The Mighty Mites Session Fest This Sunday
The New School helped organize this Sunday's mini fest, "The Mighty Mites" a session beer fest, as part of the Hawthorne Street Fair. Originally founded by Jeff Alworth at Beervana and held during the first annual Portland Beer Week, it has now become an August tradition as an outdoor beer garden open to all-ages.
When the first Mighty Mites took place in August of 2011, low alcohol or "session" beers were hard to find and unpopular. The unofficial but mostly agreed-upon definition of a session beer is that it must be no stronger than 5% ABV. In the last few years session beers have exploded, with my favorite trends being the resurgence of the Berliner-Weisse style of tart wheat beer and Session IPAs, so I chose two examples of both of those styles in this Sunday's beer list. Rounding out the list is an eclectic group of styles, from a Rye Brettanamyoces saison from Breakside Brewery, a Mexican-style lager from Double Mountain, an American Lager from Oakshire, a Raspberry Wheat beer from Fort George, a Pale Ale made with Juniper berries from Gigantic, and strangest of all, Lompoc Brewing's Black and Blue, which was brewed specifically for The Mighty Mites.
4% Abv GABF award winning Berliner-Weisse
Burnside Brewing: lowercase ipa Description: A sessionable, hoppy ale brewed to showcase the floral, tea-leaf flavor and aroma of the Perle hop. At 4.8% ABV and 50 IBUs, this deep orange colored IPA is highly quaffable. The minty bitterness is balanced by pale, munich, and vienna malts with a touch of medium crystal. Dry hopping with 12 pounds of whole leaf Perle adds additional layers of grassy and floral hop complexity. ABV: 4.8% IBUs: 50
Breakside: A Saison in Hell
Description: It is a low ABV rye saison made with the house "wild" blend of 3 strains of Brettanomyces, indigenous grape yeast, traditional Saccharomyes and Lactobacillus. Very light, tart and refreshing. It is the 4th Anniversary beer for 16 Tons and the name of the beer is an homage to poet Arthur Rimbaud. 5%ABV
Oakshire: Uhmerkuh
Description: Uhmerkuh is here to celebrate our independence! Light Straw colored with a bright white head, this Classic American lager begins with a mild malty aroma. It is light, clean and refreshing throughout and ends with a crisp and clean finish. As they say, It doesn't get any better than this! 4.8% ABV.
Fort George: Divinity
Description: While fruit has been widely employed in beer brewing for thousands of years, many folks these days turn their noses up at the idea as a yuppie swill and claim to prefer a "Real Beer". We take great pride in our fruit beers, using all organic barley, organic wheat grains and 60 lbs of whole, frozen Olallie berries (Olallie is Clatsop jargon for "Berry") to impart a subtle tartness and divine color. Try one and your beer-drinking ancestors will toast you.
Gigantic: Jenever Pale Ale
Description: Our collabo with Rooie Dop Brewing from the Netherlands. Mark Strooker was part of the group of Dutch brewers that the Oregon Brewers Festival brought over for the fest. The beer is a Pale Ale with Juniper Berries added. It has a great citrus hop aroma accentuated by the Juniper. It's made with almost all Pilsner malt, but fermented with an ale yeast, so it has a very clean malt flavor
Lompoc: Black and Blue
Double Mountain: Una Mas
Description: A refreshing light lager inspired by the feats of the world's most interesting man, like parallel parking a train and bench pressing two beautiful women. To order, repeat after me: "Yo soy la persona más interesante del mundo, y quiero batallar con un oso. Una cerveza más por favor." Please drink responsibly and remember stay thirsty, my friends. 4.2% ABV, 17 IBU
Laurelwood: Berliner-Weisse
Description: Berliner Weisse is the classic sour beer of Berlin. Unlike Belgian Sour Ales, which acidify over long periods of barrel ageing, Berliner Weisse is soured quickly with Lactobacillus, like yogurt, creating a clean and very tart beer. The low alcohol, light flavor and sprightly impressions make it a great summer ale. These beers are made to be simple and social. We hope you enjoy it in the company of your friends.
pFriem: Session IPA
The Mighty Mites outdoor beer garden is the only one that is part of the Hawthorne Street Fair and is open to all-ages. It will be located on SE 32nd just south of Hawthorne, in front of Bazi Bierbrasserie. Food menu and cocktails are available outside from the Bazi bar/restaurant.
The Mighty Mites
Sunday August 17th 11am – 7pm
by
Bazi Bierbrasserie