Volunteer Time: Cider and Craft Beer Festival

Last night Cliff and I volunteered for the first annual McKenzie Cider and Craft Beer Festival. The event  was a benefit for Belly-Full, a program that helps to feed hungry kids in Springfield.  For a first time event I was really impressed with the amount of vendors they had as there were 41 cider and beer folks providing samples.  You can see a full list on their website, however a few noted were not in attendance last night (like Dogfish Head...sad...we miss them...a lot).  For $15 attendees got a 8oz souvenir glass and four tasting tickets.  Folks could buy additional tickets for $1 a piece.  As volunteers, we got a t-shirt, glass, and four tasting tickets for free.  Sweet deal.

We signed up to be pourers and we were assigned to Rusty Truck Brewing Company based out of Lincoln City, Oregon.   The brewer and the owners trained us on how to pour then peaced out to mingle with other beer folk.  It was awesome.  They had a really nice set-up as they brought their red 1956 Ford truck that has 16 taps on the back.  It was by far the nicest looking set-up.  Plus we were the first booth by the door so we were a happening spot.  The event was pretty crowded when we arrived for our four hour shift.  However, the Ducks game came on at 4:00pm and the crowd dwindled as we think folks went to their normal watering hole to watch.  That is kinda sad as we had a 16 x 14 inflatable screen in the venue showing the game.  You honestly could see what was happening on the field from every inch of the event...well except for our booth as we were straight sideways from it.  No worries as Cliff and I made it a game to guess what was going on from the little we could see and the crowd reactions.

Pouring was a whole lot of fun.  We memorized a few facts about the brewery and tried to be helpful to patrons who asked questions.  As a volunteer you couldn't drink until after your shift (obviously) so we had to give recommendations based on feedback from previous folks.  I won't lie...this experience totally makes me want to brew and sell our own drinks.  Cliff is pretty solid when it comes to beer facts and learning how to make stuff (heck we did make some pretty great cherry wine out of a pickle tub once) and I'm really stinkin good at chatting people up (I credit that to my parent's video/office supply store).  It's on the list.

After our shift Cliff and I finally got to sample.  Most of the vendors had two drinks on tap but some had more.  We narrowed down our choices by ruling out any Eugene/Springfield breweries as we can go there anytime (plus we've already sampled all of them).  We also didn't consider companies that we could easily buy in any grocery store.  That made things a little easier.

Ok so here is the official run down of the drinks we sampled and our ratings:

Rusty Truck Brewing Company- Lincoln City, OR: Moonlight Ride Blackberry Ale, Taft Draft Toffee Porter, and Pedal to the Metal Double IPA. All three were solid but I think their Double IPA was the best.  We weren't surprised as so many people kept coming back for it multiple times while we were pouring.  Good choice folks.

2 Towns Ciderhouse- Corviallis, OR: We heard tons of good reviews of these folks as we were pouring to we decided to try them out.  We had The Incider (a semi-sweet cider) and Serious Scrump Dry Cider (really nice but packs a punch at 11% ABV).  They were really tasty. 

Flat Tail Brewing- Corvallis, OR: I had my ear out all night looking for the best pumpkin ale in the room and that lead me to these guys.  I had their seasonal Pumpkin Saison.  It was pumpkiny without being too sweet. Saison is a french farmhouse style beer with a low ABV that is cloudy and sometimes kinda tastes  bananay.  When I looked on Flat Tail's website I see that they also have a pumpkin stout.  I want that one.  Pumpkin beers (even if they are hit or miss) make me happy.  Maybe this means we need to heard up to Corvallis on our next beer tour.

Wandering Aengus Ciderworks- Salem, OR:  While I was sipping on my pumpkin beer Cliff tried these guy's Anthem Cherry Cider.  Cliff said it was really fun and enjoyable.  Like a delicious drink version of a cherry pie.  He really liked it as I only got one sip before it was gone.

Good Life Brewing Company- Bend, Oregon: Cliff got their Pass Stout American Stout Ale.  Cliff and I agreed that it was quite good.  Hoppy and big flavored.  We would get it again if we found it on tap.

Tieton Cider Works- Tieton, WA: We tried their Yakima Valley Dry Hopped Cider and it was awesome.  Such a good idea! Seriously brilliant.  The Northwest is known for hops and apples so why not mix them?  It was crisp, dry, not too sweet, and hoppy.  We would definitely get this again and in fact are going to be on the lookout for it. 

Crazy Mountain Brewing Company- Edwards, CO: We got their Old Soul Strong Belgian Ale.  I liked it but I sadly don't remember all that much about it.  Whoops.  We should have been taking notes.

Base Camp Brewing Company- Portland, OR: After reading their menu we had to try their S'More Stout.  We really like S'mores and we really like stouts.  What could be better?  It was really rich and was 8.5% ABV.  So just like s'mores this drink was a nice treat.

Our results...

Best Cider: Tieton Cider Works - Yakima Valley Dry Hopped Cider

Best Beer: Rusty Truck Brewing Company- Pedal to the Metal Double IPA
We also got Hole-In-The Wall BBQ for dinner and split a bag of kinda gross popcorn.  It was an awesome volunteer opportunity that turned into a pretty fun night.