Zwanze 2016

On my last Apex visit I witnessed something I've never seen before. A guy walked in with a iced coffee drink. The bartender told him that outside drinks aren't allowed, so he either had to finish drinking it outside of their fence or they could hold in their walk-in cooler until he left. Really? That just blew me away.

 

I'd probably try to actually go if it were in any of those places, less Centralia, of course

 

I think that's an OLCC or health department thing or something? Same thing happened to me at a restaurant (I think it was The Fireside on 23rd), a friend was finishing up a bubble tea on the way in and they told her she either had to toss it or finish it outside. Saw the same thing happen to a guy at the Red Hot in Tacoma last week too. Definitely not limited to Apex. Not sure of the exact regulations though.

 

I would have to see actual State regulations to believe that. If that's true, bars wouldn't even allow outside water containers brought in. I've never seen a place ask someone to dump their water. And I can see the Red Hot not allowing coffee brought in since they also sell coffee.

 

That's just bad customer behavior. It's rampant here in my town, people think nothing of bringing drink, and too often, food. Their response, when told they're aren't allowed to bring their Precious coffee drink in, is generally along the the lines of "but, you guys don't sell this exact thing, and it's what I want. Plus, my friends are buying your stuff, why are you being mean to me?". People, it's common courtesy. If you buy food or drink at one establishment, it, generally, not OK to take that consumable into another business.

I don't drink coffee. Sometimes, I have to go to a coffee shop to spend time with someone. The day I can bring a beer to enjoy into Starbucks, Black Drop, or wherever, then folks can start bringing burgers or pizza into a brewery/bar that sells pizzas and burgers.

 

How do the bars know it's water in the bottle? How do they it's not a drinky-drink, being consumed by an underage person? They should be asking to refill bottles with water from their taps. I can totally see LMCB getting their panties in a bunch over this sometime, and it'll turn into a bunch of headaches.

 

So much this.

 

As I said, to each their own. Some folks don't really care who they are supporting. For others it matters a great deal. To me, these types of behaviors only contribute negatively to the whole idea of 'beer advocacy' and the craft beer community as a whole.

Perhaps I'm just being naive and these types of things occur more frequently and in more establishments than I would like to think.

In any case, I think we can stop criticizing/defending last year's venue and continue the discussion on this year's event. Does anyone have any information regarding what de Garde typically does for food for big events like this (food trucks, etc.), if anything?

 

what bar nowadays is cash only? wow.

 

For the last few parties they've had a Greek food cart parked in the building.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it's not true but is used as an excuse so people don't get as pissy about it like they would if it were just house policy. The guy at Red Hot was actually finishing up a fruit cup or something, the waitress told him that since they were a restaurant, the health department doesn't allow outside food.

Sorry to continue this derail in the Zwanze thread.

 

i'd for sure attend zwanze in centralia if it was at the olympic club.

 

Via the De Garde fb:

Tickets for Zwanze Day are NOW on sale at our brewery & at 1pm at Arch Bridge Taphouse in Oregon City (to help avoid the drive out here to purchase tickets for at least some folks). Half of the tickets will be sold at each location.
Ticket sales are in person, and are CASH ONLY at both locations.
Tickets are $25, limited to ONE per person, and include the following:
6oz pour of Cantillon Zwanze 2016 (details below)
4oz pour of Cantillon Kriek
4oz pour of Cantillon Gueuze
4oz pour of Cantillon Iris Grand Cru
4oz pour of Mamouche
A custom lambic-style Zwanze glass.
As we have a very limited amount of beer, there are a limited number of tickets. We will not have draft Cantillon for those without tickets.
The event will run from 12pm/noon on October 1st, until 7pm. Your ticket guarantees you pours of the above listed beers for any time during the event.
We will be opening some extra space in our brewery to accommodate the celebration and to pour the Zwanze Day beers, and we WILL be open to the public. Thus, if you do not have a ticket to the event, you may still come celebrate with those who do.
In addition to the Zwanze celebration beers, we will also have a number of other excellent draft Lambic and other beers pouring, and our best on-premises bottle list yet. Both will be available to everyone who would like to celebrate with us.
Thank you for your support of all things truly wild!

Here is the description of the beer from the brewery itself;
The Zwanze 2016 :
When I was a kid, I would come to the brewery to lend a hand during my summer vacations. My father needed help refilling barrels of lambic with sour cherries and raspberries that came to the brewery by the ton. I would go home with red hands and a small case of indigestion after having stuffed myself, too!
At the time, sour cherries and raspberries came from the Pajottenland, harvested within about ten kilometers of the brewery: local fruit for a local beer. The summers were subject to the whims of the weather, going from sunny and hot one year to wet and cold the next. Being finicky fruit, raspberries were particularly sensitive to the changing weather, and went from being very flavorful and brilliant red to bland and colorless – something that of course determined the degree of acidity and the color of our Framboise Lambic.
At the beginning of the '80s, we compensated for the lack of color in our Framboise with the addition of Kriek Lambic. The excessive acidity added by the fruit was tempered by the use of vanilla. This is how, during the decade to follow, Cantillon Framboise evolved into a blend of 75% raspberries, 25% sour cherries, and .05% vanilla.
Throughout the '90s, with increasing demand for housing, labor costs rising, and artificial flavors and syrups coming into use by many of the Lambic brewers, there was an almost complete disappearance of cherry orchards and raspberry farms in the Pajottenland. We were therefore forced to look for our fruit outside of Belgium. Today, our raspberries come from Serbia. Brighter, more flavorful, and more consistent than their Belgian cousins, these Serbian raspberries mean we no longer need to turn to cherries and vanilla to make our Rosé de Gambrinus, which is now 100% raspberry.
For Zwanze 2016, I wanted to do a bit of a throwback and revisit one of these old blends. Since the intensity of today's Rosé de Gambrinus approaches that of the Kriek, the additions of cherries to the raspberries no longer seemed necessary.
Instead, we had to turn to a fruit that would bring more intense color and flavor sufficient to stand out. My choice was to bring in the blueberries that we've used for the last ten years to create our Blåbær Lambic, a special beer done for the Danish market.
For our third ingredient, we've opted to use the finest possible Bourbon vanilla beans. During the '80s we used vanilla extract for reasons purely financial. Traditional Lambic-based beers were, at the time, under-appreciated and the breweries that produced only spontaneously fermented beers struggled to make ends meet. Cantillon was no exception, and it was impossible for us to use real vanilla in our Framboise. Zwanze 2016 is the new incarnation of what should have been during the dark years of Lambic.
To best appreciate the complexity of this beer, we suggest tasting it at a temperature of 12 to 15° C (55 to 60º F). Don't hesitate to warm your glass a bit if the beer is served too cold.
We've stepped back in time 30 years for Zwanze 2016, which is the result of a blend of 82% raspberries, 18% blueberries, and .05% Bourbon Vanilla beans, on which we've aged two-year-old Lambic at a rate of 300g fruit per liter.
À votre santé et vive le Lambic!
Jean

 

Mother. Fucker. I was just at de Garde yesterday. I guess I'm making an OC run right... NOW!

 

I'm so lucky. I have a friend that lives down in Oregon City, a couple minutes away from Arch Bridge, and just snagged me a ticket. Really didn't think I was gonna get to go. Soooooo happy.

 

Bummer. I'm on call and can't grab tickets. Oh well. Will still probably go out an enjoy de Garde.

 

Butbutbut, 1 per person means I have to recruit a hobo army if I want to scalp for profit. It's like this brewery values actual attendees more than profiteers, those sonsabitches...

Also @deGardebrewing, can you please stop poaching my beer friends from Bend? Dan's got brewing skills so I can appreciate that one, but can't any monkey run your tasting room? I guess you're about to find out with Matt...