Jack Harris from Fort George fills us in!

** many thanks to Jack Harris, head brewer at Fort George for sending this update and filling us in on all the happenings out at Fort George in Astoria!

                       

                       

                        YEAR IN RE-BREW + BEER TO COME     

By Jack Harris

As the City of Astoria went into high-gear to celebrate its bicentennial, Fort George ended nine months of demolition and construction was able to stretch its legs into the huge Lovell Building. Making beer 140 kegs at a time rather than 40 improved our efficiencies and elicited many a “That’s a LOT of beer!” from the brew-staff.

Our canning line arrived early in the year and we immediately put it into use gift-wrapping beers into convenient 16 ounce bundles of joy specifically created to honor Astoria’s Birthday, the 1811 Lager. We hired a local distribution staff, and started shipping our beer in large quantities throughout Oregon with Maletis Distributing.

We added a cozy new Tap-room and game area to compliment the pub and worked hard to revamp the menu in response to guest requests.  In the meantime the pub kept working to provide a space for people to gather and celebrate.  Brewers attended countless festivals, tastings, tap-takeovers, dinners and celebrations to put a face on our beer and preach their love of drinking it.

By the end of the year we had both breweries running like tops, our cooler bursting at the seams and three new tanks under construction that will triple our capacity. Our staff has nearly doubled from the end to 2010. We have cleaned out the upstairs of the Fort George Building in preparation for a long overdue pub expansion.

So I leave you with the best of wishes for 2012 (aka Astoria’s 201st Anniversary). Thank you so much for all the support you have given us. To honor that support we resolve to work even harder this year to get a great beer in your hand and a comfortable place to enjoy it with the ones you love.

            WE'RE PLANNING MORE FUN FOR YOU           

        

 

Our bigger space means an even better Stout Month.  This February we're adding the Festival of Dark Arts, featuring a carnival of the region's top stouts, and entertainment including a tarot card reader, visual artists, fire dancers, tattoo artists, a live iron forge, and music.  It happens on Saturday, February 18th 2-10 p.m. in the our Lovell Brewery.

“I wanted to make sure our stout fest would be entertaining, while also promoting local artists and tying in stout as another art form,” our Jack Harris explained.

Our breweries will produce at least eight stouts, plus we'll have rotating taps of the region's best stouts all February.

“We’re working on getting an extremely eclectic range of stouts and it’s going to be a lot of fun to come and try these in a very unique environment,” Co-owner, Chris Nemlowill, said.

Also part of Stout Month, the Stouts & Oysters Brewers Dinner Wednesday, February 15th.  Make reservations at www.fortgeorgebrewery.com or us (503) 325-PINT.

            INDIAN CUISINE & IPA'S DINNER           

Always a sold-out event, the Indian Cuisine & IPAs dinner features 5 courses of delicious dishes paired with some of the very best Northwest-style IPA's. Our head chef, Dana McCauley and his team create a new and exciting menu every year.

On par with the food and beer is the company of fellow guests at the event, as well as the hosts, Fort George owners, Chris Nemlowill and Jack Harris, who describe each course, sharing stories and interesting facts with you.  To Learn more and to sign up, click here.

            1811 LAGER RECEIVES HONOR

                       

Thanks, Beervana, we don't take this lightly...

One of Portland's top bloggers, Jeff Alworth, writes:

2011 Satori Award Winner: Fort George 1811 Lager
I loved this beer the first time I had it... I hope customers are so mesmerized by the shiny blue cans that they ignore the prominent word "lager" and don't read blogs like this.  Because, if they manage to get the beer into their glass, they're in for a treat.  Despite people's expectations about canned lager, this is quite a lively and assertive beer. And, although it is packed with flavor, the volume doesn't blast at IPA levels, so it has that moreishness you want from a summer tipple.  Fort George is one of Oregon's best breweries, and their wish to honor the founding of their home town, Astoria, makes all this a lot easier.

In Zen Buddhism, satori is the moment of sudden enlightenment when the mind realizes its own true nature.

            KEEPING YOU BETTER INFORMED        

                       

 If you work in marketing at the Fort George, chances are you'll be doing fun stuff such as attending beer festivals, curating art shows, and serving french fries, but recently a project came up that had our Brian Bovenizer staring at a computer screen for months.  He says the new and improved www.fortgeorgebrewery.com was definitely worth it though.

"Letting people know what we're doing, that is my inspiration, a good web site is not just good looking, but informative and easy to navigate," Bovenizer said.

Our old web site was truly unique and awesome, but tough to update. The new one is completely dynamic.  Do expect to see any and all new beers from Fort George, including description, and ingredients.  Plus, a fresh listing of music and other events. 

So check out the new www.fortgeorgebrewery.com and you can even download the Fort George theme song, "Beer, beer, beer, beer...", as a ringtone.

            MUSIC & EVENTS CALENDAR     

               

Music

We offer live music every Sunday at Fort George Brewery + Public House at 8 p.m. 
Jan. 8: Colleen Raney--Northwest Indie Celtic (pictured)
Jan. 15: The Distractions--Local Rock
Jan. 22: Perfect Weather--Seattle Indie Rock
Jan. 29: Lincoln's Bear--Folk Rock

Events

Jan 5: Maritime Museum Science on Tap: Coast Guard Rescues 7-8 p.m.
Jan. 18: Indian Cuisine & IPA's Brewers Dinner
Jan. 19: Fort Clatsop Education Series 6-8 p.m.
Feb. (Entire Month): Stout Month
Feb. 2: Maritime Museum Science on Tap 7-8 p.m.
Feb. 15: Stouts & Oysters Brewers Dinner
Feb. 18: Festival of Dark Arts 2-10 p.m.