Internal Brewsletter - May 14th, 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 Aubrey! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a Caprese Sandwich!
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
This Week’s Releases
Releasing Friday, May 16th
Sticky Vortex // 7.70%
Description: Part two of our Fort George Collaboration, this brew pulls you into a pine, citrus, and diesel vortex crafted with the best parts of two iconic IPAs: Vortex and Sticky Hands.
Key Takeaway: Brewed in collaboration with our friends over at Fort George, Sticky Vortex is our version of the mashup of our 2 flagship beers, Sticky Hands and Vortex.
Tasting Notes: Diesel • Ripe Kiwi • Kaleidoscope
Format: Draft & Cans
Series: Synergy, collab with Fort George Brewery
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, so please keep that in mind!
Fresh Flow // Hazy IPA
Series: Perennial
Releases: May 23rd
Format: Draft & Cans
Description: Ready to float into beer taps and coolers around the Pacific Northwest, this summertime Hazy IPA features a soft malt base beneath a tidal wave of exotic tropical and juicy citrus hop varietals.
Summer Knights // Kölsch
Series: Perennial
Releases: May 23rd
Format: Draft & Cans
Description: Brewed as the MVP for the season roster, celebrate the summer under stadium lights with this kölsch. Crisp hops and a smooth lager finish makes this brew a home run for any occasion.
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:
Taproom: Sol Fresco
Pub: Future Focus: Fonio
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 Thursday, 5/15.
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.
Marketing Updates
By Holly Amlin, Marketing & Creative Manager
Summer Knights Video Ad
We have the opportunity to showcase a Block 15 video ad during the Knights baseball games, and their livestream this summer. Ryan has been working on producing this for us, and we’ll be filming segments next week at both locations. I’ve been coordinating with our location managers on the logistics, and you’ll see some information very soon.
We’re in need of “actors” to fill the tables, extras, and set crew. Keep an eye on sling for the details!
Green Truck Focus in May
Keep up the good work sharing information about Green Truck! We’re less than two weeks away from our party on Memorial Day, too. I’m keeping information about the party & beer in this week’s brewsletter so that it’s easy to find.
Green Truck Promotion Party
When: Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day), 11 am - 9 pm
Where: Southtown Tap Room
Green Truck discounts: $4 pints and $8 4-packs
Debut of our new BBQ Menu.
Live Music 4 - 7 pm from Tuesday String Band (they played for us at Bloktoberfest last year and fit the vibe we’re looking for! Local band from Monmouth who play lively bluegrass.)
Mini remote-controlled forklift races on the hour, starting at noon, with the last race at 8 pm.
About Green Truck
Beer Info
Our take on the classic American Light Lager, 4.20% Green Truck is brewed always with the best Pacific Northwest grain, hops, and water. Work hard, drink easy, this beer is crafted for the crew.
Tasting Notes: Clean • Crisp • Classic
Dig Into the Details
The inspiration for the name Green Truck came from our first forklift, “Clark,” who put in a lot of hard work over the years and is still going strong. The beer is a symbol of simple, hard work. It might not be the flashiest, but it gets the job done and is there for those hot days working in the yard, a refresher at the end of a long shift, and bringing along camping with the crew.
Green Truck is a part of our Lagered by the Sun program, representing our commitment to sustainable brewing practices by sourcing local and regional ingredients, utilizing solar energy in the lagering process, and implementing mindful brewing practices extending to the shelves and taps. Green Truck is made primarily with Pure Idaho Pilsner malt, a 100% Idaho-grown barley from Great Western Malting.
Green Truck is a high-gravity brew watered back with filtered and deaerated water. The water we use at our Production Brewery in Southtown Corvallis comes from the Taylor Treatment Plant and the Rock Creek Treatment Plant. Taylor, located in Southeast Corvallis, draws water from the Willamette River, accounting for approximately 69% of our total water supply. 31% comes from Rock Creek, which draws from the east side of Mary’s Peak, the highest point in the Coast Range.
We chose Contessa hops for Green Truck, a United States-grown hop variety with Noble hop characteristics developed in Yakima Valley, Washington. The beer also features a strain of yeast tailored explicitly for light-lager production. All together, the ingredients in Green Truck add subtle notes of green tea, pear, and lemongrass to a crisp malt base.
From the Executive Chef
By Sarah Farey, Executive Chef
Wednesday 5/14 Menu Updates!
At the tap room, we will be replacing our krab rangoon dip with our Pacific Clam Dip!
Pacific Clam Dip Cool & creamy clam dip made with NW clams, shallots and parsley. Served with house-made sea salt and black pepper potato chips. $9.99 PROCEDURE
Wednesday 5/21 Menu Updates!
At the tap room we will be replacing our chopped sesame salad with a chopped Italian Salad!
Chopped Italian Salad Fresh chopped romaine & iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes, sweet onion, Genoa Salami, Kalamata olives & heirloom Flagleolet white beans, tossed in our Italian vinaigrette and topped with grated parmesan. $9.99
The pub will also have a handful of changes on the 21st.
Oregon Pesto Pasta (Replaces Bucatini Parma Rosa) Cavatappi pasta, basil-pine nut pesto cream sauce, fresh garlic, white wine, local snap peas & grape tomatoes and parmesan $15.99
Snap Peas will come on our pub greens salad for the season!
Fish & Fries will now come in 2 sizes! Procedure provided next week.
Chickpea & Avocado Salad (Replaces shawarma salad) This salad will become our spring/summer seasonal salad taking the place of the shawarma salad until the fall! In the past we did the Oregon Berry salad, but have decided to shift that into a summer monthly special instead.
Bakery
Notes from Lindsey Henricksen, Bakery Manager
New Mojito Cookie on at the taproom. Same chewy sugar cookie base as the lemon lavender but with a refreshing lime, mint and rum flavor! Let’s keep the procedure the same, serve at room temp.
Pub Updates
By Kira Sciarrotta, General Manager
Nothing new to report! Keep working on those up-sales: protein, fry seasonings, packaged beer, desserts. I’m holding off for another big weekend (probably memorial weekend) to run another competition so work on your sales pitches until then!
Tap Room Updates
By Elise Pietromonaco, General Manager
As we switch to our new spring/ summer hours take note that Happy Hour is now featured Sunday through Thursday 2- 5 PM. Please make sure we are remembering to apply those discounts as we ring those items in and have Happy hour menus out accordingly 🙂
Please remember to bring all personal belongings, including cell phones to the upstairs breakroom at the start of each shift. (Managers not included for work purposes only) 🔑🕶💸🎒
Live music will be hosted every Wednesday night starting June 18th through the end of August! It's going to be a blast, so invite your friends and family and come down for some awesome new menu items and drinks at the Taproom and enjoy some excellent artists! 🎶
Caves Updates
By Aidan Welch, General Manager
High Fives
Aubrey - Thank you for always going the extra mile and taking time with the little details! You rock!
Nico - Nico is the man! He may break some hearts but he NEVER breaks the dishes. He shows everybody the respect and kindness and overall adds nothing but pleasant and positive vibes to the environment. We could all use a little more Nico and a little less poverty and war in this world.
Ben - Ben is always covering shifts and killing it on the line. We couldn’t do it without you Ben, don’t think your work ethic goes unseen or under appreciated. We appreciate you!!!
Makayla K - Shes simply amazing, and always a joy to work with
Maxwell - Always so kind, helpful, and communicates like no other! Always makes me feel a part of the team and appreciated!
Kim smith - Such an amazing coworker, im always really excited to see her on the schedule
Makayla - Big high five to Mak for being such an outstanding trainer! Her patience, knowledge, and willingness to tackle every question thrown her way make learning a breeze and the workplace better for all of us!
Mak - Always has a great attitude and is so helpful. We appreciate you!
Helen - Shoutout to Helen! I love that she is very diligent, on task, and always cracks smiles and jokes. It’s very fun to work with someone who can be very distinct and specific and also be relaxed and fun too! Both can go hand in hand.
Nicole - She is always working so hard, and in the most positive mood!
Kitchen - You all rocked the busy family weekend!
Bre - For always going above and beyond to provide coverage and flexibility when our schedule goes bananas
Trinna Conroy - She’s the best!
Salem - This dude moves like an absolute veteran. Even at the peak of rush, Salem goes above and beyond, hands full and still taking time to pick up after other people and do things to make my life easier. 10/10 would recommend working with this GOAT.
Makayla Karnowski - Mak is always keepin it cool and casual through busy times while supporting everyone on the floor. Thanks dog
Trinna - She worked long shifts back to back on mother’s day weekend and took it like a champ
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:
Stirling Gorsuch - Prep Cook
Other staff news
Congrats to Chris M. for accepting the Tap Room Assistant Kitchen Manager position and to Jon C. and James W. for accepting lead positions at Caves! Thanks for crushing it y’all!
Charitable Programs
People’s Pint Tap in May with Green Truck
We’ll be supporting CASA - Voices for Children of Benton and Lincoln Counties through all of May by donating a portion of every pint and can purchase of Green Truck to them. In a nutshell, our donation is going towards supporting children with essential clothing items and activity fees, as well as advocacy for their best interests.
About CASA - Voices for Children
CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, provides advocacy on behalf of children in foster care. They are built on the foundation of everyday people contributing to make a difference in the lives of children who have experienced abuse and neglect. CASA - Voices for Children trains and supports community volunteers to advocate for children within legal custody of the state in Benton & Lincoln Counties.
When a child in care is going through the trauma of the court system, a CASA advocate is tirelessly working to guide them through safely, quickly, and effectively. Without the powerful voice of an advocate, children too often return to unsafe homes or languish in long-term foster care, risking future abuse or neglect.
What is The People's Pint?
We strive to make a positive impact on the community by supporting local non-profit groups focusing on issues such as health and wellness, education, and environmental sustainability. The People's Pint program allows us to contribute to the overall well-being of our community.