Whitney goes to Europe!

A couple weeks back our Portland Brewmaster, Whitney Burnside headed to Munich to be a judge in the European Beer Star competition. It has long been one of the most important beer competitions in the world! Any brewery in the world can take part: breweries with local, regional, interregional and international operations are eligible, not only from Europe, but also from all countries on every continent. Any brewery that brews their beers in the traditional, European way.

Whitney off to Munich!

European Beer Star welcoming dinner held in this little cozy shack!

Beer judging in Germany.

“It was a very interesting day of judging beer here in Germany. There were judges from 30 different countries and it was incredible to be one of just a handful of Americans in attendance (maybe because they are at GABF). Today I judged with a group of elderly male German brewers; a bit of a challenge with the language barrier. They definitely did not care for Belgian style ales or my jokes. And damn you schnitzel for being so delicious…”

Whitney’s next stop was Brussels where she visited our friends at Bell-Vue brewery to make the final blend of Strawberry Lambic for a collaboration beer we have been working on for over a year. This special beer will eventually be a limited release here in the states!

Whitney sampling the collaboration beer with Bell-Vue Brewing.

If your familiar with Whitney, you already know that she has a very extensive culinary background and got her beer start by crafting cheese! It only makes sense that she would stop by a local farm to taste some amazing gouda.

Gouda from a local farm.

One of Whitney’s last stops was in France where she worked on a Brasserie Au Baron chestnut biére de garde collaboration brew! Definitley looks like she had some fun!