6th NW Coffee Beer Invivational

Last Saturday saw the sixth installment of the NW Coffee Beer Invitational beer festival take place at Goose Hollow Inn in SW Portland. Once again festival organizers Dave and Jean Fleming were blessed with a dry January Saturday, although as thoughtful stewards they provided a fully tented and heated space for beer lovers to enjoy creations of 20 breweries.

With the exception of Kiitos Brewing, all of the participating breweries hailed from Oregon and southern Washington. "What’s the deal with Kiitos then?", one might ask. The answer is that they took home gold at GABF in 2018 in the Coffee Beer category with their Coffee Cream Ale. Had Bend Brewing not been at this festival with their Coffee N Cream Coffee Blonde, Kiitos would have gotten our nod for “best light coffee beer.” As it was, Bend Brewing offered a beer that had a great coffee cream aroma and a perfectly balanced, mild flavor and was more to our liking.

Two of the beers at the festival spoke to this imbiber saying, "I'm meant to be drank with food." The first was Von Ebert’s Hegel Sipped Coffee in Bamberg, a Roggenbier (smoked beer) with beech and cherry wood smoked malts. The smokiness of the malts came through and although a bit more body might be nice, what would be really nice would be to have this with food...like Von Ebert’s delicious wings. 

The second food beer in our mind was from Fire on the Mountain Brewing. While we didn’t find much coffee character in the beer, the flavor spot-on matched its name: Mole Stout. The fact that they committed to the assertive flavor profile is to be commended and we think that although FotM is known for their wings, this might be mighty tasty with tacos. Or perhaps a taco pizza special at their Fremont location.

The remaining three beers that we particularly enjoyed were all on the darker end of the spectrum.
Sunriver Brewing His Dudness - Inspired by The Dude and his love of White Russians, this was the embodiment of a beer White Russian.
Wild Ride Brew Co. Nutty Joe Jr. Porter - Hazelnut isn’t a flavor we often see in beer (or at least used well in beer) but we still have a soft spot in our heart for it that goes back to our early craft beer explorations and Rogue Hazelnut. That beer and this beer likely taste nothing alike but Joe Jr. reminds us of the feeling we got back then drinking Rogue’s beer.
Ruse Brewing The Stages of Dawn - For having the highest ABV of the beers at the festival, 9.4%, it most certainly did not drink like it. The creamy imperial oatmeal breakfast stout came close to feeling as though it was being served on nitro, enough so that we would really hope to find it being poured that way in the future.

Thanks to all the breweries and coffee roasters that participated in this festival! It's one of our favorite and a great way to start a new year of beer festivals.

What We're Looking Forward to in 2019

With the first week of the new year under our belts and a more normal rhythm resuming we figured it was a good time to share some of the things that we are most looking forward to in 2019.

Beer Festivals
No matter how many beer festivals we've been to or the abundance of them we are fortunate to have in this area, there are still some that get us excited about what will be poured and we make a point to attend. Here are three that take place in the first quarter of the year that fit that description.

- NW Coffee Beer Invitational - This will be the sixth year of the festival and with the exception of 2017, we have been at every one. Dave Fleming's festival has grown in prominence among beer drinkers but has remained true to its original location - Goose Hollow Inn. This year 20 brewers will be showing off their collaborations made with locally roasted coffee on Saturday, January 26. It has historically been the literal bright spot in one of the darkest times of the year and with any luck, that day will be another sunny one.

- Festival of the Dark Arts - For us this festival is about more than just what one finds in their glass. It's the whole experience of getting out of Portland and making an always overdue trip to Astoria for a long weekend. Besides the festival, and staying at our favorite B&B, we do our best to hit old favorites in Astoria and along the way, as well as anything new that may have popped up since the previous year. The mid-February festival is sold out and overnight accommodations are likely in short supply but there always seems to be a few last minute tickets available for those who look hard. 

- Brewstillery - Just a year younger than Coffee Beer and taking place two weeks after Dark Arts, this festival is hosted by StormBreaker Brewing and showcases the delicious flavor combinations that can occur when beer and spirits get together. When we first attended we had little experience with spirits but it has been part of the process that has opened our eyes to a world that we are coming to realize is as vast and complex at beer. 

Beer Cocktails 
Dovetailing on our anticipation of Brewstillery, we are excited to continue the adventure we started last year creating beer cocktails. So far we've experimented with vodka and rum and we've found ourselves paying more attention to cocktail menus, looking for new sources of inspiration. The year end crush of the holidays threw off our plans for December but we've got a late January date on the calendar to start up anew.

Beer and Food Pairings
Whether attending formal pairings put together by professionals or the happy-go-lucky pairings we dream up (Easter candy, Doritos, Kettle Chips, Girl Scout cookies, even coffee creamers) finding what goes together is a source of delight. Even the missteps we make are palate-educating and we are all on board with learning. 

Beyond what we are looking forward to finding in our glass this year is those we will be sharing the experiences with. The craft beer community - from brewers to consumers - is overall incredible. The generosity, the creativity, the willingness to explore is unique and we are thrilled to be part of it. 

In addition to reading what we spew out here (thank you!) check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Cheers to 2019!

First Festival (for us) of the Year

A favorite beer? No. A favorite style of beer? Maybe. A favorite brewery? Not one, but there are a few that hold a special place in our hearts. A favorite beer festival? Possibly and it would be this one, the NW Coffee Beer Invitational. 

Let us count the ways/reasons we love this fest:
#1 Dave Fleming is a great guy and without fanfare, has carved out a day in the depths of winter to hold this festival. He also seems to employ some wizardry to allow the day, which for more years than not, has been blessed by the winter sun.
#2 Coffee and beer are our two favorite beverages. We get giddy when they come together and love to see the creativity expressed by the brewers at this festival.
#3 The festival tends to contain breweries that are often not present at other festivals. In that group is Chetco, which this year is joined by "new kid" Allegory, the Labrewatory, Yachats and more.
#4 Last but not least, this festival is often the first one of the new year that we attend. There's just something about putting the crush of the holidays behind and resetting for another year of festival fun. 

In this fifth year of the festival, organizers Dave and Jean Fleming wanted to do something special so they invited festival-favorite breweries from the past four years to collaborate on a beer. Brewed at Buoy with Ristretto Roasters coffee, the raspberry mocha brown beer will be available only at the festival and at the participating breweries' locations.

The festival remains at its original location, the parking lot of the Goose Hollow Inn. The support of and partnership with the restaurant "has been key" to the festival according to Dave. For attendees, holding the festival in the same location year after year means they know what to expect, including what works best for them to get there (and back home safely). The inner SW location is in close proximity to downtown and has a Max Station that is basically at their doorstep, serviced by the blue and red lines. It also serves a full menu on festival day, including "The Best Reuben on the Planet."

As for the price, this year's incremental increase to $20 for a festival glass, 10 taster tickets and access to 22 total offerings (19 breweries, 1 cidery, 1 meadery and the special collaboration beer) remains reasonable. For those keeping track:
2017 - $15 admission with 8 tickets and 16 participating breweries
2016 - $15 admission with 8 tickets and 15 participating breweries
2015 - $15 admission with 8 tickets and 15 participating breweries
2014 - $12 admission with 6 tickets and 12 participating breweries

Additional tasting tickets will be available for $1. Dave let on that there will be a few barrel-aged beers this year that will cost two tickets so you may need a few depending on your approach to the festival. We'll be pairing up, sharing the samples, and depending on what really tickles our fancy, may need to get some tickets to go back for seconds. 

Starting today the festival will be posting the name and description of a few of the beers coming to the festival each day on their Facebook event. Check out today's post for details on the three below that have beer names attached. To make sure you get the latest, indicate that you're "interested" or "going" to the festival receive update notifications. 

Brewery line-up:
Allegory Brewing - Starless Sky Coffee Stout
Ancestry Brewing
Burnside Brewing Co
Chetco Brewing Company
Coalition Brewing
Deschutes Brewery
Fire On The Mountain Brewing
Fremont Brewing
Hopworks Urban Brewery
Labrewatory
McMenamins Breweries
Migration Brewing Company
Nectar Creek - Top Bar
Oregon City Brewing Company - Creamy & Dreamy
PINTS Brewing Company
Portland Cider Co.
Stormbreaker Brewing
Sunriver Brewing Co.
Three Creeks Brewing Company
Wayfinder Beer
Yachats Brewing + Farmstore

NW Coffee Beer Invitational 2018
Saturday, January 27 12-7pm
Goose Hollow Inn, 1927 SW Jefferson
Tickets: $20 (available at the door only; cash and credit card accepted)

Super Saturday: 5 Awesome Events

Saturday will be a GREAT day to be a beer lover in Portland! And we'll be out of town...but in another good beer town (Bend). So that you can plan your day, here's a rundown the things we'd be deciding between. Do one or do 'em all!

4th NW Coffee Beer Invitational
Saturday 12-7pm
Goose Hollow Inn
1927 SW Jefferson Street

 

This is the event I am most bummed to miss! Being a coffee fiend and having attended for the first three years breaking the streak is bittersweet. This year the event will feature 14 breweries and 2 cideries inside a cozy tent in the Goose Hollow Inn parking lot. The location makes parking challenging but historically this has been one of the most enjoyable festivals we've attended due to both the small size of it and, duh, coffee beers! Dave Fleming and his wife Jean bring the neighborhood feel of the Goose Hollow Inn to the tent for a festival where you're likely to see more people you know than you have time to chat with (especially if you're going to make it to any events beyond this one). Tickets are $15, available at the door only, and in the past the two of us have been able to drink through all of the beers by sharing.

Artisinful! The Portland Beer and Chocolate Festival
Saturday 12-5pm
Culmination Brewing Company
2117 NE Oregon Street

There's always something beer-and-food going on at Culmination and after last year's success Artisinful! is returning for its second year.  Tickets are required to attend ($21) and include entry to the Chocolate Hall where 8+ local chocolatiers will be sampling and selling their chocolate, a $5 certificate good toward the purchase of chocolate, tasting glass and four tasting tickets. The tap line up will include 10+ beers that either have chocolate in them or have been selected because they pair well with chocolate. Call it an early Valentine's celebration or preparation for Valentine's Day but if you love chocolate we're told this is a not-to-miss event (which is expected to sell out again this year although tickets were still available as of 7am Friday).

New Moon Mandarin Release Party & Chinese New Year Celebration
Saturday 4-11pm
Reverend Nat's Hard Cider
1813 NE 2nd Avenue

Technically not a "beer" event, most beer drinkers also at least dabble in cider and for our money, Reverend Nat's makes some of the best. New Moon Mandarin was made by "channeling the best champagne mimosas" using heirloom apples  that were fermented with a champagne yeast and blended with orange and lemon zest, a complex background of chamomile, fennel, coriander and cardamom, finished with a touch of orange blossom honey. The cider will be available on tap, in bottles to go AND through a special randall with fresh mandarins. To accompany the cider Chinese Lucky Dragon Food Cart will be slinging crab puffs, Buddah skewers, pork belly bao, pork and vegetable pot stickers and mar far chicken wings.

Stout Bout IV: Awards Ceremony & Public Stout Tasting
Saturday 1-5pm
Baerlic Brewing Co.
2235 SE 11th Avenue

With home brewing nearly as big as commercial brewing (maybe bigger) this is one of the events throughout the year that celebrates the two. From 1-3pm attendees can sample and vote on 12 stouts that were advanced from the Portland Brewers Collective Stout Bout Home Brew Competition for free and purchase raffle tickets. For the second half of the event winners, both People's Choice and those from the judges, will be announced along with raffle winners.

Base Camp's Collabofest
Saturday 2-8pm
Base Camp Brewing Company
930 SE Oak Street

This event showcases the collaborative spirit and creativity of 15 of Portland's breweries. Attending the event means all of the beers will be available in one space but if you don't make it they will be popping up at the breweries around town in the coming days/weeks. General admission tickets are $25 +fees and include festival mug, beer festival passport and 8 tasting tickets. For those looking to get a jump on things, $40 +fees VIP tickets allow for early entry at 1pm and an upgrade from festival mug to a festival branded Miir stainless pint along with the aforementioned items.

If you're going to try to make it to all five events, godspeed. There are sure to be motivated folks who will do so; others (like us if we were in town) would probably just pick one (maybe two) to fully enjoy. But whatever you do, pick at least one (for us, if for no other reason). Cheers!

Third Time is a Charm at NW Coffee Beer Invitational

While the first two years of the NW Coffee Beer Invitational were good, in its third year it was even better. The overall quality of the beers continued an upward trend and it was great to see some new breweries in the mix. Some tickled my taste buds more than others so without further ado, my top four.

Fire on the Mountain Brewing - Caffe Corretto - "A rich stout conditioned with fresh cold pressed coffee from Spella Caffe. Further aging on star anise, vanilla and a splash of Sambuca replicates the traditional and delicious Italian coffee drink in beer form. 6% ABV" I'm in the camp that loves anise flavor and this one hit all the right notes for me.

Feckin Irish Brewing - Feckin Shipwreck - "This is what would have been drunk by sailors shipwrecked off the Caribbean islands circa 1750. Its roots are made of Feckin's Double Irish Oatmeal Porter. The addition of coffee, from Happyrock Coffee Roasting, unlocks notes of rum, fresh coconut and vanilla beans. 6.7% ABV" Here, too, is a beer which is a like/dislike depending on your stance on coconut. It's not as overpowering as something like Oskar Blues Death By Cocount or Town Hall Three Hour Tour and may be even more deliciously drinkable from the standpoint that the coconut is more subtle and the ABV lower.



The man of the hour, Dave Fleming.

Buoy Beer Co. - Coffee Brown Porter - "This brew combines perfect elements to create a flavorful beer for you to pair with breakfast or to warm up with on a rainy day. Oats and roasted barley build the beer's rich foundation and in the secondary conditioning. Additions of hazelnut and Columbia River Coffee Roaster's dark roast coffee bring distinctive flavors to the brew. 6.5% ABV" Outstanding combination of beer/coffee/oatmeal that screams to be drunk for breakfast. At that ABV one might just get away with doing so.

Widmer Brothers Brewing - Brrrbon with coffee - "Brrrbon is the winter seasonal Brrr placed in a single use Bourbon barrel with a fresh charge of live yeast for secondary fermentation followed by 13 months of aging. The beer was able to find its way deep into the staves of the barrels and suck out every last drop of bourbon flavor and essence. Then we added a half pound of Stumptown Ethiopian Duromina coffee per keg. Chocolate, chocolate covered cherries, vanilla, coffee and bourbon dominate the nose. Those flavors continue across the palate with a fulfilling smooth finish. 13.1% ABV" A beer this big could come across hot, unbalanced or simply too much but this one does none of those things and drinks more like 8%. Dangerously delicious.

Didn't make it to the festival? Here's the information I have to date on where and when you can find beers you missed.

54° 40' - Due to its popularity they'll be brewing more, which will be available in their taproom in Washougal most likely by 2/10.

Burnside Brewing - Per their 2/3 Facebook post, it is currently on tap.

The Commons - Only one keg is left, which will be available in their taproom, possibly as early as this week and is on tap as of 2/4 per their Facebook post.

Everybody's Brewing - They'll be bottling their entry in 22oz bottles this week with first availability at The BeerMongers and Belmont Station.

Lompoc - It's currently on tap at all Lompoc locations (and it just so happens Miser Monday is taking place today at Lompoc Tavern and Oaks Bottom Public house...yeah for $2.50 pints!).

Lucky Lab - Only one keg is left and it is going on today (2/1) at the SE Hawthorne location only.

NW Coffee Beer Invitation Preview

There is entirely too much beer goodness going on in Portland this Saturday and you'd better have a damn good reason if you won't be attending at least one of them. Not one to over commit myself where beer festivals are concerned, I'm only planning to be at one and that's the NW Coffee Beer Invitational.

This is the third year of the festival put together by Dave Fleming and the third year I'll be attending. The past two years have been blessed by unseasonably beautiful January weather (like we had earlier this week), a boon for an outdoor, albeit tented affair. Again this year there will be 16 beers available, all made with locally roasted coffee, that have the added bonus of being sessionable - 7% ABV or less.

The festival has been posting the beer line up to their Facebook page over the last couple weeks with just a few remaining to be revealed. Here's the CliffNotes version:

10 Barrel Brewing - On Sinful Grounds
54 40' Brewing (9 Bar Espresso) - Stromtrooper Schwarzbier
Buoy Beer Co - Coffee Brown Porter* made with Columbia River Coffee Roaster
Burnside Brewing - Joe Mum is So Roasty (bourbon barrel-aged wheat stout)
Cascade Brewing (Oblique Coffee) - Oblique B&W Stout
The Commons Brewery (Stumptown Coffee Roasters) - Coffee Pumpernickel Rye
Deschutes Brewery (Nossa Familia Coffee) - Augusta's Porter
Double Mountain Brewery (Heart Coffee Westside) - Space Jitters Coffee Imperial Stout
Everybody's Brewing (Stoked Blue Bird Coffee) - Cold Press Porter
Feckin Irish Brewing - Espresso Milk Porter*
Fire on the Mountain Brewing (Spella Coffee) - Caffe Corretto
Gigantic Brewing (Coava Coffee Roasters) - Koffee Brown
Lompoc Brewing (Nossa Familia Coffee) - Brazilian Blonde
Lucky Labrador Brewing - Let's Dance Lager
Pints Brewing - yet TBA
Widmer Brothers Brewing - yet TBA
*Beers exclusive to the festival

I'd love to have you join me at the festival but in case coffee beers aren't your thing or you're an overachiever who wants to hit more than one event, the other happenings on my radar:
Culmination Artisinful! Beer & Chocolate Festival 12-6pm
Baerlic 3rd Annual Stout Bout 1-6pm
Base Camp's 2nd Annual Collabofest 2-8pm
McMenamins Hammerhead 30th Anniversary (includes four variations on tap at 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop)

NW Coffee Beer Invitational
Goose Hollow Inn
12-7pm
$15 admission includes tasting glass + 8 tasting tickets

NW Coffee Beer Invitational - Year Two

I don't know what kind of magical powers Dave Fleming possesses but somehow both last year and this year he has arranged for the day in January of his beer festival to be one of the warmest, most beautiful days of the whole month. Kudos to him for taking a risk on an outdoor festival (albeit tented) in the middle of winter and for creating a festival that couldn't be more Pacific Northwest themed. Coffee beers aren't for everyone but apparently there are more than enough of us that are interested in seeing how some of our favorite breweries incorporate locally roasted coffee into their beers.

This year there were 16 beers available, up from 12 last year, and being brutally honest I only enjoyed about half of them. But the actual enjoyment of the beer in my glass is only part of the equation. I'm a good beer geek, always on the search for the new thing, the beer I've never had before and I know that they're not all going to be winners. Some just weren't for me, some I think could have been better crafted, yet I give everyone an A for effort for creating something I haven't had before.

It's hard for me to pick my favorite but the four that were the cream of the crop in my opinion were:
Barley Brown's Barley's Imperial Breakfast Stout - An oatmeal stout using beans from Sorbenots Coffee in Baker City, this definitely tastes like chocolatey breakfast in a glass. I'd had the regular version of the beer before and it was good but this bigger, 8.5% ABV version, really does go to the next level.

Chetco Brewing Company Black Thunder - I'm a big fan of CDAs and for me this was the love child of a CDA and a stout. Brewed with Signature Coffee from Humbolt it was a more roasty version of a stout.

Fire on the Mountain Spanish Coffee Mudd - FotM is one of our favorite eateries in town so I'm familiar with most of their beers and have had their Electric Mud chocolate oatmeal stout on many occasions. I've also been known to enjoy a Spanish coffee from time to time and they nailed the flavor profile, with beans from Spella Café, while containing the booziness to beer range.

Elysian Brewing Cthulhu Imperial Oak Aged Coffee Stout - I won't go back on my word, this beer was brewed before the recent hubbub, but as soon as I saw it in the lineup I said to myself, "This will be the last Elysian beer I drink." And it was a hell of a good-bye beer with great coffee aroma and flavor, in part from the Stumptown Cold Brew used, and that's what I want to remember about Elysian.

Besides the beer I had a great time seeing friends from some of the participating breweries and plenty of fellow beer geeks. Gathered around the sunniest of the tables (we were first in line so we quickly snagged it) it was a great afternoon chatting about the beers and what everyone had been up to since we'd last seen one another.

The unexpected highlight was having brewer/owner Mike Frederick of Chetco Brewing Company out of Brookings, OR join us. His beer is distributed by Alebriated, which is owned by a friend of mine, and he was able to stop at the festival as part of a larger trip around the area. For brewing out of a 468 square foot facility he's doing good work. The fact that his beer made my tops list had nothing to do with meeting him yesterday, that was just the icing on the cake.

Fourth Saturday in January & Four Beer Fests In Portland

Winter is supposed to be low season for beer festivals, right? Apparently the folks in Portland have turned a blind eye to that news and forged forward with (at least) four beer fests taking place today. Who knows, there may in fact me more that I just tuned out after realizing that I was going to have a tough decision to make seeing as how I've not yet obtained the ability to clone myself.

CellarFest at Bailey's Taproom
In its sixth year now, Bailey's will be pulling "a bunch of old beer from our cellar." The beers range from barley wines to sours to stouts but they have one thing in common - they're all big boys with nothing clocking in at any less than 8%.

Collabofest at Base Camp Brewing
Presented by #PDXNOW, Travel Portland's current marketing campaign, the fest will offer 10 different collaboration beers from local breweries. With gose, hefeweizen, sour and radler beers, the offerings are the polar opposite of Bailey's line up.

NW Coffee Beer Invitational at Goose Hollow Inn
Coffee and beer are my two favorite drinks so when Dave Fleming introduced this festival last year I quickly hopped on board. Clearly a successful endeavor, the number of beers has been upped from 12 to 16, all made with locally roasted coffee.

Westmoreland/Sellwood Winter Brew Fest at Portland U-Brew & Pub
This festival, now in its fourth year, offers a combination of six beers made by Portland U-Brew and four made by other breweries. Most will be big, over 9%, and all winter beers.

So can you guess where I'll be? Those of you who know me well probably answered correctly - I'll be at the coffee beer festival. If, and this is a big if, knowing that I'm usually not good for much after a festival, I have any energy left I may wander over to Base Camp, seeing as how we live within stumbling distance from there. Whatever your plans are, cheers to craft beer, friends!

Four Beer Festivals in One Day: That's How Portland Rolls on a January Saturday

Writing on an assigned topic takes me back to high school and college classes and after having penned this blog for seven years without assignments I must admit that it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. However dangling the dual carrots of free registration to the 2014 Beer Bloggers Conference in San Diego and a free trip to the National Beer Wholesalers Association's Annual Convention in New Orleans was enough incentive for me to take a crack at a post on the wide topic of "America's Beer Renaissance: Consumer Choice and Variety in the U.S. Beer Market."

Portland, whether or not that other city believes it, is the craft beer capital of the U.S. and last Saturday was a perfect example to support that claim. January is historically a quieter time of year for beer goings-on with some people recovering from the hectic holiday season, others slogging their way through winter by hunkering down and a few determined souls sticking to their New Year resolutions to eat better/drink less/be healthier. You wouldn't have guessed that by the fact that the lucky beer ducks in Portland had a choice of four, yes four, beer festivals happening simultaneously.

1. Portland U-Brew Winter Brew Fest - The combination homebrew supply store/brew-on-premises facility/brewpub hosted a beer festival showcasing 10 beers, six of their own making and the rest from other local breweries. If that doesn't sound exciting enough, there was one beer brewed with gummi bears and another with candy canes and M & M's.

2. NW Coffee Beer Invitational - The organizers of this inaugural festival clearly didn't think a January date was undesirable to host an outdoor festival that brought together 12 breweries, all utilizing coffee in the creation of their brew. The offerings weren't just limited to the usual suspects - stouts and porters - but also included a berliner weiss and a couple of IPAs.

3. Bailey's Taproom CellarFest - One of the best taprooms in Portland, Bailey's annual festival digs deep, into their cellar that is. The beer list featured over 20 beers going back as far as 2008. Most of them topped 9% ABV, being imperials and barleywines, but there were also a few aged sour beers to keep things interesting.

4. Belmont Station Bigger Badder Blacker Week - One of the top bottle shops in Portland was in the midst of their week-long festival, an "annual trek to The Dark Side" that offered a multitude of rare, big beers. Saturday featured imported beers, a departure from the other festivals that were pouring beers primarily from Oregon or West Coast breweries.

Admittedly these festivals were smaller than the five-day extravaganza of the Oregon Brewers Festival held in July along the Portland waterfront and its winter counterpart, the Holiday Ale Festival. Nevertheless, I challenge you to find any craft beer lover that wasn't torn trying to decide where to spend their Saturday imbibing. In total there were over 50 beers available from these four events alone expressing the creativity of the brewers that so generously keep us from going thirsty. If that doesn't illustrate choice and variety I don't know what does.

Expectations & Surprises

We all have expectations - when we see the name of a brewery we recognize or when we see a certain style of beer. Even before there is conscious thought there are the unconscious, built in feelings toward them. What happens next, whether you go with your expectations, your instincts whether or not to order X style of beer from Y brewery, is where the difference lies. Perhaps you've had a long day and you want a sure thing in your glass. Perhaps you're feeling adventurous or heard good things about something you normally wouldn't order.

This past weekend I attended the inaugural NW Coffee Beer Invitational at the Goose Hollow Inn. The festival was the brainchild of brewer Dave Fleming and featured 12 breweries who crafted their beer with coffee from a local roaster. Being a coffee lover and a beer lover it was a no brainer for me to attend. It was also a no brainer for me to review the beer list ahead of time and naturally I started to form some expectations.

Attending the festival with my better half, our admission packages combined meant we had 12 tickets, perfect to drink our way through the 12-beer line up.

Of the 12 breweries participating I'd had beers from all but one and naturally favored some over others. What ended up happening, not an uncommon occurrence at festivals, is that my expectations and my taste buds didn't line up across the board. On this day, however, I was more surprised than usual with the results.

My two favorite beers of the festival came from Widmer and Fire on the Mountain. In this town Widmer is a staple and I often overlook staples, unfairly. Their Scared Half to Death mocha pale ale reminded me that while they might be one of the bigger players in the craft beer scene, they didn't get that far by not being able to brew great beer. This beer was all cold-press coffee, starting with the aroma and following through to the flavor, with the additional twist of retaining the color of a pale ale.

Fire on the Mountain is known by many for their super-awesome-incredible wings (you guessed I like them, right?) and a few years ago they started brewing. They've steadily been improving their beer and their Nutty Irish Mud stout was a testament to their potential. The base beer was Electric Mud which they conditioned on hazelnuts, cold-pressed coffee and whiskey soaked oak chips. As with Widmer's beer this one started with great aroma follow by great flavor, in this instance the hazelnuts took center stage.

If you went to the festival I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you didn't go to the festival I'd be interested to hear, after looking at the beer list below, which beers you would expect to like and why. Is it because of the brewery? Is it because of the style? Is it because of the coffee used?

10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Pray for Joe strong ale - Backporch Coffee Roasters
Base Camp Brewing Co. - The Incredible Baltor baltic porter - Guatemalan Trailhead
Breakside Brewery - Coffee Sesame Brown brown ale - Stumptown Coffee
Burnside Brewing Co. - Trifecta Collaboration Stout - Ristretto Roasters
Coalition Brewing Co. - Night Cap IPA - Ristretto Roasters
Fire on the Mountain Brewing Co. - Nutty Irish Mud oatmeal stout - Spella Caffe
Grain Station Brew Works - Hank's Dark Roast CDA - Mud River Roasting
Lucky Labrador Brewing Co. - Counting Sheep black IPA - Portland Roasting
Old Town Brewing Co. - Ol' Joe old ale - Portland Roasting
Pints Brewing - Cherry Bomb berliner weisse - Portland Roasting
Three Creeks Brewing Co. - Coffee Strong Breakfast Stout - Sisters Coffee
Widmer Brothers Brewing - Scared Half to Death coffee mocha pale ale - Stumptown Roasters

Beer + Coffee = Happiness

As a coffee drinker and a beer drinker I consider coffee beers as the perfect union. I don't recall what my first coffee beer was but two that have been around for a while are Surly Brewing Coffee Bender and Furthermore Oscura. I don't get many of either these days but thankfully I've seen a considerable uptick in the number of coffee beers in this market.

Over the weekend I stopped in at Bailey's Taproom and had an amazing one - Old Town Brewing Ol' Joe. Brewer Bolt Minister has been turning out great beers in general and this is just another example of his fine work. Technically it's an old ale brewed with coffee, thus the 7.25% ABV, which is likely the reason for the amazing mouthfeel. Combined with great flavor, this is a beer I hope to enjoy more of.

Beyond coffee beers that have the expected dark color both Cascade Brewing Black & White Oblique Coffee Stout and Harvester Coffee Pale Ale are delicious head scratchers. They have a color you would expect from a pale ale or IPA so that's what you would expect from the flavor. But no! A second taste, this time with one's eyes closed, and you would swear that the color must be a dark brown or black.

All of this coffee beer talk leads me to a festival coming up this Saturday. Goose Hollow Inn, on the west side of downtown, is putting on the NW Coffee Beer Invitational. Since I first heard about it a couple months ago it's something I've been looking forward to. The festival will showcase the work of 12 brewers that incorporated locally-roasted coffee into their entry. If you enjoy coffee beers I'm pretty sure you don't want to miss out on this.

NW Coffee Beer Invitational
Saturday, January 25th 1:00 - 7:00 pm
Goose Hollow Inn
1927 SW Jefferson St., Portland
$12 admission includes a festival glass (actual glass) and six tasting tickets