Thought I would jump discussion over to this thread. Here is the near final beer list for the fest. There are a couple TBD's and a couple more who still may yet get us beer but have been caught up with the Craft Brewers Conference this Month. -Nectar Creek- Apis- BBL ages session mead made with single estate Ceylon black tea and organic orange peel. 6.3%. -Claim 52 Brewing- Fake Love-Dry Hopped Saison Aged in Pinot Noir barrels. -Three Creeks Brewing Company- Rye Whiskey Stamped -Barrel Aged Strong Ale 10% - ABV 70 - IBU's -Burnside Brewing Co- Saga - Bull Run Whiskey Barrel Aged Stout. 10.5% 65 ibu -Fort George Brewery- Matryoshka with Cocoa Nibs & Raspberries -Russian Imperial Stout aged in Four Roses Bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs and raspberries - 12% ABV -McMenamins High St. Brewery- Barrel-aged Porter -Ruse Brewing- Sparrow Sin -A blended barleywine aged in rye whiskey barrels And – Noctuary- Dark Barrel-aged Sour -Mantra Artisan Ales- Cassis -Flanders Red aged on black currents and tart cherries then blended and aged in charred American oak Tennessee whiskey barrels previously matured with red wine. ABV 6.2 IBU 4 OG 14.3 -2 Towns Ciderhouse- Afton Field 2014 - Wild Fermented, Chardonnay Aged, Finished with Brett, Bone Dry Farmhouse Cider - 6.4% ABV -Modern Times Beer- Monsters' Park aged in Bourbon Barrels (Mexican Hot Chocolate Edition) - BA Imperial Stout w/ Mexican Hot Chocolate Spices 14.6% ABV 60IBU -The Bruery- Melange #3 Bourbon barrel-aged blend, 16.3%, 0 IBU -Plank Town Brewing Co- TBD -Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project- L'Brett d'Cherry - Golden Sour Ale with Cherries-Spontaneously fermented in oak barrels with whole cherries. 6.0% ABV -Breakside Brewery-Fourth Wave 9.6% ABV - 40 IBU - Brewed with single origin Stumptown coffee and aged in Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels for 10 months, Fourth Wave is an experimental coffee beer, in that it doesn't fall into the stout or porter categories. -Yachats Brewing- Peche - This mixed culture saison features fresh Earlystar peaches from Mosier, Oregon. Peche is fermented in a large open wine barrel, then transferred onto the fruit and re-fermented for several months. 9.5% abv -Elk Horn Brewery-Stagg Moose Rye Barrel Aged- Russian Imperial Stout. 11% ABV, 55 IBU, aged 2 years. -Viking Braggot Company- Barrel-Aged Winter Squash Porter- Imperial porter-style braggot brewed with hand-chopped, roasted winter squash, turnip honey, vanilla beans and cocoa nibs. 8% ABV, 35 IBU -de Garde Brewing- "Biere Violet - A Wild Ale aged in French Oak Puncheons with Boysenberries. ALC 6.5% BY VOL and The Nord-A Wild Ale Aged in Oak, Brewed with our friends at Casa Agria Specialty Ales ALC 5.5% BY VOL" -ColdFire- HeartWood Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Aged for 1 year in Heaven Hills Bourbon Barrels. More detailed description TBD. -Ecliptic Brewing- Sauvignon Blanc Barrel-Aged Ecliptic + Dogfish Head Sagittarius B2N Saison Sagittarius B2N is a Saison brewed with Hibiscus, Grapefruit, and Lemon Juice. This version spent 6 months in Sauvignon Blanc barrels adding complexity, fruit flavors, and subtle oak aromas. ABV 7% IBU 15 -Culmination Brewing Company- 2016 Peche -Wild Ride Brewing- Phoenix of Flanders Barrel Aged Sour Red Ale -Barrel Aged Flanders Red / 5.0% / 3.5 IBUs / Lactobacillus & Brettanomyces Lambicus -Block 15 Brewing Company Inc.- Turbulent Consequence, Pêche Spontaneously Fermented Ale with Peaches -Alesong Brewing and Blending- "Cherry Parliament - Wild red ale aged in Pinot Noir and Bourbon barrels with cherries 7.4% ABV and Mocha Rhino Suit - Imperial milk stout aged in bourbon barrels with coffee and cocoa 12% ABV " -Payette Brewing Company- Barrel Aged Pistolero - Porter with chocolate, roasted coffee notes, and a smoky finish. Aged for at least 1 year in High West Whiskey barrels. 9% ABV 13 IBU -Perennial Artisan Ales- Sump Coffee Stout-10% Imperial Stout with Sump Coffee // 17- 10% Imperial Stout with Cocoa Nibs & Mint Leaves -New Holland Brewing Co-Blue Sunday Sour Ale, This unique anniversary libation, heritage-blended from our library of barrel-soured beers, exhibits deeply layered flavors of malt and oak, with a tart finish. 7.0% ABV, 18 IBU -Fat Head's Brewery- Pimp My Sleigh aged in Indio Whiskey Barrels Belgian Dark Strong Ale Aged in Indio Whiskey Barrels. 10.7% ABV 30 IBU -Boulevard Brewery- Tequila Barrel Aged Lime Gose -5.9%, 15 IBU, Traditional German style sour beer, infused w/ sea salt and coriander, goes on holiday to the home of blue agave, sunny Mexico. The aroma offers assertive notes of oak, vanilla, carmelized banana, and coconut. A malty sweetness is balanced by tart lime and hints of lively tequilla, taperng to a slightly salty finish. -pFriem Family Brewers- Barrel Aged Saison -Chardonnay Barrel Aged Saison, 6.5%, 30 IBU, Six months in Chardonnay barrels followed by generous dry-hopping produces a full flavor with a satisfying blend of pineapple and melon, followed by a slightly tart, creamy, dry finish. -Fremont Brewing- Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star: COFFEE EDITION - 14.5%, 50IBU, Cold brew coffee -Ninkasi Brewing Company-Oak Aged Ground Control- "Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Stout; made with Oregon Hazelnuts, star anise, cocoa nibs and ale yeast sent into space, aged on Old Forester Bourbon barrels. 10% 80 IBU" -Adroit Theory Brewing- All I See is Carrion - Belgian Quad brewed with Tart Cherries and Aged in A. Smith Bowman Bourbon Barrels. ABV = 12.2%. IBU = 20 -Great Divide Brewing- Barrel aged Hibernation Ale - "Whiskey Barrel Aged Hibernation aged Over 12 months in whiskey barrels has completely transformed our prized winter seasonal, producing a Hibernation that starts with big whiskey flavors before mellowing out into luscious chocolate, dark fruit, and vanilla. 11.5% ABV" -3 Stars-TBD -Wooden Robot- Foeder aged Blackberry Sour WildCraft Cider- TBD Oakshire: Hellshire VII Hellshire VI Hellshire Especial 2016 Brunch in Hell (Brandy Barrel Hellshire VII conditioned on Vermont Maple Syrup and Single Origin Brazilian Conquesta Coffee) Special Bottle Pouring of 2016 Hellshire Single Barrel Reserve Other stuff throughout the day. Tickets and More information can be found at http://www.oakbrew.com/hellshire. A few tickets remain for the Experience Night as well. As always let me know if you have any questions. Hope to see everyone in a few weeks and that the weather holds out a least just a little this year. Cheers, Dan
Yeah. Like, where can I buy a new liver. As always the list looks awesome. May 6th can't come soon enough!!!
Looks like I'll be stocking up on Pedialyte again this year. Thanks for posting this killer list Dan!
Likewise. Hoping to get there between 1 and 1:30. Hopefully all the Hellshire variants will still be pouring.
Great event. So many top notch beers on tap. Brunch in Hell was highlight for me. Well done Oakshire.
Maybe my expectations have gotten a bit too high, but I was a little disappointed in the event this year. None of the Hellshire variants really wowed me this year (the Especial was my clear favorite this year - like last year, it was the first keg to blow, barely an hour into the event). The current Hellshire 7 may yet round into a great beer, but right now it comes across as pretty boozy I thought. The Brunch in Hell was good, but the sweetness just seemed a bit overwhelming. For me the clear highlight was the Mexican chocolate version of the Modern Times Monsters Park (the only beer I went back for a second pour). In the past, one of the things I really liked about Hellshire day was how reasonably priced it was. However, at $32.41 for the event glass and 5 drink tokens, I don't feel like I can say that this year (especially when it seemed as if close to half the beers poured required 2 or 3 drink tokens; drink tokens this year were $2 a pop). Frankly, having to pay $6 for a 4 ounce pour of the mocha rhino... I don't know. I just thought that was a bit tough to justify. Nice beer for sure, but $1.50 an ounce? Still had a good time, and it was nice to see a lot of old friends, but Hellshire day just didn't strike me as the incredible event it's always been in the past.
Unfortunately, I have to agree. I was surprised and disappointed by the beers that required multiple tokens, especially at $2 per token, as you said. If the entry fee hadn't been $30, or extra tokens had been $1, or they allotted more tokens with the entry fee, I probably wouldn't be complaining. However, paying $30 for entry then having to "buy" a $6 4oz. pour was tough to swallow. I'll probably have to reevaluate attending next year... especially if it falls on de Garde's anniversary weekend again. On a positive note, the Especial was great, the glass this year was nice (and way better than that abomination from last year), and at least the weather was nice for a change.
Also, Ecliptic should be ashamed of themselves for sending that keg of bowling shoe cleaner they were passing off as a BA saison.
LOL!!! I heard a lot of folks complaining about it. The comments were so off putting, I was afraid to even try it.
Pretty much what I told the wife and it makes me sad. I seem to have less and less reason to head down to Eugene any more, and Hellshire Day was always a good one.
I understand guys. I'll only offer an explanation based on costing on our end as an explanation on pricing. Over the course of this festival as we have added more the price has gradually increased. The pricing is in relation to the cost of the glassware, rentals, bands, security ect. $10 (5 tokens) goes towards the initial entry cost of the beer being poured. Other tokens bought to cover the cost of each pour With this fest we obviously seek out some awesome beers from some awesome companies. We pay for all the beer. Other festivals (Holiday Ale Fest, OBF, Bend Brewfest ect) who all want something special for the fest but have a cap (say $170/ half barrel), no matter how much the beer costs to make. We pay full price for every beer, because we want to best. We set the price for the fest well before we had full commitments on all the beers and there cost. What we noticed as the pricing came in, brewers all across the country have drastically increased the pricing of barrel-aged beers across the board. It's awesome because they are seeing the value in the additional time and resources that are spending making the beer. However it makes for expensive beer. We had multiple 1/6bbls priced above $300. We had cases of 12 bottles that were $150- $200 a case wholesale to us for the festival. At the end of the day we are a business and we have to cover our costs. Hence $2 tokens ( which we also had last year) and 2-3 token beers when the beers cost us $1.5/oz. Again I understand your issues and can only offer our explanation. We try to create an awesome festival experience for everyone that walked through the door and apologize that it did not live up to your expectations of years past. We hope this does not deter you from coming in future years. As always if you have any questions please feel free to let me know. I can also be reached at [email protected]. Thanks for coming out all and cheers, Dan
Do people care about the bands? I mean, do they really care? I'm a big music fan but I honestly can't think of a beer festival that ever had a band that I was remotely interested in seeing. That seems like an easy cost to cut out.
Not as far as I know. In fact, I was there until a bit after 3:00, and at least while I was there, I don't recall there being a band. Either I was completely oblivious (certainly a possibility), or they didn't get going till later. I hear what Dan has to say, and while I sympathize, all I can tell you is what I experienced from a customer standpoint. For whatever the reason, it seems like the cost has gone up significantly, while the quality of the event has remained the same or dipped a bit. At least that's my impression.
I can't imagine that the band would be a significant cost (although it was specifically mentioned). If it is, then I would agree that seems like it would be an easy cost saver. Plenty of great, local, 'cheap' musical talent ... especially if that's not the main draw for the event. I regularly see live music around the area at various venues which charge nothing for entry.
Not a significant cost at all in the grand scheme of festival. Take that out of the festival and the ticket price goes from $30 to $29. And the focus is not on the music obviously. It does help to add to the atmosphere of the event that we are trying to build. The mention of it was not a we spend so much on music give us your money for it, but rather an attempt to paint a picture of all the various things that go into making a festival happen. Again thanks to everyone for the constructive criticism. It's the only way that we will continue to improve the way that we run these festivals.
I'm with Dan on this. I had no problem paying $30 for this event knowing the quality of beers on tap. While the beer list may not have been quite the embarrassment of riches it's been in past years, there were still so many great beers. I can think of quite a few times I've spent $30 on one beer. This $30 got me a nice piece of glassware and the opportunity to try five 4oz samples of "rare beer" while enjoying the craft beer community in a relaxed atmosphere. Did anyone have to wait in line for any pours other than the timed releases? I left around 4, so not sure how busy things got in the evening. I think the $30 price point helps limit some of the crowding, lines and the "let's go to a beerfest to get drunk" crowd. While I agree with John that one of the things I liked about hellshire in the past was how reasonably priced it was (I think I paid $15 for Hellshire IV, and that teku glass!), I'm understanding of the current price and will come back year after year. Maybe only 1 or 2 token beers though, 3 is pushing it. And I really liked that all the Hellshire variants were only 1 token. Hellshire day and single batch bierfest are still my two favorite beer events each year.
