Sunday, January 07, 2007

You Heard It Here First!

We stopped into Laurelwood for a pint of their Moose and Squirrel, a dark and delicious Russian Imperial Stout, and heard that in the very near future, in addition to two new locations on NE Sandy and the airport, they're going to be bottling their roster of house beers. We're sure that this is being prompted by the popularity of their products, developed under the guidance of brewing wunderkind (and now master brewer) Christian Ettinger, who left Laurelwood last summer and is set to open his own pub and brewery, Hopworks Urban Brewery or the HUB, on SE Powell. His role has been taken over by new brewer Chad Kennedy, who is already showing promise as a successor to Ettinger.

Their first location on NE Sandy in Hollywood was originally designed to brew 800 barrels and is currently producing 1800 barrels for their two locations and several discriminating restaurants around town. While the original brewery will continue producing their seasonals, the new Sandy location will take over and expand the production of their regular roster. Having ventured into the 1-liter bottling business with the huge success of the holiday release of their Organic Deranger, the new bottlings will initially be sold at the pubs. But I can only imagine that you'll soon be seeing them at various retail outlets in the near future. Which can only bode well for fans of the best of our great Portland brews.

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