OBF to Feature Specialty Tent, Larger Sample Pour

The Oregon Brewers Festival, our longest running and biggest beer party, returns to Tom McCall Waterfront Park next week. Roughly 80,000 expected attendees will be treated to some new and old wrinkles at the 30th annual event, which runs July 26-30.

They'll pour beer from 91 independent craft breweries this year. That's up from 88 in 2016. Progress, I suppose. Yeah, the focus on "independent" means the baby Buds are locked out, so you won't see anything from 10 Barrel, Elysian, Goose Island, etc. Poor pumpkins.

Styles are all over the place. The media materials claim more than two dozen styles will be represented at the event. I can't vouch for the accuracy of that claim. But we aren't talking about an IPA-dominated fest this year. There are plenty of choices. The main festival list is here.

 A new twist this year is the so-called Specialty Tent, where they will feature more than 90 rare and experimental beers. This used to be called the Buzz Tent. Beers are going to cost more here, double or triple tokens, and quality is going to be hit and miss. Trust me on that point.

The Specialty Tent is replacing the International Tent, which organizers launched three years ago. I spent time in that tent in each of the last three years, with mixed results. The cost of bringing the beers and brewers in for the event apparently got to be too much.

"We'll bring the international beers back when we can figure out how to get them here fresher and more economically," Art Larrance told me. "The combined cost of the beer and shipping was difficult to recoup through sales. The cost became unmanageable."

Another change this year is the mug. No, they aren't going back to glass. This year's plastic mug (I haven't seen the real thing or a photo) apparently holds 14 ounces. Recent mugs evidently held 12 ounces. The larger size means a full mug of beer will set you back five tokens this year. It had been four tokens for quite a while.

"Due to the larger mug and increased keg prices, we feel justified in the first price increase in many, many years," Larrance said. "There's still no cost to attend the festival and no minimum purchase package, such as we see with many events."

There's a bigger surprise lurking.

Several years ago, the OBF went to a 3 oz sample. Yeah, that mark on your glass or mug has been 3 ounces since 2013, in case you didn't know. Larrance tells me this year's sample size is 4 ounces. What? And it will still cost a single token! Huh? If you think that's a surprise, you aren't alone.

Forget the mug price. Full pours aren't that common at this event. Samples are the rage. But every time they pour a sample this year, it'll be an ounce more than it's been in recent years. And they're worried about increasing keg prices? Strange, eh?

One thing the 4 ounce sample will do, assuming it's legit, is it will encourage attendees to get that size. It's too good a deal to pass up. Well, too good until the evening brofest lines reach the point where a full beer is required. Then you're going to suck it up and plop down five tokens. Admit it.

If you're wondering where OBF pours have been over the years, I did some research using my mug collection back in 2013, when they first went to the 3 oz sample. If you're so inclined, the link to that story is here.

It's almost hard to fathom, but the OBF isn't just about beer. The event also features live music, food vendors, craft booths, homebrew demonstrations and souvenir sales. It has evolved into a sort of mini-trade show surrounded by beer. Not a horrible idea.

When the first Oregon Brewers Festival materialized in 1988, there was nothing like it in the country. Organizers wanted a way to showcase Oregon craft beer, which was in its infancy, in a pleasant, outdoor setting. The idea caught on and evolved into something really no one anticipated.

Looking ahead to next week, I see a calendar full of smaller beer events around town. These events ride the wave of craft beer's popularity, a wave the OBF was instrumental in creating. They now compete with the OBF for patrons. If you don't see the irony, it might be time to stop drinking.

There's a ton of information on the event site here. Definitely give it a look before you head to the park. It looks like the weather is going to cooperate nicely. I'll return to this space next Thursday or Friday with a report on the actual event. Happy festing! 🍻

Note: This post has been edited to reflect what Chris says in the comments below. The smallest pour the OBF has offered is 3 ounces, which has been the case since 2013. I incorrectly said it was a 2 oz pour in recent years. I trusted my memory when I should have looked at my own research. 

What's Up with OBF Pour Sizes, Anyway?

There's a good flap building over the Oregon Brewers Festival going to a 3 oz pour this year. Niki Ganong, aka Suds Sister, wrote about it here. Jeff Alworth wrote about it here. The point is a sample pour will be 3 ounces this year. It had been 4 ounces in recent years.

Almost like high school chemistry

If you think back, beer samples at the OBF have always cost a buck. That was the price at my first festival in 1991 and it's the price this year. Obviously, today's dollar isn't what it was in 1991 or 2001. In the early years, you could get a full beer for two tokens. Later it went to three. More recently, four. But a taste has always been $1. That you could depend on.

You might think sample size has, like cost, been consistent over the years. That's where you would be wrong. Sample size has not been consistent. My collection of old OBF mugs helped me to do a little experiment with taste sizes going back to 1991. The old mugs, a sink and a Pyrex measuring cup were my research tools. No beer was harmed during this project.

In case you're wondering, there was no fudging. Mugs were filled to the sample line and the liquid was poured into the Pyrex cup and measured. Numbers are approximate. I'm not a chemist and I don't have a digital beaker with super accurate tick marks. Here's a list of select taster sizes over the years:

1991...6 oz
1994...6 oz
1996...5 oz
1997...6 oz
2001...5 oz
2002...4 oz
2003...6 oz
2005...4 oz
2007...4 oz
2010...4 oz
2012...4 oz

What you see is what you might expect. Sample size has decreased with the value of the dollar. It stabilized at 4 ounces over the last 10 years or so.  I have no idea what happened in 2003. I suspect the tasting mark on that mug may have been a mistake. By the way, one mug (on the right below), year unknown but likely from the 90s, held 7 ounces at the taste mark! A serious outlyer. Keep in mind the old plastic mugs held 14 ounces when full.

Taste lines have not been created equal

OBF organizers have held the line on sample size since 2005. Yet they see their costs rising every year. Beer that once cost $125 a keg now costs $165, Art Larrance told me. Park rental cost him $5 his first official year in 1988. He just wrote a check for nearly $39,000. He also has to pay for security, insurance, turf replacement, police, portable toilets and more. The festival depends on a couple thousand volunteers every year. These folks may volunteer, but they are compensated for their time with tokens, glasses and shirts...paid for by the festival.

Look, I don't like to the switch to a 3 oz taste any more than the next person. But I give Larrance and company credit holding the line as long as they did. I think they had to do something to address the fact that costs of everything are going up. They chose to reduce the sample size while sticking to the same old price.

There's always a temptation to assume this is all just a big money grab. Larrance and others have done well over the years. So what? Why shouldn't they make some money on this event? Even with the 2013 changes, the OBF is still one of the better festival deals around. Look around. There are plenty of bad deals out there, including the Portland International Beer Festival.

Nonetheless, I believe the move to a 3 oz taste is a mistake. In his piece over on Beervana, Jeff Alworth suggests the 3 oz sample size is a bad idea because it will result in longer lines. Most everyone knows long lines are one of the event's more serious challenges. Jeff argues the 3 oz taste will put people back in line faster, making lines even worse. He may be right.

I actually think the combination of the smaller 12.8 oz glass and the 3 oz taste will lead to more people getting full glasses of beer and potentially shorter lines. Think about it. Full glasses weren't such a hot deal when it was four tokens for a what amounted to 13 or so ounces (in a 14 oz mug). The 4 oz taste was the better deal. The 3 oz taster makes a full glass (12 or so ounces now) for four tokens a good deal. People with full beers won't need to stand in line constantly. The obvious downside is more drunks faster, always a concern.

What would I have done? It's always nice to second-guess someone else's decision. I think they should have moved away from the single token taste. It no longer makes sense. Go back to 1991 levels and sell a 6 oz sample, but for two tokens. A taste of that size is big enough to keep people occupied and out of line for a few minutes.

Given the larger taste, you can go to a smaller glass and eliminate the problematic full glass pour. Some festivals already use the smaller glass, single taste formula. Why not the OBF?

If the one token taste is somehow sacred, simply increase the token price to $2. People might bitch at first, but they'll come around once they realize they're getting a reasonable sample pour. One token for standard beers, two tokens for rare, hard-to-find beers. Makes sense to me, though I know opinions will differ.                                              

Oregon Craft Beer Month: Cheers to Don Younger

July is Oregon Craft Beer month. There's plenty going on every month of the year in Oregon, but July is special. We use it to salute our thriving beer culture. It's perfectly fitting that Don Younger's birthday is in July. Don, who passed away in late 2011, would have been 72 on July 11. His legacy lives on in a big way in these parts.

I've mentioned that I never formally met Don. I saw him in action many times and just never got acquainted. But I've heard a ton or stories in connection with the book on Portland's beer history I'm finishing up. Fun stuff.

Most everyone remembers Younger when they think of the Horse Brass Pub. Don bought the place during a day (and night) of heavy drinking in 1976. He and his brother, Bill, ran it as an authentic British-style pub. The theme stuck.

The Horse Brass eventually became a haven for craft brewers and beer long before either had any standing in this town. Just ask around. Ask Kurt and Rob Widmer. Ask Karl Ockert or Dick or Nancy Ponzi. Ask Brian or Mike McMenamin. Ask Art Larrance or Fred Bowman. Don was an early craft beer convert. Brewers would meet at the Horse Brass to conduct tastings and share ideas. It was a big deal.

A lot of people probably have no idea where the idea for Oregon Craft Beer Month came from. Don Younger played a leading role. The idea was born years ago when he was talking to Lisa Morrison and others about Oregon breweries who were left out of the Oregon Brewers Festival. They came up with the idea of a Fringe Fest featuring those breweries. That became Oregon Beer Week the following year and eventually Oregon Craft Beer Month, now run by the Oregon Brewers Guild.

"Don went viral before anyone knew what it meant," says John Foyston, longtime Oregonian beer guru.  "He started Fringe Fest, Oregon Beer Week and Oregon Craft Beer Month. People somehow assume these ideas have always been out there...like craft beer. But that's not the case. Someone had to think these things up and Don was the guy who played a huge role in that."

"Don was an early supporter of craft brewers and good beer in general," recalls Alan Sprints, founder of Hair of the Dog Brewing. "Don gave me a permanent handle at his pub to pour my beer when no one else would."

In 1999, Younger partnered with Jerry Fechter of Lompoc Brewing, an arrangement that lasted until Younger's death. "I didn't know how influential Don was until I started talking to him," Fechter recalls. "He knew everyone and had been involved from the start. He liked everybody. If he didn't like you, he wouldn't tell you or let you know it."

Don's influence transcended Portland and Oregon. He became well-known around the country. There are some great stories of his exploits while on the road. But he remained down to earth. He hired people who were down on their luck and they stayed loyal for years. He loaned money to people who wanted to start a business, telling them to pay him back when they could.

It's hard to say what Portland's beer landscape would look like today without Younger's influence. We would certainly have a lot of good beer. Would we have what we have? Almost certainly not.

So mark July 11 on you calendar...and raise a toast to Don Younger. And if you happen to miss the 11th, almost any day or days in July will do. Because Oregon Craft Beer Month is a big part of Don Younger's legacy.

Cheers, Don. We wish you were here.

Craft Beer Month's Main Event is Underway

There's something terrific about a warm summer day, large tents teeming with beer fans and, yeah, a bit of beer drinking. Day 1 of the 25th Oregon Brewers Festival is in the books and I think it's safe to say a good time was had by all...or most.

I spent a casual afternoon floating from trailer to trailer, sampling more than a few beers. There were stops along the way to hang out with local beer celebs and friends. The Brewvana Tours family was front and center making friends. Fred Eckhardt was drinking water from his mug when I ran into him. I suggested a Rainier, which drew a smile. There were many more

Getting ready to tap the ceremonial kegs

The day opened with the tapping of the ceremonial first kegs from Cascade Brewing, this year's host brewery. I've been to three or four of these now and I have to say they tend to turn into a bit of a cluster. This time around the TV/video people crowded around the kegs, blocking the view. Last year, the McMenamin's Hammerheads starred in a similar role. Oh well.

A tip of the hat to Art Larrance and the OBF's longtime organizer, Chris Crabb, for introducing representatives of the three founding breweries...Widmer, Bridgeport and Portland Brewing. This being the 25th year, it was more than appropriate to acknowledge Dick and Nancy Ponzi (Bridgeport), Kurt and Rob Widmer (kinda obvious, huh?) and Art himself (Portland Brewing). None of these folks had a clue, in 1988, that the OBF could or would become what it is today. They were simply looking for a way to promote their fledgling breweries. Today, this event is the crown jewel of an industry that has made Portland and the state of Oregon an international destination for craft beer fans. It's pretty amazing to consider what has been built here in 30 years. Wow!

The Brewvana fam-bam: Sal, Ashley and Pam

The Beers

I promised to deliver some thoughts on the beers I tasted. You may recall the tasting list I posted the other day. I was fortunate enough to arrive early enough and stay late enough to taste most of the beers on my list and still make it home safely on the bike. Slow drinking and plenty of water was the key to that. There's more tasting to come.

Lagunitas OBF Fusion was the first beer I ran into. This thing seemed more bitter than 40 IBUs. The reason is the beer has almost no malt backbone. It isn't bad, but I definitely didn't find it all that memorable.

The ceremonial first beer

I moved on to Cherried Alive from Old Market Pub and Brewery. They used a truckload of sweet and sour cherries to make this beer and the name is fitting. The beer is slightly tart and I thought it worked well. A friend didn't care for it. Such is the slippery slope of reviewing beers.

Huckleberry Hound IPA from Alameda Brewing wasn't a failure as an IPA, but I didn't smell or taste much in the way of huckleberry. Whatever juice is present seems to take a backseat to the hops.

Redhook's Peach Trippel was surprisingly light, slightly tart and refreshing. At 8.2% ABV, drinking too much of this stuff isn't advisable...although opinions will differ on that.

Things were buzzing in the Buzz Tent

Because I was trying to save my palette, I didn't taste any big IPAs right away. So there was a gigantic line for Gigantic's Dynomite Double IPA when I finally got there in the mid-afternoon. The reason was instantly apparent. This beer is essentially a bigger version of their standard IPA, which is pretty good in my view. Lots of pineapple, grapefruit and citrus notes. This beer packs 8.9% ABV, but it's not that obvious. If you want to taste this one, get it early. It's on the North side.

Berry White from the Ram Restaurant and Brewery was another nice beer, with a great berry flavor and a mildly tart finish. As advertised in the program, hops are in the background.

The Buzz

They've got a bunch of terrific beers in the Buzz Tent, which is just south of Token Sales. It was pretty busy from the outset and I didn't bother going in there until late afternoon. High Class Blonde from Cascade Brewing was terrific...nicely tart. Freik Cherry Raspberry from Odell's Brewing (Ft. Collins, CO) was also yummy. I don't want to dive any deeper because I have no idea what will be pouring in there the rest of the way.

One point I do want to make about the Buzz Tent: It really bothers me that there is essentially no information on the beers. Some of the servers had snippets of info, but that was it. "Wait a second," I thought. "We ought to be getting a bit of information for double token beers." Indeed we should. Hopefully, they'll find a way to resolve this issue for next year, if not this year.

Cheers to festing!

Update: The crowd arrived earlier than usual and was huge for a Thursday. There were lines for some beers by 2 p.m. Thursday is evidently no longer a secret. I'm guessing this year's attendance will break records, although cooler weekend weather could mess with that theory.

On Tap Thursday-Sunday: OBF XXV

Finally, the little event many beer fans have been waiting for is nearly here. If you pass Waterfront Park in the next couple of days, you'll see a beehive of activity as organizers hoist tents and essentially assemble the infrastructure required to support an event that will attract 80,000. The Oregon Brewers Festival is upon us.

They're expecting great weather for this year's OBF...sunny with temps in the low to mid 80s is what I'm seeing and hearing. It doesn't get a whole lot better. One of the great things about having a big outdoor event in Portland this time of year is the weather almost always cooperates. Anyone feel like a beer?

Prep to Fest

Festival posters are up at breweries, pubs and other beer-centric locations around town. They advertise 125+ craft beers. Please realize, the 125 includes beers that will be featured in the Buzz Tent and Sour Tent (new this year). Something like 82 beers will be poured from taps in front of the big tents everyone is familiar with.

Just to be clear, no one knows what the Buzz and Sour Tents will be pouring. Actually, at least one person does know...that person being Preston Weesner, the OBF's maestro of beer. He's not saying anything about the beers because he knows he doesn't have to. There's no pre-festival program for the Buzz or Sour Tents and it's arguably better that way because these beers usually don't last very long. A lot of us will report what we find on Thursday, but that's no guarantee the same beers will be around for Friday or the weekend. In the end, you'll get what you get in these tents.

Putting together a tentative tasting list is tough...too many great choices. I have to admit the Buzz and Sour Tent beers play into my thinking. Why? Because I know will be trying quite a few of those high octane gems. So the list of standard beers I plan to taste leans in the direction of lower ABV beers. If you recall, the average ABV this year is 6.2%, which is lower than usual. I'm pretty sure that number doesn't include the Buzz or Sour Tent beers. In any case, there are plenty of beers to choose from in the 4-5.5% ABV category.

Get ready for sunshine and great beer!

Tasting Sheet

Below is a short list of beers I hope to run into at the festival. I haven't tasted any of the these before, to my knowledge, and that's part of why I chose them. I'm listing them in no particular order because I know that's how I'll find them. Most of the descriptions are taken from the media program, with slight editing.

Huckleberry Hound IPA 6.5% ABV, 55 IBU

Alameda Brewing, Portland

Columbus, Cascade, Amarillo and Simcoe hops in the boil, whirlpool and fermenter complement the unique grain bill of German Pilsner malt, German Munich malt and Crystal rye. Huckleberry juice pumps up the gravity and adds a sweet fruity touch to the dry but full-bodied brew.

Tropical Blonde 5.1% ABV, 15 IBU

Vertigo Brewing, Hillsboro

Key Lime juice is said to give this beer a unique, sweet citrus taste. The medium-strength beer was brewed from Gambrinus 2-Row pale, Rahr wheat, Crystal 10 and Cara Foam malts with flaked barley in the grist. Noble Czech Saaz hops bitter the wort, with Mt. Hoods added at 15 and 30 minutes before knockout for flavor and aroma. Sounds interesting.

Raspberry Crush 5.2% ABV, 4 IBU

10 Barrel Brewing, Bend

Acidulated white wheat, raspberries and an inoculation of lactobacillus in the fermenter. Low hop levels let the special sour flavors dominate, and rice syrup helps yield a light finish and body.

Oregon Strawberry Honey Ale 5.3% ABV, 15 IBU

Mt. Emily Ale House, La Grande

Organic strawberries and organic honey add special sweetness, but also an exceptionally dry finish to this all-organic brew. A simple grain bill of organic 2-Row malt provides the wort, bittered and flavored by an early and a late addition of organic Cascade hops.

This scene from 2005 will soon be repeated

Kellerbier 4.9% ABV, 25 IBU

Occidental Brewing, Portland

Occidental produces a terrific line of German-style beers. Kellerbier, also known as Zwickelbier, is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Pilsen and Carapils malt form the simple grist bill, while the wort is moderately bittered with Tettnanger hops for a slightly spicy flavor and aroma. Budvar yeast strain yields a malty nose with subtle fruit tones. The yeast held in suspension makes it naturally cloudy. It's full of vitamins, they say.

Pineapple Express 5.7% ABV, 7 IBU

Collaborator, Portland

Collaborator is one of the oldest collaborations in the nation between a craft brewer (Widmer Brothers) and homebrewers (the Oregon Brew Crew). Pineapple Express is the latest in the Collaborator series. Pineapple added to the secondary fermenter adds a fruity sweetness as well as the flavor and aroma of the fruit, while leaving the acidity and bitterness behind. 2-Row, Munich and wheat malts are supplemented by corn sugar for a light-bodied sweet beer that's not cloying.

Cherried Alive 7.8% ABV, 19 IBU

Old Market Pub & Brewery, Portland
They added 700 pounds of Oregon organic sweet and tart cherries to the secondary fermenter, on top of a five-grain malt bill. It wasn't enough to satisfy Old Market brewers. So they aged much of the brew in Pinot Noir oak barrels with an additional 900 pounds of cherries. Wow!

Peach Trippel 8.2% ABV, 20 IBU

Redhook, Woodinville, WA

They added a half-ton of real fruit peach puree to make 35 barrels of this beer, which makes its debut at the Festival. A four-step mash process on 2-Row, wheat, Munich and Cara-20 malts produced a sweet wort, supplemented with dextrose and Candi sugar in the boil. A gentle dose of Northern Brewer and Saaz hops creates a light but slightly sweet beer with low bitterness to accentuate the aroma and flavor of the fruit.

OBF Fusion Secret ABV, Secret IBU

Lagunitas, Petaluma, CA

Lagunutas may have the best sense of humor in the brewing industry. This is a special beer for the OBF. Conceived by Oregon beer lovers, then brewed in Petaluma by Oregonians with a recipe so secret, even the brewers don't know it. The program claims they overcome the risk of brewing blindfolded by hiring seeing-eye dogs to do all of the heavy lifting. Alrighty, dudes.

Berry White 5% ABV, 13 IBU

Ram Restaurant & Brewery, Happy Valley

The program says once you taste this beer, you may find yourself singing in a low baritone about how you can't get enough of it. Start with pale malt, malted and unmalted wheat, acidulated malt and flaked oats. A light hand with Vanguard hops provides just enough bitterness to take off the sweet edge. Raspberries added to secondary fermentation and the brite tank finish the beer with a tart, tangy berry flavor.

Hopheads

IPA is the most popular craft style nationwide at the moment, and I'm positive there will be some hopheads at the OBF. These are a few hoppy highlights.

Sculpin IPA 6.6% ABV 70 IBU

Ballast Point, San Diego

Seven different hops added several times to the boil, as well as to the knock-out and in the fermenter. Northern Brewer, German Tradition, Columbus, Chinook, Centennial, Amarillo and Simcoe give it not only a bracing bitterness, but a rich, hop flavor.

Tan Line Summer IPA 5.2% ABV 82 IBU

Fire Mountain Brewing, Carlton, OR

This has the look of a hop bomb. Centennial and Saaz hops go into the kettle on a secret schedule, but rumor has it they don't stop once they start. Pilsner and light caramel malts provide the grain base to carry all that hop bitterness. Dry English Ale yeast supposedly leaves some malt flavor behind to balance the hops.

IPA Chronicle: FL-Oregon Trail 7.5% ABV No IBU listed

Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin, FL

Dunedin makes its OBF debut with this high-gravity IPA of record-setting bitterness (off-the-chart 125 IBUs). They say IBUs of more than 100 can't be tasted. We'll see, I guess. Don't ignore this beer due to any preconceived notions about Florida beer. They are making progress with an increasing number of breweries and beers. 

Double Hopped Double IPA 7.8% ABV, 85 IBU 

Terminal Gravity Brewing, Enterprise

This is a collaboration with Double Mountain Brewery. Wallowa Mountain water extracts its malty sweetness (and yeast food) from Belgian Biscuit, Maris Otter and high-color U.S. pale 2-Row malts. Chinook, Styrian Goldings and experimental HBC342 hops are added into the boil, with the Goldings and HBC342s also added in the fermenter for an extra snappy hop flavor.

Dynomite! 8.9% ABV, 90 IBU

Gigantic Brewing, Portland

An Imperial IPA with "Gigantic amounts of hops, malt, alcohol and flavor," says the program. A little bit of Crystal malt is added to lots of base 2-Row pale and as many hops as they could find - especially in the hopback, to make sure you can taste hops in the finish. Another hop bomb!

Report Card

I'll be festing Thursday through Saturday. Thursday will be mostly focused on keeping track of what I taste and what I like. I'll post some findings on Friday. I hope to see you there. Cheers! 

Next Up: Oregon Brewers Festival XXV

The Oregon Brewers Festival, coming up next week, is a destination event. Something like 80,000 craft beer fans will descend on Waterfront Park to sample some of the best beers the planet has to offer in an amazing setting. A growing number of them come from outside the Portland metro area. Best event in the galaxy? Well, we just don't know, dude. Best in the solar system? Almost certainly.

Where the OBF is today is something of an enigma given the event's pedestrian beginnings. The story has been told before here and elsewhere. The first official OBF happened in 1988, when there was really nothing like it around. I say "official" because there was a precursor in 1987, when Art Larrance got Portland Brewing involved in supplying beer for Papa Aldo's Blues Festival. Once the taps were turned on, they ran continuously, perhaps suggesting craft beer needed a festival of its own.

Before the masses arrived last year...

As luck would have it, Papa Aldo's bailed out of the blues festival in 1988. But they had a two-year permit to do an event in Waterfront Park. They turned the permit over to the Blues Association, which wanted to do a festival around the Fourth of July. That left an open, permitted date in late July. Portland Brewing bought the permit from the Blues Association for $500. Larrance then got Widmer and Bridgeport involved. McMenamin's declined to get involved as an organizer, but agreed to bring beer to the festival

The first OBF happened in July 1988. It was miniature next to what the event is today. There was a single tent and 22 breweries pouring something like 30 beers over two days. The plastic festival mug (the city did not want broken glass in the park) cost $1. Half a mug of beer was $1 and a full mug was $2. Logistical issues were rampant, largely the result of the fact that the expected crowd of 5,000 tripled to 15,000. They couldn't pour the beer fast enough.

McMenamin's Hammerheads with the 2011 ceremonial first keg

It's important to recognize the Oregon Brewers Festival for what it isn't as much as for what it is. The Great American Beer Festival started in 1987. Larrance had no intention of copying the GABF. In fact, the OBF was going to be very much the opposite. The GABF is an indoor event; the OBF is outside. The GABF accepts all beers and gives 1 ounce samples; the OBF is more selective and pours larger samples. The GABF has judging; the OBF will never have judging of any kind.

As we look ahead to the 25th rendition of the Oregon Brewers Festival next week, there are some significant details worth listing:

• There will be 82 breweries from 14 U.S. states pouring 84 beers
• Some 40 beer styles are represented...IPA being the most popular
• Kona traveled the most miles to get here: 2,600
• The highest alcohol beer is Positive Contact, by Dogfish Head, at 9%
• More than 2,000 volunteers make the festival possible
• A Buzz Tent will be pouring an as-yet unspecified number of specialty beers
• A Sour Tent will be serving an unspecified number of sour beers
• The average ABV this year is 6.2%, lower than year's past
• The event will inject more than $23 million into the local economy

An awkward pour...from 2010

If you can't wait to know what beers will be poured this year, you've probably already gone to the OBF site and scoped it out. If you want to and haven't, find the list here. As noted above, we still don't know what will be pouring in the Buzz Tent or Sour Tent. The OBF's Wizard of Beer, Preston Weesner, is keeping the specialty beers under wraps for now.

For those who want some direction, I'll make some recommendations early next week. Picking beers to taste at  the OBF is a bit of a slippery slope because there are so many good ones. I'll break my list down into several categories because that's how I like to taste. Check back next week for a cheat sheet.

OBF at 25: Premiere, Past and Future

Most readers of this blog are well aware that July is Oregon Craft Beer Month. If you didn't know that, shift your eyes to the top of the left column. See the graphic? Alrighty then. You're on board!

I think I need not mention that July is a packed with beer events. There's barely a free moment for beer lovers. Last year we were talking about event fatigue by mid-July. This year, I think we've gotten used to the idea. Bring on the warm weather and festivals!

Under the tent at the 2011 OBF

The culminating event of Craft Beer Month is the Oregon Brewers Festival, which marks it's 25th year in 2012. This year's event will happen July 26-29 in Waterfront Park. The OBF is the quintessential beer event not only of the month or summer, but of the year. More than 80,000 beer fans will descend on Waterfront Park for this year's event, which showcases craft beer from Oregon and beyond. More than $20 million will be injected into the local economy as a result. There's no better event here. Period.

The Premiere
Last week, I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the premiere of the movie, My First Oregon Brewers Festival. I'll get to the movie shortly. First, you need to know it was commissioned and presented by Art Larrance, co-founder of the OBF and Portland Brewing back in the day. Besides the festival, Art also operates the Raccoon Lodge in Raleigh Hills and the Cascade Barrel House in Southeast Portland. He is one the founding fathers of the craft beer industry in Portland.

Eckhardt shares a thought with Larrance

Events like this are great fun. You get to mingle with the legends of craft beer. I spent 20 minutes talking to Fred Eckhardt about his World War II military service as a Marine. Then Art launched into a discussion of his service during the Vietnam era. These guys obviously love great beer, but maybe more than anything else they are great story tellers. You gotta love hanging out with them.

As for the movie, it is not my cup of tea. Or maybe I should say it isn't the movie I, personally, would have made. Art told me point blank he was happy with it...which is cool. The pacing, content and editing suggests it was made mostly for young folks who have yet to attend an Oregon Brewers Festival. As a promotional vehicle, that makes sense. As an historical vehicle, it doesn't work...despite interviews with many key people. Beth Harrington's wonderful OPB documentary, Beervana, is a better place to start if you want some historical perspective on the early days of craft beer in Oregon. Just saying.

The Past
Prior to the movie screening, there was a panel discussion moderated by John Foyston (subbing for Lisa "The Beer Goddess" Morrison, who was ill). Panelists included Larrance, Eckhardt, Kurt and Rob Widmer, and Karl Ockert (with Bridgeport during the first OBF). John got things going with some general questions and eventually took questions from the audience.

It's instructive to consider what these guys were thinking at that first festival in1988. They were desperately looking for a way to promote what they were doing. At the time, there was no calendar of events featuring craft beer. Indeed, there was nothing. These guys had no idea if their fledgling breweries were going to make it or not. An outdoor beer festival in the summertime seemed like a good promotional idea.

There were 22 breweries and a single tent that first year. They planned for 5,000 beer fans over 2 days. When three times that number flooded the grounds, logistical issues cropped up. For starters, they didn't have enough beer. To keep the taps flowing, the co-founding breweries (Bridgeport, Portland Brewing and Widmer) exhausted everything they had, There were evidently quite a few guest taps around town the week after the festival. But a star was born.

The panelists and moderator

Why has the OBF flourished over the years? There are many answers to that question. The event happens in the same location and at the same time every year. It's highly visible. The weather is almost always excellent for beer drinking. Finally, the OBF remains a reasonably affordable event. For $20, you can taste great beers in a terrific spot for an afternoon. Does it get an better?

The Future
The most legitimate question of the evening came from someone behind me, who asked about the future of the OBF. It's a fair question...the elephant in the living room. It's plain to see what the festival has been for its first 25 years, how much its grown and what it has done for craft beer. What do the next 25 years look like?

Larrance answered the question nimbly. He intends to do the festival for another 7-8 years. Although he would like to see it grow, there are obstacles. The permit they have for Waterfront Park is for the space between the Morrison and Burnside bridges. Because of other summer events, he does not believe it will be possible to expand the space. The most readily available option is to add days.

Look, to a great extent, the OBF as it exists today is the vision of Larrance and the team he has assembled. The event isn't going to change much as long as Art sticks around. It may or may not change when he steps away. It all depends on who takes over. If his daughter Alissa or someone on the current team takes over, the OBF is likely to stay much as it has been. If an outsider takes over, all bets are off.

Deschutes' ceremonial first keg, 2010

Looking ahead, you have to assume the OBF will get bigger. You've got a world class event that parks a significant amount of money in the Oregon economy. And it supports a growing industry that brings even more economic benefits to the state. Why wouldn't you want to expand it? Why wouldn't the City of Portland want to get behind expanding it? 

My thoughts? I think slowly expanding the number of days makes great sense. You can't instantly go to five days or you will simply spread your existing attendance out. The key is going to be getting the word out to the world, since that's who you're inviting. Once you fill the park for four days, expand to five. Pretty soon you may have the thing starting on Monday instead of Thursday. Then you can start talking to the city about expanding the space. Could this wind up being an Oktoberfest-like event? You never know.

Anyway, here's to Oregon Craft Beer Month and another great Oregon Brewers Festival. I'll have more to say about his year's event in coming weeks. 

Organic Festival Highlights Sustainable Values

The onslaught of the summer festival season is upon is. Get ready for crazy. For the next three months, beer fans get to enjoy the best of the best mostly in outdoor settings around town. The highlight, in my mind, is always the Oregon Brewers Festival, which happens in late July...a sort of exclamation point on Oregon Craft Beer Month.

What event kicks off high season in Portland? It's hard to say. Maybe it was last weekend's Fruit Beer Festival, which attracted good crowds in an expanded venue in and around Burnside Brewing. That festival is going to continue to grow and will likely need an even larger space next year.

From the 2011 event...early Friday afternoon

The next big event is the North American Organic Beer Festival, now in its eighth year and set for June 29-July 1 in Overlook Park. They are expecting 18,000 beer fans for what is thought to be the nation's most environmentally friendly festival. More on that shortly.

They will be serving up 60 or so organic beers and ciders from 39 breweries this year. The tap list is out there to review if you're so inclined...I'll wait to make any suggestions until the week of the festival.

Craig Nicholls, who is arguably Portland's first organic brewer, launched the NAOBF and continues to run the show today. Craig was the brewmaster at Alameda Brewing for many years and subsequently opened Roots Brewing. He folded up Roots a couple of years ago and has been doing consulting work since, helping folks like Fire on the Mountain organize their brewing systems and operations.

There will be plenty of great beers at this event. But its values transcend beer. The NAOBF is all about promoting sustainability and does so in a variety of ways:

• Beer is sampled from reusable, compostable corn starch cups.
• Strategically placed onsite stations collect compostable and recyclable items
• Food vendors must use organic ingredients, as well as compostable plates and utensils
• Solar and biodiesel generators provide festival electricity
• A gigantic bike corral packs in hundreds of bikes

As a direct result of the efforts made here, 90 percent of the 2,300 pounds of waste generated by the NAOBF last year avoided landfills via recycling and composting. Craig had hoped the festival would be trash neutral this year...meaning nothing would wind up in in landfills. Even if that goal is not quite attainable for now, he is focused on getting there and eventually will.

As I said in an article I wrote for an actual publication last year, the NAOBF essentially uses good beer to showcase what you can do with sustainable principles if you put your mind to it. Most of the festivals around town generate mountains of waste that goes to landfills. This one does not. You have to respect that.

There's plenty of information on event times and costs here. It should be another good year for the event. Mark it, dudes.

Boneyard Builds Unique Brand

Bend's Boneyard Brewing has turned a lot of heads among Portland's craft beer fans since it opened in April 2010. The brand that built a reputation primarily on a couple of excellent IPAs is moving onward and upward.

The quasi-elegance of the Boneyard brand

There's no pretentiousness here. When you pull up in front of Boneyard, located in a mixed residential/industrial neighborhood in Northwest Bend, you are greeted by a rustic, ornamental motorcycle. Brewdog, X, is casually vigilant near the warehouse door. This is old school.

Walking up to the door, I was greeted by co-owner and head brewer Tony Lawrence. This was strictly by chance. I didn't call in advance to arrange a tour or interview. I was pleased to meet Lawrence, then amazed when he spent more than an hour showing me the place and telling me about Boneyard.

Beerlogist checks his production notebook

Lawrence, who formerly worked at Deschutes Brewing and Firestone Walker, announces himself as a beerologist, saying it more accurately describes his role. There are several brewers on the payroll at Boneyard and they were hard at work as I walked around with the boss. The 20 bbl brewhouse and collection of fermenters are packed into the available space.

The Boneyard tag itself is interesting. Bend beer fans will probably recall that this place was originally to be called Brewtal Brewing (according to the initial story in The Bulletin). The name morphed into Boneyard Brewing prior to the opening in April 2010. There are reasons for everything.

An example of Boneyard's make-it-here approach

"Boneyard is a name that makes sense for us," Lawrence said, "because beer isn't the only thing we make here. We make a lot of the stuff used in the operation. We can weld and we make our own tap handles, among other things. Recycling discarded stuff from the proverbial boneyard for use in and around the brewery is something we strive for."

As for the beer, Boneyard has a serious problem: They simply cannot make enough beer in the current facility to keep up with demand. They have risen quickly on the OLCC's sales list, coming in at #20 on the Year-to-Date Taxable Barrels sales report for October 2011 (the reports are always two months behind, Lawrence said).

They will soon add three additional fermenters to the mix. That will increase output somewhat, perhaps to the point where Boneyard can begin to seriously think about actively pursuing distribution by 16 oz. can. That plan has been on the drawing board from early on. They even own a $35,000 canning machine...which sits idle.

Canned RPM IPA will eventually happen

"I had hoped to be doing some distribution by can by now," Lawrence said. "But we're barely able to keep up with draft distribution (just the Northwest for now) and there's no way I want to alienate our distributors by launching the canning project and shorting our draft supply. We'll get to canning when we're ready."

It seems likely they won't be ready until next summer at the soonest. Lawrence said Boneyard recently signed a lease on a new building which will house a 50 bbl brewhouse, with plenty of space for fermenters and growth.

"The reality is we just don't have enough room in the present building to house the kind of brewing facility we need to be able to build out the brand," Lawrence said. "The new space, once we get it up to speed, will allow us to supply the draft and retail distribution channels...I hope."

The current brewing operation...too small

When retail distribution comes, RPM IPA in 4-packs of 16 oz. cans will be the first beer to appear on shelves. It will be available primarily at bottle shops and perhaps at grocery stores like Whole Foods and New Seasons. Lawrence isn't ruling out distribution by bottle and says a 750 ml bottle is possible.

"Canning is the road we plan to go down, and we're set up for it," he said. "But never say never with respect to bottles. I see successful breweries doing draft, cans and bottles. You never know. We don't want to rule anything out."

The Boneyard tasting room, located at the brewery, is small and friendly. Beer fans headed to or through Bend absolutely must stop by. The motif fits in well with the uniqueness of the Boneyard brand. Generous tastes will cost you $1 a piece, well worth it.

On my visit, they were pouring RPM IPA, Skunk Ape IRA, Femme Fatale, Backbone and Diablo Rojo Red in the tasting room. All were quite good. I also tasted Hop Venom from a fermenter, which was a little green, as well and several other beers in the backroom. Fun times.

The Boneyard tasting board

Lawrence, the perfectionist, claimed the RPM was a little off. He said a new batch of hops was somewhat green and had shifted the taste in an unfavorable way. Honestly, I thought it tasted fine. RPM has a great aroma and some of the citrus and pine notes that make it a viable competitor for Pliny the Elder.

One final note on Hop Venom and RPM: Lawrence said he is in the process of dialing both of these beers down a bit in terms of ABV. RPM, currently 7.5%, is being dialed down to about 7%. Hop Venom will go from 10% to 8.8%. This is part of an effort to improve the drinkability of both beers.

OBF Thoughts

The 2011 OBF is in the books and a fine festival it was. A few comments are definitely in order.

Attendance: As mentioned earlier, I'll be interested to see the final attendance numbers. I was there for three of the four days and the crowds were larger than any I can remember in 20+ years. The weather was perfect, obviously, and the festival seems to be attracting and increasing broad audience. I also think lousy economy played a part. The OBF isn't super cheap entertainment, but it is far cheaper than a trip to Sunriver or the coast. Anyway, it may be time for Art Larrance to again consider expanding the festival. And I'm not talking about the sour beer showcase planned for OBF Tuesday next year. I'm talking about possibly Wednesday. I can honestly see the OBF being a week long someday.

Hammerheads: A few people probably know McMenamin's was the host brewery this year. That meant, among other things, that the ceremonial kegs (barrels) were McMenamin's beer. I never heard an official announcement, but I assume the beer was Hammerhead. I assume this because 1) I know Hammerhead is one of their more popular beers, and 2) there were McMenamin's shills with foam hammerheads in the parade and in the gallery during the ceremonial tapping. Okay, the foam hammerheads were arguably a cute marketing touch. But they were obnoxiously blocking almost everyone's view of the stage. Not the best planning folks.

Errant Hammerhead marketing ploy.

Honest Tastes: We all know the volunteers who work the festival are largely responsible for its success over the years. I've poured beer and worked as a supervisor many times. I know the drill. So I was not surprised when several servers failed to fill my mug to the taste line. This happened early on. I know the people pouring the beer are told to limit the size of pours. That's cool. But I'm paying $1 for 4 ounces of beer and I expect to get 4 ounces of beer. After those initial issues, I checked pours every time and servers were always happy to fill my mug to the line if they had shorted me.

Short staffed: I know it's difficult to plan volunteer staffing for the OBF. You don't want people standing around with nothing to do and you don't want too few people. It seems to me they may have erred on the side of not enough staffing this year. I say this because there was really no excuse for some of the lines I saw on Friday and Saturday afternoons. We're talking very long lines. Several times I walked up to the front and found one person pouring and one filling pitchers for multiple beers. If you like long lines, that's a great strategy. It looked like they just didn't have enough people to keep up. Another thing I saw, even when it wasn't all that busy, was sloppy organization. In one case, there was a huge line for Firestone Walker and only two people manning that tap. On the same trailer, there were people standing around with no lines. Not great.

Led Zeppelin: The quality of the music acts at the OBF is typically not great. I suspect that's because the people that play are doing it mainly for fun or exposure...they aren't getting paid or they're getting paid very little. But Stairway Denied, the Led Zeppelin tribute band that played Saturday afternoon, was terrific. They worked their way through a hoard of Zep classics and attracted a good crowd. The lead singer did a pretty good Robert Plant and the rest of the band was solid. I talked to the singer after the show, asking him where they usually play and when. He said they seldom play in public...only every six months or so. That seems like a waste of talent to me, but maybe the OBF just happens to be a perfect venue for a band like this.

Hope everyone had a great festival. The countdown is on for next year!

Concordia Cup 2011

The ongoing competitions at Concordia Ale House are always amusing. Concordia is an interesting place. They have 20+ rotating taps and usually a pretty good list of draft beers. Then there's the bottle selection. They don't have a huge amount of cooler space, but the bottles they have are well-chosen. It must be tough being virtually next door to New Seasons, which carries a pretty good selection of bottles at what I consider to be decent prices. Oh well, Concordia has been around since 2004 and seems to be getting by.

The Imperial IPA taster tray.

The just-completed Concordia Cup 2011 competition was between 12 Oregon Imperial IPAs. They don't reveal the beers on the tray. Instead, you taste them all and vote for your favorite. The results (and beers) are revealed by email on Monday morning. Some of these beers are not readily available around town, so good luck guessing the names while you taste. Some weren't even very good. But never mind.

The winner, occupying the 12th slot in the tray, was Hopworks' Ace of Spades. Second place went to Oakshire's Perfect Storm. Third went to Bitter Bitch, from Astoria Brewing. I have to admit I didn't vote for any of them. Ace of Spades is good, but had heavy alcohol overtones. Perfect Storm was closer to the mark and got  my buddy's vote. I voted for #10, which was Mega Monster from Gilgamesh Brewing. Mega Monster is slightly dark for the style, but really well balanced, in my opinion. My choice for second would have been the Oakshire. Honorable mention goes to the #3 beer, which turned out to be Boneyard's Hop Venom. This beer exhibited hints of banana and cloves along with the heavy hops. I recently had a pint of Hop Venom over at the Hawthorne Hophouse and didn't notice those flavors. Further research may be needed. Comments welcome.

The next Concordia competition is Beerknowledgy, in which you taste 10 beers and try to identify them from a list. That's happening Aug. 17-21. Always interesting.

OBF Walkabout Destinations

It's strangely inevitable. People attending the Oregon Brewer’s Festival will want to do a little tasting on the side. It’s tough to fathom, given the 86 beers available at the Festival, but it’s going to happen. So I’m making a few suggestions…places within walking distance of Waterfront Park that represent some of the best beer selections Portland has to offer. No need to explain the walking part, right?

Five walkabout destinations by the numbers.

1. Hair of the Dog After operating his brewery out of a Southeast Portland warehouse for many years, brewer Alan Sprints finally stepped to the plate and opened a first rate tasting room closer to the city on Yamhill and Water Ave. Hair of the Dog should be at the top of any serious beer fan’s list when visiting Portland. It’s where you can sample some of the finest beers on the planet. Adam, Fred, Ruth and the excellent barley wine, Doggie Claws, are all available to taste in exquisite glassware. These are high alcohol beers, so don’t overdue it. Hair of the Dog beers are available for sale in bottle-conditioned form at the pub and in select stores around town. These beers, like fine wine, are generally thought to improve with age. But they also taste great directly out of the tap.
2. Cascade Brewing Barrel House One of the founding fathers of the craft beer movement and the Oregon Brewers Festival, Art Larrance, opened the Barrel House in 2010. Larrance also operates the Raccoon Lodge in Raleigh Hills, but the Barrel House is truly unique thanks to the beers being produced there. Brewmaster Ron Gansberg, who came from the wine making industry, is dedicated to being different. He and Larrance wanted to offer an alternative to what they refer to as the “hops arms race” in the Northwest. They landed on the idea of creating a line of sour beers similar, but not quite identical to, Belgian-style ales. They use fruit grown in the Northwest and oak barrels from local wineries for aging. This effort started in 2005 and their sour beers have been recognized several times at the Great American Beer Festival. They offer more than their sour beers at the Cascade Barrel House. But sample the sour beers if you go there. They are pretty unique.
3. Bailey’s Taproom The growing popularity of craft beer has resulted in growing number of pubs that feature a huge number of guest taps and wide selection of beer. Bailey’s Taproom is one of the best. It offers 20 constantly rotating taps that emphasize Oregon and Northwest beers. Bailey’s hours are limited to late afternoons and evenings and they don’t have food. But the beer list is primo and the assistance provided by the servers is excellent. Also, Bailey’s is one of the few places that regularly updates the list of available beers on their website. Their stated goal is to constantly offer one of the most eclectic selections of beer around and provide an atmosphere that is comfortable, accommodating, and encourages enthusiasm for the unfamiliar. They succeed on all counts.

4. Tugboat Brewing Across the street from Bailey’s Taproom you’ll see the Tugboat Brewing fascia. Tugboat started operations in 1992. It’s a logical destination for OBF visitors because it represents the small ball approach that once characterized brewpubs in Portland. The brewhouse is small, producing the equivalent of eight kegs per brewing session. Owner/brewer Terry Nelson apparently brews what he feels like as his schedule permits. For 20 years, Nelson has maintained the values of small scale beer production and friendly, down to earth ambiance. While some of Oregon’s craft breweries have gone to mass production and distribution, Nelson likes to think Tugboat has taken a calculated step backwards by staying small, family-owned, and respectful of the beer and his customers. You never know what you’ll find on tap here. Don’t worry about it. Have a pint of house beer and take in the ambiance. It’s worth the trip!
5. Deschutes Brewing Based in Bend, Deschutes Brewing has enjoyed amazing success since opening in 1988. It is now the fifth largest craft brewery in the United States. Deschutes didn’t open a brewpub in Portland until 2008, possibly because they wanted to find the perfect space. They found it, then spent a fortune renovating the building to their specs. What they have is striking, with high ceilings, a sizeable bar area and plenty of table seating. The brewhouse is a custom-built 20 bbl system which is prominently on display for beer fans to absorb. Most of the beers served at the Portland brewpub are produced there. That list includes a number of specialty beers you won’t find in stores or pubs. Whether you like their mainstream beers or not, you have to face the fact that Deschutes produces a consistently excellent product. Mirror Pond Ale has won a number of awards and Black Butte Porter is the best selling craft brew porter in the land. There’s nothing at all wrong with their standard beers, but look to the list of specialty beers like Imperial Hop in the Dark, Streaking the Quad, Chainsaw White IPA or Fresh Squeezed IPA for a taste treat. Great stuff.