Internal Brewsletter - July 5th, 2023
General
Congrats to Travis Smith for accepting the kitchen line Manager position! Thank you to all who interviewed, we had a pool of AMAZING candidates and am so excited to continue to see everyone grow in their current roles and to see Travis take on this new endeavor!
New Dessert! This Friday both locations will be replacing the Carrot Cake Bell with the Strawberry Bell!
Oregon strawberry cake with a fluffy cream cheese filling. This update to a childhood classic is then topped with a classic swirl and fresh strawberry. $8
Employee Provision: We’re looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
This week’s Employee Provision will be brought to you by Tyler! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a traditional-style Chicago dog.
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - cans
RELEASING Friday 7/7
Kumo // An incredibly dry, Japanese-inspired rice lager, Kumo features NW-grown Pilsner malt and citrusy Cashmere hops. Crisp and easy-going, Kumo breezes through like a drifting cloud. // 4.50% ABV
Takeaways: After Nick and Ted's trip to Japan, this beer was adjusted to more accurately reflect the rice lagers they encountered on their travels
Tasting Notes: Bread Crust. Lemon Rind. Super-Dry.
Island in the Sky // Inspired by the mountain peaks that stand, inviting, over our valley. This deceptively smooth Imperial Hazy features a bounty of juicy and piney NW hops, reflecting the beautiful landscape itself. // 9.00% ABV
Takeaways: This Hazy IIPA focuses on fruit-forward hops, featuring several that showcase robust berry characteristics, including a unique lot of Chinook that is heavy on the Blue Raspberry character.
Tasting Notes: Orange Sherbert. Ripe Mango. Elevated.
COMING UP ON DRAFT
RELEASING Friday 7/7
Kumo // Japanese Rice Lager
Island in the Sky // Hazy Imperial IPA
CROWLER/PACKAGE SALE
Crowler Sale: Queen of Spices
UPCOMING / IN PROCESS BEERS
*This list is subject to change based on the brewing schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Scientifical // India Pale Ale
Ice Knife // India Pale Ale
Fresca Pils // Italian Pilsner
Animal Cookies // India Pale Ale
Wandelpad // Belgian Blonde
Paddle Season // Pale Ale
TopWire IPA Block No. 03 // India Pale Ale
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: Kumo
Last year we released Kumo, our take on a Japanese-style rice lager that Asahi Super-Dry inspired. While it was close, we felt there was room for improvement, especially after traveling to Japan and tasting the beer fresh with a perfect pour at every establishment we visited.
We set out to make a few changes to the beer:
Reduce the bitterness to emphasize drinkability with a very dry finish.
Ensure the lagering duration is adequate to reduce the sulfur level of beer to near zero. Examples of this in Japan had no sulfur at all.
Move all possible ingredients to PNW sources to highlight our “Lagered by the Sun” program. (All malt and hops are from the PNW, only the rice flakes are from elsewhere)
Additionally, we set out to improve the customer experience with this release:
Focus on the pouring, bringing in specialty equipment that can mimic the perfect head formation we saw with every pour in Japan.
Design a food pairing that reflects the authentic culture we experienced when traveling in Japan.
Friday-Sunday for the release we will be running a Katsu Curry dish that will be offered at both locations!
Panko breaded and fried pork cutlet over a bed of steamed basmati rice, with our Japanese curry sauce, shredded cabbage, and quick citrus pickled cucumbers. $16.99
"The clean, malt-forward profile of a Kumo rice lager beautifully complements the robust flavors of curry tonkatsu, providing a refreshing balance to the rich and spicy curry while allowing the crispy, breaded tonkatsu to shine."
Creating this and other supplementary documents to help aid staff education for this release.
A little History of this style:
There are four major conglomerates in the Japanese beer industry: Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo, and Suntory. Kirin dominated beer sales as the clear #1 brand in Japan from the end of World War II into the mid-1980s (61% of beer sold in the decade before 1985). There had been several “wars” with product development in the decade leading up to 1985 that impacted the beer market, but nothing like the “dry wars” that came out of Asahi releasing their “Super-Dry” beer that year. Their market research indicated that the consumer taste was changing to prefer a sharp and refreshing product rather than the richer profile of Kirin. That beer was a huge hit and eventually pushed Asahi to be the top brand in Japan. The other breweries tried to copy their success, but were never successful in regaining market share from Asahi.
PUB UPDATES
For the Kumo release, we will be running a special cocktail pairing for the weekend only (or until we are out of the ingredients). This cocktail will feature a split base of white rum and shochu*, salted lime simple, muddled lime and shiso**, and soda water. Similar to a mojito, but not as sweet and will pair super well with the curry.
*Shōchū is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, or brown sugar, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes, or even carrots
Shiso is an herb often used in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cooking. Shiso has notes/flavors of mint, basil, tarragon, cilantro, cinnamon, and sometimes anise
We will also run an N/A cocktail alongside this mojito-inspired one with Calpico, lime, and soda water.
Happy Place will be falling off of the menu this Friday and will be replaced by a cocktail made by the lovely Laura! It will feature Soho Lychee liqueur, yuzu, pink peppercorn simple, and prosecco. It’s super crisp and refreshing with a nice tropical sweetness to it. It’ll be a great offering during these hot summer days.
Happy Hour is back! Starting Sunday 7/9 we will be offering a selection of small plates and 4 cocktails on our happy hour menu and it will run Sun-Thurs 2pm-5pm. All draught beer and wine along with root beer and kombucha will also be $1 off. There is a discount button to apply $1 off. For food items and cocktails, there will be a separate menu in the Toast screen specifically for Happy Hour items that will already be discounted. We will have menus that should be dropped at the table with our other menus during Happy Hour. Please specifically call these items out to guests.
TAP ROOM UPDATES
Tunes Brews and BBQ starts this week on 7/5! We are full for reservations for this week but have a few spots left for the rest of them. They will be mapped out on paper so you can mark folks off as they arrive and if they don’t show within 15 min of their reservation please give them a call before giving the table away.
It is wasp season! Please be diligent about picking up food scraps and trash outside as they love to congregate by food. Let Madie know if you notice any swarms or if they linger in one area in particular.
Happy Hour is back! Starting Sunday 7/9 we will be offering a selection of small plates and 3 cocktails on our happy hour menu and it will run Sun-Thurs 2pm-5pm. All draught beer and wine along with root beer and kombucha will also be $1 off. There is a discount button to apply $1 off. For food items and cocktails, there will be a separate menu in the Toast screen specifically for Happy Hour items that will already be discounted. We will have menus that should be dropped at the table with our other menus during Happy Hour. Please specifically call these items out to guests
This Friday we are releasing Island in the Sky. It is pretty limited in draft so there will be no draft to go available to start, but we have plenty of cans!
The new logo pint glasses we have are for sale only! Please if you see one turn up in our dirty dish rack to wash it and put it back on the merch shelf!
Caves UPDATES
We have a new cocktail joining our line-up this week!
Raspberry Beret
White rum, golden raspberry simple, lime, cocchi rosa.
Fun fact: the golden raspberries are locally grown and are picked up at the Corvallis Farmers Market!
Lagered by the Sun!
We are working on merch!
You will see these coming weeks the Lagered by the Sun logo more and more. Coasters have landed! You may notice that one side of the coaster has Gloria! Pilsner on it… That’s because this is the beer we are highlighting in this program (that doesn’t meen our other beers aren’t lagered by the sun). We will be receiving stickers, pins, and hats (later in the year) and a display for our TR location for folks to read about!
Next up will be digital pushes for what this program means… Soon, we will have a webpage with all the info about Lagered by the Sun! It will be a nice tool to go back to and brush up on what the program is all about!
For a quick hit list to remember what Lagered by the Sun means, just remember:
Brewed by the Sun
Local and Regional ingredients
Sustainable Brewing
Community Focused
MARKETING
Check back next week!
EVENTS
Tunes, Brews & BBQ - Wednesdays in July
We have a dedicated web page for the events this year, with a complete list of details and a link to the reservation page: https://block15.com/tunes-brews-and-bbq-2023
Here’s the schedule:
Wed 7/5 - Wild Hog In The Woods
BBQ Special: Smoked Nashville Hot Pork Belly Sandwich, Smashed Pickle & Potato Salad, Watermelon
Wed 7/12 - Summer Of Love
BBQ Special: Chicken Yakitori w/ Tare Sauce, Japanese potato salad, Cucumber Sunomono, Rice
Wed 7/19 - Ludicrous Speed
BBQ Special: Huli Huli Chicken Hindquarters, Hawaiian Mac Salad, Mango-fennel slaw, Rice
Wed 7/26 - The Hunks and The Hottie
BBQ Special: Brisket Burnt Ends, Texas Toast, Pickles, Elotes
Block 15 Softball Team - May-August
Stop by and cheer on the team! Game dates are subject to change, but as of right now:
7/11 7:30pm @ Rene Moye West, 7/18 8:45pm @ Pioneer Park, 7/25 7:30pm @ Rene Moye West, 8/1 6:10pm @ Rene Moye West.
HIGH FIVE SECTION
Distro Warehouse Team - They have been absolutely buried with work this week as we had a ton of last minute orders for distro before the holiday weekend, and have worked until the wee hours in the morning to make sure that our trucks are full and ready to rock for our drivers and accounts. Scott and Jarrod! Thanks so much for what you guys do!
Distro Drivers - Distro has been rockin at the end of this week with a ton of last minute orders for accounts before the holiday weekend that led to some insane Friday routes! Spencer, Mark, Nick T, Zach, and Andy. You tha real MVPs! Thanks for crushing it!
If you have kudos or kind words you want to share anonymously in the Brewsletter, use the button below!
STAFF SECTION!
Check back next week!
SAFETY TIPS
Check back next week!
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
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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!