A Trip through the Willamette Valley: Jeff Woodard talks about beer, wine and the Carlton Winemakers Studio
We all know that the Pacific Northwest is home to some of the best beer, brewers, and breweries in the country. But it’s also known to have some of the country’s best and most well-known wine regions as well. Some of those wineries are just a short trip from Portland. While I’ve known this for quite some time, it wasn’t until last week that my wife, a friend of ours, and I decided to venture out of town, and away from our typical beer hang outs, for a day visiting Willamette Valley wineries and tasting rooms.
I like wine, but as you can tell from reading my blog, I prefer beer. And because I’m not very well versed when it comes to wine tasting, I was really hoping that we wouldn’t find ourselves in an uncomfortable situation among wine snobs or looked down on because of our inexperience. We didn’t happen upon either at the Carlton Winemakers Studio, our first and favorite stop of the day.
We were initially drawn to the Carlton Winemakers Studio because of its focus on sustainability, and because it’s a winemaking facility and tasting room shared by eight local wineries. The place is impressive. At the Studio, we met wine director Jeff Woodard, who, as we learned, is also a homebrewer and fellow beer enthusiast. I appreciate Jeff’s enthusiasm about wine, beer, and food, and wanted to share some of what I learned from him during our visit to Carlton.
Upright Brewing is (only) a Year Old
Alex Ganum, Owner & Brewer at Upright, talks about the Apricot Anniversary Ale
Last night, I had the opportunity to join a great group of beer writers, bloggers, and enthusiasts at Upright Brewing for a tour and a preview of what's to come at the brewery's one-year anniversary party on April 9th. In thinking about the two specialty beers that will be available at the party, an Apricot Anniversary Ale and the highly anticipated Four Play, and the rest of the Upright lineup, it's hard to believe that Upright Brewing is only a year old.
I really enjoyed the Apricot Anniversary Ale; it's tart, dry, and refreshing. Like some others in attendance, I found Four Play to be better now than when it was on tap in February at Saraveza. On Friday, April 9th from 4:30-9:00 pm, the Apricot Anniversary Beer and Four Play will be on tap; Four Play will also be available in bottles for $12/bottle.
The Green Line Project: Goose Island Uses New Beer to Promote Sustainability
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine in Chicago asked me if I’d heard about Goose Island’s new beer: Green Line Pale Ale. I had not yet heard anything about it, but in the following days saw it mentioned on Twitter and in online news stories several times. In reading about the new beer, it became obvious that this was more than your average beer release. The beer is actually part of an entire project called the Green Line Project, with the goal of generating awareness about, and making Goose Island a more environmentally friendly company.
According to information available on the project’s website: www.glproject.com, the Green Line Project was prompted by a study that measured the carbon footprint of a typical keg of Goose Island beer. At its broadest level, the Project centers around the idea that beer distributed in kegs produces less waste than beer packaged in single-serve containers like bottles. At the same time, limiting the distance that a keg travels in order to reach the end consumer can dramatically reduce the negative environmental impact caused by vehicle emissions, energy usage, and refrigeration.
For these reasons, Goose Island launched Green Line Pale Ale as a keg-only beer, and decided that it would only be distributed in the city of Chicago.
Naked City & Elysian Fields: Two Worthwhile Stops in Seattle
In a quick trip to Seattle last week, I was able to stop by two brewpubs I had never been to before: Naked City and Elysian Fields. I had a great experience at both and would consider them to be worthwhile stops when in Seattle.
Naked City Brewery and Taphouse
Naked City is located in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle, just northwest of Green Lake. While it's a few miles north of downtown Seattle, it's worth the trip. I was impressed by the number and variety of beers on tap: 24 total beers on tap - four of which were brewed by Naked City; the remaining 20 made up a pretty impressive list of guest taps.
Schooner Exact 5 Grid & Naked City Spark in the Dark
I Spent $15 to Drink Pliny the Younger
It's true. Last night I spent $15 to drink Pliny the Younger. After missing other local tappings of the much-hyped beer at Horse Brass, County Cork, Saraveza, and Henry's Tavern in Portland, I figured that the $15 offer from Belmont Station would likely be my last chance to try this year's Pliny the Younger. After trying it last night, I'm glad I spent the money.
More on Spent Grain: Deschutes Brewery’s Focus on Sustainability
Over the last few months, I've learned that most responsible breweries have relationships with local farmers that allow them to upcycle spent grain as cattle feed. In my conversations earlier this year with Stephen Neel from Oregon Natural Meats about his relationship with Ninkasi, Stephen referenced Deschutes Brewery as another Oregon brewery that sends spent grain to local farmers. On a trip to the Portland pub shortly thereafter, I noticed that Deschutes' menu mentions the use of spent grain in the brewery's pizza dough as well. This prompted me to reach out to Deschutes to learn more about the brewery's spent grain program, and more broadly about the brewery's sustainability efforts overall.
After talking with Jason Randles, Marketing Manager at Deschutes, about sustainability, he sent me the following information about the brewery's efforts:
Bear Republic HopFest at Bailey’s Taproom
After spending the weekend showing some out-of-town family members around Portland (and being somewhat out of the loop for a few days), it was great to check out Tuesday night's Bear Republic HopFest at Bailey's Taproom. I had become a fan of Bear Republic a few years ago after finding Racer 5 pretty consistently on tap at The Map Room in Chicago, and I was looking forward to trying some of the brewery's other hoppy brews.
I ended up finding Ezra from The New School at Bailey's, and we tried the four Bear Rebpulic beers on tap as part of HopFest (from left to right in the photo above):
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Upright Brewing: Oyster Stout Release
If Oyster Stouts really are the style of the year, keep 'em coming!
Admittedly, I was a bit apprehensive about the Oyster and beer combination when I first had the opportunity to try an Oyster Stout: Fort George Brewery's The Murky Pearl, but in trying it, I found it to be a pretty awesome beer. Last Friday, a month after our visit to Fort George, we attended Upright Brewing's Oyster Stout release party. Upright's version of the style did not disappoint.
