#culmination brewing

[thedaily-beer]

Modern Times / Culmination Brewing Laser Rain Gose (Picked up at Bev-Mo). A 3 of 4. Smells brightly of cucumber and lime up front, with the guava more in the background. Really nice sourness in the body that’s relatively subtle, and this is incredibly refreshing. The cucumber, in particular, really shines in this.

[whatchudrinkin]

Please Order at the Bar

Culmination Brewing is located in a cavernous, old warehouse in NE Portland, blocks from the freeway and the massive Pepsi bottling plant. It shares space with a sock manufacturer and a cider and mead maker. The tasting room is tiny, the bar probably fits fifty, uncomfortably. The tables are too short and the stools are too high. But there is a nice patio in the front, in a few months it will be too warm to mind. 

It’s hard to mind the cramped space once the beer starts flowing. There are twenty taps on the wall, five of them for guests, fifteen brewed in-house. The tap list is a beer nerds dream, featuring hops, more hops, three different sour beers, and a few interesting adjuncts like yuzu and cherry blossoms.

During the week, the Culmination kitchen churns out the usual bacon flavored french fries and pulled pork sandwiches you’ve come to expect at a taproom. On Sundays, they host Of Roots and Blooms, a pop-up restaurant which specializes in very fancy, very tasty vegan food. 

Over a bowls of beet ravioli stuffed with winter root veggies and almond ricotta with fennel-leek cream sauce, we sampled all the IPAs we could. It just seemed like the prudent thing to do. From what we tasted, four of the eight hoppy ales on offer, Culmination has definite house flavor, juicy and sharp.

Perhaps the most juicy, and Sarah’s favorite of the night, was Obscured by Clouds. The Northeastern IPA is having a moment in Portland, spurred on by the sudden popularity of Great Notion Brewing’s Juice Box. Culmination’s version is thick as milk with a massive citrus flavor. It’s like drinking fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, with extra pulp. It goes down ultra smooth, even at 8.4%.

Next up we had Elation Imperial IPA, a more traditional West Coast double IPA. It’s juicy too, but with a redder, more berry forward flavor – black currant, raspberry – and a slightly tart finish.  

Zenwave – a “HefeweIPAzen” brewed in collaboration with Widmer Brothers – was the hazy younger brother of Obscured by Clouds, tasty but a little boring compared to the real thing. 

Seeing as it’s February, the unofficial season of triple decker IPAs, we also sampled Ferret the Younger. I picked up a definite note of blueberry from Mosaic hops. I was impressed how clean it tastes. It never betrays its 11.9% ABV.

We finished our flight with Peche, a peach flavored sour ale. They call it a Flanders Style Blonde. It’s pretty authentic – sour, fruity, sharp. Yet, I was itching for a little more wood flavor. A little more funk. 

There’s a reason Culmination was named the Best New Brewery at the 2016 Oregon Beer Awards. The brewery fits perfectly into the current zeitgeist. The constantly rotating tap list is evidence of ambition and curiosity. The beers are imaginative and there are just so many of them. We need to go back soon.

[nwbeerguide]

Fuji to Hood at Culmination Brewing Company

Press Release

PORTLAND, Ore. … Japanese and Portland collaboration beer festival Fuji to Hood returns to northeast Portland’s Culmination Brewing on Saturday, April 25th, 2020. Tickets are on-sale now for this one-of-a-kind event that will feature 17 collaboration beers, 1 collab cider and 1 collab kombucha. Each craft fermentation team has been tasked with using atleast one Japanese ingredient in their collaborations. Fuji to Hood will also feature Japanese food vendors, sake, DJ’s and more in an expanded outdoor tented space at 2117 NE Oregon St, Portland, OR 97232 from noon - 6pm. 

Fuji to Hood promotes industry, cultural, and interpersonal exchange between Oregon and Japan, by exclusively featuring beverages made in collaboration between craftspeople from both regions. Participants spend months jointly planning their beers, ciders, and kombucha, and personally attend the event to share their creations with festival attendees. As in 2018, Culmination Brewing will host this event in front of their taproom, with a VIP session from 11AM to 12PM, and a general admission session from 12PM to 6PM.

Fuji to Hood was first held in Portland in 2018 with 10 brewery collabs and 1 cider collab. The following year the fest jumped to Japan for Hood to Fuji and expanded to 17 collaborations with Oregon brewers making the trip for the event in June. In 2020 Fuji to Hood returns to Portland with 18 collaborations made in Oregon with the Japanese brewers traveling out to attend the festival.

Japanese ingredients expected in this year’s beer and cider menu include a number of citrus fruits, persimmons, koji rice, matcha green tea, peppercorns, dried plums, and even shiitake mushrooms. As an extra offering at Fuji to Hood, an Oregon-Japan collaborative kombucha will also be served.

Collaboration teams include the following well-known breweries, cideries, and kombucha makers from Oregon and Japan:

Boneyard + Heiwa Craft

Breakside + Ise Kadoya

Brew Dr. Kombucha + KOMBUCHA SHIP

Cascade + RISE & WIN

Culmination + Nara Brewing

Ecliptic + Y.MARKET

Ex Novo + Shiga Kogen

Fort George + Black Tide

Gigantic + North Island

Great Notion + Son of the Smith

Hair of the Dog + Yokosuka Beer

Level + Repubrew

Little Beast + Harvest Moon

Modern Times + Minoh Beer

New Hokkaido + Far Yeast

Reverend Nat’s + Hitachino Nest

Ruse + Spring Valley

Upright + Fujisakura Kogen

Von Ebert + Shonan Beer

Free tastings of saké from Oregon’s SakeOne will be available, and vendors will sell Japanese food to accompany the fantastic beverage selection. Fuji to Hood ticket packages will be available for purchase on-line at www.fujitohood.com. The 2018 event sold out, so it is highly recommended to make ticket purchases in advance. Each ticket can be exchanged for a 4 oz. pour of a beverage of choice. A number of ticketing options will be available:

VIP session 10-ticket package = $35 

VIP session 20-ticket package = $50

General admission session 10 ticket-package = $25

General admission session 20 ticket-package = $40

Extra tickets = $2 each 

Tickets available at https://fujitohood.com/tickets

The festival encourages responsible drinking and urges patrons to take Tri-Met or ride-sharing services. Attendees can take advantage of a special hotel promotion kindly offered by KEX Portland. Use of the promotion code “Fuji2Hood” will discount room rates by 10% for stays during the April 21 to April 29 timeframe.

In celebration of its dedication to fostering relations and exchange between Oregon and Japan, the Japan-America Society of Oregon (JASO) will receive a portion of festival ticket sales.

For more information, please visit www.fujitohood.com or follow @Fuji2Hood on social media, using the hashtag #fujitohood.

[nwbeerguide]

"Brunch and Bliss Culmination/Ruse Brewing Crowler Release!" at Culmination Brewing

Brunch and Bliss is an American double IPA that Culmination Brewing Company and Ruse Brewing created together. This beer will be released in a limited amount of 32oz crowler cans (100). This beer contains Mosaic and Topaz hops. Pineapple was added to the bright tank. This beer comes in at 9% A.B.V., has a balanced hop profile and a great fruity pineapple flavor. There will be a limit of 3 crowlers per person. Enjoy!

[nwbeerguide]

Culmination Brewers with Imperial Executive Chef & Owner/Chef at Imperial

Imperial presents an exciting multi-course dinner with Culmination Head Brewer Conrad Andrus! Food pairings by Imperial Executive Chef Matthew Jarrell and Chef/Owner Vitaly Paley.  The dinner will be hosted on Saturday, September 30th in Imperial's Pettygrove Room at the Hotel Lucia. Doors open at 6 PM pm for noshes and drink to start.  The 5-course dinner is $85 per person inclusive of beer, food & service charge.

Please email questions or comments to [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you at the dinner!

*This event is for guests 21 and over*

[nwbeerguide]

"We're Not Done Yet!" at Belmont Station

Three of Oregon's hottest breweries made special beers for our 20th anniversary celebration. Brewers and representatives from each brewery will be here talking beer and helping us toast to another 20 years.  On Tap:

Culminaton: Euphoric - Brett IPA

Culmination: Momentary Lapse of Reason - NE-style Double IPA 

Ruse: Sparrow Sin English - American Barley Wine Aged in Rye Whiskey Casks

Ruse: 4th Kind - NE-style Oatmeal Pale hopped w/ Citra and Simcoe

pFriem: Belmont Belgian Single - Belgian-style Abbey Single

pFriem: Bosbessen - Blueberry Lambic Inspired Ale

[whatchudrinkin]

Take On Me?

The label looks like something out an a-ha video, but the beer is good. Herbal notes of juniper, a thin layer of mango slices, and a deeper level of grapefruit – Culmination Brewing is onto something. Phaedrus IPA was voted the fourth best in the city by Willamette Week, for good reason. It’s a very crisp beer, it finishes dry with an almost metallic edge. It tastes very northwestern, which is surprising. In the current climate, most brewers are looking east for IPA inspiration.

[whatchudrinkin]

The Wait is Over

For three years it was promised, and it finally came.  Culmination Brewing was big even before it opened. The test batches were enough for people to lose their minds. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but Culmination Brewing was being hyped way before the beer hit the streets.

Culmination is the brainchild of Thomas Sluiter, brewery consultant. Since the brewery was first announced in 2013, the project has featured Sluiters most ambitious plans. At one point, the brewhouse was going to be open to homebrewers to make their own recipes with every step of the brewing process controlled on the brewery website. There was going to be a music label, a recording studio, concerts in the brewery. 

Looks like the recording studio was hold, and they don’t any shows booked this month. But the unique five barrel brewhouse is churning out a variety of new Culmination brews. The small size allows for lots of experimenting, and the tasting room has at least fifteen Culmination brews on tap at a time. As usual, I missed the grand opening last summer, but now that Culmination Brewing is on the shelves, i figured it was time to try them out. 

Euphoric is a Brett IPA with plenty of musty, earthy flavor. The flavor is a blend of fresh, damp forest and old, preserved oranges. Not exactly the tropical fog I was promised, but very tasty. Euphoric is dry and balanced, but it could use some more hops. Culmination is not exactly all it was cracked up to be, but it’s hard to reach your potential in only six months.