Internal Brewsletter - August 2nd, 2023
General
Native Land 2.0 Food Pairing!
Friday we will be serving a Pork and Blue Corn posole to pair with Native Land 2.0. This special will run the entire time we have the beer on draft.
Pork & Blue Corn Posole: Carlton Farms and Organic New Mexican blue corn, bell pepper, onions and spices in a savory broth with shredded cabbage, radishes, avocado and cilantro. Served with house-fried tortilla chips. $10.99
Employee Provision:
This week’s Employee Provision will be brought to you by Holly! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a Blackberry and Burrata Plate with fresh basil, olive oil, and balsamic reduction.
We’re looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - cans
RELEASING Friday 8/4
Native Land 2.0 // Joining Bow & Arrow Brewing, Native Land 2.0 is a Mexican-style lager using Blue Corn from Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. Part of this beer's proceeds will go to All Are We Water Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting Tribal and Indigenous Communities to co-create therapeutic outdoor educational and recreational programs for families. Block 15 Brewing will join 39 other breweries around the United States to raise awareness that Native Americans are not only an important part of our country's history but are still here. // 4.70% ABV
Takeaways: The second charity collab beer from Bow & Arrow, the concept for 2.0 is a Mexican lager using native corn from the region of the brewery collaborating, and the proceeds benefit land stewardship for access, or to preserve traditional foods for a native organization. Oregon did not have a native corn, so we purchased corn from the tribal organization at Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico, this is the same corn that Bow & Arrow uses in their Denim Tux Pilsner, among other beers.
Tasting Notes: Floral, Honey, Classic
Series: Synergy
COMING UP ON DRAFT
RELEASING Friday 8/4
Native Land 2.0 // Mexican Lager, collaboration with Bow & Arrow Brewing Co
Hop Shuffle // We're shuffling our deck of hops to bring you something unique. Talus, Chinook, and HBC-586 combine tropical and citrus notes with pine resin in a crisp, dry West Coast. // 6.80% ABV
Takeaways: The first of a rotating draught-only IPA series. We are striving for novel hop combinations we have never tried before, but also to explore the subtle ways we can incorporate different malts into our west-coast IPAs to make them more balanced, and unique. This batch combines Talus, Chinook, and HBC-586 with the addition of Weyermann Toasted Wheat to add a biscuity complexity as well as body to a dry West Coast.
Tasting Notes: Candied Orange. Pine Resin. Surf Wax.
Series: Emerging
CROWLER/PACKAGE SALE
Crowler Sale: Topwire No. 2
UPCOMING / IN PROCESS BEERS
*This list is subject to change based on the brewing schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Peach Punch! (You in the Eye) // Hazy IPA with Peaches and Apricots, collaboration with Great Notion Brewing
Stoke Coast // West Coast Pilsner
Standing Sun: Tangerine & Pink Guava // Fruited Sour Ale
TopWire IPA Block No. 03 // India Pale Ale
Flicker // West Coast IPA
Bloktoberfest // Märzen Lager
BEER EDUCATION
Weekly Tastings of new releases and some classics is continuing:
Tuesdays at 2pm at the Taproom
Thursdays at 11am at the Pub
PUB UPDATES
Topo Chico will soon be stored in the Breakroom and will be part of pick lists. If we are running low, let a manager know and we will get more ordered.
Please check for wine boxes on Thursday and Friday evenings in the Server Restock Area and unpack them into their respective areas. Boxes should be recycled as soon as they are empty.
Credit card reader on the broken handheld has been fixed, and the one that was having intermittent issues should also be good to go (both newer styles of handhelds).
TAP ROOM UPDATES
We now have a new 3rd Toast Handheld! Please keep it by the window/silverware area to be used as quick access to 86 items, put numbers in, cash folks out, beer to-go, etc.! (Make sure it gets plugged in at night with the others to charge tho)
Please be gentle with the rockers. We have had one break already and they see a lot of wear and tear. We want to keep them looking good and in good condition!
Please keep the barrels by the bar decluttered. Personal water bottles and drinks are totally fine but clean up what is yours when leaving and keep other items up in the break room.
Please only do up to 2 rows of 1 kind of packaged beer in the coolers. It is ok to have a couple of open rows as more cans come out every Friday. Rearrange cans to keep open rows towards the sides or bottom of the coolers.
Caves UPDATES
A couple of new beers on the horizon! Keep your eyes peeled for updates!
Corvallis Beer Week is coming back and Caves is jumping in on the fun! We will be hosting the Kick-Off March as we have in years prior, and are offering a super exciting beer dinner as a ticketed event. More details to follow!
Lagered by the Sun updates!
Continuing our series about our sustainable brewing practices, we wanted to dive into the power we generate right here at our brewery through our solar panels.
In December of 2021, with the help of Oregon Clean Power Cooperative and the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, 98kW of solar panels were installed at the Southtown Brewery and Taproom. This is enough to provide the facility with 40% of the building’s needs. To this date, the solar panels have provided 193.36 MWh of power. To put this in perspective, this is enough energy to power 371 lightbulbs nonstop for a year. To see live tracking of the energy being produced, head here: Solar Kiosk.
For a quick hit list to remember what Lagered by the Sun means, just remember:
Solar Powered
Local and Regional ingredients
Sustainable Brewing
Community Focused
MARKETING
Hi all, it’s been a little while since we went over what our beer series mean and I wanted to share a reminder. Last year when we refreshed our branding, we started putting a series on our beers. Each series represents a category of beers we make and is a helpful piece of information for understanding if a beer is new or one we make year-round, etc.
I’ll be adding the series on each beer above starting today so that there’s better visibility on which series the beer lives in. You can always find this information on the top of the One Sheets, which are posted at both locations and linked on each beer above.
Cheers, Holly
Block 15 Beer Series explained:
Perpetual
Core Block 15 beers made year-round
Beers: Sticky Hands, Deep Seek, Joy, Fluffhead, Nebula, Gloria!
Perennial
Seasonal ales and lagers which return around the same time every year
Examples of Perennial Ales: Love Potion #9, Charmed Life, Favorable Fortune, Group Ride, Board Shorts, Animal Cookies, Nugg Hugg, Fresh Flow, Flicker, College, Ol’ St. Nick, Fresh Pow
Examples of Perennial Lagers: Alpine Ibex, Sol Fresco, Kumo, Fresca Pils, Bloktoberfest, Punch Out & Prost!, Carpathians
Orbital
Beers made periodically which typically have a higher price point than our Perennial or Perpetual beers
Orbital beers may or may not be made around the same time each year
Recent examples: Consortium, Wandelpad, Island in the Sky, The Incredible, Tipping Point, Tropicolor
Emerging
New and/or experimental beers typically made in a smaller capacity.
Sometimes you’ll see an Emerging beer return or be a part of a series if we’re testing things like hop combinations or adjuncts (Ingredients added which aren’t a part of traditional beer ingredients, like fruit or spices).
A cool thing about the Emerging Series is if the beer goes well, we can bring it back in a larger capacity and make it a part of our regular beers. So you might see them again!
Recent examples: Hop Shuffle, Paddle Season, Keen As!, Queen of Spices, Future Focus, Standing Sun
Synergy
Beers made in collaboration with another brewery or business
Recent examples: Peach Punch! With Great Notion Brewing, Oregona with The Oregon Hophouse, Alumni Club with Excelsior Brewing, Crystal Ball with The Bier Stein, Headhaze with Moonraker Brewing
Cellar
Predominantly barrel-aged beers, with small exceptions, made in a very limited capacity
Cellar beers are typically aged for longer periods of time in stainless steel tanks, oak foeders, oak barrels, or other specialty barrels.
For packaging, most Cellar Series beers are bottled, with small exceptions like Caves Saison which was canned
Recent examples: Rekindled, Cassidy, Caves Saison, TC Bing PX, Revolve, Hypnosis
EVENTS
Bloktoberfest - October 6th-7th
Save the date!
HIGH FIVE SECTION
Alissa - for being the best bookkeeper possible. She's always on top of things and has a great attitude every day.. HIGH FIVE!
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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
Make sure to clean up spills immediately and provide warning signs on wet floors.
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
Dine Out! for Hunters of Color - August 15th
On August 15th, a portion of sales from both Block 15 locations will be donated to help support equitable access to outdoor recreation, hunting, fishing, and conservation for the Hunters of Color community in Oregon. This financial support helps us further our mission of making 'The Outdoors for Everyone' by engaging and empowering community members in outdoor recreation and conservation work.
Representatives from Hunters of Color - Oregon will be on-site at our Southtown Tap Room from 5-7 pm, providing more information about our organization. Stop by and say hello!
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!