2017 Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest

Yesterday the 2017 Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest kicked off its two-day run at the Oregon Convention Center. One of the few indoor only beer festivals, in addition to the beer and wine the name alludes to, there are also distilled spirits, food booths and something for just about everyone. Oh, and sugar gliders.

We always find ourselves introduced to someone new when we attend this festival and this year was no different. One of those new-to-us folks was Bandon Rain cider. Located on the southern Oregon coast south of Coos Bay they are a family operation that started as a hobby. They brought to the festival their signature cranberry apple cider, Cranberry Squall, and Apple Pie. Both are semi-sweet ciders, at 6.7% and 6.9% respectively. Beyond being available in Bandon and Coos Bay, they currently are available in Eugene, Forest Grove and here in Portland at Bushwhacker Cider.

Among those returning to the festival is Pono Brewing with two delicious and decidedly different offerings - Southern Whirl Belgian Strong Golden Ale with black currant and Oregon grown raspberries. Gorgeous to behold, the berries temper the Belgian characteristics to make for a drinkable 8.14% beer. Their other offering, El Garrote IPA, sports a great caveman logo and "will knock you out." We'll be looking forward to seeing much more of this around town.

Since we are hop heads, we can't overlook mentioning two other IPAs that we had for the first time at the Fest - Montavilla Citrasphere IPA and Modern Times Orderville. Citrasphere was the first beer in our glass yesterday and the lovely citrus aroma and flavor made for a great start to things. Shortly thereafter we had the dank-to-the-max Orderville. And while we won't go on and on about all the rest we drank and ate suffice it to say it was a very enjoyable time. The festival runs 12-10pm today and we'd recommend finding time to check it out yourself.

Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest
Oregon Convention Center
April 14 and 15, 12-10pm

22nd Annual Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest

Now in its 22nd year, the Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest sets itself apart from the myriad of other beer festivals for one big reason and no, it's not because there's wine (and cider and mead and distillers), it's about the people.

The craft beer community is as much about the product we enjoy as the people who made that product and the Spring Beer & Wine Fest is one of the few places where you'll have the opportunity to talk to the people who made the product that you're sampling. For some of the more established breweries, like Coalition, it's a chance for me to chat with folks I don't get to see often enough but for others, like Bent Shovel, it's a chance for me to hear first hand how they came to be and what they're making. While I'd love to relay all the stories I heard at yesterday's media preview instead I encourage you to go to the festival today and hear them yourself.

In addition to being a great venue to try all manner of liquid libations, there are also tons of food booths - from chocolates and nuts to hummus and cheeses - and five food carts. Perhaps you don't need to bring home some of Eliot's Adult Nut Butters but delicious, unique products like this make for great gifts, especially for hard-to-buy-for people (i.e. parents).

Held inside the convention center the festival is immune to weather issues with the biggest challenge being parking but there's plenty of public transit that services the area or if that's inconvenient, consider parking a little ways away and walking. Unlike many festivals this two-day festival runs Friday and Saturday only so if you have to choose, say between this and Saraveza's Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival, go to this one today and save that for Sunday.

Oh, and if you're considering not going because basketball, they've got you covered there, too. Where the presentation stage has been in past years there are TVs and plenty of chairs. Wander around for awhile enjoying the fest, take a break to watch some hoops and repeat until you've gotten your fill.

Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest
Oregon Convention Center
Saturday, March 26th Noon-10pm

Whatcha Doin' Today?

(Said in my best Joey Tribbiani voice)

Today is going to be more of a typical early spring day - not as warm as some of the days we've recently enjoyed and while it won't be entirely wet, there's a chance for some showers. So you could take your chances and make some outdoor plans OR you could ignore the whole weather issue and drink inside the confines of the Oregon Convention Center at the Spring Beer & Wine Fest. I was there yesterday and at the point I noticed it was raining I mentioned to my drinking companion that save for its size and brightness, it was really like going into a dark bar. You know those places, the ones where you know not the weather outside or the time of day unless you care to, a place where you can enjoy your drink until such time you need to leave.

As I mentioned in my story in this month's Oregon Beer Growler on the festival, one of the things that makes it unique is that festival founder Steve Woolard seeks out the new, smaller and perhaps less well known vendors that are interested in personally manning their booths in order to tell their story and introduce their products to attendees. On the beer side of things that includes:

• Just-open Coin Toss Brewing who is pouring Black Hole CDA and George's Honest Ale (brewed based on a "recipe" from George Washington's journal and using molasses, 6-row pale and Cluster hops)
• Krauski's Brewski's, the brewing portion of The Hoppy Brewer in Gresham, who is pouring The Poacher Imperial CDA and The Plunger Triple IPA

An inclusive festival, there's also wine, mead, distilled spirits and a variety of food. While I'd seen Nectar Creek (mead) before and I'm pretty sure I've had some of their products I enjoyed the heck out of both the Sting (ginger) and Brood (raspberry) they're pouring. Neither is of the sticky sweet variety and the ginger in particular I could see appealing to white wine drinkers. The company was started by a pair of brothers, one of which has a background in beekeeping and has allowed them to cultivate direct relationships with the beekeepers they source the raw, unfiltered Oregon honey they use in their meads from. They recently swept the Dry Session Mead category at the Mazer Cup International, equivalent to beer's GABF, and rightfully so from the tastes I enjoyed.

Moving further afield from my regular drinking habits I tried wines from Cooper Ridge Vineyard & Winery who just started selling wine this year after starting their vineyard in 2008. Their tasting room, where their wines will be available exclusively, will open on Mother's Day in Roseburg. A slightly less new kid on the block, Hood Crest Winery, started six years ago and was open by appointment only but starting next weekend will have regular weekend hours that will expand as summer progresses. They've just started working with a distributor so their wines can be found at select locations in Portland. Trying wines from both wineries was good continuing education for this beer drinker.

There are also plenty of tasty treats including my favorite vendor Cypress Grove Chevre and Melting Pot Candy. English toffee is one of their specialties and for those who like a bit of spice in their sweet, the Jalapeno Almond is subtle and awesome. And you know those warm, roasting nuts you find at many beer festivals? Well, they make a Cinnamon Pecan Milk that taste just like they smell.

The Spring Beer & Wine Fest offers something for everyone so grab some friends and head on down today!

Spring Beer & Wine Fest
Friday, April 3 & Saturday, April 4th
Oregon Convention Center

New to Me: Spring Beer & Wine Fest

Heathen Brewing Transcend IPA

This year marks the 20th Annual Spring Beer & Wine Fest but for me it was brand new. Why hadn't I gone before? There are a few reasons.

1. It's held indoors and unless there are valid weather reasons preventing a festival being outdoors, that's a bit of a turn off for me.
2. This will sound snobbish but it's a beer and wine festival. Since I'm only interested in the beer part, there will be a lot of it that I will ignore.
3. So often there are just so many things going on that one has to pick the one thing that is the most interesting.

Lake Chelan Gold Hard Cider

What got me to finally go was that a friend had a pre-purchased ticket unexpectedly available at the last minute. Since I didn't have something else I'd already committed to doing I thought, why not? An afternoon of wandering around, drinking beer with friends and nibbling on cheese, chocolate and other samples isn't a half bad way to while away some time.

Dick's Raspberry Belgian Triple

Getting past the fact that the fest is held indoors, it was well laid out with the various "factions" intermingled, encouraging attendees to wander all over instead of just sticking to the beer section or the wine section. I tended to try things from the smaller, out of the Portland metro breweries that I hadn't had many or any beers from before. While I can't say that I found any new diamonds in the rough I certainly enjoyed the experience.

Krauski's Brewskis Powder Stash Imperial Pale

Just before leaving there was a cider panel on the Culinary Stage featuring Abe of Cider Riot, Nat of Reverand Nat's, Daisy of Finnriver and Jeff (I think) of Portland Cider. It was great to hear a bit more about each company and be able to put a story and a face to the company name, something that I suspect will stick with me the next time I'm perusing a cooler of ciders.

Cider Panel

My first experience to this fest was good enough that if someone mentions they're going next year I'll probably see about joining them. Have you been? What are your thoughts on this fest?