On the Road: Providence, RI
Julian's in Providence
For the second time in as many weeks, I found myself on the East Coast again last week; this time it was Providence, Rhode Island. I had never been to The Creative Capital before this trip and, despite the relatively limited brewery options in the city, I was really looking forward to exploring what Providence had to offer. Coincidentally, I was in Providence when our friends at Brewpublic published the first part in a series about beer in Rhode Island. While I wasn't able to explore beyond the city limits, I did find a few great beer spots worth checking out in town.
The most notable of my stops was Julian's. I had first heard about Julian's from a fellow Oregon Beer Odyssey classmate a few weeks ago. Described to me as a place worth checking out, but somewhat off the beaten path, it ended up being only about a mile walk from my hotel. And as Portland was getting rained on, I enjoyed the walk on a nearly 80 degree evening in Providence.
Welcome to the neighborhood: Breakside Brewery is open for business
Portlanders celebrated the opening of Beervana's newest brewery this weekend. Breakside Brewery, located in the Northeast Portland neighborhood Woodlawn, opened its doors for business on Friday afternoon. While Breakside's own beers are not yet available (look for them around July 1st), the brewery opened with a full food menu and a great list of guest taps that, as evidenced by the Yelp reviews and talk on Twitter, have been very well received.
I stopped in at Breakside on Saturday afternoon with some friends who were in town visiting from Chicago and others in from Hood River. We found a home at one of the tables in the bar between the two giant garage doors that opened onto a beautiful sunny Portland afternoon. After ordering beers from a list that included New Belgium Mothership Wit, Elysian The Wise ESB, Firestone Walker Union Jack and Dogfish Head Festina Peche, we dug into Breakside's pulled pork nachos and the jalapeno poppers. Our selections from the refreshingly straightforward menu of appetizers and sandwiches were great choices. A few beers later, some of our friends opted for the pulled pork sandwich and the blackened chicken burger - both of which looked great and disappeared quickly.
Aside from the food we ordered, there are a couple menu items that have the potential to be real standouts: the Lovely Pork Belly Sandwich: slow cooked with soy, brown sugar, leeks, ginger, and anise, and topped with fresh fennel and carrot slaw, and the Breakside Burger: The Cadillac of burgers! Juicy and tender American Kobe-style beef from Snake River Farms with a creamy center of Rogue Smoky Blue. Topped with roasted wild mushrooms and caramelized onions. I'm looking forward to trying both of these.
Goose Island’s Greg Hall introduces Matilda, Sofie, and Pere Jaques to Portland
Goose Island Brewmaster Greg Hall talks about Matilda, Sofie, and Pere Jaques
When I first came across a Goose Island beer in Portland, I was surprised for two reasons. First, I didn't expect to see beer from my hometown 2,200 miles away in Oregon. And second, from Goose Island's pretty extensive line of beers, there was one lone offering available: Bourbon County Stout.
In the months after we moved from Chicago to Portland, I did see Goose Island's Christmas Ale on the shelves at some stores and thought Goose Island may be making a push into the market. But Christmas came and went, and Goose Island's Christmas Ale went with it. Until recently, the only news I heard about Goose Island came from friends still living in Chicago.
An unlikely combination: Deschutes pairs bacon and beer with vegetarian dishes
Chef Jeff Usinoqicz introduces the Gateway dinner
Jeff Usinoqicz, Executive Chef at Deschutes Brewery's Portland Pub, called it a Gateway dinner. Before serving it last night, he discussed what gateway meant to him. Jeff talked about it as an unlikely or unexpected combination. That's exactly what we found in each of our five courses: vegetarian dishes paired with bacon and beer, each carefully prepared or selected to compliment the otherwise innocent plates.
While it was obvious that everyone expected more people to attend the dinner, the fact that Deschutes closed the brewpub to the public demonstrated a real commitment to serving those that did spend the $65 to enjoy the unique pairings. I appreciated Jeff's perspectives as a chef, but also thought the comments from Sheldon Marcuvitz of Your Kitchen Garden Farms and Jim Hansen of Carlton Farms really helped make the connection between the food, farms, and our tables. The vegetables were sourced from Your Kitchen Garden Farms and the bacon was sourced from Carlton Farms.
The “Brew Beef” Story, part 2: the Brewer’s Perspective
Last week I wrote a post about upcycling spent brewer's grain to feed cattle. The post centered on Ninkasi Brewing's partnership with Oregon Natrual Meats and included comments and information from ONM's founder and CEO Stephen Neel. Since then, I reached out to Nikos Ridge from Ninkasi Brewing to get his perspective about the upcycling efforts. I asked Nikos a few questions about the partnership to expand on the information offered by Stephen, and to provide some insights from the brewer's perspective:
Why is upcycling spent grain important for brewers/breweries to consider?
We feel that upcylcing our spent grain is a great opportunity to take something that could potentially be a negative (spent grain waste) and turn it into a positive by using it to promote a local, sustainable food network. Localization of products has benefits for the environment, for individuals through cost reductions, and for food security, by way of access to independent, community-focused suppliers.
InFARMation and Beer at Roots Brewery
On the second Tuesday of the month, Friends of Family Farmers - an organization that promotes and protects socially responsible farming in Oregon - hosts an event called InFARMation and Beer at Roots Brewery in Southeast Portland. The event brings together farmers, gardeners, and eaters to share a beer and discuss issues related to food and farming in Oregon. As a volunteer for Slow Food Portland and the Portland Farmers Market, and because I'm personally interested in food, farming, and food-related issues, I try to attend the free event whenever I can. And it doesn't hurt that Tuesday night is $2.50 pint night at Roots.
The “Brew Beef” Story: Upcycling Spent Brewer’s Grain to Feed Cattle
Last Saturday, a tweet from Ninkasi Brewing caught my eye. It simply said: Like Meat? Check it Out!, and included a link to the Partners page of the Oregon Natural Meats website. I like meat, so I checked it out. The page explains how Oregon Natural Meats is able to upcycle spent grain, as part of its Natural Brew Beef efforts (essentially saving it from becoming waste), from Ninkasi to feed livestock (check out the awesome graphic on the website). The process intrigued me, so I reached out to Stephen Neel, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Oregon Natural Meats, to learn more about it. I asked Stephen a few questions - here's what he had to say:
Background About Oregon Natural Meats Using Brewers Grain
