Hop Press: Mirror Pond test beers and Zwickelmania
Over on the Hop Press this weekend I wrote about a couple of (overdue) items: test beers of Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery, and the local Zwickelmania wrap-up.
Not too long ago Deschutes started a new online marketing project for members of their Bitter Truth newsletter (the email edition): the “Deschutes Brewery Advisory Board.” At first I thought this was a (rather brilliant) segmented email list where users who would join (like I did) would fill out the occasional survey and receive advance notices of news items. However, right out of the gates they are living up to the name: several weeks ago I received an email to the Board indicating that the first 120 responders would be able to participate in a taste test of two different batches of Mirror Pond Pale Ale.
And:
Last Saturday was Oregon’s statewide Zwickelmania event, where breweries opened their doors to the public for special brewery tours and extras. This year was the first that I actually participated in, and we visited three of Bend’s breweries: Deschutes, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, and Bend Brewing Company—and I was very impressed with all three.
Free beer, name-checking and a couple of pictures from Zwickelmania: good stuff.