Beer Hall: Portland’s Top 10 IPAs, Brewstillery Fest, and Cuvee Van De Kaiser

Buckle up for a Sunday hangover.

(Nashco)
Buckle up for a Sunday hangover: There’s a lot to drink this Saturday. Whether blind tasting of the city’s best IPAs, sipping beer-and-spirit pairings, or breathing in the sweet and complex smells of one of Belgium’s finest dark ales, there’s too many excellent events to avoid a long and mouth-watering day on the town.

Friday, February 23

Juicy In the Sky With Diamonds Release!
Ex Novo launches its latest juicy one-off IPA, featuring a massive amount of Simcoe, Comet, Mosaic and Galaxy hops for huge tropical flavors. As with many of the best IPAs, this one is only available fresh at the brewery, no can hoarding allowed. PH. Ex Novo Brewing, 2326 N Flint Ave. 3 pm. Free.

Saturday, February 24

All-Portland Top 10 IPA Taste-Off

On February 15, a blind panel of eight beer nerds, beer-bar owners, beer industry experts and one cider maker picked the top 10 IPAs made in Portland. All beer was delivered or picked up from the brewery within two days of the tasting. We might have picked the top 10, but the beer drinkers of Portland pick the best. At 1 pm on Saturday, February 24—at the neutral ground of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider—we’ll tap the top 10 Portland-brewed IPAs available right now. Just as with our original panel of beer geeks, we’ll tap them blind. The beers will be labeled only with the numbers 1 through 10, and your votes will determine the order of the top 10 beers in Portland. The results will be revealed in the February 28 issue of WW. MK. Reverend Nat’s Cidery & Public Taproom, 1813 NE 2nd Ave. 1 pm.

4th Annual Brewstillery Festival
This Saturday, 20 Breweries and Distilleries teaming up to create the perfect pairings of beer and booze. Each pairing will consist of a 4oz beer pour and a 1/4 oz spirit taste. Particularly enticing teams include Breakside and House Spirits, Great Notion and Bull Run, and Little Beast and Indio Spirits. PH. Stormbreaker Brewing, 832 N Beech St. 12 pm. $25 for event branded beer tasting glass and 10 tasting tickets. VIP (limited to 75) is $45 for event branded whiskey glass, event beer tasting glass, 15 tickets, and one hour early entry (11 am).

Cuvee van de Keizer Day
Originally made to celebrate the birthday of King Charles V, Cuvee van de Keizer Rood and Cuvee van de Keizer Blauw are two legendary Belgian strong ales with notes of caramel and fruity apple skin. Those two, plus all the other Gouden Carolus beers made by iconic Brouwerij Het Anker will be available today, providing your mouth a vacation that your checkbook probably can’t cash. PH. The Abbey Bar & Bottle Shop, 1650 NW 23rd Ave. Free.

Breakside Wanderlust Top Oregon IPA Coronation

Breakside celebrates its Wanderlust imprint’s recent win in 15th Avenue Hophouse’s month-long blind IPA taste test for Oregon’s Top IPA with swag and dollar pints for all Breakside voters. All others can show up for discounted Wanderlust and to try several of Breakside’s newest releases, including the always excellent SafeWord IIIPA. PH. 15th Avenue Hophouse, 1517 NE Brazee St. 3 pm.

Hillsdale Brewfest
Once a year, the brewers from all the many McMenamins get together and compete to see who makes the best McMenamins beer in town. We’re predicting Edgefield’s Lord of Misrule, Kennedy School’s IPA or Crystal’s Kush. McMenamins Hillsdale, 1505 SW Sunset Blvd., 503-246-3938, mcmenamins.com. All day.

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