech at BBC#14

The last big trip for us this year happened the week after GABF...yes we flew out to Colorado the following week for our first trip seeing the beautiful state of Colorado.

We saw so many amazing breweries from the small Funkwerks to the big New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, to Avery Brewing and West Flanders Brewing Co in Boulder, and Left Hand Brewing in Longmont. 

 
And our new friends Jeff and Chris from the BBC #14 showed us around Denver, where we visited Crooked Stave, River North, Epic and a few other places...and they let us crash with them and watch a COPS marathon while we sobered up (wait, nope, we drank a bottle of Tart of Darkness out of pint glasses!)....Beer people are the best!

There were so many other great events that we attended in 2014: Hood River Fresh Hop Festival, Oregon Garden Brewers Dinner & Brewfest, Oregon Brewers Festival, Little Woody Barrel Aged Brewfest, Holiday Ale Festival, and quite a few PDX Bottleshares. And we really enjoyed just getting out and meeting so many great people at these various events, bars, taphouses, homes, and media events.

Big thanks to all the breweries and media folks who sent us beer samples, had us attend media events and beer festivals or sent us media releases. Thanks to Chris Crabb, Lompoc Brewing, Oregon Gardens, Breakside Brewing, Sierra Nevada, Stone Brewing, Oregon Brewers Festival, Little Woody Barrel Aged Brew Fest, Ninkasi Brewing, Bridgeport Brewing, Old Town Brewing, Burnside Brewing, The New School, Fremont Brewing, McMenamins, Cascade Brewing, Kells Brewery, Lagunitas Brewing, Top Rung Brewing, and I'm sure we are missing a few others.

As far as resolutions go, we're going to try to post more of our adventures closer to when they happen.  We've got a couple of October adventures yet to tell you all about, so maybe we'll get started on that tomorrow-ish.

Cheers all, 2014 was awesome but may 2015 be the best year yet!

Breakside Brewing kicking off 2015 With Five New Beers

Press Release:

December 30, 2014 Portland & Milwaukie, OR -
Breakside Brewery is kicking off 2015 with five new beers, four of them in bottles, two of them available year round and one of them launching a brand new Farmhouse Fruit and Funk series. Beginning January 1st welcome brand new year round beers Lunch Break ISA and Amuse Saison both available on draft and in 22oz bottles. January 8th will mark the return of the beloved seasonal Salted Caramel Stout to draft and bottles. Early January will see the release of Tropicalia an American Farmhouse ale brewed with Lychee fruit and Peruvian peppers, it is the first in a new Farmhouse Fruit and Funk series of six, Belgian inspired releases that will rotate every two months. Finally we can all look forward to a collaboration with Portland's newest brewers at Fat Head's Brewing and a quickly budding friendship between both breweries culminating in the release of Juggling Plums Gose on January 14th at Saraveza.
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Lunch Break ISA
Lunch Break is our hop forward session beer, built for enjoying any time of day. Whether you call this beer a Session IPA, American Pale Ale, India Session Ale, Mini IPA, or something totally different, we know that you'll find this beer to be full of juicy, classic hop flavor with just enough malt backbone to keep things in balance. We reserve some of our favorite hops--Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade and Centennial--to use in this beer, which gives the aroma a heady mix of lemongrass, orange marmalade, grapefruit, pine and resin. Hop heads who seek a big punch of hops in the nose need look no further!

4.7% ABV 28 IBU.

Amuse

This characterful session Saison is a true delight for the palate! Notes of white pepper, coriander, orange, freshly cut flowers, and ginger come together beautifully in this easy-drinking Belgian-style Farmhouse beer. The delicate balance of herbal hop aromatics and spicy yeast flavors make this beer light, spritzy and refreshing.

"Amuse" is a Chameleon-like word with many meanings, and here, it means to have fun, to enjoy oneself. Amuse is a beer to enjoy with friends: to kick off a meal, to enjoy on a sunny afternoon outdoors, to share as a gift. We hope you'll find drinking this beer as fun and amusing as it is for us to make. Cheers!

5% ABV 16 IBU.

Salted Caramel Stout

A collaboration with Salt & Straw ice cream, this has been one of our most popular beers over the past few years. The base beer is a full-bodied stout, and we add both sea salt and a specially made caramel to the wort before fermentation. The finished beer is rich and balanced with a luscious caramel flavor in the aroma and mid-palate, a hint of salt in the finish, and a smooth, rich roast character.

7.9% ABV 33 IBU.

Tropicalia

Our brewers draw inspiration for beers from all corners of the world of food and drink, and this beer is a perfect example. Influenced by a dish at Johanna Ware's restaurant Smallwares in Portland, OR, two of our brewers designed a beer using lychee and Peruvian Yellow Chilies. The playful intermingling of moderate spice and unctuous, tropical fruit keeps this beer in balance. Early aromas of pepper give way to a rich and fruity mid palate that is followed by a pleasant, lingering heat. The use of several "Hot" hops with distinctive tropical aromas add additional depth of flavor to this unique beer.

This is the first release in our new Farmhouse, Fruit and Funk series. This set of six beers--each available for two months of the year--showcases the deft and playful ways in which our brewers use non-traditional ingredients to make complex, flavorful beers. From Lychees and Yellow Chilies to Oregon-grown Peaches and California Kumquats, this line of beers stakes a claim for the "culinary beer" as an emergent, delicious and elegant new beer style.

6% ABV 23 IBU.

Juggling Plums Gose
To kick off 2015, we have a draft-only collaboration brewed with our good friends at Fat Heads Brewery. The beer, a Gose, is a slightly sour wheat beer made with salt and coriander. In a non-traditional twist, we derived all of the salt in this beer from an unlikely source; the Japanese Salt Plum or Umeboshi. Salt plums are small Japanese plums that have been cured with red Shiso and salt and spend a year "fermenting" in wooden barrels. The fruit is intensely briny, with a light sweetness and herbaceousness. Seriously though, these things pack a punch: we need fewer than 5 lbs of salt plums to impart a recognizable (yet balanced!) flavor to 1,000 gallons of beer!

In the spirit of collaboration, we brewed components of this beer at each of our breweries; Fat Head's grew up the sour wort we used to give the beer it's tartness, while Breakside supplied the base wort and salt plums. We think that you'll find the finished beer to be incredibly refreshing and complex. It's a "gateway sour" with a moderate body and slightly spicy finish. Cheers!

5% ABV 6 IBU.

Release Parties:

Salted Caramel Stout - Seattle Release Party

Friday January 9th 6 - 9pm
Ballard Beer Co.

2050 NW Market St

Seattle, Washington

Beers: La Tormenta, Eurotrash IPL, New World Bruin, Apollo & Dionysus, Salted Caramel Stout

Salted Caramel Stout - PDX Release Party

Thursday January 8th 6 - 9pm

N.W.I.P.A.
6350 SE Foster Rd

Portland, OR
Beers: IPA, Woodlawn Pale, La Tormenta, New World Bruin, Amuse, Salted Caramel Stout.

Plus Salt & Straw Ice Cream will be in the house!

Salted Caramel Stout - Beaverton, OR Release Party

January 16th

Uptown Market
6620 SW Scholls Ferry Road
Beaverton, OR

Draft Beers: Wanderlust IPA, Lunch Breaks ISA, La Tormenta, Amuse, Salted Caramel Stout, Apollo & Dionysus.

Bottles: Salted Caramel Stout, Amuse and Tropicalia.

Juggling Plums Release Party

Wednesday January 14th 6-9pm

Saraveza

1004 N Killingsworth St
Portland, Oregon 97217

A special tapping of our new collaboration beer with Fat Head's Brewing as well as an additional beer from each brewery.

About Breakside Brewery:

Opened in 2010 in the quiet Woodlawn neighborhood of Northeast Portland as a restaurant and nano-sized brewery, Breakside expanded to a 3.5 BBL brewhouse while winning their first medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2011 where they have earned medals each year since. In late 2013 the brewery expanded operations to Milwaukie, Oregon with a 30BBL production brewery filled with 60 and 120BBL tanks, barrel rooms for wild and non-wild/sour fermentation's and a 20 tap tasting room. In 2014 Breakside was awarded with the highly coveted Gold Medal for American-style IPA at the Great American Beer Festival for their flagship IPA that was also named to Men's Journals 100 Best Beers In The World and Sip Northwest's Best IPA in the Northwest. Breakside is also known for their experimental, barrel-aged and sour beers like Bourbon Barrel-Aged Aztec a strong amber ale with chocolate and chilies that won Bronze at both Chicago's Festival of Barrel-Aged Beers and Best of Craft Beer Awards and Passionfruit Sour a berliner-weisse style beer that earned a Bronze at the 2013 GABF.

Breakside Beers are available on draft and in 22oz bottles in Oregon, Seattle-Washington area, Denver, Hawaii and British Columbia. 2015 expansion plans include introducing 6-packs of 12oz bottles and more specialty bottles and sour beers.

Breakside Brewing

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The New School 5th Anniversary New Years Eve Party

One of my favorite local beer websites the New School is celebrating their 5th Anniversary on New Years Eve and will be thowing a party at Bazi Bierbrasserie. This looks to be an epic party with great food from Chef Paul Kasten and some impressive beer & ciders to be tapped. See details below.

Portland based beer and cider webmag The New School celebrates their milestone 5th anniversary this New Years Eve with a party at Bazi Bierbrasserie featuring 10 rare beers and ciders, raffle prizes and food from acclaimed beer Chef Paul Kasten (formerly of Wildwood). In typical annual fashion this years party will be a charity benefit, this year all proceeds will go to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Tickets are on sale via Paypal for only $5 and include a buffet style dish from Chef Paul Kasten: Pork Collar braised in wort and sliced into portions, served over roasted winter veggies simmered in the pork braising liquid, and fried sage.

Raffle Tickets will be on sale for $2 with multiple chances to win everything from Double Mountain Kriek t-shirts, Allagash Brewing Hat, Portland Beer Week shirts and even the new book "Oregon Breweries" by Brian Yaeger, bottles of Barley Browns Chaos (limited to 666 bottles), the 2015 Oregon Beer Calendar, a coupon for one of the first Growler Works uKeg's and even a New Belgium Cruiser bicycle.

Beer and Cider List (so far):

Block 15: Cuvee Rouge 2013
Flanders inspired red ale matured in oak brandy barrels. Open fermented with our special blend of brewer’s yeast, two brettanomyces, and acid producing bacteria. A blend of five barrels matured 15 & 25 months in our wild cellar. Wonderfully complex malt body, aroma, and flavor with a balanced sour finish.

Burnside Brewing: Carribean Chutney

A special alternate version of Burnside's medal winning Sweet Heat. This one with Carribean spices, Lime, Cilantro and Yellow and Red Peppers in addition to Sweet Heat's Apricots and Scotch Bonnet chili's.

The Commons: Dark Czar
An Imperial Stout and Baltic Porter blend with Stumptown Guatemala Finca el Injerto coffee and vanilla beans.

Lompoc: Mon Cheri
This Belgian style golden ale was brewed with the Ardennes yeast strain giving off a mild fruitiness and finishing with a coriander spiciness.  5.5% ABV

Ninkasi Brewing/Devil's Backbone: The Devil Went Down To Oregon
Imperial Dark Rye collaboration beer with Virginia's acclaimed Devil's Backbone Brewery. 7.2% ABV.

Reverend Nat's: Applie Pie
Apple pie is a blend of mixed fermentation cider with Mexican piloncillo and bourbon barrel-aged apple wine spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. Heavy fruit notes from the cider and subtle spice from the apple wine combine to create a unique wintery, pie-like drinking experience. 8.0% ABV

Oakshire Brewing: Hellshire IV
The breweries fourth entry into the Hellshire series is a blend of 3 different beers matured in bourbon and brandy barrels. Oakshire's Very Ill Tempered Gnome was the base beer and after aging and blending the final product is akin to an Old Ale or Barleywine. 10.3% ABV

Upright Brewing: Spollen Angel
a Belgian-style tripel – a fitting style to pay tribute to one of our favorite brewers, Chris Spollen. The crew here met him during his days at Amnesia up the street from us, but he’s played a big part in making Oregon beer great for much longer. More important than his contributions to the brewing community is Chris’ special personality that makes him a true blast to crush a couple beers with. The Spollen Angel is one we think he’d enjoy sharing – with a big spicy nose and well integrated layers of malt, hops, and yeast notes. 9.4%

Barley Browns: TBA

Hopworks: TBA

The New School 5th Anniversary New Years Eve Party

December 31st 7pm - 1am $5

Bazi Bierbrasserie
1522 SE 32nd Ave, Portland, OR 97214 , (503) 234-8888
Advanced tix: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=H6MDRWQF25YWQ

The New School is one of the fastest growing web resources for craft beer and cider news in the Pacific Northwest. Based out of Portland, Oregon and founded January 1st 2010 the website reaches over 32,000 unique visitors per month and has contributors all over Oregon as well as Seattle, Washington and San Diego, California. www.NewSchoolBeer.com

NINKASI BREWING COMPANY ANNOUNCES COLLABORATION WITH DEVILS BACKBONE BREWING COMPANY

The Devil Went Down to Oregon, Imperial Dark Rye Beer, Available January – April 2015

Press Release:

EUGENE, Ore.—Dec. 23, 2014—In a partnership spanning Oregon’s bountiful Willamette Valley to Virginia’s heartland, Ninkasi Brewing Company and Devils Backbone Brewing Company unite to offer a collaboration beer that is crisp, complex and a nod to a traditional German beer style. The beer, The Devil Went Down to Oregon, is an Imperial Dark Rye, brewed with West Coast-style hops, Dark and Crystal rye, and fermented with an Alt yeast strain.

“This beer offers a lot of complexity from start of finish and is unlike anything we’ve brewed before,” says Jamie Floyd, founding brewer and co-founder of Ninkasi. “The Alt yeast offers a slight hint of vanilla that opens to a spicy hop aroma. A sweet, malt flavor follows which lends itself to the drying, nuttiness of the rye and then is softened in the finish by the wheat and earthy, grassy and floral hop notes.”

Floyd became good friends with Steve Crandall, Devils Backbone founder, almost five years ago when Crandall visited the brewery and toured with Floyd.

“I had, and continue to have, a huge amount of respect for Ninkasi,” explains Crandall. “We visited the brewery to gain some insight into how Ninkasi was successfully managing its growth; we learned a lot and have been able to use some of that knowledge as we grow our own brewery here in Virginia.”

This past year, Floyd also judged the 2014 World Beer Cup alongside Jason Oliver, Devils Backbone brewmaster. “It became clear that we shared a love for traditional brewing, especially when it comes to German styles of beer, along with a love of metal music, which is always close to my heart,” says Floyd.

“This beer was developed organically,” Oliver says. “We took an initial idea of brewing an Alt beer and eventually landed on a recipe that nods to a relatively unknown Old World German-style of beer, the German-Style Roggenbier, and brewed it with modern West Coast ingredients.”

“Collaboration in my mind should always strengthen friendships and this beer is a perfect example of how fun the process can be,” says Floyd.

The Devil Went Down to Oregon Stats
Description:
It might be a sin, but take the bet and you won’t regret this beer from start to end!

In a collaboration spanning Oregon’s bountiful Willamette Valley to Virginia’s heartland, Steve Crandall and Jason Oliver of Devils Backbone Brewing took the bet and gave the Devil his due when our founding brewer, Jamie Floyd, came ‘a-calling. What the trio first described as “a sort of West Coast, German-Style Roggenbier” turned into an Imperial Dark Rye, offering an elevated alcohol percentage and a crisp, lager-like finish from the Alt yeast fermentation. Give the Devil his due!

Style: Imperial Dark Rye
Series: Special Release Series
Available: January – April 2015
ABV: 7.2%
IBU: 65

Starting Gravity: 1074

Malt: Bohemian Pilsner, Premium Pilsner, 2-Row Pale, Dark Wheat, Rye, Crystal Rye, Golden Naked Oats, Midnight Wheat

Hops: Chinook, Simcoe, Mt. Hood, Willamette, Tettnang
Packaging: 22-ounce bottles and draft (12-ounce bottles included in the Ninkasi Spring Variety Pack)

Distribution: Alaska; Alberta; Arizona; California; Colorado; Idaho; Nevada; Oregon; Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia

URL: http://www.ninkasibrewing.com/devil

About Ninkasi Brewing Company
Founded in 2006 by Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge, Ninkasi Brewing Company continues to grow from its first batch of Total Domination IPA, to two brewhouses, a 55-barrel and a 90-barrel brewhouse, located in Eugene, Ore.  Ninkasi’s Flagship beers—Total Domination IPA, Tricerahops Double IPA, Believer Double Red, Oatis Oatmeal Stout, and Vanilla Oatis Oatmeal Stout—are sold throughout Alaska; Alberta; Arizona; California; Colorado; Idaho; Nevada; Oregon; Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia. The brewery remains privately-owned and is committed to community support and giving. Ninkasi’s Beer Is Love program offers in-kind donations and support for organizations throughout its footprint.

For more information, call 541-344-2739 or visit www.NinkasiBrewing.com. 

About Devils Backbone Brewing Company

Devils Backbone Brewing Company, the largest craft brewery in Virginia, and has won three consecutive Great American Beer Festival titles in the last three years with the Small Brew pub title in in 2012, Small Brewing Company in 2013 and the Mid-Sized Brewing Company title in 2014. The Company operates two breweries in central Virginia. Basecamp, which opened in 2008, is the company’s original brewpub and restaurant in Nelson County. The Outpost is a modern production brewery outside of Lexington. The company produces approximately twenty beer styles commercially, with many more experimental styles in production at Basecamp. Their beer is inspired by brewing traditions around the world. Vienna Lager, the company’s flagship, is one of the top craft brands in the nation, and continues to be one of the fastest growing. The company employs approximately 100 people, primarily at their breweries in Virginia. In the United States, Devils Backbone products are available only in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC and they will move into North Carolina, East Tennessee and West Virginia this summer.

For more information, call 434-361-1001 or visit www.dbbrewingcompany.com.

Fremont Brewing release party for 77 Select

Fremont Brewing will be releasing its popular Session IPA, 77 Select on December 29th at their Urban Beer Garden. Along with the standard version at the release event they will have five infused versions of 77 Select. See details below about the release event and beer details.

Fremont Brewing will release 77 Select, its Session IPA, on Friday, December 29th in their Urban Beer Garden (1050 N 34th St, Seattle). The release event will take place from 5-9pm and will feature five infusions of 77 Select. At 7pm Fremont’s Head Brewer, James McDermet, will lead an educational discussion about the beer and be available for questions.

Beer Details:

Description: 77 Select is made with 7 choice ingredients and Fire Brewed in the pits of Fremont Brewing to achieve its rarefied Session IPA status. With this brew we respect Seattle’s old Horlucks and Sicks Brewing Companies, predecessors of Rainier Brewing, and their flagship beers 66 Select and Rainier

ABV: 4.0%

IBU: 60

Holiday Ale Festival raises $20,000 for Children’s Cancer Association

Congrats and Cheers! to the Holiday Ale Festival and beer fans who helped raise $20,000 for the Children's Cancer Association MusicRx program.

 

Winter beer lovers help Holiday Ale Festival 

raise $20,000 for Children’s Cancer Association

Thousands raise a mug to winter beers and ciders at the 19th annual event

Press Release:
PORTLAND, Ore. – Nearly 14,000 beer fans took part in the 19th annual Holiday Ale Festival Dec. 3 through 7 at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Collectively, they helped raise $20,000 for the Children’s Cancer Association MusicRx program, which delivers the healing power of music to children battling cancer and their families.

Heated tents, coupled with mild temperatures outside, provided so much warmth that the coat check took in a record number of garments – great news for the Children’s Cancer Association. All the proceeds brought in from the coat check, the Crater Lake Root Beer Garden, a raffle, and sales of the festival’s classic pin up girl posters and temporary tattoos are annually earmarked for the non-profit. At the festival’s conclusion, organizers count all the funds, round up to the nearest $1,000, then double it, and double it again. Festival organizers are excited that this year’s donation will make an immediate impact on the holiday needs of the Music Rx program.

The Northwest’s only outdoor winter beer festival featured 54 beers, ciders and meads in the main lineup, all of which were made or blended specifically for the event, or were vintage offerings not commonly served in the region. The event is billed as an opportunity for brewers to connect with their fans, and this year’s lineup did not disappoint.

While all the products were well received, a few rose to the top in terms of popularity, including Hopworks’ The Incredible Abominable of the Enchanted Barrel Forest (Barrel Aged Imperial Winter Ale), Firestone Walker’s Luponic Distortion (Double IPA), Fort George’s Santa’s Dinner Jacket (Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Red Ale), Old Town’s Bluth’s Original Chocolate Banana Hefeweizen (Chocolate Bavarian-Style Hefeweizen) and Finnriver’s Stone & Pome Cider (Barrel Aged Plum and Peach Cider).

Three of the most talked about beers were Eel River’s Gargantua II (Whiskey Barrel Vanilla Imperial Strong Ale Blend), McMenamins Edgefield’s Lord of Misrule (Rum Barrel Aged Imperial Mexican Mocha Stout), and Feckin’s Top O’ The Feckin’ Mornin' (Imperial Espresso Milk Porter).

The festival also featured nearly 40 specialty kegs throughout the event, including a six-year vertical of The Abyss by Deschutes Brewing, and a 2009 cask of JW Lees & Co Harvest Ale. There were two separate meet-the-brewer events, the first with Stone Brewing’s Kris Ketcham and Dr Bill Sysak; and the second with Bear Republic’s Peter Kruger and Roger Herpst.

Attendees were treated to the aroma of fresh roasted nuts from Family Tree Nut Co., and hearty fare from Urban German Grill and Bunk Sandwiches. The 11th annual Sunday Beer Brunch, a separate ticketed event held at the festival site on Sunday morning of the event, was a sold out affair featuring vintage beers not in the festival and special large format bottles paired with a European style buffet.

The Holiday Ale Festival is a five-day event that annually starts the Wednesday following Thanksgiving. Dates for next year are Dec. 2 through 6. For more information, visit www.holidayale.com.

Burnside Brewing Celebrates 4 years on December 28th

Congratulations to Burnside Brewing for their forth coming 4th anniversary! See info below.

Press Release:
Portland, OR - Burnside Brewing Co. celebrates an amazing 4 years on Sunday, December 28, from 6-11pm with the release of two new beers and a party at the brewpub featuring free food, live music ,and $4 beers all day.

A staple of Oregon's thriving brewpub culture, Burnside Brewing Co. has become known as one of the top places to grab a bite as well as a brew. Focused on easy-drinking brews that can be simple or complex but always meant to be paired with food, the brewery takes the same approach to the pub menu with indigenous and handcrafted ingredients. Popular items continue to be the “Cohiba” duck confit cigar, housemade sausages, and pub burger. The Burnside beer list ranges from the easy drinking Oatmeal Pale Ale to the GABF gold medal winning Sweet Heat, which features an amalgamation of apricots and scotch bonnet peppers. Recently the brewery has turned out a new take on "Hot Chocolate," a stout with chocolate and habanero peppers that is paired perfectly with Chef Jimmy's grilled tuna featuring stout braised leek coulis, fresh herbs, lemon preserve, pickled fresno pepper, and cocoa nibs.

"The last four years have flown by and the brewing industry continues to change at a torrid pace, especially here in Portland. We expect to stick to our philosophies of food-friendly beers while being unafraid to take chances in the brewhouse," remarked co-founder/owner Jay Gilbert. Burnside Brewing launched its first canned beer in 2014; the best-selling Couch Select Lager has been a tremendous success in stores and will be followed up by a new beer in cans in 2015, as well as more new one-off and seasonal beers in 22oz bottles. Looking forward to the anniversary and the impending 5th year, Jay Gilbert exclaimed, "we feel like we're hitting our stride as a brewery. Here's to many more years brewing and selling beers with my best buddies. Cheers!"

On Sunday, December 28, from 6-11pm Burnside Brewing Co. will host live music from Big Wet County and Oleana at the pub, as well as a special tapping of the brewery's 500th batch, "NW Red Cedar IPA," and a firkin of a new release, "Highbury Bitter." In honor of the four year anniversary there will be free hor d'oeuvres, prizes, and $4 beers!

Batch 500 is a Cedar IPA based on the popular one-off brewed for Beers Made By Walking. To celebrate making it halfway to 1,000 brews, Burnside has brewed a Northwest-style IPA aged on Western Red Cedar. Fermentation with a Northwest ale yeast provides a gentle, fruity aroma to complement the generous use of Amarillo and Meridian hops. The cedar lends a dry, piney, and resinous finish to this NW inspired nectar.

Highbury Bitter is inspired by our love of all things pub culture, and our favorite squad, this strong bitter reminds us of a rainy day at the old grounds.  English Maris Otter and caramel malts provide a biscuit, bread, and caramel base to balance the fruity London ESB yeast. UK Challenger and East Kent Golding hops round out this traditional English recipe. One-Nil to the Arsenal! 5.814% ABV and 37 I.B.U.’s

 Burnside Brewing Co
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Stone Brewing Enjoy After 12.26.15 Brett IPA Out Now

Press Release:
ESCONDIDO, CA (Dec. 16, 2014) – Age an India pale ale? Really? Stone Brewing Co. is releasing a beer that defies all we thought we knew about consuming hoppy beers at their freshest, particularly the West Coast-style IPAs for which Stone is famous. While nearly every IPA on the planet should be drunk as fresh as possible, that is not the case with Stone Enjoy After 12.26.15 Brett IPA. Intended for aging until at least December 26, 2015, this unique IPA is inoculated with Brettanomyces (Brett), a wild yeast that will transform the beer over time in fascinatingly and deliciously unpredictable ways when stored under proper cellaring conditions. Beginning today, the Brett IPA will start arriving in 750-milliliter bottles at retail accounts in select states.

In 2012, Stone introduced a beer with an unprecedented, ultra-short shelf life: Stone Enjoy By IPA. That beer educated fans on the importance of drinking IPAs fresh by prominently displaying a revolutionarily short (35 days from bottling) “enjoy by” date of expiration on the front label. Always intent on challenging the status quo and elevating awareness of all things beer, the Stone Team had an idea that would counter the modern American craft-brewing concept of consuming IPAs fresh, and proposed developing an IPA intended for aging—one that would evolve and become a completely different beer.

Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele, the guy who wrote the book on IPAs, was up for the challenge and formulated a recipe. Steele decided to use hops and malt bills similar to Stone Enjoy By IPA’s recipe, but there the similarities end. The Belgian yeast strain Ardennes was used in the base beer and then Brett was added post-primary fermentation before the bottles were corked and caged. Over time, the Brett is anticipated to contribute fruity funkiness, earthiness and subtle tart characteristics to the beer.

“Over the course of a year, we anticipate the beer will have greater carbonation and a creamier body, with a dry finish, more complexity, and farmhouse characters,” explains Steele. “Each edition of Stone Enjoy After Brett IPA will be closely monitored and tasted once a month by our team in order to make sure the flavors are maturing appropriately. We are asking our fans to follow proper cellaring tips to ensure the most optimal results.”

Bottles of Stone Enjoy After 12.26.15 Brett IPA should be kept at 50-70 degrees Fahrenheit, because anything below 50 degrees will render Brettanomyces dormant, and anything above 70 degrees may lead to the development of off flavors. Additionally, beer meant for aging requires storage in a dark space, as bright light or sunlight can alter the hops, resulting in a skunky flavor. Stone encourages fans to wait until the “enjoy after” date before consuming to help the beer reach its full evolutionary potential.

Depending on how Stone Enjoy After 12.26.15 Brett IPA and future batches of the unique beer are stored over time, individual results may vary…and that’s both the beauty and the intent behind this beer. 
Stone Enjoy After 12.26.15 Brett IPA Quick Facts:
Name: Stone Enjoy After 12.26.15 Brett IPA
URL: stonebrewing.com/enjoyafter/122615
Stats: 7% ABV, 70 IBUs
Availability: Limited 750ml bottles, beginning December 16
Hops bill: Super Galena, Simcoe, Delta, Target, Amarillo, Calypso and Cascade
Distribution: AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, NM, NV, OR, TX and WA
Find beer: find.stonebrewing.com

Stone Brewing releases Smoked Porter With Vanilla Bean

The limited winter edition Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans is back again and will be hitting retail outlets in 22's and on draft for a limited time. see info below.

Press Release:
ESCONDIDO, CA (December 15, 2014) – Some things just go together. Kittens and yarn. Snakes and airplanes. Hipsters and misuse of the word irony. For us, it’s Stone Smoked Porter with whole Madagascar vanilla beans. Ah yes, the famously delectable combination by Stone Brewing Co. is making its yearly appearance as a limited winter edition creatively named Stone Smoked Porter w/Vanilla Bean. Available in 22-ounce bottles and on draft, the fan favorite is now making its way to bars, restaurants and retail outlets in all states and territories where Stone beer is sold.

Back in 2006, Stone Small Batch Brewer Laura Ulrich became inspired to develop a beer that tasted similar to Stone Smoked Porter poured over a scoop of high-quality vanilla bean ice cream. As an experiment, Ulrich filled a cask with the classic year-round beer and added freshly split Madagascar vanilla beans. Because Ulrich’s creation gained instant popularity among Stone fans, the beloved concoction continued to make all-too-brief appearances in casks and kegs until 2012, when it was finally packaged and released nationally for the first time.

“To this day, the Brewer’s Cask program at Stone serves as a creative outlet for trying out new, unconventional brewing ingredients and developing recipes,” explains Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele. “With rich chocolate and coffee flavors and a subtle smokiness, Stone Smoked Porter has been a great beer for blending and enhancing with a wide range of flavors from spicy to sweet.”

Following Ulrich’s tasty innovation, the special release has (not surprisingly) become a cult favorite among fans. The natural flavor of the vanilla beans marries seamlessly with the malt-driven chocolate- and coffee-like nuances of the beer. The result is something that, even with its hints of savory peatiness and smoke, comes across as a semisweet liquid dessert.

To maximize enjoyment of Stone Smoked Porter w/Vanilla Bean, fans should enjoy the beer within 120 days of the “bottled on” date stamped on the bottle neck. And it might not be a bad idea to pour it over a scoop of organic vanilla bean ice cream. Just sayin’.

Stone Smoked Porter w/Vanilla Bean Quick Facts:
Name: Stone Smoked Porter w/Vanilla Bean
URL: stonebrewing.com/porter/vanilla
Stats: 5.9% ABV, 53 IBUs
Availability: Limited 22-ounce bottles and draft, beginning December 15
Hops bill: Magnum and Mt. Hood
Distribution: AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, Puerto Rico and Alberta, Canada
Find beer: find.stonebrewing.com/

Lompoc Brewing Old Tavern Rat Vertical Tasting at Sidebar December 23rd

 Lompoc Brewing will be holding a vertical tasting of the ever popular Old Tavern Rat Barley Wine on December 23rd. If your like me and have a few bottles of Old tavern Rat in storage this is a great way to go and find out how the different years of barley wine have been aging.

Lompoc Brewing is holding a five-year vertical tasting of its popular Old Tavern Rat Barley Wine Ale. The event will take place on Tuesday, December 23 from 4pm to Midnight at Sidebar, 3901 N Williams Ave.

The years featured include 1998, 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2013. A flight of 4-oz pours of all five vintages costs $25. 

Old Tavern Rat was named in honor of the famed Portland publican Don Younger, the business partner and close friend of Lompoc owner Jerry Fechter. Though the flavors vary with each batch, the beer is generally a very intense (like Don) strong ale with a malty body and plenty of caramel, dried fruit and roast flavors. The beer’s label is a painting of Younger done by the talented John Foyston, local beer writer and painter.

A Portland staple since 1996, Lompoc Brewing creates seven flavorful year-round beers, plus a ridiculous number of seasonals. You can find Lompoc in 22 oz bottles and on draft at locations around town, and at its five neighborhood pubs: Fifth Quadrant and Sidebar in North Portland, Hedge House and Oaks Bottom in SE, and the Lompoc Tavern in NW. For more information, visit

lompocbrewing.com 

Lompoc Brewing Twitter 

Lompoc Brewing FB

Lompoc Brewing Instagram

Drink Local, Drink Lompoc!

Freshpints 2014 Christmas Gift Guide

Wow, Christmas is coming up quickly! Already it's a week into December and we haven't done any Christmas shopping yet...we may have been busy enjoying the vast array of new seasonal beers.

To keep you out of our shopping predicament, here are a few suggestions for your Christmas lists:

1) Boozy Gift Packs
 When he's not drinking beer, Adam's a big bourbon/whiskey drinker. McMenamins has Holiday spirit gift packs for sale for $50, while supplies last, at 12 locations

McMenamins Whiskey Trio Pack with 200ml bottles of Billy Whiskey (new!), Monkey Puzzle and Hogshead Whiskey.
McMenamins Hot Buttered Rum Pack with one 750ml Three Rocks Spiced Rum and hot buttered rum mix.
McMenamins Phil & Satin’s Cosmic Coffee Kit with coffee liqueur, Phil Hazelnut Liqueur (new!) and house-roasted coffee. 


2) Super Comfy Craft Beer T-Shirts
We love beer shirts, and own dozens of them. Last December, Adam found Hopcloth on Twitter and got himself one of their shirts for Christmas. He loves the soft feel of the shirt and it fits really well, though the one Emily got ran a bit small. (Consider ordering a size up for the ladies).  And yeah, as you'd expect he gets a lot of comments and thumbs up on this one.....Here he is, modeling the goods:

3) Books About Beer
Some great local beer books just hit the market and would make a great stocking stuffer for your favorite beer nerd.

Our friend Jon Abernathy of The Brew Site, based in Bend, has written a book called Bend Brewing:The history of Brewing in Central Oregon. We bought one the other day from Jon at the PDX Bottleshare and we're looking forward to reading up on the history of the Central Oregon brewing scene.

Where to buy Bend Beer:A History of Brewing for local locations and online

Portland resident and New School contributor Brian Yaeger has released a book called Oregon Breweries. Oregon Breweries is a guide to the breweries of Oregon State, featuring 190 breweries and brewpubs. Each brewery profile includes individual background on brewers and owners, styles and brands brewed, and regional visitor information. It also includes information on forthcoming breweries, local beer events, top bars and retailers, and more.
Find it on Amazon here. Or look for local events to pick up a copy.

Pic from Brianyaeger,com

4) Fancy Growlers
Last item for the 2014 list is growlers. Not boring glass growlers but Hydroflask growlers, which are produced in Bend. They come in two different sizes, 32oz and 64oz.  Our Hydroflasks are our go-to for getting beer fills and we're never without them. We own two of the 64oz growlers that we bought at HopWorks  and Boneyard Brewing during visits. You can find Hydroflasks at various breweries or you can just buy a non-branded growler from them online. Either way, once you get or give an insulated stainless steel growler you won't ever want to go back to glass.

Well-used Hydroflask growlers that travel with us wherever we go

We hope those suggestions help you shop for the craft beer connoisseurs in your life!  Or, maybe you found a couple things to put on your own list for Santa.  Now, we have some serious shopping to get to.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Adam and Emily