Internal Brewsletter - October 23rd, 2024
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 Alex! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for Lomo Saltado!
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
THIS WEEK’S RELEASES
Releasing Friday 10/25
Ol’ Saint Nick //
Description: Ol' Saint Nick is a generously malt-forward winter ale - artfully constructed with a base of selected malts and hops, offering notes of toffee, cocoa, plum, and caramel with citrusy hops and a pleasant lingering finish. // 9.00%
Key Takeaway: A turn of the season winter warmer. It's a delicate balancing act of sweet malt and hop bitterness that creates an incredibly drinkable seasonal taster. A very complex malt bill leads to nuanced, malt-forward winter ale.
Tasting Notes: Brown Sugar • Toffee • Fireside
Format: Draft & Cans
Series: Artist - Frankie Smith frankiesmithart.com
Beer Style: Winter Ale
UPCOMING Releases
*This list is subject to change based on the production schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Sticky Hands: Solar Flare // Hop Experience Ale
Series: Sticky Hands
Releases: November 1st
Format: Draft & Cans
Description: Inspired by the star of our system, Solar Flare was designed to capture the radiance of a supermassive burst from the sun. Launch into explosive aroma from heaps of Strata, Nectaron, and Eclipse hops.
Late Fall Bottle Release Beers - Draft Releasing Nov 1st; Bottles Releasing Saturday, November 2nd
Imagine
Imagine: Stroopwafel
Figgy Pudding
Willa
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: Flicker
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 tasting is Thursday, October 31st, at 4 pm!
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: A Brief History of Barrel Ag(e)ing
Written by Garrison Schmidt, Head Brewer
The first barrels appear in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics from at least 2600 BCE. Pliny the Elder, who lived in the first century CE, noted Europeans using barrels to store beverages and the different classes of coopers, including a cooper who only made barrels for wine. Barrel-aging beer in Britain dates back to Anglo-Saxon times and continues into the present.
Most of the traditions of barrel-aging beer that influenced craft beer come from Belgium and Great Britain. Much of the Belgian tradition comes from the history of Lambic beers that originated in the 13th century. Block 15 uses a process similar to this in making Turbulent Consequence and many of our other wild beers. In this process, barrels are used to mature beer over a prolonged period where various microorganisms continue to slowly ferment and create unique characteristics.
The history of cask, or barrel-aging beer in Great Britain, is a long and complex topic, far too great to cover here, but we can scratch the surface. One important note on historic British barrel-aged beers is that the aging was meant to mature the beers, not to impart wood flavors in the beer or to prolong fermentation. Brewers went to great lengths to make sure the barrels were neutral in flavor. Aged beers were usually stronger styles that needed time to soften flavors before they could be sold. Two very famous styles of beer that were often barrel-aged were Imperial Stout and India Pale Ale. Both were matured in barrels and shipped in barrels since they were both largely exported.
The tradition of barrel aging India Pale Ale followed to the United States, where P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company continued the tradition of aging their IPA in barrels from the founding of the brewery in 1840 until it closed in the early 1990s. This tradition did not continue heavily after the rebound of popularity in the style from the 1980s through today.
The idea of aging beer in barrels specifically to impart flavor from the barrels is quite a new concept, with the advent of Bourbon barrel-aging beer beginning in the early 1990s. Goose Island is, as far as we know, the first brewery to age a beer in Bourbon barrels. Sometime between 1992 and 1994, they laid down the first batches of Bourbon County Brand Stout in ex-bourbon barrels in order to impart the specific flavor of the spirit as well as the charred oak barrels into a beer, which happened to be an Imperial Stout. The results were transcendent and created a new process that was quickly copied by brewers across the country.
There are two schools of thought on how to barrel age beer in spirits barrels. In one process, the beer is gently aged at a consistent temperature, usually near cellar temperature. The other process is where the beer is aged in a non-climate controlled space, similar to the room's bourbon itself is aged, where the temperature swings greatly and constantly forces beer in and out of the wood.
Block 15 has been releasing Bourbon barrel-aged stouts since 2009, when the first Super Nebula release kicked off a tradition that continues today. The barrels change every year, but the idea is to gently age the beer in quality bourbon barrels for a year in a climate-controlled space in the barrel room at the taproom, where the characteristics of the spirits and the gentle microoxidation from the aging process mature the beer into a robust yet balanced product. The idea of using ex-spirits barrels to age beer and impart unique flavors has proven to be one of the greatest innovations of the American Craft beer era.
From the Executive Chef
Here are our upcoming menu updates for both locations! Please take the time to look over them and begin to get guests excited about some old favorites coming back! Remember as folks are disappointed when we remove a menu item, to be positive about highlighting the new item as well as assuring them that these are seasonal items and our fan favorites will make a comeback in the future! Make sure to check in every week to be in the know of what is changing!
PUB Changes Wednesday 10/30
The Forager Burger (Replaces the caprese burger) - NW beef patty, butter sauteed mixed mushrooms, melted Swiss cheese, lettuce, sweet onion, pickle, and garlic aioli on a toasted Bread Stop brioche pub bun 18.99
Tempeh & Peanut Rice Bowl (Replaces berry salad) - Crispy lemongrass tempeh, over coconut basmati rice with edamame, carrots, avocado & shaved cabbage. Topped with our ginger-peanut sauce, cilantro, green onion and crushed peanuts. 15.99 (Vegan and gluten free entree option)
TAP ROOM Changes Friday 11/1
Krab Rangoon Dip (Replaces clam dip) - Hot and savory Krab & cream cheese dip with green onion and served with fried wonton chips. 10.99
Sweet & Smoky Nuts (Replaces jerk hazelnuts) - Mix of Freddy Guys’ hazelnuts, peanuts & pecans in our sweet and smoky spice blend 5.99
November Monthly Specials!
PUB
Seafood Arancini - Breaded and fried parmesan risotto, filled with gulf shrimp and pacific cod. Served with spiced pumpkin mole sauce $14.99
The Gobbler - Our juicy turkey burger topped with cornbread-sage stuffing & turkey gravy, with orange-cranberry relish on a toasted brioche bun. $17.99
Autumn Harvest Salad - Fresh greens, Tillamook smoked cheddar, fresh apples, toasted pumpkin seeds, and maple dijon vinaigrette. $11.99
Bacon Suggested add on!
TAP ROOM
Toasted Pumpkin & Asiago Ravioli - Ravioli filled with creamy pumpkin & asiago cheese, lightly breaded and fried to perfection. Served with house marinara $10.99
Smoked Beet Reuben - Pastrami style cured and lightly smoked beets, sauerkraut, melted Swiss cheese and house Reuben sauce on our house baked toasted pumpernickel. $16.99
PUB UPDATES
TAP ROOM UPDATES
Late Fall Bottle release products (Imagine, Imagine Stroopwafel, Willa, and Figgy Pudding) will be eliminated from the Sippin’ Sunday Discount the first 2 weeks of release (11/3 & 11/10- no Sunday discount offered on these bottles, except to Mug Club members who can ALWAYS receive their 10% off) after the 2 week period, they will be available to discount on Sunday’s starting 11/17
Now that we have phased out the Read and Sign it is very important and a requirement that we are up to date on reading all Sling messages prior to stepping on the floor! Remember you are always welcome to clock in up to 10 minutes prior to your scheduled time (as long as you are using it for work purposes) even on days you do not have a “scheduled” check in. Please remember to emoji each message after reading! Declining to do so will lead to follow up by a manager. We want to set you up for success by everyone being on the same page at the start of their shift!
Caves Updates
Events
Late Fall Bottle Release - November 1st - 3rd
Next week, we’ll be releasing four beers as part of our Late Fall Bottle Release: Imagine, Imagine: Stroopwafel, Figgy Pudding, and Willa. These limited-run beers are something special we look forward to each year. To celebrate, we host a few events:
SOLD OUT! Brewers Dinner - November 1st at 6 pm
Learn how the beers were made directly from our brewers over a 4-course Pairing Dinner curated by our Executive Chef, Sarah. Ticket includes an allotment of bottles.
Guided Pairings - November 2nd from 11 am - 2 pm
Guided tasting with our with our staff alongside small-bite pairings by our Executive Chef, Sarah, at our Southtown Taproom and Production Facility. Public bottle pre-order opportunity included with ticket purchase.
General Bottle Sale - Begins November 2nd
Bottles will be available for sale on a first-come, first-serve basis. Limits will be in effect.
HIGH FIVEs
Cody O.! - Cody is just a true joy to work with! We are lucky to have him!
If you have kudos or kind words to share anonymously in the Brewsletter, use the button below!
Human resources
STAFF SECTION
Please welcome the following folks to the team:
Liam Knipple (Caves BOH)
Anne Carlson (FOH)
Ewan McLain (BOH)
Luke Walker (Caves FOH)
SAFETY TIPS
Remember to follow safe lifting guidelines such as keeping a wide base of support (feet shoulder-width apart), bending at the hips and knees only, keeping good posture with your back straight and lifting slowly while holding the load as close to your body as possible.
Office Hours
Pub: Monday: 1-4 pm, Wednesday: 10 am - 1 pm
Tap Room: Monday: 9:30 am-12:30 pm, Tuesday: 1 - 4 pm
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
The People’s Pint - All November
This November, we’re partnering with Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit by donating a portion of sales of Gloria!
Each pint or can purchased helps them offer assistance, without charge, for search and rescue (SAR) in difficult areas and high-angle terrain. Skilled CMRU volunteers with mountaineering experience, trained in the many facets of technical alpine search and rescue, are available around the clock.
