Internal Brewsletter - December 27th, 2023
General
January Monthly Food Specials
Pub January 2024 Monthly Specials Launch Wed 1/3/24
Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich
Breaded & fried eggplant with creamy marinara, melted provolone & fresh basil on house-toasted ciabatta. $14.99
Spaghetti Parma Rosa
Spaghetti, house-made creamy tomato sauce, parmesan, basil, and a jumbo meatball. $16.99
Chicago Braised Beef Sandwich
Spicy pepperoncini, Italian giardiniera, black pepper aioli and melted provolone on a crisp hoagie roll. $16.99
Tap Room January 2024 Monthly Specials Launch Wed 1/3/24
Porkstrami Egg Rolls
House-brined and smoked “porkstrami”, sauerkraut, swiss cheese & stone ground mustard egg roll served with our spicy reuben sauce. $10.99
Mash Paddle Melt
Seasoned NW beef patty, garlic sauteed mushrooms, melted Swiss cheese & house dressing on toasted artisan bread. $16.99
Employee Provision
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 Laura! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a Spam Musubi Bowl, made with spam, nori strips, and an egg, topped with furikake.
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - cans
RELEASING Friday 12/29
Scientifical // Don your lab coat and enjoy this supercritical display of dankness. We layered waves of sweet citrus, pine resin, and dank herb to scientifically flavorize this beer with an ever-evolving hop blend. // 7.00% ABV
Takeaways: New-Age IPA with old school hops. Nugget has been around a while, but using it as Salvo (a new hop extract) has allowed us to access all its best characteristics.
Tasting Notes: Lime zest, Tangerine, Working hypothesis
Series: Orbital
Beer Style: IPA
Frequency Illusion // Bringing together the holy trifecta of hop blends, we're swapping our selected hop lots of Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic with Baerlic Beer Co., and vice versa. You might have seen this brew before... or is it an illusion? // 6.30% ABV
Takeaways: Our version features an identical recipe, but made using Baerlic's hops. Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic, the golden trio or IPA hops might bring something unexpected to this beer.
Tasting Notes: Pine, Grapefruit, Vivid
Series: Synergy - collaboration with Baerlic Brewing in Portland, Oregon
Beer Style: West Coast IPA
An IPA Sub-style that originated in California. It has evolved over the years to showcase a balance of bright fruit, resinous pine, and dank (cannabis-forward) hop flavors and aromas, with a moderate to light malt presence and a dry finish with an assertive bitterness. West Coast is still a rapidly evolving style. The Variations of IPAs have become America’s primary contribution to the pantheon of world beer styles.
COMING UP ON DRAFT
RELEASING Friday 12/29
Scientifical // IPA
Frequency Illusion // West Coast IPA (collab with Baerlic Brewing)
CROWLER/PACKAGE SALE
Crowler Sale: Hoppy New Year (will run Saturday and Sunday)
UPCOMING / IN PROCESS BEERS
*This list is subject to change based on the brewing schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Hypnosis // Barleywine Ale matured in French Cognac Barrels
Highland Hymn // Scottish Ale
A Nugg Hugg // Hazy IPA
HS16660 Draft Only // West Coast IPA
Eminent Point // American IPA
BEER EDUCATION
Weekly Tastings of new releases and some classics:
Tap Room
Tuesdays at 2 pm
Pub
First and third Tuesdays at 11 am
Second and Fourth Thursdays at 11 am
Beer 101: Behind the 2-part Baerlic Collaboration
We participated in a two-part collaboration with Baerlic Brewing out of Portland, Oregon, for Frequency Illusion. You may remember seeing Part 1 of the collab at our locations earlier this month, which was brewed at Baerlic on their direct-fire brewhouse, similar to ours.
Both breweries made the same base malt recipe and used the same varieties of hops. The twist: we swapped! Baerlic used our Simcoe, Mosaic, and Citra hops, and we used theirs in our part of the collab.
Each year during hop selection, we pick a specific lot of hops from a specific field from a specific grower with the attributes we’re looking for. We pick from these “hop lots” to have consistency with our recipes throughout the year. Baerlic does the same.
This collaboration showed how the same variety of hops can express differently based on where they’re grown and the system they’re made on.
PUB UPDATES
We are open until 8pm on New Year’s Eve and regular hours on New Year’s Day. We should be seating up until 8pm, but if folks come in after we are closed, kindly let them know that we are done seating for the evening but that Caves is open until 9pm.
We have a Coravin wine preserving system coming in the next few days that will help keep our wine fresh for up to 4 weeks. Once we have all the pieces, please make sure you use the system every time, rather than taking the cap off of the bottle to pour a glass. A manager will show you how to use it your first time if you pop behind the bar to pour a glass.
TAP ROOM UPDATES
It is extremely important that we make sure we preserve our wine the best we can to ensure customers are getting the quality product we want. Please be sure to date it the day you open it, use the wine preserver spray nightly, and anything still open after 3 days needs to be dumped out and wasted.
We will be open our regular hours on both NYE and New Year’s Day!
As we have new things on the menus whether it be food, cocktails, beers, etc. make sure we are letting customers know, offering samples if we can, and hype them up!
Caves UPDATES
The newsletter for this week will be updated fully on Thursday afternoon, but here is the link in the meantime! Caves Weekly Newsletter 12/27/23 Newsletter will contain info on the specials we are running for New Year’s weekend (Friday-Sunday).
Two new wines this week!
A French Orange wine made from Sémillon grapes: Caves - Bel A Ciao Orange Wine
A new red from Day Wines (a Syrah and Viognier blend) Caves - A Peridot Afternoon (Day Wines)
Events
Check back next week
HIGH FIVE SECTION
Makayla Karnowski - For creating some really tasty cocktails and doing a great job!
Tiva Ward - For always willing to help out when she can and baking delicious treats
Matt Williams - Doing a great job of leading by example with the pub brewery clean-up! We really appreciate you taking that by the horns
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
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 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!