Oregon Beer News, 01/13/2016

Oregon BeerHere is the news in beer from around Oregon for Hump Day (“what day is it??”), January 13. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often for updates. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that updated as well.

Gilgamesh Brewing (Salem) is releasing their new beer, The Terry Poter, today with a special bottle signing event featuring ex-Portland Trail Blazer Terry Porter! The event is taking place at their brewery from 5 to 8pm tonight: “Gilgamesh Brewing is overjoyed to present Terry Porter, Wednesday to meet the fans and sign some Terry Porter bottles. Proceeds go Doernbechers Childrens Hospital Foundation! Bottle signing will take place in the brewery starting at 5pm, $20 entry fee gets you a bottle signed by Terry and a chance to meet the Legend himself!”

Also in Salem tonight, McMenamins Thompson Brewery has a beer tasting today (dubbed “Savor in Salem”) from 3 to 5pm featuring Magnuson Strong Ale: “The aroma of this Strong Ale instantly arrives with warm notes of caramel and a low hop profile. Beautiful white lacy head retention is brought forward by the addition of flaked barley. Your palate will be filled with warm flavors of bready caramel, little notes of raisin and mellow hop notes. This is indeed a good beer to keep you warm!”

Belmont Station (Portland) tonight has a tasting with Corvallis’ Flat Tail Brewing from 5 to 7pm: “Taste the full lineup of Flat Tail’s beers! We will also have Flat Tail’s “gluten-enhanced” Nobody Likes Sorghum Imperial Stout on tap for those who are very gluten insensitive to enjoy!”

Saraveza (Portland) is hosting Lagunitas Brewing tonight from 6 to 9pm for a vintage (and fresh) tasting of Lagunitas’ popular Barleywine, The Hairy Eyeball: “We’re pretty big fans of cellaring beers, and the folks of Lagunitas have some 2010 Hairy Eyeball that’s been hidden away in their stash box. They’ll be here pouring tastes from the 2010 bottles and the 2015 bottles so you can compare them side-by-side! We’ll also have a limited number of the 2015 bottles for sale (not the 2010, sorry!), the new One-Hitter beer “Bitter Oats” and an old classic, Lagunitas IPA on draught.”

“Big Ass Beer Month” is continuing today at The Green Dragon in Portland, where the Green Dragon Brew Crew is releasing a big strong beer every Wednesday in January. Today it’s the release of The Truth: “Anyone who promises us the truth better be prepared for a healthy dose of skepticism. But these are our friends from the Green Dragon Brew Crew and their Truth is a barleywine. That’s something we can believe in. The Truth, according to the Brew Crew, was aged for two months in a Rogue Spirits whiskey barrel, then cellared for nearly two years. It has the aroma of stone fruit, dark cherries, toffee, honey, and vanilla oakiness. It features flavors of caramel, oak, and roasted malt which are beautifully balanced with a wonderful touch of sweetness in the finish.” Sounds pretty great! It starts at 5pm.

The Platypus Pub (Bend) is hosting a Guinness tasting tonight from 6 to 8pm: “Nicole Chaffin from Guinness will be here Wednesday at 6:00 for a tasting of some of their new products. We will have the stout on tap and she will be sampling out the Blond American Lager as well as the Nitro IPA.”

13 Virtues Brewing (Portland): They have a new beer introduced yesterday: “Introducing our newest beer: 20 Virtues Coffee Baltic Porter! We added delicious cold brew from Seven Virtues Coffee Roasters to our Baltic Porter. The result is this dark, smooth winner with the perfect amount of coffee flavor. Come try one!”

De Garde Brewing (Tillamook): The Tillamook County Pioneer newspaper has a story today revealing the De Garde will be opening a tasting room and second facility in downtown Tillamook: “[In] August, 2014, they relocated the tasting room from 1909 2nd Street to the Port of Tillamook Bay where they could set up shop in larger quarters and expand production to meet growing demand for their beer. However, with the recent purchase of the former NAPA Auto Parts building at 114 Ivy Avenue, de Garde owner Hamacher and head brewer Rogers are planning to relocate their tasting room back to the city’s commercial core, hopefully in early fall. The space will also include a production area, and storage for their oak barrels, although they plan to continue some production at the Port property.” Good moves all around, great to see this unique brewery growing as fast as they are.

McMenamins Crystal Ballroom (Portland) has what I think is a new beer tasting series, a tasting paired with a concert taking place tonight at Lola’s Room: the band is Black Breath and the beer is the CDA of Cain. “This event will surround one of these intensely creative offerings. Come down to Lola’s for a night of dark metal & an even darker brew. Always stoked to delve into the dark arts for a beer/band collaboration, we teamed up with Seattle’s mighty death metallurgists, Black Breath for CDA of Cain. Taking its name from the song “Seed of Cain,” from the new LP Slaves Beyond Death, our Cascadian Dark Ale starts slow but hits hard and heavy with massive doses of Cascade and Centennial hops layered on a smooth obsidian malt body. We added fermented Chinese Puh-er tea to conjure up the cold black earth of a forgotten Northwestern graveyard at midnight. Like Black Breath’s music, it sounds horrifying, but is utterly delicious.”

I’m always happy to see my local breweries expanding, and today Redmond’s Cascade Lakes Brewing posted about new tanks they took possession of: “We are so stoked about these 2 bad boys! Two brand new 70 BBL Fermentation Tanks. More tanks = more beer!! Cheers!” 70bbl is nothing to sneeze at either!

Full Sail Brewing (Hood River) has a new beer on tap at their pub: “Now on Tap our Pub exclusive Boubon Barrel aged IPA! Enjoy the results of giving our hoppy, drinkable IPA some extended aging in a Jim Beam bourbon barrel. Herbal, woodsy aroma, caramel & malt sweetness blend with traces of IPA’s characteristic hop flavors, & the big finish of barrel goodness with a firm tannin presence. ABV 9.6% IBU 42”

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