Internal Brewsletter - February 8, 2023
GENERAL
If anyone is around Portland this Saturday the 11th between 12pm-4pm, please join us at Saraveza (1004 N Killingsworth St) to celebrate Bourbon Month. The line up is INSANE plus Erin will get your first beer!
Featured beers include:
2023 Kriek, 2017 Super Nebula, 2020 Super Nebula, 2021 Super Nebula Dulce, 2023 Super Nebula, Sticky Hands The Kine, Deep Seek IPA, Consortium Hazy IPA, Caves Saison, Blue Truck American Lager, Super Nebula Breakfast with Williams, Super Nebula Xocolatl
The Employee Provision is BACK! This is a weekly special served at the Pub, the idea of which comes primarily from Block 15 employees. We’re kicking it off in early March. Submissions are open to everyone!
A fun tid-bit, of the Brewsetter sign off responses from last week, here’s what y’all are jazzed about for Bourbon Month:
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - CANS
RELEASING FRIDAY 2/10
Animal Cookies // Brewed for the hop-loving animal inside of you, this can is packed with sticky, pungent hops. Unleash a swirling circus of pineapple, tangerine, mango, pine, and dank herb hop characters. // 7.00% ABV
Takeaways: The return of a classic Block 15 IPA. Hazy IPA done the Block 15 way.
Tasting Notes: Ripe Papaya. Navel Orange. Equitorial.
COMING UP ON DRAFT
Animal Cookies // IPA
UPCOMING / IN PROCESS BEERS
*This list is subject to change based on the brewing schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Charmed Life // Irish Red (releasing through Distro 2/10)
Favorable Fourtune // Dry Irish Stout (releasing through Distro 2/10)
Headhaze // Hazy IPA (Moonraker Collab)
Group Ride // IPA
CROWLER/PACKAGE SALE
Crowler Sale: Love Potion #9
All SN bottles, Kriek, and SH The Kine are excluded from the 20% off sale
BEER EDUCATION
Weekly Tastings of new releases and some classics is continuing:
Tuesdays at 2pm at the Taproom
Thursdays at 11am at the Pub
Beer 101
Blending Barrel-Aged Beer
Beer is aged in barrels for a few different reasons. Wild beers are aged in barrels because the wood is porous and provides a great environment for wild microorganisms to reside and access the beer. Non-wild beers are often aged in barrels to pick up character from a spirit or other beverage that was housed in the barrel previously. All barrel-aged beer benefits from micro oxidation associated with the use of wooden vessels. When choosing which barrels to blend and which to leave out, the first thing to realize is why the beer has been aged in wood in the first place.
When blending wild beer, we have usually used a relatively neutral barrel. That means that the barrel has been used before to age beer, sometimes over and over, cleaned each time, and offers little to no liquor/wine character to the beer that’s aging in it. The character given to the beer is that of the microflora that is hidden in the wood. Brettanomyces, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus, and other wild organisms are very happy dozing in the walls of wood barrels. When selecting a wild barrel for a blend we need to know exactly what kind of wild character is needed. Do we want a barrel that is highly acidic to balance some fruit sweetness, or gentle and more full to round out the mouthfeel of the blend? Do we want a lot of wild funk, or a more clean and subdued beer to let other ingredients shine? The secret is to know the end goal of the project, what other fruits/adjuncts will be used (if any), and to have a good knowledge of the barrels that are available for selection. These are the ingredients, now build from the ground up.
When blending “clean” beer, the idea is much the same, but the process is a little different. Instead of a cellar full of very different barrels looking to be selected for just the right blend, there is a barrel room full of groups of barrels that are all hopefully going to be blended into the batch. The barrel room in the taproom is filled with only Figgy Pudding, Imagine, and Super Nebula, with a few Hypnosis barrels scattered throughout. When it’s time to blend one of those beers, samples are drawn from each of the barrels containing the respective beer, and sensory evaluation is performed by Garrison and one other brewer. As long as the barrels taste, smell, and look good to them, they are blended into a large stainless steel tank in the brewery. The entire batch is then tested using PCR to make sure that it is clean of wild microbes. If we get a hit for something undesirable, we pasteurize the bottles to make sure that the microbes are killed off before we send it to customers.
Sometimes it’s feasible to conduct a mock blend, which is a miniature version of the final blend. Using a few milliliters of each barrel in the prospective blend creates a pretty reliable taste of what the end product will taste like. As simple as that sounds, it’s still important to really look at all of the pieces of the puzzle. For instance, a barrel with a lot of residual sweetness will be dried out by wild organisms, so unless all of the constituents are completely dry and clean at the time of sample, it will likely still evolve once blended.
When it comes down to it, most successful blends come from having a clear goal, knowing what’s available to use, and having a good understanding of how flavors affect and balance each other.
PUB UPDATES
This Friday we will be replacing the Evasion Hophoria with two new gluten-free options out of Portland! We will be adding the Mexican Amber Lager and Hop Trifecta (Hazy IPA) from Mutantis Brewing. They are a naturally gluten-free facility and are also free of many other allergens (soy, nut, oat, cane sugar) and are vegan for those that ask. They are an über tiny, but awesome operation, so take a peek at their website linked below to learn more about them! If you find yourself in PDX, pop in and say hi–they have some pretty darn tasty offerings!
TAP ROOM UPDATES
CAVES UPDATES
We are almost full for Valentine’s Day! The bar, as usual, will be first come-first served.
Focus on Frites! Frites should be hot, fresh, and crispy every single time. If you see frites coming out looking lackluster, please feel empowered to request that we re-fire the frites.
We will be phasing out the current version of the Warm Kale Salad- as pomegranates are going out of season. The new version will feature fall vegetables including broccoli and squash- stay tuned for details!
We will have another vegetarian option coming on for brunch this weekend: Tempeh Hash. The tempeh will also be available for a vegetarian option on other brunch items.
Our Bourbon Dinner is almost full! We have just 4 tickets left.
We’ll be bringing on another wine option soon- a 10-Year aged Tawny Port. Make sure you know the details of this unique offering before your next shift.
Please continue to solicit feedback from our guests and pass this information on to a manager!
MARKETING
Check back next week!
EVENTS
Bourbon Month
Events
Bourbon Month Portland 2/11-12
The official Portland release location for the Bourbon Month beers, plus a full tap takeover at Saraveza in Portland
Winter Warmup 2/17-18
All day at the Taproom! Special cocktails, coat drive and partnership with Vina Moses Center. Sugar J’s will be onsite as well!
Bourbon Dinner 2/19
4 seats left! Paired beer/bourbon dinner at Caves from 6-8:30pm.
The QR code on the table tents leads to the Bourbon Month HUB.
HIGH FIVE SECTION
Seth, Maddie, Jamie, Taylor, Carson and Sylvie!! - You all were amazing at controlling the flow of the restaurant/getting food out to tables this busy weekend. Thank you for greeting every guest with a smile. Thank you for double checking food before it gets to the table. Thank you for being there when we all needed help. Thank you for bringing a positive energy to Block 15. You all make everyone's job easier and are truly appreciated! Thank you :)
Sean - For having the taproom staff's back, always looking out for our work family plus just getting shit done! Thanks Sean!
Holly and Kelsea - They handle SO MANY marketing requests with patience and grace. Thank you.
STAFF SECTION!
Check back next week
SAFETY TIPS
Be aware of the people working around you and follow one of the Golden Rules of safety, "work as safely with others as you would have them work with you."
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
Check back next month!
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!