Internal Brewsletter - March 25th
General
Employee Provision - Submissions Needed!
A weekly special served at the Pub, with ideas sourced from Block 15 employees.
This week’s Employee Provision will be brought to you by Lindsey! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a Jalapeno Popper Chicken Sandwich.
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas! Remember, if your provision gets selected, you can order one for free!
-New Releases This Week-
Selection Series: Confluence // West Coast IPA // 7.00%
Confluence unites our four favorite hop selections from the latest harvest—El Dorado, Mosaic, Strata, and Citra—into an artful blend. This West Coast IPA is our ultimate harvest celebration.
What are some highlights or changes for this beer?
Thoughtfully brewed to showcase each of the four hops chosen for Selection Series in a single, balanced West Coast IPA.
Tasting Notes: Lemonade • Blueberry • Mingled
Availability: On draft and cans to-go + Distributed to our network in Oregon & SW Washington
Series: Orbital
Limited release. Brewed periodically. Available for a month or less.
What is a West Coast IPA?
An IPA sub-style originating in California. It has evolved over the years to showcase a balance of bright fruit, resinous pine, and dank (cannabis-forward) hop flavors and aromas, with a moderate to light malt presence and a dry finish with an assertive bitterness. West Coast is still a rapidly evolving style. The Variations of IPAs have become America’s primary contribution to the pantheon of world beer styles.
Upcoming Releases
*This list is subject to change based on the production schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Harbinger // PNW IPA
Series: Synergy
Releases: 4/3/26
Availability: On draft only + Distributed to select locations around Oregon
Spark // Spontaneous Refresher
Series: Emerging
Releases: 4/3/26
Availability: On draft only at our locations
Crowler/Package Sale for Sippin’ Sunday
20% off all packaged beer to-go, $5 Crowlers, and $10 Growler fills all-day Sunday of a specific beer.
This week’s beer(s) is/are:
Punch out & Prost!
Ocean Man
Beer Education
Barrel Room Roundtable - Thursdays at 4 pm
REMINDER - BRRT IS AT PUB DURING TAPROOM RENOVATION
BEER 101
By Garrison Schmidt, Head Brewer
This week’s topic: triple blind tasting with mystery away team guest
Selection Series, Confluence
Hopefully, by now, we’ve all had a chance to try the four Selection Series beers. You may have had one or two that stood out to you as favorites, or one that you really didn’t care for. This project has several real aims:
To illustrate the influence that hop variety selection has on our beer
To show us the difference between the whole flower hops that we rubbed at selection and the finished product brewed with them
To show where some varieties will perform better when used at different times in a beer's production
As you know, hops are added at different times during the brewing process. The main reason for this is a process called isomerization. Isomerization is the reason that hops make beer bitter. Hops are packed with sticky resinous compounds, the most important for brewing being alpha acids. In their natural state, these compounds are not very bitter and are not soluble in water or beer.
If you add heat, you begin a process called isomerization. Think of isomerization as a molecular rearrangement. The same atoms, shuffled into a new shape. After the molecule has been rearranged, they are called iso-alpha acids, and two important changes have been made: they dissolve in liquid, and they taste bitter. The longer that the hops are exposed to the heat of the boil, the more isomerization takes place, and the more bitter the beer.
At Block 15, we add hops at four important points:
Early in the boil - contributes to the bitterness only. Flavor and aroma are mostly cooked off
Late in the boil - contributes to a smaller amount of bitterness, but retains flavor and aroma specific to the variety
Whirlpool / hopstand - wort is cooled to prevent isomerization, and hops are added to the whirlpool. Almost all bitterness is lost, and aroma and flavor are the majority of what remains
Dryhop - Hops added to cool, nearly finished beer. No bitterness is contributed. Only aroma compounds in the hops contribute to the beer.
Some hops perform better than others in specific roles. As brewers, it’s our job to use the appropriate hop in the appropriate role. For confluence, we chose to distribute them as such:
Early boil - El Dorado
Late boil - Citra
Hop Stand / Whirlpool - Strata, El Dorado
Dry Hop - 55 lbs El Dorado, 77 lbs Citra, 77 lbs Strata, 99 lbs Mosaic
I hope this sheds a little light on some different reasons that we do Selection Series apart from just making four separate single-hop beers for the fun of it. I also hope that you see a cool opportunity in Confluence to really experience the hops used in the way we really feel is best.
Marketing Updates
By Holly Amlin, Marketing & Creative Manager
Events List:
Attack the Block Tap Takeover at Loyal Legion
We're excited to be part of Attack the Block 2026, a full tap takeover at Loyal Legion Oregon this April 1–3. Six Oregon brands. Three nights. One takeover.
Featured Beers from Block 15:
Loyal to the Block IPA — our annual collaboration with Loyal Legion.
Harbinger — a collaboration between Block 15, Xicha Brewing, and Hetty Alice Brewing. Each brewery will be pouring their own variation to celebrate independent craft brewing.
Plus fresh seasonals and year-round favorites.
From the Executive Chef
By Sarah Farey, Executive Chef
April pub specials coming ‘atcha Wednesday, April 1st!
Pina-Pepper Burger-NW beef patty*, caramelized pineapple, melted pepper jack cheese, lettuce, sweet onion, gochujang mayo and jalapeno chimichurri on a toasted Bread Stop brioche pub bun $21.99
Potato & Green Chili Flautas-Creamy, spicy potato and green chili wrapped in flour tortillas and fried crispy. Served with salsa borracha, sour cream, queso fresco & fresh radishes $13.99
Huli Huli Chicken Sandwich-Huli Huli marinated and grilled chicken thigh, creamy jalapeno-mango slaw & sriracha mayo on a toasted brioche bun. $17.99
Roasted Asparagus & Chevre Salad-Roasted asparagus, Pickled red onion, julienned radish, citrus-parmesan vinaigrette, lightly fried herb & chevre fritter. $14.99
Bakery
Notes from Lindsey Henriksen, Bakery Manager
Carrot cake is arriving soon! We’ll make the switch from the chocolate almond cake to Carrot Cake on Friday, April 3rd. This cake is lightly spiced, layered with cream cheese frosting and topped with candied walnuts.
Pub Updates
By Kira Sciarrotta, General Manager
Ice Cream Scoop Awareness! Paul brought it to my attention that our current habit regarding the Server Station Ice Cream Scoop DOES NOT meet health code regulations! Typically, I see people grab a scoop, fill a soda cup with hot water, and plunk that bad boy in there for the ENTIRE DAY. This violates health code as the utensil is not being stored in a temperate regulated vessel. SO! Instead, Paul lovingly brought us up a few more grey scoops (the only scoops that should be used for ice cream!) and we will use them only a single time before sending them back to the dish pit for a wash.
As you all have probably noticed, we are hosting an All Staff Meeting on March 30th at 8:30am. This meeting will be held at CAVES and your attendance is MANDATORY, so spread the good word! Before this meeting, please read over the following document:
I’ll make this clear now: the content of this meeting and why we are having it is not as a result of a single person or instance. See you all there!
Tap Room Updates
Check back next week !
Caves Updates
By Aidan Welch, General Manager
Get ready for some exciting beers joining our taplist this spring! Make sure to swing by to get some tastes of really unique imports!
Love & Ritual from Great Notion
An awesome homage to all the things we love about our Hazy IPAs!
1516 Kellerbier from Weihenstephaner
From the oldest brewery in the world est. 1040 Kellerbier is a fantastic unfiltered amber-orange lager. Rich malts and soft hops make for some easy drinking
Belgian Tripel from St. Bernardus
For those who know Belgian beers, this is a must. A golden-blonde abbey ale with fruity esters and distinct spices
Anno 1050 Marzen from Weltenburger
The second oldest brewery in the world est. 1050, and the oldest monastery to brew. This Bavarian golden-amber lager will have a smooth full body, notes of honey and red apple.
With the warmer days en route, we’ll be opening our streetside windows and bringing in that fresh Oregon spring, so expect some good vibes and even better bevs. Cheers yall!
High Fives
Prep crew and line helpers - Thank you for taking on such a big walk-in project. That was a ton of work but very necessary.
Rachel- She’s a freaking BEAST
Matt Williams- Makes a great bartender!
Maxwell- Is always ready and locked in at work :) Great vibes always
If you have kudos or kind words you want to share about your co-worker anonymously in the Brewsletter, use the button below!
Staff Section
Please welcome the following folks to the team:
Estevan Escalona - West PDX Sales
Colton Troyer - Distribution
Charitable Programs
The People’s Pint Tap for April - Gloria
Who are we supporting? Oregon Sexual Assault Task Force.
About Oregon SATF-
Their mission is to facilitate and support a collaborative, survivor-centered approach to the prevention of and response to sexual violence. We accomplish our mission by advancing primary prevention, and providing multi-disciplinary training and technical assistance to responders in Oregon and
What is it going towards?
Our donation will help Oregon SATF strengthen efforts to prevent sexual violence and support survivors through training, advocacy programs, and critical statewide resources.
What is the People’s Pint tap?
This is a way for us to give back to our community, one pint at a time by supporting local non-profit groups.