New Mug for the 2016 Oregon Brewers Festival

Oregon Brewers Festival has once again changed up its drinking vessel for the brew festival. See details below.

For the first 25 years of the OBF, beers were served in a thick, milky white plastic mug. In 2013, we switched over to a glass to better allow the color of the beer to shine through. That continued in 2014, but last year the Portland Police and Portland Parks decided to ban glass from all parks, so we switched to a high-quality, BPA-free plastic glass. This year, we are returning to a mug, but now it's a 12 oz. clear styrene plastic free of BPA and phthalates.

More on the upcoming 2016 Oregon Brewers Festival.

Good Times At The 28th Annual Oregon Brewers

The 28th annual Oregon Brewers Festival Started yesterday. We would like to thank the OBF festival organizers for the media pass (cup & tokens) so we could sample some of the fine beers that are being poured during the brewfest that continues on through Sunday.
 
A few changes this year that you should be aware of. 

The normal long tables that are usually under the big tents are now outside along the fence line and in place of those, they have standing upright tables. Should work well to keep traffic moving on Friday and Saturday, the busiest days for OBF.

Last year at OBF they had a combo Buzz Tent and International Tent. This year the Buzz portion is gone and now it's just the international tent where you will find breweries from the Netherlands and New Zealand.....and its just one token per sample! A nice change from the multi token years in previous years.

And if you don't know by now, the glass tasting glass is gone and replaced with a new polycarbonate tasting glass. We're happy its back to non-glass, also no aroma issues from the polycarbonate glass, unlike the previous years of plastic mugs, and bonus you don't have to worry about breakage if they get dropped.

We sampled many beers at OBF this year and here are a few of the beers that we really enjoyed at OBF.

• Claim 52 Brewing - Runnermass - Kolsch/lemon-lime soda Blend - Very refreshing and at 3% abv, would be a great hot day drinker.
• Breakside Brewing - Rainbows & Unicorns - Session IPA - Best beer name of the fest...Very refreshing, light, citrus notes and at 4.7% another easy drinker.
• Cascade Brewing -  Frite Gaulois - NW Sour with a blend of Weizen, Saison, and Blonde Ales ages in oak wine Barrels. Excellent
• Burnside Brewing - Smoked Berliner Weiss - An amazing combo with the hint of smoke and the refreshing tartness.
• Melvin Brewing  - Hamber - A hoppy Amber - Nice balance between the malt and hops.

Another great Oregon Brewers Festival is in the books for us here at freshpints.com. Thanks to the OBF organizers for once again putting on a great beer fest. See you next year.

Oregon Brewers Festival continues on through Sunday. Please find details here or for complete details at the OBF website.

Craft Brewing Capitals Merge Talent Through Beer Exchange

Portland and The Oregon Brewers Festival Play Host to Five of New Zealand’s Best Brewers

PORTLAND, Ore. (July 22, 2015) — With the Oregon Brewers Festival in sight, a flock of beer-centric Kiwis migrate north to pour their beer and share some Oregon beer culture. In pursuit of malty and hoppy enlightenment, the five brewers from Wellington, NZ visit Portland — home to 61 different breweries. “Portland boasts more breweries than any city in the world and is known as the Beervana of USA, ” says David Cryer, the man responsible for building the partnership between Oregon and New Zealand. The brewers’ journey overseas is part of the Oregon and New Zealand Beer Culture Exchange, which encourages the sharing of ideas and experiences between Portland and Wellington, two of the world’s foremost craft beer capitals.  

During their weeklong knowledge quest, the traveling brewers visit with many of Portland’s renowned brewing talents. In addition, they tour an Oregon hop field, lead tastings of their own New Zealand brews at Belmont Station, and represent the international brewing community on stage at the OBF opening ceremonies.  

The exchange is a partnership between the Oregon Brewers Festival and Beervana — New Zealand’s preeminent craft beer festival. Last August, roles reversed as brewing representatives from Portland travelled to Wellington for Beervana. When describing their city’s passion for beer, the folks from Tuatara Brewery say, “It probably helps that we’re based in Wellington where beer appreciation is not so much a cult as a full-blown religion.” 

Each of the five New Zealand brewers will collaborate with a Portland brewery during his stay. (Brewer's names as seen in photos above — left to right) 

• Carl Vasta of Tuatara Brewery and Cascade Brewing
• Jos Ruffel of Garage Project Brewery and Ecliptic Brewing
• Matt Warner of Parrot Dog Brewery and Gigantic Brewing
  
• Mike Neilson of Panhead Custom Ales and Widmer Brothers
  
• Stuart McKinlay of Yeastie Boys and Lompoc Brewing

Oregon breweries will individually release their collaboration beers. See brewery websites for more information. 

You can meet the visiting Kiwi Brewers at the following events during Oregon Brewers Fest week:

Wednesday, July 22 – Saturday, July 25  

 12:00pm - 9:00pm — Oregon Brewers Festival

- Tom McCall Waterfront Park

- Find the New Zealand Brewers in the international tent 

Wednesday, July 22     

11:30am — Brewers Parade                              

- Parade Begins @ 723 N Tillamook St.                          

- Parade Ends @ Tom McCall Waterfront Park 

12:00pm — OBF Opening Ceremonies

- New Zealand brewers are introduced onstage @ Tom McCall 

Thursday, July 23          

6:00pm — “Meet the Kiwis” at Belmont Station

- 4500 SE Stark Street

- Taste New Zealand beers on-tap

- Visiting brewers speak about their beers and breweries                                                                             

Be sure to try one or all of the following New Zealand beers available at OBF:

• Death From Above — an experimental beer from Garage Project Brewery 
• Johnny Octane — an imperial red ale from Panhead Custom Ales              
• Riwaka Secret — a double IPA from Parrot Dog Brewery                             
• Suavinova — an international-style pale ale from Tuatara Brewing              
• Gunnamatta — an American-style strong pale ale from Yeastie Boys          

The Wellington brewer representatives are in town for just one week!

About the Players: In a combined effort, the Oregon Brewers Festival, Beervana, New Zealand Brewers Guild, New Zealand Hops and Grow Wellington helped coordinate the 2015 brewer exchange in Portland.  Grow Wellington is the official economic development organization of Wellington, NZ. The five visiting brewers represent the following New Zealand breweries: Garage Project Brewery, Panhead Custom Ales, Parrot Dog Brewery, Tuatara Brewery and Yeastie Boys.

Oregon Brewers Festival Beer By Trailer & Meet The Kiwi Brewers At Belmont Station

Courtesy of Oregon Brewers Festival

The 28th Annual Oregon Brewers Festival starts this Wednesday at noon and runs through Sunday. The OBF folks have provided freshpints.com with the most current list of beers by trailer. Note that the list isn't by Alpha or by style because the OBF folks - are dealing with more than 1,600 kegs of cold beer. These kegs are shipped to various distributors. When the distributor brings down their trailer to the festival, we don’t have the time or manpower to unload and re-sort the beers; that would be the definition of insanity -  

Trailer 1
Coalition Brewing Co. Honey Trap
Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom Homestead
Great Divide Brewing Whitewater
Hale's Ales Brewery & Pub Supergoose IPA
Laht Neppur Brewing Co. Flaming Peach
Maui Brewing Co. Kihei Kölsch
PINTS Urban Brewery Honey Bunches of Oats

StormBreaker Brewing Mississippi Red Dry Hopped Red
Walking Man Brewing Littlefoot ISA

 
Trailer 2
Bear Republic Brewing Co. Double Aught
Breakside Brewery Rainbows & Unicorns
Collaborator Valley Vanilla Pale Ale

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Pivo
Gigantic Brewing Kölschtastic

Kona Brewing Co. Big Wave

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Aberrant
Omission Beer Free Radical Lager
Widmer Brothers Brewing Widmeritaville

 
Trailer 3
Buoy Beer Co. India Pale Lager
Burnside Brewing Co. Smoked Berliner Weiss
Ecliptic Brewing Aurora Crimson Saison
Eel River Brewing Co. Emerald Triangle Session IPA
Fort George Brewery+Public House Summer Stout
Hop Valley Brewing Pils to pay the Bills

Lompoc Brewing Saison de l'Evolution
Old Town Brewing 1-Up Mushroom Ale
Upright Brewing Golden Goat

 
Trailer 4
Boundary Bay Brewery Double Dry Hopped Sorachi Ace Pale Ale
Laurelwood Brewing Co. Hipster Sunburn

Mazama Brewing Co. Rasplendent

Port Townsend Brewing Co. The S.H.I.P.
Prodigal Son Brewery & Pub Huckleberry Wheat
Seven Brides Brewing Crooked Finger IPA
Sixpoint Brewery Little Raspy
Uptown Market USA Uptown Session Ale
Wasatch Brewery Ghostrider White IPA

 
Trailer 5
Anderson Valley Brewing Co. The Kimmie, The Yink, & The Holy Gose
Bison Organic Beer Kermit the Hop
Boneyard Beer Bone Light
Caldera Brewing Co. Dry Hop Mosaic IPA
Epic Brewing Hop Syndrome
Fearless Brewing Co. Strawberry Cream Ale
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Baby Daddy IPA

Terminal Gravity Brewing Wallowa Lake Lager

The Lost Abbey Witches Wit

 
Trailer 6
Alameda Brewing Co. Black Bear Stout
Ambacht Brewing Matzobrau
Base Camp Brewing Co. Hop in the 'Pool Helles
Green Flash Brewing Co. Soul Style IPA
Klamath Basin Brewing Spud Muffin Pale Ale
Melvin Brewing Hamber Hoppy Amber
Payette Brewing Co. Leaning Barb Farmhouse Ale
Sunriver Brewing Co. Oh MANdarin! White IPA
Vertigo Brewing Lemongrass Wheat

 
Trailer 7
Calapooia Brewing Co. Santiamber
Central City Brewers & Distillers Red Betty Imperial IPA
Fire Mountain Brewery Paradise
Fish Brewing Co. Fish In A Barrel
Flat Tail Brewing Co. Big Green
Flying Fish Brewing Co. Cold Pressed Pale Ale
No-Li Brewhouse Mosh Pit
Three Creeks Brewing Co. Hop Damme
Victory Brewing Co. Prima Pils

 
Trailer 8
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits Grunion Pale Ale

BridgePort Brewing Co. Conviction Pale Ale
Deschutes Brewery Gluten Free & Red Wheat
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Glancing Blow English Pale Ale
Fremont Brewing Co. Summer Ale
Full Sail Brewing Co. Session IPA
Gilgamesh Brewing Radler
Sprecher Brewery Abbey Triple

 
Trailer 9
Cascade Brewing Frite Gaulois
Hopworks Urban Brewing Evie Radshine
Lagunitas Brewing Co. Sucks 366
Mad River Brewing Co. Jamaica Sunrise E.S.B.
McMenamins Edgefield Brewery Quatrophenia ISA
New Belgium Brewing Co. B-Side Peach IPA
Portland Brewing Super S.M.A.S.H.
Rogue Ales Imperial Smoked Lager
Worthy Brewing Co. A Walk on the Wild Side

 
Trailer 10
Bayern Brewing Dump Truck Summer Bock
Bent Paddle Brewing Co. Paddle Break Blonde
Boulder Beer Co. Nothing Too Fancy
Claim 52 Brewing Runnermass
Dunedin Brewery Mango Makrut Paradiso
GoodLife Brewing Co. Jay Bird
Lucky Labrador Brewing 20th Anniversary IPA
Viking Braggot Co. Gypsy Tears

Wild Ride Brewing Quencher

 

Oregon Brewers Festival will also be holding a Meet the Brewers event at Belmont Station this Thursday where you can meet brewers & sample beers from the New Zealand breweries that will be attending OBF this year. The event will be from 6pm to 8pm and the New Zealand Breweries below will be at Belmont Station.

Jos Ruffel with Garage Project

Mike Neilson with Panhead Custom Ales

Matt Warner with Parrot Dog

Carl Vasta with Tuatara Brewing

Stu McKinlay with Yeastie Boys

Plus David Cryer with Cryermalt, Doug Donelan with New Zealand Hops and the Brewers Guild of New Zealand

New Belgium And Hopworks Co-Host Events In Portland For The Release Of B-Side Organic Peach IPA

New Belgium to Co-Host Celebratory Events in Portland to Honor Release of
Hopworks Urban Brewery Collaboration, B-Side Organic Peach IPA

Courtesy of New Belgium Brewing Co

 ‘Beers with Vrienden’ release is where mutual admiration becomes liquid inspiration
 

Ft. Collins, Colo., July 15, 2015 – New Belgium Brewing and Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) have a lot of love for their newly released Beers with Vrienden collaboration, B-Side Organic Peach IPA. So much love, in fact, the breweries are hosting numerous release parties and events in HUB’s home city, Portland, OR. Beginning Thursday, July 23, 2015, New Belgium and HUB will host tap takeovers, a dinner party and make appearances at the Oregon Brewer’s Festival, toasting to Portland’s avid beer enthusiasts.

B-Side Organic Peach IPA Release Events

Beer Dinner Release Party
Thursday, July 23 | 6:30 p.m.
Old Salt Marketplace – 527 NE 42nd Ave., Portland
Tickets - $60.00; Reserve your seat by calling Old Salt Marketplace at 971-255-0167.
Mingle with the brewmasters from New Belgium and HUB during an intimate, upscale seated dinner at Old Salt Marketplace. Sip on B-Side Organic Peach IPA and other favorites from both breweries while the masterminds discuss their collaboration between courses.

Tapping Parties
Friday, July 24 | 4:00, 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.
HUB – 2944 SE Powell Blvd., Portland
Imperial Bottle Shop and Taproom – 3090 SE Division St., Portland
Roscoe’s – 8105 SE Stark St., Portland
One tapping party of B-Side Organic Peach IPA just isn’t enough – so New Belgium and HUB are extending the celebrations to three different tapping parties! Stop by HUB’s home brewery at 4 p.m., the Imperial Bottle Shop and Taproom at 5 p.m. or Roscoe’s at 7 p.m. to catch all the action and get in on the fun. 

28th Annual Oregon Brewer’s Festival
Saturday, July 25 | 12:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Tom McCall Waterfront Park – 1020 SW Naito Pkwy., Portland
Be sure to stop by New Belgium and HUB’s rare collaboration tent at the 28th Annual Oregon Brewer’s Festival! The breweries will pour their beloved collaboration beer, B-Side Organic Peach IPA, at one of the nation’s longest running and best loved craft beer festivals.

To learn more about New Belgium Brewing, check out NewBelgium.com and for more info on Hopworks Urban Brewing, visit HopWorksBeer.com.

Courtesy of New Belgian Brewing Co

About New Belgium Brewing Company 

New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, one of World Blu’s Most Freedom-Centered Workplaces, and a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire, New Belgium brews ten year-round beers; Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Slow Ride Session IPA, Snapshot Wheat, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Lager, Blue Paddle Pilsner, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel. Learn more at NewBelgium.com.

Courtesy of  Hopworks Urban Brewery

About Hopworks Urban Brewery
Founded in 2007, Hopworks Urban Brewery is committed to brewing world-class beer as sustainably as possible using organic malts and hops sourced primarily from the Northwest. The company’s 20-barrel brewery produces 12,500 barrels of beer a year for HUB’s two brewpubs and for distribution. Hopworks, a Certified B Corporation, incorporates a range of sustainable practices in its operation and makes every effort to protect “our” future with a thoughtful alternative. HUB is 100% renewably powered and “cradle to gate” carbon neutral. Visit Hopworks online at www.HopworksBeer.com and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.