Internal Brewsletter - August 27th, 2025
General
Employee Provision
A weekly special served at the Pub, the idea of which comes primarily from Block 15 employees.
This week’s Employee Provision will be brought to you by Lily! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a Sushi Burrito!
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
This Week’s Releases
Bloktoberfest // 5.50%
Description: Celebrate Oktoberfest Block 15-style with this amber-hued Märzen lager. Noble hops impart subtle floral and spicy aromas, while PNW-sourced Pilsner and Munich-style malts build a delicate base.
Key Takeaway: We continue to move our lager program to regionally sourced malt. This Bloktoberfest is almost exclusively from the PNW, but it still has that authentic flavor.
Tasting Notes: Wildflower Honey • Toasted Biscuit • Prost!
Format: Draft & Cans
Series: Perennial
Beer Style: Märzen Lager
Märzen Lager is a beer style that originated in Bavaria during the 15th century. The beers are traditionally brewed in March, which is where the style gets its name. Beers were only allowed to be brewed in colder months, as warmer months produced off flavors without modern temperature control, and Märzen was one of the last to be brewed. They’d then be lagered in underground caves and cellars where it was cool until fall when they’d be served at Oktoberfest. Compared to other German lagers, Märzen is fuller in body, has a slightly sweeter malt profile, and is slightly less bitter. It has an amber-golden color, a thick, frothy head, and is crystal beer.
Eminent Point // 6.80%
Description: We're reaching for new heights with this luxurious take on an American classic. Featuring notes of pine resin, dank herb and sweet citrus, it all balances with a soft and enticing malt backbone.
Key Takeaway: The evolution of IPA styles in craft beer continues to reinvent what was just recently out of date. This American IPA features zero caramel malt, but still balances a pleasant malt base with an assertive mix of Simcoe, Waimea and cashmere hops.
Tasting Notes: Pine Resin • Blue Raspberry • Elevated Perspective
Format: Draft & Cans
Series: Orbital
Beer Style: American IPA
The classic IPA style originating in America has evolved less than other substyles. Moderate to heavy malt presence with a balance of citrus, herbal, pine, and floral hop flavors and aromas most commonly. It is fuller-bodied than West Coast IPAs and has an assertive bitterness that balances malt sweetness. The Variations of IPAs have become America’s primary contribution to the pantheon of world beer styles.
Discovery // 6.90%
Description: Brewed in collaboration with Hopsteiner, this West Coast IPA showcases Eureka hops in all their glory. Dark fruit undertones lie like ideas in the back of your mind, while citrus bursts forth like an Eureka moment, creating layered depths of complexity.
Key Takeaway: This beer focuses on the use of Eureka hops, but also features Salvoplus, a new cold-side version of Salvo.
Tasting Notes: Orange Flesh • Dank Cannabis • Epiphany
Format: Synergy
Series: Draft Only
Beer Style: West Coast IPA
An IPA Sub-style that originated 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. Please keep that in mind!
Static Shatter // Fresh Hop American IPA
Series: Fresh Hop
Releases: September 5th
Format: Draft & Cans
Description: Brewed with fresh-picked Strata hops grown less than 25 miles from our brewery at Alluvial Hop Farms, we quickly used liquid nitrogen and a shattering technique to release vibrant notes of passionfruit, cannabis, and fresh-cut alfalfa.
Tuck’s Harvest // Fresh Hop Belgian Pale Ale
Series: Synergy / Fresh Hop
Releases: September 5th
Format: Draft Only
Description: Brewed in collaboration with our friends at The BeerMongers and Indie Hops, this Abbey-style ale was inoculated with select Brettanomyces and dry-hopped with Hallertau Mittelfrüh fresh hops, resulting in an incredibly complex yet delicate bouquet of orchard fruit, barnyard funk, and fresh-cut grass.
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 is:
Both - Hammock Daydream
Beer Education
4:00 pm Every Other Thursday @ the Pub
The next Happy Hour is Thursday, 9/4.
Join us every other Thursday in the Game Room at the Pub to taste through beers, discuss our beers, brewing, or any other related topics you have questions about. This is a casual session, and anyone is welcome to attend. If you have an interesting bottle of beer you would like to taste/share with the group, bring it in. Your first beer is on us if you attend.
Beer 101: Some Updates and Discovery!
By Garrison Schmidt, Head Brewer
A few things to touch on this week: we are implementing 5S and lean workspace theory in all brewery workspaces. This is an organizational program developed by the Toyota Corporation to keep its workspaces clean, tidy, and efficient. Have a look at 5S and help us out by respecting the “a place for everything and everything in its place” mentality that lean practices require.
There is a beer ideas slot on the wall by our hotroom at the production facility! Please feel free to drop some ideas in there, it is for everybody! If you have a customer who is constantly asking for a certain beer or style, drop that in there, too. I’ll be installing one at the pub as well. A rule to keep me sane, for every joke idea you put in there, put in a legit one in, too.
We’re putting the finishing touches on a beer called Discovery. It’s a really cool opportunity for us as it is brewed with only hops developed by and only sold by Hopsteiner, and they asked us to brew it for hop harvest in Yakima as a way to showcase their hops to other brewers. It’s an honor to be chosen for the task. We brewed it with Apollo, Eureka, Eureka Salvo, Erebus, Sultana, and a new product for us called Salvo Plus. It’s got a really unique aroma, very resinous, with loads of fresh-squeezed orange and dank, resinous cannabis. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!
Marketing Updates
By Holly Amlin, Marketing & Creative Manager
It’s Fresh Hop Season baybeeeeee.
Check out the list of this year’s freshies that I made for our website: https://block15.com/beer
We’ll also have Fresh hop icons on our menus and tap handle stickers this year to help people see more clearly which beers these are.
Our first fresh hop beers land next Friday - get stoked.
Events
Corvallis Beer Week - September 4th - 13th
Learn about the history of Corvallis Beer Week: https://www.commonfieldscorvallis.com/corvallis-beer-week.html
September 4th - Kick off
Celebration at Caves 4 - 5 pm
Prepare for the evening’s festivities by sipping on a hand-selected lineup of beers from our cellar, plus a Belgian Frite Special.
Kick Off March 5 - 7 pm
Caves is the starting location for the Corvallis Beer Week Kickoff March and casual pub crawl around Downtown Corvallis, which begins promptly at 5 pm.
Kick Off Party at Common Fields 7 - 9 pm
This year’s kickoff party features a jazz jam session from DTW, and the release of the five-brewery collaboration beer between Sky High Brewing, Calapooia Brewing, ColdFire Brewing, Dirt Road Brewing, and Block 15 Brewing.
September 9th - Block 15 Event
$10 Flight Night at Block 15’s Downtown Pub 5 - 7 pm
Enjoy $10 flights of four, 5oz beers from Block 15! Try the first of our fresh hop beers: Static Shatter Fresh Hop American IPA, and Tuck’s Harvest, a small-batch Fresh Hop Belgian Pale Ale made in collaboration with The BeerMongers in Portland for their anniversary.
September 13th - Beer Festival to Close it Out
Septembeerfest at Avery Park 12 - 7 pm
To close out Corvallis Beer Week, Block 15 will be participating in the 18th Annual Septembeerfest! We’ll be rotating through some new beers, including Fresh Hop Sticky Hands, and playing some fun games.
https://www.septembeerfest.org/
OSU Hop Sensory Event - September 23rd
We’ve been invited to participate in a research project led by OSU, Coleman Agriculture, and Celebrate Oregon Beer. For the project, we’ll be comparing the use of fresh hops to freshly kilned hops of the same variety and lot of Strata. The first beer was brewed this week at the Pub, and if you were around, you definitely could smell the fresh hops!
On September 23rd, we’ll begin the experimental portion of the event at the Tap Room only. People can try tastes of both beers side-by-side for free for filling out the research form from OSU.
Learn about the program here: https://celebrateoregonbeer.com/science/
Bloktoberfest - October 17th - 18th
Event promotions are underway! You’ll start to see more pop up around our locations soon. Stein Package Pre-Orders begin September 15th.
Details on our website: https://block15.com/bloktoberfest
From the Executive Chef
By Sarah Farey, Executive Chef
September Pub Monthly Specials!
September Pub Monthly Specials! Launch Sept. 3rd.
Jalapeno Popper Dip-Spicy jalapeno & cream cheese dip, topped with cheddar jack cheese & parmesan breadcrumbs. Served with house fried tortilla chips. $11.99
El Padrino- Pepper Tree Sausage House chorizo, aleppo-lime roasted sweet potatoes, cilantro-jalapeno mayo, mixed greens and jalapeno kettle chips on house baked ciabatta bread. $16.99
Caprese Turkey Burger-Juicy white & dark meat turkey patty, melted fresh mozzarella, tomato & basil on a toasted Bread Stop brioche bun with garlic aioli & balsamic glaze. $16.99
Red Curry & Coconut Noodles-Spicy & creamy coconut red curry sauce, tender yakisoba, red bell peppers, zucchini, sweet onion & snap peas topped with crushed peanuts & cilantro $11.99 + Shrimp $6.99
Bakery
Notes from Lindsey Henriksen, Bakery Manager
Pub Updates
By Kira Sciarrotta, General Manager
I sent out a Sling message about this already, but here it is again while we’re working on adjusting our routines:
We're introducing a new hospitality focus that I'd love to see everyone incorporate into their day-to-day serving practice. It is now expected that every server drop a dessert/packaged beer menu off to each and every table. Whether it's during that halfway-point food check-in, or dropping another round, please make it a point to drop off that menu and make recommendations towards dessert or canned beer to-go! Some simple statements to help that conversation could be:
"I see you've been enjoying those Deep Seeks this evening, make sure to grab some for home!"
"My personal favorite is our House Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie with a scoop of ice cream!"
Remember to be personable and spend those extra few moments on a meaningful interaction with your guests!
Tap Room Updates
Caves Updates
By Aidan Welch, General Manager
High Fives
Annalee Anglin - For helping me out on some rough closes the last couple weeks, staying long to help me get through a load of late dishes
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:
Ray Rohsler - West PDX Sales Rep
Charitable Programs
Dine Out! for SafeHaven Humane Society - September 10th
On Wednesday, September 10th, both Block 15 locations will be donating a portion of the day’s food sales to SafeHaven Humane Society!
If you're looking to adopt, with generous support from the ASPCA, SafeHaven is thrilled to offer waived adoption fees between September 12th and 14th.
What will the donation go towards?
Your kind donations will be going toward general animal care, humane education, and supplies for foster animals.
About SafeHaven Humane Society
SafeHaven Humane Society, a private non-profit in Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley, is dedicated to finding permanent, loving homes for every animal entrusted to their care while supporting their community with shelter services, education, and spay/neuter programs. As a no-kill, limited-admission shelter, SafeHaven pledges lifelong care for each animal until adoption, relying on community support, volunteers, and grants to sustain their mission.
What is a Dine Out?
Block 15 hosts Dine Out events to benefit local, community-minded organizations as part of our ongoing charitable programs.