Lagunitas 4/17

From points distant and beyond we all converged on Petaluma in 1993 and ’94 with an unenunciated desire to be more than we were before. The core of Lagunitas came from Chicago, St Louis, Memphis, Walker Creek, and the highlands of Quincy.

The Chicago contingent initiated the brewing and the gravitational effect of its suchness did the rest. We all loved the beer but the mission was larger than the ordinary joy of a hoppy-sweet quaff. It was driven unseen by an urge to communicate with people, to find our diasporidic tribe, and to connect with other souls adrift on a culture that had lost its center and spun its inhabitants to the four winds to wander lost and bereft with a longing to re-enter the light. Beer, we have learned, has always been a good lubricant for social intercourse!

The Lagunitas Brewing Co. was not so much an act of ordinary ‘foundling’ as it was willed into being by the unspoken desire of supportive beer-lovers in Northern California after which they continued to nurture their creation and urged us forward to fulfill the unifying needs of that same beer-loving diaspora from coast to coast and beyond. It is good to have friends!

Logsdon 4/18

Though once literally brewed in farmhouses, many examples of this yeasty, Belgian style of beer left the farm long ago in favor of more commercial 
brewing facilities. 

But Oregon's Dave Logsdon with brewer Charles Porter, has put the farm back into farmhouse beers with Logsdon Organic Farmhouse Ales.

​
The Belgian-inspired brewery is housed on his family's bucolic 10 acre estate in Hood River (county) complete with a big red barn where the 
​brewing takes place.

Tasting at Uptown this Saturday from Noon to 4 pm

New Belgium Tasting 4/9

 

We'll set the scene.

1989. Belgium. Boy on bike. (Ok, make that a young man of 32.)

As our aspiring young homebrewer rides his mountain bike with "fat tires" through European villages famous for beer, New Belgium Brewing Company was but a glimmer in his eye. Or basement. For Jeff Lebesch would return to Fort Collins with an imagination full of recipes and a handful of ingredients ready to embark on a whole new journey.

And then there was beer.

Jeff's first two basement-brewed creations? A brown dubbel with earthy undertones named Abbey and a remarkably well-balanced amber he named Fat Tire. To say the rest was history would be to overlook his wife's involvement. Kim Jordan was New Belgium's first bottler, sales rep, distributor, marketer and financial planner.

And now, she's our CEO.

Electrical engineer meets social worker; ideals flourish

The other side of the New Belgium story might not seem as romantic as bicycling through Europe; but it gives testament to our dedication, hard work and continuous push for invention. It goes like this:

Jeff’s Belgian inspired brews garnered enough praise from friends and neighbors that Jeff and Kim took their basement brewery commercial in 1991. Kim, social worker by day and mother to two always, began the marketing process by knocking on their neighbor's door. Artist Anne Fitch was that neighbor, whose watercolors came to help craft the New Belgium brand for 23 years, including the original Fat Tire label. Our new Fat Tire cruiser is still handcrafted by a painter, Leah Giberson, but this time it's photorealism instead of a watercolor.

Bringing on Peter Bouckaert, a Belgian Brewmaster previously working at Rodenbach, in 1996 helped influence our love of sour beers. Moving forward, Peter would take the brewing reins as Jeff began pursuing other interests. In 2009, Jeff moved on completely and we have continued to flourish with Kim, Peter, and a team of dedicated employee-owners at the helm.

What else continues today?

The Core Values and Beliefs on which Kim and Jeff built New Belgium Brewing Company. Before they ever sold a bottle of beer, they hiked into Rocky Mountain National Park with a jug of home brew in one hand and a pen and pad in the other. Together, they wrote down what they wanted to instill into this business dream of theirs.

Tasting this Thursday at Uptown form 5pm - 8pm

Wandering Angus Cider Tasting 4/10

 

At Wandering Aengus Ciderworks we press and blend over 20 cider apple varietals to craft our ciders. Our cider specific apples originate from France, England, and pre-prohibition America, but are grown now in Oregon. These heirloom varieties are essential for the depth of flavor, excellent body, and delightnful aromatics of our distinctive ciders. All our ciders are always GLUTEN FREE.

Tasting this Friday from 5pm-8pm

Paulaner Tasting! 4/18

 

Join us for a showcase of European imports hosted by Paulaner!  The tasting will feature beers from Belgium, Germany, England and Ireland.

"Nobody is more important to a brewhouse than the brewmaster. The Paulaner brewmaster is an ambassador for the beer he provides, guaranteeing a high-quality, authentic beverage. Not only does he ensure the quality and freshness of his self-brewed beers, he is also glad to answer his guests' questions. He is always in good humour and likes to socialise. His expert guided tours of the brewery are especially popular.

All Paulaner beers offered in the brewhouse are brewed on site in unadulterated form according to the German purity law of 1516. Whether light or dark: all Paulaner beers are always tapped fresh and with lots of fizz. The special beers offered twice to three times a year on a seasonal basis are also brewed internally for guests to see."  -Paulaner

Fruli is a high quality Strawberry Belgian fruit beer, produced at a craft brewery near Ghent. It is a unique blend of white beer and strawberry juice. The juice complements the zestiness of the wheat beer and the result is a balanced and refreshing beer that is packed with strawberry fruit flavour.

It is simply delicious.

Stop in for the tasting this Saturday, try something new!  Tasting from 4 pm to 7pm

Spring Homebrew Contest! March 29th

Homebrew Contest! Its almost Springtime! And you know what that means... Spring beers are on their way.  Easy drinking sessionables, citrus-y IPAs, kolsch, cream ales and fruit beers are all in season, but don't let that list limit you!  What's your favorite beer to sip on in the spring?  You can show us by brewing up a batch and entering it in our Spring Homebrew Contest!

 

Uptown Market is having a spring beer homebrew contest! it will be held on Sunday March 29th at 1pm (beers must be entered by noon, day of contest) Any beer or cider style can be entered. Two 22oz bottles clearly labeled with Name and style are the preferred entry. Awards and prizes for all winners in each category, as well as a grand prize or brewing with our head brewer on our system. Get Brewing!

Everybody's Brewing 3/19

We are a small to medium sized brewpub, located in White Salmon, Washington. Our pub has a warm, cozy inviting feel to it. We are a family friendly environment. Our food is affordable, large portions, and made with the highest quality local ingredients.

We focus on session beers with all the flavor. Our location is right in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge. We feel that this is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Our outside deck seats 50 people and has a stunning view of Mt. Hood. You gotta check it out for yourself!

Tasting at Uptown on Thursday, March 19th from 5pm - 8pm.

Firestone & Nectar Creek Mead 3/27

Double tasting at Uptown! Nectar Creek Mead and Firestone Walker Brewing Company! Nectar Creek handcrafts session meads and barrel-aged meads using the bounty of quality ingredients the Pacific Northwest provides. We combine pure Oregon honey, water and yeast to create a refreshing and one-of-a-kind experience.

It began innocently enough: a couple of brothers-in-law sitting around debating the subject of good and bad beer. Instead, their search for a decent ale led them to brew their own. Given Mr. Firestone’s winemaking bias and Mr. Walker’s complete lack of fermentation experience, they believed 60-gallon oak barrels were the appropriate vehicle in which to create their perfect elixir.

OK, so initial attempts were forgettable. But like so many great ideas, out of that disaster was born a handy invention – the Firestone Union. Based on classic brewing traditions from Burton-Upon Trent, this bizarre and unlikely system of linked barrels has the ability to produce rich and complex ales. In 1996 the accidental duo shelved their endless discussion on better beers and settled for building a world-class brewery that bore their names on California’s Central Coast……the debate was now over.

Join us for this special double-whammy tasting on Friday, March 27th from 5pm-8pm

Reverend Nat's 4/2

 

"As a die-hard craft beer revolutionary, I experimented with beer yeasts, wild fermentations, Belgian ale spices, aromatic west coast hops and local fruit juices. As an historian of cidermaking (I have the largest cider book library in Portland), I recreated forgotten cider styles and practiced juicing and fermenting techniques long out of fashion. Permeating all these experiments was an obsession with flavor. I would cook a dish, eat at a restaurant, drink a beer or a cocktail, or peruse the farmer’s market, and be unable to contain my excitement for flavors. After making cider for nearly a decade, I concluded that, while apple-only ciders define cider for most of my fellow countrymen, my passion was in creative flavor combinations.

I started Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider in my basement, quickly grew into the garage, and in May 2013, moved into an abandoned warehouse in inner Northeast Portland near the Rose Quarter. Now I sell my ciders in five states (if you call British Columbia a state) and have a Public Taproom where I can join locals and visitors alike in enjoying one of my creations."

- Reverend Nat

Check out some awesome cider at this special tasting!

Tasting at Uptown Market on Thursday, April 2nd from 5pm - 8pm

Mazama Tasting 4/3

 

Mazama Brewing is a packaging brewery in Corvallis Oregon own and operated by Jeff and Kathy Tobin. They started home brewing in 1984 and knew they had found a passion in their new hobby. Their brewing pursuits included making beer styles that were once very difficult to find in the United States. This finally led to a long delay trip the Belgium in 2011, which provided the inspiration to start Mazama brewing.

After spending nearly 30 years as an electrical engineer, Jeff left the high-tech world to pursue brewing full-time in 2013. He has found that his project management, engineering and science background serves him well as head brewer at Mazama.

Kathy as recently retired as an executive leading a high-tech printing and computing business unit. Her years of experience have helped create a solid foundation for Mazama Brewing's success.

Tasting at Uptown on Friday, April 3rd from 5pm-8pm.

Dumas Station Wine Tasting 3/4

 

"Dumas Station Wines was started in 2003 by two Walla Walla natives, Jay DeWitt and Doug Harvey, after a few years of making wine in a garage.  Winemaker Jay DeWitt calls himself a "recovering wheat farmer," while his partner Doug Harvey is a "recovering attorney."

Jay & Doug took a humble approach to building a winery and fixed up an old apple-packing shed known as Dumas Station--the site of one of the oldest apple orchards in Washington, started by James Dumas in the late 1800s.

This isn't known as a fancy winery with lots of high-tech equipment; Jay & Doug rely on friends & family for help with the harvest. They spend the rest of the year racking the wine--one oak barrel at a time.

We invite you to visit our humble tasting room at the winery to enjoy our age-worthy red wines and experience the history of Dumas Station."

Come out and enjoy this very special Ladies Night tasting featuring the wines of Dumas Station!  Tasting on Wednesday, March 4th from 4pm-7pm.

Full Sail Tasting 3/5

 

For years, we’d been thinking and talking and dreaming about the idea of becoming an employee-owned company. So many people had put so much work and love and dedication into Full Sail, and we wanted them to share the same pride of ownership we did. But that’s not the whole story. The reason we started Full Sail in the first place was to build a company that was completely different from the ones where we’d previously worked. It wasn’t about business as usual. It was about finding our calling in life -- about truly appreciating our “human resources,” and balancing work, life, family and friends in a way that makes life truly worth living. It was in that spirit that we became an independent, employee-owned company in 1999, divvying up the company between the 47 of us. Of all our accomplishments, this is the one that makes us most proud.

Tasting at Uptown Market on Thursday, March 5th from 5pm to 8pm

Wild Ride Brewing 3/7

Wild Ride Brewing is a production brewery and Tap Room located in the heart of downtown Redmond, Oregon. Planning began in late 2011, and the beers began flowing from the taps at Wild Ride Brewing on May 10, 2014. We are now open 7 days a week with food options available from the food cart community located in the parking lot just off our patio outside of our family-friendly Tap Room.

 Our Wild Ride began when the idea of creating an awesome brewery came alive. A group of life-long friends, who grew up in Redmond, started plotting the course. With no professional brewer on the team, priority one was finding the right person to create the brews. Through the ups and downs and twists and turns, we met many interesting and special people along the way. One of these people, Paul the Brewer, ultimately joined the team and became our partner and Beer Maestro. His past experience includes years at Kona Brewing and Laurelwood Brewing, and he just so happens to brew those awesome beers we were looking for! 

Tasting at Uptown on Saturday, March 7th from 3pm-6pm.

10 Barrel Tasting 3/6

Tasting on Friday, March 6th from 5-8pm!

Alameda Tasting! 2/5

 

Located in Southeast Portland, Oregon, Alameda Brewing's new brewery is a state of the art facility with equipment sourced almost entirely from regional manufacturers. The new facility has a 20-barrel capacity and a grain silo and was built by Global Stainless Systems of Canby, Oregon. It supplements the original 5-barrel brewery located right inside the Alameda Brewhouse.

Tasting at Uptown on Wednesday February 5th from 5pm-8pm.

Ground Breaker 2/12

 

It was a big shock when we first heard we were going to have to change our name, but if it had to happen, it couldn't have happened at a better time. We had just reached a milestone in recipe development, and were in the process of rolling out new recipes for our beers. To celebrate, we were also working on a new look for our labels.

The recipes we started with in 2011 were developed in the garage of our head of R&D, James Neumeister. They were great recipes and they got us started, but with gluten-free brewing still being in its infancy, we know that there are still many things to learn, ingredients to discover, and techniques to develop.

Since opening, we have heard from many people asking that we discontinue the use of certified gluten-free oats in our beers. Finding a suitable way to make good beer without oats was difficult, but never one to give up, James eventually found a solution. Lentils provide us with the proteins we need to maintain a nice head and carbonation without the avenin protein found in oats. The ability to roast lentils to different levels also provides us with another palette of flavors that wasn’t previously available to us.

Try some gluten free beers at Uptown on Thursday, February 12th! Tasting from 5pm-8pm.

Epic Brewing 2/13

 

David Cole and Peter Erickson are the founders and co-owners of Epic Brewing Company. Cole and Erickson, originally from California, started an international aquaculture company in Utah in 1992. In 2008, Utah law changed allowing these two entrepreneurs to pursue their longtime dream of opening a strong beer microbrewery in Utah, like those they frequented in the Golden State.

Together, they have teamed with Brewmaster Kevin Crompton, formerly from Bohemian Brewery. Crompton has been brewing for more than 20 years (since 1994) and has brewed for three Utah breweries and another in Hawaii.

Admittedly, beer geeks, foodies and "Epic" adventure junkies, the three share a passion for making and drinking fine ales and lagers. The Epic team has a strong belief in doing everything "all out."

Tasting at Uptown Market on Friday, February 13th from 5pm-8pm

Pelican Brewing 3/13

In 1995, Jeff Schons and Mary Jones purchased an old brick building on the oceanfront in Pacific City.  Over Sunday morning coffee, Jeff and Mary came up with the idea of opening an oceanfront micro-brewery.  As they knew almost nothing about the brewing process, they decided to attend a Craft Brewers conference in Portland.

While at the conference it occurred to Mary that there might be a brewer there that might be interested in joining the Pelican Pub & Brewery.  On a hand-written 3 x 5 notecard tacked to a bulletin board, Mary scribbled the details of what they were looking for.

It was this notecard that caught Darron Welch's attention.  After several eager phone calls to Jeff and Mary, Darron and his fiance moved to Pacific City and Darron began brewing test batches of beer down the street in mini-storage units while the Pelican was under construction.  On May 4, 1996, the Pelican opened its doors and the rest is history.

Tasting at Uptown on Friday, March 13th from 5pm-8pm

Elysian Tasting 2/20

 

"The Elysian was founded in 1995 by principals Dick Cantwell, Joe Bisacca and David Buhler. Our first Seattle location, a 220-seat beer hall and our main brewery, opened in 1996 on Capitol Hill, Seattle’s most populous neighborhood. In 1997 Elysian was chosen to operate a pub and small brewery at Gameworks—a large entertainment complex owned by Universal Studios, Dreamworks & Sega. Elysian left this partnership in 2002 upon expiration of the five-year contract. A short year later Elysian opened TangleTown, an 80-seat neighborhood brewery/bistro. With a 3-bbl pilot brewery, Elysian-TangleTown acted as the brewers’ test kitchen, fueling the creative fires and helping cement Elysian’s reputation as Seattle’s top brewpub. The most recent addition to the Elysian empire, Elysian Fields, opened in August 2006. Perched next to Seattle’s two sports arenas, Fields seats 400 and packs the house at lunch and on gamedays. It is typical for us to offer over twenty different Elysian beers between the three locations.

From our very first day, when we poured the beers of each of the breweries we had all worked at in the past alongside our own beer, Elysian has honored the efforts of other brewers and brewing cultures. Uniquely among brewpubs, we have offered rare German and Belgian beers at our own taps along with those of our friends, some of whom at times have joined us to brew special commemorative beers. In a way our collaboration with New Belgium is a development of this spirit of fun and mutual respect. From 2008 to early 2011 we were able to produce large batches of our Immortal IPA and seasonal specialties at the New Belgium facility in Fort Collins, and New Belgium’s brewers would produce small-batch, experimental beers in their “Trip” series at our Capitol Hill brewery. In fall 2011, we opened our new production brewery in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood, allowing us to bring all our brewing back to our hometown. Despite this change, The Trip series and the spirit of collaboration continue on. We look forward to further growth and innovation in our brewing adventures as we devise not only new and interesting beers, but a new and interesting future for the craft brewing industry."

-Elysian Brewing

Tasting at Uptown Market on Friday, February 20th from 5pm-8pm

TRINITY MEET THE BREWER TONIGHT

 

Surprise! Trinity Brewing event tonight at Uptown! From 5pm-8pm, stop by Uptown for a special "Meet the Brewer" -style tasting featuring Colorado's finest & funkiest artisanal brewery. We will have Red Swingline IPA available on tap and will have the rest of the Trinity line-up available in bottles. This is gonna be awesome.