Craft Beer Concoctions Test Kitchen: Cachaca

To start, you might be asking, "What's Cachaca?" A few weeks ago we wouldn't have known the answer and one of us would have had to consult Google to find out. Now we know that it is the oldest distilled spirit in South America and made from sugar cane. Sugar cane was cultivated on the continent's coast for the purpose of being harvested and shipped to Portugal back in the day. The plant's inclination to grow like a weed also meant it was a ready raw ingredient to ferment.

How we came to be interested in it was by meeting local Cachaca distributor Bob Nathanson of 3G Spirits. A cousin-of-sorts to rum from the standpoint that rum can be made from sugar cane (although most is distilled from molasses), Cachaca's flavor profile is wide-ranging. For the purposes of the our Test Kitchen we utilized four varieties of the spirit. Three came from Famosinha (via 3G Spirits), two of which were cask aged, and one from Avua. To become more familiar with their flavor profiles before we started the mixology, we sampled each on its own, an experience that was a further education of our palates.

In general we have found that our most successful craft beer cocktails have skewed fruity (but not overly sweet) and summery. This spirit from South America seemed well suited to our crafting and the following are three of our best creations.

I Love You Like a Mango
- Avua Silver Cachaca
- Founders Mas Agave
- Mango juice
- Lime marmalade syrup
- Fresh lime wedge & lemon wheel for garnish

We counted ourselves lucky to find a bottle of Founders Mas Agave on the shelves of Hollywood Beverage as this is both a delicious beer and one that we found to work well in many, many cocktails. Here it is complimented by delicate sweetness from the mango juice and lime marmalade syrup and boosted by the Cachaca.

White Oak Holiday 
- Oak-aged Famoshinha Cachaca
- The Bruery Orxata
- Walnut bitters
- The Barreled Bee honey
- Cinnamon
- Orange peel garnish

This lightly sweet cocktail uses a horchata-inspired beer from The Brewery and one of the two cask-aged Cachacas. By some mixology magic the ingredients combined to become an adults-only orange creamsicle.

Jalapeno Invader
- Famoshinha Cherry Cask Cachaca
- Great Notion Pineapple Juice Invader IPA
- Spicy pineapple syrup
- Tajin dusted pineapple slice
- Candied jalapeno slice

Using the spicy-sweet pairing of pineapple and jalapeno as the basis for this beer cocktail, the Cachaca added a slightly woody backbone and complimentary flavor to the other ingredients. For those that haven't used tajin, it is a chili/lime seasoning from Mexico that has vast applications, including use on fruit, vegetables, cocktail glass rims, etc.

Huge thanks to Bob and wife, Sarah for joining us at this Test Kitchen. They are a wealth of knowledge about Cachaca and generous sharers of the product. Also thanks to our small, but faithful group of Test Kitchen guinea pigs that continue to join us on our adventure. 

Jam Session - Craft Beer Concoction's Latest Test Kitchen

Have you ever read a recipe or had a craving for a cocktail that involves muddling summer fresh berries in the dead of winter? Even though you know you can probably find the correct ingredients in the produce or freezer section of your local grocery store you also know it won't be the same. So you tuck that recipe away until those luscious, local berries return.

That was the train of thought behind our idea to use jams and jellies in place of fresh fruit in the latest Craft Beer Concoctions Test Kitchen. A stunning variety of jams/jellies are commercially available but we managed to limit ourselves to a handful and supplemented those by whipping up a few in our own kitchen. Here are a few of our favorite concoctions using jam.

"I'd Pay For That"
We admit that not all the cocktails we create are great so when one of our tasting panel sipped this one, we had to name it after the words that came out of his mouth, "I'd pay for that!" A fairly simple combination of five ingredients, we'll be making plenty of these in the future.
- Bak's Bison Grass Vodka
- Great Notion Pineapple Juice Invader (hazy IPA with Galaxy hops and fresh pineapple)
- Rose City Pepperheads Rage 'N Red jalapeno jam
- Kroger pink grapefruit seltzer water
- Candied poppy seed rim
- Lime garnish

"Lara's Strawberry Witch"
All of us at this Test Kitchen were familiar with those wrapped candies often found at Grandma's house, the hard strawberry candy in the twisted-top foil wrapper printed to look like a strawberry. We bet you know what we're talking about, too, and if you like those you'll like this cocktail. Named for the liqueur Lara brought, this cocktail has its sweetness balanced by citrus.
- Homemade strawberry liqueur*
- Great Notion Strawberry Taffy (milkshake IPA with strawberries and vanilla beans)
- Homemade strawberry jam
- Lemon juice

"Butterscotch Lemon Drop"
One can find a version of a lemon drop on nearly any cocktail menu. Ours combines a straight forward vodka, a shandy beer and lemon curd, dolled up in a fancy crystal wedding flute (thank goodness those glasses are finally getting put to use!).
- Eastside Distilling Portland Potato Vodka
- Coalition Brewing Harvest Shandy (CBD lemon shandy with Goschie Farms hops)
- Bonne Maman lemon curd
- Lemon slice garnish

All in all, this was one of our most successful test kitchens and we'll certainly be looking to our pantry/fridge in the future when we want to whip up a cocktail with a fruity component. If you haven't tried it yourself, we challenge you to grab whatever jam you have on hand and mix one up.

*If you've been inspired and want to make your own fruit liqueur, check this out for directions. Perhaps that's what you'll be handing out over the holidays to lucky folks.

Previewing the Portland Fruit Beer Festival

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)

Our Most Consumed Beer of 2017

According to our memory (aided by Untappd) the beer we drank the most often in 2017 was Fort George 3-Way IPA. Not only did we drink it often, it was one of the best beers to fill our glass and possibly the most delicious iteration of this collaboration series yet. Using the always tasty Mosaic and Citra hops, along with Azacca and X331, the talented triumvirate of Fort George, Great Notion and Reuben's hit the mark with this 7% hazy IPA.

We enjoyed it out and about.

We enjoyed it on our patio when the weather was still patio-appropriate.

We enjoyed it inside with our furry family. 

And sometimes all by our lonesome.

The Best Things We Drank: August 7 - 13

This week's list starts off fruity and light, with four of the offerings from the 1st Annual Portland Radler Festival that was held at StormBreaker Brewing last Saturday. With generally low ABVs one could enjoy these all day (but be careful if you're prone to sugar overload).

54 40 Ginger Lemonade - Their Kascadia Kolsch was taken to the next level (in our humble opinion) with the addition of organic lemonade and freshly grated ginger. It's so well crafted that the 3.2% ABV completely disappears.

The Commons Lemon Urban Farmhouse - We thought Urban Farmhouse was pretty close to perfect to begin with and have to admit we were a bit worried by altering it to be their festival entry it wouldn't be up to snuff. Silly us!!! The lemon works perfectly with the beer and we'd love to see it offered every summer in the taproom.

Great Notion Blueberry Muffin Radler - This radler version of their Blueberry Muffin kettle soured beer, it is a tad more tart than the non-radler version and just as good (maybe better?).

Wild Ride Thorny Bushwacker - A 50/50 blend of Wild Ride's Tarty to the Party apricot sour and blackberry soda, they nailed balance between fruit tartness (apricot sour) and fruit depth (blackberry soda). An added bonus is the mouthfeel that apricots naturally impart.

The rest of the list is a mixed bag of yum, all of which are as easy drinking as the radlers (with a lighter sugar bill).

Prairie Artisan Prairie Flare - Office Space fans will appreciate the name and super fun can. A citrus fruit-added gose, it displays great tartness, staying mild on the coriander with enough salt is present to qualify as gose in our book.

Ex Novo His Name is Robert Paulson - The darkest (but not highest ABV) beer on this week's list, it gets an enticing coffee aroma from the Columbian coffee used which combines with the Ecuadorian cocoa nibs and honey "dry hopping" for a coffee-chocolate milk flavor that we would will drink all day, any day.

Smog City Brix Layer (2017) - A wonderfully complex, balanced beer (great choice, Mag!) it starts with a barrel-sour aroma and is an easy drinking 8.8% wine barrel-aged sour blonde with Reisling.

As you gear up to hunker down or party it up for next Monday's eclipse make sure to have plenty of delicious beer, perhaps some of these, on hand.

A Double Edition of The Best Things We Drank

We were out of town a good chunk of last week getting a little R&R on a family fishing trip in northern Minnesota but now we're back and ready to catch up with a double edition of Best Things. Grab a beverage and settle in!

June 19 - 25
Being back in the Midwest we couldn't help but seek out some old favorites but also took the opportunity to try beer from some of the newer places that have sprung up since we left seven years ago. The former was rewarding, the latter was hit and miss.
Bell's Kalamazoo Stout - Bell's, which has seen some exposure in the Portland market, is extremely skilled when it comes to stouts and this beer is a Bell's classic. Roasty and smooth, this 6% stout is one that can be enjoyed year round.

Summit Saga IPA - Summit is similar to Widmer in that it has been around since the early days of craft beer in its respective state and like Widmer, has its standard lineup but has also managed to remain relevant with new offerings. Saga is newer (in the last five years) and is hoppy enough for NW IPA lovers to enjoy, a profile that comes from the combination of hops, both in the brewing and dry-hopping stages.

Fargo 1.21 Gigahops (2017) - This is the first beer that we've had from Fargo Brewing Company and although a bit sweet, it is appropriately so considering that it's an imperial IPA clocking in at 9.5%. The 12oz can size is just right for enjoying one. Interestingly, the founders and the brewers they hired have been influenced by the Pacific Northwest (give their history a read if you're so inclined).

Rewinding to the week before we headed out to Minnesota, it is a bit interesting to see that our top two beers actually hailed from that state. Those beers were enjoyed when we were invited to join in a bottle share with friends of a friend who were visiting Portland.

June 12 - 18
Lift Bridge Commander Bona Fide Barleywine - We've enjoyed Commander on numerous previous occasions and are proud to call the Lift Bridge guys friends. This, however, was the first time we'd had a "bone fide" version wherein the 12.5% beer is aged in Heaven Hill barrels. So smooth without any trace of heat, this is one to savor with friends.

Indeed Wooden Soul Cherry Dust - Indeed is one of the older of the newer breweries in MN and while we've had some good things from them, we haven't been 100% sold. This sour beer definitely improves our view of them and makes us hope they continue to produce sour beers. At a sessionable 5.4% the wild yeasts, tart cherries and wood aging mingle to produce a beer we'd happily drink a full 22oz bottle all on our own.

The rest of the beers that hit high notes for us that week hailed from Portland and California.

Great Notion Double Dry Hop Hop Dry Double - One of the beers at Eclicptic's Masters of IPA event during PDX Beer Week, we'd heard in advance that this was a good'en. They call it an "imperial session IPA" that is "a verbal assault on your palate." We call it juicy and drinkable. Now only if we had more of it to drink!

Montavilla I-205-PA IPA - Fans of Montavilla in general, on our most recent visit, this was the beer that really spoke to us with the combination of Amarillo, Simcoe and Mosaic hops. As much as other styles try too woo us, the hops always lure us back to IPAs.

Fire on the Mountain Galena Goodnight - We go to Fire on the Mountain for their wings (the best in town we say!) and have been pleased to find that their beer has continued to improve as the brewery has come out of its infancy. Labeled as a CDA the mouthfeel is more like a porter or stout with a deliciously roasty flavor.

Modern Times Oneida - We might sound like a broken record with the consistency that Modern Times has been making the Best Things list but dang it, the hits just keep coming. A complex pale ale, the flavor shares some characteristics with Fortunate Islands, another one we quite like although it is more aggressively bitter, which speaks to our hop-loving taste buds.

Lagunitas Dark Swan (2017) - Found in the sour section of The BeerMongers cooler, this 8.5% sour ale was a steal at $2.90 for a 12oz bottle. Lightly sour, the wine-ish flavor (with gorgeous grape color to back it up) drank more like grape juice. Adult juice box anyone?

Now a few days back in the Portland saddle we're finally feeling caught up from being gone and looking forward to what July, Oregon Beer Month, will bring.

The Best Things We Drank: May 29 - June 4

This week's list starts with two beers that were enjoyed at the 11th annual Cheers to Belgian Beers festival last week.
Migration Quinn and Juice - A take on "gin and juice" this Belgian Strong Pale aged in Old Tom Gin barrels starts out with the gin botanicals in the aroma and drinks very smooth, both with a surprising mouthfeel and pleasant flavor that belies the 9.2% ABV.

Baerlic Black with Two Sugars - We love coffee and coffee beers and this one is a great one for sure. From the get go the coffee is present in the aroma and follows through to a flavor that is similar to cold coffee with heavy cream and just a dash of sugar.
And while both are great on their own, should you find yourself in the presence of both, have a little fun and blend them in a one-to-one ratio.

The remaining three beers are wildly different in style but find common ground in being wildly good.
Culmination Lime Tea - Culmination's gose game is strong and this one brings in one of our favorite citrus flavors - lime. Perfectly light for summer, the flavor is of a lime sickle.

Fort George 3-Way IPA - The latest edition in Fort George's 3-Way series is a collaboration with Great Notion and Reuben's Brews out of Seattle. And it might be the best since the first couple with its juicy flavor and great mouthfeel.

Sam Adams Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru (2105) - This beer achieved a very rare 5 out of 5 stars in our book with so much amazing dark fruit, tart, yumness. Huge thanks to Sean for an amazing beer lineup during his birthday party at The BeerMongers, with this being just one of the gifts he gave to those that showed up.

Tomorrow begins PDX Beer Week and Portland Fruit Beer Festival runs Friday through Sunday, both of which we'll look at in greater detail in the next two posts so make sure to check back for a preview.

The Best Things We Drank: March 20 - 26

This week's list is short and topped by local, fast rising star Great Notion. We met a couple friends there last weekend and ran into a couple more...go figure...and also chatted with two of the owners. In addition to completely turning around the former Mash Tun Paul, James and Andy are great guys who I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing for a piece in the Oregon Beer Growler this time last year.

Great Notion Super Ripe - The brewery has done a few iterations of Ripe and this double dry hopped one is absolutely delicious. Starting with a zesty-juicy aroma, the flavor is more juicy than zesty and very drinkable for 9.5%.

Great Notion Heart of Gold - Once again showing their command of sour beers, this barrel aged Saison made with peaches and sour bacteria has a smooth peach aroma, golden color and lovely sour bracingness.

Omnipollo Bianca Mango Lassi Gose - Omnipollo is essentially a gypsy brewery with the recipes conceived at their home base in Sweden but brewed at breweries around the globe. This beer, a 6% gose brewed with rock salt, lactose and mango puree, was brewed at Buxton Brewery in the UK. While we didn't find much in the way of fruit character it was a nice gose that had the pronounced salt profile one would expect from the style.

Cider Riot! Everyday Semi-Dry - We find ourselves adding cider into the mix more often and this one is exactly what the name says, something we'd be happy to drink every day. We had it on tap, while checking out a Portland institution we've driven by hundreds of times - Sandy Hut, but it is also the first canned offering from the cidery. Six packs will start popping up next week and to celebrate this next step in the young cidery's life there is a can release/dance party on April 12th at Mississippi Studios.

In putting together this week's list it seems clear our taste buds are more than ready for spring, which will hopefully finally settle in as we put March behind us and welcome in April this weekend. With any luck we'll be getting out and about more soon, perhaps toting some cans, possibly the 12oz variety from Cider Riot! or the large format crowlers from Great Notion.

The Best Things We Drank: February 13-19

This past week involved attending a beer festival - Fort George's Festival of the Dark Arts - and while the majority of the best things we drank came during our time in Astoria, most were consumed outside of the festival.

Surly/Lervig 1349 Black Ale - The one beer from the Festival of the Dark Arts that made this list it was an interesting one that we heard overall mixed reviews on. Listed as a Strong American Ale, this 13.49% collaboration beer drank like a sweet but yummy imperial or even triple CDA (if there was such a thing).

Reach Break Amoeba Session IPA - Reach Break is the newest brewery in Astoria and thanks to them deciding to open for a few hours Friday night we were able to visit them while in town. Although they had three stouts on tap when we visited we heard from others that their IPAs are great and based on this hazy, juicy session IPA we believe it. They packed far more flavor into a mere 5.1% than one would expect.

Buoy German Chocolate Stout - In an effort to knock some of the festival beers of the list in advance (and because we needed dinner) we stopped into Buoy where we found they had a six stout sampler tray - perfect! This beer offered all the flavors of German chocolate cake, although light on the coconut notes and without the sugary sweetness.

Buoy Spanish Coffee Stout - Another beer on that sampler tray it is exactly what it says - a beer version of the booze bomb that finishes slightly sweet without being cloying.

Hondo's Hellhound Imperial Mocha Stout - The unassuming brewery and home brew shop on the east side of Astoria makes some great beer with this being the favorite of what we tried. Dry hopped with cocoa nibs, keg-aged for six months and served on nitro it is a delightful dessert in a glass.

Great Notion Blueberry Stack/Blueberry Pancakes - The only "drank in Portland" beer to make this week's list, it is a blend of Blueberry Muffin, a sour beer, and Double Stack, an imperial breakfast stout brewed with Clutch coffee and Vermont maple syrup. Drooling yet? It's an off-menu beer but definitely worth asking for!

This is probably the darkest Best Things post there will be although there may be a little carry over into next week's post. Come back to see whose Strong Ale we drank yesterday, assuming it ends up making the cut.

3rd Annual Brewstillery Festival

On Saturday StormBreaker Brewing will host the third edition of their Brewstillery Festival which will feature 21 total pairings from 19 breweries and 19 distilleries. The beers range from sessionable 4% offerings all the way to big boys approaching nearly 12%. We attended a preview of the event last week, sampling six of the 21 pairings and have some suggestions.

#1 Start off with the Coalition/New Basin pairing. Take a sip of each - the Loving Cup Maple Porter and the "Strong" American light whiskey - if you'd like but then combine the two. The result is a very drinkable "beer cocktail" with the vanilla, caramel and oak flavors of the whiskey fortifying the maple notes of the beer.

#2 Follow that pairing up with Great Notion/Bull Run. One whiff of Great Notion's Double Stack and you'll think you've walked into a diner that specializes in pancakes drenched in syrup. Add to that the warmth of the straight bourbon whiskey and you've got a dream adult breakfast drink.

#3 Try some other pairings, then towards the end make sure to have Migration/House Spirits. The pairing features 2015 Frankie Claus aged in a House Spirits' Westward single malt cask and Straight Malt Whiskey finished for 8 months in the same cask once the beer was emptied out. The French cocoa powder used in the beer pairs superbly with the whiskey and if we were to decide to get into whiskey, a pairing like this would definitely be our gateway.

While the event is designed for the pairings to be consumed together, it's completely up to attendees to decide if that's what they want to do. The beer and spirit samples are purchased separately (most being 1 ticket each) so if spirits just aren't your thing, go and drink only beer. Or if there's one of the pairings where the beer or spirit doesn't speak to you, just order the one that does. Choose Your Own Adventure.

Tickets to the festival are $20 for regular admission in advance/$25 at the door and include the beer tasting glass pictured on the left and 10 tickets. For the VIP experience it's $40 in advance/$45 at the door and include the whiskey snifter seen on the right, early entry (11am) and 15 tickets. As is standard with ticketed festivals, additional drink tickets will be available for purchase, $1 each.

In a town where beer festivals abound this is perhaps the most unique, the Most Portland Festival. Not only do we have laws that allow such a festival but we have a culture of collaboration among crafters, especially those who craft lovely libations.

Celebrating the (Tasty) Craft(s) at Migration

Migration Brewing and eight other Portland breweries will be Celebrating the Craft of brewing beer Thursday evening in the Annex space. In addition to a line up of rare and unique beers there will be a special food menu showcasing a collaboration between Ben Meyer of Old Salt Marketplace and Travis Surmi of Migration. Here's what you can expect to enjoy.

BEER (served by the pint)
The Commons Viognier Grisette - buckwheat based table beer with brettanomyces and viognier wine juice added, 4.8%
Fat Head's Semper FiPA - big Citrus and pine notes from our use of Citra and Chinook hops, 6.5%
Coalition Space Funk - citrus IPA in barrel aged with brettanomyces, 7%
Hopworks Cedarcalifragilous - imperial red with cedar boughs added in the hopback, 8.5%
StormBreaker Barrels Full of Chocolate - imperial brown ale with cocoa nibs added, 9%
Great Notion Mandela IPA - brewed with Citra, Mosaic and dry-hopped 100% with Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand, 7.2%
Breakside Carte Blanche - gin meets Brett meets hops in this beer that is a blend from beers as old as 26 months and as "young" as 16 months, 7.7%
Baerlic Dark Thoughts - black IPA brewed with cold-steeped roasted malts for an eerily smooth darkness, 6.66%
Migration TBA - did you really think you could get all the goods here? Nah, come to the event!

FOOD
Loaded Potato Fritters - Ben’s bacon, aged cheddar, chives, crema $5
Fried Avocado - pickled fresno chilies, lemon aioli, cilantro $7
Fried Brussel Sprouts - black pepper garlic jam, Ben’s bacon, shaved dry jack $6
Potted Pork Rillette - crusty bread, house pickles, Old Salt Market mustards $7
Migration meat(s) Old Salt - a collaboration meat and cheese board with all the fixings $16
Kale Caesar - dino kale, shaved parm, chickpea croutons, pepper-lemon vinaigrette, hazelnuts $8

Besides just celebrating great beer and food 10% of the evening's proceeds will benefit a non-profit that is likely familiar to many local beer drinkers - the National Brain Tumor Society. Brought to our attention by Brewpublic founder Angelo De Ieso II and his fight against the Oligodendroglioma tumor that has taken up residence in his skull, this is one of the most delicious ways to contribute to his fight. So grab a friend or three and head over to try all the beer and food!

Celebrating the Craft
Thursday, January 26th starting at 6:00pm
Migration Brewing
2828 NE Glisan St.

4th Annual WW Beer Pro/Am - Bigger & Better Than Ever

Saturday, amidst "Portland Windstorm '16," the 4th Annual Willamette Week Beer Pro/Am took place in the comfy, dry confines of the North Warehouse. This year there were over 30 collaborations, more than a couple which surprised me in delightful ways. I would not have thought an India Pale Lager, a Doppelbock, a Yerba Mate-containing beer or a couple of Belgian styles would have hit the right notes with me. Yet they did, along with a sour, a couple of IPAs and a beer based on one of my favorite Girl Scout cookies. Quite an array of beers, no?

I was also thrilled to be part of the judging team that awarded Great Notion and Chad Graham's Amprosia Saison as the Judge's Choice winner. A beautiful color with a nicely sour nose and flavor, this pair - which I know both the pros and the amateur - showcased their talents with mixed fermentation and fruit. Runner up aka Honorable Mention went to the team of Rogue and Tracy Hensley for their barreled Belgian brew that combined the worlds of beer and wine.

The People's Choice went to one of the beers with a great name - Ex Novo and Jack Hall's It Burns When IPA, a jalapeno cream ale that had balanced heat and I'd love to have with nachos. Tied for People's Choice Honorable Mention were Fort George and Chris McNeel's The Doomed Rider, a wee heavy that was smoky and sweet and Bretta Persica, the Brett fermented IPA on nectarines from Coalition and Jon and Parker Hall that was fruity, dry and tart.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the most unique beer of the festival, Barely Legal Hazy CBD IPA. This creation came from Dean Pottle, Portland beer scene legend and proprietor of Dean's Scene, who passed away days earlier. CBD, the non-psychoactive substance in marijuana, was infused into a New England style IPA and I for one found the aroma of freshly harvested hops rolled between my palms and the flavor that mirrored it to be delicious.

In addition to the beers the food from both of the carts on hand - Thrive Sauce and Bowls (formerly Thrive NW) and PDX Sliders - were delicious and offered exactly what was needed to soak up all the liquid goodness.

There could have been more port-a-potties (are there ever enough at "that time" at a beer festival?) and it did get crowded as the afternoon went on but overall every year Steph Barnhart has improved this festival. (The charging station was a new addition that hopefully will become a festival feature as common as water stations.) I look forward to next year's iteration with great anticipation!

A Neighborhood Brewpub From Neighbors

How many of your neighbors do you know? Not many, I'd bet. I only know a couple and that includes our immediate neighbor whose driveway abuts ours. There might be some really cool people just around the corner and who knows where that could lead? Just look at Great Notion Brewing - the three owners met because they're neighbors and a shared love of craft beer has spawned a partnership that is re-energizing the former Mash Tun brewpub on NE Alberta.

James Dugan and Andy Miller had been homebrewers for years before they met Paul Reiter, the non-brewer piece of the triumvirate. The beers they shared with Paul thoroughly impressed him and it wasn't long before they began talking about opening a brewery. Many a homebrewer has done the same thing but talking and actually making it happen are completely different. Thanks to Paul's professional background in finance, they were able to tether their dreams to reality, albeit a reality that included scouting locations and finding many of them to be financially out of reach.  Then through a friend of a friend they learned that the owner of Mash Tun was looking to get out of the business.

The guys proceeded with the process of purchasing it, taking over ownership in the fall of 2015. Since the purchase included the beer that had already been brewed (and they were sitting out the standard six month wait to brew from "The Man") they continued to pour Mash Tun beer, retained the Mash Tun name and curated a guest tap list as the Mash Tun beer ran out. In early December 2015 they were cleared to begin brewing and as the New Year was rung in the official rebrand from Mash Tun to Great Notion took place.

It wasn't until recently that I finally made it to Great Notion to check it out first hand after hearing great things about them and being impressed by a pint of their Ripe IPA enjoyed at my Growler Guys in SE. The space doesn't look drastically different from it did as Mash Tun but look below the surface - a larger (7bbl) brewing system, a lineup of beers that showcases the brewers' ability to take what had formerly been recipes scaled for homebrewing to successfully recreate them on a commercial system (far harder than just doing math) and a menu from Chef Ryan O'Conner that goes beyond the food you'll eat just because you're there and need something to pad your belly with to food that you'll look forward to.

Both Ripe IPA and Juice Jr. session IPA are great beers but it's the sour program that they're working on that excites me the most. Currently available is Zest, a Berliner-Weisse, that is kettle soured and very enjoyable but for those who prefer a more traditional barrel-aged sour, those are coming. I was able to sample one, a 12% Belgian beauty that if representative of what's happening at their separate barrel aging facility where they're utilizing their own sour strain they will be something worth seeking out.

Based on the beers I've had so far Great Notion seems to be living out their slogan, "The passion for hops. The patience for sour." If you haven't been it's time to check them out. In the meantime, a clip of Paul, Andy and James talking about their place.