Beers Made By Walking

Public BMBW Walk in Portland on May 18th with Coalition Brewing and Upright Brewing

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:17:00 +0000

As the growing season begins we'll make sure to keep you posted on the various Beers Made By Walking nature walks, urban walks, and tasting events. We have a number of them lined up throughout Oregon and Colorado this year! You can also make sure to keep up to date by liking our page on Facebook and getting email updates when we update our site.

Urban BMBW Walk / May 18th / 5pm / Free
Start at Coalition Brewing
2724 SE Ankeny St. Portland, OR
Facebook Event

The first public walk of the season will happen in Portland on May 18th at 5pm. Meet in front of Coalition Brewing, at 2724 SE Ankeny St. We will walk through some neighborhoods and to a couple parks and we will identify edible and medicinal plants in these areas. The walk will last from 1-1.5 hours and we will cover approximately two miles. Perhaps we'll walk by your house?

The brewers from both Coalition Brewing and Upright Brewing are coming along with us and later in the summer they will prepare a beer inspired by this walk. The beer will be available sometime in October during our all-Oregon BMBW tapping. The hike will be led by Glen Nagel, who is an Assistant Professor at the Natural College of Natural Medicine and the curator at the Zidell Garden.

The walk is also a part of the Open Engagement conference, through Portland State University, however, the walk is completely free and open to the public. This walk is our first public urban walk, it should be a great time and we hope to see you there!

Special New Belgium BMBW Tapping in Colorado Springs

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:00:00 +0000

We are very pleased to announce that we were able to secure a keg of New Belgium's Beers Made By Walking beer. We thought this was a good enough reason to celebrate so we have coordinated with Brewer's Republic to tap it later this month.

Last year we invited New Belgium to be a part of our BMBW program. They went on a walk around their property and identified plants in the area. They decided to use lavender and plum in a bock. Not only that, they invited us to come up to Fort Collins and help brew it with them. The beer has only been on tap in their brewery taproom and it was also available during our Anniversary Party. We have one more keg of it and would like to give you all another opportunity to have some.

The beer turned out lovely. It's a 5.5% amber with subtle and delicate malt notes. The lavender is present but not overwhelming in any way and the plum contributes some nice residual sugars for an extra layer of complexity. This may be your last opportunity to try this beer so we hope to see you there.

Beers Made By Walking Special Tapping
New Belgium Lavender Plum Bock
At Brewer's Republic / 112 N. Nevada, Colorado Springs
Friday, Jan. 25th / 6pm / Pay per pint
Facebook Event Page

2012 Beers Made By Walking Wrap Up

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:13:00 +0000

The 2012 Beers Made By Walking program has come to a close and what a season it was for us! We were able to organize four different programs in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. For each event we published a catalog that also served as an informational menu with descriptions of the hikes, the beers, and the brewer's thought processes. Below are some recaps of the four events and some of the hikes. You can also see more information by clicking the locational links on our left column.

Oregon

The public hike through the Whychus Canyon Preserve with Deschutes Brewery

In Oregon we worked with five breweries in distinct parts of the state. Deschutes Brewery is in Bend and their hike was through the Whychus Canyon Preserve. Their beer raised a couple thousand dollars for the Deschutes Land Trust. Standing Stone in Ashland hike Grizzly Peak. Flat Tail in Corvallis walked along the waterfront area in town. Upright and Coalition are both in Portland. Coalition's hike was through Forest Park, the largest in-city park in the county. Upright's hike was in the Mount Hood National Forest.

The beers were served at Belmont Station in Portland on October 22nd. The beers were:
Coalition Brewing - Ale with Stinging Nettles and Salmonberry
Deschutes Brewery - IPA with Juniper and Sage
Flat Tail Brewing - Fresh Hop Cherry Saison with Corvallis Cherries and Yarrow
Standing Stone Brewery - Ale with Sweet Root, and Wild Ginger
Upright Brewing - Saison with Yarrow and Rose

Coalition Brewing's hike was through Forest Park in Portland

Salmon Berries

Washington

Our camping spot in Carnation, WA during The Long Walk

We were invited to do a Beers Made By Walking as part of Susan Robb's expansive project The Long Walk Seattle. A group of about 60 people walked 45+ miles on the King County Regional Trail System over three days from Seattle to Snoqualmie. We worked with Snoqualmie Brewery to create a beer with ingredients from a walk around a park in Carnation, WA, which was one of the overnight stops during The Long Walk. The beer ended up being a Stinging Nettle Ale and was served while we at the park.

Colorado (Denver)

We invited ten breweries to participate in our Colorado program. The beers were served during the week of the Great American Beer Festival at Wynkoop Brewing in Denver. Visitors from all over the country were able to drink these landscape influenced beers while reading all about the plants and trails in our catalog. The brewers were spread up and down the Front Range and included mountain-town breweries as well.

A list of the beers for the event:

Crooked Stave - Foragester Sai-bucha - A blend of three beers with jasmine kombucha tea, linen flowers, and wild grapes.
Oskar Blues - Opuntia Zytha - Our brew is a Golden Ale made with prickly pear cactus and fresh hops picked out of Charlie Papazian's yard.
Lone Tree - High Plains Harvest Brown - Brown Ale with whiskey soaked pumpkin seeds and orange blossom honey.
Phantom Canyon - Sundance Saison - A balanced and clean Saison made with rose hips and sumac.
Pikes Peak - Dances with Bees - Inspired by a hike to Palmer Lake Reservoir, a golden honey ale with sunflower seeds.
Pikes Peak - Kriekenstein - A 4% sour mash Kriek with chokecherry.
Ska Brewing - Cerveza de las Animas Perdidas - A dry and fruity Saison spiced with juniper, yarrow, and chokecherries, inspired by the Animas River in Durango.
Strange - Eldorado Bel-Gin Dark - Brewed with juniper berries and pineapple weed this Belgian Dark Ale is the color of the canyon walls along Eldorado Creek.
Trinity - Saison Du Tomme - Light bodied Saison with rose hips and amaranth from the hike, also added is lemongrass and grains of paradise.
Wynkoop - Oishi Gochiso - A light lager made with pacific rim hops and a blend of spices and tea inspired by our urban walk.

Colorado (Colorado Springs)

Some of the walkers at Palmer Lake Reservoir

A text from the BMBW website reads:

This summer we invited eight groups of local homebrewers to join us on a public hike. We walked the Palmer Lake Reservoir Trail, identifying edible and medicinal plants along the way. Each group came up with an exciting and innovative recipe, using ingredients that are non-traditional in contemporary brewing practices. The beers were produced at Pikes Peak Brewing and will be available at the brewery for one day only.

Four of the beers during the tasting event at Pikes Peak Brewing in Monument, CO.

We hosted about 25 people on our public hike and the beers were served in early September. A couple of the beers were selected to be rebrewed on a larger scale at local breweries and were served at the Denver event as well. Here is a list of the beers and the brewers:

Bryan Paradisi and Oren Weil
Professor Plum / Brandy Oak Plum Porter

Carol White and Zenia Brink
Rosie's Wild Hips and Hops / Belgian Pale Ale with Rose Hips, Clover Honey and Wild Hops

John Landreman
Sundance Saison / Saison with Rose Hips and Sumac

Josh Adamski
Maple Ryetious Pale Ale / Maple Rye Pale Ale

Mike Bordick
Palmer Special Ale / Belgian Rye Brown with Maple and Juniper

Mike "Lefty" McGuckian
Dances With Bees / Cream Ale with Sunflower and Wildflower Honey

Scott Simmons
Kreikenstein / Sour Stein Kreik with Chokecherry

Scott Werner
Gose of Summer's Past / German Gose with Bee Balm and Sumac

Denver BMBW Photo Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 22:04:00 +0000

Last month we celebrated the debut of Beers Made By Walking in Denver. We've been pretty excited about this event as we worked with nine of our favorite Colorado Breweries to create special beers just for the event. We were pleased to have a packed house, our friends from Denver Off The Wagon showed up, a few pals from Colorado Springs, as did a few other people we've met along the way. You can read more about the event on Denver's Westword and the Denver Post. The Westword called the event one of the most unusual event of GABF week. We really like that description!

The nine breweries included Crooked Stave, Lone Tree, Oskar Blues, Phantom Canyon, Pikes Peak, Ska, Strange, Trinity, and Wynkoop. Each brewery went on a walk and made a beer inspired by the walk. Ingredients ranged from rose hips and sumac, to jasmine kombucha tea blends, chokecherry, juniper, yarrow, pineapple weed, cactus and more. It's hard to choose a favorite beer of the night as they were all so different and when I asked other people their favorite beer, answers ranged all over the board.

Our new pal Chris Mendez who also makes beer with found ingredients!

Each visitor was greeted with a sixteen page menu, complete with photos, information on each beer and information about the various hikes that the brewers attended. At the end of the night Tim Myers from Strange Brewing told me that he loved the menu and that all night he told people who had questions about his beer that "you gotta read the book to learn about the hike and our decisions." Each visitor also got a special BMBW sample glass that had been printed just for this night.

Scott Simmons brewed the Chokecherry Kriek with Pikes Peak Brewing

Bess Dougherty, brewer at Wynkoop. We love you Bess!

The event was great and we're really looking forward to doing this again. I think we'll do more than one big one, I'd like to see smaller versions of the event as well as bigger versions. I'd really like to have some more seasonal versions that include late spring and even winter. We've got a lot of plans for BMBW. Last year when we started the event in our beautiful town of Colorado Springs we didn't know that it would take off like this, but we knew after doing it that it's too fun and wonderful to just do once. Stay tuned here and over at beersmadebywalking.com, and at the BMBW facebook page for future events.

Beers Made By Walking will serve three beers this weekend during Wynkoop's big party!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:07:00 +0000

This Saturday, we have been invited to serve up three of our Beers Made By Walking beers from this summer at Wynkoop during their annual Beers of the Year event! What a real honor! The event runs from 1-4pm on Nov. 3. All the information is below, including info on the three BMBW beers:

Attendees can sample every beer Wynkoop brewed this year and special cask, reserve and vintage Wynkoop beers. Along with beers from fave peers (Breckenridge Brewery, Fort Collins Brewery, Mountain Sun Breweries & Pubs, and Beers Made By Walking) and a selection of gourmet cheeses to accompany the array of 50 beers.

We will be serving three beers from our Beers Made by Walking stash! This will include Ska's Cerveza de las Animas Perdidas (chokecherry, juniper, and yarrow Saison), Strange's Eldorado Bel-Gin Dark (Belgian dark with juniper and pineapple weed), and a beer we saved just for this event...the never before seen Wynkoop Green Cross (American Pale Ale with dank hops, hemp seeds, and magic).

Wynkoop will be releasing a pair of out-there new beers at this year's Beers of the Year. Belgian Pear Cider (8.2% ABV) is built from a trippel recipe and fermented with Colorado pear juice. The Chancellor is a single malt/single hop super-strong ale (14% ABV) made from a 1930 Oxford University recipe provided by UK beer historian Terry Foster. It has been barrel aging for 16 months.

Beer nuts can buy advance $25 Beers of the Year tickets and see the current beer list at www.wynkoop.com. Tix are $32 at the door the day of the show. Advance ticket buyers are entered into a drawing for a pair of tickets to Wynkoop's Dec. 1 Parade of Darks.

5 BMBW Beers in Portland, OR on Oct 20th!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:09:00 +0000

Beers Made By Walking (Portland, OR)
October 20th / 3-8pm / Pay Per Beer
Meet the Brewers from 3-5pm
At Belmont Station / 4500 SE Stark, PDX
Facebook Event Page

Beers Made By Walking is a program that invites brewers to make beer inspired by nature hikes and urban walks. Each walk is different, each beer is a portrait of that landscape. This summer we invited five breweries to go on nature walks. A botanist/herbalist on each hike identified edible and medicinal plants along the trail and these plants were then used to create innovative beers. We invited brewers in distinct parts of the state and the participating brewers are Coalition and Upright (Portland), Flat Tail (Corvallis), Standing Stone (Ashand), and Deschutes (Bend). The beers are experimental in nature

On October 20th, join us as we tap these five beers inspired by hiking trails in different parts of Oregon. The beers will be available together for one night only, from 3-8pm. From 3-5pm you will have the chance to meet the brewers from Coalition, Flat Tail, Deschutes, Standing Stone, and Upright. Visitors will pay per beer and 100% of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the Northwest Trail Alliance.

A description of the beers you try at Beers Made By Walking:
Coalition Brewing - Ale with Stinging Nettles and Salmonberry
Deschutes Brewery - IPA with Juniper and Sage
Flat Tail Brewing - Fresh Hop Cherry Saison with Corvallis Cherries and Yarrow
Standing Stone Brewery - Ale with Sweet Root, and Wild Ginger
Upright Brewing - Saison with Yarrow and Rose

A Sneak Peek at Tuesday's BMBW Beers!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:16:00 +0000

We thought we'd give you a top-secret look at Denver the Beers Made By Walking program. Upon looking at this list we got pretty excited and we have a really hard time keeping secrets. These ten beers will be served for one night only at Wynkoop Brewing, on Oct. 9th from 5-8pm.

Here we go!

Crooked Stave - Foragester Sai-bucha - A blend of three beers with jasmine kombucha tea, linen flowers, and wild grapes.

Oskar Blues - Opuntia Zytha - Our brew is a Golden Ale made with prickly pear cactus and fresh hops picked out of Charlie Papazian's yard.

Lone Tree - High Plains Harvest Brown - Brown Ale with whiskey soaked pumpkin seeds and orange blossom honey.

Phantom Canyon - Sundance Saison - A balanced and clean Saison made with rose hips and sumac.

Pikes Peak - Dances with Bees - Inspired by a hike to Palmer Lake Reservoir, a golden honey ale with sunflower seeds.

Pikes Peak - Kriekenstein - A 4% sour mash Kriek with chokecherry.

Ska Brewing - Cerveza de las Animas Perdidas - A dry and fruity Saison spiced with juniper, yarrow, and chokecherries, inspired by the Animas River in Durango.

Strange - Eldorado Bel-Gin Dark - Brewed with juniper berries and pineapple weed this Belgian Dark Ale is the color of the canyon walls along Eldorado Creek.

Trinity - Saison Du Tomme - Light bodied Saison with rose hips and amaranth from the hike, also added is lemongrass and grains of paradise.

Wynkoop - Oishi Gochiso - A light lager made with pacific rim hops and a blend of spices and tea inspired by our urban walk.

News from New Belgium about BMBW

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Unfortunately New Belgium will not have a beer ready for Tuesday's event in Denver. They are pretty bummed about it but have released a statement for us:

For the fine fans of Beers Made by Walking.
When New Belgium started discussions with Beers Made by Walking to brew a beer for their big ol’ party during GABF it was contingent on our new pilot brewing system being complete. Come brew day for our Beer Made by Walking the system was not complete. We are sorry for this, but big projects (like building a pilot system) sometimes take longer than their original timeline. Everyone new it was going to be close, and it was looking like it was going to happen, and then it didn’t. Again, we’re sorry that we will not be able to get in on the party. However, we still want to brew a beer with BMBW, we are planning that beer now. It will be available and pouring at Focus On the Beer’s anniversary party in December. Sorry about all this, it’s a bummer, I know. Enjoy the party and we will see you in December…

We are thankful that New Belgium has showed a huge interest in what we are doing and we're glad that they still want to make it work for our party. I thought I'd let you all know that.

We do have a backup plan though! Pikes Peak Brewing hosted a local BMBW event just a couple weeks ago and they were able to brew up an extra batch of the Sour-Mash Chokecherry Kriek on their pilot system. We'll be bringing that up as a replacement. Let me tell you right away that this beer is really fantastic and I'm looking forward to trying it again!

BMBW Colorado Springs Photo Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:16:00 +0000

Colorado Springs' second annual Beers Made By Walking wrapped up last weekend. It's an event that we organize during the summer. We invite brewers onto nature walks in the Pikes Peak Region and then we make beer inspired by the edible and medicinal plants we find on the trails. This year we commissioned eight beers, they were brewed at Pikes Peak Brewing and all the local beer and nature lovers came out and celebrated.

Upon arrival, visitors were treated to a twenty page catalog/menu that talked about our hike up to Palmer Lake Reservoir and it had bios of each brewer with information on the conceptual development and decision-making that went into each beer. We served four beers at a time on hand-made serving trays that were made of local beetle-kill pine.

The first four beers worked really nicely side by side. There was a sunflower honey ale by Lefty, a Gose beer with bee balm and sumac by Scott Werner, a kriek with chokecherries by Scott Simmons and a pale ale with maple and rye by Josh Adamski. The second set of beers included a brown ale with maple and juniper by Mike Bordick, a porter with plum by Oren Weil and Bryan Paradisi, a Belgian pale ale with rose hips and wild hops by Zenia Brink and Carol White, and finally a rose hip and sumac saison by John Landreman. All the beers were good and a had a lovely drinkable quality them.

Jeff Aragon, the brewer for Paradox Beer Co, with Chris Wright, the brewer at Pikes Peak. Paradox just released their beer to the public a day before this event.

Zenia Brink and Carol White hanging out. They brewed the rose hip and wild hop Belgian Pale Ale.

Jessica Erickson and Oren Weil. Oren brewed the Plum Porter, which also had been aged on brandied oak chips.

Scott Simmons and I built a jockey box for the event and served three beers out of it. We admired our creation throughout the evening and we thought the draft lines carrying the beer were beautiful in their own right. Here we see the lines carrying the maple rye, the chokecherry Kriek, and the Gose.

A look at the catalog/menu. Each page was chalked full of text, drawings, and photos all about the beer, the brewers, and the hikes. Many visitors sat down with the beers and read through the whole catalog.

I got to stand on a table and thank the brewers for participating and Pikes Peak for making this possible.

The event brought us all together to celebrate the landscape and the creative work and of our local brewers who re-interpreted the landscape via beer. One of these beers was selected to be re-brewed on Pikes Peak Brewing's larger system and it will be taken up to Wynkoop Brewing on October 9th for the Denver Beers Made By Walking tasting event. Chris selected Lefty's beer, the sunflower seed honey ale. which he will brew up later this week. Additionally, Scott Simmons has re-brewed the chokecherry Kriek on a 10 gallon pilot-system for the Denver event so that Pikes Peak will have two beers.

Here's the group of brewers together. John Landreman and Bryan Paradisi weren't able to join us but they were there in spirit. We all had a good time and look forward to doing this again the future. Again I'd like to say thank you to all the brewers and Pikes Peak Brewing for making this year in BMBW a memorable one.

Beers Made By Walking - 10 Beers in Denver on Oct. 9th

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 18:11:00 +0000

Beers Made By Walking (Denver)
Tues. October 9th / 5-8pm
Wynkoop Brewing / 1634 18th St., Denver
$15 for 10 tickets / tickets available at door
Facebook Event Page

As beer lovers from around the country gather in Denver to celebrate the Great American Beer Festival, we thought we would give these visitors a taste of our great state. Throughout the summer, ten Colorado breweries have taken nature walks, hikes, and spent time outdoors as part of the Beers Made By Walking program. Along the trail they identified edible and medicinal plants and used them as ingredients in special beers. Some of the hikes were public, and fans of the brewery tagged along and helped give input.

Each beer in this series is innovative in that the beers become drinkable landscape portraits of areas throughout Colorado. You'll get to taste a portrait of the Animas River in Durango, the Palmer Lake Reservoir Trail south of Denver, a beer inspired by the canyon walls of the Eldorado Creek, and many others. If you haven't made it out one of the beautiful trails in Colorado, you can still experience this beautiful place through Beers Made By Walking!

The beers will be available for one night only in Denver on October 9th, from 5-9pm, at Wynkoop Brewing (1634 18th St.). Visitors will buy tickets, ten for $15, and each ticket will provide a 4oz pour of one of the BMBW beers. Each visitor will receive a special drinking glass made for the event. The beers will be served in the upstairs bar at Wynkoop.

Participating Brewers and Their Beers:

Crooked Stave - Foragester Sai-bucha - A blend of three beers with jasmine kombucha tea, linen flowers, and wild grapes.

Oskar Blues - Opuntia Zytha - Our brew is a Golden Ale made with prickly pear cactus and fresh hops picked out of Charlie Papazian's yard.

Lone Tree - High Plains Harvest Brown - Brown Ale with whiskey soaked pumpkin seeds and orange blossom honey.

Phantom Canyon - Sundance Saison - A balanced and clean Saison made with rose hips and sumac.

Pikes Peak - Dances with Bees - Inspired by a hike to Palmer Lake Reservoir, a golden honey ale with sunflower seeds.

Pikes Peak - Kriekenstein - A 4% sour mash Kriek with chokecherry.

Ska Brewing - Cerveza de las Animas Perdidas - A dry and fruity Saison spiced with juniper, yarrow, and chokecherries, inspired by the Animas River in Durango.

Strange - Eldorado Bel-Gin Dark - Brewed with juniper berries and pineapple weed this Belgian Dark Ale is the color of the canyon walls along Eldorado Creek.

Trinity - Saison Du Tomme - Light bodied Saison with rose hips and amaranth from the hike, also added is lemongrass and grains of paradise.

Wynkoop - Oishi Gochiso - A light lager made with pacific rim hops and a blend of spices and tea inspired by our urban walk.

About Beers Made By Walking
Beers Made By Walking is a program that invites brewers to make beer inspired by nature hikes and urban walks. Each walk is different, each beer is a portrait of that landscape. The program began in Colorado Springs in 2011 with the hopes of inspiring others, through beer, to look at our local landscapes in fresh and community-minded ways. Since then it has expanded into multiple cities/states including Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. Please see beersmadebywalking.com for more information.

8 new Beers Made By Walking beers on Sept. 22 in the Pikes Peak Region!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:19:00 +0000

Beers Made By Walking (Monument/Colorado Springs)

Sept 22nd / 3-6pm / $10

At Pikes Peak Brewing / 1756 Lake Woodmoor Dr, Monument

Facebook Event Page

Beers Made By Walking is a program that invites brewers to make beer inspired by nature hikes and urban walks. Each walk is different, each beer is a portrait of that landscape. Join this year's BMBW crew as we introduce eight new beers to the Pikes Peak Region! The beers will be available at Pikes Peak Brewing Co. on Saturday September 22nd, from 3-6pm, and the cost is $10.

This summer we invited eight groups of local homebrewers to join us on a public hike. We walked the Palmer Lake Reservoir Trail, identifying edible and medicinal plants along the way. Each group came up with an exciting and innovative recipe, using ingredients that are non-traditional in contemporary brewing practices. The beers were produced at Pikes Peak Brewing and will be available at the brewery for one day only. $10 will give you entry and unlimited samples of each brew. Here is a list of the brewers and the eight beers that will be available at the event:

Bryan Paradisi and Oren Weil
Professor Plum / Brandy Oak Plum Porter

Carol White and Zenia Brink
Rosie's Wild Hips and Hops / Belgian Pale Ale with Rose Hips, Clover Honey and Wild Hops

John Landreman
Sundance Saison / Saison with Rose Hips and Sumac

Josh Adamski
Maple Ryetious Pale Ale / Maple Rye Pale Ale

Mike Bordick
Palmer Special Ale / Belgian Rye Brown with Maple and Juniper

Mike "Lefty" McGuckian
Dances With Bees / Cream Ale with Sunflower and Wildflower Honey

Scott Simmons
Kreikenstein / Sour Stein Kreik with Chokecherry

Scott Werner
Gose of Summer's Past / German Gose with Bee Balm and Sumac

Both Pikes Peak Brewing and Phantom Canyon Brewing will select a beer that will be re-brewed and sent to Denver for a party at Wynkoop on October 9th for an All-Colorado Beers Made By Walking event. Information about that event will be available soon.

Coalition Brewing makes beer inspired by Portland's Forest Park

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 20:37:00 +0000

Coalition Brewing will be participating in the Oregon BMBW. I've worked with Coalition before on a project called Art & Beer, where they made a beer inspired by an artwork in the Portland Art Museum. I moved away from Oregon just as the brewery was opening it's doors and when I come back to visit friends, it's one of the places I like to go. The pub is laid back, small, off on a side-road, and the beers are really nice. They were enthusiastic to be a part of this program, so while I was in town we organized a private hike through Forest Park. Elan Walsky, one of the co-owners, came along with a friend. The hike was led in-part by me as I've gained a little bit of plant-knowledge on the various hikes I've attended. It was also in-part led by my friend Harrell Fletcher, a Portland-based artist who also knows a bit about edible plants.

Red Huckleberry

Forest Park is actually located in the city of Portland, it has hundreds of miles of trails and is the largest in-city park in the country. It doesn't feel very scripted though, trails meander around trees and thick vegetation, and parts go alongside streams. We really couldn't have chosen a better time for a hike in the area. It had rained two or three days previous so the ground was damp, the forest was lush, and the air was fresh with the scent of plants and evergreen trees.

Stopping for a quick break

Salmon Berry (photo by Isaac Grindeland)

Checking out Sorrel

We came across all sorts of berries and ground plants and sampled a number of them. These included: Stinging Nettles, Horsetail Plant, Sorrel, Red Huckleberry, Salmon Berry, Strawberry, Dandelion, Clover, Oregon Grape, and Fir.

Elan testing the aroma of some nearby plants

The view from the top of the trail

We reached the top of the hill and stayed for a while to check out the view of the majestic Mt. Hood and the city. We talked about what we had seen that day and what could work as a good combination of ingredients for the brew. The more Elan thought about it, the more he was sure he wanted to make a beer that had both Salmon Berry (a strong citrusy orange flavor) and some Stinging Nettles. Sounds like a wonderful and curious combination, doesn't it?

The Coalition beer will be available with other BMBW beer from Deschutes, Flat Tail, Standing Stone, and Upright on Oct. 20th at Belmont Station. Additional details will be posted soon so please check back!

Standing Stone Brewing hikes the Grizzly Peak Trail

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:28:00 +0000

We're very happy to have Standing Stone Brewing participate in the first Oregon Beers Made By Walking! Standing Stone is located in Ashland, at the southern end of the state, and we invited them because we've heard some great things about their beer and we thought that part of the state could offer some interesting herbal finds. On July 17th, brewer Larry Chase set out with clinical herbalist Jon Carlson who teaches at, and founded, the Vitalist School of Herbology in Ashland. Jon is especially interested in the medicinal properties of local plants and proved to be an invaluable hike leader. The two made their way up the Grizzly Peak Trail in the Medford District.

Photos from this hike are by George Rubaloff

Along the way Larry took notes after learning about and sampling numerous plants along the trail. Here are some of the plants that stood out: Douglas Fir, Wild Ginger, Sweet Root, Thimbleberry, Yarrow, Dandelion Root, St John’s Wort, Elderberry, and Pineapple Weed.

Sampling some root along the way

There were a few plants that really stood out to Larry. He wanted to be ambitious, so he chose three to work with. The Sweet Root he said had an anise and liquorice quality to it. Pineapple Weed was very chamomile-like. And finally Wild Ginger had a very pleasant bitterness but not the ginger flavor that we are used to when we say 'ginger.' He's still working through the details of the base beer but we're very excited to be able to try this one! His beer will be available in Portland at Belmont Station on October 20th with beers from Deschutes, Upright, Coalition, and Flat Tail. Cheers!

Check out the details for the Oct. 20th tapping at Belmont Station and stay tuned for more info.

Photos by George Rubaloff.

Homebrewers on the Palmer Lake Hike near Colorado Springs

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 22:53:00 +0000

We are in the sophomore season of Beers Made by Walking and we kicked off last weekend Colorado with an evening hike up to the Palmer Lake reservoirs. There were 21 people and one dog participating in this picturesque hike. Seven out of our eight homebrewers came along to learn about the plants on the hike and to begin making plans for their future beers. Liz Klein, a local botanist, who also led one of our hikes last year, pointed out edible plants and flowers along the hike that led to two reservoirs in the mountains near Palmer Lake. Liz identified approximately fifty different plant varieties, and a suprisingly large amount of them were edible. We were especially surprised to see so many plants doing so well in the midst of such an extraordinarily warm summer.

We found many berries and fruits, including chokecherry, wild plum, raspberry, pin cherry, golden currant and strawberry. Other plants identified included wild hops, sweet clover, wormwood, spider wort, wild rye, wild onion, yucca, wild oat, yarrow, horse mint, juniper, and plantain among others. It was a great evening for learning about the amazing flora in our region.

Liz Klein showing homebrewers Mike and Lefty a possible ingredient they could use in their beer recipe.

We were also privileged to have Robert Houdek join us on the hike. He helped design the Pikes Peak Atlas, a great hand-drawn map of trails in the Pikes Peak region. Robert was our trail guide and showed us some beautiful views along the hike. The beers will be made by the homebrewers at Pikes Peak Brewery in the upcoming weeks. They are scheduled to be served at a special tapping in September, although the date recently changed due to the fire pushing back our hike. The new date has not yet been set so please check back frequently.

Both Chris Wright, the head brewer for Pikes Peak Brewery, and Alan Stiles of Phantom Canyon will choose one of these eight hike inspired beers to re-brew for another BMBW tapping that takes place in October at Wynkoop Brewery in Denver. The homebrewers for this summer are: Zenia Brink and Carol White, Oren Weil and Bryan Paradisi, Scott Simmons, Scott Werner, Josh Adamski, Mike Bordick, John Landreman, and Lefty McGuckian.

Liz showing the group a wild plum tree.

Unfortunately, due to the fire, the Palmer Lake Hike is the only hike we are doing this summer. We'll post all sorts of information as it becomes available concerning the tasting date, the brew date, and the descriptions of the beers. Check back here also if you'd like to keep track of all the various BMBW events (it's happening in Oregon, Washington, and multiple places in Colorado as well). Cheers!

Photos by Daniel Flanders
Post originally written by Isaac Grindeland

Upright Brewing's Beer Will Feature Yarrow and Rose

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:52:00 +0000

We are big fans of Upright Brewing in Portland, Oregon and we were honored when brewer Alex Ganum became the first in Oregon to be a part of Beers Made By Walking. He went on a hike with Amy Harwood, a local environmental enthusiast and activist, up to Gordon Creek Timber Sale and walked on the Larch Mountain trail system in the watershed for Corbett.

We checked in on him earlier this week and while we were there he added rose petals and yarrow to a beer (see photo above). The beer has been sitting in a barrel for a couple months and we sampled it, and I must say it's going to taste wonderful. The base is the Upright Four, a light Saison with wheat. The barrel it is sitting in contributes some nice delicate funkiness from the Brettanomyces yeast sitting in the barrel and there are some nice fruity lemon and honey notes as well. The yarrow and rose petals will be a wonderful addition.

This is Alex in the brewery, and in the photo below he is adding some rose petals to the barrel. The beer will be available on October 20th during the special BMBW tapping, along with other special beers from Deschutes, Flat Tail, Standing Stone, and Coalition Brewing.

Photo Recap of Deschutes Brewery's Hike

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:12:00 +0000

UPDATE***Deschutes' Beer will be served with four others from around Oregon on October 20th in Portland. Check out the details!

A few weeks ago Deschutes Brewery set out on their Beers Made By Walking hike through the Deschutes Land Trust's Whychus Canyon Preserve. They invited about twenty fans along and the hike was led by the Land Trust's Jane Meissner, who informed the hikers on the land they were walking through, as well as Deschutes' brewer Veronica Vega who explained her love for the park and her decisions for picking the plants that will go into the beer she makes. The land is a 450-acre parcel located northeast of Sisters and hosts old growth juniper trees with a backdrop of the snow covered mountains.

Here Veronica Vega talks to the group about her plans for the Sage Fight IPA that will use juniper and sage from this trail. An article posted in the Bend Bulletin reports "[Veronica] grabbed one tree branch and examined its still-green, pea-sized berry. It wouldn't do for the beer Vega is making — a strong IPA with juniper and sage aromas derived from native plants."

A 200 year old Juniper

Dwarf Purple Monkey Flower

The beer that is made for this project will raise funds for the Land Trust. Conceptually, the beer seamlessly combines the brewery's commitment to the region with the ingredients utilized directly from the area they plan to support.

Sagebrush

The beer will be available in October at the Deschutes Brew Pub in Bend and at our special BMBW tapping at Belmont Station. A date for that tapping will be established later this week.

Photos by Deschutes Brewery.

Snoqualmie Brewery Preliminary Hike Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:07:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago Courtney Ford, brewer at Snoqualmie Brewery, and botanist Jim Demetre headed out on a preliminary BMBW walk in Carnation, Washington. They scouted out and tasted a number of plants that we would pass on our four day, 45+ mile walk from Seattle to Snoqualmie Falls at the end of July for a project called The Long Walk, started by artist Susan Robb, which BMBW is a part of. Courtney is brewing a beer that will have ingredients from the trail. During the four-day walk, when we pass through Carnation, we will stop for a formal dinner and the beer will be served to the 50+ walkers. Here are some photos from this preliminary hike, along with information about identified plants and the beer that Courtney has brewed for the group.

Botanist Jim Demetre sampling some plants on the trail.

A review from Jim:

Courtney and I spent two hours walking along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail tasting every plant we came across....

There were very few berries or flowers available to eat, so we spent most of our time tasting the new leaves and shoots of the various trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. Of the berries we tried the watery Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and the dark, musky Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis). As far as the flowers were concerned, we ate some fragrant, lightly sweet petals of the Nookta Rose (Rosa nootkatensis). The Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parviflorum), the Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) and the Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervosa) were not yet ripe, though they may be my the time of the Long Walk. The Evergreen Huckleberry (Vaccinum ovatum) will ripen in the fall....

We also chewed on a variety of roadside weeds that didn't leave much impression. One exception was the Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) which tasted fantastic but more as a sauteed side dish than a beer ingredient. We came across a very common weed known as Catch Bedstraw (Galium aparine) that we did not eat due to its coarse texture and sharp edges. I mentioned that this plant was related to Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) which was once dried and used to flavor wines in Northern Europe and she seemed interested in trying it.

Jim and Courtney identified a number of other plants as well. The Stinging Nettle really stood out to Courtney and she thought it would be a nice challenge, so the beer we will drink during The Long Walk will be a special Stinging Nettle beer and is called Naughty Nettle Ale. Here's what Courtney says about it:

After doing some research, I discovered that nettle beer has been made for centuries in England. However, even though traditionally it does not use malt of any kind, I made a mash of 2-Row and a splash of Munich malt, for color. Now to stick with the tradition - During the boil I added around 2 bags stuffed with hand picked nettle tops (even with gardening gloves on, I still got stung alot!), ginger root to compliment the natural nettle flavors, fresh squeezed lemon juice and honey. I also added centennial hops for bittering and for their wonderful citrus flavor. Lastly, for the magical fermenting critters, California Ale Yeast. All in all, I think this beer turned out amazing and I will definitely do it again. ABV: 6.5%

All photos (except the last one) were taken by Stephanie Ellendt.

Sign Ups Colorado Springs Hikes

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:24:00 +0000

It's time to bring back Beers Made By Walking, and it's time for Steps 1 and 2! You've gotta sign up for the hikes, so if you want to come along, see the links below.

If you followed BMBW last year, you know that it is a program that invites brewers to create beer that is a portrait of the local landscape. We go on hikes, identify edible plants and make beers inspired by what we find. This year we are going to have two hikes, one on June 30 and one on July 1st (back to back) and we will have four homebrewers on each hike. The brewers will make their beer up at Pikes Peak Brewing and the beer will be available for one day in September at the brewery.

We have 10 spots available for each hike, so if you would like to go, sign up through our eventbrite pages. Here's the basic timeline, as well as information on signing up for the hikes.

Steps 1 & 2
June 30th / 10a
Hike in North Cheyenne Cañon, Colorado Springs / moderate 2-3 hours / 10 spots / Get your ticket

July 1st / 10am
Hike to Palmer Lake Reservoirs, Palmer Lake / moderate 5+ miles / 10 spots / Get your ticket

Step 3
July 21st / tentatively
Communal brew day at Pikes Peak Brewing in Monument / Open to the public

Step 4
Sept 8th / timing TBA
Beers Made By Walking special tapping and party at Pikes Peak Brewing

The Brewers
Zenia Brink and Carol White, Oren Weil and Bryan Paradisi, Scott Simmons, Scott Werner, Josh Adamski, Mike Bordick, John Landreman, and Lefty McGuckian.

Deschutes Brewery Announces BMBW Public Hike for Bend, Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:43:00 +0000

Deschutes Land Trust’s Whychus Canyon Preserve near Bend and Sisters, Oregon
Photo credit: Byron Dudley

Registration for this hike is open and is limited to the first 20 people to sign up.

From Deschutes Brewery:

Join the Deschutes Land Trust and Deschutes Brewery for a beer-themed hike at the Land Trust's Whychus Canyon Preserve. This walk is part of the Beers Made by Walking program that features a handful of Oregon breweries creating unique beers that are a portrait of their local landscape.

Deschutes brewer Veronica Vega will help lead the hike and talk about the edible plants that will go into the Brewery's beer. Land Trust volunteer Jane Meissner will add her vast botanical knowledge as a long-time Central Oregon naturalist.

The hike will follow a trail through old-growth juniper forests that ends at a boulder outcropping with amazing views of Whychus Creek and the canyon.

When:
June 15th, 9am-12pm

Rating:

Moderate, ~3-4 mile hike.

What to Bring:

Snacks/lunch, water, hiking boots, seating pad or cushion. Dress for the weather.

***The special Deschutes Brewery beer that will be a part of the Beers Made By Walking program will be available this fall at Belmont-Station in Portland and at the Deschutes Brew Pub in Bend. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Land Trust.

Beers Made By Walking: Washington 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Tolt MacDonald Park, The Long Walk, 2011

Beers Made By Walking: Washington 2012
Beers Made By Walking will be a part of The Long Walk: Seattle, a 45+ mile, four day, walk that starts in the city center of Seattle and ends at Snoqualmie Falls. The walk, started by artist Susan Robb, uses the King County Regional Trails System and crosses through cities, suburbs, farmland, and forests. Long Walkers will be camping out in designated areas each night. The walk is free and open to the public, but only fifty or so people are able to RSVP. Registration begins on June 20th at 1pm, you can visit the TLW website to sign up.

We are thrilled to be working with brewer Courtney Ford, at Snoqualmie Brewery, who will produce a beer, possibly two beers, for the 'formal dinner' portion of The Long Walk. The brewery will do a preliminary hike around the Tolt MacDonald Park in Carnation and make a beer based off the edible plants identified along the trail. We will post information about the beer when we know more. The beer will be served on July 28th when the Long Walkers enter Carnation and sit down together for dinner. The dinner is free to those who signed up for the walk.

Beers Made By Walking: Washington 2012
Part of The Long Walk: Seattle
July 28th / 7pm-ish
Tolt MacDonald Park, Carnation, WA
Must be registered for TLW to participate / Registration begins June 20th 1pm (PST)

Information will be updated here as it comes in.
Photo © 2011, Long Walkers: Kolya Rice and Webster Polk.

Beers Made By Walking: Oregon 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Tue, 29 May 2012 18:16:00 +0000

Beers Made By Walking: Oregon 2012
For BMBW Oregon we have asked a handful of brewers from different parts of the state to organize a local hike and make a beer inspired by edible plants along that trail. Some of the hikes are public, some private. The details are still coming in, so check back soon. We will also post information and photos from the hikes and brew days. There will be a special BMBW tapping on October 20th at Portland's Belmont Station. Some of the breweries will also have the beer available in their taprooms. The brewer's are donating a portion of their proceeds to a local environmental non-profit of their choice.

Participating Brewers:
1. Deschutes Brewery (Bend)
2. Flat Tail Brewing (Corvallis)
3. Standing Stone Brewery (Ashland)
4. Upright Brewing (Portland)
5. Coalition Brewing (Portland)

Hike Details:
1. Deschutes / June 15 / 9am-12pm / Deschutes Land Trust’s Whychus Canyon Preserve / RSVP
2. Flat Tail / TBA
3. Standing Stone / July 17 / 4:30pm / Grizzly Peak Trail
4. Upright / Already took place / Gordon Creek Timber Sale and Larch Mountain Trail System
5. Coalition / July 21 / private hike / Forest Park in Portland

Special BMBW Tapping
October 20th at Belmont Station in Portland, OR. More details to come, including info on when the beer will be available at each respective brewery.

Beers Made By Walking: Colorado Springs 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Beers Made By Walking (Monument/Colorado Springs)

Sept 22nd / 3-6pm / $10

At Pikes Peak Brewing / 1756 Lake Woodmoor Dr, Monument

In the works

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:37:00 +0000

We are working to get Beers Made By Walking up and running in three different states with four different versions. Stay tuned for all sorts of information on Colorado, Oregon, and Washington developments. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and subscribe here via email or rss. We plan to have additional information in the next couple weeks.

For now, have a look at the first BMBW program, which took place in Colorado Springs in the summer and autumn of 2011. We've got plenty of photos and information that should whet your appetite for now.

2011 in Colorado Springs

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:59:00 +0000

Beers Made By Walking
The Colorado Springs 2011 Beers Made By Walking was a seven-hike and eight-beer summer long happening. Each public hike had at least one homebrewer come along, we identified edible and medicinal plants and the homebrewer developed a recipe based on what we identified on each trail. The first half of the beers were made over at Rocky Mountain Brewery, ingredients donated by Winecrafters, the homebrew shop connected to the brewery. The second half were produced at Pikes Peak Brewing, a new brewery in the region. There were two tasting events, each with four beers. The beers were served on handmade beetle-kill pine trays and came with a twelve page menu with stories from each hike, about each beer and the brewers.

Below is information about the beers, and links to photos from the hikes and tappings:

Images:
See our image recaps of hikes and tasting events:
Hike #1 - June 30 - Garden of the Gods
Hike #2 - July 16 - Red Rock Open Space
Hike #3 - July 28 - Palmer Park - Canceled due to a lightning storm
Tasting #1 - At Brewer's Republic, Colorado Springs
Hike #4 - August 13 - Mueller State Park
Hike #5 - September 18 - Old Midland Railroad Grade
Hike #6 - September 24 - Catamount Trail in Green Mountain Falls
Hike #7 - October 7 - North Cheyenne Cañon
Tasting #2 - At Brewer's Republic, Colorado Springs

Tapping Info
August 27th
Brewer's Republic (112 N. Nevada, Colorado Springs)
Beers:
- Opuntiae Deorium Wheat Ale (w/ Prickly Pear Cactus) by Justin Carpenter
- Monk Choker (Belgian IPA with Chokecherry) by Isaac Grindeland
- Smoked Piñon Brown (w/ Piñon Pine nuts) by Grant Grindeland
- Lightning Strike (w/ Juniper, Ponderosa Pine, 3 Leaf Sumac Berries) by Jason Miller

October 29 - 4-8pm
Brewer's Republic (112 N. Nevada, Colorado Springs)
Beers:
- Scott Buchholz - with Strawberry and Limber Pine
- Rich Mock - with Wild Hops, Wild Sage, and Yarrow
- Tom Brown - with Bee Plant, Evening Primrose, Tansy Mustard, Amaranth, and Rose Hips
- Matt Kupferer - Old Man of the Woods Stout - with Hazlenuts, Sasparilla, and Spruce

Recap: 2011 Tasting Event #2 for 2011 Colorado Springs

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Steen) — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:56:00 +0000

The final event for Beers Made By Walking took place about a week and a half ago. It was a lot of fun and many people were asking if we could do it again next year so it's something I'll be entertaining. For those of you who missed out on all of it, Beers Made By Walking was a summer long program where we went on a series of public hikes throughout the Pikes Peak Region, identified edible and medicinal plants along the way, and then made beers based on what we saw on the trails. There were two tastings, the first in August. The beers were brewed by local homebrewers but produced up at Pikes Peak Brewing, so that they were commercial and could be on tap at our downtown hangout, Brewer's Republic.

Anyone who showed up was given a sample tray to use for the day and a twelve page menu that had all sorts of information on the beer, the brewers, and the project itself. You can see the beers in the above photo. The closest one was from the first hike for this series (technically the 4th hike though) at Mueller State Park - a Strawberry Blonde Ale with Limber Pine by Scott Buchholz. The next was by Rich Mock, the hike was the Old Midland Railroad Grade in Manitou, the beer was gruit-ish with yarrow and wild sages but also some hops added strictly for flavor and aroma. The next was a saison by Tom Brown, complete with bee plant, amaranth, rose hips, tansy mustard, some wild hops, and water from the Catamount Trail hike in Green Mountain Falls. At the far end was Matt Kupferer's beer, inspired by North Cheyenne Canyon Park with Hazelnuts, Sarsparilla, and Spruce. The beers were all very different from each other the same way they were all very different from the first four beers at the previous tasting.

In this photo, I'm showing some folks a photo from the Old Midland Railroad Grade Trail. The menu had a few photos from the hikes as well. For those of you who weren't able to make the event, I'm going to go ahead and post the introductory statement of the menu in this post. I'm not skipping the first paragraph, even though it may be review. Enjoy the read:

Thank you for attending the second, and final, tasting session for this year’s Beers Made By Walking. BMBW was a four-month-long program that consisted of seven hikes, eight homebrewers, and eight beers. On each local hike a homebrewer, naturalist, and a public audience set out and identified edible and medicinal plants along the way. The homebrewer created a recipe and a beer was then produced based on the plants from that trail. Each beer is a portrait of the landscape/trail that inspired its creation. The beers you taste at this event are inspired by Mueller State Park, Old Midland Railroad Grade, the Catamount Trail, and North Cheyenne Canyon. The first four beers were available in August and were made with prickly pear cactus, piñon pine nuts, chokecherry, juniper, three leaf sumac berries, and ponderosa pine needles. The program was organized by myself, Eric Steen, and is sponsored by the UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art, Pikes Peak Brewing, and Brewer’s Republic....

Daisy is the director of the UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art and
did a fantastic job helping me with this project. Thanks a million Daisy!

These final four hikes proved to be vastly different from the first three. To start with, the beginning of the summer season was very dry and many plants that normally are in bloom at the time were nowhere to be found. Sometime in early August, however, the weather began to change, but so did the location of our hikes. The first three, early in the summer, took place in somewhat similar terrain along the front range (Garden of the Gods, Red Rock Open Space, and Palmer Park). For the next hike we drove nearly an hour west to Mueller State Park, near the town of Divide. The area was lush and many of the flowers were in bloom. At the Old Midland Railroad Grade we returned to the springs area (Manitou) after a hiatus of a few weeks, and were surprised to see a huge amount of wild hops growing around the mouths of the caves we walked through. By the time we hiked the six-hour Catamount Trail in Green Mountain Falls, the leaves in that town were beginning to turn yellow and orange. Back in Colorado Springs, however, autumn had not quite arrived. In Green Mountain Falls we had to walk a mile through town to get to the trailhead. A small stream runs through town and we identified many plants that we did not see during our climb to the reservoir. Finally we visited North Cheyenne Canyon, where a number of conditions allow for some vegetation that we had not discovered on any of the other hikes. The hazelnuts and the wild sarsparilla are plants that are remnants from the last ice age and have disappeared from almost all other areas along the front range....

For each beer I made a wooden poster that featured one of the plants that was in their beer. Each of the brewers got to keep their poster.

The idea for Beers Made By Walking has been developing over the last few years. The initial inspiration came during my time in the Yukon Territory where I spent a week canoeing down the Yukon River with a group of artists and an environmental education professor. There I was introduced to the term ‘friluftsliv’ a Norwegian term translated as ‘Free Air Living.’ The term describes a way of living in which people make a habit of being outdoors on a regular basis, simply because it is the world we live in. There are Friluftsliv Conferences that host ‘walking lectures’ where attendees hike for a few days on end, stopping every now and again for a lecture and food. A year or so later I spent some time in Scotland, where I built a pop-up pub that served homebrewed beer. While I was there I visited Williams Bros. Brewery in Alloa. They make beers that are historically Scottish in that they use ingredients that naturally grow in the Scottish Highlands. The English outlawed the use of these ingredients in the 18th Century but in the1980’s the brewery began making these beers from old recipes. This brewery has had a huge impact on how I think about beer, as I have become interested in the idea of ‘indigenious beer,’ beer that celebrates the land that it is made in (‘terrior’ could be a similar word; wine connoisseurs use it to denote how differing landscapes provide unique and specific characteristics to its crops)....

It was Halloween weekend!

As an artist and homebrewer, I am inspired by the aesthetics of beer and brewing. My work (the events I create) is fueled by the idea that beer is the people’s drink – that it brings people together, loosens barriers between people, and that these social elements are integrated into the entire idea, production, and consumption of the beverage. Beer is a social lubricant, as conceptual artist Tom Marioni stated, and it is also a social glue. Drinking good beer, to me, is a form of activism as it brings people together, inspires local economy, develops a sense of landfulness, and is known for shaping how people think about where their food comes from. This fascinates me and is a major topic of exploration in my work. The pint is a center for relational activity; sharing a pitcher is an activity that, by the end of the pitcher, will likely have inspired warming conversation and bonded people together. In my opinion, drinking together and community is at the center of well-made beer....

Matt Kupferer talking with a fan about his beer.

Me talking with folks at the bar about the philosophies of walking.

All of us together with our signs (Tom, me, Scott, Rich, and Matt)

The artists, in this case, are homebrewers. They have purposefully embedded their observations into their craft. They worked to create a recipe that balances, or purposefully imbalances, tastes traditionally associated in beer with ingredients that are a part of the world we live in. The recipes are very experimental and not much groundwork in the beer-world has been laid on how to best brew with these ingredients. The ingredients are beyond non-traditional, they are untested and open many new possibilities. So, please enjoy yourself and strike up a conversation with friends and strangers as you taste the work of local homebrewers.
- Eric Steen

Finally I'd like to thank a few people: Daniel Flanders took all these beautiful photos. Daisy McConnell and Caitlin Green believed in this project and helped make it happen through GOCA. Thanks to Rocky Mountain Brewery who made the first four beers and Pikes Peak Brewing, who made the final four beers. Big thanks to Brewer's Republic who hosted these tastings! Thanks to the hike leaders Kimberly Banzhaf, George Cameron, Liz Klein, and Paul Gayer. Also of course thanks to all eight brewers: Justin Carpenter, Grant Goodwiler, Isaac Grindeland, Jason Miller, Scott Buchholz, Rich Mock, Tom Brown, and Matt Kupferer.