Internal Brewsletter - March 6th, 2024
General
Tap Room Bar Etiquette
Reminder: Please refrain from coming behind the bar during open hours at the Tap Room unless you are a scheduled on the clock FOH server, BOH, or ask permission. If you do come behind the bar, please make sure to use your “corners” and “behind” to make sure there are no collisions or accidents. If you need to chat with an employee or someone sitting at the bar, please do so from the customer side of the bar. There can be a lot of moving parts and people behind the bar and to maintain the flow and safety of everyone please kindly go around.
When Off the clock…
When off the clock and sitting at the bar at any of our locations, please remember to leave work related conversations and customer service interactions to the bartenders and servers that are currently on the clock. While we appreciate folks wanting to jump in to help answer questions, this can lead to the wrong information being given to the guest and cause some confusion. If a staff member approaches you asking a question, it is more than okay to answer it, but speaking over the staff currently working leads to confusion for our guests.
March Monthly Food Specials
March monthly specials are live!! Please read through this info sheet before you come to your next shift for ultra readiness to sling some new grub! Reach out to me (Sarah) with any questions!
New Desserts
Dessert updates on the menu as of 3/6. Creme Brulee and LP9 Coco Bells are out, and Carrot Cake Bells and PB Pie are in! Our carrot cake is a sweet and simple, lightly spiced cake topped with cream cheese frosting and candied walnuts.
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 Zach G.! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for Zach’s Deluxe Salad, featuring mixed greens tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette, pomegranate, and candied walnuts.
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - cans
RELEASING Friday 3/8
Headhaze // Reduxed, hazed up, and fully loaded with sticky, dank, lupulin goodness. We invited our friends from Moonraker Brewing up to Oregon to reimagine the wondrous beer that was Headway.// 8.20% ABV
Takeaways: Back by popular demand. We are re-presenting this collab imperial Hazy with our friends at Moonraker. Enigma and Strata dominate the aromatics of this fun and resinous Hazy.
Tasting Notes: Ripe Mango • Pomelo • Reinvention
Series: Synergy, collaboration with Moonraker Brewing in Auburn, California
Beer Style: Imperial Hazy IPA
An IPA sub-style originating in New England, it originally evolved from American IPA to have a lighter malt bill, that had a soft finish from adjuncts containing higher protein levels and water naturally high in Chloride. Early versions retained an assertive bitterness, but that mostly softened over time giving way to a soft, juicy beer with a big, sweet body that mostly featured fruit notes (citrus, tropical, stonefruit, red fruit, etc..). Some versions can contain pine or dank notes as well. Bitterness ranges from light to moderate, and body ranges from moderate to heavy. Hazy is still a rapidly evolving style. The Variations of IPAs have become America’s primary contribution to the pantheon of world beer styles.
COMING UP ON DRAFT
RELEASING Friday 3/8
Headhaze // Imperial Hazy IPA - Collab with Moonraker Brewing
CROWLER/PACKAGE SALE for Sippin’ Sunday
20% off all packaged beer to-go, $5 Crowlers and $10 Growler fills all-day Sunday
This week’s beer is: Deep Seek
UPCOMING Releases
*This list is subject to change based on the production schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Selection Series // Four Single Hop IPAs
Illuminated // Belgian Tripel
Sticky Hands: Beer Pageant // Imperial IPA
Alpine Ibex // Maibock
Rocky Shores IPA // American IPA
DAB Lab: Hop Sauce // West Coast IPA
BEER EDUCATION
2:30 pm Tuesdays @ the Tap Room
Join us for an educational session at the Tap Room every week to taste and learn about the week’s releases. All are welcome!
Beer 101: East vs West, From Biggie and Pac to IPA
Written by Garrison Schmidt, Head Brewer
We’ve previously talked in-depth about the differences between American, Northwest, East Coast, and West Coast IPAs. Two that are pertinent this month are Hazy (East Coast) and West Coast IPA. For a refresher, please see the brewsletters attached below in ‘further reading.’
Recently, we released Demo Tape, Sides A and B, which showcased nearly identical IPA recipes, but Side A was written as a West Coast and Side B as a Hazy. I hope that everyone got a chance to try them both and used it as an opportunity to formulate their own opinion on which style they might prefer. While I like both styles, I tend to lean heavily West. Talking to some of our staff and customers, I’ve heard a similar sentiment.
For a couple of years, Hazy IPA has really dominated the market, and that drove us to brew a lot of them. No matter what, we have to brew what people want to buy. Thankfully, we are starting to see a swing back to West Coast and American IPA. Both are bright, less sweet, and heavy on the palate, with more bitterness. These styles are balanced with a hop backbone that provides structure and is usually a cleaner drinking experience all around.
It has recently been a favorite exercise of brewers to do similar brews, with the distinction being haze vs bright. In the Summer of 2022, we sent brewers to Auburn, California, to brew a kickass West Coast called Headway IPA. This West Coast was a success, showcasing Strata, Nectaron, Apollo, and Lotus hops, and we brewed our version, Headhaze, in the winter of 2023.
We loved it so much that we decided to bring it back around for another run! Give it a try to experience a double dry hopped, resinous Hazy made the Block 15 way. While we’ve made a lot of Hazys, we have always strived for balance and structure in all of our beers, and I think this is a really good example of how good a hazy really can be. If you are into it, think about picking up one of the label art t-shirts we have at both locations; they are sick.
Further Reading:
For Hazy IPA https://block15.com/internal-brewsletter?month=07-2023
And for West Coast IPA https://block15.com/internal-brewsletter?month=08-2023
PUB UPDATES
Keep your eyes peeled for a Sling message from Goody detailing our Pub specific objectives that were originally shared by Kristen company wide. In this message, we will dive more into what each objective means and how we will get there as a team and with support from your managers (FOH and BOH)! If you have any questions or feedback on these objectives, please feel free to check in with Sarah or myself (Goody).
We will be making a switch to our 2towns line up! Once we are out of our Blueberry Cosmic Crisp (likely in the next week or two) we will be switching to Raspberry Cosmic Crisp.
There is now a binder that lives in the kitchen containing our monthly special & dessert procedures and recipes for allergen/ingredient checking on the fly! As soon as it is finalized, I will also add allergen information for the rest of our menu items and baked goods.
We will be running out of Block 15 Cider this week and will switch to Mill A Cider’s “Sunsetter”. Mill A Cider is based out of Skamania County in Washington. We have this cider in cans over at Caves and it’s a pleasant semi-sweet, semi-dry cider that is super drinkable and very fruit-forward. We can still receive employee beverage off discounts and 5 year discounts on this if folks ask. Same as any other cider, we are not able to Crowler fill this one, but we can Growler fill it.
About Sunsetter:
“Mill A’s flagship release, this modern West Coast-style cider is fruit-forward and effortlessly crushable. A pure expression of place made from nothing but PNW apples, Sunsetter’s balanced complexity and refreshing, dry finish keeps us coming back sip after sip.”
TAP ROOM UPDATES
We are switching to Blood Orange lemonade this Friday!
We will continue to offer the leftover bourbons we have from February, we can keep the laminated bourbon menu behind the bar (in the binder) if folks want tasting notes but we will not give out menus to tables anymore.
We have officially switched back to 2Towns Outcider on draft!
The upstairs safe has been fixed, please go back to placing the money bags, drop, and tips in that safe at night.
Please make sure we are also looking at the monthly cleaning list when looking for projects or things to do!
Keep offering up desserts and beer to-go! When pre-bussing tables that is a great time to offer or check-in!
Caves UPDATES
We will likely have a few beers joining the line-up this week! More details to come no later than Thursday morning!
HIGH FIVE SECTION
Gabi Gonzalez! - Thank you for always asking great questions, providing great hospitality to customers, and being a gem of a person. I always look forward to working with you!
Autumn Bolton - Excited to have you on the TR team! Your willingness to learn and dive right in is very appreciated and you are doing a great job so far.
Holly Amlin - The work on our social media channels and beyond is TOP NOTCH. Great Bourbon Month, Holly. You worked so hard; we all appreciate your efforts, dedication to this industry, and talent!
Mars and the whole pub prep crew! - Mars absolutely crushed it keeping the prep kitchen moving along while our fearless leader, Tivey was on vacation! As well as Simon, Travis and the whole dang team!
Annalee Anglin and Barb Haberkern - For covering David while he was sick. They are local heroes and all around gentleman.
Wyatt Laramee - Shoutout two weeks in a row, but he really deserves it. He's always on top of everything, working hard, and helping out.
Emma Bartlett - She stays focused, keeps an eye out for what needs to be done, and helps everything run smoothly in prep. Thank you!
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:
Leighton Godwin (BOH)
Please congratulate Garrison Schmidt for moving into the Head Brewer role and Danny Perston for becoming our Production Manager! With Ted moving on, we took the opportunity to restructure our brewery management and reallocate job responsibilities. With these role changes, certain things may have changed. If you were used to working with one or other of them for something specific, please check in to make sure you’re now contacting the right person.
SAFETY TIPS
For those interested, the Safety Committee Notes can be found on the Sling page labeled “Safety Committee Notes.”
Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback or if you’d like to join the monthly safety committee meeting.
The next meetings will be 3/2 at 12:30 pm at the Tap Room and 3/21 at 10 am at the Pub.
Clean up spills immediately — don’t assume a coworker is handling it. While the floor is drying, use a “Caution – Wet Floor” sign or a barricade to warn other workers that a slip hazard exists.
Office Hours
Monday: Pub 10am - 1pm
Tuesday: Tap Room 1- 4pm
Thursday: Pub 1 - 4pm
Friday: Tap Room 10am - 1pm
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
Our next Dine Out will be April 9th with the Corvallis Environmental Center! Stay tuned for more details.
WHAT’S UP ON INSTA??
FEEDBACK
Hey friends! If you find yourself sitting at home, or out and about and something pops into your mind that you would like to pass along to the team, feel free to use this form! Please be mindful of keeping feedback or suggestions constructive and positively worded!