Internal Brewsletter - May 15th, 2024
General
Happy Hour event this Friday, 5/17
To celebrate bike month and give our Happy Hour a bit of a marketing boost, we will be running surprise Happy Hour this Friday 5/17 at both locations from 2pm-6pm!
Tap Room Reservations
The barrel room is no longer available for reservations for the time being as well as we are no longer taking reservations on Friday-Sundays moving forward. Folks are welcome to give us a heads up if they have a large party but we are not going to reserve specific tables for them, first come first serve seating!
Brewery Tours at the Tap Room
We are bringing brewery tours back to the Taproom! First one is Thursday, May 23rd 5:30-7pm!
3 tour times offered 5:30, 6, 6:30 - show up at your time slot of choice!
A small bite created by Sarah will be paired with Vital Vibe to taste
Ages 21 and over
Sticky Hands T-Shirt Re-order
Hi folks! I’m ordering Sticky Hands T-shirts. I want to allow staff to purchase one if they want at cost! Shirts will be around $13. - Kelsea
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 Prep! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a Caprese Burger with fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, and a balsamic reduction.
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - Cans
Releasing Friday 5/17
Vital Vibe //
Description: Bring on the West Coast vibes with this bright and approachable IPA. Featuring a harmonious pairing of hops, it shines with notes of melon, kiwi, and pear with a crisp, snappy finish.
Key Takeaway: Graduated through our creative process from experimental batch to stand-alone brand. We took one of our most popular emerging IPAs of 2023, Consortium: Mosaic x HBC-586, and developed a stand-alone brand for it.
Tasting Notes: Candied Peach • Orange Juice • Just Vibes
Format: Draft & Cans
Series: Orbital
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.
COMING UP ON DRAFT
Releasing Friday 5/17
Vital Vibe // West Coast IPA
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: Board Shorts
UPCOMING Releases
*This list is subject to change based on the production schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Sticky Vortex // West Coast IPA
Series: Synergy
Releases: May 24th
Format: Draft & Cans
Description: Part two of our collaboration with Fort George Brewing, this brew pulls you into a pine, citrus, and diesel vortex crafted with the best parts of two iconic IPAs: Vortex and Sticky Hands.
Oregona // IPA
Series: Synergy
Releases: May 24th
Format: Draft & Cans
Description: Named for a historic sternwheeler, and made to benefit the Friends of Historic Butteville. We collaborated with The Oregon Hophouse to feature 2b, McKenzie, and Anchor hops; all varieties from their breeding program.
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: Vital Vibe, Series Definitions, and the Graduation of Block 15 Beers
Written by Garrison Schmidt, Head Brewer
One of my favorite things about brewing at Block 15 is that it’s given me the opportunity to brew historic, traditional styles and be part of keeping them alive. While those styles are valued and protected here, we also have room to be creative and innovative and strive to bring modernity to an ancient art.
We have several programs that you should be familiar with that are focused on allowing us to experiment with and test brand-new, cutting-edge products and processes. The DAB Lab focuses on new hop products, like CO2 extracts, and lupulin powders etc., Consortium focuses on new blends of hops, which often lead to a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Future Focus allows us to design a beer around one single new ingredient to allow it to stretch itself and shine, be it a new hop, yeast, or malt. Selection Series beers fall in this category as well, as they allow us to see what selected hop lots are like in a beer all on their own.
Sometimes, we strike gold, and an experimental beer is remarkable enough to be brought up from AAA ball to the Majors. We call this graduation, and Vital Vibe is a perfect example. Graduated from Consortium: Mosaic x HBC-586, Vital Vibe proved to be a balanced, approachable IPA with an amazing palate and nose consisting of peachie-o’s candy, kiwi, pear, melon, and orange juice, paired with a crisp, clean finish. We loved it so much that we couldn’t help but bring it back and make it an Orbital.
This brings us to our beer series. If you’re a newer employee or even if you've never really understood the series before, I’ll explain how it works below.
Perpetual Series
These are beers that are available year-round. Our six Perpetual Beers are:
Sticky Hands Hop Experience Ale
Fluffhead Hazy IPA
Joy Hazy Pale Ale
Gloria! Bohemian-Style Pilsner
Nebula Oat Stout
Deep Seek West Coast IPA
Perennial Series
Beers that are available every year seasonally. They include but aren’t limited to:
Love Potion #9
Charmed Life
Group Ride
Favorable Fortune
Board Shorts
Animal Cookies
Nugg Hugg
Fresh Flow
Flicker
Sol Fresco
Bloktoberfest
Orbital Series
Available Periodically, generally at a higher price point than Perpetual or Perennial beers. Some examples include:
Consortium
Wandelpad
Island in the Sky
The Incredible
Tipping Point
Tropicolor
Emerging Series
New and/or experimental beers. Typically made in a smaller capacity. Recent examples include:
Keen as!
Noyster Stout
Rocky Shores
Flannel Fakeout
Liquid Opulence
Demo Tape Side A and Side B
Eminent Point
Paradise Inferno
Synergy Series
Beers Brewed in collaboration with another brewery or business. Recent examples include:
Alumni Club
Oregona
Boots First
Headhaze
Something Big and Resinous
Cellar Series
Mostly barrel-aged beers, made in a very limited capacity. Recent Examples include:
Super Nebula and its variants
Kriek
Willa
Framboise Claret
Figgy Pudding
Hypnosis
Tequila Gose
Green Light
I hope that this list has cleared up some questions, made clear how our series work, and explained what graduation means in our brewery. We love seeing new beers be successful in the market and getting the chance to really hone one in and make it perfect. This Friday, Vital Vibe drops in cans and on draught. Give it a try, and as always, I look forward to hearing what you think about it. Let me know at garrison@block15.com, your feedback is a big piece of what keeps our beer getting better all the time!
From the Executive Chef
TAPROOM MENU UPDATES!
Wednesday May 15th we will be beginning our staggered summer menu launch! See the linked doc to be armed with all the knowledge on these new items and what they are replacing.
PUB MENU UPDATES
Wednesday May 15th we will also be beginning our staggered summer menu launch for the pub! See the linked doc to be armed with all the knowledge on these new items and what they are replacing.
Please reach out if you have any questions regarding menu changes! XOXO
NEW BAKERY HIGHLIGHT!
Check out some rad info on our Bier Bread Pretzel, including its origin story and in-depth info from Lindsey! There are great bits of information that are fantastic talking points to share with guests. The highlight info is also below for quick reference! Happy pretzel-slinging!
Make sure you check out the newest pub Food & Beverage Discovery sheet below in the objectives section!
PUB UPDATES
This Friday, May 17th, we are offering a bonus Happy Hour from 2-6pm to celebrate that May has been marked as Bike Month here in Corvallis. We will have the same offerings as our standard Happy Hour, but just on a Friday and for an hour longer. Buttons will be adjusted to extend for this, so you can use the same screens and discount button.
Please see the note about plant watering on the Read and Sign! Sarah and her mom spent time refreshing the pots and planters, so let’s keep these looking bright and beautiful!
As a reminder, since folks are asking again, we plan to have the Corral back up for the summer starting on May 27th! With this being an added section that can fluctuate in desire for people to sit out there, let’s remember to be flexible to what sections usually look like, and where you would “normally” go based on shift start times. We are adding shifts to account for this, but we will all have to see how the flow changes and adjust accordingly. If you have feedback or questions, please feel free to pass them along, but also be mindful of keeping this feedback constructive and positive. As we head closer to it opening, I (Goody) will send out a message with expectations and tips/tricks for success!
Pub Focus Points
ALL: Non Work Related Conversations Awareness—Non work related conversations should not be happening in active work areas (ex. kitchen, soup station, entryways to the bar/kitchen). It’s ok to say hi, ask how the weekend was, ask about an event that someone went to, but these conversations should be brief and not impede someone’s ability to work. There can be times when we think we’re being quiet, but it’s still hard for the Line Lead to communicate to those on the line with the distractions, or hard for the bartenders/food runners/servers to get where they need to go if folks are congregating.
FOH: Kitchen Window Communication Awareness–When you have questions for the kitchen regarding a ticket, make sure to speak to the line lead rather than the cooks on fryers. This will streamline communication and allow the lead to make the appropriate person aware of what needs to be completed.
LINE: Closing Scoop Removal Awareness—We have been great about removing & washing scoops on the line and on the saute station, but most mornings the scoops under fryer station (hushpuppies and salmon spread) have been left behind overnight.
PREP:Tape Stacks Awareness–If you are stacking old labels/tape, please be the one responsible for throwing out that pile of tape at the end of the day. They've been sticking around too long... get it...
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. Food & Beverage Discovery 5/15/24
Demonstrate to every guest that we are happy they have joined us. Make connections and show genuine interest and excitement!
TAP ROOM UPDATES
This Friday, May 17th, we are offering a bonus Happy Hour from 2-6pm to celebrate that May has been marked as Bike Month here in Corvallis. We will have the same offerings as our standard Happy Hour, but just on a Friday and for an hour longer. Buttons will be adjusted to extend for this, so you can use the same screens and discount button.
Reminder: If you change a keg, make sure that the empty shells go into the dirty keg pile outside the walk-in. It is crucial that we take out empty kegs to keep the space tidy and keep accurate inventory.
With the nice weather now sticking around, we should be setting up/breaking down the outside water station and umbrellas daily! Both have been added to the opening and closing lists.
Please make sure we put out the no open beverages sign out between us and 4 Spirits daily! At close it can get put by the umbrellas/bbq storage area
Once we run out of two berry dream 2 Towns cans, we will be switching to Apricot Cosmic Crisp.
We will be adding the Shooting Star Rose back to the wine line-up this Friday! Will be by the glass or bottle.
Ridgeback Red will be back on draft on Friday as well as Kriek 2022 draft.
Reminder: Please do not pick up dirty glassware by the rims of the glasses. Use a tray, bus tub, or carry by the bottoms of the glasses.
Thank you to everyone for crushing the busy Mother’s Day weekend! You all kicked some serious butt!!
Tap Room Focus Points
FOH: Lists! As we get busier and into the summer months, it is important we are looking at and initialing off on shift change, cleaning lists, plant watering schedule, etc. It helps us to make sure everything is getting done and being efficient during busier times!
ALL: Menu changes! We will be rolling out quite a few menu changes pretty consistently over the next few weeks so make sure you are staying to date on what is coming/going/changing!
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
May 23rd 5:30-7 - Tour n Taste and the Taproom! Guided Brewery tours are back!
3 tour times offered 5:30, 6, 6:30 - show up at your time slot of choice!
A small bite created by Sarah will be paired with Vital Vibe to taste
Ages 21 and over
Spring/Summer Trivia! Thursday, May 30th
5:30-8pm Hosted by Ian
Bakery Highlight: Bier Bread Pretzel
The bier pretzel recipe comes to us from our fearless leader Nick Arzner! He researched pretzel recipes and made test batches at home before handing it off to our fledgling little bakery back in the early days. Blocktoberfest 2009 spurred the idea, and the resulting product was kept on the menu at Caves when she originally opened in 2011. To quote the recipe, in regards to shaping the dough, "Every pretzel should have a smile".
Pretzels have a rich history in the beer world, originating in south Germany in the 6th or 7th century. Here is a good article about the history of the beer pretzel!
When the taproom opened in 2015, since we moved our bakery operations from the pub to the new space, we thought the pretzel would be a wonderful addition to the menu as a quick fire taproom item and as a way to really highlight the bakery! And then it quickly hopped onto the menu at the pub!
Pretzel is a fantastic vegetarian option, but it does contain butter so it is not a vegan offering.
Interesting Facts & Tidbits About our Pretzel from Lindsey!
In a world where soft pretzels aren't hard to find on pub menus, I think ours stand out as exceptional amongst a sea of bland, dry, bready offerings. What sets our pretzels apart from less tasty counterparts out there? It could be the fact that we use 100% Gloria! pilsner in place of any water (literally putting the "bier" in bier pretzel)! It's also thanks to the addition of a little whole wheat flour (from our friends at Camas Country Mill). And it's most certainly helped by all the butter in the dough, not to mention the melted butter that's brushed on top at time of service. Once everything is mixed into a smooth dough, it gets a slow rise in the fridge overnight.
Perhaps the most impactful step in our pretzel-making process is the two-stage cooking method. Akin to bagels, our shaped pretzels get dipped in a boiling baking soda solution prior to going in the oven. This chemical reaction results in a beautiful dark brown color, a slightly chewy crust, and more pronounced flavor in the end.
These days we make pretzels for all 3 locations and they are in production most bake days. They require following a lot of steps, but it's a labor of love. At this point we could all make pretzels in our sleep. If we had to. Don't actually take me up on that!
Try to highlight and/or suggest this item to 3 different customers per shift you work!
Caves Updates
We have an exciting new food and beverage focus here! Please take the time to read through it and soak up all the knowledge! We look forward to your follow up questions and thoughts!
Thursday we are launching our Miso & Sugar Snap Pea Salad! It replaces our brussel sprouts and is also our menu focus for the moment!
Miso & Sugar Snap Pea Salad-Fresh GTF salad greens, Riverland Family Farms’ snap peas, white miso & lemon vinaigrette, toasted walnuts, parmigiano reggiano, watermelon radishes. $11
2024 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.
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
ALL Taproom Peeps! - Thank you all for being so flexible and rolling with the punches these last few weeks. You all have been working so hard and providing awesome feedback and ideas and it is extremely appreciated! Keep up the great work!!
Shelby Mosel - Shelby is so responsive to employee questions and suggestions. She's always happy to help figure stuff out or give input on a situation.
If you have kudos or kind words to share anonymously in the Brewsletter, use the button below!
Human resources
STAFF SECTION
Check back next week!
SAFETY TIPS
Make sure to always stay alert and aware of your surroundings along with always using safety words when going around corners etc.
Office Hours
Monday: Tap Room 10 am - 1 pm, Pub 2 - 5 pm
Thursday: Tap Room 1-4 pm
Friday: Pub 1-4 pm
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
Check back later!
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!