Internal Brewsletter - January 8th, 2025
General
Tap Room Closure 1/13-1/20
We’re updating the Brewery floors at the Tap Room starting Monday, January 13th, and aim to reopen between the 18th and 20th (but very likely after the 20th). Cascade Floors is adding a new coating to our production areas, which will be loud and dusty. Once it’s finished, our floors will be more protected and will extend the life of the surface.
Please direct customers to visit the Pub or Caves during the closure!
Bourbon Month 2025
Next week we will be dropping info about Bourbon Month and what you can expect when it comes to service, events, and fun new specials! This is a super busy and very exciting month for both staff and our guests and I can’t wait to share it with you all. FOH folks, you will be scheduled education classes in the coming weeks where we will go over the details, answer questions, and taste through the release beers (if you are over 21). Let me know if you have any questions! - Goody
Have You RSVP’d to the Holiday Party???
Please use this form to RSVP for the Block 15 Holiday Party! This year, we will be holding it at our Southtown Tap Room on January 13th from 5 pm - 9 pm. We've got lots of fun activities planned such as:
Kegeritas
Pinatas
White Elephant Gift Exchange
Holiday Baking Competition with fabulous prizes
DJ Scottie with a community playlist
Photobooth
Food catered by Grindz Hawaiian from Albany
Afterparty at Squirrels 9pm - 12am!
This party is for adults only, and each employee is allowed a plus 1. If the plus 1 is a former employee, please include their name in the spot below!
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 Mars! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for Potato Leek Casserole!
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
This Week’s Releases
Releasing Friday, January 10th
Sticky Hands: The Kine //
Description: Rolled up tight with the stickiest, top shelf hops grown right here in the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy a blast of heady herb, blue spruce, and orange skunk wrapped up tight in our loudest Sticky yet. // 8.10%
Key Takeaway: Sticky Hands: The Kine brings all our favorite aspects of Sticky Hands but with the dankness dialed up to 11. This beer comes from deep in the Block 15 archives - before we revived it in 2023, it hadn't flowed from our taps since 2014.
Tasting Notes: Pineapple • Cannabis • Lifted
Format: Draft & Cans
Series: Sticky Hands
Beer Style: Imperial IPA
Imperial IPAs (often called Double IPAs) feature a more robust profile of malts and hops. Significant factors that set Imperial IPAs apart from regular IPAs are their alcohol content and bitterness levels. An Imperial IPA can range from 7.5%-10% ABV. Due to the increased malt load it takes to create the additional alcohol, more hops are required to balance out the beer and keep the malt in check. An Imperial IPA should be intensely hoppy, medium-light to medium-bodied, and have balanced hop characteristics. There can be Imperial versions of virtually any IPA style or sub-style.
Upcoming Releases
*This list is subject to change based on the production schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Love Potion #9 // Stout with Chocolate & Raspberries
Series: Perennial
Releases: January 17th
Format: Draft & Cans
Description: Brewed with an irresistible blend of dark malts, rich chocolate, and raspberries, this potion offers velvety notes of chocolate ganache and juicy fresh berries.
Amalfi Gold // Limoncello Wild Ale
Series: Cellars
Releases: January 17th
Format: Draft Only
Description: Inspired by our favorite Italian Liqueur, we added fresh lemon zest and vanilla to this select blend of barrels from our wild cellar. Bright, tart, and citrusy, enjoy a taste of the Amalfi Coast from the comfort of your home.
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 beers are: Hoppy Holidays & Ol’ Saint Nick (Pub Only), and Fresh Pow (Taproom Only)
Beer Education
2:30 pm Tuesdays @ the Tap Room
Join us at the Tap Room every week for an educational session where you can taste and learn about the week’s releases. All are welcome!
4:00 pm Every Other Thursday @ the Pub
The next Happy Hour is this Thursday, 1/9!
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: Sticky Hands, The Kine
Written by Garrison Schmidt, Head Brewer
It’s come to my attention that some of you youngins aren't familiar with the concept of kine bud. Well, sit back and let Uncle Gary drop some old school on you, it’s time for beer (and weed) education.
When I was a young man, weed was illegal. That’s right, you’d go to jail just for having a little of it! Isn’t that insane?! Don't get me started on the way we’d risk our lives to get ahold of it. It also didn't come in nearly as many forms and strains as it comes in now. You could basically buy flower or hash, and it was either schwag (brown, dry, sticks and stems ish), or if you were very lucky and well connected with various criminals, you could get kine bud. Dorks mispronounced it as kind, and kind bud is also a term in that community to this day.
Kine comes from a Hawaiian Pidgin phrase Da Kine. It’s a fun phrase that can mean almost anything to a native Hawaiian speaker and has been described in a surfing dictionary as “the word you use when you don't use the word.” Its definition changes from situation to situation with context, but to non-native speakers, kine has but one real definition: that sweet sticky herrrb.
So, why would we name a Sticky Hands variant after a slang term for really good pot? Simply put, cannabis and hops are as closely related as they can be. They contain many of the same flower structures that produce similar tricomes, responsible for making many of the same terpenes, oils, and other chemicals that impart flavors and aromas. When we say that a beer is exhibiting dank herbal notes, this relationship is what we’re referencing. Sticky Hands, The Kine uses several hops that really exemplify that characteristic and presents about as dank-forward as an IPA can.
If you didn’t know, now you know. Roll up a bone and crack open a Sticky The Kine. It’s a match made in hippy heaven.
From the Executive Chef
January monthly specials will go live today at both locations!
Tap Room
Porkstrami Egg Rolls-House brined and smoked “porkstrami”, sauerkraut, swiss cheese & stone ground mustard egg roll served with our spicy reuben sauce. $10.99
Mash Paddle Melt-Seasoned NW beef patty, garlic sauteed mushrooms, melted Swiss cheese & house dressing on toasted artisan bread. $16.99
Pub
Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich - Breaded & fried eggplant with creamy marinara, melted provolone & fresh basil on house toasted ciabatta. $15.99
Chicken Chipotle Pasta - Cavatappi pasta, mushrooms & sweet onions and chipotle-parmesan cream sauce with smoked chicken, aleppo pepper and green onions. $17.99
Porkstrami Sandwich - Thinly sliced house made Carlton Farms pork shoulder pastrami, on toasted artisan bread with grilled sweet onions, Tillamook Swiss, house pickles and classic yellow mustard. $16.99
Sunday BBQ Chicken Plate at the Pub
This Sunday our BBQ Chicken Plate will be back in action! We are adjusting the times this is available from 11am-3pm, due to quality issues. We will be doing a social post to let guests know, and will update the menu & website to reflect the time change!
Pub Updates
We officially have a new cider on at the Pub! We are featuring the Dusty Apple from Helvatia Cider out of Hillsboro, OR (and our newest addition to the Block 15 Distro line-up). This cider is a little bit drier than the Yonder was, but is still very refreshing and crowd pleasing. Reminder: we cannot put any cider in a Crowler, but we can do a Growler fill if requested.
Please remember to be mindful of trips behind the bar, especially when there is already more than one person in that space. When running food, we should be dropping it on the customer side, not the bar side. Grey glass racks in the kitchen should be utilized first during higher business times (often bartenders want glasses directly to the bar towards close, or when its slow) but consistent traffic behind the bar can cause run ins and clog up flow. Using the racks also helps to prevent the top of the dishwasher from looking messy or cluttered. Lastly, please be mindful of conversations or floor updates not happening in the space between the register and entrance to the kitchen. Often folks need to get to that end to help guests and it’s becoming clogged more often. Thank you for helping to keep a tight and fast-paced area a little more easy to navigate!
Tap Room Updates
The Taproom closure is finalized: 1/13-1/20*. However, our reopening date is subject to change! Please reach out to Sarah or Rachel (your scheduling manager) if you are interested in project cleaning hours during this time period. If you intend on taking that time off it still needs to be approved by them!
All questions regarding Taproom reservation requests should be directed to taproom@block15.com. Please do not direct them towards managers' specific work email (if a manager is on their weekend the customer waits longer for a response than necessary, so this helps streamline the process).
Andy will begin managing online keg sales this week so please begin directing customers to andy@block15.com with questions about their Online Keg Sale order or Corni Fills. FOH will still manage the hand off to customers and Green tagging corni’s when they are dropped off by customers. Those will continue to be found in the office drawers behind the bar labeled “service”. Always log exactly what keg is received from customers when they drop off empty shells please! This log is located in the white bar binder in a slip that says “keg sales”. Including name, date and phone number (very important!!) so we can make sure to refund their deposit.
Changing the organization of the cocktail fridge to make it more user friendly. We purchased FOH ONLY fifos that are clearly labeled on the bottom of the squeeze bottle with sharpie.
Smix concentrate and margarita now have pour spouts on the backer in use for those products. Make sure to use the one with the pour spout so we are using the oldest product first and keeping proper rotation! Simple syrup & Honey simple syrup (or “honey water” which is the same thing) should now be stored in these fifos with a squeeze top lid when in the cocktail fridge. Large backers/ any backstock should be stored in the Red Cocktail Crate in the walk in to save space.
When hangers are pulled from apparel- please make a run at the end of your shift to the mezzanine and store in the apparel backstock area. You will see a large pile of hangers in there already. Please neatly add to this collection!
A good indication if we offer something to go in crowler form is if we have a button made or not in the system (always best to ring something in before making it!) Regarding products added to our draft selection: Hop Water and Helvetia Cider cannot be crowlered
Ordering both size formats of tequila now, intentionally! Please ONLY make batched margarita from the Large format tequila bottles. Single pours of tequila can come from small bottle so it fits in well
We are now going to carry Tito’s Vodka, as a gluten free verified option for vodka. This will also be slightly higher quality than Slaptail.
Vermouth is to be stored in the fridge. We are going to receive a fresh bottle (smaller format) that is to be stored in the fridge, always. Sidenote: Anything that needs refrigerated after opening should always be dated the day it was opened with sharpie on the bottle!
Caves Updates
Events
Bourbon Month is coming! Keep an eye out for more information in the Brewsletter and through Sling. Here’s a peek at our updated logo:
High Fives
Levi - The outdoor tables at the tap room look awesome and fresh!
Marketing - Keep it up!
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Human Resources
Staff Section
Check back next week.
The People’s Pint / Cheers for Charity / Dine Out
Check back next week.