OR BA Stouts and Barleywines

Despite the huge number of breweries we have here and the variety of beer that they brew, surprisingly few BA stouts and barleywines come out of OR breweries. Couple that with the fact that most of them come out in the cooler months and your hunt may be tough. Block 15 does some of the best BA beers in OR, but Super Nebula (BA oatmeal stout) is long gone. I've seen Hypnosis (BA barleywine) on tap somewhat recently, so maybe you can track that one down. Deschutes just released their anniversary beer on draft. You get their stuff in CA, so this might not be so exciting, but there's also some talk about this year's version not getting bottled, so you might not see this particular one around home. Finally, Baerlic just had their anniversary party last week and they brought in a ton of extra taps. I'm sure they'll be rotating in leftovers for the next few weeks (months?), many of which were barrel aged. I didn't go, so I can't speak to the quality of these beers, but it's probably worth a stop, particularly given its proximity to Beermongers, Apex, HotD, Imperial, etc.

Depending on your departure date, you may or may not be around for this:
http://www.baileystaproom.com/baileys-8th-anniversary/

If you pass through Eugene, check out Oakshire. They did a huge barrel aged beer fest a couple of months ago and were still pouring leftovers when I passed through a couple of weeks ago. Got to try Pipeworks Jones Dog and 2014 High West Bourbon Eclipse.

Outside of beer, if you've got the time, spend a couple of days driving down the coast, a day in the Gorge, and/or a couple of days in Bend. All have great beer and great outdoorsy stuff.

 

Since you're going to be all over the state, go to Pacific City and try Pelican's Mother of All Storms barleywine or their Tsunami Stout. In Astoria, there's Fort George. At the brewery, they usually have a few variations of their Cavatica stout (Bourbon barrel, Rum barrel, blackberry, coffee, etc) on tap in the Lovell taproom. If you go to Bend, you should go to Crux Fermentation Project and try their Bourbon barrel Tough Love stout. In PDX, be sure to check Hair of the Dog and have an Adam - or, even better - Adam from the Wood. Lately they've had Dieu de Ceil oatmeal stout collab on tap.

But if you can, Baliey's 8th anniversary that eatabagofbooger mentioned above will have some amazing beers (even if you don't opt for the VIP pass). Even if you can't make the anniversary, they usually have a killer barelywine or two and a few stouts on tap.

 

Make a reservation at Soter Vineyards, probably my absolute favorite in terms of quality wine, people and the view.

Ill second the comments on a day in the Gorge, hike Eagle Creek, go to Hood River (pFreim, Dbl Mtn) and for the view alone, but also great beers, though probably not barleywines and imperial stouts this time of year, visit Solera.

 

It really isn't the season for barleywines and stouts up here, let alone BA versions of them. Hair of the Dog is the only place I can think of that is "guaranteed" to have a strong barrel-aged beer on tap (their "-- from the Wood" option, which is always changing).

You'll have better luck with bottles. Places like Bailey's Taproom, Belmont Station, The BeerMongers, and Imperial Bottle Shop (all in Portland) will have some bottled BA stouts and barleywines available for on-site consumption and takeaway.

 

I'd dispute that there are surprisingly few. There are an insane number. What there are few of are larger batches that are produced year after year (a la MoaS / Abyss) or stouts following the newish trends of super high abv / lots of residual sugar / and-or a bunch of adjuncts. Many are small batch, one offs, or draft only. Take Gigantic's BA Massive as an example. Made once, brewery only, zero hype, totally incredible.

I get that for many purposes "a lot of small batch" stuff isn't very different than "surprisingly few" but it's one more example of how the PNW beer scene is just different. It's much harder to get broad traction on an expensive beer in a market so saturated with goodness.

 

In Eugene there are still bottles of Hellshire 5 around town. Oakshire also tends to drop a BBA BW or RIS or something every so often at the pub.