Dragon’s Gate Brewery | The Arkenstone

Nestled amongst the sprawling vineyards of the Walla Walla Valley, down a single-lane dirt country road is Dragon’s Gate Brewery. Recently featured as a top brewery in Eastern Oregon, this 10-acre farm offers gorgeous views of the surrounding Blue Mountains and provides the perfect backdrop to enjoy these Farmhouse Ales. Owned and operated by Adam and Jennifer Gregory, this brewery is truly a family affair with beers brewed with passion and rooted in traditional Belgian brewing practices. Their tasting room is in a converted barn, and their brewhouse, barrel room and fermentation area are all on-site. Inspired by old-world stylings, this brewery takes you back in time, or to another world entirely.

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NBA Bubble Beers? Deschutes Brewery Debuts New Rip City Lager to Cheer on Portland Trailblazers Remotely

The NBA’s ambitious quarantine “bubble” has delivered promising results so far in its attempts of preventing the spread of COVID-19 among NBA teams and their personnel. The hope is that the bubble can hold a brief resumption of the regular season, which starts Thursday, along with a full playoff to follow that eventually crowns a champion. One of the teams competing for the title is the Portland Trailblazers, who resume their regular season on Friday. In an effort to support their local team remotely, Bend, Oregon-based Deschutes Brewery is releasing the affectionately names Rip City Lager, so fans of the Blazers across the nation can remotely unite with a common, easy-drinking beer in-hand. 

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Wayfinder Beer & Great Notion Brewing | Cold Kush Hazy IPA

We’re halfway through the summer and an undisclosed amount of weeks into quarantine, so it’s only natural to keep reaching for “something new” to try. In this case, Cold Kush – Faded & Decocted IPA is just that something new to switch things up a bit. Wayfinder Beer teamed up with their neighbor, Great Notion Brewing, to create this deliciously hoppy, Hazy IPA.

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Pyramid Brewing Talks Brand Refresh, History, and Relocation

For old-school craft beer drinkers, Pyramid Brewing, with its iconic label featuring a double pyramid and evoking the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, is one of the tried and true originals. For many, their Hefeweizen, Wheaten, Apricot Ale or Outburst Imperial IPA was the gateway to quality craft beer. The times have changed, but the quality of Pyramid’s beer hasn’t.

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Ultimate 6er | Beers for Mountain Biking

Great beer and a rowdy mountain bike ride go hand in hand. Each of the beers selected for this Mountain Biking Ultimate 6er had to fit three criteria. First, it has to come in cans. When you’re packing the cooler to rip hot laps with the crew, bottles won’t do. Second, the brewery of choice must be based out of a premier mountain bike destination. Lastly, the beer must fall into one of two categories based on when it’s consumed.

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Oregon’s Best Breweries and Beers by Region to Enjoy During COVID

From the sea cliffs on the coast to the high plains desert in the east, Oregon beers bring a world of flavor and craftsmanship no matter where you’re enjoying them. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we visited the websites of all 302 craft breweries in Oregon and built a database of over 2500 beers for sale. Then, we matched these beers with their reviewer rankings on Untapp’d to identify the very best beers and breweries in the state. We recently published the list of the top ten beers in Oregon. Here, we provide the top three beers and top five breweries in each of Oregon’s eight regions, excluding the beers in our top ten list. Post-COVID, we hope you’ll head out to support these local breweries. Until then, check brewery websites or call ahead to confirm availability and service hours.  Read More

Drinking Through Deschutes’ Latest Small Batch Reserves | Tumalo Kriek & The Ages 2020

Barrel-aged and blended beer releases aren’t just for winter months and colder temperatures. The dark liquid, bourbon barrels and boozy aftertastes of October through December releases give way to lighter colors, wine barrels and fruit-forward flavor offerings found in April and May. Such is the case for Deschutes Brewery, which has staked its fall and winter barrel-aging claim thanks to the likes of the popular The Abyss Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. The Bend, Oregon brewery also recently announced the release of two new additions to their Small Batch Reserve series for spring: Tumalo Kriek and The Ages 2020. Both are available in 500 mL bottles and both highlight warm weather, seasonal ingredients: cherries in Tumalo and pears in The Ages. Deschutes was kind enough to send a bottle of each my way. With extra time on my hands, I really got to enjoy both of these beers. Here are my thoughts. 

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Deschutes Releases Specialty Barrel-Aged Beers

Quarantine in Oregon just got a lot tastier. Northwest craft beer staple Deschutes Brewery announced last week the addition of four new specialty barrel-aged beers to their portfolio, proving that no amount of uncertainty can keep them from their craft. Plus, the brewery is encouraging their community to “stay home and save lives” by making their beers just a click away. Deschutes’ legacy portfolio along with the new and vintage Reserve beers are now available on their website for delivery to their customers based in Oregon.

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Ultimate 6er | The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Are Drinking Craft Beer

During this medical pandemic, let’s have some childhood fun! Let’s think back to when we were growing up, before the time of hand sanitizers and coughing into your elbow like Count Dracula. What better way is there to bring history into the present situation than to consider the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who were named for Renaissance artists who were around when the first quarantine originated? What might these fun-loving mutants of the sewer choose to drink, pouring one to enjoy with their pizza? Let’s find out.

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Portland’s Cascade Brewing Announces Sale to Local Investors

A cornerstone of Portland and the Oregon craft beer scene, Cascade has been a pioneer in the Pacific Northwest for their innovative sour beers. It was announced yesterday that, after … Read More

Stickmen Brewing Company | S.M.A.C. Triple IPA

It’s been well established that Portland is a bustling beer mecca. Good beer is so easily accessible; often one can walk three blocks in any direction and accidentally run … Read More

Ultimate 6er | DC Comics Heroes and Villains and Craft Beer

From the gritty streets of Gotham to the alien world of Krypton, we decided to take a look at what the DC Comic Universe’s most renowned heroes and villains would drink after a long day (or night) of crime-fighting and chaos creating.

The main set of DC Comics characters that come to mind in a Family Feud kind of way include Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman (The Dark Knight), Bane, The Joker and his chosen Gotham City siren, Harley Quinn. Each one of these deep, complex and foreboding characters loves a good solid IPA like Eliot from Ex Novo Brewing in Portland: clean, crisp and always solid with its hop-forward citrus, resinous and dank flavors.

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Deschutes Announces Additions to their 2020 Release Calendar

“New Year, New Beer” pretty much sums up Deschutes Brewery‘s 2020 release announcement. The Bend, Ore., local has added many innovative offerings to its lineup, and now that we’re in 2020, Deschutes is adding even more. Deschutes will be providing new offerings to its year-round releases, limited releases, the Brewery Reserve Series, Small Batch Reserves and draft-only releases.

So, without further ado, here are the descriptions the brewery shared of what you’ll be able to look forward to in the Deschutes 2020 lineup.

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Christmas Classics | Deschutes Brewing Jubelale

When the temperature drops below 50 degrees, our taste buds seem to sense the change in barometric pressure and start to crave those darker, roasted malts. There is a coziness that is associated with a stout by the fireside or watching rainfall while sipping on a malty winter mistress of a Cascadian dark ale. The winter seasonals start to hit the shelves just in time for the holidays and are invariably associated with happy, festive memories.

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Best of Hands Barrelhouse & Matchless Brewing | Family Influence Hazy IPA

I’ve written before about Seattle’s best bottle shop, The Beer Junction, and how lucky I am to live in the same neighborhood so I can access their brilliantly curated selection and knowledgeable staff as frequently as I want. But earlier this year, The Beer Junction gave me and fellow West Seattle residents a new reason to appreciate their craft beer expertise in the form of Best of Hands Barrelhouse.

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5 Questions with Legacy Breweries on Aspen Brewing & Laurelwood Acquisition

Last month, Legacy Breweries, one of craft beer’s newest upstart brewing conglomerates, followed up their first major acquisition last year, of Eugene-based Ninkasi Brewery, by adding Aspen Brewing and Portland’s … Read More

GABF Spotlight | The Best Pacific Northwest Beers

Going to the Great American Beer Festival, or GABF, is like going to another giant establishment with  four letters: IKEA. If you don’t have a plan, things are going to turn out ugly. You end up with a shopping cart/stomach full of things you didn’t need, and because of your inability to resist the siren’s call you’re going to cover your home with all sorts of terrible colors.

Here at PorchDrinking.com we’re playing the Jedi to your beer Padawan, guiding you through the overwhelming forest of malts to beer nirvana. Our experts have selected a few noteworthy beers from their region that you need to seek out. So make a list, stick to the plan and do not be distracted by the beautiful celebrities. Here are seven great beers to try, all hailing from the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

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Ultimate 6er | Easy-Drinking Beers for Football Season

Now that the last NFL pre-season game is in the books, it’s time to get serious. Week one starts this week, and it’s game on! The Packers take on the Bears for Thursday Night Football and wraps up with the Broncos playing the Raiders on Monday. Needless to say, the lineup in between will be awesome! As you’re completing your Fantasy Football drafts or simply reaching for a nice, cold craft beer to sip on as you’re cheering on your favorite team, here’s a few beers that will go great with the games as week one is set to begin.

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Pike Brewing Company | Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale

We are in the midst of a craft beer revival in this country. The excitement and allure of the newest brewery or beer is tantalizing. However, this array of ever-expanding options can easily steal focus from the foundation of this revolution. One such brewery is Pike Brewing Company in Seattle. Pike Brewing was founded by husband and wife team Charles and Rose Ann Finkel in 1989. This October they will celebrate the brewery’s 30th anniversary.
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Stemma Brewing Co. | Chateau de Stemadia Brut IPA

One of the greatest pleasures in writing for PorchDrinking is the opportunity to introduce new breweries to PorchDrinking.com readers across the country. Today, we’re honored to introduce you to Stemma Brewing Co., a new brewery out of Bellingham, WA and their collaboration with Vancouver, WA-based Brothers Cascadia Brewing. This result, Chateau de Stemadia Brut IPA, weighs in with a 6.5% ABV and 15 IBUs.
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