Internal Brewsletter - February 28th, 2024
General
March Monthly Food Specials Preview
March monthly specials come out next Wednesday, 3/6! Please read through this info sheet so you are in the know before the day of! Reach out to me (Sarah) with any questions!
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 Nick Arzner! Swing by the Pub this Thursday for a Crispy Seafood Burger featuring a panko-breaded patty of rockfish and shrimp, uni (sea urchin roe) tartar, and bullwhip kelp pickles. Recommended beer pairing is Demo Tape (Side A), a nice West Coast IPA to pair with all those local pacific ingredients.
We’re always looking for more submissions, so send in those ideas!
Bourbon Month 2024
Bourbon Month ends tomorrow (2/29)! Thank you for all the hard work and dedication to making this month extra special. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Marketing
With Bourbon Month closing, we will move into our next marketing efforts. With spring around the corner and brighter days ahead, we have a few exciting things in the works as we invite hop-forward beers into our taps, fresh-grown ingredients into our kitchen, and hone in on our presentation to our customers digitally and in person. Here are a few things marketing is working on!
Website updates - We are about to publish the new Caves Corvallis website! Up next will be our Distribution and Block 15 websites.
Selection Series tasting experience
Marketing Lounge - dedicated bi-weekly meeting with FOH Managers to go over menus and other customer-facing items.
-Kelsea & Holly
UPCOMING PACKAGED BEER RELEASES - cans
RELEASING Friday 3/1
Group Ride // Dust off your bike and grab your group of friends to celebrate the start of spring riding season with this crisp, refreshing IPA. Bursting with citrus, mango, and floral hop notes to fill your tires all season long. // 6.75% ABV
Takeaways: A light and refreshing spring-inspired IPA, Group Ride is an approachable lower-strength IPA designed for your post-ride gatherings.
Tasting Notes: Ruby Grapefruit. Pine Resin. Hit the Trail.
Series: Perennial
Beer Style: IPA
The classic IPA style originating in America has evolved less than other substyles. Moderate to heavy malt presence with a balance of citrus, herbal, pine, and floral hop flavors and aromas most commonly. It is fuller-bodied than West Coast IPAs and has an assertive bitterness that balances malt sweetness. The Variations of IPAs have become America’s primary contribution to the pantheon of world beer styles.
Ridgeback Red // This Red Ale carefully balances a blend of craft malt with an exciting ridge of select NW hops. Enjoy notes of toasted nuts and caramel that transition into layers of pine and citrus hop flavor.// 5.50% ABV
Takeaways: Balancing rustic malt character and NW hops, Ridgeback pleases both the hoppy and malty beer lovers.
Tasting Notes: Grapefruit Peel, toffied hazelnut, off-leash
Series: Perpetual
Beer Style: American Red Ale
A cousin of the Irish Red Ale, this beer is similar in color, amber to ruby, but with a pronounced hop backbone. While both styles are more popular in the USA than in Ireland, the American style Red is more bitter with citrus or fruity and pine hop character, with most or all of its bitterness coming from hops. Irish Red is mostly bitter from dark roast malts.
COMING UP ON DRAFT
RELEASING Friday 3/1
Group Ride // IPA
Ridgeback Red // Red Ale
CROWLER/PACKAGE SALE for Sippin’ Sunday
20% off all packaged beer to-go, $5 Crowlers and $10 Growler fills all-day Sunday
This week’s beers are: Ocean Man and Nebula
UPCOMING Releases
*This list is subject to change based on the production schedule, so please keep that in mind!
Headhaze // Imperial Hazy IPA - Collab with Moonraker Brewing
Selection Series // Four Single Hop IPAs
Illuminated // Belgian Tripel
Alpine Ibex // Maibock
Rocky Shores IPA // American IPA
DAB Lab: Hop Sauce // West Coast IPA
BEER EDUCATION
2:30 pm Tuesdays @ the Tap Room
Join us for an educational session at the Tap Room every week to taste and learn about the week’s releases. All are welcome!
Beer 101: Red Ales and Caspian the dog, a history
Written by Garrison Schmidt, Production Manager
One of the things I love most about American brewing is our ability to take something old and make it into something new and fresh. Red ale is a good example.
Red Ales are a bit of a mystery regarding their true beginnings. Irish poets speak of red ales drank by Pictish people as far back as the 8th and 9th centuries, but the beer mentioned is likely nothing close to what we associate with the term. Beers brewed then were spiced with heather, sweet gale, bog myrtle, and buck-bean. The hop wouldn’t be the most common brewing additive for several hundred more years. Most brewing historians agree that the Irish Red we know today was likely an evolution of English Bitters and Pale Ales.
In the early eighteenth century, John Smithwick moved to Kilkenny, Ireland. At this time, Ireland was under a strict penal code that prohibited Catholics from owning land, so Smithwick opened his brewery under the name of his business partner Richard Cole, a protestant.
In 1710, he released Smithwicks Draught Ale, a beer focused less on hop bitterness and more on a strong malty backbone. This was the first example of a commercially available Red Ale.
Irish Reds are known for their caramel, toffee, and toasted bread notes, with the majority of their bitterness coming from dark roasted malts and very little hop character. American Reds are pretty drastically different from their Irish counterparts.
Block 15’s Ridgeback Red is a really nice example of an American Red Ale. While there is still a noticeable malt presence, our version of red is balanced with a healthy lineup of hops and finished with a dry hop, which is very rare for the style. I think that this beer is an awesome expression of Northwest style on a beer that’s been around for hundreds of years. It’s named for Nick and Kristen’s late Rhodesian Ridgeback, Caspian, who is featured on the beer’s label. This is also why our imperial version of this beer is called King Caspian.
I love Ridgeback because I’m a person who appreciates balance in beer. Ridgeback showcases bright PNW hops and some malts from abroad that we don't often use, which creates a best-of-both-worlds feeling. I also love Ridgeback because it reminds me of closing the dish pit and having a beer with Paul a long time ago. Ridgeback is a great beer to suggest to friends or customers who like beer but aren’t super fond or familiar with the hoppier side, as its hop bitterness is pronounced but very approachable. It was my wife Sasha’s first-ever favorite beer. I love it when we brew this beer, as it's a staff favorite of many of our friends in the kitchen (looking at you, James). If you haven’t tried it, I hope you do, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Look for toasted nuts, caramel, brown sugar, and molasses from the malt, supported by spicey orange peel and pine from the hops.
PUB UPDATES
TAP ROOM UPDATES
We will be switching to Blood Orange lemonade next Friday, the 8th!
Please make sure we are accurately and quickly updating 86 items as they are told to you. Make sure to check all spots that item could be, update the whiteboard, and update the specials board if necessary.
Great communication and teamwork this weekend! You all crushed it.
Please make sure we are fully authorizing or cashing out tabs before folks walk away from the counter to ease confusion and walkouts.
Keep up the food feedback! When doing shift change or checking out for the day that is a great time to write down any feedback you heard.
Caves UPDATES
HIGH FIVE SECTION
Wyatt Laramee - crushed working in the TR kitchen over the weekend! Kept everyone informed on things, took charge on the line calling tickets, and worked very hard! Great work!
All TR BOH staff! - Really killed it over the weekend, kept ticket times down, communicated well, and had great attitudes through the chaos.
Annalee - Thanks for working so hard at the TR on Saturday! Your willingness to stay longer and help out while it was crazy busy was very much appreciated and you did a fantastic job, thanks for being such a team player!
If you have kudos or kind words to share anonymously in the Brewsletter, use the button below!
Human resources
STAFF SECTION
Check back next week.
SAFETY TIPS
With the sick season upon us please make sure you are washing your hands. When at work you should be washing your hands BEFORE you handle food or begin any food-related task, but it's also very important that you wash your hands AFTER these activities: Handling raw meat, poultry and seafood. Using the restroom. Touching your hair, face, body, clothes or apron, or petting a dog.
Office Hours
Monday: Pub 10am - 1pm
Tuesday: Tap Room 1- 4pm
Thursday: Pub 1 - 4pm
Friday: Tap Room 10am - 1pm
THE PEOPLE’S PINT / CHEERS FOR CHARITY / DINE OUT
Our next Dine Out will be April 9th with the Corvallis Environmental Center! Stay tuned for more details.
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!