Shelter from the Sports Storm

The start of another NFL season seems like a good time to consider the impact of the 24-hour sports cycle, gone bonkers at the moment thanks to the Ray Rice media circus. The fact is, it is increasingly difficult to find a bar, pub or tavern that hasn't jumped on the sports bandwagon with large TVs and related promotions.

Don't misunderstand. I enjoy televised sports as much as the next person. I'll often go where I know I can watch a game while drinking a tasty malt beverage. But there are limits to what I will tolerate when it comes to non-stop buzz.

Fortunately, not everyone has joined the sports stampede. There are still a few places that have a retrograde view of what a pub is or ought to be about. Belmont Station is a good example. They offer great beer in a space void of TVs, which opens up the opportunity for conversation uninterrupted by visual distractions. Imagine that.

Looking back, the proliferation of sports-themed joints linked to craft beer is a relatively recent phenomenon. As far back as the 1970s, lots of watering holes had small TVs, often behind the bar, that were switched on to track live games and scores. That's a far cry from the non-stop barrage of giant screen banality we see today.

The thing is, sports TV did not play a significant role in the early development of brewpubs and breweries, most of which chose a more traditional pub approach. That rationale has been turned on its head today, as a long list of places has caved to the sports craze.

Part of what's driving this reality is the glut of sports programming looping around the clock on countless channels. If you go back 10-15 years, there weren't all that many options for live games and you didn't have multiple ESPNs and other channels endlessly hawking highlights.

My guess is owners and managers hop on the bandwagon because they'd rather not risk alienating the crowd that craves sports and entertainment. Shrinking attention spans mesmerized by non-stop moving images are a factor in this, for sure, but never mind. Marshall McLuhan isn't in the house.

I always wonder what differentiates places like Belmont Station from the countless joints that feature a barrage of sports programming. What mindset causes them to go against the flow? I put that question to Belmont Station co-owner, Lisa Morrison.

The philosophy she and partner Carl Singmaster share is pretty simple, she says:

We want to offer a place where the art of conversation can mingle with the enjoyment of a fine beverage. We have so many technological distractions in our lives. Our goal is to offer a spot that can take you away from that for a while and bring people together. And if you want to watch a game or whatever, you can do that on any number of personal devices. We even provide complementary WiFi. 

On any given day, you'll find people hanging out in the bier cafe, occupying tables on the sidewalk out front or sitting in the more recent addition in the rear. They're enjoying beer and conversation, usually. You occasionally see people staring at a laptop, tablet or phone, but mostly there's just a lot of talking and social drinking.

There's every reason to believe the sports craze will continue to infiltrate places that are new or haven't yet jumped on the bandwagon. Places like Belmont Station are the increasingly rare alternative, for those who want a more traditional experience. It's too bad there aren't more of them.

Stars Align for Harris, Ecliptic Brewing

When I last visited the site that was to become Ecliptic Brewing, the building was nothing more than a shell. This was in late April. Brewer and proprietor, John Harris, raised some eyebrows, including my own, when he talked of opening in October. Yet here we are. Ecliptic officially opens today.

The brand

Just to review, Harris is one of Oregon's iconic brewers. He started out at McMenamin's Hillsdale Brewpub in 1986. Two years later, he moved to Deschutes in Bend, where he developed beers like Mirror Pond, Black Butte Porter and Obsidian Stout. In 1992, Harris returned to Portland to run Full Sail's brewery on the South Waterfront. He left there last year to start his own gig, Ecliptic.

Members of the so-called beer media toured the Ecliptic facility Sunday afternoon. It is impressive, even if it is a work in progress. Harris put together what he willingly describes as a "Frankenstein" brewery...so named because it is composed of pieces scavenged from all over. It's a 15 bbl system with three fermenters...one 15 bbl and two 30 bbl. Several conditioning tanks complete the line-up.

The brewing floor

Some expected to see Bridgeport's original brew kettle in the middle of the brewery. John acquired the old steam-heated kettle from Dogfish Head in Delaware, but discovered the old vessel needs some fixing. He subsequently acquired a more modern kettle from Japan. No word on what will happen to the old Bridgeport kettle, which has significant historic value in Portland. Perhaps a display of some sort.

A word about the theme here. Ecliptic's is all about astronomy. We're talking stars, not horoscopes, if you're wondering. Harris has combined his two passions here...brewing and astronomy. Ecliptic represents the Earth's yearly journey around the sun. They actually have a sizable light fixture that mimics that path. The movement is reflected in the beer list and menu items, which will rotate with the seasons. No standing still here.

Late afternoon sun hugs the beers

Ecliptic is pouring four beers out of the gate, and none of them will wind up being flagship beers. Harris plans to alter the brewing approach according to his own feel and what the clientele likes. There will soon be more beers available, including a pilsner and a Porter. The current list:

Procyon Pale is adequate, if a little dry. It has great color and clocks in at 5.9% ABV and 60 IBU. It could use a touch of sweetness, in my view, but many will like this beer fine as it is. The IBUs are a little higher than what Harris intended, he said. That will get dialed in as he tinkers with the recipe.

Brews and food with a view

Arcturus IPA is made with a mix of "C" hops (Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Columbus). It clocks in at 7.4% ABV and 75 IBU. This is a decent IPA and will surely be better with tweaking. Arcturus is not dry-hopped, which means it lacks the nose most Portlanders expect in an IPA. Still, pretty good.

The other two beers are collaborations, one with Gigantic Brewing and the other with Widmer. The Gigantic beer, TicWitTic, is a Belgian-style Wit that is soured.  The Widmer beer is 1/2 Mile Pale Ale (Widmer and Ecliptic are half a mile apart). I didn't taste either of these beers, so I can't comment. The TicWitTic sounds fairly interesting. Must make a return trip.

Sweet & Spicy Drumsticks...yummy

Food isn't going to be an afterthought here. Harris says there's no reason why a brewpub can't be listed among the best restaurants in the city. He may be right. Regardless, he aims to offer a rotating menu of stellar items. Sure, you'll find burgers and standard pub fare. But you'll also find pan-fried black cod, ale-braised lamb shank, grilled flat iron steak and more. Appetizers, too. Don't miss the sweet and spicy drumsticks!

Besides the food and brews, there's other good news here. Located just a block south of Fremont on Mississippi, Ecliptic features nice views of the city through large garage doors. The doors will be shuttered most of the winter, but the views remain. By next summer, Harris will have an outdoor patio to supplement the space. Chain link fences lining the property will be gone by then. Perfect.

Hard to miss signage

Back in the brewery, there's a lot of unused space...by design. Harris expects to expand the brewing system as business grows and will add a barrel program as well. He has plenty of room to do so. He also hopes to release his beer in bottles (or cans) at some unspecified point. There's space to install a bottling (or canning) line if he chooses. Smart move.

Of course, you never know how a new business is going to do until you see it in action. Harris definitely has the knowledge and experience needed to run a prosperous business. This location is nearly ideal in my mind., but consumers will vote with their dollars on that. I suspect Ecliptic has a bright future.

Bridgeport's historic kettle

Ecliptic it is for John Harris

John Harris' new brewing endeavor here in Portland will be called Ecliptic Brewing. He announced the name at a media gathering Sunday afternoon, after which the public got the same news. More on why he chose the name shortly.

The sizable cavern

The building that will house Ecliptic Brewing is a former auto body repair shop. No residual solvents or stinky smells, thanks very much. The place is huge...14,175 square feet. When he was looking for a building, John figured he needed 10,000 square feet. Then he got to thinking about the need to expand and do barrel aging. "More space," he said to himself. Then he found this place, a perfect fit.

Harris expects to use about 3,000 square feet for the pub and restaurant part of the operation, which will also have an outdoor patio. The brewery will consume some portion of the remaining space, but he'll have plenty of room for expansion and other activities. Architect Julia Wood is working with John to design a space that integrates sustainable principles and functional efficiency.

The blueprint

The name is a play on John's interest in astronomy. He apparently enjoys gazing at celestial bodies when he isn't occupied with thoughts of beer or drinking beer. You wonder where he finds the time. Ecliptic represents the earth's journey around the sun, which plays into brewing in a variety of ways. Look it up.

About the beer, the brewing system here will be a 15 bbl system. In an interesting twist, Harris acquired the original Bridgeport Brewing system from Dogfish Head. No word on when the old system washed up on the east coast, but it will be used in Portland again soon.

Harris talks with Channel 8

You may recall my earlier post, where I talked about John's background at McMenamin's, Deschutes and Full Sail. He intends to make Ecliptic unique. "I definitely plan to do some things differently than everyone else. I can't really talk about the specifics or those things wouldn't be unique anymore," he said. "You'll see soon enough."

When will this place open? That's an interesting question. They are apparently waiting on permits and hope to start construction in 6-8 weeks. Some of the demo may start sooner. Harris hopes to be brewing by mid-summer, which seems fairly optimistic to me, and hopes to open the pub in the fall. Obviously, everything depends on how well things go...there's a lot to be done.

The on-the-floor schematic

Located in what Julia Wood described as "the gateway to Mississippi," Ecliptic has landed on a terrific spot. I suspect its arrival will simply extend the carnival that is Mississippi north of Fremont. It's only a block to the south, so not much further to walk, ride or drive (yes, Santa, there is a parking lot).

For a lot of reasons, this looks like a great venture.

Logsdon Tapping Seques to Biergarten Grand Opening

I had the same idea as a lot of people Saturday afternoon. Seeing that Logsdon had pulled out of the Cheers to Belgian Beers festival, I headed over to Belmont Station to partake of some Logsdon beers. There was a good crowd of people hanging out there. And some good beers.

Peche 'n Brett

If you don't know the details of why Logsdon pulled out of the Cheers fest, the story is covered well here. The short version is the festival, which was taken over by the Oregon Brewers Guild this year, altered several of the prior guidelines. Logsdon didn't like it, so they chose to take their beer elsewhere. Follow the link if you need more detail.

Many people were going for tasting flights when I arrived. The Flight of the Day included four Logsdon beers, but not the one I wanted...the Peche 'n Brett. So I ordered a glass of it and started sipping. Good stuff. Mildly tart with a great flavor.

A number of people seated around the bar and at tables had bottles of Peche 'n Brett in front of them. In some cases, the bottles were cradled. The supply was limited and I have no idea how many they sold. However, I do know they sold out early on.

Spacious new patio/biergarten

The trip to Belmont Station gave me a chance to look over their new biergarten patio, which has been in the works for over a year, I believe. They had to deal with a lot of city red tape as part of the process. Oh well, the area is opening just in time for the coming summer months. 

You'll see the passageway to the patio as you walk toward the back of the Bier Cafe and past the restroom. From the top of the stairs you can look down on the area. Skylights help keep it bright by day. It was just cool enough on Saturday that the ceiling-mounted space heaters were pumping out some light heat. The glass garage doors along the south wall were closed, but they'll be open when warm weather arrives. This is basically an open patio by summer, an enclosed extension of the bar by winter. Good combo.

Food cart = more food choices

Food has always been kind of sparse in the Bier Cafe. To rectify that situation, there's now a food cart next to the biergarten. The Italian Market cart has a selection of sandwiches with an Italian flavor, as well as other snacks and quick bites.

The folks at Belmont Station will christen the Rich Bobkin Memorial Biergarten on Monday night (yep, that's tonight). Bob was a longtime friend and patron who passed away two years ago. They will then have some special tappings during grand opening week. Check their website for details.

For me, the new patio puts the Bier Cafe on my hit list. The tap list is always good here. Now they have a very cool outdoor area to sit and enjoy. And more food choices is a smart idea.

John Harris? Who the Hell is He?

You've probably heard John Harris is getting ready to open a brewery and pub over on Mississippi and Cook. If not, you heard it here first. John's holding a sneak preview of what he's up to on Sunday, April 28, from 2-4 p.m. He'll reveal what he plans to call the place, among other things. But wait. Who the hell is John Harris?

The collaboration with ex-employee Tony Lawrence was a hit

Even if you don't recognize John's photo or know him, you almost certainly know some of his beers if you've been around Oregon beer for any length of time. See, John has been part of the beer scene around these parts for 26 years...and counting. He's what you call an icon, even if you don't know him.

John began his professional brewing career with McMenamin's at the Hillsdale Pub. After the Brewpub Bill passed in 1985, Hillsdale was the first pub to take advantage of the law and start brewing. When they advertised for a brewer, John applied. He had some homebrewing experience, nothing more. As he joked when I spoke to him a while back, "I had no experience, but they hired me anyway." That's kind of the way it was in those days.

He got off to a rough start. "When I was hired, they told me to bring rubber boots my first day. But I forgot to buy them and showed up in hiking boots. That didn't work out too well when it came time to shovel the hops out of the brew kettle. But they didn't fire me, thankfully."

Unknown to many, they were using malt extract to brew at Hillsdale in the early days. They didn't have the ability to mash, so they bought 50-gallon drums of extract and used that. The beers were okay, never great. Other brewers made fun of them. About a year later, they started mashing and the Hillsdale beers eventually got better. Harris was there.

"The cool thing about McMenamin's is you had your own brewery. They gave you a lot of freedom to create stuff. We brewed with fruit, which was not common at the time…rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries. Some recipes worked better than others. There were times when they would say, 'Don’t make that again.'”

After two years (1986-88), Harris took a job at a little place called Deschutes Brewing in Bend. Deschutes was just getting started and he had a major role in developing recipes that were and are infamous in Oregon and beyond.

"I developed the recipes for Mirror Pond, Bachelor Bitter, Black Butte Porter and Obsidian Stout…all the good stuff," he said. "That’s where I made my name." Later in his four-year tenure at Deschutes, John hired Tony Lawrence to clean up the place after brewing day. Lawrence eventually left for Arizona, but subsequently returned and launched...Boneyard Brewing. 

John left Deschutes in 1992 and returned to Portland to work for Full Sail. Full Sail had opened in 1987 in Hood River and was well-known...in large part because they were the first craft brewery to start bottling. But they wanted a pub presence in Portland. The Pilsner Room on the South Waterfront seemed the perfect spot.

"I moved to the Pilsner Room in 1992," Harris recalled. "The place was still run by McCormick and Schmick. Pretty soon we made all Full Sail's draft beer for Portland in that brewery. We made the first IPA here…in 1994. Later, I started the Brewmaster Reserve Program, which was small batches, special beers. The brewery here was good because it gave locals a chance to taste Full Sail's specialty beers without going to Hood River."

Harris left Full Sail after 20 years in 2012. His plan all along was to start his own brewery and pub, but it took longer than he had hoped to find the right location with the right combination of attributes. Now that he has things moving along, it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. Should be good stuff.

If you plan to stop by on the 28th, keep in mind there won't be any beer. Not yet. But there are lots of places in the area to get a beer once you've taken a gander at John's plans.

Laurelwood's "Brave New World"

As some who read this blog surely know, Laurelwood's flagship location on Northeast Sandy is in my hood. So it's obviously one of my regular stops. You get to know the regulars on both sides of the bar at a place like this. It's almost a Cheers situation...a personal comfort zone.

They've been making some changes at my favorite pub. It's tough not to notice. And these changes really aren't connected to the new (very nice) pub down in Sellwood, which opened a month or so ago. Nope. They're tinkering with a bunch of things at the flagship.

For Gearhead, the end is near

I happened to run into owner Mike De Kalb the other evening and asked him about what's happening. I should probably preface this by noting that brewers are almost always to blame when changes are made, and I knew Brewmaster Vasili Gletsos had to be involved. So I asked Mike if he had possibly lost his mind and let Vasili run wild. I'm kidding here, but you get the idea.

Mike said he was giving Vasili some room to explore and implement his ideas for moving the business forward. An email to Vasili was quickly returned with some details, which I shall get to shortly.

Big Picture
The big news is that Laurelwood is paring down its list of standard beers. Pale Ale...gone (actually, different versions will rotate). Hooligan Brown Ale...gone. Gearhead IPA...very soon gone. I'll get around to the IPA implications in a minute, so hang on. What they intend to do going forward is limit their core focus to four or five beers, which will free them up to produce more seasonals and specialties.

The Sellwood pub has attracted a good following

The cool thing about the seasonals is they are a team effort. Vasili will write some of the recipes with input from his brewers and the brewers will write some of the recipes with input from Vasili. Some of the beers may be fantastic and some may not be to everyone's tastes, he said. But it should give the team more strength and versatility in the long term.

Their approach to standard beers is also evolving. Vasili believes they should always be striving to make beers the best they can. Raw materials can vary in quality and availability. Thus, he doesn't mind varying the hops or malts in a recipe if he thinks it might make a beer better. So there may be some minor variation in even the standard beers. That's not a bad thing.

The big picture changes are perfectly in line with what is happening around Portland. Today's beer fans are seeking out seasonals and specialty beers in breweries and pubs. Well-known standards no longer cut it, as they did a few years ago. You have got to keep things interesting if you want stay relevant in this business. That's where Laurelwood is headed.

The IPA Story
Gearhead is going away (already gone from their website) because they are bringing Workhorse back as their distribution IPA. A little history here. Gearhead was introduced just over a year ago when Laurelwood ran short of the aroma hops used in Workhorse...those being Amarillo and Simcoe. Gearhead is a smaller beer that uses more traditional Cascade and Centennial hops.

The new standards board above the bar

Officially, they always intended to bring Workhorse back as their standard IPA...once the hops became available again. I was never quite sure how they would do that, but it makes good sense. See, Gearhead simply isn't in the same league as Workhorse and it never gained a large following. Workhorse is an iconic beer, one that has brought Laurelwood significant recognition. The fact that some of the ingredients can be more difficult to source is just part of the bargain.

When Workhorse was on hiatus, they eventually made it available at Laurelwood pubs. But you couldn't find it in bottles or in pubs around town. My first clue that a change might be in the wind was when I discovered they were pouring Workhorse down at Blitz Ladd. Anyway, the beer will be back in full distribution soon, although I'm not sure of the specific timetable.

Back in the mix

Some people are going to miss Gearhead. Its lower alcohol (6.5% ABV) content makes it a sessionable IPA (meaning you can drink a fair amount of it and not get hammered). By the way, Gearhead will likely be brought back from time to time as a seasonal beer. Good news for fans of the beer.

Implications
Discontinuing Gearhead and paring down the list of standards is a smart move, and one they probably had to make. Why so? Because Laurelwood's production capacity is pretty maxed out. The Sandy brewery produces essentially all of the beer they sell in multiple pubs and distribute by bottle. Streamlining production makes good sense.

"With Workhorse, it's much easier for us to focus on and produce more of one beer then it is to split the fermentation capacity and everything else among two brands that are more or less the same style of beer," Vasili said.

Workhorse is certainly the right choice if you're only going to make one IPA...in my view.

The bottom line is this: Laurelwood needs a production brewery. They have expanded distribution to the point that they need more production capacity. I know Mike is working toward getting a production facility off the ground, but the timeline is uncertain. Meanwhile, they've got to feed the monkey, as it were.

Additions
Other add-ons at the Sandy pub include a beer engine and some revised signage. These are good changes, as they add to the functionality and appeal of the place.

The newly added beer engine...and operator

Part of the reasoning behind the beer engine is the house yeast...English Ale yeast. This strain is perfect for subtle English ales (duh?). So they've got a cask program in place and will be rotating different beers through. They recently had a cask version of Workhorse and then an organic version of Treehugger Porter with vanilla beans.

"The cask program gives us the opportunity to use different dry hops, or anything else we want to try," Vasili said. "I can imagine some nice beers coming out of this program. I'm looking forward to a Red dry-hopped with Cascades and Centennials, which will go on this week, as well as a stout dry-peppered with a very fruity black pepper, almost like a prune flavor with a touch of heat."

Above the bar, you'll note the board of standard beers has been revised. It now lists the beers with basic stats. No more frilly pictures, which were artsy-fartsy, but also took up a lot of space.

"The standards board had all those wonderful pictures which were nice, but becoming obsolete and conveyed no information," said Vasili. "I think our customers prefer being able to see more about the beer...and less. The new board accomplishes that, I think."

The larger board of seasonals fits in nicely

The old seasonal board near the end of the bar has been replaced with a larger one on the wall that fronts Sandy Blvd. This was a necessary change. The old board was too small to list all of the seasonal beers and sometimes difficult to read for a variety of reasons. The new board is out in the open and much easier to read and absorb quickly.

Brave New World
It seems to me the things they're doing at Laurelwood will enhance and extend the reach of their brand. Staying relevant in this beer economy means constantly evaluating where you are with your beers, your people and your facilities...and making adjustments where they make sense.

As Vasili said in closing his email: "It's a brave new world."

Open Nearly a Year, The Commons Cruises Along

The Commons Brewery in Southeast Portland opened nearly a year ago and will soon celebrate its first anniversary. I first visited early on and I stopped by several times since. My initial post on this brewery is here, if you're interested.

That's Rusticity on the left

The Commons has certainly built its brand presence around town. They conduct tastings all over the place and bottles are available at many finer stores and bottleshops. Their beers can also be found on draft in more and more places.

These are Belgian-influenced beers. As I said the first time around, they don't brew or pour your standard beers here. There's no IPA on tap. No PBR, either. You get the idea.

These guys continue to expand their line of beers. On my visit the other night, the only beer I remembered from earlier visits was the Urban Farmhouse Ale, likely their best-known beer. All of the beers on the board were low-octane. The very tart Berliner weisse came in at just 3.4% and ABV topped out at 6% for the list. It's quite amazing that beers with so much character can come in such a low alcohol form.

The board keeps getting more interesting

The beer that really grabbed me this time was Rusticity. This stuff is a collaboration between The Commons, Breakside Brewing and Upright Brewing, evidently brewed for the recent Killer Beerfest. Rusticity is fairly dark and mildly tart, with hints of cherries. It's a blend of two rye beers...a Belgian rye stout and Breakside's Six, both barrel-aged. This is a brilliant beer worth searching out if you haven't already tasted it. I suspect it's in short supply.

One of the things that's happened at The Commons as they've ratcheted up operations is there is less space available in the tasting room. Why? Because the complement of oak barrels has roughly doubled since they opened to the pubic a year ago. That's a guess. The additional barrels suggest things are going well.

Word is, they will soon be occupying some additional space in their building to store bottles, kegs, and related tools of the trade. Currently, this stuff sits out in the main hall when they're open for business and is schlepped back into the brewery/tasting room when they aren't. The additional space will surely be welcome.

More barrels...a sign of success

Given the success they've had, I was wondering when they would expand tasting room hours. Until recently, they were open Friday evening and Saturday afternoon/evening. That seemed a bit constrained to me, but I realize they were taking it slow. Now, they've expanded the hours to Thursday evening, 5-9 p.m. That ought to make it a little easier for folks to stop in and experience these well-crafted beers.

Finally, there's a possibility they will be putting together some sort of event to celebrate their first anniversary in early December. No word on when or what the event might look like. Watch for social media updates or check their website for information.

Hillsboro Hops into Minor League Baseball

There was a fitting and ironic announcement out of Hillsboro this morning. Strangely enough, it had nothing at all to do with all the high tech junk they've got going on out there. Baseball was the theme. And beer.

You may recall the recently departed Portland Beavers of the AAA Pacific Coast League. They left Portland a couple of years back to make way for the Timbers soccer club. I don't care for soccer, but the Timbers have been a success story here, attracting good crowds and quite a lot of media buzz...even though they've been dismal this year.

Of course, the soccer transition miffed a lot of baseball fans. See, Portland has a rich and lengthy history with baseball dating back to the 19th century. Many baseball fans simply failed to appreciate the move to soccer.

This is all about demographics, in my mind. Portland, particularly at its core, has become a young city in recent times. Droves of 20-somethings moved here to retire, as the saying goes. Soccer is a better fit than baseball for that community. Portland Beavers games were not well attended in the years leading up to their departure. Timbers games, though there are fewer of them, draw large, boisterous crowds.

I always suspected baseball would return to this area. The question was where. Would we build a stadium somewhere and try to attract another AAA team or, heaven forbid, try to bring Major League Baseball to town? Actually...no.

Enter the city of Hillsboro. And the Yakima Bears, Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks who play in the Northwest League. A few months back, the city and the Bears came to an agreement that will bring the team to Hillsboro next summer. The city's part of the deal is a $15 million investment in a 4500-seat baseball stadium/complex. The team's part of the deal is to show up come June.

The significant part of this arrangement involves the name...the team announced today that it will be called the Hillsboro Hops. This is a reference and a tip-of-the-hat to the area's fast-growing craft beer industry. Of course, there are good and bad hops in baseball. And Oregon does grow some of the hops used to make our fabulous beers.

The ironic part of the story is this: Yakima is the largest hops growing region in the US. And yet the team that played there from 2001 to 2012 was called the Bears. Now it moves to Oregon, where we are better-known for what we make with hops than for growing them, and the name changes to Hops. I like it, but I can't put the irony out of my mind.

No matter. I'm looking forward to seeing the Hops in action...while enjoying a few of those terrific beers.

OBF's Economic Footprint: A Deeper Look

Here's a mind-altering thought: The Oregon Brewers Festival brings a significant amount of money into the Portland economy. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million in 2012, according to stats released this week by OBF organizers and Eastern Oregon University Political Science Professor, Jeff Dense.

Prof. Dense gave an informal presentation at the Cascade Barrel House Tuesday evening. No PowerPoint slides, whiteboards or microphones...just a group of beer geeks standing among the barrels drinking fine Cascade beers and listening to Dense talk about the data. Wait...he was also drinking a beer.

The US map...pins included

I'll comment on some of the more significant findings, but first you need to know how the data was mined. Dense and a small group of students from EOU surveyed 680 festival attendees. It was a short written survey that took only a few minutes to complete. Questions focused mainly on demographics...age, gender, hometown, etc. Obviously, they asked people to estimate what they spent on the festival. Folks who took the survey got a token for their effort.

Armed with the raw data, Dense used a software program to estimate the economic impact of the festival. What the program essentially did is take the data from the 680 surveys and extrapolate what it means given 80,000 people actually attended the festival. Like any survey representing a small slice of an overall group, there's a margin of error...plus or minus 4 percent, they say.

A third of OBF attendees were women in 2012

A few of the most interesting findings:

• The majority of attendees (70.2%) came from OUTSIDE the Portland metro area.
• More than half of OBF attendees (52.1%) were there for the first time. 
• The largest age demographic (30.2%) was 21-29. Next largest age demo: 50+ (26%).
• Women made up a third of all attendees.
• Attendees spent an average of $649.
• Attendees came from 39 states and 11 countries. Washington, California and Canada were the top responses.
• About a third of attendees participated in beer tourism as part of the festival. Deschutes Brewing (9.3%) and Cascade Barrel House (9.1%) were the most popular destinations.

The Rub

Quite a few people in blogland have simply posted this information without questioning its validity. As a friend of mine likes to say, journalists have become stenographers in our time. I know, I know...bloggers aren't necessarily journalists, but you get the idea. Asking a lot of questions can get you into trouble. So most simply don't. But the buck has to stop somewhere. Might as well be here.

The world map...shot Friday evening

If there's a problem with the results, it likely starts with the finding that 70+ percent of attendees came from outside the area. For that to be true, something like 56,000 festival attendees had to have come from outside the Portland area. That leaves roughly 24,000 from within the area. Such numbers aren't impossible, but they seem improbable. If they are wrong, the financial impact is almost certainly overstated. More on why shortly.

How could the 70 percent figure be askew? The answer may involve when and where the data was collected. Survey folks evidently set up shop in front of the Buzz Tent, near the big US and World maps...where people can place a pin to show where they came from. Surveys were reportedly done in the early afternoon each day...a good way to avoid having inebriated people clumsily filling out forms.

The big question: How many came from afar?

Let's look at the where. Would you be more likely meet up with a certain type of attendee in the map area? Is it possible people from outside the area would be more likely to come here (to put a pin on the map or check on where others had come from) than Portland-area residents? I'll let you decide.

Then there's the when. Would collecting data in the early afternoon skew the survey results? Would someone from outside the area, someone who came here specifically to attend the festival, be more or less likely to arrive early than someone who lives nearby? Again, you get to decide.

Returning to the stated financial impact, consider the $649 average for a moment. That number depends on a large number of attendees coming from outside the area. Why? Because people who live closer spent a lot less than visitors from afar. The $649 average is a direct result of the finding that 70 percent of festival goers came from outside the area, forcing them to spend money on lodging, food and travel.

Look, we all know the Oregon Brewers Festival brings significant economic benefits to the Portland area. There's no argument there and we love it. Craft beer fans hope the numbers in Prof. Dense's analysis are right. It would be terrific if $30 million is the number. But you have to be realistic and you have to wonder.

First Vancouver Brewfest Lifts Off

The inaugural Vancouver Brewfest took flight this past weekend. Despite that fact that it was competing against several established events (Hopworks' Biketoberfest, The Bite of Oregon and the Humulus Maximus Festivus at Plew's Brews), the Vancouver gig appears to have gone well and attracted good crowds.

In my mind, the flood of August events is a result of the fact that brewers and promoters want to get this stuff out of the way before Labor Day. Moods tend to change once school starts and we enter the fall sports season. Plus, August weather is usually excellent. You get the picture, eh?

Beer was pouring smoothly at all stations

I really don't know how long the Vancouver event was in the works. Perhaps years. As I and others have said, the Couv has been very much underserved from a beer standpoint for a long time. Finally getting a marquee beer event of their own has to be a good thing. You suspect it may help stimulate additional activity. Hopefully.

Now, full disclosure. I traveled up there on Saturday afternoon strictly to observe and take photos. I spent about 20 minutes walking around Esther Short Park taking in the layout and watching the crowd. I consumed no beer...though there was plenty of good beer to be had. I just didn't have time to get partake. Next year will be different!

Tap layout in the tents helped serving efficiency

First, the venue. Esther Short Park has a lengthy and colorful history. Established in 1853, it is the oldest public park in the state of Washington. Skeptics might wonder how Vancouver could be home to the state's first park. Well, Vancouver (along with Portland) was a center of Northwest commerce in the 1850s. Goods moved up and down the Columbia River in those days. Seattle, a better seaport, didn't surpass its neighbors to the south until the railroads came in the 1880s.

I have to say the transformation of Esther Short Park and downtown Vancouver over the last 10-15 years is amazing. When I arrived here in 1989, most of downtown was a disaster. The park was inhabited primarily by transients and drug dealers. The area had a dreary, bombed out look. A massive revitalization project brought upscale residences and businesses to what was once a lost city. The Brewfest most certainly could not have happened if not for the revitalization of downtown. Kudos to the folks who made that happen!

Plenty of shade and sun made for comfortable mingling

Esther Short worked out nicely for this event. The park features a nice mix of shade and open areas. There were no large tents such as what you see at the Oregon Brewers Festival. People were drinking beer and moving about comfortably. Some chose sun, some shade. A band was belting out songs from the 80s in a shaded area. Very nice.

They did something very smart with the serving tents...and it was probably a necessity due to the size of the Brewfest area. Instead of serving from just one side, they served beer from several sides of most tents. This was an ingenious idea. The park was mildly busy, and I saw only a few very short lines going in different directions. Very efficient.

The brewing demo is a festival standard

As for the beers, they had a nice selection. When I first looked at the beer list a few weeks back, I saw quite a few of the usual suspects...Ninkasi, Oakshire, Hopworks, Firestone Walker, etc. Sometimes you need to look a little deeper. I didn't make a list, but there many interesting beers...some that you cannot get in Oregon.

As my friend Angelo Brewpublic was always quick to remind me when he was pouring beer at By the Bottle, there are a number of Washington beers that don't make it across the Columbia River. Beers from Heathen Brewing, Loowit Brewing and West Highland Brewing (all of Vancouver) are unknown to me and would have been interesting to try. Next time.

A fine time was had by all...

Another thing I salute these guys for is making this a 21 and over only event. I'm sure that pissed off a few people who wanted to drag their kids along. But it's the right call. I'm really not sold on the idea of kids at a beer festival. I've seen countless bad examples of parental behavior over the years at the OBF...where kids also do not belong. I know there are differing opinions out there, this is mine.

One thing I will quibble with is the cost of admission. There were some pre-event deals out there that saved you a few bucks, but a standard package was $21. That got you a mug (really a cup) and eight tickets. Additional tickets were $1 each. So you were essentially paying $13 for a plastic cup on the way in. That seems excessive. I understand the event benefits several charities...and they'll all do just fine if a lower entry fee encourages more people to attend. I hope organizers will rethink this for next year.

In the end, I suspect the future of this event is bright. It was a success in its first year and word will spread. They might even wind up with a space problem if the event gets huge. This isn't Waterfront Park and it won't hold OBF-like numbers. That won't be a problem in the short run, but you never know what might happen in time.

A Weekend Packed with Beer Events

It's been a busy week and I didn't have time to bust out an original blog post. I'm working on an analysis of the current state of brewery growth, but it will require a bit more thought and will have to wait for next week. Weekend blog traffic sucks, anyway.

In the meantime, we have come to the time of summer when everyone wants to get some sort of special event or festival in before the dreaded Labor Day partition. Attendance at weekend events gets a little dicey once school and football get rolling. The time is now.

Up North, the Vancouver Brewfest runs today and tomorrow. The beer list looks pretty good. More importantly, it's good to see movement on the craft beer front up in the Couv. As some of us were saying on Facebook yesterday, our friends on the other side of the Columbia are ripe for an explosion of great beer. That's not to say they have nothing at present; it's just that they will support much more. Angelo had a nice write-up on this event yesterday. Take it away.

A little closer to home, you can tap into the Humulus Maximus Festivus up at Plew's Brews in North Portland. It's just what it sounds like...a hops festival. They are pouring 22 single, double and imperial IPAs. The tasting glass apparently features a new Ninkasi design. It'll cost you $5. Tickets are $1...one ticket for a taste, four for a full glass. It's on Friday and Saturday.

Adding to the weekend insanity, Hopworks is holding their 4th Annual Biketobeerfest on Saturday at the Powell headquarters. They'll have live music, food, bike games and competitions and, oh yeah, 15 HUB beers. Being bike-friendly is a huge part of the Hopworks identity, so this event is right up their alley. Biketoberfest runs 2:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Also, The Bite of Oregon is happening this weekend at Waterfront Park. This event has been around for 40 years and has a solid following. To my way of thinking, The Bite is much more focused on food and wine than on beer. The beer list is decent, although this is largely a gateway festival from a craft beer angle. Still, it's a great chance to enjoy great food and your beverage of choice in sunny Waterfront Park.

Finally, they're holding the Migration Logo Evolution party over at Migration Brewing. It kicks off Saturday at 2 p.m. If you aren't in the know, Migration decided to "evolve" their logo and brand identity due to a cease and desist order filed by the Multnomah Athletic Club. True enough...the old Migration logo looked similar to the MAC logo. I don't know how anyone could confuse the two entities, but Migration decided to skip the legal fees and simply change their look. They'll celebrate on Saturday.

Cheers to the weekend!

OBF XXV: A Final Look Back

The 25th Oregon Brewers Festival wrapped up a week ago. It was another big success for beer fans and for the economic well-being of the city, which I'll get to in due time. This is my look back at this year's OBF.

By the Numbers
The folks who track such things say attendance was 80,000. That number has stayed steady for the last few years and I suspect it is nothing more than an educated guess. Landing on an exact number would be nearly impossible since many of the same people pass through the gates on multiple days.

Saturday brought out the shades and the crowds

As mentioned earlier, Thursday is no longer a secret. The Thursday afternoon crowd was enormous by historical standards. Friday was less crowded than usual, I thought, probably having to do with the (sketchy) weather. Saturday was a disaster...packed to the gills early on. I didn't attend on Sunday, but I'm guessing it was a not all that busy.

I heard a lot of bitching about the Saturday crowds. Indeed, the lines were long by mid-afternoon and there was no getting around under the tents. Some people were complaining that there were fewer people pouring beer. Maybe so, I don't know. The main issue, I think, was that there were just too many people in the park. People who might have come on Friday came on Saturday because the weather report was better.

Look, the only way to alleviate the problem with lines is to limit the number of people in the park at any given time. They could do that by pre-selling tickets for specific drinking sessions. That's what they do at the Great American Beer Festival. The OBF could do this, but it would require extensive changes to the way they do things. I suspect it will only happen when people stop coming due to the crowds...which essentially means it isn't happening anytime soon.

The Beers
I did my best to taste as many beers as possible during my three stints in the park...my notes suggest I tasted in the neighborhood of 50 beers. I had a few favorites, which I'll get to, but the whole experience got me wondering how much beer is consumed during this event.

Would 1,500+ kegs fill it? 

Festival organizers don't give out specific details on beer consumption. What they will say is that each attending brewery supplies a minimum of 18 kegs. There were 84 different beers this year (82 breweries), so the total number of kegs was at least 1,512. Doing the math, that comes to 22,680 gallons of beer. By the way, this number excludes the Buzz Tent beers.

Where could you fit 22,000 gallons of beer? Well, it turns out 22,000 gallons would fill a medium-sized backyard swimming pool. Not that you would want to. Most of these beers were pretty good and they certainly don't belong in a pool. Still, that's one approximate volume equivalent.

It's a little late to talk about beer highlights, but these are a few that I liked (in no particular order): Occidental Kellerbier, Gigantic Dynomite, Redhook Peach Trippel, Epic Hop Syndrome Lager, Ram Berry White, HUB Imperial Sunshine, Dunedin Chronicle IPA, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, McMenamin's Gilbert Grapefruit (Buzz), Cascade High Class Blond (Buzz). I have to admit some of the beers on my original tasting list didn't pan out.

Drinking the Raspberry Crush

Speaking of beers that didn't pan out, I ran into to some young ladies who were sipping a fruit beer Friday afternoon. I stopped to ask what they were drinking and it turned out they were all drinking 10 Barrel's Raspberry Crush. They weren't necessary lovin' it, they told me, but it was okay. Raspberry Crush was on my tasting list and failed to make my short list of favorites. You can connect the dots.

To-Do List
The biggest miss of this event in my mind was the handling of the beers in the Buzz Tent (which was also the Sour Tent, if you didn't know). There was no advance information on the Buzz Tent beers and there was little if any information in the tent. I don't get it. These were double token beers, typically high alcohol beers, many of them barrel-aged.

I can almost understand why you would want to keep the Buzz beers under wraps before the festival. But why would you not have information in the tent? One guy had gone to the web and gotten some info about the Buzz beer he was pouring...which he scribbled on a small piece of paper for patrons to see. He did it because he was embarrassed to give the patented Sgt. Schultz, "I know nothing, nothing!" response when asked about the beer he was pouring. Seriously? I hope this gets fixed next year.

Calm seas in the Buzz Tent Saturday afternoon

Water has been an issue for many years and I think it still is. They had several mug rinsing stations under tents at both ends of the park. You could theoretically get water to drink out of those taps, but the reality was a little different. There were lines to rinse mugs or get drinks. The flow of water out of the faucets was painfully slow. Not the best scenario if you want to stay hydrated while you're drinking. I honestly think water needs to be more readily available...and I don't mean the bottled stuff the food vendors were selling for a nice profit.

Value Judgment
The OBF is Portland's original beer festival. When launched in 1988, its primary (arguably its sole) purpose was to promote craft beer. The festival has done its job so well over the years that it has spawned countless smaller festivals in Portland and around the region.

Not all beer events are created equal, of course. Many of the newer festivals were invented mainly to cash in on the popularity of craft beer. Some aren't even a good value...largely because they're more concerned with making money then with promoting good beer. If you aren't sure who these festivals are, no worries...you'll figure it out.

Connecting the dots of success

Don't get me wrong...the Oregon Brewers Festival long ago made the transition from promotional vehicle to money maker. If it truly does produce $23 million in economic benefits for the local economy annually (that's what organizers say), it's also true that a few people make a nice profit from this festival every year. Yet the beat goes on and the success seems to grow.

To me, the key to the OBF's ongoing success is that they've found a way to balance profit motive with reasonable value. People come to Waterfront Park to enjoy good beers, live music and the great ambiance for not a lot of money. The value of the package makes it the quintessential event of the year. And it will likely maintain that title until something significant changes.

Fremont Fest Suggests Growing Power of Craft

The  26th annual Fremont Fest is on tap this weekend. Sponsored by Beaumont Business Association, they'll close down the strip of NE Fremont between 42nd and 52nd Avenue and turn it into a pedestrian mall. There will be a parade, sidewalk vendors, arts and crafts, games and more. Craft beer is naturally involved, which I'll get to momentarily.

The original Fremont Street anchor

This festival does a nice job of promoting the business and human community in the Beaumont neighborhood. Businesses in the area include: Beaumont Hardware (old-school hardware store), Green Dog Pet Supply (new-age supply), Grand Central Bakery (just opened where Saluna and Fife used to be), Pizzacato, Jim and Patty's Coffee, The Alameda Cafe, Amalfi's Restaurant, Beaumont Village Market, Noho's Hawaiian Cafe and others.

I left out the beer-centric businesses on purpose. But don't underestimate their contribution to the Beaumont economy. Alameda Brewing has been a sort of anchor in the middle of that strip for years. Now you've got Bottles NW a short distance away. And don't laugh about the nearby taverns Fremont Ridge Inn and McPeet's Portland Pub, both of which are expanding their horizons under new ownership.

Rustic exterior betrays changes within

Of course, you're wondering how craft beer is connected to the Fremont Fest. Fair enough. They're putting together an evening Pub Crawl that will include stops at Alameda, Bar Wares, Bottles, McPeet's and others. The price of admission is $10, for which you'll receive an event mug (similar to the OBF mug) and 10 tokens you can use in a variety of ways. Pretty good value, it seems. Need more info? Contact organizer Brant Kunze here.

This Pub Crawl is significant. It serves as yet another reminder that craft beer occupies an increasingly important role in social events involving community. Once upon a time not so long ago, it would have been unfathomable for an event like the Fremont Fest to have a pub crawl. Now, it's almost mandatory. Craft beer is mainstream.

Solid beer performance guaranteed

I'll have more to say about McPeet's and Fremont Ridge in another post, but they are clearly part of a trend in which grubby taverns evolve into something better. The combined tap lists at these two places recently included beers from Boneyard, Double Mountain, Laurelwood, Fort George, Epic, Anderson Valley, Caldera, Good Life, Firestone Walker, Terminal Gravity and Upright. That's not your dad's tavern. Not by a longshot.

If you're one of the macro big boys watching this unfold, you have to be a little nervous. When they're pouring craft beers in places that formerly poured crap macro, it's a problem for Bud, Miller and Coors. We're probably seeing this trend more clearly in Portland than most places, but it is an emerging reality...and it helps explain the declining market share of the macro brands. Here's to dominoes!