Once
again, I happened to be in Portland for this great event.
Every
year, on a single day in mid-February, breweries across the state of Oregon
host free tours in an open house format. Participants take short tours and
receive samples given directly from the conditioning tanks. The tap near the
bottom of the tank is called a "zwickel," and hence the name. This
event takes in the Portland metro area on one weekend, and then in all other parts
of Oregon state on the following weekend. This year, in Portland alone, 65
breweries participated.
Five
of us went off across the city in search of some of the newer breweries, or
some in cases newer outposts of established breweries: Vagabond Brewing
Portland, West Coast Grocery, Ruse Brewing, Von Ebert East, Migration Brewing -
Gresham, and Threshold Brewing & Blending.
Our
fifth stop of the day was Migration Brewing – Gresham.
To
be honest, I hadn’t paid much attention to Migration Brewing for several years.
I recall visiting their Glisan St. brewery during Zwickelmania in 2013, but I
don’t think I have tried any of their beers since then.
Well,
things have changed and are continuing to change. First, the brewery has built
a large new facility and plans to expand production greatly. Migration produced
1450 barrels in 2017, planned to make 3,000 barrels in 2018, and has the aim to
turn out 10,000 barrels in 2020. Second, they hired Head Brewer Trever Bass
away from Hopworks Urban Brewery. Third, they signed a distribution deal that
should allow them to make their beers much more widely available. Fourth, they
now have a large taproom area at the front of the brewing facility. Finally,
the customer space will soon be augmented by an outdoor patio and an event
space.
(lots
of room to expand)
Generally
at Zwickelmania, we tend to drop in at a brewery, sample a few taps, chat
briefly with the brewer or the staff, and then quickly move on to the next
place. However, we spent a considerable amount of time at Migration. This was
partly due to the quality of the beer and partly because of Trever Bass’ interesting
stories and explanations.
(Head Brewer Trever Bass (right) took good care of us)
The
beer ranged from a massive barrel-aged imperial Stout (“Vanilla Westward”) to
an intense West Coast IPA (“Straight Outta Portland”) to a saison made with 500
lbs. of grapes (“Maltbec Nouveaux”).
(sampling the Maltbec Nouveaux)
18188
NE Wilkes Rd.
Portland,
OR 97230
(971)
274 3770
