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.
Suzanne Goldsmith talks about Captured by Porches and Miskatonic Dark Rye Ale
On Thursday we had the opportunity to hang out with Suzanne and Dylan Goldsmith from Captured by Porches Brewing Company at the brewery in St. Helens, OR. The couple hosted a great party in the brewery's Beer Parlor, where we ate good food and met a bunch of cool people over a few of the brewery's signature Invasive Species IPAs. I learned that Captured by Porches will be releasing its Miskatonic Dark Rye Ale this week, and followed-up with Suzanne to share more about the brewery, the beer, and Peckers the starling.
Suzanne pours Invasive Species IPA
Here's what Suzanne had to say:
Doug Ellenberger talks about Everybody’s Brewing
After visiting Everybody's Brewing last month and really enjoying our trip to the pub, I reached out to Doug Ellenberger, Owner and Brewer, to learn more about the brewery and the beers he is brewing. It took me a while to track Doug down as he is a busy guy working to get his beers into the hands of many in the area, but I think it's paying off with more places in town offering it on tap, and more people talking about the brewery. Check out what Doug had to say about Everybody's, the brewers in The Gorge, and the beer geeks who question whether or not his beers are really 'session' beers:
About the brewery
The Brewery is located in White Salmon, Washington, 60 miles east of Portland, directly across the Columbia River, from Hood River, Oregon. The Pub is a comfortable, family friendly spacious room, with a huge deck that looks upon Mt. Hood and the Gorge. The décor is warm colors with tons of Doug Fir wood everywhere. The building was built in 1939 by the Oddfellows; they appropriately named it “The Goodwill Lodge.” Nearly all of the wood that is not original was reclaimed from old buildings in the Gorge, and Portland. Local craftsmen poured their hearts and souls into the project. Most were given basic design ideas, and then allowed to use their creativity and skills to produce the finished product. The result was amazing. Our bar top is a single side of one old growth Doug Fir tree that was a natural wind fall in the Mt. St. Helens national forest. It is a book match lay out measuring 26 feet long, 4 inches thick, and nearly 3 ½ feet wide. Milled 20 miles north in Glenwood, WA, it is a showpiece to the pub.
Cole Hackbarth talks about Full Sail Brewing and Colesch
Earlier this month, we headed out to Hood River and stopped by Full Sail’s Brewpub to sample some of the brewery’s Brewmaster Reserves beers. The most memorable beer from the trip was Full Sail’s Colesh – a recipe developed by, and appropriately named after, brewer Cole Hackbarth. After our visit to the brewery, I reached out to Cole to learn more about Full Sail, his role as a brewer, and about the delicious Colesch. I didn’t expect to hear that the beer was his first professional recipe, and I really didn’t expect to hear the name Chuck Norris brought up…but it was. Here’s what Cole had to say:
About the Brewery
Full Sail opened in 1987, began bottling in 1988, and won its first GABF gold in 1989. In the 23 years since, we have grown from 287 BBL that first year to almost 90,000 in 2009. And we continue to brew award winning beer, the most recent a GABF gold for Session Black in 2009. The original brewhouse was a 20 BBL system that now lives in Portland and churns out the Brewmaster Reserve line concocted by John Harris. The majority of Full Sail beer is now brewed on a manual 200 BBL system in the original Hood River brewery location. We brew about two dozen different beers throughout the year, in addition we also contract brew for Henry Weinhard's. In 1999 the original investors were bought out by the employees to become an employee owned company, and we have put that sense of ownership into everything we do at Full Sail.
Jack Harris Talks About Fort George Brewery and The Murky Pearl
In yesterday's post, I talked about our trip out to Fort George Brewery and Public House in Astoria last weekend. After our visit, I reached out to Jack Harris, owner and brewer at the brewery, to learn more about the Fort George, the brewers, and The Murky Pearl Oyster Stout. Jack shared some great info about the history of Fort George Brewery, Oyster Stouts, a bursting Wild Turkey Barrel, and a collaboration Stout to be released later this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Goonies. Check out the interview:
About the Brewery
The Fort George Brewery and Public House opened on March 11, 2007 in the Fort George Building in downtown Astoria, Oregon. For ten years prior, the Fort George Building, built in 1924, sat unoccupied, with many of its’ windows broken out and pools of rainwater festering inside. Our neighbors, the Blue Scorcher Bakery first opened up and we followed shortly creating new life in an otherwise blighted part of our town. The building sits on the exact site of the first white settlement in the region that at one time was known as Fort George, but has spent most of its' two-hundred years as Astoria.
Kyle Larsen talks about Double Mountain Brewery and Imperial Chaos
In out trip out to Hood River and White Salmon last weekend, we stopped in at Double Mountain Brewery. Brewer Kyle Larsen was nice enough to show us around the brewery, and took some time to talk with us about Double Mountain's beers as we sampled what they had on tap. After having, and really enjoying, the recently released Imperial Chaos at the Bigger, Badder, Blacker event at Belmont Station, I asked Kyle some questions about the beer, about Double Mountain Brewery, and about getting his start as a brewer there.
Not that we need another excuse to head out to beautiful Hood River or to Double Mountain, but it sounds like a trip out to the taproom may need to happen in the next couple weeks to try a couple new offerings from the Brewery...one of which is set to be released today. Here's what Kyle had to say:
About the brewery
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
