Any love for the OBF?

Not a bad consolation prize.

I had to take off to go pick up the wife right at 4:15, otherwise I would definitely have stopped by to say hi (and have a beer). I'm completely with you on the specialty beer tent. Just the luck of the draw I guess, but I wasn't thrilled by the options available during my visit. Tried the BA Otis, which was OK, but really nothing special either. In retrospect, I wish now I'd have grabbed a taste of Bourbonic plague and Walking Man Jay Walker while I had the chance. When I first arrived around 2:15. Oh well...

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't mean a thing. Surly has periodically been sending kegs to the OBF for some years now; I still remember trying coffee bender for the first time at OBF some 6 or 7 years ago. In the past, breweries like Smuttynose and Flying Fish have sent kegs to OBF, but don't appear to be any closer to entering the PDX market.

I would add that if you check the Specialty keg list, you'll see that Surly is also bringing some BA Darkness and the Pentagram 17. In fact, I think the Pentagram is on tap right night, at least according to the current Untapped update.

 

There's no way to be certain, but at least according to the fest website, they expect to have specialty beers pouring over in the specialty keg area right through Sunday. As for what will be available by Sunday, I haven't the foggiest notion. So far, they seem to be running through kegs every 2 or 3 hours, so whatever is on tap now, you can be virtually certain it will be long gone by Sunday.

I've long since stopped going to OBF on Sunday, so I don't know how accurate this information is going to be. In the past, the bad thing about Sunday was that a lot of the more popular kegs had blown and were no longer available. I don't know how much of a problem that is now (supposedly, breweries are expected to commit to bringing enough beer so that this doesn't happen any more), but I'd be surprised if some of the breweries weren't out of beer by then. On a positive note, one of the good things about Sunday is the size of the crowd. Perhaps precisely because the tap selection isn't all that great on Sunday, the crowd size tends to be much smaller, and so lines to get a beer should be relatively short.

Good luck.

 

Understood.

I'm with you though. I would not mind at all if we started seeing Surly stuff out this way. Plenty of good beer out here already, don't get me wrong, but I certainly wouldn't be complaining if we suddenly started to see Furious. Abrasive and BA Darkness out this way. Be good for Fremont to finally have a little competition when it comes to offering great BA stouts. :-)

 

If one needs a more accessible alternative to the specialty tent, Bailey's is holding there FW Anniversary beer vertical today. At present, they're pouring the 2010 thru the 2014. Price is roughly the same, for those keeping score. 4 ounce pours are a measly $6 a pop.

So far, the 2010 and the 2014 are my favorites. The special IPA made for Bailey's anniversary is a pretty exceptional palate cleanser.