pFriem Family Brewers hosts “Oregon Breweries” author Brian Yeager for lunch, book signing and question and answer, starting at noon Sunday.
“Oregon Breweries” is a comprehensive guidebook to the breweries, beer festivals and the beer culture in the state of Oregon. Yeager and his wife and two-year-old child will be there.
pFriem is a full-service brewery and pub, open to all ages, located on the waterfront at 707 Portway Ave.
Dave Logsdon of Logsdon Farmhouse Ales and his fellow brewers Charles Porter and Charlie Van Meter are in a brewing frenzy, with at least four new or renewed ales hitting taps and stores in early February and later this spring.
Logsdon ales, meanwhile, will be featured in the Gorge Owned Green Drinks event on Jan. 15 at Volcanic Bottle Shoppe on the Heights. More on that event, and some other beer events concocted by Abe and Amber at Volcanic.
The 2014 Peche- Brette Belgian ale will be out in time for the annual Zwickelmania tour of Oregon breweries, the weekend of Feb. 14-15.
Assistant brewer Charlie Van Meter, who joined Logsdon last spring, has created a farmhouse version of Cascadian Dark, a first for Logsdon, coming this spring.
Logsdon will reissue its stout brewed in collaboration with Bison Brewing in Mendocino; Calif. Logsdon said the use of cocoa makes it is similar to the one from two years ago. The beer may be brewed at Logsdon or at Bison, where it would be put in 12-ounce bottles.
The collaboration is a product of Logsdon’s friendship with Bison owner Dan DelGrande; they also both teach in the American Brewer’s Guild distance learning program.
Also this spring, Logsdon’s HopWorks collaboration Belgian style Pilsner, to be released in 22 ounce bottles.
Meanwhile, Charles Porter will be back this spring with the second edition of his golden ale Aberrant, in his Bergschrund ale series. Aberrant will be “the same as before, but updated with some new crop of Liberty hops,” a vital ingredient Porter could not obtain to his satisfaction, hence the two-year gap between the first Aberrant and the new one, according to Logsdon.
In bottles for the first time, with updated packaging, the 2015 Belgian Imperial ale Pale Death comes riding in at a rate of 9.3 percent alcohol.
Pale Death, a long-time pub favorite is part of Double Mountain Four Horsemen series. Beer creators Greg Balch and Kyle Larsen describe it as possessing “the luminous pungency of a dank tropical forest,” with its undertones of pineapple, mango and kiwi, combined with Ardennes yeast to yield a balance of hop bitterness and malt sweetness.
This is the rare beer to be promoted with a passage from the Book of Revelations: “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts, and looked to behold a Pale horse, and the name that set on him was Death and Hell followed him.” (chapter 6) .
Double Mountain held a Pale Death bottle release party Thursday at The Beermongers in Portland.
Double Mountain has posted an informative six-minute video, by Hood River filmmaker Manny Marquez, with founder Matt Swihart explaining the brewery’s bottling line and revealing some other insights on bottling beer. (“It’s how you deal with pressure.”)
A bit of fermenting frankness from Irene Firmat in Full Sail’s issued statements about its new Session IPA, just out.
“IPA’s are insanely popular these days. But let’s face it, sometimes it feels like there’s a hops arms race going on,” said Firmat, Full Sail Brewing Company’s CEO & Founder. “That’s why we came up with Session IPA. Not too hoppy. Not too bitter. Not too malty. Just right … we like to call it Session-ability,”
“When Session Premium Lager was launched 10 years ago, it quickly became the hottest selling new craft-beer brand on the market. Neither micro, macro nor import (yet a little bit of each), Session rewrote the rules on how to launch a distinctive new brand that appeals to a wide cross-section of beer drinkers. You see, virtually everyone who likes beer likes Session. It’s a brand that’s inclusive and accessible — without ever being ordinary. It’s totally drinkable – but never at the expense of character. Fast forward to 2014 and what’s the new hot trend in craft brewing? “Sessionable” beers, the category that Session unleashed a decade ago. Given Session’s immense appeal, we’ve expanded our year-round lineup to include Session IPA.” Available in 12 packs, 6 packs and on draft (ABV 5.1 IBU 47)
Meanwhile, Full Sail has simultaneously expanded its Session lineup with Session Export, brewed in the Dortmunder Export lager style. Export pours a deep golden color and imported hop varieties impart noble hop aromas with subtle herbal and hop spice notes. Hop bitterness and malt sweetness are balanced with a firm, smooth, mineral/malt character and clean finish.
Borrowing a phrase from the American car marketers, Full Sail observes that this new beer is “imported all the way from Hood River, Ore.”Session Export is available in 12-packs and on draft from winter to spring. (ABV 5.8 IBU 28)
Volcanic, located at 1410 12th St. on the Heights, will host the Jan. 15 Green Drinks, organized by Gorge Owned. The event, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., is the first Green Drinks of 2015 and will feature food from Marley’s Corner and beer from Logsdon Farmhouse Ales.
Green Drinks is a monthly networking event that aims to raise awareness about environmentally friendly business practices while providing a quality networking opportunity for members of the community. Anyone may attend. Cost is a $5 suggested donation, and free for GO! Members.
Volcanic also offers its winter beer style series, which stated Jabn. 7 ($12-15 for the glass and six tastings).
Coming Jan. 21 – Solera Brewery and sour and blended beers, and Feb. 4, hop chemistry with Double Mountain. Walking Man, Everybody’s and pFriem round out the series.
Staying on the hop topic:
John Metta and Jeff Nicol of Hood River, two of the minds behind the Gorge Cidermasters, will speak at the Feb. 2-6 Cider Con, in Chicago. They are also founders of the cidery Maeve, which is not yet producing cider for sale or public consumption.
Metta will speak about making cider with hops, and Nicol will address the practice of the “custom crush” – a cidery working with a second party to create a specific brew.
Cider Con is the annual meeting of the National Cider Association. Metta will pour hop-infused ciders of his own making, and pour other hop-based offerings from Oregon and Washington cideries including Cider Riot, Square Mile, Methow, Tieton, and Bull Run, in addition to ”La Fleur,” by Brian Perkey of Hood Valley Cider in Parkdale, which uses hop extract.
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