The Oregon Brew Fest kicked off this morning and runs through the weekend (as if you didn’t know.)

Standing by the Buzz Tent I’ve heard a lot of “What is the buzz tent?” So here you go.

The Buzz Tent features an assortment of beer outside of the standard taps at OBF. The beers are generally a little more unique, smaller batch offerings such as the Quad belgian from Deschutes, the barleywine from Maui Brewing and the Pinot barrel aged strong ale from Oakshire.

Of course these beers don’t come cheap, they are 2 tokens instead of 1 for a taste. Nevertheless, given the unique selection offered at the Buzz Tent, I recommend you at least sample a few from here.

So what exactly am I walking into? According to the festival’s Website, there will be more than 80 beers, 30 wineries, local spirit makers, a curious and diverse food selection and cheese and chocolate. The festival press release also states there will also be “a global shopping marketplace, cooking demonstrations and educational seminars on the Chef’s Stage, and live music featuring Northwest bands including Keegan Smith & the Fam.” 

This year the festival is hosting a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). At the MDA booth you can purchase a 14 oz. beer or a 4 oz. pour of wine for $5. The beer and wines at the MDA booth are not available at the regular festival booths.

The festival has a people’s choice award, so be sure to vote for your favorite festival beers as well. Astoria Brewing’s Bitter Bitch was winner the last two years, so we’ll see if they can make it three in a row.

The fest runs from noon – 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 2 & 3.  If you’re cheap like me, show up during the first two hours and get your $5 admission waived. Costs are pretty standard, $5 admission, $5 taster cup and tasting token are $1 each.

Be sure to check in with us on Twitter @BSBrewing for live updates from the festival.

After a night at the KLCC Microbrew Fest and some sampling of the local bar scene, we started our day at the Broadway Inn where as you can see, all the classy out-of-town brewers stay. I also recommend the hotel’s neighbor, Burrito Boy, to satisfy your stomach after last call.

Hop Valley Brewing

Our first stop was Hop Valley Brewing in Springfield.  You couldn’t miss the giant sign right off of I-5 and the Gateway Mall.

The location has quite a local history. Prior to producing beers for Hop Valley, the building and the 15-barrel system was home to Spencer’s Butte Brewpub and where the first Ninkasi beers were made.

Open for one year, Hop Valley makes a wide variety of styles including the DD Blonde, 541 Lager, Step Child Red, a Vanilla Porter and, where they really excel, the Alphadelic IPA and the Alpha Centauri Imperial IPA.

Stay in touch with Hop Valley on Twitter and Facebook.

Ninkasi

Our next stop was Ninkasi. Our trip was during Zwickelmania and Ninkasi’s new tasting room was packed. The purple shirted clan was a “drinking club” named the Royal Drunks and some members certainly lived up to at least half of their name. The tasting room is open 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. daily.

Head brewer Jamie Floyd led us on a tour of the brewery and showed us where the brewery will be expanding. Ninkasi’s growth is explosive. They started on a 15-barrel system at what is now Hop Valley, opened the brewery with a 20-barrel system and are now up to a 30-barrel system. Last year the company produced 19,500 barrels and estimates 32,000 barrels in 2010.

Helping fuel that growth, Ninkasi is now available at all Safeways and most Costcos in Oregon.  Total Domination is the company’s top seller, accounting for 60 percent of their total sales.

Information from Ninkasi can also be found on Twitter and Facebook

Oakshire Brewing

Our day concluded at Oakshire Brewing which is growing at a significant rate as well. In 2006 the company started on a 4-barrel system as Willamette Brewing.  They are now up to a 16-barrel system and took production from 300 barrels in 2007 to 2,000 barrels in 2009. Built for growth, they have the capacity to produce 7,500 barrels and are aiming for 3,600 in 2010.

Brewer Matt Van Wyk was our host for the day and seeing as how it was Zwickelmania, he poured us a couple of tastes from the fermenters. Most notable was the 2-day old O’Dark:30 that to the surprise of everyone was already tasting great.

Oakshire’s biggest sellers are the Watershed IPA and the Overcast Espresso Stout. The stout features cold pressed espresso from local roaster Wandering Goat that is added to the beer as it is being transferred from the fermenter to the brite tank.

You can find out more straight from Oakshire by checking them out on Twitter  and Facebook.

Next stop… Corvallis.

I give this fest high marks, more than 50 breweries and 110 beers, a homebrew competition, vendors selling classic vinyl records, live music and a People’s Choice Award (won by Hop Valley’s Alpha Centauri). The lines and crowd were very manageable, hardly waited more than 30 seconds for a fill and it’s a pretty standard $1 ticket per taste and your $12 admission gets you an actual glass taster. Proceeds benefit the listener-supported station.

Definitely the most interesting aspect of the festival was the inclusion of a collaboration brew, where participating brewers each developed their take on a (get this…) Belgian Style Cascadian Dark Rye Ale. In the description of the beer below they used the phrase “Because we can,” perhaps because some said “Oh no, you didn’t?” Overall, I think each of the beers suffered from being a bit of an over-engineered concept, any two of the three (Cascadian Dark, rye malt, Belgian yeast) would have been fine, but all three together created some odd flavors regardless of the skill of the brewer making the beer. A good thing to remember is just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Dave in his quest to drink 999 different beers over 999 days reviewed Ninkasi’s entry here.

Aside from the collaboration brew, there were handful of seasonals but most brought beers that are available in some form here in Portland. That didn’t crush our enthusiasm for seeking out old favorites like Maui Brewing’s IPA and breweries we’ve never tried such as Wakonda Brewing’s Imperial Pilsner.

As our Twitter post summed it up that night, it’s like a mini-GABF but instead of beer geeks there are college girls and old hippies. I would definitely recommend checking the festival out in future years, either on its own if you’re in the area or as a part of of a beer weekend to check out the all great breweries in the area.

More on our Zwickelmania trips later…

A couple of weeks ago, the fine folks at Widmer invited us over for dinner to celebrate the release of W’10 Pitch Black IPA. Due to the enormous success of Brrr, W’10 was already in stores, but that didn’t deter our enthusiasm for this Cascadian Dark Ale.

I’ll leave a more detailed review of the beer to Dave at 999 Beers but I really like W’10, easily my favorite in the series, challenged only by W’07 that eventually became Drifter.  I think it’s a safe bet we’re going to see a lot more Cascadian Dark Ales this year and that style will be the choice of backyard BBQs and camping this summer. It’s a great blend of roasted malt flavor and hops without being too heavy.

I was joined for dinner by brewer John Eaton who generally works the overnight shift at Widmer. I was a great opportunity to discuss the entire W series at Widmer, the collaborative creative process and the success of 07 and 06 turning into Drifter and Brrr in the company’s line. In general, the brewers get together and discuss a few different styles and then they work together to hash it out and determine what that year’s W beer will be. It’s a great opportunity for the brewers to flex their creativity outside of the company’s standard brews.

It also seemed some at Widmer were a little miffed/disappointed at the lack of success of W’09, the Belgian Golden Ale and to a lesser extent 08’s Crimson Wheat. In thinking about the Belgian Golden, it reminded me of Bridgeport’s Supris and a similar tepid response.

It makes me think that major production brewers such as Bridgeport and Widmer become well known for certain styles and the consumer just doesn’t think of them as an outlet for something so different. I’m certain that in addition to letting brewers create new styles, the W series also helps Widmer stretch the consumer’s mind and while a certain year may not sell as expected, it can help open the door for future, more commercially successful new styles.

You can learn more about W’10 and the W series by going here and can find Widmer Brothers on Twitter and Facebook.

Being a generous person, I brought it to a weekend gathering and shared it with Dave and Thom, we didn’t exactly have the ideal glassware, or glass at all really.

There is so much to like about this beer, visually the packaging is great and the color and the head on the beer are enticing. Taste-wise, I would say the beer is very well-made, true to the style, has nice banana and clove flavors woven in and it really hides that 10.2% ABV, not overly alcoholic for such a big beer at all. However, when it comes to tasting, we noticed one small thing, it’s kinda boring, there’s nothing that really makes you say “Wow, I got to try some more of that!”  It’s somewhat like the Toyota Camry of beer. Well-made, precise, reliable and a bit of a snooze. I just wish there was a little something in there that made me want to come back for more.

Speaking of Redhook, not sure how much is left and if it’s at all Trader Joe’s, but the other day i found 22 oz. bombers of Double Black Stout for $1.99 a bottle. I left one on the shelf at the 39th and Holgate store because I didn’t want to be the jerk that cleaned it out. At that price, if you like stouts, it’s worth seeking out at other TJ’s.

The evening was closer to “It’s time to go” than “we just got here” when Eryn leaned into to me and said “I figured it out…. The goal of this place is to keep you from leaving.” Granted, that’s probably true for any bar that wants to turn a profit, but what sets Mary Todd’s Workers Bar & Grill in Astoria apart is, they do a damn good job of doing it.

Situated under the bridge on Marine Drive, the decor is classic dive bar, pictures of various vintages celebrating the hard work and people that made Astoria, as well as plenty of photos of the regulars having a great time.

So what exactly lured us here? You didn’t have to talk to too many people in town to find out about the giant serving of prime rib available for a very reasonable price (I think it was $15). Dave ordered an equally large chicken fried steak that checked in around $10 (cardiologist not included).

Since this is a beer-related blog, I suppose I should mention the beer selection… (moving on)

Back in the day when I frequented the 35’er in Old Town Pasadena, I would occasionally enjoy a girly, summer drink, a raspberry lemonade consisting of Stoli Raspberry, a splash of sweet and sour and 7-up. At Mary Todd’s I think I discovered my girly summer drink’s older sister who joined a biker gang and rode up and down the west coast for 20 years before settling in Astoria, and her name is the Yucca. The Yucca is fresh squeezed lemon, some simple syrup and vodka, lots of vodka, served in a canning jar filled with ice, sealed with a lid and then shaken profusely inside a towel for maximum frozen drink effect. It’s delicious and refreshing and a monster the next morning.

So, what really sets the Workers Bar apart from so many other dive bars?  The people, starting with Mary Todd herself who came by our table, introduced herself and shared a couple minutes with us talking about her life and her bar.  It’s a great story and she’s a great host.  Also, she’s been known to dance on top of the tables from time to time. I think everyone gets swept up into the cordiality of the place, by the end of the night, we’ve abandoned our table, we’re meeting other people, people are buying rounds and shots for us, dancing, etc.

Dave nicely summed up the bar “good people, hard lives, hearty meals, drink accordingly.

A quick shout out to the Cannery Pier Hotel as well.  In addition to the incredible accommodations, the hotel wants you to be safe when enjoying Astoria’s libations.  They have a vintage Buick that will take you anywhere in town and, even better, will come pick you up when you’re done.  In fact, if you get a ride from a DD like we did, they ask that you call the hotel because the driver won’t go home until all the people he’s taken out somewhere are returned to the hotel.  Bravo CPH!

Just to show how little I know about what’s going on at East Burn, they also have their version of a Brewer’s Dinner called Beer Belly Dinner.  This month features Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi and something grilled.

And if you’ve never been to East Burn, I highly recommend heading down to the basement and checking out the skee-ball game and all the other great games, it’s like the rec room I never had growing up….or now for that matter.

When I walked in I came face to face with Russian folk dancers, which was kind of funny and odd, but I get it. Upstairs they have tasters in small plastic cups that don’t do the beer any favors.

I’m not much of a beer reviewer, so here’s the quick rundown on the Hop Czar. The aroma is a little alcoholic underneath a nice floral hop, the color reminds me of slightly weathered copper. But seriously, who really cares, how’s it taste?

Overall, I like it, it’s a nicely made beer. Good malt backbone really stands up to the intense hopping creating a nicely balanced IPA that hides its 100 IBUs and 8% ABV in a very drinkable beer. Definitely not one of those hop bombs that blows out your taste buds…. in fact, as I’ve worked through the first pint writing this, I’m going to order another.

This may be my favorite in Bridgeport’s Big Brew’s series, was Raven Mad in that Big Brew series?