While the grocery and convenience store has long been the go-to place to pick up a six-pack or 22oz. beer, specialty bottle shops, beer bars and homebrew supply stores are becoming increasingly popular. Popping up all over the country (from New York City to Oregon), such establishments offer everyone from the beer novice to the connoisseur and geek the chance to taste a wide variety of specialty, hard-to-find beers and, in the process, learn about the history of beer, the science of brewing and more.

Located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Top Hops Beer Shop is a premiere retail beer store and bar designed to showcase great beer from around the world. As “Merchants and Advocates of Great Beer,” Top Hops offers a welcoming, unpretentious environment that encourages experimentation. According to proprietor Ted Kenny, “Hopefully we will introduce our customers to beers or styles they have never heard of or tried before.” Beer education is paramount to Top Hops’ mission and Kenny plans to hold many events including presentations by guest brewers, visiting beer writers and beer pairing seminars. With its grand opening this past weekend, we welcome Top Hops to the wonderful world of craft beer!

To learn more about Top Hops, check out these recent articles from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Part homebrew supply shop, brewery and restaurant, Falling Sky Brewing will soon make its debut launch in Eugene, Oregon. Operating for nearly a decade as a homebrew supply shop, Valley Vinter & Brewer (the shop’s former name) is joining forces & expanding its repertoire to do what it knows best ⎯ beer! Partnering with a local chef and seasoned restaurateur, Falling Sky’s menu will focus on locally sourced, in season and sustainably raised ingredients. Opening in late January, Falling Sky will also offer handcrafted sodas and barrel to tap wines. With its new, on-site brewery, Falling Sky Brewing brings the educational aspect of its mission as a homebrew shop to life!

To learn more about Falling Sky Brewing, you can read the recent feature from The Register-Guard.

Cheers from Watershed, the craft beer aficionados!

Congratulations to Steve and Kim and the folks at Sandstrom Design and all the hands that went in to making the perfect story to sit and sip and enjoy over the holidays. We’re off to build more brands in the artisan economy in 2012!

Our inspiration this year? Cocktails. More specifically, barrel-aged bitters.

The first person we called was Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager of Clyde Common.  If there’s barrel-aging involved, he’s the man to call. Jeff advised us to follow Gary Regan’s Orange Bitters no. 5 recipe, so naturally we went for it. It was when Jeffrey so generously loaned us the small oak barrel that aged his first ever barrel-aged negroni that we knew this was going to be quite the experience.

Next, we reached out to Douglas Derrick, bar manager of Nostrana, for a little advice on the process since he makes bitters seasonally. Luckily for us, he was just beginning his own cranberry bitters project at the restaurant and took us under his wings.

After 85 hand-peeled oranges, innumerable bags of Oregon cranberries, and countless hours of cooking in giant brewing vats, we have produced something we are really proud of.

What a great pairing: Oregon cranberry bitters and barrel-aged orange bitters — both perfect for creative versions of the Manhattan (a nice nod to our NYC office, led by media guru and cocktail loving Helen Baldus!)

So, in the spirit of the holiday season, we would like to share two fantastic Manhattan recipes and recommend you sip with friends and family. Cheers to a wonderful year to come and taking the time to craft something truly special.

Nocino Manhattan

Recipe by Douglas Derrick of Nostrana, Portland, Ore.

2.0 oz. Ransom Whippersnapper Whiskey

0.5 oz. Handmade Nocino or Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur (See Note)

1 bar spoon of 2:1 Demerara Syrup

2 dashes of Oregon Cranberry Bitters (or Fee Brothers cranberry bitters)

Ice cubes

Stir ingredients, serve up, add two cranberries for garnish.

Demerara syrup:

2 parts Demerara Sugar and 1 part hot water.  Mix well.

Note: Look for a product imported by Haus Alpenz called Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur, but using this version will require added sugar.

Orange Manhattan

2 oz. Rye Whiskey
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Orange bitters (or to taste)

Ice cubes

Stir ingredients in a mixing glass, strain into a chilled martini glass.

Beagle owner Matthew Piacentini and head bartender Dan Greenbaum’s pre-prohibition-inspired drinks are worthy of the honorable mention. To keep the flavors intense, Greenbaum steams them through an espresso steamer rather than adding the traditional hot water. And, while we trust anything the innovative cocktail pair creates, you can personalize your own toddies by choosing from a variety of belly-warming whiskeys.

The Beagle offers four toddy varieties: hot toddy, whiskey skin, brick and hot buttered rum—all served with a plate of deliciously caloric savory shortbread cookies in flavors like bacon fat. I guess we know where our New York team member Helen Baldus will be spending her cold winter evenings.

Kurt Huffman, Cathy Whims, and Ryan Magarian

Monday night marked a momentous occasion for the Pearl District’s restaurant scene. We had the pleasure of hosting the media launch party for Oven and Shaker, the much-anticipated pizza-and-cocktail project of Nostrana’s Cathy Whims, ChefStable’s Kurt Huffman, and renowned cocktail genius Ryan Magarian. Oven and Shaker, a sort of urban-saloon-meets-pizzeria space, offers an Italian-street food and wood-fired pizza menu that puts delectable food items and enticing cocktail combinations on level footing.

The evening was ideal and the buzz in the media community was electric: Oven and Shaker is bringing a reasonably priced hot spot to the posh Pearl District restaurant scene. Karen Brooks of Portland Monthly magazine’s “Eat Beat” describes Whims as Portland’s “pizza goddess,” and  we couldn’t agree more with her trademark slow-rising, sourdough Neapolitan crusts and outstanding pairings of local and Italian ingredients. Magarian’s cocktail menu complements Whims’ creations perfectly by offering a nod to old and new Portland cocktail traditions that run the gamut—from classic with a twist to whimsical and unexpected.

Oven and Shaker opened Wednesday night to a packed house and rave reviews from the general public. Congratulations to the entire Oven and Shaker team, Portlanders are excited to have another forward-thinking restaurant in town and even more excited to see it in the Pearl!

Sally Bowers at work

The Original Dinerant, downtown Portland’s cool supper club-inspired diner/restaurant, is offering Thanksgiving cakes and pies to go.  Hurry up though, because you’ve got to place your orders TODAY.  Now, these are not your ordinary cakes and pies.  The Original’s Pastry Chef Sally Bowers has a playful approach (she makes cake pops and pudding shots too), but she is serious when it comes to her cakes and pies. You’ll know it the moment you bite into one of her decadent layered cakes — always incredibly flavorful and gorgeous to look at.  These are conversation starters, and cause for yet another Thanksgiving photo op.

Here are the details: Cakes are $40 and pies are $25 each.

Cake flavors include: Chocolate Fudge, Carrot with Cream Cheese, Red Velvet and Brown Butter Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream.

Pie flavors include: Cherry Lattice, French Apple (with a crumble top), Chocolate Cream, Lemon Meringue, Pumpkin, and Pecan.

Call: (503) 546-2666

We’ve also learned through the pumpkin vine that it’s still possible to get a work of pie art at Random Order. They’ve wrapped up advance orders, but they’re busily making extras for their cafe on Alberta. These pies are so well loved that OPB dubbed their bakery “Pie City.” This also means you’ll be taking a chance that they’ll all be snatched up, so we’ve asked for an insider scoop on the best time to swing by: Tonight from 9pm – 10pm or Thursday from 7am – 10am.

Here are the details: Pies are $35, baked in glass with a $5 pie plate refund.

Pie flavors include: “Old World Apple Farm” Heritage Apple Pie, Kentucky Pecan, and Spirited Pumpkin

Stop by: 1800 NE Alberta St.

1. Carin Pike as Rudy Marchesi, Montinore Estate
2. Lisa Donoughe as Lee Medoff, Bull Run Distillery
3. Lota LaMontagne as Sheryl Kesey, Nancy’s Yogurt
4. Stephanie Selk as Brian Butenschoen, Oregon Brewers Guild
5. Katie Burnett as Douglas Derrick, Nostrana

Now, it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for….time to vote!  Just leave a comment with your favorite ‘look-alike.’  Winner takes home $100.

Carin Pike a.k.a. Rudy Marchesi

Lee Medoff of Bull Run Distillery

Lee Medoff a.k.a. Lisa Donoughe

Sheryl Kesey of Springfield Creamery and Nancy's Yogurt

Sheryl Kesey a.k.a. Lota LaMontagne

Brian Butenschoen a.k.a. Stephanie Selk

Brian Butenschoen of the Oregon Brewers Guild

Douglas Derrick of Nostrana

Douglas Derrick a.k.a. Katie Burnett

It wasn’t until 2007 that I realized brewers had a similar thing going on.  A way to mark the hop harvest, race back to the brewery from Yakima or the Willamette Valley, toss in some wet hops and brew a spontaneous batch of fresh hop beer.   The results a few years back were quite floral and, frankly, a little funky.

Today, we’re seeing brewers nationwide investing in hop fields and becoming more and more committed to exploring this unique time of year when fresh hops can add elements of brightness and seasoning that dry hops don’t offer.

But the even more exciting thing about the evolution of fresh hop brewing, in Oregon, particularly, is how sophisticated and experimental these brewers are becoming this time of year. Last weekend at the Portland  Fresh Hop Tastival I had some killer beers.  Here’s a few tasting notes and look for them around town, they’re delicious:

Top Pick:  Double Mountain Killer Green (Hops used = Brewers Gold)

Matt decided to run with the concept of hoppy flavor and this beer had a very pleasant hop intensity that was mostly noticeable mid palate, which was unusual.  The hoppiness wasn’t a top note, it was somehow fully integrated and was rounder.  Extremely clean finish, very drinkable.

BridgePort Brewing, (Hops used = Centennial) extremely refreshing, well balanced, good beer.

Upright Brewing (Hops used = Magnum) Sometimes I find the Upright beers, ahem, a little out there.  They did a really nice job with this beer, in my opinion.  It’s a true Saison, with hints of fresh hop character.  Lovely beer.

In case you weren’t able to make it to the festival and want to get in on the action, check out Joe Smith’s Live @ 7 piece for KGW: http://www.kgw.com/thesquare/Fresh-Hop–131371783.html

For more Oregon Brewers Guild events visit their website: http://oregonbeer.org/category/events/

Food & Wine’s popular blog, Mouthing Off, just published a roundup of their five favorite restaurant dessert trends for Fall, and included in the mix is Pruett’s tomato upside-down cake. Writer, Kate Heddings mentions a few popular takes on this classic American dessert, but notes that “the most interesting fruit in rotation has to be tomato, seen at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.” This local gastropub has a way of creating some of the most unique and delicious creations with the use of local and seasonal Northwest ingredients, and sure enough, people are taking note.

Click here to read the full article: http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/mouthing-off/2011/9/27/top-5-trends-in-restaurant-desserts