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! 

Outdoor Festival Season Revs Up with NAOBF

Even though there have already been several festivals, the upcoming North American Organic Brewers Festival is nominally the first of the summer. That's a sketchy argument if you go strictly by the weather, which has been, shall we say, uneven. But I can easily make the argument using the calendar, since we just officially entered summer.

Early Friday afternoon features line-free tasting

One of the biggest challenges routinely faced by the NAOBF is the weather. As most Oregonians know, summer often doesn't arrive here until July 5th. June can be dicey. Last year's NAOBF did not enjoy perfect weather. When I was there drinking on Friday, it was fairly cool. I think it warmed up during the weekend, but you never know what you'll get this time of year.


The Beers

The beer list for NAOBF 2012 is fairly impressive. They expect to have around 50 organic beers in a wide range of styles from around the country. Lots of good beer means choices can be tough. Well, unless you can come to the festival for multiple drinking sessions. Then you're set...but your liver may be in trouble.

My own recommendations are based on single visit drinking...most likely Friday afternoon. How do I decide what to taste? I look for beers that I can't find in local stores or pubs, or maybe a variation of something I can find there. I also take ABV into account because I can only taste so many beers. Lower values are going to attract my interest more than higher ones. I know, I know...that runs contrary to the thinking of some festival goers. Oh well. My list:

The bike corral packed in last year

Alameda Brewing - Thai Yellow Wolf Imperial IPA - ABV 8.2% IBU 100

Standard Yellow Wolf is a good IIPA, available in many stores and on draft around town. This is a variation, made with 100 percent organic malts. They also add dried mangoes, flaked coconut, Thai basil and ginger. This could be pretty interesting. Or not. But worth a try. At 100 IBU, it's a pallet buster for sure, so save this for late in your tasting excursion.

The Commons - Havier Bier/Oat Saison - ABV 5.6% IBU 15
Any beer by The Commons is worth a try. Saison is a refreshing style and perfect for a warm weather. Even if the weather fails to cooperate, I suspect this beer will.

Fort George Brewing - Spruce Budd Ale - ABV 5.2% IBU 0
This is one of two beers Fort George is bringing to the festival and the other one (South, a barrel-aged fruit beer) is worth a taste, as well. But Spruce Budd Ale looks interesting. The "O" IBU isn't a typo, so hopheads may wish to move on. Fort George brewers use spruce tips in place of hops for aroma and some flavor in this beer. I suspect it will be great or terrible. Either way, I like the creativity.

Late afternoon lines will be long

Laht Neppur Brewing Co.- Peach Hefeweizen Fruit Beer - ABV 5.2% IBU 15
Laht Neppur is located in Waitsburg, Washington...the heart of wine country. They make wine and beer...the brewing part of the operation was established in 2006. Seriously, Laht Neppur is on my road-trip hit list the next time I go to the homeland (Spokane or Pullman). This beer is their standard Hefeweizen with peaches and puree added. Sounds like a perfect summer pick-me-upper.

Laurelwood Brewing - Organic Green Elephant IPA - ABV 6.9% IBU 80
Laurelwood is bringing two excellent and highly sought-after beers to this festival. I'm listing Organic Green Elephant because it has a lower ABV than Organic Deranger Imperial Red Ale. Both of these are limited edition beers and worth trying. Hopheads will be lined up for both...and rightfully so.

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales - Kili Wit Beer = ABV 5.5% IBU 20
Logsdon is located up the road in Hood River and makes its beers from locally grown ingredients. They have built a strong reputation on their Farmhouse Ales. Kili Wit is brewed with organic barley, wheat and oats. Whole cone Fuggle hops (as opposed to pellets) and Egyptian coriander evidently contribute to a light, refreshing beer.

Recycling is a big part of the program here

McMenamin's Crystal Brewery - Organic Liquid Friend Session Ale - ABV 4.7% IBU 26
I'm not normally going to seek out McMenamin's beers at any event. However, this one looks interesting. They use 2-row barley and wheat malt for the backbone and Centennial and Tettnanger hops for a citrus, floral finish. Beware of the low IBU rating here. Hops may come to the forefront due to the relative lightness of the beer.

Natian Brewery - Alphabetically Above Average Organic Amber Ale ABV 5.3% IBU Not listed
The other Natian beer at the festival (La Luz Summer Ale) has a higher ABV than this one. It's a little odd for an amber ale to be lighter than a summer ale...though not unheard of. They evidently use a bit of organic cocoa in this beer for color and flavor.

Pike Brewing - Naughty Nellie/Golden Artisan Ale ABV 4.7% IBU 24
Sometimes a name is all you need. Naughty Nellie sounds pretty good to me. Seriously, Seattle's Pike Brewing has been producing great beers for a long time. Nellie is positioned as a balanced, crisp golden ale. We shall see.

The beer will flow, rain or shine

Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing - Love Potion Fruit Beer ABV 4.5% IBU 36
Love Potion is a seasonal offering at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. This is a place I hope to visit someday. Anyway, Love Potion is a pale ale brewed with cherries, oranges, rose hips and hibiscus. How can this beer not be interesting?

So there you have it...my tasting list for the NAOBF. Opinions will certainly differ. There are a lot of high octane beers at this festival and I'm quite sure some of my partners in crime will have tasting lists that are significantly different than mine. And that's cool. It's all about personal preference.

The Festival 
I suppose the most important thing to remember about this event is that it runs THREE DAYS. That's right. This isn't the OBF, which runs four days (and could possibly run a week). The NAOBF is basically a weekend event. If you're keeping in theme, walk, ride your bike or take public transit to the event. Parking is extremely limited. There's a whole lot more info here.

Cheers to summer!