Oregon Brewers Festival Recap
And what a weekend it was. As we look back on a great weekend at the Oregon Brewers Festival, it's pretty amazing to think that there's still nearly an entire week left to enjoy Oregon Craft Beer Month. But before gearing up for the home stretch, I wanted to offer up my impressions of the OBF.
Having moved to Portland just after last year's fest, this was my first Oregon Brewers Festival experience. Overall, I thought the festival was great. While beer obviously plays a central role in any beer festival, I appreciated the fact that OBF includes a variety of festivities and experiences that work to create a real festival atmosphere. Unfortunately, I missed the opening day parade and keg-tapping, but in reading reviews from others in attendance, it's obvious that the opening ceremony really helped set the tone for a great weekend.
Before the festival got started on Thursday, I had posted my picks for the Oregon Brewers Festival. These were all beers I had never had before. And after visiting the fest a couple times this weekend, I'm pretty happy that I was able to try all but one on my list (sadly, the beer I wasn't able to try was Flying Fish Exit 4 - which was well received and made several peoples' best of the fest lists).
Black Tuesday is a good thing
For me, last weekend began and came to a close in the same place: Saraveza.
On Sunday afternoon, I hooked up with Double Mountain brewer Kyle Larsen for a tasting of seasonals from The Bruery, one of Kyle's favorite breweries. The Orange County, California-based brewery shared a lineup of beers that included: Saison de Lente, Trade Winds, Autumn Maple, Partridge in a Pear Tree, and Two Turtle Doves.
While each of these beers was excellent, it quickly became obvious that the crowd really wanted Ben Wiess from The Bruery to crack open the highly anticipated bottles of Black Tuesday. Black Tuesday is an Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with an ABV of 19.5%. It's a big beer. I agree with Angelo, this brewery exclusive was a real treat to try.
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
