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Bikes, BBQ & Smokin’ Brews

There’s still plenty more beer fests on tap

Posted by: John Chandler on Sep 16, 2011 at 11:00AM Speech Bubble1 Comments

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Congratulations on surviving the Summer of Beer, drinking buddies! The one-two punch of Oregon Brewers Festival followed by PDX Beer Week definitely upped the ale ante this year, but for anyone planning on drying out until the Holiday Ale Festival, well, you’re not out of the hops yet.

In order to wring the last drop of sunshine out of the summer, the good people at Hopworks Urban Brewery are encouraging bike enthusiasts to peddle over to their flagship pub (2944 SE Powell Blvd) this Saturday for Biketoberfest, a fundraising event for the Bicycle Transportation and Sunday Parkways. It’s a car-free party that starts at noon, and attendees can sample 15 HUB brews, watch daredevil cycle antics from BMX stunt riders, get an eyeful of break-dancing demos, and groove contentedly to live music from the likes of Jared Mees, Oh Darling, and Ascetic Junkies. Plus, there will be Huffy tossing, kids activities, and an appearance by the Wanderlust Circus troupe at 8:30 in the evening.

Since you’ll be out riding around on Saturday anyway, it would behoove you to spread the wealth and swing by the 10th Annual Laurelfest, a barbecue bash over at Laurelwood Brewing (5115 NE Sandy Blvd) that starts at 3 pm. In addition to a bountiful bargain menu that includes grilled albacore tuna, Dungeness crab salad rolls, double-smoked pork and sausage with beer-soaked kraut, and grilled oysters, the lads and ladies of Laurelwood will unveil Laurelfest Bier; a new seasonal that’s described as “Vienna lager style fresh hop beer,” Live music from Keegan Smith, among others, also will be part of the festivities.

By next weekend (Sept 24-25) you should be thoroughly recovered, and just in time for Fire & Brimstone, a celebration of “smoke and chili beers” happening at Hop & Vine (1914 N Killingsworth). This two-day taste-a-thon will present devilishly hot and hearty beers from Burnside, Lompoc, Breakside, Upright, Oakshire, Heater Allen, Migration, Coalition, and more. On Saturday evening, the titanic trio of Yetta Vorobik (from Hop & Vine and Brewing Up Cocktails), Ben Edmunds (Breakside), and Alex Ganum (Upright) will tap a special collaborative keg of Smoked Porter that’s dedicated to the late comedian Bill Hicks. Reason enough for a party? We think so.

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Tags: Beer Festivals, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Hop and Vine, Laurelwood Brewing

Mark your calendar

Drinking Dates

A few items for your quaffing calendar

Posted by: John Chandler on Jan 25, 2011 at 12:00PM Speech Bubble2 Comments

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Lotsabeer

What’s a brew believer to do? You’ve already dipped your beak in all the winter ales worth wrangling and the warm-weather beer festivals are still oceans of time away. Cheer up drinking buddies! Instead of trying to figure out a hangman’s knot that will bear your weight, you would do well to make note of these upcoming events that should do wonders for restoring your hibernating happy face!

First Annual Scottish Ale Festival No need to stare forlornly at the horizon. The Cascade Brewing Barrel House is hosting a sudsy salute to Scottish Ales this Saturday from 3 to 11. Nine regional breweries, including Cascade, Lucky Lab, Fearless, Rock Bottom, Coalition, and Upright, will have specially brewed ales in the house for your sipping pleasure. There will be some Scottish sustenance available (haggis?), and Cascade brewmaster Ron Gansberg is bringing in his band Stone Porridge to provide some trad Scottish music. Join the cult of the kilt!

Hop & Vine Bottle Shop Opening I’ve sung the praises of this sophisticated North Portland saloon on several occasions, so I’m pleased as a weasel to announce its expansion into the space next door to serve as a bigger bottle shop to house Hop & Vine’s well-curated collection of beer, wine, sake, and mead. Festivities take place Feb 5 from 3 to 7. Reps from Hopworks, Upright, Heater Allen, and Elysian will be on hand to pour some free tastings. And for the vino-centric, folks from Grochau Cellars, Winderlea Wines, Purple Hands, and Trust Cellars are likewise expected to be present. “All well and good, but I like cocktails!” you say to yourself. First of all, you should stop talking to yourself; your reputation is already on shaky ground. Secondly, at the stroke of 7, Metrovino mixologist Jacob Grier will take over with $5 drink specials featuring libations from House Spirits and Ransom Spirits. Name your poison—you’re covered.

Van Havig Night! Havig, the outspoken brewmaster from the local chapter of Rock Bottom Brewing parted company with his corporate overlords earlier this month after 16 years. Havig is certainly one of the most knowledgeable brewers I’ve ever had the pleasure to chat with, and any regional brewery would count itself lucky to hire a man with his skills, taste, and wit. On Feb 8 at the new Grain & Gristle, some of his brewing comrades from Lompoc, Widmer, Barley Brown, and Ninkasi will pay tribute to Havig, with small-batch beers brewed in his honor.

KLCC Microbrew Festival Our sister city to the south gets in on the brewfest action on Feb 11-12 with a benefit blast to help keep Eugene’s public radio station, KLCC, sounding off loud and proud. Some 50 breweries will be represented including local heroes like Ninkasi, Steelhead, Track Town, and Oakshire, not too mention one of my faves, little Wakonda Brewing from Florence.

Zwickelmania 3.0 For the third straight year, the Oregon Brewer’s Guild offers the beer curious the chance to jump on a bus and tour some of the state’s top breweries on Feb 19. Meet your brewing idols (OMG! OMG! OMG! John Harris is such a dreamboat!) and get a taste of what’s cooking in the tank. There are tours taking place in Bend and Hood River, but here in Beervana attendees can swing by Alameda, Amnesia, Breakside, Bridgeport, and many more. And it’s friggin’ free!

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Tags: Beer Festivals, Craft Beers, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Cascade Brewing, Ninkasi Brewing, Hop and Vine, Brewery Tours, Wakonda Brewing

Year-End List

Magic Moments 2010

A few things that made me love my job this year

Posted by: John Chandler on Jan 04, 2011 at 10:00AM Speech Bubble5 Comments

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Barsand2

The Bar Pilot Special from Big-Ass Sandwiches

Gads, is it 2011 already? My, how quickly the sands of time swirl away during the pursuit of Happy Hour excellence and bar bounty. Please understand that I’ve had to chew my way through some ghastly grub (the memory of Ash Street Saloon’s evil grilled-cheese sandwich still causes me to wake up screaming) and sample some really underwhelming cocktails in order to bring you, my drinking buddies, the latest intelligence from the front lines. But let’s accentuate the positive, shall we? Here then is a list of particularly noteworthy menu moments from this past year.

Big-Ass Sandwiches A Big-Ass Sandwich is like telling your stomach, “Here! Suck on this!” This is not a food cart that you can hit on a daily basis. The sandwiches are just too extreme. But if you’re having one of those days and you can feel a gnawing hunger in your gut that cries out in primordial fashion to be satisfied, you can do no better.

Cafe Nell The best service in town. Super-efficient waiters who appear as if summoned from a lamp.

Cascade Barrelhouse I adore Ron Gansberg’s sour beers and I greatly look forward to exploring their flavor mystique with an assortment of food pairings.

Hawthorne Hophouse A welcome addition to my neighborhood with exceptional pub grub (the Red Dragon Burger, with ham, spicy mustard, and cheddar atop Angus beef is a new addiction) and a rotating beer selection that pays loving tribute to the region. On Sundays, local brews are only $3!

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The sampler tray at Hawthorne Hophouse.

Hop & Vine Really, this modest little shop offers the best of everything. A well-curated wine list, terrific rotating taps, intriguing cocktails, and a sturdy food menu, for starters, but the atmosphere is congenial and cozy. And if you want to stalk local beer celebrities chances are they’re hanging out there—right now!

Jade Lounge’s Banana Fritters On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jade Lounge offers a cunning array of $3 plates all day. In this case I recommend dessert first. For a fleeting instant, the delicate cornmeal shell rolled in cinnamon, bursting with gooey banana splendor will bring to mind delightful domestic scenes from childhood. Perhaps not yours, but somebody’s.

Metrovino’s Seafood Chowder: True, I first encountered this sensational soup in 2009, but I return periodically to slurp of its goodness and fortify my ravaged soul. Fatty smoked bacon adrift in a sea of oysters, clams, tuna, and halibut for $5. Why aren’t you eating it now?

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Metrovino’s Seafood Chowder.

Miho Izakaya For sheer menu audacity, I have to give it up for the little Japanese pub on N Interstate. The ingredients are always cracking fresh, and the 25 or so small-plate offerings ($2-10) are not only uniformly tasty, but extremely interesting to boot. The slow-cooked pork, spicy noodles, and beguiling fish entrees will reel you in and turn you into a homing pigeon for this coop.

Three Doors Down Bartender Matt Stiles is an unsung hero in my book. He’s never served me a drink that was anything less than spectacular. And the quality of the Happy Hour chow, from the habit-forming Tuscan white bean spread to the vodka sausage penne, is incomparable. Happy Hour is available all night on Sundays and Tue-Thur.

Upright Brewing Alex Ganum’s bold and yeasty farmhouse ales provided a welcome respite from the hops arms race.

I’m as human as the next gink and I can’t be everywhere at once. So by all means, if I’ve missed something that deserves a round of applause, please speak up!

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Tags: Happy Hour, Hop and Vine, Three Doors Down, Metrovino, Best of 2010, Hawthorne Hophouse, Miho Izakaya, Upright Brewing, Cascade Brewing, Big Ass Sandwiches, Cafe Nell, Jade Lounge

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In his twenty-plus years as a roving journalist and his forty-plus years as a native Oregonian, Portland Monthly web editor John Chandler has developed an appreciation for a properly stirred cocktail, all manner of beer, smoky single malt scotch, and the odd moment of clarity. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy,” is his pet quote, and he’ll break it out whether the occasion calls for it or not. Rock ‘n’ roll snob, film geek, and cultural kibitzer, Chandler can usually be found perched on a local bar stool muttering to himself about “the good old days” when he was always on the @#$%&!* guest list. Approach with caution.

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Bar Pilot navigates from dingy dive bars to ritzy schmooze-and-booze affairs to brain-melting rock shows, and points of interest in between. Chandler will do his utmost to jot down keen observations, hopefully inspire a few barroom arguments, and guide his readers through another night on the rocks.

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