I wanted to pass this sweet deal on from our friends at PDXPipeline. Win a Free Oregon Brewers Festival $50 Package from PDXPipeline.

“Pipeline is giving away another $50 packages (two mugs, 40 tokens, one program!) to the Oregon Brewers Festival. To win: Comment on this post why you would like to attend. If you have already commented/entered here, you don’t have to enter again. We’ll draw the winner on Friday (July 23) @ noon.

Reminder: We give out 100s of $$$ in free tickets every month to our Portland Facebook Group for many of the top events & venues in PDX. Join it if you like free stuff. Not on Facebook? Join our email list and win there.”

Taplister Turns 1!

Come celebrate Taplister’s birthday tonight at 7pm at the the Hop & Vine (1914 N. Killingsworth St. Portland, OR 97217).  At 8pm we will be giving a brief demo of our latest technology apps, followed by a toast (of Oakshire Brewing Line Dry Rye) and a swag giveaway.  It has been a busy year for us, expanding into 26 cities around the country, adding an Android app and winning a social media award for “The next big thing.”  Join the Taplister crew on Tuesday July 6th for a pint ot two!

Cheers

- Team Taplister

Connect with us on Twitter & Facebook

Taplister is looking for a few dedicated and hard working beer lovers to work with us on special projects and attend beer events.  If you are interested read the description below and follow the instructions to apply for one of the jobs.  Don’t forget to mention which internship that you are applying for.

Graphic Design/User Interface Intern

Taplister, an award winning start-up that combines the passion for beer with technology through the creation of the first live local beer search engine, is seeking a graphic design intern.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Working with the Taplister team to assist in production for both print and online projects
• Mechanical preparation for print materials
• Updating existing files for web and print projects
• Image editing and file prep

The successful candidate must meet the following criteria:

• Must be 21 years of age or older
• Candidates should be junior or senior level students studying Graphic Design or a related field
• Strong skills in Adobe CS3 products – Illustrator, Photoshop & InDesign
• Knowledge of frontend user interface, HTML, CSS, Wordpress, & Javascript a plus
• Ability to think outside the box, take creative initiative
• Detail oriented, ability to take direction and work closely with other team members
• Ability to work independently and be self motivated in a fast-paced environment
• Have own computer/laptop

This is an unpaid internship with lots of opportunity to gain a wealth of experience as well as share in the perks of being a member of the Taplister team (free beer, happy hours & festival/event attendance). Commitment requires 20-40 hrs per week for 3 months with some flexibility.

Please send your resume along with a cover letter and design portfolio to jobs@taplister.com.

We appreciate every applicant’s interest, however only those under consideration will be contacted. We regret that phone calls will not be accepted.

Taplister LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer and we encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

____________________________________________________________________________

Social Media Marketing Intern

Taplister, an award winning start-up that combines the passion for beer with technology through the creation of the first live local beer search engine, is seeking a social media marketing intern.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Managing social media properties (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), including daily monitoring, posting, and content development
• Conduct research as needed for successful content development
• Assist in the development of policies and procedures around Taplister’s use of social media marketing
• Prepare status reports on social media efforts and success rates
• Assist the Taplister team with event marketing and community outreach

The successful candidate must meet the following criteria:

• Must be 21 years of age or older
• Candidates should be junior or senior level students studying Communications, Marketing, Public Relations or a related field
• Familiarity with standard marketing concepts, practices and procedures
• Strong understanding of blogging, tweeting, texting, social networking and social media marketing
• Ability to think outside the box, take creative initiative
• Detail oriented, ability to take direction and work closely with other team members
• Ability to work independently and be self motivated in a fast-paced environment
• Have own computer/laptop

This is an unpaid internship with lots of opportunity to gain a wealth of experience as well as share in the perks of being a member of the Taplister team (free beer, happy hours & festival/event attendance). Commitment requires 20-40 hrs per week for 3 months with some flexibility.

Please send your resume along with a cover letter to jobs@taplister.com.

We appreciate every applicant’s interest, however only those under consideration will be contacted. We regret that phone calls will not be accepted.

Taplister LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer and we encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

Kerry with SoMe Award and beer in hand

Last Thursday night Taplister won a SoMe Award in the category of Best Social Media App – The Next Big Thing Award. The SoMe Awards or social media awards, honors “the best social media projects, programs and campaigns in the Pacific Northwest.”  Here is a description of our category: “A social media marketing campaign utilizing a social media application (includes widgets, iPhone applications, Android applications, Facebook applications, Twitter applications, & Google Gears). Entries will be judged on the marketing impact, usability, scalability, and viral nature of the social media application.”

We at Taplister are very excited about this award and look forward to further innovating the way craft beer fans consume information (pun is intended).  This is our second accolade.  The first was when John Foyston of the Oregonian’s Beer Here column named us the Best Intersection of Beer and Technology of 2009. In the next 30 days expect big things from Taplister including another iPhone app, an Android app and even a Facebook Application.  Cheers and thanks to Ryan Lewis for the pics!  Also here is a video from the event: Kerry at the SoMe Awards Talking About Taplister

Kerry putting one back before accepting a SoMe Award

Last Friday Taplister was selected as a finalist for the SoMe Awards in the category of Best Social Media App – The Next Big Thing Award (see our submission here).  The Some Awards or social media awards, honors “the best social media projects, programs and campaigns in the Pacific Northwest.”  We are honored to be selected as finalist and hope to take home this award.    Taplister is truly a passion project that relies on other passionate craft beer fans to help it grow and stay updated.  We need the craft beer community to support us by attending the SoMe Awards Banquet and voting for us in the People’s Choice Award.  The event is $20 in advance in Portland, Oregon at the Mac Club this Thursday May 6th from 7-10pm.  Thanks for your support and cross your fingers.

Ezra Johnson-Greenough & James Blum

Portlanders are serious about three things:  Beer, technology and our community.  To continue to let Google know we are the right choice for their Google Fiber to home network, we decided to open source the Gigabit IPA recipe that Hopworks created.  This will allow other cities the opportunity to brew this fine beer.  The code for the beer or recipe is available on Google’s open source code website and below.

We’re “opening the source code” so you can home brew a Gigabit IPA all your own.”
said the Mayor of Portland, Oregon, Sam Adams.

Today I assisted my friend’s Ezra Johnson-Greenough & James Blum from the New School Beer Blog to brew the first home brew version of the Gigabit IPA.  I enlisted help from these experienced home brewers since it has been nearly two years since I have home brewed.  As I am writing this post we are still in the brewing process of this hoppy brew and we look forward to comparing this to the Hopworks version.  If you are interested in brewing this beer the recipe is below.

Gigabit IPA Recipe

Tonight I look forward to celebrating one of my favorite breweries first anniversary, Upright Brewing.  A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to try a sample of the draft-only apricot farmhouse ale and Four Play.  While they were both good beers, the clear stand out to me was the apricot ale. Learn more about this event from the press release below:

1st Anniversary and Four Play bottle release Party!
Friday April 7th 430-9pm
240 N. Broadway, Portland, OR‎ 97227- (503) 735-5337
During the normal Friday tasting room hours of 4:30 – 9 pm Upright will be celebrating it’s first anniversary with two special beers – a draft-only apricot farmhouse ale and Four Play, the brewery’s second batch brewed in late March 2009 which was barrel aged with cherry puree, lactobacillus and brettanomyces. The Four Play yielded just 80 cases and five kegs and will be available only at the brewery. Kir Jensen, the woman behind the Sugar Cube modeled for the label and we’ll have some of her amazing sweets available to pair with the beer.

The draft only anniversary Apricot beer is a simple recipe that uses nearly all pale malt and a pinch of wheat to let the yeast (our house French saison strain) express itself clearly. At the tail end of the fermentation about 300 pounds of apricot puree was added which was subsequently fermented out leaving the beer with a delicate fruity nose along with a tart and juicy flavor. The finish is dry and lasting making this beer a quenching beverage to break in Portland’s Spring season. 6% abv

If you are a true craft beer fan then you have probably heard of Fred Eckhardt.  Fred is a beer & sake writer, home brewer and beer educator.  But what he is probably best known for is his personality.  You see my wife and I attended one of Fred’s beer & cheese pairings at Rogue Public House in the Pearl several years ago.  Fred entertained us with funny stories, facts & zanny one liners or as we call them Fredisms.  Now it is your turn to meet Fred at his 84th birthday party/fundraiser, Fred Fest.  I was fortunate enough to attend his birthday last year with fellow beer geeks.  Great & rare beers were had, food was consumed and good times were plenty.  I felt good about drinking since all of the proceeds went to a charity of Fred’s choice.  Join me at Fred Fest 2010 at the new Hair of the Dog Brewing and buy your ($50) tickets soon before they are gone.  Remember you are drinking for charity.

Fred Eckhardt, Kerry & Josie Finsand

The Press Release:

FredFest Date Change, Tickets On Sale

PORTLAND, Ore.  — The littlest big beer festival in the world – or at least in Portland – is slated for Monday, May 10, Fred’s actual 84^th birthday.  Tickets go on sale immediately at the official Web site: http://www.fredfestpdx.com

What started as a surprise 80th birthday party for world-renowned beer writer Fred Eckhardt grows each year and has become a significant fundraiser for the charity of Eckhardt’s choice. Now in its fifth year, this year’s proceeds will go toward finding a cure for juvenile diabetes.

In a quest to answer the timeless question: “What Would Fred Drink?” lucky Fred fans will gather at the NEW Hair of the Dog brewery and tasting room, 61 Yamhill Street in southeast Portland the evening of May 10, from 6 to 10 p.m.  They will be treated not only to a rare assortment of hand-selected beers, but also light fare and a birthday cake — complete with a round of “Happy Birthday” — for Fred. Cheeses, chocolate, candy and even cereal will be offered in abundance so attendees can experience some of Fred’s famed beer-and-food pairings.

At the FredFest, there will be a silent auction at the event featuring bottles of rare beers. And a worldwide online auction of rare beers and vertical flights will be held the same weekend, allowing Fred fans across the globe to be a part of Fred’s birthday and the FredFest celebration and fundraiser – even if they can’t actually attend the FredFest event.

Cost for FredFest is $50 in advance and includes a souvenir glass, free ticket for a raffle of bottled specialty beers and four hours of sampling, sipping and story-telling with Fred. Tickets are limited and they are going fast (they’ve sold out every year to date), so get your tickets before it’s too late at http://www.FredFestPDX.com and also at http://www.FredFestPDX.net

Here are the first pictures of Hopworks Gigabit IPA.

Bottles of Hopworks Gigabit IPA

Hopworks Organic Gigabit IPA is an original beer.

14 Plato 5.9% ABV 75 IBU

Organic Malts: Pilsner, Munich 32L, C15, C40, C60

Hops: Summit, Simcoe, Rainier, Palisade, Magnum

This fresh & edgy IPA honors
Portland’s new gigabit network
project to pioneer a connected
future with Google fiber-to-the-home.
Embrace the bandwidth with
a massive NW hop aroma,
with rich citrus and pine accents
aggressively balanced with
clear malt caramel flavor,
and a deep, clean, satisfying finish.
From Hopworks, the world’s first

Christian Ettinger of Hopworks pouring the first pint of Gigabit IPA

carbon-neutral artisnal brewery

Final Gigabit IPA Logo Version

What happens when you combine a passionate Portland, Oregon technology community, Google and Hopworks?  You get Gigabit IPA.  Described by Hopwork’s Brewer Ben Love, “this fresh & edgy IPA honors Portland’s new gigabit network project pioneering a connected future with Google fiber-to-home.  Embrace the bandwidth with a massive NW hop aroma, with rich citrus and pine accents aggressively balanced with clear malt caramel flavor, and a deep, clean, satisfying finish. From Hopworks, the world’s first carbon-neutral artisnal brewery.”

The back story.  This past month I joined the grass roots efforts led by a small group of people banded together to lobby Google to consider Portland, Oregon as the perfect spot to roll out their Google Fiber for Communities experiment. Google is planning to design and build one of the fastest experimental broadband networks in the world, delivering over 1 gigabit per second fiber-to-the-home connections at a competitive price for up to 500,000 homes.  Teresa Boze a fellow Beer and Blogger brought me into this project to help recruit a brewery to create a special beer that represents the sustainability, quality, innovation and creativity that is Portland, Oregon.

Gigabyte Logo

I had several breweries in my mind for the project, but at the top of the list was Hopworks Urban Brewery.  Monday of last week I was asked by Sheldon Renan (the ring leader of PDXFIBER) to set up a meeting later that day with Hopworks.  Fortunately I was able to deliver and meet with Christian Ettinger (Owner/Brewer) and Ben Love (Brewer).  After talking about the project we were all excited and Hopworks quickly got things brewing.  Fast forward to this week and we collectively came up with two names for the beer, Gigabyte IPA or Gigabit IPA.  We chose Gigabit IPA because it was more relevant to the topic.  Next Bram Pitoyo used his typography skills to create a Google inspired logo for the beer which will be bottled in very limited supply and delivered to Google.

This Thursday at 2pm Hopworks will be hosting a special media preview offering the first taste of Portland’s new Gigabit IPA.  The event will be in the brewery and representatives from the project, the brewery and the city will be on hand.  Then on Friday Justin Kistner of Beer and Blog will be hosting the public release at the Green Dragon with the Hopworks team and their beloved bike bar.

There are over 1100 communities fighting for the opportunity to have Google create a high speed fiber network in their town.  Only time will tell who Google will choose as they are in no rush to make a decision.  No matter what happens we do know that Portland will continue to be a creative community making great beer.

Update: A few things that have come to my attention.  This effort has been put together in a short period of time with a lot of stake holders involved so I want to make sure everyone gets the appropriate credit.  Michael Weinberg was actually the initiator of the PDXFIBER project.  While Sheldon Renan and Ben Love worked on the beer description.