OBF 2

Chadd and I woke up early thinking it was a good day for some exercise. What better way than to hike a mile to PGE park before we'd gorge and reward ourselves with some brunch. After about 20 minutes of hiking and about 5.13 wrong turns, we made it to our destination about 10 minutes before hearing play ball, er, help yourselves. Arriving with us were several of the usual suspects including the beergeeks, J. Mark, Jennifer, Lisa the Beer Queen, and a surprise cameo by a very exhausted Rick Sellers. For this was not just any event, but the Brewers Brunch and Parade.

Without further ado, Chadd and I headed over to the brunch buffet for some greasy eggs, fruit, and sausage. We also redeemed our beer tickets for a couple of Widmers. They had the standard Hefe and an IPA called Broken Halo. The Hefe was definitely the winner. Not a bad morning beer. During our schmoozing with local brewers and media, we ran across some interesting characters.

The first was Ron Gansberg, the Brew Master and Chief Imagineer (that's what his card said), from Cascade Brewing, aka the Raccoon Lodge. Now I was curious, how do you get a title of a Chief Imagineer? Ron's specialty is blending beers. Typically Belgians and Phlegms. Wait I misspelled that, Flems. They had a really interesting article on his craft in Beer Northwest. Chadd and I spoke with him about the Hop Heads, and what a great group of beer aficionados we had. Ron invited us out for a private tasting at his brewery on Friday night: He wanted us to sample his blended homebrews before deciding to make them for the public. I didn't know whether to feel honored or if this guy was an ancient Greek luring me with candy back to his house. Of course I was honored. Unfortunately, we had to decline his invitation as his brewery was on the other side of the city and most of our trip was already booked. We thanked him and schmoozed on. We also met a candidate for congress who had some great ideas, but we couldn't vote for him as we were not in his district, let alone state.

The brunch was winding down as the Widmer beer and lemon made their appearance. Several people dressed as monks were getting ready to carry the barrel through the streets of downtown Portland. Joining them were several people in wrestling outfits (sorry no singlets ladies) complete with masks. They were advertising for the newest Widmer creation, the Full Nelson IPA. The Nelson (ha, ha!) is an imperial IPA. They announced the march and off we went.

The parade itself was rather interesting. A procession of monks, several wrestlers, and a sea of about a million or maybe 200 people in black t-shirts that said Follow Me to the Oregon Brew Fest paraded down the streets of downtown Oregon without a police escort. Chadd asked me to hold him tightly cause he was scared to be hit by a car, but I told him to man up and he did.

After about a 20 minute parade the group descended upon Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the final destination of the empty barrel. While in line to enter the event we ran into Dan just shortly before asking the security guard with the rubber gloves to be gentle. After we were let in, we went to the ceremonial spot where the Mayor of Beertown, AKA Portland, tapped the replacement (a full) barrel of Full Nelson. Several hundred people stood in line to run their cup underneath the stream and get beer free flowing from the barrel. I felt like Charlie Bucket at the Willy Wonka factory. Chadd and I met up again and thought aw heck, since we're down here, we should probably drink some beer. So we purchased some tokens and sampled some beer.

We met some other interesting people as well as other writers, brewers, and aficionados like ourselves. In my opinion the better beers there were: Pliny the Elder from Russian River, Bell's Porter, a coffee flavored stout, and a Belgian from Goose Island. Aside from that, we ran into some interesting people who all had a story to share.

So, it was time to head back to the hotel for some R&R before heading out on a special occasion with the Beergeeks and the Beer Retard. The group was going to travel to Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) for Beergeek Chris' 400th brewery celebration. Wow, 400 breweries! We arrived there that evening and settled down for some beers. The architecture in the brewery was quite exquisite. Lots of finished wood in the buildng and about 30 bike frames welded over the bar. We had the sampler and Chadd enjoyed the IPA while I liked the Stout. We also had a delicious garlic and pepperoni pizza. Note to selves, never eat a garlic pizza before going on a date, not good.

We left HUB and decided to settle down at another bar within

crawling distance of the hotel called Bailey's. Bailey's has excellent beer on tap, which is generally not easy to come by. Surprisingly, it was light on the pocket too. I also chatted with the bartender and was surprised to find out he contributed to Beer Northwest along with some of the other people we hung out with on this trip. We sat outside and chatted with some other Oregonians and visitors who had stopped by. After a round or two we called it a night awaiting for what OBF 3 held in store.

It's not often that I say this about a city, but the people in Portland are world class. We had a brewer offer us a free, private tasting and met some very friendly people at Bailey's. On the other hand, talking to a stranger at a bar in California can sometimes be like trying to pull teeth. Not fun, unless you're into sadism. In Portland, everyone is friendly and respectful.

Stay tuned for OBF 3.