Green Lakes Organic Ale: The Brewery loves this beer, even though it’s more problematic to brew than other beers—due to it’s certified organic status. For instance, not only do the ingredients need to be certifiably organic (or at minimum in the case of hops, salmon safe), but they have to properly prep the equipment before brewing to remove the residue of previous (non-organic) batches—things like vacuuming out the grain conveyors.

Twilight Ale: The breakout summer seasonal—actually one of Deschutes’ most popular seasonals—the hop schedule for Twilight is most interesting. They want to get lots of hop flavor and aroma into the beer without making it bitter like an IPA (“clean” beers are what the Brewery strives for), so to get that with Twilight there is hardly any first-hopping (merely 4 pounds per 150 gallons), no second-hopping, and a ton of third hopping (finishing and aroma hops). And then more hops are added to the whirlpool (the stage where they’re separating hops from the wort).

More to read at the link.

Last week’s Hop Press article has a bit more backstory.

This review is about a month late, as the Silipints were on backorder—so those folks (like us) who had completed the Ale Trail already were on a waiting list. Visit Bend finally got them in just over a week ago.

They’re pretty interesting drinking vessels; we plan to take them camping in a couple of weeks and I expect they’ll be perfect for it.

In other Bend area news…it was confirmed through a city employee that New Belgium Brewing has applied and been granted a permit to start a production facility in Bend. According to sources, the facility will be used mostly for canning the Fort Collins, Colorado based brewery’s beer. This news came to Brewpublic when the permits were just approved, meaning that this project is still in a very early development phase.

The Bend area can also see two other new breweries coming its way. Also in early development stages, Bend can expect Noble Brewing and Copper Mountain Brewing to open facilities some time in the next year. If this happens, we may consider voting for Bend as Beer City USA in the next Charlie Papazian poll.

Color me both chagrined and intrigued.

Hey Angelo and Margaret… next time you’re in town, shoot me an email and let me buy you a beer!

Reviewing a beer is a unique exercise–different than tasting it on one’s own or judging it for a competition. A review is a communication that depends on a series of assumptions. When you review a beer, you are taking into account more than just the elements of style. You’re trying to figure out where the beer fits in the context of the market–how does it compare to other beers; what does it add to the public conversation; what will people used to drinking other similar beers think? Many reviewers opt for the homebrew-judge model, or a purely descriptive one, but when I read reviews, I like a little more context.

Start with Part one, Tasting, then read Part two, Assessing, and finally read Part three, Describing.

I tend to review beers via the “tasting notes” method which I think misses a lot of the larger context Jeff is describing in this series. In general that’s just the way my mind works, though as I’m drinking the beer there is always more reflection and rumination that almost never makes it into my notes (and subsequent reviews).

Of course, my reviews therefore tend to drift into the “dry” territory; I should probably start to practice what Jeff is preaching…

Starting on June 1st, you can use the Bend Ale Trail Map and Passport available in the latest Discovery Map of Central Oregon to discover Bend’s 7 breweries – and for extra credit, head to our neighboring brewery in Sisters to visit the 8th! Be sure to get your passport stamped at each location. When you get all 7 stamps, stop by or send your completed passport to the Visit Bend Welcome Center and receive a commemorative Bend Silipint made especially for beer drinkers on the go! And, if you do your extra credit and visit Sisters, you’ll receive a special surprise. [From the official website]

The work is underway to make Bend a Beer Destination (in addition to the other Destinations it’s accused of). Perhaps a Bend Beer Week will be next?

Good news! Beernews.org broke the story earlier this month that the Conference is a go!

It’s taking place in Boulder, Colorado from November 5th through 7th (Friday through Sunday). There is room for about 150 people and there is already a skeleton of an agenda posted; here are some more details:

Who Should Attend

• Citizen Bloggers who write about beer or the beer industry.
• Industry Bloggers who have a blog related to their brewery or other beer industry business.
• New Media Innovators who work in the world of blogging and social media.
• Beer Industry members who would like to learn about new media or interact with bloggers in attendance.

Cost, Payment, Cancellation, and What is Included

The cost of the conference is $95 for citizen beer bloggers (those unaffiliated with a business or organization), $195 for industry beer bloggers (those whose blog is affiliated with a brewery, retail store, or other business or organization), and $295 for non-blogger participants (industry, media relations professionals, friends and family, etc). We are able to offer a lower price to citizen bloggers and beer-industry bloggers because it is for these folks our sponsors underwrite the conference. Payment is required in advance by credit card.

The conference includes multiple beer tastings, two dinners, and outstanding content. Not included in the conference price are your hotel and transportation to and from Boulder.

I’m in, in some way, shape or form.

Long-time readers will remember that I’ve reviewed the Pelican before—way back in 2006—and I’m happy to report that it’s just as good as ever. But lest you think that the Pelican is the only place to find good beer in Pacific City (of all places!), go read the second part of my article—you may be surprised.

One style that didn’t make my overview but cropped up in comments: Coffee beers (particularly Stouts and Porters). Do they qualify as a uniquely American style? I’m not sure, but I think it’s worth discussing.

Game Day comes in two varieties. Game Day Light is 3.9 percent alcohol by volume and 110 calories per 12 ounces. Game Day Ice is 5.5 percent alcohol and 155 calories. The price is between $6.99 and $8.99 for a 12-pack, depending on local taxes and distribution costs, and 24-ounce singles are available for between $1.49 and $1.89.

The beer is being made by the 150-year-old City Brewery in La Crosse, Wis., one of the country’s largest contract brewers.

With names like “Light” and “Ice” it’s pretty clear what market segment they’re going after. But, I’d still try both just to see.

For example:

WSJ: Could craft beer ever represent the biggest segment of the industry?

Mr. Koch: No. I hope not. Because that would mean we dumbed the beer down for volume, and I don’t ever want to see that. I used to say I make beer for 5% of beer drinkers. The reality has always been that 95% of beer drinkers don’t like my beer. Now, that number has probably gone down to 90%. Because most people drink beer for refreshment, and that’s fine. And that’s the domain of the big brewers and they’re great at that.

Also: a secret project with Weihenstephan.

Prickly Pear Braggot. Our friends Paul and Sandi brought this one over last weekend, and I’m pretty sure it’s the first commercial beer I’ve seen that is a Braggot (also Paul’s contention) and/or is brewed with prickly pear fruit. (A Braggot is essentially half mead, half beer—that is, it’s brewed with roughly equal portions of honey and barley malt.)

It’s a 10% ABV sipper, with a airy fruit character over a sweet and lightly-hopped body. Definitely interesting, and I’ll need to try another bottle for a longer review, but I suggest getting to the beer store and picking this up if you can. You may not run into another Braggot again outside of homebrewing circles.

…And no, we didn’t drive through Truckee (home of Fifty Fifty Brewing), we drove through Reno instead. Yes, there are some breweries there but we didn’t make any other beer stops other than what was in Tahoe itself. But those were pretty good.

My hops are starting to sprout—today’s the first day I noticed them and some of the buds are already about an inch tall. That’s a promising start around here.

We’re also heading into spring break here in Oregon: the kids are out of school and blogging is going to be light around here over the next week or so because I’ll be taking some time away from the computer as well. So that means no “Theme Week” this month (unless you want to call it “Spring Break Week”).

I’ll probably queue up some posts to run occasionally during the week to keep it a little interesting though. At least one.

In the meantime, get outside and enjoy the nice weather while you can. Unless it’s cold where you are, in which case stay inside and enjoy some warming beers. Bocks are a good choice this time of year.

Homebrewed Coconut Cream Stout. Hope you’re all drinking something equally delicious.