SINGLE, FRESH, WET & WILD HARVEST FESTIVAL

Fresh Hop season is my favorite time of the year. Fresh hop beers will be hitting the shelves and taps soon, and fresh hop Festival's will be taking place. Here is one announced from Sierra Nevada, happening on October 18th.

 

 

SIERRA NEVADA ANNOUNCES SECOND ANNUAL
SINGLE, FRESH, WET & WILD HARVEST FESTIVAL

Press Release:
Chico, CA—August 28, 2014—Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. will host its second annual Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild^® Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 18, at its brewery in Chico, Calif. The acclaim from hop heads after the inaugural 2013 event inspired the beer festival’s return as a yearly fixture. Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild celebrates the fall US hop harvest, and Sierra Nevada anticipates more than 50 breweries from across the country will together provide a beer lineup that showcases:

• Single hop beers: Features only one hop variety
• Fresh hop beers: Uses dried hops that are picked, shipped and added to the brew kettle within weeks of hop harvest
• Wet hop beers: Uses un-dried hops that are picked, shipped and added to the brew kettle within days of hop harvest
• Wild hop beers: Features hops found untamed in nature. At the inaugural Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild, Sierra Nevada poured a beer made using wild hops from nearby Whitmore.  

 

“Our excitement for this beer festival starts right now,” said Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada’s founder. “We’re watching our estate hops reach their peak, and we head to the Yakima Valley in a few short weeks to get our hands on the first hops of the season. We’ll run into our brewing friends there, and we’ll have fun imagining the great beers to come, some of them folks will be able to try at Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild.”

With great anticipation American craft brewers await hop harvest season, with their hauls from the fields helping them design and plan beers for the year ahead. The more than 3,000 US craft breweries are an inspired bunch, using more hops in more ways than ever before—an ambition that helps steer the exciting evolution of beer ingredients. Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild is a snapshot of and a salute to the brewer ingenuity that’s shaping the tastes of drinkers nationwide.

Ticket sales for Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild begin Tuesday, September 2, at 10 a.m. PDT and are exclusively online at SierraNevada.com/SFWW. A general admission ticket includes a 6-ounce commemorative taster glass and unlimited samples, a one-time stroll through tasty pub fare prepared by the Sierra Nevada Taproom and Restaurant, and an energetic performance from the San Francisco-based band Monophonics who blend psychedelic soul and heavy funk. All ticket proceeds benefit the California Craft Brewers Association, which champions the success of the more than 450 craft breweries in the state.  
 
Sierra Nevada is currently finalizing its featured breweries and aims to share the list in late-September at SierraNevada.com/SFWW where festivalgoers can find all of the event details.

Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild Harvest Festival overview: 

• WHEN: Saturday, October 18, from 1–6 p.m.
• WHERE: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., 1075 E. 20th St., Chico, CA 95928
• TICKETS: $75 general admission (includes commemorative glass, unlimited samples, and food prepared by the Sierra Nevada Taproom). $30 designated driver. On sale Tuesday, September 2, at 10 a.m. online at SierraNevada.com/SFWW. Must be 21 years or older to attend.

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Final Beer In Bridgeport's Trilogy Series Ships This Week.

BRIDGEPORT BREWING COMPLETES ANNIVERSARY SERIES WITH SESSIONABLE BROWN ALE

 Trilogy 3 Brewers’ Class, a Collaboration with Oregon State University, Premieres this week

 

Press Release:

PORTLAND, Ore.—August 28, 2014 — The third and final beer in BridgePort’s anniversary series, Trilogy 3 Brewers’ Class, starts shipping this week in all markets where BridgePort is sold.

Designed as a collaboration with students enrolled in the Fermentation Science Program at Oregon State University, Trilogy 3 Brewers’ Class looks to the future of craft brewing in Oregon and nationwide. Conceptualizing the liquid started over three months ago when the students, alongside program director Thomas Shellhammer, joined brewmaster Jeff Edgerton at the brewpub for a beer and some great conversation.

“We weren’t given many parameters, aside from that it needed to be a beer that the students would want to drink,” commented Shellhammer. “Knowing that BridgePort’s end goal was to sell this beer in all of their markets, we also tried to avoid anything too ‘out there’ that wouldn’t scale well.”

After a productive brainstorming session and review of Bridgeport’s current lineup, the Oregon State students dreamt up an easy-to-drink brown ale with a blend of dry hops that lend a unique aroma. Over the following months, there were multiple rounds of test brews at the OSU lab before landing on the final product: a sessionable dry-hopped Brown ale with an ABV below 5-percent.

“We used several classic Willamette and Yakima Valley hop varieties for this one” commented Edgerton. “Centennial, Sterling, Cascade. The unique hop flavors present themselves on the finish of this smooth, mellow beer and blend very well with the delicious flavors from the dark Caramel and Chocolate malt.”

It is now up to BridgePort fans to determine which Trilogy release will return as a year-round beer in 2015. Fans can compare each of the Trilogy beers, all available in the upcoming Voter’s Box Variety Pack, and then cast their vote on BridgePortTrilogy.com, on Instagram, or on Twitter.  The BridgePort Voter’s Box will start to hit shelves in early September.

About Trilogy 3 Dry-Hopped Session Brown Ale or Brewers’ Class

IBUs:      30            ABV:        5.0%       OG:          13.0        Color:  Brown

Ingredients: Centennial, Sterling, and Cascade hops, dark caramel malt

Description: Easy-to-drink brown ale with a blend of dry hops give this beer a unique aroma character. Dark caramel malt is used to give this beer a decidedly brown color. Low alcohol but still retains a malty backbone.

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6th Annual Little Woody this weekend in Bend.

One of our favorite brew festivals, The Little Woody Barrel-Aged Beer & Whiskey Festival starts this Friday. Is you are into barrel or wood aged beers this is the festival you should be attending....and don't forget you also have the bourbon/whiskey to taste as well.

Note:The Little Woody is a 21 and over event.

The Little Woody Celebrates Barrel-Aged Brews During 6th Annual Bend Festival August 29-30
2014 event features craft breweries from across the Northwest, whiskey tastings and brewer’s invitational golf tournament

Photo Credit Brian Becker

Press Release:
The Little Woody Barrel Aged Beer and Whiskey Festival will celebrate craft wood-aged beers from across the Northwest, along with small-batch American rye whiskeys and bourbons, during the sixth annual festival August 29 and 30, 2014. The Little Woody takes place next to the Des Chutes Historical Museum, 129 Northwest Idaho Avenue in downtown Bend, Ore.

To commemorate one of Central Oregon’s hallmarks—craft beer—and lend a nod to the historic techniques used by brewers with oaken casks, The Little Woody features small-batch beers aged in wood barrels by top Northwest breweries including Deschutes Brewery, Ninkasi Brewing, GoodLife Brewing, 10 Barrel Brewing, New Belgium Brewing and more. For a full line-up of featured brews visit www.woodybeer.com/little/breweries-and-brews

Ben Shirley, brewer at 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend, said, “The Little Woody has the
most rare and exclusive barrel-aged beers under one umbrella.”

Photo Credit Brian Becker

The 2014 Little Woody will also feature a tasting of small-batch American ryewhiskeys and bourbons, live music, local food vendors and the Little Woody Brewer’s
Invitational golf tournament on Sunday, August 31.

Entry to the festival is $8 with a commemorative tasting glass. A tasting package is $16
and includes a glass and ten tasting tokens. When purchased individually, tokens are $1 each and tastes cost 2-5 tokens each. To purchase tickets, visit www.woodybeer.com/little

 The Little Woody is a 21 and over event.

Photo Credit Brian Becker

The Little Woody Brewer's Invitational
Don't miss out on the second Little Woody Brewer's Invitational golf tournament celebrating Bend's love of golf and beer! After a demanding two days at the Little Woody Barrel-Aged Brew and Whiskey Festival, brewmasters, beer-industry professionals and the public will relax on the links at Widgi Creek Golf Course with a light-hearted format, unique prizes and, of course, beer. Mixing business with pleasure is a perfect way to end this Labor Day weekend event.

All proceeds from the invitational benefit the Deschutes Historical Society. Be part of
the fun on Sunday, August 31! Complete information about the tourney can be
found at www.woodybeer.com/little. Individuals and foursomes welcome.

Photo Credit Brian Becker

Tales from the Trip: Beer Bloggers Conference 14 - Part 1

What an amazing weekend we just had!  We spent four days with some of the greatest people you'd ever want to meet, drinking fantastic craft brew, and generally geeking out over our shared love of fermented libations. The Beer Bloggers Conference in San Diego exceeded our expectations on all levels.

We had so many good times we can't fathom cramming them into one post, so we'll break this out into at least a couple parts.

Cigar City Invasion Pale

The Magic Bus: Thursday

After hanging out in the LAX baggage claim for a few hours, we were seriously ready for some beers.  Fortunately we met blogger Carol Dekkers from MicroBrews USA who hooked us up with some Cigar City Brewing Invasion pale Ale as we boarded the Beer Bus bound for LA (thanks Carol, we really needed that).

We're really glad we met our new BFFs pretty much right away: Jeff and Chris from Bottle Makes Three, Dave from All the Brews Fit to Pint, and Mike from BrewDad.  Visit their blogs - these guys are hilarious and know their beers.

 Co-owner Meg Gill

First we rolled into Golden Road Brewing where Co-Founder Meg Gill told us her story about starting Golden Road Brewing in 2011. An impressive fact about Golden Road is they have been in business only three years yet expect to brew about 30,000 barrels this year - wow! After hearing from Meg, we were off for a tour where we were lucky enough to try a brand new India Pale Lager, Might As Well IPL, ice-cold off the shiny new canning line. We ended our time with a sampling of Golden Road Beers.

Entrance to Angel City Brewing

Next up, we hit Angel City Brewery, which is in East LA and coming from the
'burbs this one was kinda far out of our usual element (barbed wire and graffiti!) They served up some interesting brews including an Avocado ale which paired nicely with our turkey sandwich.  We loved the interior space, which featured a loft, a spiral slide they wouldn't let us use, and games like table tennis and cornhole.

 Bruery Barrel Warehouse

Next was  The Bruery's barrel warehouse, or Heaven on Earth, as I (Emily) like to refer to it. The aroma is incredible, not kidding, one of the finer scents known to humanity.  And there are hundreds of barrels in there, stacked to the ceiling, a really beautiful sight to a sour-beer fanatic like myself.  We got to sample an impressive variety of their beers including a sour straight out of the barrel!!  Standouts were the Oude Tart, the Tart of Darkness Sour Stout, and the Sour in the Rye with Coconut and Pineapple.  But literally everything The Bruery produces is awesome; we're looking forward to their new sour and wild ale brand, Bruery Terreux, coming out later this year.

Smog City 15 bbl brewhouse

After they forced me out of The Bruery (kidding of course), we went Smog City Brewing, which is a cool production facility and tap room that reminded us of Portland.  The Coffee Porter actually tasted just like a fine espresso - we were super impressed with the intense, yet not bitter, coffee flavor.  Plus Laurie Porter, the co-founder, was friendly and engaging - we enjoyed hearing their story. 

Monkish 15bbl Brewhouse

Monkish Tasting room

Last, but certainly not least, was Monkish Brewing.  Let me tell you, when I muse about my own future beer line it contains a lavender Belgian and I was pretty darn sure until this weekend that was a unique idea.  Well, Monkish not only beat me to it,  I think they perfected that one.  The Saison De Lilah wowed me - it's a farmhouse ale featuring lavender and lemon peel.  We also enjoyed Matrimonium, a Belgian-style Imperial Stout brewed with coffee.



Who knew LA had such an interesting craft beer scene?  We're glad to have experienced it first hand in such great company.

A looooong bus ride delivered us safely to San Diego, where we'll pick up for Part 2 of Tales from the Trip.

Golden Road brewing

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Golden Road's Pub entrance.

Golden Road brewing up some beer.

Angel City Brewery

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Mural at Angel City evoking TJ Eckleburg

Slide at Angel City...but no sliding allowed

Indoor cornhole at Angel City

 The Bruery

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The Bruery beer waiting to be sampled

A barrel at The Bruery filled with beer

 Smog City Brewing

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Laurie porter and Chris Walowski talking about Smog City

Smog City beers on tap when we visited

 Monkish Brewing

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Just a few of the many beers to be sampled at Monkish Brewing

One of the Foudres at Monkish Brewing

Harvest Ale Release Party and Ales For ALS Party at Fremont Brewing this week

A couple great events coming up this week at Fremont Brewing

 
Thursday, 8/28, 5-9pm: Harvest Ale Release PartyAAle. We will feature five Harvest Ale infusions as well as a casual tasting with one of our brewers at 7pm.

• Infusions: In celebration of our Harvest Ale release, Fremont’s Brewers have developed five infusions.
• Dandelion & Cranberry
• Huckleberry
• Mint, Lime, & Ginger
• Chamomile & Lemon
• Cucumber & Thyme

Saturday, 8/30, 11am-3pm: Ales for ALS Party

• We’ll have a keg of beer on tap from all participating Ales for ALS breweries in Washington. All proceeds will be donated to the cause.
• Bale Breaker: Bubba’s Brew, Session IPA
• Pike: No. 4 Session IPA, Session IPA
• Mt. Tabor: Little Dutch Boy ISA, India Session Ale
• Triplehorn: “4” Ales for ALS, Cascadian Dark Ale
• Two Beers: Fresh Hop Ale, Fresh Hop IPA
• Fremont Brewing: Ales for ALS Kolsch-Style Ale, Kolsch Style-Ale