Internal Brewsletter - April 12th, 2023
GENERAL
Just a quick reminder on food discount policy. Discounts can be used on one food item per day, and only on an item that has a maximum pre-discounted amount of $25. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please reach out to a manager before you apply a discount.
Employee Provision: This is 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 Kelsey! This week’s provision will be a spiced up version of our chopped pork sandwich, called “The Deluxe”. It’s chopped pork and pickled jalapeños tossed in Korean bbq sauce, with kimchi and American cheese!
Swing by the Pub this Thursday to try it!
If that inspires you, we’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas.
With our delicious and exciting new desserts that we just launched (way to kill it, Bakery Team!!) we wanted to post an example of the Brownie Brittle garnish on the Chocolate Coconut Panna Cotta to make sure that folks are getting all of that crunchy deliciousness. Please see the example below!
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - cans
RELEASING FRIDAY 4/14
Crystal Ball // Divined with The Bier Stein; Cascade, Chinook, and Amarillo will be reimagined with alchemic practices. Visions of tropical fruit and intense citrus speak to you. Gaze into the future. // 7.40% ABV
Takeaways: What's old is new again is the concept of this beer. This thiolized India Pale Ale takes three classic hops (Amarillo, Chinook and Cascade) and reimagines them with all new processes and a thiolized Kveik yeast to produce something brand new. Cascade Salvo was added directly to the fermenter to allow for copious biotransformation.
Tasting Notes: Papaya, Kaffir Lime, Futuristic
COMING UP ON DRAFT
RELEASING FRIDAY 4/14
Crystal Ball // Hybrid IPA
CROWLER/PACKAGE SALE
Crowler Sale: Group Ride
UPCOMING / IN PROCESS BEERS
*This list is subject to change based on the brewing schedule, so please keep that in mind!
The Past // Amber Ale, collaboration with Joel of Corvallis Brewing Supply
The Present // India Pale Ale, collaboration with Coldfire Brewing
The Future // Rice Lager, collaboration with OSU Fermentation Science Dept.
Revolve // Bier de Champagne aged in Peach Brandy barrels
Board Shorts // India Pale Ale
Nugg Hugg // India Pale Ale
That’s the Badger // ESB
Future Focus 3.0 // Thiolized Hazy IPA
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: Thiolized Yeast
You may have seen Thiolized yeast and Thiols mentioned in some of our beer writeups of late so we wanted to take a moment to expound on the topic.
Thiols are sulfur-containing organic compounds with a sulfur atom bound to a hydrogen atom. Thiols are generally present in very low quantities, making up less than 1% of the essential oils in a hop cone. These compounds come in 2 varieties, bound and free. Free thiols are present in some malts and hops and are freely available to be extracted. Bound thiols are generally present in the form of precursor compounds that must be unbound, or unlocked, chemically during the brewing process to incorporate them into the beer.
The main question raised is, at such a low concentration, why worry about these compounds? Well, despite these low concentrations, Thiols are highly impactful aromatic compounds that can impart intense tropical, citrus character reminiscent of juicy passion fruit, pink guava, and freshly zested grapefruit peel. When properly incorporated into the beer they can add significant variety and depth to the beer's flavor and aromatics.
While some thiol extraction can happen during a standard brewing process with standard yeast, one way to amplify the number of oils being incorporated is to utilize a Thiolized yeast. This is a yeast strain that has been engineered to have the ability to biotransform thiol precursors, thus unlocking bound thiols into the beer.
By utilizing thiolized yeast in our brewing process, we can better utilize certain hops, as well as extract character from hops that is significantly different from the character that hop would typically express. Research on the topic has revealed that many hops with the highest levels of thiol precursors are old standards that have never been known for their tropical characteristics, like Cascade and Chinook. This expands the possibilities and combinations of hops available to us drastically.
Thiolized yeast is another great tool we can utilize to increase the variability of the versatility of our ingredients into a wider range of higher-quality beers. While it won't be something we use in all of our products, its availability gives us one more vector to utilize in expressing our creativity and craft.
PUB UPDATES
There was a scheduling miscommunication this past Tuesday with getting the foundation crack repaired, but an appointment for Monday, 4/17 at 8am has been confirmed. This will (hopefully) fix the leak in the breakroom so that we no longer have to vacuum. Once that space dries, we will get the drywall in the Prep Kitchen and Breakroom repaired/replaced. Thank you all SO MUCH for staying on top of the puddles and helping to mitigate this issue as much as possible. You are all so appreciated!
Next Friday, (April 21st) we will be bringing back the Painkiller on the cocktail menu. Our Painkiller is a blend of gold & Jamaican rums, house made coconut cream, pineapple & orange juices, topped with a little fresh grated nutmeg. It has been a huge hit in the past and will hopefully bring a little sunshine to these cold and wet days we’ve been having.
TAP ROOM UPDATES
We will be launching our version of a Beergarita on Friday called Marg Fresco. It will have our standard margarita and Sol Fresco, with a Himalayan Pink Salt rim. Pretty simple but oh so delicious!
MARKETING
15th Anniversary
We are getting closer to the 15th Anniversary Fest! We will have posters and table tents going up with QR codes leading to our Anniversary Hub. We also have FAQ’s on there in case anyone has questions about the Fest. Take a look, read them and get a feel for what questions could be heading your way from our customers. If you have any additional questions, email us at Marketing@block15.com and we will help you out!
EVENTS
Crystal Ball Release Event in Eugene - April 13th!
A couple of us are heading to The Bier Stein next Thursday (4/13) for the release of our anniversary collab with The Bier Stein! This beer is releasing next week and is a celebratory beer for our relationship with this amazing bottle shop. Find yourself heading to Eugene? Stop by and say hey! We will be there from 5 - 8 pm.
15th Anniversary Celebrations
2008 Throwback Party - April 20th
@ Downtown Pub
The 15th Anniversary: Past, Present, and Future Fest - April 22nd
@ Southtown Taproom
Distribution Tour - April 26th-29th
Wildwood Taphouse - Hillsboro - April 26th
PublicHouse - Springfield - April 27th
Bridge & Tunnel - Astoria - April 28th
Common Fields - Corvallis - April 28th
MayFly Bottle Shop & Taproom - Portland - April 29th
HIGH FIVE SECTION
Scott & Jarrod - Thanks for being the best warehouse team in the business. From the jokes in the daily emails to the attention to detail in the warehouse- you both rock!
STAFF SECTION!
Welcome to the team to the following folks!
Aidan Hurliman (BOH)
Jack Kellems (FOH)
SAFETY TIPS
Are you interested in joining our Safety Committee? The purpose of a Safety Committee is to communicate and evaluate health and safety issues, assist in continuous improvement of health and safety programs, and ultimately support a safer and healthier workplace. We meet once a month for about an hour to chat about these issues. If interested in joining please contact Shelby via Hotschedules or by email (shelby@block15.com).
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!