Tag: Portland

Posted on

5 Questions with Geoff Phillips of Bailey’s Taproom

1. What is your approach to recommending beers to people who ask, “What do you think is good?” or the other variations on the “you choose for me” theme?
That is usually one of the more frustrating questions, because there isn’t one beer that everyone will like (I might think it’s great, you might think it’s great, but they might not think it’s great). I really try to get some feedback from them as to what flavors or styles they like. We try to keep a wide variety of styles, and we have the opportunity to turn people on to these styles they may have never heard of.

2. What did you learn about running a craft beer bar that took you by surprise?
That we were really able to just sell beer and pretty much nothing else. We were going to do sandwiches, and we had chocolate and cheese going for a while too, but the beer sales were going so well that we were able to cut out all food and focus on what we wanted to do, bring in really good beers.

3. What beer style do you think is under appreciated at the moment?
Not sure. I would probably say some kind of German lager. Most breweries seem to skip almost all German styles, especially Lagers. There are definitely economic reasons for why brewers decide not to do lagers, but it would be nice to see more of them.

4. What beer has really found an audience that you thought might not? And conversely, which sure thing didn’t pan out like you thought it would?
I’m pretty sure all beer will have an audience, as long is it is made well. I’ve had a couple of mint beers on recently, the flavor isn’t working for me, but there have been plenty of people that have been really enjoying them.
4b. Not positive I know what the question is, but I’ll give it a go. There have been a couple of beers that we’ll put on and I’ll think is amazing, but it doesn’t sell well. Usually I think it is because it came from one of the larger craft breweries. There are definitely a lot of people that think New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Widmer and the like, can’t produce a good beer, and that is very frustrating.

5. What do you think of the recent surge in brewery openings? (Migration, Coalition, Mt. Tabor)
I think it is great. I don’t think there is a saturation point yet. I think most of these brewpubs are just setup as your local tavern, that just so happens to also make their own beer, seems good to me. If I had a small brewpub or a regular bar, with the same beers that every other bar in town has, right next to my house, I’m going to the small brewpub.

Posted on

Blackbeery Sour

I posted a few weeks back about the opening of the eastside and sour Cascade Barrel House. Now they have “Facebooked” this info: “Beck Berry has been released! This blend of tripels and strong blondes were lacticly fermented and aged more than a year with blackberries in oak. We then did a secondary inoculation with a recently isolated plumbers strain of Brett called Beckamoyces Aasskraquii. Some sour cherries were blended in to give this beer some pucker.”

Posted on

Untitled with no style

Upright Brewing of Portland is really following their own path. First they numbered their beers and now they are making “style-less” beers.

They say it better, “Upright specializes in farmhouse-inspired brews which are historically working man’s beers and so in the vein of the Punk Rock Warlords who wrote and played music for the poor and disenfranchised, we have decided to leave this brew both nameless and style-less and open to the interpretation of the thinking mans yob’s.”

Posted on

Saraveza beertenders + Upright Brewing =

One day I will have a beer named after me!

“Saraveza beertender, Tyler Vickers, and beertender turned manager, Jonathan Carmean, are well loved among their patrons and fellow industry pals…(really, what’s not to love?!?) Recently, they’ve received the ultimate props from local favorite, Upright Brewing. Named Tyler the Elder and Jonathan the Younger, these tribute beers will be found at Saraveza on Wed. Oct. 13th, with the man at Upright, Alex Ganum himself!”

Posted on

a Cascadian Twist

Laurelwood has a new beer that caught my eye…

Cascadian Kolsch

“A Northwest rendition of a German classic ale. Crisp malty flavor and a clean finish is a nod to the Noble hops with which it is brewed. The heavy handed dry hopping with Citra hops finishes this beer with a Northwest kick. This is the first beer developed and brewed by brewer Nick Phelps. Raise a glass of this treat to celebrate the kick off of fall.”

Posted on

get your sour beer here…

Here is the press release with all of the pertinent info:
“PORTLAND, ORE. – Sept. 27, 2010 – For nearly a year, sour beer lovers all over the Northwest have anxiously awaited the opening of the Cascade Brewing Barrel House, and the wait is finally over. Located at 939 SE Belmont St., the Cascade Barrel House will open its doors to the public at 11 a.m. today.

Situated in a former produce warehouse built in 1947, the Cascade Brewing Barrel House is divided into two sides. The west side of the building features 5,000 square-feet with a loading dock, barrel room, cooler and workspace. At a temperature of 65-degrees, the barrel room is specially designed to cultivate the Lactobacillus bacteria that give these brews their distinctive sour tang. The barrel room has the capacity to hold up to 350 barrels; currently, the space holds more than 250 French oak and Kentucky Bourbon barrels filled with wheats, blondes, quads, reds, browns and porters.

On the east side is a 2,100 square-foot tasting room with seating for 90 inside, plus seasonal seating for another 80 out front when the weather is nice. There are 18 beers on tap, a dozen of which are dedicated to Cascade’s award-winning sour beers, with another two taps reserved for sour beers from barrels tapped directly through the cooler wall. These select barrels will be tapped every Tuesday at 6 p.m., giving the public the opportunity to taste sour beer straight from the wood. The remaining five taps pour Cascade’s mainstream beers. The current tap list includes two of the brewery’s most sought-after beers – 2009 Great American Beer Festival award-winners Bourbonic Plague and Vlad the Imp Aler. The beer list is continually updated on its website’s homepage.

According to Cascade brewmaster Ron Gansberg, “I’m thrilled and gratified to see the Barrel House finally open. This gives people a new option for a beer experience. Sour beers are an intense sensory experience, on par with very hoppy beers, and we feature more sour beers on tap than any other place I know of.”

To complement the beers, the Cascade Brewing Barrel House features a limited menu of small plates, nuts, sandwiches, salads and soups. The ingredients are all local, including a cheese plate from Willamette Valley Cheese and a charcuterie plate with smoked salamis and sausages from the Original Bavarian Sausage deli in Tigard. Other menu highlights include peppered cashews, hummus with house made crackers, bacon tapenade, baked potato salad and a baked chicken sandwich.

All of Cascade’s beers continue to be brewed at Cascade Brewing, located at 7424 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy in Portland. Art Larrance, who has been involved in Oregon’s craft beer industry since its inception, established Cascade Brewing in 1998. Larrance co-founded one of the state’s first microbreweries, Portland Brewing, as well as the Oregon Brewers Festival, which today is one of the world’s preeminent craft beer festivals. He currently owns and operates the Raccoon Lodge and Brew Pub on Portland’s west side, where Cascade Brewing operates out of the ground floor.

The Cascade Brewing Barrel House is open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Minors are allowed daily to 10 p.m. For more information, call 503-265-8603. “

Posted on

Lucky Labrador Mutt IPA

I love quirky ideas that grow big, and one of these is the dog friendly Lucky Labrador.

They have taken it a step further by having a IPA made with a bunch of different hop varietals and calling it MUTT. Brilliant in my book. They grow hops at a couple (maybe more now) of their locations and get more from friends of the brewery and it becomes this communal hop pickin’ party that ends up in a brilliant IPA a few months after.

Posted on

Cheese Bar Portland

Yes, cheese goes great with beer (and vice-versa). So why not visit one of the most sought after cheesemongers in beer soaked Portland.

“We have a rotating menu of sandwiches, salads, soup, baked cazuelas, and cheese and meat plates. We have 6 rotating beer taps, bottled beer, and wine to enjoy here or to go. Menu items incorporate local and seasonal ingredients. Our focus is on food that is beer and wine friendly.”

You don’t have to sacrifice good food for craft beer.