B Corp Certification for Hopworks Brewery

On the eve of its seventh anniversary, Hopworks Urban Brewery, the only all-organic brewery in Oregon—and one of the few in the U.S.—has also become the first brewery in the Northwest to achieve B Corp Certification. It's only the seventh brewery in the world to earn the designation for using the "power of business to solve social and environmental problems."

Owner Christian Ettinger.

Oregon is fortunate to have 47 businesses so designated, out of more than 1,000 certified businesses in 60 industries in 34 countries. In other words, for a single state, we're doing quite well. In its application for certification, Hopworks detailed its practices, such as using "USDA Certified Organic and Salmon-Safe Certified ingredients in beer, giving of 1% of Powell brew pub pint sales to local charitable organizations, providing organic and local pub fare, maintaining 100% carbon neutral operations and a zero-waste initiative."

But wait, there's more: the brewery has installed a system to drastically cut its use of water. At a current rate of 3.39 gallons of water to produce a gallon of beer, it's using less than half the industry average.

I think we can all raise a glass to that achievement and toast founder Christian Ettinger and his crew for their efforts. We'd expect no less!

Found: A Piece of Beervana History

We used to be big garage sale fans. Dave would scour the paper early Saturday morning, circling his picks in the classifieds, with those offering tools or, especially old woodworking planes, in bright red ink. After a cup of coffee I'd take a crack at the ads and we'd map our route to get to as many of our best picks within the couple of hours of precious weekend time we could devote to the hunt.

In the last few years we've slacked off, realizing that at this point we need to get rid of stuff rather than accumulate it. Though once in a great while we'll come across a treasure that just can't be passed up.

This morning Dave came home from running errands with a real find. Stopping at a sale in the Hollywood area, he noticed some brewpub growlers sitting on a table. One in particular stopped him dead in his tracks. On the front was a sticker announcing it was from Old World Pub & Brewery, an early but short-lived brewery and café that was taken over by Mike DeKalb's nascent Laurelwood Brewing.

We'd gone to Old World to check it out and, while the food was uneven, its beers were spectacular, the work of a young and then-unknown brewer by the name of Christian Ettinger. When Old World morphed into Laurelwood, Ettinger stayed with the company, developing an award-winning array of hop-forward beers that would help define the Northwest style of brewing. As most beer fans know, he left Laurelwood after several years to start his own Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB), an all-organic brewpub and café on SE Powell, opening the Hopworks BikeBar on North Williams this summer.

The woman who was giving the garage sale rolled her eyes when Dave handed over his money and, pointing at the growler, said, "Portland brewing history!" But, needless to say, he's beside himself with excitement over his treasure, and can't wait to take it to Hopworks and get it filled. The question is, will they notice?

Livin' in the Blurbs: Bibles, Bombay and Bikes

With all the hoopla over locavores, 100-mile diets and plowing up lawns to make gardens, you'd think that eating local was a brand new idea. But since the mid-80s author Janie Hibler has made a career writing about the goodness that comes from the Northwest, starting with "Fair Game–A Hunter's Cookbook" and "Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers." Her "The Berry Bible"has just been republished by Amazon, with its histories and recipes for every berry imaginable, from cloudberries and currants to cape gooseberries and salmonberries. You can meet Hibler, sample recipes from the book and pick up a signed copy this Saturday at the Beaverton Farmers' Market, so plan to stop by!

Details: Janie Hibler, author of The Berry Bible. Sat., July 31, 10-11:30 am. Beaverton Farmers' Market, On SW Hall Blvd. between 3rd and 5th Sts. in Beaverton.

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The website Budget Travel recently named Portland as the world's best place to eat street food, but at just a few years old, food cart culture here can't hold a candle to the ancient art that is the street food of India. My friend Sophie Rahman, who sells classic Indian street cuisine at her Masala booth at the Hollywood Farmers' Market, is offering a class on Chowpatty, the street food of India that she describes as "India’s answer to the Pacific Northwest’s passion for healthy snack food eaten on the go." Made with Chat-patta spices to create such portable treats as aloo-chaat, bhel-poori and bhajia, they are commonly eaten during the day along with a cool glass of lassi or a cup of spicy chai. She adds that most of the dishes are vegetarian and are made using rice and lentils and rice and lentil flours. Having taken one of Sophie's classes, I can guarantee you'll learn a lot and eat very, very well.

Details: Chowpatty: Street Food of India with Sophie Rahman of Masala. Two dates available: Aug. 24 and Aug. 31, both from 6-9 pm. Classes limited to 6 students each. $50 per person. E-mail for registration information.

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Bikes are starting to rival beer as icons of Portland culture, and one summer event, the Second Annual Hopworks Biketobeerfest, brings them together in a mash-up of beer bellies and spandex. In addition to 15 Hopworks beers on tap, and with proceeds going to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Portland Sunday Parkways, it'll feature live music, a hand-built bicycle show, Goldsprints roller races, a bike toss and other bike-related insanity. Pedal your own bone-shaker on down to this all-bike, no cars event and raise a pint to two wheels!

Details: 2nd Annual Hopworks Biketobeerfest. Sat., Aug. 28, Noon-10 pm. Hopworks Urban Brewery, 2944 SE Powell Blvd. Phone 503-232-4677.

HUB-date: Open At Last!

Had to take a beer break and give you the great news that Christian Ettinger's Hopworks Urban Brewery opened yesterday to throngs of happy hop-heads. So pent-up was the anticipation that by early evening they'd filled to capacity and there was a half-hour wait just to get in the door! And Christian was worried that no one would show up on opening day...

We got a table in the corner with a great view of the amazing bike-frame sculpture over the bar and ordered our first round from the selection of ten beers on tap plus two on cask. Christian came by and informed us that their two cask taps would always have the IPA and the other would rotate with seasonals. The incredible Kentucky Christmas ale, their Abominable Winter Ale aged in freshly emptied Kentucky bourbon barrels, is on now and has to be tasted to be believed. Rich, dry and completely quaffable, it's on my list of great brews.

One of the party got the sampler tray that featured eight beers, six of their regular brews with two seasonals, and all were outstanding. Though Christian isn't known for making flavored beers, his Survival Seven-Grain Stout, finished with 15 pounds of cold-pressed Stumptown Hairbender espresso, is a must-have. The rest, ranging from a pale ale to their ESB, are all, as expected, well-made and among the best you'll find in this beer-crazy town.

And the food? Well, I've been saying that what Portland needs is a pub with outstanding beer and outstanding food and, at this point, I'd have to say Hopworks' pub grub is at the top of the heap. We tried the papas fritas and the chicken wings from the very reasonably priced happy hour menu and found them excellent, the fried potatoes crisp on the outside and tender inside and the wings juicy and spicy.

We also ordered two pizzas, one a sausage and pepperoni combo and the other a feta and artichoke heart pie, and both came out piping hot and delicious. And despite the crush of customers, the staff was efficient and responsive, keeping us well-supplied and happy. The beer and the food disappeared in no time, and we were making plans to return when the HUB-bub dies down a bit.

Details: Hopworks Urban Brewery, 2944 SE Powell Blvd. Phone 503-232-4677.