Oregon BrewFest 2009: The Buzz Tent

There’s this new “Buzz Tent” at the Oregon Brewers Festival this year, which, in addition to the Fest’s regular beer line-up, will be offering limited, first-come, first-served tastes of unique beers. The kind of beer that would generate a “buzz” presumably. Here’s the lowdown, sent out by OBF marketer extraordinaire Chris Crabb (also what shows up on the OBF website):

Each July, brewers from around the country send one single product to be poured at the Oregon Brewers Festival. Every year, a few of these beers generate buzz and become the must-try beers of the event. This year, we’ve switched it up by asking the brewers to create not only the beer, but the buzz as well.

We’ve solicited a collection of beers from our participating brewers to feature in our new Buzz Tent. These beers run the gambit from old favorites to new creations, experimental beers to those well off the beaten path. They’ve come to us in 1/6 barrels, ¼ barrels, half-kegs, firkins and bottles. These beers are highly prized, very expensive, and our selection is very limited in quantity. Many of the brewers of these beers will be on hand in the tent to talk up their product.

The Buzz Tent will be open on Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25 from Noon to 4:30 pm each day. Admission is separate from the festival. A ticket costs $20 and includes a punch card good for eight four-ounce tastes. The ticket will give you tastes of six different buzz beers, plus two tastings of your choosing. Because of the different quantities of product on hand, we can’t guarantee what beers will be pouring at any single time, but we can guarantee they will be fantastic! Look for the chalkboard outside the tent, or follow the Buzz Tent on Twitter: @OBFBuzzTent.

We will be selling a total of 2,000 tickets to the Buzz Tent: 1,000 per day. The tickets are first come, first serve. Tickets can be purchased on site starting Thursday, July 23 in the “Tokens Only” lines on the south end of the mugs/tokens tent. You must purchase a Friday and/or a Saturday ticket. The Buzz Tent itself is located in between the Mug/Tokens Sales and the South Beer Trailers.

Admission to the Buzz Tent does not include a mug. Just use the mug you are using to sample all of the other beers at the festival. To whet your whistle, here’s a sample of what will be pouring in the Buzz Tent this weekend:

[I’ve stolen the bulleted, readable version of this list from Jeff who in turn lifted it from John Foyston; the original was unformatted.]

  • Alameda Horseshoe Hefeweizen
  • Alaskan Barley Wine
  • Anderson Valley Huge’r Boont
  • Ballast Point Sour Wench Tart Blackberry Ale #1
  • Beer Valley Black Flag Imperial Stout 2008 Fresh Hop edition
  • Blue Frog Barrel Aged Strong Amber Peligroso
  • BridgePort 2008 Stumptown Tart in firkin
  • BridgePort BBL Ebenezer
  • Cascade Brewing Sang Royale
  • Cascade Brewing Gold Yeller
  • Cascade Brewing Night Fall
  • Cascade Brewing Gose
  • Cascade Brewing Mouton Rouge
  • Deschutes Bourbon Quad
  • Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
  • Fearless Strong Scotch
  • Fifty Fifty Imperial Eclipse Stout (barrel aged for 180 days in Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrels)
  • Firestone Walker Double/Imperial Union Jack
  • Full Sail 1998 Old Boilermaker Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine
  • Grand Teton Brewing Howling Wolf Weizenbock
  • Laurelwood Organic Deranger Imperial Red
  • Laht Neppur Spiced Waitsburg Winter Warmer
  • Lazy Boy Pomegranate Belgian Golden Ale
  • Lompoc Barrel Fermented LSD
  • McMenamins West Linn Largo Laws Treasure Strong Scottish
  • McMenamins Obama Nation Domestic Schwarzbier
  • McMenamins Old St. Francis Base Camp Coffee Stout
  • McMenamins Oak Hills Das Schwertz Maibock (whiskey barrel aged)
  • Moylan’s Brewing Co. Batch #1000 Double Kilt Lifter
  • New Belgium La Folie
  • Oakshire Glen’s Hop Vice Imperial IPA
  • Redhook Raspberry Tripel
  • Rock Bottom Rod Flanders
  • Stone 13th Anniversary
  • Sprecher Brewery Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale
  • Widmer X-114 IPA

That’s just a sample? Yeah, I would definitely spend the $20 to get in on that.

One comment

  1. We could still go! Boy might like his birthday in PDX (or not since he’s so dead set on a sleepover)

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