Now in its 8th year, the Portland Fruit Beer Festival returns to its original home at Burnside Brewing on the east side after a one-year excursion across the river. Pouring more than 50 interpretations of fruit beer/cider, the offerings will span a variety of styles from sours and lagers to IPAs and stouts, utilizing all manner of fruits from commonplace to obscure. We recently had the opportunity to try a sampling of the beers/ciders that will be poured at the festival and were impressed both by the brewers' creativity and their skills.
Juicy/Fruited
Cider Riot! Everyday Passionfruit - A back-sweetened, semi-dry cider, it is a less tart version than last year's and displays the mild flavor of passionfruit in an easy-drinking 6% cider.
Claim 52 Skrrrrrt - Using a mild Gose base, one could easily mistake this 4.2% pineapple and passionfruit beer for a glass of juice. A very tasty glass of juice.
Finnriver Berry & Bard - Combining heirloom, organic Washington apples with Olympic Peninsula rhubarb and aronia berries grown at Finnriver Farm the result is a fruity yet tanic/dry cider.
Hopworks Strawberry Milkshake IPA - Light-handed use of strawberries and lactose meld with berry-forward Australian hops and tropical Pacific NW hops in this 7.4% fruited IPA.
Reverend Nat's Blood Orange Viva La Pineapple - Taking things to another level, Nat put his festival-exclusive version of blended apple and pineapple juice into a slushy machine. So drinkable and fun, beware of a brain freeze!
Von Ebert Starcloud - Starting with their Sector 7 IPA made with Mosaic, Simcoe, Citra and Galaxy hops, tropical starfruit was added, resulting in a smooth and lovely 7.1% hazy IPA.
Hint of Fruit
Buoy Saison de Gewurtz - The buckwheat Saison base beer spent five months in Willamette Valley Pinot Noir barrels with house Brettanomyces cultures spiked with Oregon-grown Gewurztraminer juice. For the first mixed culture project released, Buoy is starting off with a bang. Make sure to have this delicate 4.9% offering early on.
Gigantic Brewing Gigantic & Juice - An updated version of the G&J made last year, the lightly juiced beer contains balanced amounts of pineapple, tangerine and grapefruit.
Widmer Strawbarbaric IRA - One doesn't see many India Red Ales in general and this version brings together strawberries and rhubarb with "red fruit nuanced hops" - Hull Melon, Mandarina Bavaria and more.
Tart/Sour
2 Towns Easy Peasy - The first citrus cider from 2 Towns, it's a limited release offering that drinks like adult raspberry lemonade with a tartness coming from the Meyer lemons and Lactobacillus culture.
Allegory Sunshine Slammer - This POG (passionfruit, orange, guava) was crafted with a session outdoors in mind, deriving its sourness from a Lactobacillus pitch. One of the more [deliciously] sour offerings we tried!
Great Notion Blueberry Muffin - Known for their kettle-soured Berliner Weisses, it has a bright, blueberry tartness that if one has the chance, pairs well with an actual blueberry muffin.
Unexpected
Lompoc/Fruit Beer Fest/Repurposed Pod collaboration Cacao Cream Ale - Cacao pods are generally thought of as the starting point for chocolate but using the juice from the fleshy portion of the fruit and the cacao nibs from the seed portion this beer is a mind-expanding creation. Hazy apricot in color with an aroma that hints mildly of chocolate, this cream ale is perfectly fruity and drinkable. Representatives from Repurposed Pod were involved in the blending process and Lompoc is only the second brewery in the U.S. to use their Cacao Juice (Tired Hands in PA being the other).
Migration Manhattan Transfer - If you're looking for a cocktail, Manhattan Transfer is the beer to have. The 7.9% cocktail beer was fermented on freshly emptied rye whiskey barrels with "heaps" of cherries and vermouth-infused oak and botanicals.
The festival starts on Friday with a five-hour preview session (20-ish beers/ciders) and goes into full festival mode Saturday and Sunday spanning Burnside Brewing's parking lot, a portion of NE 7th Street and the parking lot adjacent on the west side of the street. 30 core beers and ciders will be pouring throughout with three to four rotating rare and special tappings. Pours will range from one to three tickets in cost with additional tickets available for purchase.
Portland Fruit Beer Festival
Friday, June 8th 4 - 9pm
Saturday, June 9th 11am - 9pm
Sunday, June 10th 11am - 6pm
Tickets on sale in advance and at the door, $20 (BPA-free, non-breakable Govino branded plastic cup + 12 tickets) or $25 (collectible branded glass + 12 tickets)
Last weekend we hopped in the car with a couple of friends who had suggested taking a day trip to the McMinnville-Newberg area. They took on the task of putting together a list of places with the necessary information in advance so all we had to do was arrive at the specified time/place and off we went.
Upon entering McMinnville city limits we decided our first stop would be Allegory, the year old brewery where Charlie Van Meter (formerly of Sasquatch and Logsdon) has landed. Situated along the railroad tracks its outdoor space was perfect for the blue sky day that was upon us. Umbrelled picnic tables were placed closest to the building with a take out-style ordering window in the side of the building. Nearby sat cornhole games waiting for some competitive folks looking for a game, a raised area (presumably a stage) occupied one corner of the parking lot with ample space in between for food trucks, more seating and plenty of thirsty souls.
Prior to visiting we'd had some Allegory offerings and we've been fans of Charlie for some time but what we had at the brewery was really outstanding. From the grape-and-barrel-aged All the Free Time to the fruited sour Soursop Summer Hop to their hoppy offerings, there wasn't a beer in the bunch that we would hesitate about ordering again. While this stop alone would have been worth the trip, especially since we had the pleasure of chatting with Charlie and his wife Jenna briefly, we had to pull ourselves away to continue on.
Next up we put our sights on Grain Station but before we put the car into gear we realized it was with easy walking distance. Locking back up we meandered down the quiet side streets, coming upon Grain Station from their patio side. As it was around lunchtime on a beautiful weekend day, the patio (and even inside) was hopping. Making a quick decision to reroute, we continued another few blocks toward Heater Allen with plans to stop back afterward.
Housed in a nondescript red building, Heater Allen was opened in 2007 by Rick Allen, a former investment banker set on making "the best Bohemian-style Pilsner possible." Daughter Lisa joined the brewery at the end of 2009 after starting her career in the wine industry. Last year she took over the role of head brewer and earlier this year they completed a remodel of their patio, a compact area that spills out from the indoor bar and seating area.
Pils is their signature beer in a lineup of German and Czech style lagers and when we visited they also had a NW version of it - Galaxy Pils. The hopped Pilsner was delicious and a great choice for our hop-loving palates. The remainder of the tap list was filled in with other traditional styles - Dunkel, Schwarzbier, Zwickelbier and Bock. After enjoying our beer on the quiet patio we decided it was time to get something more substantial than the snack we were munching on, perfect timing for visiting Grain Station.
We didn't have much information on Grain Station, no experience with their beer so we'd set quite low for them. Upon arriving we were quickly seated in a comfortable booth and set to running through the beer list. What popped out to us was that Grain Station seemed to have a thing for barrel-aged beers. That was fine by us so in went our order and out came some beers which quite exceeded our expectations including:
- Saison Vermouth was brewed with rye and spent vermouth botanicals, with 2/3rds of the final blend being aged in sparkling wine barrels, the other 1/3rd in vermouth barrels. The result is a slightly sweet Saison with tasty vermouth notes.
- Oak Zymology followed a similar path, a gin barrel-fermented Saison, with great aroma and funky, delicious barrel notes.
- Other barrel-aged beers included gin barrel-aged Rose Marie and whiskey barrel-aged Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Fate of the Gods.
Our next stop could be categorized under, "we're nearby, why not?" Evasion is a gluten-free brewery and although none of us (clearly) have gluten issues, visiting seemed the prudent thing to do. Sporting a surprising 10 beer taplist, their two Pinot Noir barrel-aged farmhouse beers hit the highest notes for us. Ripe? was fermented with Pinot Noir juice while Commit to the Funk built on that with the addition of Brettanomyces and a secondary fermentation with Pinot juice. On the hoppy side Hophoria IPA, with Mosaic and Citra hops, is worth ordering.
While we enjoyed the experience we had to keep moving, heading on to adjacent Newberg and Deception Brewing. We'd visited their comfortable indoor/outdoor space before and were looking forward to enjoying their offerings again. Barrel-aged beers seemed to be a theme of the day that continued here with the gin barreled Old Tom Gin IPA getting the highest ratings from us. Also tasty was Ragged Rocks, a solid CDA that offered a well balanced combination of hops and malt.
The final stop of the day, as evening was creeping in, was Chehalem Valley Brewing Company. Choosing a seat on the spacious patio, we found the beer menu to be typical of many brewpubs. It covered the usual spectrum of beers, light to dark, less hoppy to presumably more hoppy. After making our selections we were split to as what we enjoyed most. Their flagship Chehalem Valley IPA hit some of our taste buds just right while the others found enjoyment in the roasty Bald Peak Black Ale. Where Deception's CDA was appropriately hoppy, Bald Peak skewed more toward a Black Ale with its [deliciously] roasty notes.
With a great day behind us and the sun setting, it was time to wrap it up and head home. Our adventure certainly wasn't a comprehensive look at breweries in the area but if you're looking for a day trippin' idea perhaps our stops will help guide your adventure.
We drank a ton of great beer last week! And like last week those beers fall squarely into to two quite dissimilar categories - stout and sour.
Barley Brown's Don Vanuchi 2017 - This first beer is one we were lucky enough to drink thanks to Chris' recent trip to Eastern Oregon, which included a visit to his favorite brewery, Barley Brown's. In past years this Russian Imperial Stout has been barrel aged and while we enjoyed that, it really shines without the addition of the qualities the barrels imparted. It drinks bitter, like really good dark chocolate, which pleasantly masks the 9.5% ABV.
Adroit Theory B/A/Y/S (Ghost 546) - Another Russian Imperial Stout, its cocoa-bitter flavor is balanced with just a touch of sweetness making for a very drinkable 10%.
Belching Beaver Mexican Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout - Formerly called Viva La Beaver and Living La Beaver Loca, the aroma is predominately peanut butter with the flavor speaking more to the chocolate/cocoa part of the name with just the slightest bit of heat. It's no surprise that it is Belching Beaver's highest rated beer and that it has been awarded numerous gold and silver medals.
Allegory Fresh Pints!!! - This 4.2% fresh hopped sour ale starts with a great sour aroma, followed by a pleasant, drinkable sour flavor with just a touch of the characteristics from the fresh hops coming in at the end. A refreshing beer and a refreshing take on a fresh hop beer at a time when so many places default to an IPA, pale ale or red ale base.
O'so Tuppen's Demise - Shared by another Chris (who also goes by Tappan, not to be confused with the name of this beer), it's an outstanding blended barrel aged tart beer that's lightly effervescent and displays a gorgeous rosey color from the Michigan blueberries in it.
Flat Tail Dam Wild Raspberry and Lime - Flat Tail continues to impress us with their sour beers, this one full of berry flavor tempered every so slightly by a splash of lime. Clocking in at a surprising 7.5%, it's easy drinking and perfect for Indian Summer days.
Urban Family Zested - A newer beer from another brewery that excels at sour beers, the best way we can describe this is as the love child of lemon curd and beer. If you dig on bright and lemony, you should dig on this.
