Internal Brewsletter - April 24th, 2024
General
New Dessert
On Wednesday, May 1st, we are replacing Peanut Butter Pie with Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake, served with whipped cream and fresh berries.
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 J! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for Croque Madam to pair with Boots First.
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - Cans
Releasing Friday 4/26
Board Shorts: Next Set // Brewed in memory of our dear friend and original bar manager, Seth. Notes of tropical and citrus fruits represent his bright and easy-going spirit, like rocking a pair of colorful board shorts. A portion of beer sales will be donated to the OHSU Brain Institute. // 6.50%
Key Takeaway: Brewed every year in honor of Seth, this one really pushes into that new-age West Coast direction with a balance of bright fruit and sharp resin.
Tasting Notes: Ripe Papaya • Pineapple • Sunshine
Format: Draft & Cans
Series: Perennial
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.
Fluffhead // A tour across the nation inspired this NE-style IPA. Designed with a cornucopia of pungent hops with a fluffy oat body. Jam out with juicy hop notes of tropical and freshly squeezed citrus fruits. // 6.80%
Key Takeaway: Softer and juicier than most Block 15 IPAs, this one fits the mold of a quintessential New England-style IPA. It has a fluffier mouthfeel with lower bitterness.
Tasting Notes: Sunrise Papaya • Capri Sun • Jam Session
Format: Draft & Cans
Series: Perpetual
Beer Style: 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 4/26
Board Shorts: Next Set // West Coast IPA
Fluffhead // Hazy IPA
Noyster // All the aspects you love of an oyster stout without the Oysters! Brewed to emulate an oyster stout utilizing Dulse seaweed instead of traditional oysters, a portion of beer sales will be donated to the Elakah Alliance at the Otter Beer Fest hosted in OMSI! Using a base Oatmeal stout, we steeped a portion of the beer on dried Dulse seaweed from Oregon Seaweed before blending it back into the beer. The results? A nicely balanced Oatmeal stout, melding the roast, silky, sweet notes of an Oatmeal stout with the decadent, briny, earthy, umami character of the seaweed. No oysters needed here! // 5.12%
Key Takeaway: This oatmeal stout has Dulse seaweed layered in during secondary conditioning in order to bring an earthy, briny character to the beer with a touch of umami.
Tasting Notes: Roasty • Umami • Decadent
Format: Draft Only
Series: Emerging
Beer Style: Oatmeal Stout with Dulse
See style information within this week’s Beer 101
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!
Tequila Gose // Gose aged in Tequila Barrels
Series: Cellar
Releases: May 3rd
Format: Draft Only
Description: Inspired by classic margarita flavors, this unique spin on a tart German-style gose ale was brewed with fresh zest and juice from limes and oranges and then gently seasoned with hand-harvested sea salt from Jacobsen Salt Co. Fermented with German kölsch yeast and lactobacillus, this gose then matured in freshly emptied tequila barrels for 2 years in our wild cellar.
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!
Beer 101: OYSTER STOUT AND (NO)YSTER STOUT
Written by Garrison Schmidt, Head Brewer
This week, we’re going to release Noyster Stout as a draught-only offering. A lot of folks have asked me recently about Oyster Stouts and what this beer is all about, so I’ll explain here in Beer 101!
Oyster Stout as a style was likely invented during the industrial revolution in England. Oysters and beer were a common dinner pairing for the working class in England, as both were notoriously cheap. The briney qualities of the oysters paired beautifully with the bittersweet, dark, roasty beer, and it was only a matter of time before someone would try adding them to their beer. Oyster shells act as a clarifying agent in beer, using the same mechanism as isinglass (powdered fish swim bladders). Note that Block 15 does not use Isinglass in any of its brews. These agents work by forming an electrostatic bond between yeast, proteins, and the agent itself, forming larger conglomerate molecules that precipitate out of the beer to the bottom of the tank and can be separated with careful racking. In layman's terms, ingredients in the oyster shells bond to ingredients in the beer that cause cloudiness, making them heavy, and they fall out of solution. The shells also contribute a distinctive mineral profile to the wort that creates a different mouthfeel than brewers at the time were likely achieving with other brews. Oyster stout likely rose from this use as a fining agent to its final place in the recipe for flavor as a happy accident.
Brewers today use many different techniques to achieve Oyster Stout's characteristic flavor. They are almost always added to the boil stage of the brew, but some brewers shuck them first and only use the shells, while some throw them in meat and all. Some brewers add the salty brine that the oysters are floating in and contain within their shells, and some even buy extra brine and add it at rates up to 5% of the boil volume. Sometimes salt water or sea salt is added; it’s a cool area of recipe formulation where brewers decide their own style.
This time around, we designed an oyster stout sans oysters! We added dulse seaweed after fermentation, like we would a dry hop, and achieved a very similar result without the mollusk. The seaweed added a nice briny, umami flavor and a gentle ocean/iodine character that doesn’t overpower the craft of the stout itself.
We created this beer because we were tasked with creating an entry for the Oregon Otter Brewing Festival at OMSI. The event was put on by Elakha Alliance, the Oregon Zoo, and the DLX Family Foundation and focused on building community awareness regarding the significance of revitalizing our valuable nearshore marine ecosystems. The parameters for the beer entry included being sea otter-inspired and utilizing Maris Otter malt. We were honored to be recognized as a participant chosen for our commitment to environmental stewardship alongside 7 Devils, Breakside, Crux, Deschutes, Fort George, Great Notion, Leikam, and Sunriver Brewing. Danny and Kelsea poured at the festival, and we won an award for Judges Overall Favorite Choice! We are proud to have been a part of such a cool program.
I’m really happy with how Noyster Stout turned out. We went into it with little to no information available on how to execute it, and I feel like it was a big success. It is a delicious example of the style, with an interesting and novel approach, for a really good cause.
From the Executive Chef
Noyster Beer & Food Pairing - April 26th-28th
For the release of the Noyster stout, we will run a vegan chickpea salad sandwich with dulse! The addition of reconstituted dulse gives a slight hint of sea flavor, making it the perfect vegan tuna salad sandwich mock-up!
Smashed chickpeas, red onion, celery, dulse seaweed & house dill pickles in a creamy mustard dressing. Served on toasted artisan bread with crisp romaine, fresh tomato and sunflower seeds. $13.99
This will run at both locations, but will be just a Friday-Sunday, or until we run out special.
May Food Specials start Wednesday, May 1st.
Pub Specials
Loco Moco - Coconut rice with rich mushroom gravy, a quarter-pound seasoned beef patty, and a sunny side up egg. Topped with house truffle hot sauce and green onion. $15.99 PROCEDURE
Smoked Salmon Spread - House-smoked salmon with cream cheese, red onion & capers, served with fresh cucumbers, lemon-black pepper marmalade, fried capers, and house-baked sea salt crackers. $14.99 PROCEDURE
Chickpea Salad Sandwich - Mashed & spiced chickpeas, dulse seaweed, celery, onion & pickles in a creamy vegan dressing, romaine lettuce & fresh tomato and sunflower seeds on lightly toasted artisan bread. $13.99 PROCEDURE
Tap Room Specials
Shrimp Hushpuppies - Oregon bay shrimp hushpuppies, habanero-dill remoulade. $12.99 PROCEDURE
Huli Huli Chicken Sandwich - Huli Huli marinated and grilled chicken breast, creamy jalapeno-mango slaw & sriracha mayo on a toasted brioche bun. $16.99 PROCEDURE
PUB UPDATES
The downtown Saturday market has started back up again. This means that parking downtown will be significantly harder to find if you are working during the day on Saturdays. Please make sure to leave for work with adequate time to find parking!
Pub Focus Points
ALL: Positive Communication Between All Staff—BOH and FOH, we are all a team and we are all working hard, but more importantly we are working together. We are a team with different roles on a daily basis, but each role supports the other roles in order to create a welcoming atmosphere for our guests & coworkers. We individually take pride in our jobs, so please be aware of how poor communication can disrupt your coworker’s shift. Also, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a manager if you are feeling overwhelmed and we can assist in those moments.
FOH: Weekly Check-ins–With the new weekly check-in system being online, be sure that you also check-in with the Bar Manager letting them know that you have completed the quiz prior to starting your shift after your scheduled "project" shift. Managers still need to check you off for accomplishing the task–High fives!!.
BOH: Station Flex Awareness! We have all become very good at jumping between stations to assist those in stations who get hit all at once. Let's keep it up and remember to communicate what item has been fired or made for which ticket!
Prep:Label Awareness! Complete labels every time--taster circled, add your initials if you back something out and taste if needed, pull old labels, etc.
Pub Company Direction Objectives
Consistently promote and encourage teamwork and strengthen the ties within our team–we are our most successful when we work together and support/understand each other.
Promote ongoing education on all things Block 15 through monthly "Deep Dives" on items from the kitchen, and from the brewery/bar. Each month (roughly) Sarah and myself will send out our information on respective Deep Dives on menu items.
Demonstrate to every guest that we are happy they have joined us. Make connections and show genuine interest and excitement!
TAP ROOM UPDATES
We are testing out a new service style! Please make sure you have read this document to make sure you are aware and prepared to give amazing hospitality on your shifts. It will take a bit of time for everyone to get used to it so please be flexible, positive, and proactive! Please reach out to a manager if you have any questions or feedback.
We have switched out our Jasmine Green Tea for Sencha Green Tea. Sencha is a Japanese green tea that is pretty pale in color and mild in flavor.
Reminder: When cashing someone out, make sure to double check if they want to pay with the card on file or a different one. Even if it is super busy, it is important to take a moment and verify before taking payment!
Make sure we are looking at the monthly cleaning list as well as the weekly lists for projects to do during shift change or slow periods, sign off on items you complete!
Please make sure we are accurately and consistently ringing in items and waste logging when needed. It is important everything we pour or make is getting accounted for!
Tap Room Focus Points
ALL: Be Flexible! With our extended hours and new service style implemented please be flexible as we may need to make tweaks and changes to procedures and whatnot. Offer feedback or suggestions if you feel something could be improved or done differently. We appreciate everyone going with the flow and taking all these changes on with a great attitude!
FOH: New Service Style! Make sure we are in the know on our new service style, non negotiables, and continue to meet our hospitality standards. It will take some time for everyone to get used to so please be flexible, positive, and proactive!
BOH: Label transferring! When food is being backed out, cooled, or saved for the next day, please be sure to transfer the label info as well. This includes the hot hold items at the end of the night. All food should be labeled so we know how old it is and who to seek out if there is feedback.
2024 Objectives
Elevate engagement through impactful community-centered opportunities and events
Enhance the visibility of the Block 15 Bakery and unique Taproom menu items
Amplify the customer convenience factor
Upcoming Events
April 25th - 6:30 - 8 pm. Free bike adjustments event with Bike n Hike! $5 C.B.C. IPA pints and 10% off 4pks of Group Ride during the event!
TBD in May - Summer Gardening Q&A! Learn how to start a summer garden or ask questions about your current garden! Family-friendly, free seeds or starter plant with a drink purchase!
TBD End of May Trivia!
Bakery Highlight
Ciabatta/Tuscan Chicken Sandwich! Read more about the Tuscan here
Try to highlight and/or suggest this item to 3 different customers per shift you work!
Caves Updates
Caves Direction Objectives
Deliver elevated consistency through the Caves experience
Hit our service and food standards every single time! Show our guests why we should be their regular spot and what sets us apart with our elevated experience.
Keep eyes up and out and move through the restaurant rather than just behind the bar when making loops. Offer to grab another beverage, refill waters, or pre-bus tables, even if they aren’t yours.
Amplify education and enthusiasm within our food and beverage programs
Through elevated and thorough education on new menu items and revisiting tried and true classics, or beverages with more history and information.
HIGH FIVE SECTION
James Watts - He does it all! Thanks for your hard work!
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:
Fiona Pendergraft (BOH)
Tyler Brill (BOH)
SAFETY TIPS
Always make sure that you know how to use tools or machinery correctly. If you are not comfortable with any equipment do not operate it until you have further training! Accidents can quickly happen when something is not a familiar item. Common issues include using the wrong tool for a task or creating an unsafe environment while not correctly using heavy equipment.
Office Hours
Monday: Tap Room 10 am - 1 pm, Pub 2 - 5 pm
Thursday: Canceled at TR, moved to Pub, 1-4
Friday: Canceled this week at Pub, moved to TR, 1-4 (4/26)
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
Check back next week!
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!