Internal Brewsletter - September 20th, 2023
General
Congrats!
Congratulations to James B. for accepting the position of Taproom Kitchen Manager!
Monthly Specials are coming back!
Starting the first Wednesday of every month we will be featuring 2-4 specials at each location that are old favorites or exciting, new items to be highlighted for that month! This is a fantastic opportunity to get guests excited and enthusiastic about new, fresh things to try on our menu. And the enthusiasm starts with YOU! We will be doing plenty of tasters that first week we are featuring to make sure everyone gets to try them and relay the goodness to the guests. I will also expect an abundance of food feedback from you all on these items, especially in the first few days/weeks. When soliciting feedback, find ways to ask for specifics…something other than “it was great!”
Pub Monthly Specials October 2023
El Padrino
Pepper Tree Sausage House chorizo, aleppo-lime roasted sweet potatoes, cilantro-jalapeno mayo, arugula and jalapeno kettle chips on house baked ciabatta bread. $15.99
Pork Schnitzel
Thinly pounded Carlton Farms pork cutlet, breaded and fried. Drizzled with brown butter pan sauce and served with apple compote and warm, house made German potato salad. $17.99
Taproom Monthly Specials October 2023
El Padrino
Pepper Tree Sausage House chorizo, aleppo-lime roasted sweet potatoes, cilantro-jalapeno mayo, arugula and jalapeno kettle chips on house baked ciabatta bread. $15.99
Brussel Sprouts & Squash
Roasted brussel sprouts & butternuts squash, shallot-dijon vinaigrette, Block 15 honey roasted hazelnuts, parmesan $9.99
Employee Provision
This week’s Employee Provision will be brought to you by Tiva! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a French Dip, featuring Swiss cheese and grilled onions, with a side of au jus.
If that inspires you, we’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - cans
RELEASING Friday 9/22
Juice Joint // Juice Joint pairs dank, citrusy, and tropical hops to create a heady concoction. Supported by a smooth body and balanced bitterness, it's sure to satisfy your cravings. // 7.00% ABV
Takeaways: Hop dipping is a process where hops are added directly to the tank before knockout, and then wort is pumped onto them, before cooling and pitching yeast. You are able to get biotransformation by fermenting directly on the hops that have minimal isomerization of bitterness. We applied this process to the Incognito liquid hop extract. We did this once before in Guy Incognito and it turned out great. Made in the spirit of the Dab Lab program, Juice Joint is now a stand-alone beer.
Tasting Notes: Blueberry. Mango. Peak Ripeness.
Series: Emerging
COMING UP ON DRAFT
RELEASING Friday 9/22
Juice Joint // Hazy IPA
CROWLER/PACKAGE SALE
Crowler Sale: TopWire No. 03
UPCOMING / IN PROCESS BEERS
*This list is subject to change based on the brewing schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Squirrel Stash // Brown Ale
Story of the Ghost // Hauntingly Hazy IPA
SunShein // Helles Lager
Cheers to the Land // Pale Ale made in collaboration with Oregon Agricultural Trust
Specular Reflections // Belgian Dubbel
College // Cream 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
PUB UPDATES
We are going to run a slightly limited menu for the OSU move-in weekend madness! The menu will remove the asparagus salad, chicken wings and the Alabama slammer Friday-Sunday. This will help the prep kitchen keep up with the high volume, and also help the line as well!
Since we are removing the asparagus salad for the weekend, on Monday we will be replacing it with our Chickpea Shawarma Salad for the fall/winter menu!
Chickpea Shawarma Salad - Romaine tossed in dill-tahini vinaigrette & topped with the spiced & roasted chickpeas, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, shatta chili sauce, green onion and a Sunnyside up egg. Served with warm pita bread
For the busy Family Weekend, we will be turning off the ability for folks to add themselves to the waitlist from Friday evening to (or through, if necessary) Sunday evening to help ensure that we are able to keep a good flow of guests coming through the door and not waiting on people to respond. We may also turn off the ability to place to-go orders online depending on the needs of the kitchen, so please be extra diligent about confirming that a to-go order has been paid for, or still needs to be paid for.
TAP ROOM UPDATES
Get ready for OSU Move-in weekend! Expect lots of families and show them a good time, turn up the hospitality and push desserts and packaged beer!
Anytime you perform any steps of damage control please make sure everyone on the floor is aware of the situation, especially managers. With that, if you feel that you need a manager to help out and step into a situation do not hesitate to ask one!
Make sure we are keeping a positive attitude with customers and providing excellent service that makes them feel comfortable and want to come back!
Food feedback! It is crucial we get feedback from customers to make sure we always are serving the best versions of our menu. Check in with guests about their meals, ask specific questions, or offer your thoughts to open up dialogue, etc. to get good quality feedback and write it down in the kitchen or shoot Sarah or Madie a message!
Caves UPDATES
Reminder! Lots of new wines this week (link to the info doc is posted below) and the Vol-au-Vent replaces the Ling Cod Piccata this Thursday as well.
pFriem Hazy IPA replaced the Juice Jr as taps were cleaned yesterday, all other beers are still in slight limbo, but will likely tap with the busy weekend coming up. As new beers go on, we will reprint menus and send out a HotSchedules message with the updates, so be sure to stay on top of checking those messages before each shift.
Events
Bloktoberfest 2023
We launched table reservations earlier this week.
A portion of the tables that we’ll have at the festival have been set aside for 1 hour 45-minute reservations.
People are still welcome to walk in and sit at any table that isn’t marked with a reserved sign.
The reservations can be made online and require a fee which is given back in the form of tokens when they arrive at the event.
Reservations can be canceled, which needs to be done by 8 pm on October 4th.
The food menu, beverage menu, and entertainment schedule are very close to final - check out the Blocktoberfest HUB to see what’s going on!
Tap Room Events
Back to School Kick Off - September 27th
Time: All day 11:30-9
$9 Burger Special- 1/4 LB burger with white and yellow American cheese, shredded lettuce, sweet onion, dill pickle and our house burger sauce and side of fries. Make it a double for $4 extra
Blue truck pints for $4 all day
Celebrate going back to school to kick off the new school year. Come hang out, play yard games (like corn hole), and enjoy a tasty beverage and delicious meal (for a steal!)
Bring your OSU faculty/student ID for 15% off your tab.
Camp 15 Flicker Event - September 28th
HIGH FIVE SECTION
Tyler Lenz - Shout out to Tyler for always sticking around to help out when we are understaffed at the taproom!
Whit Lakin - Shout out to Whit for playing the best hide-and-seek this brewery has ever seen; I’ve been looking for weeks and I still haven’t found him!
If you have kudos or kind words you want to share anonymously in the Brewsletter, use the button below!
STAFF SECTION!
Welcome the following folks to the team!
Myles VanWeerd (Warehouse)
Max Spears (BOH)
Spencer Rees (BOH)
Emma Bartlett (BOH)
SAFETY TIPS
If you see something, say something: Spills, damage to workplace materials, unsafe walking conditions… These are all important situations to bring to the attention of your lead or manager. Never assume that someone else will notice an unsafe situation and take care of it… the next person who encounters the condition may slip, trip, fall or otherwise injure themselves. It’s always better to take care of an unsafe condition as soon as it happens.
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
Check back next week.
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!