Oregon Beer News (2022)

All right, who do I have to threaten to make sure Bham gets some?

 

I've been wondering when pFriem was going to give in to 16oz cans. I think this is the most important line:

 

Boo!

 

I imagine this helps meet the upcoming can minimum order qty. Single matte can with the ability to package any style.

My $.02: the packaging is good, but more busy and less elegant than previous pFriem packaging.

 

"Busy" is the first thing that popped into my head, too. They'll definitely be distinctive on a shelf with many other brands of 16oz cans, so there's that.

 

TIPA season is here, and Wayfinder and Ruse have collaborated on one. Here's the blurb from Wayfinder.
We come bearing glorious news! Scientists have now concluded that the incoming asteroid 2001 CB21 will NOT be colliding with planet Earth. Meanwhile… Over at the Wayfinder laboratories our team of beverage technicians have joined forces with the masterminds behind @rusebrewing to cure thirst and harness the Herculean forces of a cataclysm. Aptly named Earth vs. Triple IPA, this aromatic, intensely fresh concoction is earthquake in a can. A cacophony of grapefruit-forward hops followed by temblors of tangerine rumbling over the clean, singular force of a West-Coast inner core. Join us for this earth-shaking attack that shakes the planet from below the mantle to very tip of the hop bine. Preorders for Wednesday pickup are live online!

 

I didn't even know Porter Brewing was bottling, but apparently Belmont Station got quite a few options yesterday. Hopefully they show up on the west side of town, too. $5.49/bottle, so about the same price as Ferment's bottles and just under the price for Machine House (at least, down here).

 

It's a good solution, from a production standpoint. I believe Ecliptic already does this kind of thing with their cans.

I agree. The new art at the top is nice, but feels unnecessary.

I do like the way they treated the beer style identifier, with a continuous band that wraps around the can. Eye catching. Makes it easier to spot the style on the can than on the neck ring of the 500 mL bottles.

 

I got the impression that beers currently packaged in six-packs (IPA, pilsner, etc.) would continue to be available in that format. They just won't be available in 500 mL bottles after late 2022.

(Or do you just not like 16-ounce cans, and liked the fact that pFriem didn't use 'em?)

 

Yeah, 12ozers are my preferred package size. As long as the core brews remain in 6x12, I'm a satisfied hobo.

 

I agree, it makes sense why they would want to go to 16 oz cans, but I'll miss the 500ml bottles, imo they've always looked extremely classy, and easy to tell what style it is by the simple band difference. I believe the specialty beers (lambics, barrel aged, ect) will still be in 500 ml bottles.

 

This looks like as good a place as any to report that the next beer in Block 15 Maltster Series is a helles lager.

Don't sleep on this one. Block 15 has been putting out some very good German-style beers over the past couple years, and their Maltster Series has already delivered joy (including an unreasonably good amber ale).

 

AND they just put out a doppelbock, too. Both on my short list!

 

Yep. Accumulator Doppelbock. It's very good.

 

Just enjoying a Andechs Dunkel hefeweizen. At Westside.
There has been a big uptick in German beers here in keg.
Any reason why?

 

Well, lagers have become trendy, which is something I never thought I'd see. That would be my guess as someone who has never visited that venue. Hope the trend lasts a while. Almost gives me hope that bitters and cask ales could be a thing in the US some day.

 

Machine House is keeping the cask ale faith in Washington, and Upright, ForeLand, and Away Days are doing the same in Oregon. To paraphrase Gandhi, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."