Zwickelmania Expands to Two Weekends

What
Zwickelmania! Oregon breweries open their doors once again, for this annual February tradition. In 2017, Zwickelmania will take place over two weekends. In Portland, it will be on Presidents' Day weekend on 2/18/17. The rest of Oregon will be celebrating the following weekend on 2/25/17. Over 120 breweries throughout Oregon welcome beer enthusiasts for meet-the-brewer events, tours, and beer tastings.

Where
Throughout Oregon’s beer regions including, but not limited to:

The Portland Metro Area, Central Oregon, Eastern Oregon, Gorge/Mt. Hood/ Columbia, Southern Oregon, the Coast and the Willamette Valley.

Visit http://www.oregoncraftbeer.org/zwickelmania for a regularly updated list of participating breweries and cities.

When

• February 18, 2017 — Portland Metro Area
• February 25, 2017 — Central Oregon, Eastern Oregon, Gorge/Mt. Hood/Columbia, Southern Oregon, the Coast and the Willamette Valley 

o   Time: 11am – 4pm, both dates

For more information, head to Oregoncraftbeer.org, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using  the hashtag #Zwickel17.

About The Oregon Brewers Guild
The Oregon Brewers Guild is Oregon’s non-profit trade association for the state’s independent breweries. The Guild, which receives no state funding, comprises 160 brewing companies, 125 associate or supplier members and nearly 4,000 enthusiast members or S.N.O.B.s (Supporters of Native Oregon Beer). For more information, see http://oregoncraftbeer.org/.

About Zwickelmania
Zwickelmania, created by the Oregon Brewers Guild, celebrated its inaugural year in 2009. It takes its name from the zwickel, or sample port which mounts on the outside of fermentation or conditioning tanks and allows brewers to sample for quality assurance and control. Similarly, Zwickelmania offers a unique opportunity to taste beers where they were produced and interact with the brewers who created them.

 

 

McMenamins Releasing Sleepy Hollow Nut Brown Ale

Courtesy of McMenamins

Need a winter warmer to drink by the fire this season? Awaken your senses with McMenamins’ first seasonal beer release of the year – Sleepy Hollow Nut Brown Ale. Slightly nutty like Ichabod Crane himself, the English Brown Ale’s well-balanced, medium body and notes of toffee make it the perfect beer to drink while warming up by the fireside. See if the legend is true and sample the brew to experience the “drowsy, dreamy influence” of Sleepy Hollow.

Wondering where to find this brew? Check out McMenamins’ app and search by location or by beer.

Sleepy Hollow Nut Brown Ale

Available January 13 through February at all McMenamins pubs and properties

Malts: Great Western Pale Ale Malt, Great Western Munich Malt, Great Western Flaked Barley, Great Western 15L Crystal Malt, Great Western 120L Crystal Malt, Great Western Chocolate Malt, Great Western Roast Material
Hops: Chinook (Bittering), US Golding (Flavor and Aroma)
ABV: 5.03%  IBU: 12  SRM: 18

Holiday Ale Festival Raises More Than $30,000 For The Children’s Cancer Association

Courtesy of Holiday Ale Festival

PORTLAND, Ore. – At least 14,000 beer fans attended the 21st annual Holiday Ale Festival, Nov. 30 through Dec. 4, 2016, at Pioneer Courthouse Square; collectively, they helped raise more than $30,000 for the Children’s Cancer Association (CCA).

All proceeds brought in from the festival’s onsite coat and bag check and soda garden were tallied, then quadrupled, allowing the festival to make a $20,000 donation to the CCA’s MyMusicRx Program, which delivers the healing power of music to the bedsides of children and teens facing cancer and other serious illnesses. The MyMusicRX Program utilizes state-of-the-art music carts stocked with teaching quality instruments for kids to explore, and iPads loaded with music games and apps. The program extends online at MyMusicRx.org, with exclusive artist greetings, concerts, music lessons, and curated content from across the web. Live, in-hospital concerts from national recording artists complete the MyMusicRx experience.

The festival donated an additional $6,000 in equipment and services to facilitate the coat check and soda garden; participating breweries donated more than $2,700 in gifts for an onsite raffle; longtime festival and CCA partner Crater Lake Soda donated nearly $4,000 in handcrafted soda; and attendees purchased raffle tickets that ultimately raised another $10,000 for the organization.

The Northwest’s only outdoor (tented and heated) winter beer festival featured more than 50 craft beers, ciders and meads in the main lineup, all of which were made or blended specifically for the event. The festival also featured nearly three-dozen limited tappings, as well as meet-the-brewer events.

A substantial increase in the footprint of the event’s Sky Bar, held on the upper level of Pioneer Courthouse Square, gave attendees more room to move and greater beer selection, while creating better traffic flow throughout the event. Clear windows in the Sky Bar tents also provided a unique viewing perspective above the rest of the festival.

All beers and ciders were served in GOVINO tasting cups – bpa and bps-free, shatterproof, flexible, recyclable glassware – that allowed attendees to see the true color of the drink in hand. Other popular festival features included the Oregon Lottery iPhoto Click Booth, which offered attendees a complimentary printed photo complete with props and holiday background options; and a partnership with Lyft that allowed attendees to safely leave the driving to someone else. A vintage cheese and beer pairing station allowed people to explore different cheese and beer pairings with experienced suggestions, while fresh roasted nuts from Family Tree Nut Co. and tasty fare from Urban German Grill and Oregon Deli Co. were well-suited to the diverse beers served at the festival.

The 12th annual Sunday Beer Brunch, a separate ticketed event held at the festival on the Sunday morning of the event, sold out in record time and offered attendees an ideal experience for tasting vintage draft beers and large format bottles of aged beers paired with European-inspired brunch food.

The Holiday Ale Festival is a five-day event that annually starts the Wednesday following Thanksgiving. Dates for 2017 are Nov. 29 through Dec. 3. For more information, visit HolidayAle.com.

Block 15 Releases Late Winter Seasonal Offering - The Prophecies

Courtesy of Block 15 Brewing Co

Corvallis, OR — This week, Block 15 Brewing Company releases The Prophecies, the latest in its Seasonal Bottle Conditioned Series. This Belgian-style Quadrupel Ale will be available bottled and on tap from the New Year through early spring—with distribution to bottle shops and tap houses around Oregon and parts of Washington. Artfully bottle conditioned using Block 15’s custom-fabricated mixing tank, The Prophecies is designed to be enjoyed both freshly bottled and cellared.

Inspired by one of the brewer’s favorite ales from the Ardennes Mountains, The Prophecies was brewed in the shadow of the Cascade Mountain range with Pilsner, Munich and specialty malts, and dark Belgian candi sugar. Gently hopped for balance and fermented with select Trappist yeast, The Prophecies hints of dark fruit, Dutch cocoa, and oak aged rum with a long, warm finish.

Grains: 2-row, Pilsner, Munich Light, Munich Dark, Pale Wheat Malt, Monastique, Chocolate, Special B Adjunct: Dark Candi Sugar Yeast: Trappist High Gravity ABV: 10.25% FG: 1015

The Prophecies is available in 500mL bottles, featuring artwork from local artist Patricia Smith.

Courtesy of Block 15 Brewing Co

About Block 15 Brewing Company
Offering unique hop forward ales, crisp lagers, barrel-aged rarities and one of the Northwest’s most extensive wild & sour programs, Block 15 produces a range of artfully crafted beers, brewed with a nod toward fresh ingredients and fresh thinking. Established in 2008, and brewer- owned from day one.

Deschutes Brewery Releases New Year-Round Lager: Pacific Wonderland

Courtesy of Deschutes Brewing Co

Bend, Oregon – Nearly 60 years ago, the motto “Pacific Wonderland” first showed up on license plates in Oregon in celebration of the state’s 100^th birthday. Oregon is still a place full of wonder and adventure, and Deschutes Brewery bottled it up in a new sessionable brew befitting of the Pacific Northwest: Pacific Wonderland Lager.

Deschutes Brewery brewmaster Veronica Vega said, “When we set out to create Pacific Wonderland, we wanted to capture the diverse spirit of Oregon in a single beer that we could share with everyone. Our team explored something a little different, creating a lager by style and then dry hopping it to make something unique – just like our home state.”

Pacific Wonderland Lager is made with a pilsner malt and a trifecta of Hallertau Herkules, Hallertau Mettelfruh and Tettnang Mandarina hops. The result is a crisp, bright beer with citrus, floral and herbal hop flavors, a delicate malt body, and a crisp, clean lager finish.

The beer’s colorful label depicts the endlessly diverse adventures that Oregon offers in all seasons, helping bring Oregon to life all the way across the country. “Pacific Wonderland” is a nickname used by many who come to the Northwest to enjoy skiing, biking, rock climbing, surfing, standup paddle boarding, hiking, golf and more. The area’s diverse ecosystems and microclimates are ideal for all kinds of outdoor recreation – and craft beer-sampling. This beer captures it all.

Pacific Wonderland Lager is 5.5 percent ABV and 37 IBUs. It will first be available on draft and in 6-packs throughout the brewery’s distribution area, and 12-packs will roll out in early spring.

Find out what inspired this beer in a video featuring Vega here: https://www.deschutesbrewery.com/introducing-pacific-wonderland/

Courtesy of Deschutes Brewing Co

About Deschutes Brewery
Family and employee owned since 1988, Deschutes Brewery – Bend’s original brewpub – has become the cornerstone of Central Oregon’s flourishing craft brew culture. Known for its generous use of whole hops in its defining beers such as Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and Fresh Squeezed IPA, the brewery also keeps fans on the edge of their bar stools with the release of small batch experimental beers each season. Now available in 29 states and Washington D.C., Deschutes’ flagship brewpub has been joined by a main brewing facility overlooking the Deschutes River in Bend, a pub in Portland, and coming in 2021, a new east coast brewery in Roanoke, Virginia. www.deschutesbrewery.com

Full Sail Brewing Releasing Slipknot IPA In 6-Packs

Courtesy of Full Sail Brewing Co

Hood River, Oregon – January 10, 2017 – Full Sail Brewing Company’s Brewmaster Reserve Slipknot IPA is now available in 6-packs for the first time. This three-time gold medal winner features a big Northwest hop aroma and robust bitterness balanced with a full malt body.

“Slipknot is, once again, the beer for the serious hop lover,” says Executive Brewmaster Jamie Emmerson. “When we first made our Classic IPA back in the 90s, hardly anyone was making IPAs. A lot has changed since then, but we’re still on the craft beer forefront constantly combining enthusiasm with expertise. With Brewmaster Reserve Slipknot IPA, we’ve added a Northwest influence and amplified everything.”

Slipknot leads with aromas of citrus, pine and stone fruit and is balanced by a clean, caramel malt body, with multi-layered hop flavors that lead to a crisp assertive finish. “Brewed originally in 2004, Slipknot makes a rare reappearance updated with new hop varieties and a dryer malt profile,” says Full Sail Brewmaster Jim Kelter. “Slipknot features a big Northwest hop aroma and robust bitterness balanced with a full malt body. Cascade, Nugget, Citra and Mosaic hops deliver pungent scents of citrus and pine. Extensive dry-hopping enhances this character with flavors to match. Northwest 2-Row Pale and Crystal malts add a rich, spicy malt character.”

Full Sail recently rebranded the packaging on its entire core line of beers as well as its seasonal Brewmaster Reserve offerings. On Slipknot’s new 6-packs, the artistically rendered slipknot and water lines are hand-drawn in vibrant blues and yellows by Portland-based TWEEQiM creativeLab’s MiQ Willmott.

Slipknot IPA pairs well with Dungeness crab, roasted salmon, clam chowder, curried foods, hot wings, braised red meats such as lamb and beef, gingerbread or spiced molasses cake, and mild cheeses like Gorgonzola or Monterey Jack.

Award winning? Heck yeah. Incredible ingredients? Definitely. Full Sail’s Brewmaster Reserve series is small-batch, limited-edition beer made by brewers with an unwavering desire to make the best beer around using locally grown malt, hops, yeast and pure Mount Hood water. Brewmaster Reserve Slipknot IPA is available January through May in 6-packs, 12 oz. bottles, on draft. 7.0% ABV, 80 IBUs. Full Sail’s Brewmaster Reserve – innovation, inspiration and Ridiculously Tasty Beer!

Courtesy of Full Sail Brewing Co

About Full Sail Brewing Company

Perched on a bluff in Hood River, Oregon, overlooking the mighty Columbia River’s epic wind and kite surfing and the snow-capped volcanic peaks of Mt. Hood, Full Sail is a true craft-brewing pioneer. Since 1987, Full Sail has been pouring pure Mt. Hood water, local ingredients and responsible processes into each and every pint. Full Sail’s brews and sustainable practices have garnered more than 300 national and international awards, including 150 gold medals and Beverage World’s “Craft Brewer of the Year” distinction. From Full Sail Amber and IPA to Session Lager and bourbon barrel-aged beers, Full Sail consistently strives to brew complex, balanced and ridiculously tasty beers. Learn more at www.fullsailbrewing.com.