October 2003

Editors Note: [Please submit any beer related information or articles to the newsletter editor at m@ttjarvis.com or call me at 342-2203. The ‘deadline’ is the 3^rd Sunday of the month.]

Last Meeting:

(Also see see Robin’s comments below…)

[by Chip Hardy]

On Saturday October 4th, the few, the proud, and the brave, of the Cascade Brewers Society, entered an old bus to discover great beer along the Oregon coast. Just after we exited Philomath we figured out this was going to be the best CBS trip ever. (If you were there then you know what I’m talking about. If not, then I’m sorry.)

We left Eugene around 10 am, and quickly got adjusted to our wonderful chariot driving us to our first destination of the Rogue Brewery in Newport. The smell of salt air and hops had us all salivating as we walked through the front doors. John called the bar staff and picked up our first round of beers. Imperial Pilsner was the beer of choice for most of us. Besides drinking, some of us were also shoppers at the Rogue brewery sale going on that weekend. Lots of Rogue merchandise and beer were purchased for our winter supplies. Next we headed over the bay to stop at the Rogue bay front pub and met up with John Maier and his lovely partner Stacy. John had just got back from Germany the night before and was quite jet lagged, but was still a great host in buying all of our beers. Thank you John. The Skull-Splitter was sampled by everyone, along with a few pitchers of Sasquatch to honor Glen. Leaving Rogue we were all in “high” spirits.

Next was a short hop over the hill to Siletz Brewery in Siletz. The two brewers greeted us kindly and gave us a tour of the brew house. Afterwards we sampled the beers on tap, and played a few games of pool. Paddle me IPA was definitely a winner with us.

Back on the bus and over to Pacific City for a wonderful dinner and truly fantastic beers at the Pelican Pub and Brewery. They were slammed that night, but we didn’t mind. They gave us a pager and we returned to the bus to drink from the kegs. When we finally got “buzzed“ (pardon the pun) to come in for dinner, we drank some of the greatest beers on the trip. An organic French biere d’guard, an Olde ale, and quite possibly the greatest IPA ever. (Yes Ron, I do remember you saying that.) After a full day of drinking and eating, we finally retired to our motel for much needed rest.

We awakened the next day to a beautiful sunny morning. A great breakfast was had by most before we boarded the bus. Bill’s Tavern in Cannon Beach was our morning destination. We made it there with only a moment to spare for our club motto of “Beer before noon”. Honestly folks, this has got to be the CLEANEST brew house I have ever been in. Unbelievable, even the floor drains were sparkling. And the beers proved it. All were fabulous. Special thanks to Jack Harris, the brewer, for buying all of our beers. We will be back for sure.

The Wine Haus in Seaside was our next stop. Located in the Seaside outlet mall, the Wine Haus has Oregon coasts best beer selection. A couple of us picked up a few bottled beers to take and put in our beer stash. Others picked up a few to get us to our next brewery. Thankfully Kristina and I didn’t have to re-enact our Seattle bottle shop bus run.

Our final destination on the Oregon coast was Pacific Rim Brewing Co. in Astoria. Unfortunately the view was much better than the beer. Their IPA was clovey and phenolic. The same with their wheat. I am not ready to write this brewery off. Hopefully their beers will get better.

From Astoria we drove back to Eugene. Traveling back along the Columbia River enjoying many great views. Hopefully this will be a first of many trips with Kevin Hornbuckle. He was very professional and entertaining as well. The boy can juggle. All had an excellent time. Next time hopefully more club members will take up this wonderful opportunity to travel in beer style.

Cheers! Chip Hardy

[by Matt Jarvis]

Although not an ‘official’ club function, once again we were fortunate enough to get a club invite from Mark Smith to attend his JubelAle celebration party. Many club members were in attendance to assist with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday for Mark as well… With Mark’s JubelAle, Chip’s luscious Espresso Stout (sorry if I hogged the keg folks… ), Robin’s wonderfully unique Orange Rye Porter, and other beers graced the beer line. Yummy! Many thanks to those bringing food dishes as well.

Next Meeting:

Tech Meeting – Monday, November 10^th, 6:30. Chip & Kristina Hardy’s, 250 E. Rosewood Ave; 689-8286. Counter Pressure Bottling

Xmas Party is December 13th at Chris Studach’s. More info to come….

Special Note: Elections will be held during the first half hour of the Xmas Party.

Chris Studach would like to set up a pub crawl for Nov. 29th. Right now this is tentative, and quite informal. Both Ray, and Cornelia, the current reigning Beer drinker of the year (Ray), and former beer drinker of the year (Cornelia) ("the king and queen of beer drinking"?) will be visiting Eugene to sample some of our tasty beers. They are from North Carolina, and real nice, fun folks. But, they talk funny. More info to come.

And Now a Word from President Robin Chitwood:

October 28, 2003

Assorted home brewing hobgoblins filled the house on Mallard once again for the annual Oktoberfest party. That’s the first time most of us have seen John Wilson in a diaper. Thanks to Christine Jump for her hospitality and thanks to all those who provided the excellent beers.

Once again I would like to remind everyone that club elections are coming up. We are looking for a new club treasurer. If you have some bookkeeping skills please help us out.

I was happy to hear that the Oregon Coast bus trip turned out to be a lot of fun. I’ve already heard of some ideas for another bus trip. If you have an idea for a brewery tour or some other theme and would like to organize something, bring it up at the next meeting.

November 1st is the AHA International Teach A Friend to Brew Day. Last year more than a thousand home brewers participated around the world. Over 450 people started a new home brewing hobby. Remember: “Buy a man a six-pack and he drinks for a day. Teach him to brew and he drinks all his life.” For more information on Teach A Friend to Brew Day check out the CBS website (www.hbd.org/cascade).

If you like the Portland scene, The 2003 Holiday Ale Festival happens on the weekend of December 5th – 7th at Pioneer Courthouse Square. This event features strong winter beers the line-up is about two- dozen breweries, mostly from Oregon.

Have fun on the holidays and drive safely. Cheers, RC.

Big News:

In case you have been living in a cave somewhere, you should know that our very own, cute and lovable Chip Hardy of renowned West Bros. fame won a GOLD MEDAL at the Great American Beer Festival for his Espresso Stout!

News You Can Use Department:

Our very own Rob Hudson has a website dedicated to homebrewers called: www.tastybrew.com - it has a wealth of information, recipes, forum discussions, tips and news – you should check it out!

Also, don’t forget that our club website is growing bigger every day! See what Denny has done with www.hbd.org/cascade

Other News:

In the last few months about 12 of our club members have taken the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) exam… we won’t know for a while yet what our scores were, but hopefully we’ll soon have a bunch of real judges on hand! We are working on making the Lane County Fair an actual BJCP competition.

Club Information: For over 20 years, Cascade Brewers Society is a sometimes formal, but mostly informal club devoted to the appreciation and art of creating fine alcoholic beverages (you know; beer, mead, cider, and wine). For more information regarding the Cascade Brewers Society, please contact Kent Macdonald at 935-5711 or Robin Chitwood at 342-2397.