Fire & Brimstone 2014, official poster image by Blaine Fontana

One of my favorite beer festivals in Portland is back for its fourth year in just 2 weeks!. The Fire & Brimstone Festival is hosted by both Hop & Vine and Saraveza, which are conveniently only a half mile walk from each other (about a leisurely 10 minute walk, with Sarevaza at 1004 N. Killingsworth St. and The Hop & Vine at 1914 N. Killingsworth St.). Both are reachable by the Max Yellow Line N Killingsworth stop.

Each venue will have chili and smoke beers, a smoked or chili cider and a mini-cocktail special. Both will also have special food to match with the smoky or chili beverages. For instance, Saraveza is offering their ENORMOUS Bamberg onions & smoked skewers and Hop & Vine is dishing out tacos. Of course, the regular menus will also be available and many of those items will compliment the beers in their own ways so you aren’t limited in food options. For instance, from previous visits I can’t resist getting the popcorn at The Hop& Vine, and they have a very tasty grilled cheese sandwich. You can’t go wrong with the classic cheese and charcuterie plate either.

This year, the Fire & Brimstone Festival falls on July 26 and 27th, with the Festival Hours Saturday and Sunday 11 AM -10 PM. Both venues will also be open for regular business if you choose not to partake and/or you want more food or beverages off their regular menu.

Admission is free, but to taste the cost is $20 for 10 taster tokens, with additional tokens at $1.50, and the tokens can be purchased and used at both Hop & Vine and Saraveza, and can be used both Saturday and Sunday. A sample 5oz pour will cost 1 token.

Last year there were more than 15 smokey or spicy beverage samples to select from, so there is definitely a lot to try. This year it seems there could be a total of 20 items available between the two locations. Several of these offerings will be beverages created especially for this festival, so they are truly one of a kind opportunities to taste some of these flavors!

Image courtesy of Drew of The Hop & Vine

Featured Breweries & Cideries Include

At Saraveza

• Agrarian Ales – Smoked Chili Porter
• Alaskan Brewing Company – 2013 Smoked Porter
• Ballast Point – Habanero ‘Sculpin’ IPA
• Base Camp Brewing Co. – “Smoooke on the Weisse Beer” Beechwood Smoked Wheat
• Breakside Brewing/Ned Ludd “36 Chambers” Sage Smoked Honey Golden Ale
• Flat Tail Brewing “El Guapo” Blonde Ale w/Cucumber, Lime & Habanero
• New Belgium/Cigar City – 2013 Ale Brewed w/Anaheim & Marash Chilies, Aged on Spanish Cedar
• Oakshire Brewing – “Smokin’ Hell Extra” Smoked Helles Lager Infused w/Serrano, Chulaca & Habanero Peppers
• Occidental Brewing Co. – Rauchbier
• Two Towns Ciderhouse – “Cot in the Act” Apricot Cider w/Ancho, New Mexican & Chipotle Chilies
• “Whiskey Inferno” cocktail with house-Infused Ginger, Jalapeno & Honey Whiskey w/Cock & Bull Ginger Ale and a Jalapeno “Hot Rock” w/Smoked Sea Salt Rim.

At Hop & Vine:

• Breakside Brewing “Passionfruit Sour” w/ Habanero Chiles
• Dogfish Head “Festina Peche” – peach berlinerweisse – via Thai Chiles in a randall infuser
• Epic Brewing “Smoked & Oaked” Belgian Strong
• Fort George “Hellcat” – belgian strong pale w/ Anaheim, Pasilla, Jalapeno, & Habanero Chiles
• Gigantic “Firebird” – Smoked Hefeweizen – via Grilled peaches and habanero chiles in a randall infuser
• New Belgium/Three Floyds “Gratzer” – Polish-style smoked dark wheat ale
• Reverend Nat’s “Smokey Pineapple Bhut” – smokey Tepache w/ Ghost Chiles
• Stone Smoked Porter
• Widmer Brothers Brewing SxNW ’12 – dark strong w/ chiles, cinnamon, & pecans – aged in Tequila Barrels
• Hi-Wheel Habanero Lime – spritzy fermented fruit wine w/ habanero extract
• a spicy & sweet “Hell in a Handbasket” cocktail with muddled Serrano Chile, Tequila, Mezcal, House Watermelon Shrub, & Lime Juice w/ guajillo-salt rim
• “Blood & Smoke” cocktail – Famous Grouse, House Smoked Peach Shrub, OJ, Cherry Heering, Bitters
• “Ghost Rider” – craft jello shot – Novo Fogo Cachaca, Lime, Terragon Simple, Serrano Juice

Final Draft List and more details to follow as I keep my eye on the Fire & Brimstone Facebook event page!

Images from previous Fire & Brimstone: At The Hop & Vine, they will probably continue having a few beers available at the bar, and more available on the back patio for the event. My favorite pairing of fire and brimstone and food that they have done was when they had specials of a Jalapeno Pecorino biscuit with smoked pork gravy and fried egg and Flourless chocolate cake with smoked chili ice cream, at Hop & Vine Fire & Brimstone version 2012. That was the first year I had the pairing from Saraveza, which was the Smokin’ Bamberg Onion Plate, a traditional Rauch beer meal, that consisted of a Bamburg Onion, Mashed Potatoes w/ Schlenkerla gravy, salad, side of vegetables and a Sugar Pimp Peach-chili dessert.
 

Have you had smoke or chili beers before?