Here is the Oregon beer news for Wednesday, February 8th, 2012. As usual, I will be periodically updating this news post throughout the day, so if you have some news of interest to share, please contact me and I can get it updated.
Ezra at the New School reports that the much-sought-after Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewing is landing in Oregon today, at Higgins Restaurant in Portland: “Always the first to tap the keg in Portland, it seems Higgins Restaurant in downtown Portland has done it again and will be tapping its super fresh keg of the Younger tomorrow, Wednesday, February 8th, at about 4pm. Higgins reports it only took 47 minutes for the keg to blow last year, so get there quick.”
Full Sail Brewing (Hood River): They are all set to release the latest in their Brewer’s Share Experimental series, “Dan’s Satin Stout”—a 5.2% abv creamy nitro stout with wildflower honey added. There will be a Meet the Brewer event on Thursday, February 16th from 5pm to 6:30 to celebrate the release of the beer, and Full Sail is doing some cool charity work along with this series: “With each Brewer’s Share Experimental series beer, Full Sail picks a local charity to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the beer. Dan has chosen to support Hospice of the Gorge so every keg of Dan’s Satin Stout benefits this organization whose mission is to compassionately support patients and families through the end of life process.”
Last week I received a six-pack of the latest offering in the Shock Top lineup: Shock Top Wheat IPA. The Shock Top line is one of the Anheuser-Busch “craft” beer arms, and the brand revolves around a Belgian Wit (or “White”) style of beer (in the same vein as Coors and their Blue Moon series); in addition to the main Shock Top Belgian White, they also produce a Raspberry Wheat and a Pumpkin Wheat—and now, a Wheat IPA.
What “Wheat IPA” actually means in this case is “Belgian IPA” as it marries a Belgian Wit style of beer with (usually) an American-style IPA hop and (usually) strength profile; it’s a style that’s not only been coming out of Belgium but is also being popularized here in the States by the likes of Stone Brewing’s Cali-Belgique, Deschutes Brewery’s Chainbreaker White IPA, Great Divide‘s Belgica, and others.
And it’s such an unlikely style for an A-B craft arm to brew that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try it.
Shock Top Wheat IPA is 5.8% abv, and no idea what the IBUs are.
Appearance: Orange color, honey-like, hazy from the (recommended) swirled pour. Fluffy, substantial head.
Smell: Has that nice summery Wit aroma of coriander and sweet orange peel, with a touch of estery fruitiness. Mellow.
Taste: Interesting blend of Wit and earthy English-style IPA; neither really dominates. The “Wit” aspect is dampened and tempered by a gentle earthy bitterness—not terribly hoppy but quite a bit moreso than most A-Bs. Finishes clean and a bit muted.
Mouthfeel: Between light and medium-bodied, with a bit of a sharp edge to it.
Overall: Decent, a bit different, I’ll give A-B props for doing one like this. I don’t know if it quite hits the mark but it’s drinkable and not harsh (which I think could happen to any example of this style).
Here’s the beer news in Oregon for Tuesday, February 7th. As usual, I’ll be updating this post throughout the day so if you have some news you’d like to share, please contact me and I can get it updated.
If you were planning to attend the NinkasiBrewer’s Dinner for the Civil Liberties Defense Center at The Granary in Eugene tonight, be aware that it has been postponed; no word on why the event had to be postponed but if you’d like to know when they event will be rescheduled you can contact CLDC directly.
Planning has begun for this year’s Corvallis Beer Week, and this year the CBW takes place from September 10th through the 16th (Monday through Sunday). Mark your calendars and plan accordingly!
The second of the two beers I received from Widmer last week is their latest offering in their Rotator IPA series, Spiced IPA. This one has an interesting provenance, as it is (as far as I know) the first collaboration beer Widmer has brewed with a homebrew club that isn’t the Oregon Brew Crew; the recipe for the unusual beer originated with the homebrew club, QUAFF out of San Diego.
Widmer explains:
In the spirit of collaboration, we teamed up with San Diego’s Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity, or QUAFF for short, to brew Spiced IPA, a beer that offers an intriguing twist on the West Coast’s favorite style. Blending familiar flavors with unexpected ingredients, this hop-forward yet balanced IPA is brewed with malty assam black tea, ginger, cinnamon, clove, star anise, black pepper, and cardamom. The beer and the spices come together, much like the brewers behind it, to create on amazing brew.
Essentially the beer is spiced with a complex, chai-like tea—combining the black tea and spices to high effect, and in fact as part of the gimmick of the PR package I received, there was included a bag of what is essentially this tea mix for which I could brew up tea with, and get a sense of how the spices would present normally. (Similar to having a bag of loose hops on hand to smell, taste, and so on.)
Spice IPA finished out at 7% alcohol by volume. It’s also new enough that I’m not sure it’s hit the shelves yet.
Appearance: Crystal clear copper-golden color, with a fine series of bubbles rising to feed the off-white head.
Smell: Black tea along with light citrus hops; other spicing that reminds me of cloves, orange peel, sweet tea; cotton candy hops.
Taste: Bitter-forward flavors that combine resiny hop stems with strong black tea and some fruity notes. Very earthy and maybe a touch of tobacco. Very interesting and characterful, lots of layers (though “tea” is the predominant essence for me).
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a spicy, earthy, bitter aftertaste.
Overall: I keep sipping to explore the spicing, it’s earthy and complex and much more “savory” than “culinary” (or dessert-y) which definitely is appropriate for this style… assuming this is a “style”…
Happy post-Super Bowl Monday! Did you all unlock the “Brew Bowl XLVI” badge on Untappd? Back to work today… and here’s the news for February 6th. I’ll be updating this post throughout the day, so please contact me if you have news to share.
The Broken Top Bottle Shop is now open in Bend—in fact they opened Saturday late afternoon to a large, eager crowd. We stopped in for dinner and beers, and we very impressed overall; there were a few opening night snafus but all were entirely understandable. They are going to be a valuable addition to Bend’s craft beer scene.
McMenamins Edgefield (Troutdale): They are continuing to showcase the distillery/brewery connection this month with their limited edition tasting coming up this Thursday the 9th, featuring “The Widowmaker”: “Shortly after Halloween, we filled a freshly emptied Hogshead Whiskey barrel from our own Edgefield Distillery with a limited-release Black Widow Porter. For a month, the complex flavors of this wicked ale mingled with the whiskey barrel, resulting in a beer that marries the two — it is sublimely full-flavored with plenty of whiskey aroma and flavor, coupled with hints of vanilla and oak.” The tasting starts at 5pm and lasts until the beer is gone; in addition you can get tastings of the Edgefield Distillery’s Hogshead Whiskey along with The Widowmaker, and the brewers and distillers will be on-hand to answer questions about it.
Here is the Oregon beer news for Wednesday, February 8th, 2012. As usual, I will be periodically updating this news post throughout the day, so if you have some news of interest to share, please contact me and I can get it updated.
Last week I 
The second of the two beers I 
