Double Mountain Brewery Blog

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Release Parties

“EMPIRE STRIKES BACK” All-English IPA Release Parties

Friday, March 5th
Brother John’s Public House
1227 NW Galveston Ave, Bend
5-9pm

We’ll be in attendance to talk shop and raffle off some schwag at both of these events.

Charlie talks about the Beer:

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is a concept beer that answers the question, “what happens when you make a big Northwest-style IPA with all-English malt and hops?” We are unabashedly local when it comes to raw materials here at Double Mountain, and rightly so, given their impeccable quality. But as a big fan of big British beers, I figured a Brit-inspired brew (on steroids) would make for a nice contrast to our regular line-up. And so I decided to use my self-allotted once-a-year recipe (last year’s was Das Boot, an altbier) to give it a go. Our brewer Kyle Larsen brought me up to speed on the current ins-and-outs of our brewing system and we knocked out the batch together.

Straight out of the gate, we knew this would be a malty affair, as the Maris Otter “pale” malt from Crisp Maltings appeared anything but pale. Maris Otter is floor-malted and turned by hand, which suggest some inherent variability. Our batch of 20 bags was a darkish khaki color with some mild scorch marks — not at all like our beloved house Pilsner malt grown in British Columbia. We added a bag of Crisp “Coloured Malt” to add richness and color. The malt yielded particularly well, giving us a nicely high starting gravity above what we’d been shooting for. (In our world, this is a good problem to have…)

As expected, the Fuggles and Kent Goldings hops we sourced via Hopunion were very muted by Yakima standards; the Fuggles were nicely spicy, the Goldings herbal. We packed the hopback with copious quantities, then saved a bunch for dry-hopping. After a two week fermentation with our house yeast, we rested the beer on 1+ lbs per barrel of Goldings for about two weeks. The final product came in at around 6% ABV and 65 BU.

The resulting beer is big and aromatically malty, very mouth-filling for its strength, with a decided lean towards sticky toffee flavors and aromas. The hopping almost devoid of the citrus character we associate with “hoppy” beers here in the Northwest, but they do provide a backbone of clean bitterness, and a tad of spicy/herbal hop aroma. The mid-palate hop flavors are pretty much overwhelmed, however, by the massive malt attack. Definitely a malt-lover’s IPA…I don’t think anyone would ever guess it had over three lbs per barrel of hops in it. But that’s how it goes in the world of one-off brewing.

So if you’re psyched to take a brief (and I do mean brief — we only made about 40 kegs’ worth) sojourn into the land of malty goodness, come find me at one of the gigs listed above. I’ll be waiting. Cheers, Charlie Devereux

Our Third Anniversary Party, March 13!

DOUBLE MOUNTAIN THIRD ANNIVERSARY PARTY
Saturday March 13, 2010 – Noon to 11pm
at the Brewery: 8 Fourth St, Hood River OR

It’s that time again — time to come on down to Double Mountain and help us celebrate three years of fantastic beers, tasty fare and good times with friends. We pay homage to our great family of fans every March with a big blowout party… It’s our way of saying thanks for supporting us all the year round.

This year’s gig promises to be bigger than ever, featuring

• a 40′x60′ heated tent right in front of the brewery;

• at least fourteen Double Mountain beers on tap, with some rarities from the “archive”;

• homestyle Mexican food specials, including some killer tamales made by Silvia’s mama;

• great bands all day and night. Here’s the lineup:

2:30pm PARIS SLIM (slide guitar blues guru)
4:30pm GARRETT BRENNAN and the GREAT SALT LICKS (acoustic roots supergroup)
7:00pm TONY SMILEY and the BIRD (our favorite loop ninja)
9:00pm CHRONICLE (conscious reggae, on the dance floor)

And as always, the entertainment is FREE!

For all you out-of-towners, our good friends at the Hood River Hotel are offering a special $89 rate in honor of our gig. Call (800) 386-1859 or visit them online at www.hoodriverhotel.com to book.

This year’s party will be kid-friendly until 8pm. If you have any questions, give us a buzz at 541-387-0042, or shoot us an email at info@doublemountainbrewery.com. Hope to see you on the 13th!

Zwickelmania!

[yes that's a zwickel, a.k.a. sanitary sampling valve]

Please join us at the Double this Saturday February 13 in celebration of “Zwickelmania”, the Oregon Brewers Guild’s statewide open house celebration. Co-owner Charlie will be leading free tours at 12, 1, 2 ,3 and 4pm, with tank tastings and a beer & cheese tasting. You even get a complimentary pint glass, all FREE.

And… while you’re in town, make sure you check out Full Sail’s Zwickelmania tour and Beer+Chocolate pairing, yum.

Not to be outdone, our friends at Nora’s Table in Hood River are presenting a Beer Lover’s Menu in honor of Zwickelmania. Four courses, five beers, $75 per couple. Here’s the menu:

-House made pickles, artisan cheeses, charcuterie and crocatini, paired with Double Mountain Kolsch

-Rockfish Tacos with Tamarind-Chipotle Aoli and Cotija Cheese, paired with Full Sail Session Lager

-Cashew Chicken Curry with Seasonal Vegetables and Housemade Grilled Naan, paired with Double Mountain Hop Lava

-Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Tart, paired with Double Mountain Porter A-Go-Go & Full Sail Top Sail Bourbon Porter

Call them at 541-387-4000 for more info.

There are Zwickelmania events statewide: go to www.oregonbeer.org to scope ‘em out.

Porter A-Go-Go Release Party at EastBurn this Thurs Feb 4

Join us this week at The EastBurn for the Portland release of “Porter A-Go-Go”, a deliciously easy-drinking dark beer for the dark months. Here’s brewmaster Matt’s beer description:

“You can’t get through winter without a nicely balanced, subtle porter. London Porters historically were the darker ales brewed for the working man, usually less roasty than their stout cousins. Our Porter combines chocolate and crystal malts balanced in the Double Mountain style, with whole-leaf Challengers in the hop back, and our Belgian house yeast. Moderate strength, so you can have a few. Brewed with organic Pilsner malt, chocolate malt and dark crystal malts, Summit and Challenger hops. 5.0% ABV, 32 BU.”

The gig will run from 6-9pm, with $3 happy hour pints all night. Matt will be down in the basement, raffling off DM schwag and talking shop with the faithful. Should be a fun night. The EastBurn is located at 1800 East Burnside in Portland; check them out online at www.theeastburn.com for more info.

Kyle Larsen is Bigger, Badder and Blacker

Late-breaking news: Double Mountain brewer Kyle Larsen will be at Belmont Station tomorrow night, Thursday Jan 7 at 6pm to debut “Imperial Chaos”, a 9.5% ABV stout that he designed and brewed. It’s all part of the Station’s “Bigger, Badder and Blacker” festival now underway. (Yes it sounds more like a porno than a beer event, but that’s just how they roll…)

A blend of dark malts (brown, roast, Carafa and roasted barley) gives The Chaos an aggressive, complex roastiness in both aroma and flavor. Kyle added two varieties of candi sugar and mucho bittering hops (around 90 BU) to give it plenty of punch. It’s a badass beer.

Belmont Station is at 4500 SE Stark in Portland. Click here to check out their website and learn more about the fest.

Imperial Chaos will be going on tap soon at a few select bars around Portland, and will be pouring at our Taproom in Hood River for the next couple of months.

Holiday Hours

Update: Come join us tonight and enjoy the bluegrass stylings of Portland’s Four on the Floor from 9pm to midnight! Free, as always. And for those who need it, we’ll be open regular hours on Friday January 1, 11:30am to 11pm.

Here’s wishing you all a happy, healthy, and beery 2010!

DM is Down with the Puget Sound

Well, it’s happening, our little brand is growin’ up. Last week saw the maiden voyage of IRA, Hop Lava, Fa La La, etc., up to the Puget Sound market, delivered to six superbad (i.e., awesome) accounts. We’re basically dipping our little toe in the big sea that is our neighbor to the north, planting seeds (yes I’m mixing metaphors again) in the best places in advance of widespread distribution there.

So if you’re in the area, look for us (in alphabetical order) at:
Beveridge Place Pub (West Seattle)
Brouwer’s Cafe (Fremont)
Dray Tavern (Ballard)
Latona Pub (Green Lake)
Naked City Taphouse (Greenwood)
Red Hot Tavern (Tacoma)

To kick things off proper, we’ll be doing a Meet-The-Brewer gig at Naked City on Tuesday, December 15. Working out the details right now, but expect a bunch of beers to taste, schwag to raffle, and idle chitchat from Matt & Charlie.

More Fa-La-La-La-Locations

here’s another dozen:
Anna Bannanas
Belmont Station
Delta Cafe
Goodfoot
Green Dragon
Henry’s Tavern
Highland Still House
LaurelThirst Pub
Mt. Hood Country Store
Report Lounge
Saraveza
Sawtooth Roadhouse

please be sure you check with the accounts directly, to see if it’s still pouring… it’s moving fast.

Fa La La La La: Game On

A big thank you to Yoni Laos and the staff at Victory Bar for hosting our Portland premier of Fa La La La La, our big tasty winter ale. And a big apology to anyone who didn’t get there before the two kegs blew. But don’t fret, there’s more where that came from… here’s a list of the accounts in Portland who’ve received their kegs of the Fa today:

Amnesia Brewing
Atomic Pizza
Bye and Bye
Concordia Ale House
Horse Brass
Kenton Club
LaurelThirst Pub
Mash Tun
Moon and Sixpence
Russell St. BBQ
Wankers Corner

We’ll update this list next week. (Roughly 80 kegs earmarked for Portland this year…)

Big Happenings in November

Howdy folks, we have bunch of cool stuff happening in the next few weeks, as we anticipate snowstorms and first runs on Hood. Here’s the list as of now, reprinted from our Calendar page:

THURSDAY, NOV 5:
ALPENBREW RELEASE AT HENRY’S
Henry’s 12th Street Tavern, 10 NW 12th Ave, Portland
5:30pm start
Join us as we usher in the winter fun season with this year’s Portland premiere of Alpenbrew, a delicious brew we originally created for Mount Hood Meadows’ 40th anniversary. Somewhere between an english-style Pale and ESB, Alpenbrew features a nice nutty maltiness and earthy, spicy hops. We’ll be on hand to pour tastes, give out stuff and talk beer.

THURSDAY, NOV 12:
FA LA LA LA LA LA RELEASE AT VICTORY
Victory Bar, 3652 SE Division, Portland
5:30pm start
Yanni and the crew at Victory have been pining for a release party, so here we go. Fa La La La La is our winter ale offering, packed with enough rich malt and Centennial hops to fill Santa’s toy bag. Brewmaster Matt himself will be on hand to hang out and hold court. This one should be packed, so make it over early if you can.

THURSDAY, NOV 12:
DOUBLE MOUNTAIN NIGHT AT SUDS ‘N’ SUDS
Suds ‘n’ Suds, 1045 NW Kings Blvd., Covallis
6:30pm start
We’re not sure how a laundromat became the best place in Corvallis to drink craft beer, but it surely is… Joe and the crew will be tapping a murderer’s row of fine Double Mountain ales, including IRA, Hop Lava, Killer Green, Fa La La la La La, and Terrible Two, our bourbon-barrel-aged reserve brown ale. Charlie will be on hand to raffle off the schwag. Last year’s gig was awaesome, looking forward to even more awesomeness.

NEW DATE:
TUESDAY, NOV. 17:
BREWER’S DINNER AT LAURELHURST MARKET
Laurelhurst Market, 3155 E Burnside, Portland
Chef David Kreifels is putting together a blowout six-courses paired with Double Mountain beers. Laurelhurst is arguably the “it” spot of the moment, and we’re honored to be the focus of their first-ever beer dinner. We will publish the full menu once it’s been finalized, which should be any day now.