Internal Brewsletter - December 3rd, 2025
General
Employee Provision - Submissions Needed!
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 Salem! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for Fried Pickles.
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas! Remember, if your provision gets selected, you can order one for free!
This Week’s Releases
No new releases this week
Upcoming Releases
*This list is subject to change based on the production schedule. Please keep that in mind!
Hoppy New Year // Imperial IPA
Series: Orbital
Releases: December 12th at Block 15
Availability: On draft and cans to-go + Distributed to our network in Oregon & SW Washington
The Prophecies // Belgian Quadrupel
Series: Orbital
Releases: December 19th at Block 15
Availability: On draft and cans to-go + Distributed to our network in Oregon & SW Washington
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:
Pub: Highland Hymn
Tap Room: Flicker and Squirrel Stash
Beer Education
Barrel Room Roundtable - Thursdays 4 pm
Topic: 3-way blind BJCP - American Craft Pilsner
BEER 101: Holiday Brewing: A Tradition
By Garrison Schmidt, Head Brewer
We are used to seeing Sierra Nevada Celebration and Deschutes Jubelale creeping onto grocery store shelves earlier and earlier every year. While Christmas beer available in September is an invention of modern brewery marketing, holiday brewing is a long tradition that we are proud to be a small part of.
The first known holiday beers on record were brewed in Viking Norway before Christianity was practiced there. Pagan Jul Ale was brewed to be especially strong in order to honor their pantheon of gods and bring a little extra warmth to their exceedingly cold and dark winter nights. King Haakon passed a law over a thousand years ago that any house that did not brew a Jul Ale was to be fined, and if you skipped the brew three times in a row, you could lose your home and property.
During the English Tudor period, when many of our modern holiday traditions originated, each night during the nights of Christmas, a bowl of wassail was prepared. Strong, spiced, and hot, it was brewed specifically to be shared with friends and strangers alike. Medieval monks brewed “liquid bread” during holiday fasts, think a meal replacement shake that actually tastes good and gets you drunk. The Belgians brewed dubbels and trippels, the English brewed spiced old ales, and finally, the Germans used this time of year to brew Bocks and doppelbocks, strong, dark lagers often nearing 10% ABV.
Rolling all of these traditions into one in the traditional American method, modern craft brewers use this time of year to produce big, warming beers with lots of comforting spice, Seasonal spins on familiar favorites, and barrel-aged offerings. While we may use modern techniques and ingredients, our holiday brews are heavily influenced by these brewing traditions.
Holiday beers we currently offer include;
Imagine - Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Belgian Stout
Figgy Pudding - Brandy Barrel-aged English Old Ale with holiday Spices
Hoppy Holidays - Imperial IPA with Spruce Tips
Ol’ St. Nick - Winter Warmer
By far, the most important piece of holiday brewing is to create beers that bring joy during dark months and encourage sharing a drink with people who are important to you. Try them all, and let me know which is your favorite.
Marketing Updates
By Holly Amlin, Marketing & Creative Manager
Merch Survey Results
Thank you to everyone who took the merch survey a few weeks ago! Your input is really helpful, and will help me a ton when putting in future merch orders.
Some common threads ;)
Top types of merch: T-shirts, Zip-up Sweatshirts, and Crewnecks, with fun write-in mentions of Garth Brook’s style-button ups, beer can earrings, and muscle tanks.
Top garment colors: Black, Muted color, or Gray
Preferred art placement: Full back and/or small left chest
Top designs: Regular Block 15 logo art, Super Nebula, Deep Seek, and Nebula
Lots of fun ideas in the write in section! Here’s a peek: Retro vibes, adding Corvallis, Oregon to the art, disc golf putters, socks, fun art or graphics. There were too many to mention, but your ideas are great.
Fresh Pow
You may have noticed that our locations have been decked out for wintertime… and Fresh Pow! We release this seasonal Hazy IPA throughout the winter, which is why you see it advertised as “Brewed Fresh November through January”.
To continue enhancing Fresh Pow, we've revised our recipe—and brought even MORE POW than last year's release. The slushy remnants of Azacca have been replaced with the fluffy flakes of Strata CGX and Sultana. To complement, we swapped in Apollo Salvo for Comet Salvo. The result is an upgraded storm of juicy passionfruit, lime, and mango to carry through the winter season.
If you have any questions about the beer, feel free to chat with our brewers, your managers, or me. If you haven’t had a chance to try it, please do! I thought it tasted particularly delicious this year and would definitely be something people who like hazys would enjoy.
Events
From the Executive Chef
By Sarah Farey, Executive Chef
Pub December Monthly Specials Launch Today
Tahini Baba Ganoush
Roasted Eggplant, garlic and tahini dip with fresh bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots and house baked flatbread. $12.99
Mushroom & Beef Stroganoff
Stout braised Oregon beef chuck with The Mushroomery chanterelle, shitake & porcini mushrooms and sweet onions in a savory sour cream sauce, with radiatore pasta & fried parsley. $21.99
French Dip Sandwich
Tender roast bottom round, tangy horseradish cream, melted provolone cheese on a toasted house baked sesame baguette. Served with a side of warm jus. $19.99
Festivus Burger
NW beef patty, melted fontina & gruyere cheeses, garlic aioli, Balsamic onion jam & arugula on house baked rosemary focaccia. $18.99
Bakery
Notes from Lindsey Henriksen, Bakery Manager
December Monthly dessert is Egg Nog Creme Brulee! Vanilla creme brulee base infused with nutmeg and bourbon. Both locations starting Friday.
New cookie at the taproom is Hot Cocoa, a chewy chocolate cookie studded with white chocolate and candy cane bits.
Pub Updates
By Kira Sciarrotta, General Manager
You guys have been crushing your hospitality and our Rate Per Guest is steadily headed upward, congrats everyone! BUT, we can’t stop here! Remember that hospitality is a skill that needs to be stretched and strengthened everyday. Keep working on creative ways to engage with guests. Not only to make their experience better, but to drive sales and tips!
If you ever witness (or provide yourself) an awesome moment of hospitality, please make it a point to tell a manager, this is going to play into our Daily Server Competitions in the very near future!
Tap Room Updates
Caves Updates
By Aidan Welch, General Manager
High Fives
Levi - For jumping into the warehouse and slinging beer around! You saved our bacon the other night, and the distro team is very thankful! Cheers homie!
Donlon Hanly - Donlon is always so stellar as a float and/or opener and/or server! I have so much respect for him and he is always literally one of the kindest and adaptable people I’ve met. On top of being an OSU student. I’m grateful to work with you and your ability to be fabulous at Block 15 doesn’t go unnoticed!
Lily - She is a freaking ray of sunshine and makes everybody's day better. She is a positive force, and I appreciate the love she shows for her work and coworkers. Glad you work here, Lily!
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
Check back next week!
Charitable Programs
Applications closed for 2026 partners today. I’ll be sending out a poll later this week for us to choose which organizations we work with for our Dine Out and People’s Pint events. Your vote matters in helping support our local community organizations! - Holly