Coming Up: North American Organic Brewers Festival

The 11th Annual North American Organic Brewers Festival kicks off this Thursday at Overlook Park and if you feel like something's different, you're right. The festival has historically taken place in June but due to some shifting around of other beer festivals it's taking place in August this year. That's hunky dory by me as there is so much going on in June with Fruit Beer Festival, Beer and Cheese Fest and Oregon Garden Brewfest that this may end up being a more ideal time for it to be held. The festival, which boasts 60+ beers, ciders, meads and a braggot from five states and four countries, expects attendance of around 12,000. With the move from June to August I'll wager attendance will exceed expectations but I still expect it to be the most chill festivals with plenty of space for everyone.

As due diligence requires, I've taken a detailed look at the tap line up, created my handy dandy "drinking list" and added those beers to my Untappd wish list. You're more than welcome to check out either of those lists but if CliffsNotes are more your style here are the top four I'm looking forward to.

Lakefront Brewery Growing Power - Lakefront still holds the trophy for my favorite brewery tour ever so there's definitely some nostalgia influencing me here. There's also in interest to see how bright and citrusy this 6.7%ABV pale ale is.
McMenamins Crystal Brewery Oaken Tower Barrel-Aged Ginger Beer - Raspberry-hibiscus ginger beer that's billed to have "tart acidity and muted funkiness"? Ummm, heck yeah!
McMenamins Edgefield Brewery Double Barrel-Aged Pavol the Collector - Some Baltic porters don't do much for me but I'm hopeful that this "dark, chocolately, organic lager bomb" will be a version that is right up my alley.
Pints Brewing Co Green Line Organic Radler - I'm already in love with their Hot Seismic Squeeze, a blend of Seismic IPA and Hot Lips lemon-lime soda, so I'm excited to see how the pale ale-lemon soda blend stacks up. If the weather stays warm I suspect this will be one of the biggest sellers of the festival.

None of these four are obvious choices for a lot of beer geeks. Lakefront isn't distributed out here, McMenamins gets a lot of flack (from me included but for things other than their beer) and Pints is in my opinion the most underrated brewery in Portland. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to those and at least another nine beers. Beyond that...well, we'll see how the day progresses and if I'm able to make it back for a second day. If you're planning to be there when gates open on Thursday, keep an eye out for me and let me know what you think of these four beers in particular, should you decide to give 'em a go.

North American Organic Brewers Festival
Thursday, August 13 - Sunday, August 16
Overlook Park, 1301 N Fremont St
Gates open daily at 12pm
$7 tasting cup, $1 tokens

Beer Fest Prep: NAOBF



Here we are, although how exactly we got here I'm not sure, looking down the last week of June. Does that make me a bit sad? Yes, but you know what helps to counter that? It's time for the North American Organic Brewers Festival (NAOBF)!

NAOBF, sandwiched between Fruit Beer Festival (whose beer line up is the one I look forward to most) and OBF (whose sheer depth and breadth is amazing), is special in another way. It takes place at my favorite beer festival venue in Portland - Overlook Park.

Getting back to my standard beer festival preparations (which I've been slacking on a bit lately) I scanned the beer list looking for beers that I've had, ones I can cross off my drinking list for the day (because as much as I'd like to drink them all, even I'm not that good). To my surprise and dismay, I wasn't even able to rule out half of the nearly 60 offerings.

Then it was time for round two cuts. Reading through the beer descriptions I was looking for special words like "dry-hopped" and "tart" and interesting ingredients like "cold brewed Jasmine tea" and "ginger". That round made a more significant impact, whittling the list down to 10 beers I definitely want to try and handful of others I'd like to try, a manageable agenda for day drinking.

The final step, and this is a newer one, will be to add the 10 - 15 beers to my Untappd wish list. Not only will it make check-ins easier at the festival but I'll be making progress on the elusive Your Wish Came True badge. Yes, I'm that kind of beer geek. Wanna be Untappd friends?

10th Annual North American Organic Brewers Festival

June 26 - 28 12:00 - 9:00 pm

June 29 12:00 - 5:00 pm

Free admission, $6 tasting glass, $1 beer tokens

NAOBF 2013

NAOBF lucked out this year in terms of weather. After a soggy festival last year, this year's four-day event highlighting organic beer is turning out to be sun-drenched. Many of the beers pouring are lighter in flavor and alcohol, perfect for drinking outdoors on a beautiful summer day.

We arrived Friday afternoon, the second day of the festival, just before the gates opened at noon. While waiting we ran into a couple of friends who, after the gates opened, hightailed it to nab a table under a gigantic tree (something I would highly recommend). Between our shaded and relatively cool seating area and the beer tents was a pretty warm, muggy walk. For the most part the walk was worth it; I found few beers that I disliked among the 10-15 I tasted.

My favorites included two "light weights":
Hopworks Totally Radler, a 60/40 blend of their lager and lemonade. Clocking in at a mere 3.1% ABV and being skillfully blended so that it refrained from being too sweet and retained some beer flavor, this beer screamed, "I'm perfect for drinking today!"
Ft George Spruce Budd Ale, an ale made with, yes, spruce buds/tips. While there was a certain lager quality to the aroma and the spruce tips were more of a suggestion than an outright flavor, it was a very enjoyable beer. As with the radler, this, too was a sessionable beer at 5% ABV.

Then there were a couple "middle heavy weights":
Ambacht G++ Ale, an 8.5% ABV bourbon barrel aged beer. This was the only two-ticket beer I had and I was skeptical that it was going to be worth it. Thankfully my doubts were washed away with a very obvious bourbon barrel aroma and a pleasant cherry flavor that had a hint of sourness to it.
Reverend Nat's Overlook Heirloom Cider, a deceptively easy drinker for 8.7% ABV. There was a bit of barnyard to this cider and none of the cloying sweetness sometimes found in ciders. The only downside to this beer is that it was made specifically for NAOBF. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll get enough good feedback to make it again in the future so that I can enjoy more of it.

Overall it was a great afternoon of beer and friends on a summer day. There are still two more days of the festival and it looks like the summer weather will hold out so get out and enjoy!

Coming this Week: NAOBF

How could it be possible that NAOBF (North American Organic Brewers Festival) is this week? That would mean...oh, dear...that this is the LAST week of June. No...no, can it really be?

After getting over the shock, I took a bit of time to dive into the list of breweries and beers for the festival. My short list of beers to try includes:
Ambacht Brewing Ambacht G++ Ale - Although it's listed as a Belgian Strong Golden (not a favorite style of mine), it was aged in Heaven Hill whiskey barrels that were previously used by Hair of the Dog who left the cherries from Cherry Adam in the barrels. Great upcycling or not? We'll see.
Fort George Brewery & Public House Forbidden Wonder Fruit Ale - A beer made with kiwis and "Forbidden Fruit" yeast. I've never had a beer made with kiwis so of course I'll have to try it.
Laht Neppur Brewing Co. Peach Hefeweizen - I'm not a hefe fan, but I'm interested to see how the peaches play with the base beer.
Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Aberrant - I generally like farmhouse beers and I've yet to have anything from Logsdon that I didn't like. Hopefully the streak will continue.
Summit Brewing Co. Unchained #12: 100% Organic Ale - I miss drinking Summit's beers and you won't catch me missing the chance to have beer from an (old) hometown favorite.
Two Kilts Brewing Co. BEET-nik - Over the weekend I had the best beet beer to date and it'll be interesting to see how this one compares.
Uncommon Brewers Bacon Brown Ale - There's bacon in it. Enough said.

This year is the 9th Annual NAOBF and it has grown to the point that it now covers four days, June 27 - 30. The location, Overlook Park, is a great space and I was pleased to find so many beers I enjoyed last year. I won't drink a beer simply because it's organic but if I have a beer that I enjoy and it happens to be organic, all the better. This festival does a great job of showcasing great tasting, organic beer.

So far the forecast for the end of the week is looking perfect for drinking outdoors. See you there!

Looking Ahead to Festival Season

This past weekend, Memorial Day, was the unofficial start to summer and while the weather in Portland has been slow on the uptake, the beer festival scene is moving forward regardless.

June kicks off with the third annual Portland Beer Week, which includes the Rye Beer Fest and the Portland Fruit Beer Festival. Rye Beer Fest will celebrate its second year with a new venue, more beers and expanded hours. Held at EastBurn on Friday, June 7th, you can find a full beer list and additional details on their website.

Portland Fruit Beer Festival is in its third year, as a two-day festival taking place at another East Burnside establishment, Burnside Brewing, June 8th and 9th. "Main Stage" beers will be available for most of the festival (although going the first day is your best bet to make sure you don't miss out on anything) while the "Rare & Rotating" beers will be on two to four at a time, being replaced as the kegs are emptied. If you think are fruit beers are fru-fru, just take a look at the beer list and you'll soon find out otherwise.

After two festivals focused on beer flavors, the North American Organic Brewers Festival shifts focus and invades Overlook Park in North Portland. The festival, in its ninth year, offers three days filled with organic beer and ciders, live local music, organic food and more. Starting on Friday, June 27th and running through Sunday, June 30th, the festival bridges the gap between the younger, shorter duration festivals that started June and the larger, longer, more established "Big One" in July.

That "Big One" is none other than the Orgeon Brewers Festival which comes at a time when summer *should* be in full swing. Now in its 26th (!) year, the festival has expanded to a full five days running Wednesday, July 24th through Sunday, July 28th at Waterfront Park. Over 80 craft beers will be available, hailing from across the U.S., and for the first time those beers will be poured into glass tasting glasses. These replace the plastic mugs that are so prevalent at Oregon festivals, a move which I'm hopeful will continue to spread.

These four festivals are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of beer events, especially during Portland Beer Week, but they offer a chance to try a multitude of beers that are often not available elsewhere. So mark your calendars, put your liver on notice and enjoy the bounty of the Portland summer beer scene!

NAOBF

For as much thought as I put into my food choices - being concerned about where it comes from, how it's produced, etc. - you might assume NAOBF, the North American Organic Brewers Festival, would be right up my alley. You would, however, be incorrect. I skipped the festival last year and until a couple of persuasions came my way to attend this year, I was planning to skip it again.

Maybe my lack of interest has been because I don't regularly seek out organic beer. I'm not saying that I haven't had some good organic beer, I'm just saying that whether or not it's organic has little to no impact on my beer selection. It probably should, especially since organic beer has come a long way and is now often as outstanding - or disagreeable - as any non-organic beer on the market.

This year NAOBF touted over 50 beers, some from dedicated organic breweries like Bison and Hopworks along with offerings from non-organic breweries like McMenamins, Uinta and Logsdon. While I had no ambitions to try every beer I did pour over the program as well as solicit recommendations while manning the Brewvana booth during the first few hours of the festival on Saturday.

Departing from my usual listing of only the highlights - and possible lowlights - here's the full list of my samplings: Fish Tale Organic IPA, Laht Neppur Peach Hefeweizen, Fort George South, Pints Green Line Organic Summer IPA, Two Kilts Imperial IPA, Laurelwood Organic Green Elephant IPA, Alameda Yellow Wolves of Thailand Imperial IPA, McMenamins Concordia Brewery School's Out Organic IPA, McMenamins Oak Hills Brewpub Altered State Alt and Uncommon Brewers Bacon Brown Ale.

The one beer that I tried that really knocked my socks off was School's Out IPA from McMenamins Concordia Brewery. Really. Generally I'll choose other beers over McMenamins but as I found to be the case earlier in the year at the Battle for the Belt, sometimes they can really knock it out of the park. Concordia Brewery is housed in the Kennedy School and being unfamiliar with the availability of McMenamins' brews outside their "home pub" I'm not sure if I'll be able to get any more of this. So if you happen to hear of it on tap somewhere, let me know. I want more of it.

Beyond that the IPAs from Fish Tail and Laurelwood fulfilled my hop head desires, with the rest falling between that and "meh." Nothing was disagreeable to me and I didn't detect anything off in these beers.

In the end, I'm glad I had reasons to attend. Overlook Park is a beautiful space and when next year's festival rolls around there's a pretty good chance you'll find me there.

The taps, ready for the day.

The volunteers cometh.

Braving the weather and enjoying the brews.