For those who don't already have their 2016 Zwickelmania game plan ready http://oregoncraftbeer.org/zwickelmania/ I really enjoyed reading everyone's 2015 Zwickelmania reports last year http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/2015-zwickelmania-reports.258632/ Please post your report of Zwickelmania 2016 here. I hope this will include some FoDA reports. I plan to do Eugene again this year and will post my report later today. Cheers!
I'll see what I can do. I can tell you that Buoy Brewing is adding a special bourbon barrel-aged stout to their taplist today as a Zwickelmania special.
Unfortunate timing. Get better soon. This will be awesome for those in Astoria who don't have tickets to FoDA. I bet it will be amazing. Wish they'd send some over to the valley.
Ok. Thank marriage for a designated driver. Here is my report. Arrived at Ninkasi around 11am. 2 free taste tickets in the tap room + 2 tastes on the tour. All were outstanding and + compared to the traditional lineup. Taproom samples Hellles belles Hop Cooler Brewery tour samples Velocihoptor Ginger brown Next stop was the Oakshire brewery. This was the highlight of the day. So low key for what a large producer they are. The wife loved this place although she's not much of a beer lover. Cody gave us a great tour of the facility including zwickle pours of Watershed IPA and Hellshire VI. Both blew me away, but Helshire VI from the bright tank, are you serious? This was followed by a delicious keg pour of fresh Perfect storm from Dan. Met and talked with owner Jeff, and home brewing legend Denny Conn. The people at Oakshire could not have been more down to earth and genuine in their passion for beer. This place epitomizes craft beer. We got hungry so it was time for a stop at Bier Stein. Had a Sierra Nevada Tropical IPA and picked up some Fremont cans, Pineapple Sculpin, and Ninkasi Helles Belles to go. Food too, but this is not foodie advocate. Next stop was Claim 52. Insta IPA from the zwickle was an outstanding NW version of a NE IPA. Half orange juice half IPA is the best description I can give. Also had a delicious sample of Wits Ransom gin barrel aged wheat beer. That was all the Zwicklemania we could handle for the day knowing that KLCC brewfest was also happening. This was an outstanding brewfest with such a large selection. Here is my taste list. Sun River Cocoa Cow Chocolate Milk Stout Man Cave Exalted IPA - simcoe, cascade, citra, amarillo, columbus Base Camp Jack Daniels Barrel S'more Stout Base Camp Blood Orange Nomadic Brett IPA Sam Bonds Filbert Brown - I voted this for best beer of the fest Wolf Tree Spruce Tip Ale - another standout There were many more I wanted to try but didn't have the tolerance/capacity for. I can't imagine what you folks at FoDA are experiencing. It was a great Zwicklemania/KLCC brewfest day in Eugene. Hope others had a great experience elsewhere. Cheers!
Festival of Dark Arts-- The wife and I made our way through 19 different stouts, 3 ounces at a time. The pours cost 1, 2, or 3 tokens, depending (apparently) on ABV and rarity. I missed out on the Firestone Parabajava and Mikkeller Black (Grand Marnier), but got to try many of the other things I wanted to sample. Overall, the Fort George stouts were rather underwhelming except for the Barrel-Aged Black Sands, a "coconut cream stout" aged in Westland Whiskey barrels. Very very nice. But the Tuesday's Lunch (a PBJ stout), Viva La Stout (Mexican hot chocolate stout), Granola Bar Stout (oatmeal stout w/honey, almonds, raspberries), and Down & Dirty (stout w/chai spices, espresso beans) were forgettable. Standouts included the spicy Gingerbread Imperial Stout from North Jetty Brewing, Deschutes Abyss 2015 (surprisingly good!), Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout, and Block 15 Love Potion No. 9 (my wife's favorite, along with the Belching Beaver). My favorite, along with BA Black Sands, was Fremont BA Dark Star. A familiar and still magnificent beer. As far as the Dark Arts activities went, we saw some belly dancing, dug the costumed folks, saw some sleight-of-hand magic, enjoyed the paintings made with beer & coffee, and heard a really good Portland band at the beginning of the day. (The Resolectrics. We even bought their CD.) We hung out with some familiar faces and chatted with a bunch of neat new folks. A very crowded event, but we still had a great time. We're looking forward to enjoying some Zwickelmania leftovers at Buoy tomorrow afternoon. Also: After a day of stouts, the fresh pints of Fort George Big Guns Session IPA we had with dinner at Baked Alaska were absolutely on point.
Super sad to miss out on Zwickel this year. We didn't go to Bend this year since we're heading to Disneyland/LA later in the week. My parents however still went down and tore it up at Boneyard and Crux. My mom really dug Crux's Loganberry sour from what she told me.
Went to Breakside in Milwaukie. My wife and I took the tour and Ben Edmonds led, so that was pretty cool. Three tastes as part of the tour, including small pours of the new Fitzcarraldo in the barrel room. That beer...wow. Loved it. $13 a bottle for those - only available at the two Breakside locations - is a damn steal.
@therackman - Is that Wolf Tree Spruce Tip Ale a seasonal/occasional, or was it just a one-time special for Zwickelmania? My wife loves really piney beers*, and we would watch for that one in Portland if they made enough to send up here. (* As a point of reference, we have gone through beaucoup Ft. George Magnanimous IPA since discovering that one late last year.)
@vurt Spruce Tip Ale is Wolf Tree's flagship beer. I was just looking at their lineup on their website this morning http://www.wolftreebrewery.com/beers/. They also have a barrel aged spruce tip which I didn't try because my taste buds were gone by that point in the day. They are a small producer and have limited, keg only, distribution. I think the guy at their booth said they're distributed by Bigfoot. 5th St. Growlers in Corvallis has a keg of the barrel aged spruce tip that should be going on tap soon. I've only seen them at brew festivals though.
We also went to FoDA. It was my first time and I had a great time. The taproom with the fireplace in the Lovell Brewery was my favorite place to hang out (in retrospect, it would've been nice to have an open fire pit near one of the outdoors venues). My friend and I started with Stone Xocoveza on nitro, and it was a highlight. Other favorites: Firestone Parabajava, B15 Love Potion #9, Fort George Kentucky Girl, Trinity Chocolate River and Mill City Rum-Barrel Aged Trip Wire. With the latter, I haven't had many rum barrel-aged ales and I really enjoy them so far. Eventually though, I had to take a break as all those stouts starting blending together like a beer salad. Luckily there was Fort George Magnamious (wish this one wasn't a seasonal, it's a favorite). We also enjoyed the other activities and performances, like the belly dancing and had a great time listening to Jackson Boone and the Ocean Ghosts. The food was decent too. I'm already planning to get tickets for Hellshire. More beer festivals! Whooo!
