It is late spring and our attentions turn to Congressmen Dinkies – No!!! Wait, I mean fruit. Yes that’s right – just good old fashioned grow’d* from the ground or tree “fruit”, not some Congressmen’s fruit. Do you know what that means? Yes, my fellow beer geeks, it is Fruit Beer Festival time. This weekend will be the very first of its kind Fruit Beer Festival at Burnside Brewing Company in lovely Portland, Oregon. This fruit beer geek will be in attendance and imbibing on the highly sweet specialty brews.
I know the beer purist will say these are not real beer. They do not present themselves as the cornerstone of what beer is – water, hops, malt and yeast. Yes, I see where they are coming from in the pure sense, but it is time to “change” my beer geek’d* friends and add to your palate. Plus these are tasty little special brews and take lots of work and care to get the flavor profile, malts and yeast to work together.
As an old homebrewer I have had many a fruit beer go bad before I figured out the right combination – how to add fruit and have the batch stay drinkable and not a Co2 bottle rocket. See you all on Saturday.
* Newly made up BrewDad words
Tap List:
Alameda Brewing – Huckberry Hound
Beetje Brewing – Zure Krenten
Block 15 Brewing – Psidium
Breakside Brewing – Mango IPA
Burnside Brewing – Gooseberry Berliner-Weisse
Dogfish Head – Festina Peche
Fort George Brewing – Cherry Stout
Hopworks Urban Brewing – Red Delicious Belgian AppleBiere
Laurelwood – TBA
Lompoc Brewin – Cherry Wheat
New Belgium – Ooh La La
Ninkasi Brewing – Pinot Barrel-Aged Oatis with Cherries
Oakshire Brewing – Blind Date
Upright Brewing – Barrel Aged Pure Wit with Orange
Widmer Brothers Brewing – Himbeere Gose mit dem Eibisch
Rare Fruit Tap List:
Oakshire – Gin Barrel Aged Blackberry Imperial Stout
Upright – Gin Barrel-Aged Four with Strawberries
Hopworks – Chili-infused Survival Seven Grain Stout
Lompoc – Cherry Fechter
Widmer – 2009 Cherry Oak Doppelbock
Coalition – Wheat from the Tree
New Belgium – Peach Love
Block 15 – 2010 La Ferme’ de Demons (the Demon’s Farm)
LOLA/Lucky Lab – Cherry Kolsch
Cascade – Apricot
Cascade – Kriek
Double Mountain – Devil’s Kriek
Breakside – Brewer’s Bramble
Breakside- Whiskey Ginger
He’ Brew – Origin Pomegranate Ale
Burnside Brewing – Marionberry Berliner-Weisse
