My thoughts on beer releases

It seems like every month there is a brewery getting lambasted online about how they handled releasing a limited beer.  Hunahpu’s Day, Kane’s ANTEAD release, NoDa’s Monstro and most recently Fifty Fifty’s Masterpiece have all had problems in the past year.  Hype for craft beer and more specifically, limited release craft beers are at an all time high.  If you’re a popular brewery with any sort of following, people will be camped outside your brewery at 2 AM, weather be damned, the day of the release.  

                Since no brewery owner is also an event planner (that I’m aware of), I’ve put together some some fool proof ways to release a beer while keeping beer geeks everywhere as happy as possible.

                Probably the fairest way to release a beer is to do a silent release with a limit.  Unannounced, just put the beer in the cooler and let word of mouth do the rest.  Locals and frequent visitors to the taproom will benefit (rewarding your biggest customers) and there won’t be out of towners coming in and taking the beer before someone who comes to the brewery 5 days a week.  I’m not saying that once news gets out on twitter/Beer Advocate/Rate Beer there will be a crush to the taproom, but at least you give locals a shot.

                The hands down easiest way to release a beer and also give everyone a fair chance to get the next M is to sell it online.  Doing so makes sure that anyone with a computer (read: everyone) gets a chance to buy.  Bonus points if you make sure the sale is at a time when people on both coasts are out of work, but let’s be honest, beer geeks will call in sick and risk their jobs to get the next waelz, bro.  The key part of this plan is to use a website that can handle 5,000 people hitting F5 at once.  You’d think they would have learned but breweries like Cigar City and The Bruery put together websites themselves and they inevitably crashed during the first online sale.  AleSmith and Modern Times have done countless releases for their delicious BA Speedway Stouts and use Brown Paper Tickets and have yet to have a problem.

                The problem with online sales is that you’re not driving traffic to your tasting room where you can make the most money (remember that breweries are businesses first and foremost, no matter what they say, and pint sales in the taproom equal the greatest revenue).  I get that, so why not have a release party where everyone can pick up the beers they bought online?  Blow it out and have the beer on tap with other variants and other limited beers.  Win win, right?  Doing a release party makes sure you don’t have lines, everyone knows who is getting the beer and people who missed out still get to drink awesome beer. 

                Online sales certainly make the most sense but I still understand that they’re not making breweries the most money and to some extent, they’re not driving hype for your brewery, which I suspect, is why some opt for brewery only releases.  If a brewery insists on releasing beer on site at a predetermined time, they have to be aware that people will camp out.  Wristbands prevent people from cutting in line, saving spots or generally being an asshole.  Once the time comes to release the beer, count the people in line, look at how many bottles you have, then announce a limit.  That’s right, no pre-announced bottle limits.  You gain nothing by allowing people to take home a case when there are only 2000 bottles made and 500 people in line.  Someone will get upset and it will turn into a shitshow.  Instead, allow people to get back in line if they want more.  Basically, this will allow everyone who arrived on time to get a bottle if they want (unless the crowd is larger than the bottle count, in which case, you’re going to sell out anyways so it doesn’t matter even if the limit is 1).  Then if people aren’t on time, you can keep cycling through the line until it’s sold out.

                The thing that brewery owners seem to forget sometimes is that craft beer is big.  Bigger than that actually, it’s enormous.  Hype is at an all time high and you have to assume that if you have a limited release beer, there will be more demand than supply.  Quit saying that you didn’t expect such a big crowd.  Imagine the most people you think will show up.  Now double it and expect all of those people to be in line at 6 am.  You’re ready to plan your release party.  Being taken off guard isn’t acceptable anymore and any brewery that tries to claim that risks a black eye which might hurt them in the ever more competitive craft beer market.  If you want to have a non-ticketed release party, with a case limit, be my guest.  Just know the people who drove 6 hours and got in line at 5 am and didn't get beer are going to raise hell.  Hell hath no fury like a beer geek scorned.

Cigar City Hunahpu's Day 2014

So I've been to Hunahpu's Day in 2012 and 2013. The first two years I went it was a non-ticketed event, first come, first serve style fest in the parking lot of their brewery. We were in line around 6 AM each year and each year we got farther and farther back in line due to the increasing demand. Once inside, you bought $5 tokens which could be exchanged for beers at the fest (8-12 oz pours depending on the beer). I had great experiences both times, my only fault being that in 2013 it was obviously way too busy but getting there so early and leaving as late as possible, there really was only a 1-2 hour window where things were uncomfortably busy and during these hours I tended to go to my cooler with my friends and open bottles to share.

This year Cigar City sold what we were told was 3500 $50 tickets to get into the fest where it was a beer fest style event. When you walked in they scanned your ticket, checked your ID and gave you a band, then gave you a separate band for Hunahpu bottle sales. You also got a glass 5oz sampler at the entrance, each brewery had a tent/jockey box and they poured you a 2-4 oz taste. It was essentially all you can drink from 11-5. From 11-4 you could pick up 3 bottles of Hunahpu at $20 a pop at a designated station where they would cut off your band and from 4-5 you could get up to a case.

We were told by multiple CCB employees this year not to show up early as they would be setting up, plus there was no benefit because you couldn’t even bottle share before 11 or they would kick you out. With that being said, my group got antsy and our cab came quicker than expected so we were there around 10:15. We walked up to the gate, waited ~5 minutes and got scanned/banded and were in. People were already there and the line for Toppling Goliath was already 100 people deep. We got set up and hopped in a line around 10:50 and started getting pours at 11. Around 11:30 we looked outside and there was a line of people waiting to get in at least 500 people deep. This line didn’t let up until ~2PM. Around 1, it began to get very hard to move and if you wanted beers near the entrance (we were set up near the back), it could take ~10 minutes of fighting through crowds to get up there. Around 2:45 I noticed the Hunahpu bottle sale line was long and hopped in it with 2 friends. You can see the photo I took from the back of the bottle line below but we fought our way through an absolute sea of people, with no apparent line (just a mass of people in front of the sales tables). 45 minutes later we were at the front and got our whole allotment, went back and enjoyed the rest of the fest. 

It wasn’t until I got home that I was reading online of extra ticket sales and forged tickets making the event estimated at 6000 people, some people waiting 1.5 hours in the line to get in and missing out of a lot of beers, at 4 when they opened the bottle sales up to get a case, a large amount of people weren’t able to get bottles and were literally shut out (they closed the warehouse door in peoples faces), fights breaking out in lines and general chaos. Now they are refunding everyone their $50 entry fee, making another batch for the people that were shut out and cancelling Hunahpu’s Day forever. 

I personally had a great time, I went with 9 other people who had a great time and we tasted a lot of great beer with my highlights being:

Toppling Goliath KingSue and Mornin’ Delight (maple syrupy stout goodness)
J Wakefield Kryptoweisse (Berliner with Kiwi, clean lacto sour)
Burnt Hickory Red Velvet Cake (Huge cherry)
Westbrook Gozu and Mexican Cake
Cigar City Rum Barrel Aged Penultimate Push
Perennial Abraxas and La Boheme (Abraxas tapped at the end of the fest when a lot of people had left. There was no line for this beer, I just kept going back for more and more. Great beer)
Cigar City Pancake Brown (Pancakes with maple syrup. Couldn't have much but spot on flavor)

Terrapin MooHoo with Raspberries

Arizona Wilderness Pappy Barleywine

Asheville Trip

I went up to Asheville this past weekend as a bit of a vacation as SWMBO has a cabin in nearby Waynesville, NC.  We got to Waynesville on Friday and stopped by Frog Level and Tipping Point breweries.  Frog Level had a surprisingly awesome space with a back porch complete with a running creek next to it.  It was a little too cold outside, but on a nice day with the mountains in the background it would have been an awesome place to get a pint.  The beer was solid and I tried the Bug Eyed Stout, Catcher in the Rye Ale, Nutty Brown, and Salamander Slam IPA.  

We also visited Tipping Point brewing that night for another pint and shared a pint of the Hiking Viking Blonde and Punch In The Face IPA.  Both were very average.

The real trip began by arriving in Asheville around noon the next day.  Wicked Weed was a new brewery I had heard good things about in the past and it just so happened they were releasing their GABF Gold medal winning Brett beer, Serenity, for the first time.  We hopped in line to get some bottles and got to taste a few beers also.  We had Freak of Nature DIPA and a sour called Malice.  I had one sip of Freak of Nature and knew Wicked Weed was legit.  It is like a slightly bigger flavor Pliny with a similar cleanliness and bright hop profile.  More on Wicked Weed in a bit.

We grabbed our allotment and went on a little brewery tour.  First up was Wedge which has an awesome outdoor space, but their tap list was lacking.  I had an Oatmeal Stout and half of an Iron Rail IPA before leaving.  Our next destination was Burial Brewing.  This place is a tiny operation, maybe only 2 BBL, but they had some neat beers on tap.  Their Donut Stout was an awesome sweet stout and was served with a donut hole on the side.  I enjoyed their beers and this was probably my second favorite brewery I had during this Asheville trip.  

Our next stop was Hi-Wire brewing, a newer operation.  It was packed but we got a seat and a flight.  This brewery's beers are the definition of forgettable.  They're solid examples of classic styles, but you're never going to remember them or recommend them in a town like Asheville.  One cool thing about their brewery that I saw was that I believe they're using old dairy equipment to brew their beer.  They seemed to have a big mash tun and some fermenters that were previously dairy equipment if I'm not mistaken.

All we could keep thinking about when we were at these breweries was that we needed to get back to Wicked Weed to try all of their stuff. Our first impression was so good that we dropped our dogs off at the hotel and beelined to Wicked Weed.  We sat down at the bar around 6 PM and didn't leave until we had tried every beer (something we regretted the next day).

Wicked Weed specializes in west coast IPAs, Belgians and Sours.  I have to say that every beer I had was excellent but Freak of Nature, French Toast Stout (Vanilla, spiced sweet stout), Black Ruffian Black IPA, Saison V (liquid raspberries), Black Angel Sour and  Genesis Grand Cru were some of our favorites.  It's really quite amazing that a brewery as new as them can have such good sours at their age, but they pulled it off.  I haven't even mentioned the atmosphere and decor, but picture inside being accented with wood and stone and then an upstairs and outside outside area complete with tables, firepits and more wood.  The only place I'd rather get a pint is Stone Escondido and I consider that beer paradise.  I can't say enough about Wicked Weed between their beer, service, decor and atmosphere.  I would move to Ashville just for them.  

That completed my trip (aside from another trip to Wicked Weed in the morning to fight a hangover/drink more great beer) and it was another successful visit in the books.  Can't wait to go back and hopefully it doesn't take 5 years this time.

Northern California Beer Trip

After beer camp, I took a few extra days to visit some breweries around Chico, CA.  It just happens that those breweries are some of the best in the country.  My trip started by going up, down and through some mountains for upwards of 3 hours.  Being a Florida guy, seeing snow capped peaks, going up hills, then winding down at 15 mph was insane.  My tiny Chevy Sonic could barely make it.  

I finally reached my first destination: Anderson Valley Brewing Company.  I started my trip early from Chico because I needed a full day to pace myself and be safe driving, so I was there right when they opened.  This being an off day, I was the only one there.  I got a sampler to maximize my tastes and ended up with El Steinber Dark Lager, Mowkeef Saison, Poleeko Gold Pale Ale, HIghway 128 Hoppy Pale, Mendo Mello, The Kimmie, The Yink and The Holy Gose and Featherleggy Bulrusher Sour Stout.  I've had some of their widely distributed beers before and thought they were good, solid beers.  At the tap room, I thought the same thing, they had solid beers, nothing I'd actively seek out.  Their taproom and brewery areas were big spaces, nothing unique.

Following Anderson Valley, I started the nearly hour long drive to Bear Republic Brewing.  This brewery is in an awesome area of California called Healdsburg which had cool shops, restaurants and then in the middle, the brewpub.  I barely got a seat at the bar and didn't want to get a flight due to the business so I chose a Tartare, a very sour Berliner Weisse aged in barrels, which has been a longtime want of mine.  I added a blue cheese burger with garlic fried (delicious) to my order, and a Greg's Amber Ale (hoppy amber) before I had to cut myself off.  I wish I could have stayed longer, I am a big fan of Bear Republic.

The cumulative effect of 4 straight days of drinking was getting to me, but I kept on going, grabbing a hotel room about an hour south of Bear Republic in Petulama, CA.  Guess what was a 10 minute walk from my hotel?  Lagunitas Brewing Company.  I was very excited for this brewery  not only because they make phenomenal and consistently delicious beers but because of their company ethos (oh and following Tony Magee on Twitter has given me hours of entertainment).  I walked into an awesome gift shop to snag some beers and goodies, then to their tap room/brewery space.  They had a massive outdoor area lit by Christmas lights and it was home to a ton of picnic tables.  It was loud, people were laughing and I was in heaven.  I snagged a chair at the bar and ordered what I had been waiting for, a Lagunitas Sucks.  It was delicious, insanely hoppy, and I was happy.  After that I got a sampler of Sumpin Weisse (Lil Sumpin Sumpin with wheat), Double Pale ale, Fusion 18 (triple IPA, wowow!) and what I thought was Cappuccino Stout.  It took me one sip to realize I hadn't gotten the regular Cappuccino Stout but a rye whiskey barrel aged version!  It was awesome.  I capped the night with another Sucks and stumbled home.

The next morning was the highlight of my trip and my visit to beer Mecca, Russian River Brewing Company.  A pilgrimage to this place should be on every beer lovers bucket list.  I got to the brewpub around 4 to have my heart sink, no Pliny the Elder!  They had a batch go wrong and had to dump it so they were out.  It was a bummer, but it really didn't matter because I have had it many times in San Diego.  I had to satisfy my urge for hops by having a Happy Hops, Aud Blonde, Row 2, Hill 56, Blind Pig, then a sampler of their entire belgian lineup including: Noble Experiment, Perdition, Damnation, Defenestration, Temptation, Consecration and Supplication.  I had a pizza and some Pliny bites (cheese bread with jalapenos) and I was in heaven.

It was an awesome trip which I would recommend to anyone else who's in the area.  Next trip, Grand Rapids or Colorado?  We'll see.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp #118

I started by flying into Sacramento, renting a car and making the 1.5 hour journey up to Chico, CA for +Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.  Beer Camp #118.  I met up with a fellow camper and we didn't lose any time making our way to the brewery for our very first pints.  The brewery isn't exceptional on the outside and even the inside of the pub looks a little dated, but that's to be expected since they're one of the first craft breweries in the country.  I got a Best Bitter to start and followed that quickly with Draught Style Pale Ale and Knightro.  The other campers started trickling in and before we knew it, the whole group was there.  We ranged in age from 25ish to 40ish and had a lot of different backgrounds from science related to stay at home dads.

The original artwork for their flagship Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada has something they call the Big Room which is essentially a music hall and luckily they had a show that very night.  We streamed to the venue, got plates of a delicious buffet, pitchers of anything we could drink and listened to an interesting gypsy rock group.   Since the other group of video submission campers started a day early, this was our main day that we would overlap so they took us out to downtown Chico that night.  More pitchers and some in-bar tricycle racing later, the night was over.

The following morning was a little rough, but we were up early and at the brewery.  We met Steve Grossman who gave us a little slideshow about the history of the brewery and we watched everyone's video entries.  

Original brew kettle

Following that, we met with the pilot brewer and formulated our recipe (with some Celebration pints of course).  

Recipe formulation

After learning we couldn't use a saison yeast, we settled on an IPA aged on cedar.  The final recipe was 8%, light! dry and had simcoe, el dorado, Amarillo, citra and summit hops and would be dry hopped with a new wild hop called Neo Mexicanus.

With the recipe settled, we were off for a brewery tour.  It's hard to put into perspective how big the brewery is, but when you're standing looking up at the massive cylindrical bottom of a 800 barrel fermenter, it hits you.  

The bottom of an 800 BBL fermenter.  One of 49 at the brewery!

Then they tell you they have 49 of those and your mind kind of explodes.  We saw their small bottling line, hop freezer (a couple thousand square foot room filled floor to ceiling with bales of hops. Sierra Nevada prides itself on using only whole leaf hops and they have a MASSIVE amount of them in this freezer).  

Bales filled with whole leaf hops.  This is the best smelling room I've ever been in

Torpedoes.  Sierra Nevada's version of a hop back.

We got to try Torpedo straight out of the tanks and it was as hoppy as you can imagine.

Following the tour we had lunch in the pub and then were off to the Abbey of New Clairvaux.  This is the abbey that SN has paired up with to make their Ovila series.  In doing so they are raising money for the abbey to build a new chapel for the monks there.  

We got a history of the abbey, a tour and then a wine tasting from the small winery that is there.  

Wine tasting at the Abbey

Oh, we of course had cases of SN Pale Ale and Old Chico on the way to and from the abbey.  Once we got back we had some more beers in the pub, had dinner with the other beer camp and then got to bed way too late.

The restaurant and bar

The second full day of beer camp started with breakfast burritos and coffee in the pilot brewery while we learned about their system.  They then put us to work milling the grain for our batch, hunting down and weighing the hops, then we were up to the pilot brewery to actually brew.  

Pilot system.  "Only" 10 BBL

More hops!

Adding hops to our brew

Their system is so automated that we really didn't have much to do other  than dumping grains and dumping a few hops in, but I can still day I've brewed on a 10bbl system before.  After that we were down to the pub for lunch and beers.

Checking the clarity after brewing

The second half of our day started out with a bang.  The head pilot brewer led us on a tour of his fermenters which involved samples of everything they had.  This included some other beer camps (weizen bock, brown ale, ESB), beers from their upcoming mixed IPA pack and some beers from their Beer Camp Across America mixed 12 pack.  Those were very exciting because they happened to have Cigar City's beer (massively fruity pale ale, think fruit cocktail) and 3 Floyd's in the fermenters.

Following this we hopped on their one of a kind beer bike where we sipped SNPA while we biked around the rest of their brewery.  

This involved stops at their wastewater treatment facility and composter.  SN is extremely Eco friendly and almost every building they own is covered in solar panels.  We got to go on the ground of their bottling line.  It was absolutely amazing to see thousands of 2014 Bigfoots whiz zing by.  They do something like 200,000 bottles a day out of that facility.  The scope of it is hard to describe until you see it up close.  

Only a portion of their bottling facility

Spent hops from a torpedo.

We finished our tour with a stop by their R&D and QA labs.  We got to do a blind triangle text of their beers with some off flavors.  I of course failed miserably, my palate needs serious work, but most of the guys picked out a light struck beer out of the lineup.  Their R&D lab is essentially a flavor matching and off flavor deciphering lab.  They have put a ton of money into making sure their beers all taste the same and have probably the most extensive lab in craft beer.   Other breweries send samples to them to get texted.  They are extremely busy now making sure their Asheville is going to put out the exact product as this one.

That was the end of our tour and we topped off our Beer Camp experience by opening a 2011 9L Bigfoot.  A massive bottle and delicious beer was  the perfect way to end the trip. 

 I can't say enough about SN after this trip and I'm now a lifelong fan and will spread the love to everyone I meet.  They are a big brewery but haven't forgotten their roots and do the right things to their fans which I will be forever after this experience.

Be on the lookout for Beer Camp #118's IPA coming (hopefully) to a bar near you!

I'm going to Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp!!!

It only took 3 years but I'm finally going to Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp!  I made a stop motion video this year and finally got the email to go to camp in early December.

I don't have much information right now, but I've read some account of people who have gone in the past and it seems like this is a hands-on, insider tour of their brewery.  Hop room, brewing system, bottling line, grounds, barrels, you name it, you get to see and taste it.  I'm going to take a ton of pictures (if they allow) and will post them all.

Oh yeah, you also get to brew a beer!!!  I'm not sure how that process works but it seems like you kind of flesh out a recipe over email before going and then you get to brew a small batch of it and have it distributed around the country.  I'll post any details about that process as it comes.  I'm so excited!

San Diego Trip

I just got back from a whirlwind San Diego brewery tour the likes of which I won't recover from for a few weeks.  I had just about 4 days in the city visiting my family with SWMBO and made full use of it all.  I tried to take pictures and have Untappd to thank for a complete review of what I drank.

First stop was Pizza Port Solana beach for some pizza and one of the best salads I've eaten.  Unfortunately Jules Winnfield was not on tap, which I fell in love last time I was here but I still had a delicious Saison de Mule with lime along with my food.  I had heard about a new brewery opening nearby so we walked about 2 blocks to Culture Brewing Co. and I had my first surprise of the trip.  The space was a small store front with cinder block walls, but it had an awesome vibe and their beer was spot-on.  I had an IPA, Black IPA and Black Lager and they were all very clean and delicious.  This place might be one to look out for in the future.

Next stop was the obligatory trip to Stone Bistro and Gardens in Escondido.  The entire place is exactly what a beer garden/big brewery should look like and I could literally spend days here.  I ordered the new collaboration with Rip Current and a couple of homebrewers, the Coconut IPA, but was quite underwhelmed.  Little to no coconut, which was quite disappointing.  The place wasn't too busy so we got to go on the tour ($3 for a tasting glass and 4 tasters!) which was the most impressive I've been on due to the sheer enormity of their operation

The tour finished with tasters of Levitation, Stone IPA, Arrogant Bastard and their new collab w00tstout, which was a bit boozy at 13%, but I'm happy I can now say I've tried it.

The real reason for coming this far north was to visit Rip Current brewing which opened at 4 PM.  We made our way over there and I got a flight of beers, mostly to try Lupulin Lust which I've heard rave reviews about.

My flight had Rail Grab Roggenbier (my first Roggenbier, it was OK, I'm not sure what I was expecting), Barrier Reef Nut Brown Ale, Lupulin Lust IPA, Raked Over Red, Rescue Buoy and sURGEing Current Session IPA.  Lupulin Lust was delicious, but a little of a letdown due to the hype I heard, but sURGEing Current was good and the others were solid.  Rescue Buoy could use a little work though, it's kind of a bland RIS.

The next (and drunken final stop) was Latitude 33.  I hadn't heard especially good things about the place but while we were up here it was worth a trip.  The beer was forgettable, but I got a cool taster out of it.  

The next day was a rough one but we got up and moving early.  A hike over to Point Loma and a slow start to the drinking helped immensely.  We made our way to Stone's new amazing space at Liberty Station for some food and drinks.  I opened up with a Bite the Bullet IPA, which was a surprise favorite of the weekend and helped with the hair of the dog.  I also got a Crimson Gate Keeper, an oaked cherry porter, which was nice, but a bit much for my queasy stomach.  Stone Liberty Station is a gorgeous place and would be my number one recommendation to anyone traveling to San Diego.  Greg Koch knows what he is doing.

After Stone was my most anticipated brewery stop of the trip.  Modern Times was founded by a former Stone marketing employee, hired brewers from Ballast Point and Monkey Paw and employed maybe the most famous homebrewer on the web The Mad Fermentationist to do R&D on recipes and start their sour project.  I've been following them for a year or so and their owner Jacob has done a great job on social media, informative blog posts and the like such that my interest was definitely piqued.   I got tasters of their flagships Lomaland (saison), Fortunate Islands (pale wheat), Black House (coffee stout) and Blazing World (hoppy red/amber).  Their beers are great, especially Blazing World, it has this really juicy and fruity nose and taste.  Really great.  I also got to try their 100% Brett IPA Neverwhere which was really great and didn't taste a thing like the brett we know, it was clean like an ale yeast.  Oh and the tasting room was really cool, decorated with books, bookshelves and of course a post-it note mural of Michael Jackson and Bubbles.  You know, totally normal.

The next day we went to AleSmith to pick up bottles of Vietnamese Speedway Stout and Barrel Aged Speedway Stout I had bought online.  I got to try Vietnamese on tap and it was fantastic.  I'm a huge fan of regular Speedway, and this was better.  Also got to try their Lil Devil dosed with Lactic acid which was tart and refreshing.  

After AleSmith it was on to Societe Brewing.  They make some of the cleanest, most flavorful hoppy beers I've had and their tasting room is awesome.  The Pupil and The Apprentice are my favorite IPAs, but The Publican pale ale might be my favorite beer because of how easy it was to drink.  

One last stop at Coronado Brewing for dinner and their Hibiscus IPA (ehhh, so-so) and a quick stop in Bottlecraft and my trip was done.  

Yet another awesome trip to San Diego in the books.  Every time I go I think I've hit every brewery but when I go back there's always some new world-class place opening up.  Such a tough life, huh?  Cheers!

Pfriem Family Brewers

Pfriem Family Brewing out of Hood River, OR has an amazing tap room that I recently saw online.  These tap handles are gorgeous and their serving tray for samplers is perfect.  I'm stealing this idea one day!

Portland, Oregon

This may be TL;DR so skip if you don’t want to hear about my beer centric trip to Portland, OR.

I flew in Tuesday afternoon and left Saturday morning and the main goal was to hit breweries, see the city and just relax.  I’ll do a highlight reel of the best beers/breweries/bars I visited.

APEX beer bar was awesome.  Pliny the Elder on tap next to Boneyard’s Hop Venom and RPM IPA.  Honestly, although it was a different take, Hop Venom gave Pliny a run for its money.  RPM was one of the best IPAs ive had in a while also.  Wish I could have gotten a few bottles to go.

Wednesday was our hardcore brewery tour day.  Started at noon with Hair of the Dog. 

Moved on to and spent the most time at Cascade Barrel house.  Had Luckie Charms, a sour that tasted exactly like the cereal, absolutely wild.  Chocolate Bourbonic Plague, Vine, Vlad the Imp Aler, Noyeaux and tastes from my GFs Blueberry, Manhattan NW and more.  We spent a long time here, it was my favorite brewery.

Went from there to Base Camp, which had mediocre beers, but the space was badass and they had a smore stout where they put a marshmallow on the glass and took a little propane flame and roasted it for you.  Pretty gimmicky, but still neat as I had never seen that before. 

Before I go on, for some reason Wednesday is the greatest day ever to drink because every brewery we went to had $2.50 pints or $4 imperial pints (20 oz).  All the beer the entire weekend was really reasonable.

We got a flight at Burnside brewing, nothing special but they did have a pepper beer that I hated.  Why people put pepper in an IPA is beyond me.

Coalition was a really tiny space with some solid beers.

Migration had an awesome outside space and a ridiculous taste flight for like $8.

Last stop of the (very hazy, drunken) night was Deschutes for a flight and Elk burger.

The next day didn’t have much beer tasting but instead we went to the Willamette wine country to visit 3 wineries.  First stop, Voodoo Doughnuts.

I know nothing about wine but it was a gorgeous day and the views were great.  We did hit up this ridiculous bottle shop on the way out.  The best selection I’ve ever seen.

On Friday we did a brewcycle tour where you pedal yourselves in a cart thing to three breweries then have a pint. 

We hit Lucky Lab (beer hall with not good beer), Caps & Corks (beer bar/bottle shop) and Deschutes again (remembered more this time).  Then it ended right next to Rogue where we had a flight and I got to try the Beard Beer where they brewed a beer using some yeast that had been in their brewers massive beard.  Not too bad!

Last few stops were Upright for some really tasty saisons (Four, Five, Six and Seven), and Tugboat brewing, a tiny, not-so-good brewery.

Overall it was an awesome trip, and I might still be a little hungover.  Favorite beers were Boneyard Hop Venom and RPM, everything from Cascade, HoTD Fred, and many I can't remember.