We have an unusually newsy newsletter today, including three new openings, along with a great Spotlight on a uniquely Oregon beer. All that, plus one of the biggest and most unusual fests of the year, visiting Portland on Saturday.

If you are looking for more news and conversation between these emails, visit our feeds at Instagram, Facebook, or Bluesky.

Programming Note. There will be an interruption in the newsletter for a week or so due to a scheduled surgery. Look for the next edition to be out March 26.

News

Breakside's Big News Much is happening at Breakside: a new Vancouver taproom, a BBQ program in Astoria, and the biggie. The brewery has purchased Dundee's Alit Wines and tasting room and launched a membership program. The New School has the scoop

Von Ebert Now Open Von Ebert's taproom at the former Ecliptic site is now open--and you can peek through the window to see the big new brewhouse they bought from Pelican inside. Details here

Funky Fauna Relocating The Sisters brewery, known for its award-winning farmhouse ales, is taking over the former Humm Kombucha Taproom in Bend's Central District. The Source has more

Tariffs Have Arrived On March 3rd, the Trump Administration went ahead with tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. They will affect aluminum, steel, barley, and energy costs in the beer industry. The Brewers Assoc. has more

KOIN on OC Brewing Oregon City Brewing's new Canby Beer Library got their close-up on KOIN TV recently. View it here

2 Towns in 2nd Place Oregon is home to the second-largest cidermaker in the US. 2 Towns was also cidermaker of the year at the GABF and GLINTCAP (the premier cider competition.) Read more here

Upcoming Events

Please send us all your upcoming event information at the following email so we can include them in our weekly roundups: events@celebrateoregonbeer.com

SheBrew!

One of the most "Oregon" events of the year is coming up fast: SheBrew, now in its tenth year, happens this Saturday, March 8th. It's no secret that Portland has been ground zero for women entering the brewing industry. The Pink Boots Society was a big part of this transformation, but SheBrew, a celebration of women in craft beer and the cider industry, has been instrumental in making the work of these incredible women visible to the public. Being able to sample beer made by women, at a festival hosted and attended by women brewers, has been an incredible showcase for their talents. The fest itself is unlike many others in that it attracts a more diverse audience and offers a collegial, celebratory vibe. If you think the era of the beer fest has passed, check out SheBrew.

​From the organizers: "The festival, held in Portland, features a nationwide homebrewers competition and showcases the talents of female brewers and cider makers. Join us for a day filled with great drinks, family fun, and community support."

Montavilla Turns 10 When you turn ten, you might as well have a BIG party. Montavilla Brew Works is celebrating for much of the year with special beers and events. Check out the schedule

St. Patrick's Day March 17 is St. Patrick's Day, and we will be sure to keep a running tally of the events happening around the state on our Instagram feed. If you're going out, remember to arrange for transportation and be safe!

Spotlight: Alesong's Single Farm Beer

Around here, we often say Oregon is a special place for beer. For a perfect case in point, take Alesong’s new release, Single Origin. It takes advantage of our location, which is perfect for growing all the ingredients for beer, and uses barley and hops grown on a single farm. But the Willamette Valley is also one of the best wine-growing regions in the world. To highlight this bounty, Alesong partnered with Goschie Farms for every ingredient in this beer: the barley, hops, and Riesling grapes it’s made with.

As an extra-special component, Alesong doesn’t use laboratory yeast to ferment the beer, either—they rely on the natural yeasts and bacteria that collect on the skins of the grapes. This is a very rare—and ancient—beer-making technique called spontaneous fermentation. “It creates a really cool sense of place,” says the brewery’s Brian Coombs, “It's local, and as terroir-driven as you can get.” We sometimes forget that yeast is an important ingredient, but Single Origin highlights the role it plays—and some of the beer’s important flavors derive from the compounds they create during fermentation.

Before beer became an international commodity, it was a product of the land; farmers preserved what they grew in liquid form. Being able to source barley and hops from a single farm today, however, is hard enough; but add grapes to the mix and it's like finding a unicorn. Yet Goschie Farms, near Silverton, grows all three.

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Process and Ingredient​
Most malting barley is grown in the drier, hot-weather climates of North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. Even in Oregon, only about 5% of the roughly 30,000 acres devoted to barley are located in the wetter valleys west of the Cascades. Goschie and other Willamette Valley growers have been working with breeders at Oregon State University to south barley varieties appropriate to the region—and that’s what goes into Single Origin.

Originally, Goschie sold her barley to Skagit Valley Malting, who turned it into two varieties of pilsner malts. When Skagit Valley closed two years ago (it has since reopened), Goschie started selling to Great Western Malt, and her barley is now sold as Pure Oregon Malt.

What makes this beer unique are the microorganisms Goschie grows indirectly, on the skins of their grapes. Instead of pitching yeast into fresh wort, Coombs just adds grapes. "I went up and grabbed the Riesling and we came back and foot-stomped whole cluster grapes," he explained. "That's how I'm doing all my fruit ferments now, keeping everything on the stem. Whatever was on the grapes inoculated the base wort.”

For those familiar with lambic-brewing, this is a similar process, but different. In those beers, the wort is exposed to the open air as it cools, which attracts ambient yeasts and bacteria. Microbes resident in the wood join in the process when the wort is transferred to oak barrels. With Single Origin, the yeast and bacteria on the grapes are denser and more concentrated, and will fully ferment the beer-wine hybrid in a month.

The Finished Beer
​"It's light and refreshing," Coombs said. "It's got an awesome acidity, but I'd say it's a pretty mellow and fun profile overall. Riesling is such a cool grape and I think it shines through a lot more than than some of our other beers that we've done with white wines."

In naturally-fermented beer, the yeasts and bacteria add fruity esters and sharp acids to the traditional flavors of malt and barley. “It’s so cool we live in a place where can make a beer like this from one source," he said.

But wait, isn't there one more ingredient? Only after the fact did Coombs think of it.“After we finished, I was like, 'wait why don't we get a couple totes of well water from her farm, too?' Why didn't I think of that? Maybe we'll have to do that the next time we do this beer with her.”

Fortunately, you don't have to wait until the next time they make the beer--it's available now.

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Keeping Up

For everything Oregon, please visit the Celebrate Oregon website.If you think someone you know might like this newsletter, have them sign up here.

Celebrate Oregon Beer is supported by the Oregon Brewers Guild and Oregon Hop Commission.

Excellent journalism is of the many ways Oregon is so special. In between newsletters, be sure to check out these sites for the latest happenings:

• ​The New School​
• ​The Oregonian​
• ​Astoria Beer Zone​
• ​Brewpublic​
• ​Beervana Blog​

See you again in two weeks!