Deschutes Brewery’s “Woody,” a gigantic beer barrel, travels to events throughout the Northwest.. Jennifer Brown and Sara Elkington, serving at Brews and BBQs, sold out on Saturday.
Marcus Larson
News-Register

Year No. 2 of Habitat for Humanity's annual fundraiser Brews and BBQs was a two-day event. Last year's one-day-only affair went so well organizers felt confident that two would be even better. Hopefully, at least two times better.

And they were right.

Despite cool weather, almost twice as many people showed up for the second edition of this sudsy, saucy soiree as attended the inaugural event generating nearly double the gross revenue - $60,000 vs. $32,000.

Habitat's executive coordinator Becky Fairbank said, "If it had been 10 degrees warmer, I'm certain we would have totally packed the place and sold every drop of beer we had on hand. Just wait until next year."

Held Friday and Saturday, June 19-20 in McMinnville's Granary District, the vacant swath of concrete bounded by Fifth and Eighth streets just east of the railroad tracks, proved perfectly suited for the fundraiser.

In fact, some of the brewery participants did run out of product on Saturday. People flowed in at a fairly consistent pace throughout the day and the big open space hummed with activity from noon opening to 10 p.m. closing.

The "brews" in Brews and BBQs came from a group of 19 Northwest microbreweries lined up by Fairbank's husband, John, who works for Hagan Hamilton Insurance, one of the event's major sponsors.

They included: Alaskan, Block 15, Bridgeport, Caldera, Cascade, Deschutes, Diamond Knot, Elysian, Eugene City, Full Sail, Golden Valley, Heater/Allen, Mac & Jack's, MacTarnahan's, McMenamins, Pyramid, Pike, Rogue, and Trumer Brauerei.

Many of these breweries aren't household names and that's all the better to attract dedicated beer buffs as well as anyone interested in sampling some of the region's finest handcrafted malted beverages with limited distribution.

A post-event estimate of consumption found that of the 34 brews poured, the five most popular were Cascade Brewing's Raspberry Wheat, Heater/Allen's Dunkel and Pilsner, and Block 15's Aboriginale and Honey Wit.

One of the larger operations, at least by microbrewery standards, Deschutes Brewery of Bend dispensed from their "Woody" trailer, a portable service bar shaped like a huge barrel.

According to brand ambassador Erik Frank, they completely sold out even though, in addition to specialty brews Red Chair IPA and Greenlake Organic Ale, they also brought along some Twilight, a lighter ale available only from June through September.

As innovative as the beers may be, their names may outdo them in sheer creativity. Here are just a few to get your curiosity hopping: Elysian's The Wise E.S.B. Pyramid's Curve Ball, Pike's Kilt Lifter, Full Sail's Keelhauler and Eugene City's Track Town Triple Jump.

The six barbecue vendors were equally pleased with the way things went. Fairbanks said that a busy Friday evening depleted their supplies so much they had to hustle out to local grocers and stock up for the following day.

Though ribs, wings, sausages, dogs and steak sandwiches from Barker Q, Big Island Catering, Billy Bob's, Captain B's, Ribslayer to Go and Uncle Wally's were the predominant fare, three other food vendors offered taste-tempting alternatives.

Organic fries, healthy salads and Hot Lips natural fruit sodas were sold by the Harvest Fresh "dream team" of Christine Bauman, Josie Smallwood and Laura Harris, who only needed to dash back to the store if they needed more.

The Soroptimists offered up strawberry shortcake and coffee. But I didn't see any berry patches or bean bags out back. And Steve and Heidi Belinsky of Sweet Oregon Rain kept their delectable Kettle Corn popping throughout the weekend.

For those who craved an alcoholic beverage other than the bountiful brews, four wineries - Anthony Dell, Arcane Cellars, Barking Frog, and Panther Creek popped corks for fermented grape enthusiasts.

Longtime Oregon Winemaker Rich Cushman from Hood River was sipping a Wheatland Chardonnay at the Arcane table while singing the praises of Heater/Allen's Dunkel and Rogue's Dead Guy Ale.

Although I heard someone traveled from Pennsylvania to be there, Steve Brainerd, who is originally from McMinnville but currently lives in Richmond, Va., had that beat by a bit.

Brainerd was with Alison and Paul Pfeffer of Beaverton who belong to three brew clubs. Their consensus comment was "all good" and that included a couple pounds of Ribslayer's spicy spare ribs they had just shared.

Richard and Donna Weed of McMinnville said they came last year and wouldn't miss it. Richard was wolfing down a flank steak sandwich as Donna nibbled on a bacon-wrapped Jalapeno popper.

The specialty from Captain B's - hollowed out jalapenos, stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in a bacon slice and grilled to a sizzling juiciness - may have been the event's single most popular food item.

It took Captain B's entire Bennett family crew - dad Marv, mom Keri, son Jamie and daughter Kelly - working feverishly to keep up with a demand that continued to grow as word spread around the compound.

Brian and Jolai Goergen came with Bob and Jeanne Goldsmith from Salem for the event. It was the wives' Father's Day present to their hubbies. Jolai's sister, who lives in Amity, told them about it.

Wesley Stoller from Amity volunteered to pour beer and brought along Kassie Olivera, a friend from Salem. His time behind the bar was over, so they savored ribs while listened to Mike Fife on acoustic guitar wind up his session.

Portland-based funk, jazz and reggae band Road Access was about to take the stage, one of the seven musical groups and individuals that performed over the course of the two-day event.

Stoller is a subscriber to Beer NW magazine and saw the call for volunteers online. Olivera doesn't drink, but Stoller sampled several. He said his favorites were the Diamond Knot and Bridgeport IPAs and the Heater/Allen Pilsner.

Speaking of volunteers, McMinnville Habitat executive director Marianne Mills wanted to make sure credit was given to the more than 200 of them who helped make the event possible.

Like the houses Habitat builds, it wouldn't happen without their generous donation of time, which will be counted on again next year. The third edition is already set for June 18-19, 2010.

And that's what I found out while OUT and ABOUT - testing beers cool from the keg and ribs hot off the barbie at the second annual Brews and BBQs.

Karl Klooster, the News-Register's regional editor, can be reached by e-mail at kklooster@newsregister.com or by phone at 503-883-6227.