Girl Scout Cookie Pairing 2021

We're still here even though it's been quite some time since the last post. And even though the pandemic may have cancelled a lot of things, it didn't cancel Girl Scout cookie season and our annual beer pairing. Per usual, Chris sourced the cookies. Then he graciously divvied them up for a COVID-safe handoff/tasting last Saturday at The BeerMongers. We both started with a draft of StormBreaker Brewing Eagle Fang All-Valley style (shout out to SB for the awesome Cobra Kai reference). We agreed that the moderately hopped IPA was a nice pairing with Lemon Ups cookies that enhanced the hop flavor.

 

After the IPA, Chris took his Girl Scout cookie pairing down a dark, delicious alley with Oskar Blues Brewery 2019 Ten Fiddy. Here he found one of the new cookies for this year, French Toast, to be a great pairing. The cinnamon in the cookie was just the right amount, steering clear of being weird with the complexity of the beer. Also tasty were the chocolate and peanut butter Tagalongs. Last, and possibly best, were the S'mores. If you haven't had these sandwich cookies they provide a surprisingly facsimile of what actual s'mores taste like without the work of building a fire and toasting marshmallows.

 

Next up Chris went another completely different direction with Double Nickel Dot Matrix kettle sour blackberry and raspberry. He found it paired nicely with the gluten-free (not that there's anything wrong with that) Toffee-tastic and I enjoyed it with the new-this-year Toast-yay! French toast-inspired cookie as well as Lemon-ups. We both agreed that the standout pairing was the Thin Mints. One of the OG cookies, it was like putting mint and raspberry in lemonade.

 

The Girl Scout cookie pairing continued with Baerlic Brewing Co. Sundowner Black Lager. While it didn't work with the Thin Mints, it provided balance to: the Toast-yay! (offsetting the sweetness), the Samoas (especially for those who are not coconut fans) and the Lemon-up (dark to the citrus flavor).

 

Two beers that were more challenging to pair with the Girl Scout cookies were Little Beast Brewing Tiger Team IPA and Block 15 Brewing Co. Ridgeback Red. Not ones to back down from a challenge, Chris found a match for Tiger Team with Lemon-ups, the lemon really popping out. And I decided that the creamy peanut butter and chocolate flavors of the Tagalongs were copacetic with the Ridgeback Red. The abbreviated pairing, while maybe not ideal for "scientific" purposes certainly produced less of a sugar hangover than we've subjected ourselves to in previous years.

5th Annual Brewstillery Festival

Brewstillery, the beer and spirits pairing festival from StormBreaker Brewing, kicks off its fifth year this Saturday, February 23 offering 22 beer and spirits pairings to attendees. The festival is something founders Dan and Rob had in mind from the beginning with Dan saying that they wanted to provide “an opportunity for people to try things they wouldn’t usually try.” We’ve certainly found that to be true every time we have attended and again recently when we had a chance to preview some of the pairings.

Both the beer and spirits lineups are diverse and wide ranging. From sours to IPAs to porters on the beer side and rums to whiskeys to liqueurs on the spirits side, it’s likely that even the most seasoned drinkers will come away from the festival having tried something new to their palate.

We don’t want to give away all the festival’s secrets but here are a few of the pairings that hit the mark with us.

Amigos e Amigas (Pono Three Amigos + Engenho Bruiti Dona Branca)

Three Amigos is a Mexican-style Lager made with a touch of agave to bring out the slight sweetness in this cane spirit from Brazil. We loved the overall light, simplicity of this pairing and highly recommend it as one of, if not the first, pairing festival goers try.

The Filbert in the Rye (Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar + Rogue Oregon Rye Malt Whiskey)

Back in the day Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown was one of our favorite beers. Since then our palates have matured and we are generally far less enamored with it than in the past. In this pairing, with Rogue’s spirit arm of the company providing Rye Malt Whiskey, the beer returns to some of its old glory.

Brewstillatron (StormBreaker Peter Hazel-rial Brewstillery 5 IPA + Rose City Citrus Vodka)

It’s no secret that we’re fans of IPAs and their sub-group hazy IPAs. While we enjoyed this beer on its own, the vodka trumped it in terms of citrus goodness. Together the two play off one another with the combination being slightly botanical and definitely delicious.

Wild Basin (Wild Ride Laughing Face Imperial Coconut Porter + New Basin Light Strong Whiskey)

This pairing is best described as “vacation in a glass” and not surprisingly with the use of an imperial coconut porter, is dessert-like. One of the few pairings we preferred boilermaker-style, save this until towards the end of the festival to sip upon and savor.

In addition to offering imbibers a unique pairing experience, the event benefits Dollar For Portland, an organization that assists those with financial burdens due to medical and hospital debt, and Sierra Nevada’s Resilience IPA, with StormBreaker’s one-of-a-kind Westward Whiskey barrel-aged version.

Tickets for the one-day event are available online until 10 am the day of the festival and for you, dear readers, at a price of $20 when you use the code “beerandwhiskey5” for general admission; $40 for VIP when you use the code “brewstileryVIP5”.

General admission: festival beer tasting glass and 10 tickets with Noon entry

VIP: festival beer tasting glass, festival whiskey snifter, 15 tickets and 11 am entry to mingle with brewers/distillers

5th Annual Brewstillery Festival

StormBreaker on Mississippi

Saturday, February 23 Noon - 8pm

Beer Cocktails: Oktoberfest & Vodka Edition

This year we've been getting more exposure to liquor and the experiences have opened our eyes and palates. We're not afraid to admit that the hard stuff has been intimitating, probably not too dissimilar to when we started drinking craft beer. What is actually good? What is worth the cost? What do we enjoy?

One of our partners on this exploration has been Annebelle, who has a great palate, a taste for cocktails and an eye for presentation. We came up with the idea to try our hand at making beer cocktails, getting together on a monthly basis to test out various combinations of a designated liquor and a style of beer each time. And while having more cooks in the kitchen isn't the best of plans, having another set of taste buds for our experimenting seemed prudent. Insert Lee who has a wealth of experience with tipples - being a mead maker, brewer and distiller - and is just as adventurous as we are.

Since fall is here it felt fitting to use Oktoberfests for the beer style and being our first go around, we chose one of the easier liquors to mix - vodka. What we came up with were a handful of cocktails, that may be subject to a bit more refining in the future, but we quite enjoyed and felt were worth sharing.

Fest-bier-tini
- Occidental Festbier
- Olde York Farm micro batch ramp vodka from Hudson, NY
- pickle brine
- lemon juice
- togarishi, salt, sugar, cayenne rim
- lemon slice and pickle garnish
All of the splashiness of a cocktail visually, this creation used a special vodka Lee hand carried back from a trip out east and a house-made version of togarishi in the rimming mixture. Reminiscent of a Bloody Mary in flavor without the heaviness from tomato juice.

Red Oktobier
- StormBreaker Stomtoberfest
- Belvedere vodka
- Apeol
- orange bitters
- lime garnish
Light and bright were the first words that came to mind upon trying this negroni-inspired beer cocktail. Using Apeol, similar to Campari but with a lower ABV, and beer made for a less bracing cocktail and the bitters filled in for Vermouth. 

Hipster Beerlini
- StormBreaker Stormtoberfest
- New Deal vodka
- peach juice
- peach slice garnish
A bellini can be a simple cocktail, just sparkling wine and peach juice or schnapps, and it's that simplistic take that we used to create our cocktail. Drawing on the beer for the carbonation sparkling wine would contribute we balanced the sweetness of the juice with just enough vodka to keep it feeling cocktail-ish. Using a perfectly ripe peach slice as garnish conjured up the aroma of being in the orchard at the height of harvest. 

Passion of the Beerlini
- StormBreaker Stormtoberfest
- New Deal vodka
- Amoretti passion fruit puree
- La Croix passionfruit
- lime
- muddled red raspberries
Taking the inspiration of a bellini further afield, we switched from peach to passion fruit for the juice component and added to the carbonation with flavored sparkling water. Muddling red raspberries gave it a rich color, with the lime providing a citrus brightness.

Although we had decided to make our concoctions with Oktoberfest beers and vodka after a few attempts with Spaten's beer we agreed whiskey was the way to go with it. Thus the final cocktail to come out of this installment uses a local whiskey and a majority local ingredients.
Go Westward, Spaten
- Spaten Oktoberfest
- House Spirits Westward whiskey
- Raft Botanicals smoked tea vanilla
- orange bitters
- The Barreled Bee whiskey barrel-aged honey rim
- orange peel

Stay tuned for the next installment!

2nd Annual Radler Fest

Dude. It's HOT. And while we're happy to quench our heat-induced thirst with refreshing, delicious craft beer the radler line up for Saturday's 2nd Annual Radler Fest at StormBreaker Brewing sounds even better.

The event will feature radlers from 20+ breweries/cideries that range from 2.4% to 5.5%. We recently had the opportunity to try a handful of the radlers from this sessionable lineup, three featuring beer, two featuring a new canned wine and both of the offerings from Steigl, sponsors of the event. We can't count how many times we've enjoyed Steigl Grapefruit, available almost anywhere, but it's the Zitrone (lemon) that is our favorite from these folks that started it all. Now onto some new ways radlers are being imagined.

We'll start with the wine radlers - Picnic Sparkling Wine Cocktails, a new product from the owners of Bull Run Distillery. Available in 12oz cans with a chardonnay base both the Berry (acai, pomegranite, blueberry) and Citrus (pineapple, lemon, tangerine, peach) versions are a bit on the sweet side for our beer-loving palates but are worth a try, especially for non-beer lovers.

The beer radlers we sampled came from 54° 40', Pono and event host, StormBreaker. 
54° 40' Ginger Lemonade Radler - Starting off with the aroma from the kolsch base, the flavor is a great blend of lemonade and the hand grated ginger that was used.
Pono Purple Stuff - We can't overlook that this is one of the best names, embracing the rad days of years past, and offers a flavor was more complex than the aroma - think Welch's grape juice - suggested. To make their entry for the event, Pono blended Brown Bag Vintage, a beer made with wheat and chocolate rye, Division Wines' Nebbiolo Must and a late addition of Pacific Gem hops, with grape soda. 
StormBreaker Passionately Pineapple - Total ReKolsch is refreshing on its own and finds a perfect partner with passion fruit and pineapple juices for a radler that is reminiscent of a mimosa. 

If your interest has been peaked and you're up for more creative, playful creations like those we tried, put this atop your To Do list for Saturday and get your tickets now!

2nd Annual Radler Fest
Saturday, August 11th 12 - 6pm
StormBreaker Brewing
Tickets: $18 in advance (festival mug and 10 tickets) or $20 at the door (festival mug and 8 tickets)
Additional tasting tickets will be for sale at the event
Kid, dog and designated driver friendly

We Paired Beer With What?!?!

If you've been following our beer adventures for a while you might have figured out we have a thing for pairing beer with some unlikely subjects (like Halloween or Easter candy). Well, hold on to your hats because things are about to get REAL weird.

Resulting out of some beer consumed with a last bit of ice cream, you know, the melt-y stuff at the bottom of your bowl/pint/quart, we rounded up seven varieties of coffee creamer (you heard that right). There were some "regular" flavors - French Vanilla, Hazelnut and Vanilla Caramel - and others that started going further afield - Almond Roca, Bailey's Irish Cream, Peppermint Mocha and Bailey's Mudslide. As is pretty easy to surmise, stouts were the most suitable for pairing.

- Fremont Dark Star imperial oatmeal stout had its 8% ABV mellowed by the Darigold Almond Roca and its roastiness kept the creamer from being too sweet.
- Ten FIDY, the big 10.5% double stout from Oskar Blues, made for a nice sipper with the CoffeeMate Peppermint Mocha.
- StormBreaker Opacus oatmeal stout, clocking in at a sessionable 5%, was the most mixable of the beers, combining nicely with Darigold Vanilla Caramel, Darigold Hazelnut and CoffeeMate Peppermint Mocha. In fact, if you'll be having guests around Christmastime, grab some of that Peppermint Mocha either for use in your glass with some Opacus or in your great aunt's coffee. You won't regret it.
- Pelican Tsunami Stout, of the foreign/export variety, was the most coffee-like and combined with Bailey's Irish Cream for something we'd be delighted to find in our mug on a lazy weekend morning.
- Ale Smith Nut Brown's nutty profile found pairings with both of the nut-flavored creamers - Darigold Almond Roca and Darigold Hazelnut. 

Even more successful than the dark beers, especially if you're looking for something lighter, were three fruit beer/ciders with Darigold French Vanilla. Stiegl Radler was the crowd favorite that when blended with the creamer came out tasting like an orange creamsicle. Why a grapefruit beer should combine with a vanilla milky substance to produce orange is beyond us. This however was a delicious, super low ABV creation.

A close second was Cider Riot! Berry cider, for a "berrysicle" and then interestingly, Lindeman's Peche. Instead of the sourness of the beer clashing, it pleasantly offset the creaminess. Another "you wouldn't think so" combination was the Cider Riot Berry with Darigold Hazelnut. Not assertive enough to be labeled as a pb&j flavor profile, it's the closest thing we can liken it to.

If you've been keeping track you may have noticed that we haven't mentioned what beer went with the Bailey's Mudslide. That's because there weren't any. We found there to be a strange, chemical taste and while we can't confirm the same would be true if it were put in a cup of coffee it seems prudent to simply avoid it. We chalked it up to "you can't know until you try" and the spirit of exploration that we went into this little experiment with.

Thanks to those brave souls that tried these combos out with us - Chris, Sean, Nicole, Caren, Zach and Mike, to name a few!

21 Breweries + 20 Distilleries = Brewstillery 4 Festival

Now in its fourth year StormBreaker's beer and spirit pairing event, Brewstillery, returns this Saturday. For the uninitiated the festival brings together local breweries and distilleries to create perfect pairings - 4oz of beer and 1/4oz of the selected spirit. While we'd encourage you to try at least a couple of them paired, if spirits just aren't your thing or perhaps you'd prefer to try out a bunch of spirits, no problem. Each tasting ticket is good for either a beer pour or spirit taste. How you spend your tickets is completely up to you. 

We recently had the opportunity to try a handful of this year's pairings and are pleased to report that they brought a smile to our beer-loving mouths. So that you can get an idea of what will be offered, here's a recap of what we tried.

Noble's Big Triple: StormBreaker Big Bottom barrel-aged Triple XL IIIPA & Big Bottom Bourbon finished in port casks
Triple IPAs can be hit or miss with us. Too sweet, too hot, there are many ways to screw them up however StormBreaker nailed this 10.5% version. When paired with Big Bottom's 91 proof Bourbon, it tastes closer to 5% and the two are well balanced with the port characteristics in the Bourbon contributing to the smooth finish of the beer.

Nocino Vlad: Cascade Orange Vlad & Stone Barn Nocino
Nocino, a liqueur made from unripe walnuts picked in late June, is one of the few spirits we enjoy outside of a pairing situation. This 60 proof spirit presents with a spicy aroma and finds a wonderful partner in Cascade's 12% Belgian quad that was aged in bourbon barrels with orange peel and coriander. Less sour than many of Cascade's beers, the heavy orange characteristics of the beer make the pairing feel cocktail-like.

Gin Beast: Little Beast Bes tart wheat ale & Rose City Distilling Cricket Club Gin
Gin is our go-to spirit so we were expecting a lot from this pairing and it didn't disappoint. Cricket Club's flavor profile is lemongrass-heavy (but not overly so) which combines pleasantly with the chamomile component of Bes. We agree with Little Beast owner Chuck Porter that this pairing is "a refreshing change to [some of the] heavy beers and liquors" you'll find. 

To Peach Their Own: Ecliptic Carina peach sour ale & Townshend's Bluebird Alpine Liqueur
Bluebird is distilled from spiced apple kombucha, a process which transforms 35-45 gallons of kombucha into 750ml of Bluebird. The result is delightfully herbal, especially when it's made into a cocktail with lemon juice and IPA wort, then topped with Carina. In our opinion, the cocktail is far superior to the sum of its parts.

We hope your interest has been peaked and that you're ready to hit the "buy" button to a festival in which you'll almost never have to wait in line due to the nature of the sampling. If so there are two options available.
#1 VIP
- 11 AM entry
- festival beer glass AND festival whiskey snifter
- 15 tasting tickets
- $45 (buy online by 10 AM on the 24th for $5 off with code brewstillery5OFF)

#2 General Admission
- 12 PM entry
- festival beer tasting glass
- 10 tasting tickets
- $25 (buy online by 10 AM on the 24th for $5 off with code stormbreaker5)

StormBreaker Brewstillery 4 Festival
Saturday, February 24th
823 N Beech Street
11 AM/12 PM - 8 PM

The Best Things We Drank: December 4 - 10

This week's best beers take us from breakfast to the beach.

Fort George City of Dreams - Technically a pale ale, this 5.5% hazy beer makes a great accompaniment to a cup of coffee (trust us, that's how we started football Sunday). What it makes up for in visual appeal in the glass it more than makes up for in citrusy flavor, with an eye-catching label on the 12oz cans to boot. 

If a glass of hop juice is a little to much to start your day with, then this next beer is a great alternative.

StormBreaker Mocabe Lo Sabe - A coffee cream ale made in collaboration with Groundwork Coffee it is smooth and creamy, thanks to the flaked oats. Also clocking in at a morning-appropriate 5.5%, coffee beer lovers should seek this out before it's gone.

Breakfast behind us, grab a towel and let's head to the beach.

Urban Family Island Crusher - A dry-hopped sour with pineapple and Amarillo hops, it starts with the aroma of freshly slathered on cocoa butter and the flavor follows with a pineapple/hop bite. Between the green and yellow of the label and the beer inside we dare you not to imagine being transported to the tropics.

As we approach Christmas and the day drinking it likely entails, consider picking up at least one of these for yourself or to share. Remember, Santa sees all.

Radler Festival This Saturday

Radlers have a long history in German speaking regions and often make a splash in the summer with their 50/50 mix of beer and lemonade or soda. This Saturday the refreshing, low ABV drink will debut as the focus of the 1st Annual Portland Radler Festival at StormBreaker Brewing.

19 breweries and three cideries will be pouring blends that include the traditional lemonade as well as ones using sodas and juices. We had a chance to try some of the radlers earlier this week and they ranged from those that are already commercially available and canned to those that were the result of in-house blending and will be unique to the festival.

One of the ones at the preview we enjoyed most was Hopworks Totally Radler, a beer that we were introduced to at NAOBF a few years ago, and is now available in 16oz cans. It has a pleasant, real lemon juice bite from the organic lemon juice that is blended perfectly with organic HUB Pilsner. (Those who prefer grapefruit to lemon should keep their eyes out as Hopworks will soon be debuting that version in 16oz cans). Just as delicious was the passion fruit flavor of Hi Five Cider Rosemancing the Radler. It's a blend of passion fruit and pink guava cider and rose cordial soda from Portland Soda Works.

Tea lovers should be particularly fond of Oregon Mead and Cider's Lime Ginger Trinity Mead Radler. The name is a mouthful and so is the complex blend of their Trinity mead and the Pearl Soda Company lime ginger soda. Owner Brooks enjoyed the process of creating the radler so much that he's already planning to offer three or four radlers next summer.

Those who prefer a sweeter radler should make a beeline to Zoiglhaus Orange Creamsicle Gose Radler. The blend of brewer Alan Taylor's traditional Gose and orange cream soda smells and tastes exactly like an orange creamsicle that has melted.

Stiegl, one of the event sponsors along with StormBreaker and Hotlips, will have both their Grapefruit and Zitron Radlers at the festival. We've had both multiple times but it was still fun to have them side-by-side, confirming our slight preference for the grapefruit version. As a side note, Portland is the #1 market for it, recently dethroning Chicago.

1st Annual Portland Radler Festival
Saturday, August 12th 12-8pm
StormBreaker Brewing, 832 N Beech St.
Advance tickets $15, at the door $20 (both include tasting mug and 8 tickets)
Full radler lineup

Beer Musing's Picks for PDX Beer Week

Yesterday we looked at the official foods for PDX Beer Week. Today we look at the PDX Beer Week events we're most excited about, most of which also have a food component.

Fruit Beer Festival - Last year was the first year we missed this festival, which temporarily moved across the river. The festival returns to its original home at Burnside Brewing Friday, June 9 - Sunday, June 11 with nearly 30 fruit beers and cider. The Friday session (4-9pm) will offer 20 of those and most likely, a smaller crowd. Ticket options are $20 for a plastic cup + 12 drink tickets OR $25 for a branded glass + 14 tickets and apply to all three days of the festival.

Sweet & Sour Dessert Pop-Up - Taking place at McMenamins 23rd Ave Bottle Shop on Tuesday, June 13, the event features Culmination Peche, Edgefield Dry Hopped Sour and Ruse Noctuary Sour. The three beers will be paired with three delicious desserts from Grains of Wrath Brewing's Chef Fabiola. A limited number of tickets are available for purchase at the Bottle Shop ($16).

Culmination Brewing at the Woodsman Tavern - Also on Tuesday is a beer pairing dinner featuring the PDX Beer Week beer, Hop Berry IPA brewed by Culmination, served with the amuse of Henderson Bay Oysters, along with five other beers and food courses. Tickets are available here for $60.

Sweet & Sour encore - On Wednesday, June 14 Chef Fabiola moves over to Saraveza for a similar event, this time featuring Block 15 Love Potion #9, Fort George 3-Way IPA and Ex Novo Cactus Wins the Lottery.

StormBreaker Beer & Wings Pairing - We haven't yet gotten around to trying StormBreaker's smoked wings but this may just be the push we needed. All day on Thursday, June 15 they are offering five smoked wings, each with a different sauce, paired with five different beer tasters.

Portland Beer & Cheese Fest - We missed this event, which is returning to Culmination for a second year, last year as we were in Silverton taking in the Oregon Garden Beer Fest. In its sixth year the festival take place on Saturday, June 18 and offers 10 beer and cheese pairings carefully selected by our favorite cheesemonger, Steve Jones. In addition to beer and cheese there will be complimentary chocolate and charcuterie samples. General admission ($35) and VIP ($45) tickets here.

Now just because we're excited about these events doesn't mean we'll make it to them all. Just like that letter you sent to Santa as a kid, this is a wish list. We'll see what kind of stamina we have.

The Best Things We Drank: April 3 - 9

This week's Best Things is dominated by fruit but used in a variety of beer styles which kept things interesting (and pretty to boot).

Yachats Salal Sour - Sitting at the top of the heap according to our taste buds is one of the first beers Yachats has bottled. We've known Charlie and Jenna for awhile and are thrilled to see their beers making it up to Portland. This one presents with a tart, fruity aroma and an absolutely gorgeous color. Made with local, wild salal berries (used by the indigenous people of Cascadia for generations) it is a clean, drinkable fruit sour. Keep 'em coming!

StormBreaker Guava Man - "Don't judge a book by the cover" definitely applies to this beer. Looking like cloudy grapefruit juice the appearance belies the delicious flavor, which is in fact pithy as well as hoppy, that is found upon drinking it.

North Coast Tart Cherry Berliner Weisse - We were surprised to see North Coast making this style of beer but couldn't pass up trying it. While we found it to be a bit on the sweet end of the fruit Berliner Weisse spectrum it was very drinkable with a real cherry flavor, the result of using real Michigan Montmorency cherries. Apparently it's a very limited release beer so if you're intrigued and see it you'd better grab it now or  settle for regretting it later.

Modern Times Black House Nitro w/Coffee, Coconut & Cocoa - A take on the brewery's oatmeal coffee stout, there is an impressive amount of flavor - mild coconut, coffee and hop bitterness - packed into its 5.8% ABV. We continue to be impressed with beer after beer from this brewery and are excited to have a newcomer that is so solid in our market.

McMenamins Captain Neon's Mango Double IPA - We loved the colorful can artwork from first glance and were very pleased with the beer inside. At 9%+ ABV it's not surprising that the aroma is somewhat boozy. What may be surprising is that it doesn't drink that heavy. The combination of dry-hopping with Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic and Chinook and use of mango puree creates a yummy, hoppy flavor that may or may not have led to the consumption of multiple cans one evening (under the watchful eyes of Thing 1 and Thing 2).

If you've had any of these beers we'd love to hear what you thought of them. And if you've had anything outstanding you think should be on our radar, let us know.

2 Days, 10 Events (at least)

We have a busy beer weekend coming up with at least 10 beer events taking place, all of which we'd be at if we could clone ourselves. Alas, science still has a long way to go in that area. Thankfully the science of brewing fantastic beer is well developed so make your plans and enjoy!

Friday
Cascade Brewing Sour Fruit Fest - This festival actually kicked off on Wednesday and will run through Sunday, at both the SE Belmont location and the SW Raccoon Lodge. There will be 50 exclusive Cascade fruit sour beers rotating through the festival, 25 daily at Belmont and 10 daily at the Raccoon Lodge. Noon - close daily through Sunday.

Roscoe's Stout Summit - As with all their summits, this one will start Friday and run through the weekend or until the kegs blow. A full tap list is pending but the preliminary list includes some that were at last weekend's Festival of the Dark Arts and others that weren't. Taster trays available. 2pm - Sunday 8pm.

Montavilla Brew Works beer release - Conveniently located just blocks from Roscoe's, the folks at Montavilla are combining the release of their Dark Cherry Porter with the 28th anniversary of Johnny Cash's San Quentin Prison performance. Beer at 3pm, concert showing at 5:30pm.

Three Magnets/Logsdon Tap Takeover at Beer Belly - We'll be honest, we were involved in setting up this event and we want to have great turn out. Beyond that Three Magnets and Logsdon make great beer and this is an opportunity to try over a dozen of beers, many which are difficult to find elsewhere. 4pm - close.

Saturday

Hillsdale Brewfest (aka Battle for the Belt) - This long running festival, now in its 24th year, has been a great time every time we've attended. Yes, it's a McMenamins-only beer festival but this is where you'll see the best of what the brewers at each of the 22 McMenamins locations that are participating can turn out. It's a sample-style format, available by the tray (each tray containing 11 beers) and not only does the winner get bragging rights but also the championship belt. 11am - close.

Zwicklemania beyond Portland - The zwickling continues this weekend, the first time for the Oregon Brewers Guild to have expanded the open house-style event to two weekends. Breweries outside of the Portland metro will be open so if you're in the mood to hop in the car there are plenty of options to choose from. Pick a direction and go. 11am - 4pm

StormBreaker 3rd Annual Brewstillery Festival - We talked about this in detail on Tuesday and you can read that here but the short of it is that there will be 21 beer + spirit pairings. Noon - 8pm (VIP entry at 11am).

Lompoc Black Out Beer Festival - In the 5th edition of this event there will be 25 dark beers - porters, stouts, coffee beers and black IPAs - inside Sidebar and in the heated tent in the adjacent parking lot of Fifth Quadrant. Noon - 10pm.

Triple IPA Fest at N.W.I.P.A. - If big, hoppy beers are your thing, this is the place to be. And if trying all of them is your thing, you're in luck. Beers will be poured in 2oz sizes, up to six at a time. 2pm - midnight.

PDX Bottle Share - Open to anyone, this rotating-location bottle share takes place this time at John's Marketplace in Multnomah Village. The standard "entry fee" is one bottle (typically a 22oz/750ml) and it's a great opportunity to try a variety of beers the generous folks in the beer community have acquired. 2pm

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.

Beer + Spirits = Brewstillery 2 Festival

Regular readers know that I'm a primarily a beer drinker, only occasionally dabbling in other tipples. One of those rare times is for an event like the StormBreaker's 2nd Annual Brewstillery Festival. No stranger to pairings as their regular menu offers eight house beer and whiskey pairings, this Saturday's event goes to an entirely different level with 22 breweries and 21 distilleries participating and a total of 27 pairings available.

Designed to allow people to try more of the pairings (and stay upright) the portions will be sample sized - 1/4oz of each spirit, 4oz of each beer. Even so, 27 is a lot of pairings so you may have to make some decisions, hard decisions because the spirits range from traditional whiskey/bourbon/scotch to gins, flavored vodkas, liqueurs and even absinthe. So, too, do the beers range from the lighter end of things with wits and saisons through IPAs to porters and stouts, all the way to a nearly 13% barleywine.

At a recent preview I was thrilled to find the pairing I was most excited about was being sampled - Wild Ride Nut Crusher Peanut Butter Porter with Bend Distillery Crater Lake Hazelnut Espresso Vodka (made with Sisters Coffee Company coffee). If this sounds sweet, it is. If it sounds decadent, it is. Both the beer and the spirit have incredible aromas and I'd drink as much of this pairing as was available (within reason, of course). A great cold weather duo for sure.

For those who prefer something lighter, something that would be more appropriate in the warmer months, there's Fat Head's Heads or Tails Sour Gin Saison with Big Bottom Barrel Aged Gin. As a sour beer fan in general, this one was right up my alley. The spirit pairing elevated the experience, smoothing out the Saison characteristics of the beer, providing a refreshing contrast to the Wild Ride pairing.

Rather than drag you though more of my amazing preview experience I'll cut it short and encourage you to check out this unique festival. The majority of the pairings will cost two drink tickets, with some three-ticket pairings and two (featuring rare/expensive beers/spirits) five-ticket pairings. Whether you're a diehard beer drinker or someone who regularly enjoys such pairings I feel confident in saying you'll enjoy yourself.

Brewstillery 2 Festival
Saturday, February 27th
12-8pm
StormBreaker Brewing
832 N Beech Street

Advance tickets (online through 9pm Friday):
$25 regular admission (includes 10 tickets)
$50 VIP admission (includes 20 tickets)

At the door:
$30 regular admission (includes 10 tickets)
Additional tickets available for $1 each