These guys don’t know exactly how many breweries there are in Southwest Washington. And they’d be the ones to ask. Probably something like 27 or 28 by now, according to Michael Perozzo. Little ones come and go, so it’s hard to keep up.
What they do know is that, when they invited local brewers to circle up and concoct something special for charity, a whopping 20 participated.
“We would have been happy with 6 or 7,” Perozzo said. He believes that the resulting Imperial dry hopped oatmeal stout must be “the largest collaboration beer the Northwest has ever seen.” Nobody’s contradicted him since he started circulating that claim, he chuckled.
What the huge brewer turnout really means, said Tom Poffenroth of Loowit Brewing, is that the beer scene in Southwest Washington is as supportive as can be. “We all started small and grew together,” he said. “There’s competition, but it’s friendly. It’s a cool scene to be part of. It’s sort of a brotherhood of beer.”
IF YOU GO
• What:Vancouver Breweries Unite for “Give More 24!” Featuring screenings of “Brewcouver” and “Strange Brew.”
• When: Sept. 22; doors open at 5 p.m., movies start at 6 p.m.
• Where: Kiggins Theatre, 1011 Main St., Vancouver.
• Admission: Free.
• On the web: Visit http://northbankbeerweek.com to see the whole rundown of fun.
MORE GREAT BEER MOVIES
• “Animal House.” Lots of beer. Lots of grotesque college-frat heroics from John Belushi (“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!”) Did we mention, lots and lots of beer?
• “Smokey and the Bandit.” Burt Reynolds in a black Trans Am, speeding across Dixie on behalf of sudsy contraband.
• “Take This Job and Shove It.” Named for a classic country song. The effort to save — or unload — a sinking brewery business. Starring Art Carney and monster trucks.
• “What? — No Beer?” A minor film from silent clown Buster Keaton. Also starring Jimmy Durante, who couldn’t drink a beer without submerging his nose in it. The pair reactivate an abandoned brewery at the end of Prohibition. Released in 1933.
• “The Shawshank Redemption.” It’s only a one scene, but it’s priceless: Tim Robbins nearly dies negotiating ice-cold beers for a crew of hard-working prisoners — and velvet-voiced Morgan Freeman concludes in satisfaction: “We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. We were the lords of all creation.”
On Thursday, you can round up your own beer brothers — and sisters, of course, and any other nongendered, multi-gendered or generically gendered sibs — and enjoy some sudsy film screenings at the Kiggins Theater in downtown Vancouver. Thursday will officially kick off North Bank Beer Week, a new festival of fun events quarterbacked by Loowit Brewing and ZZoom Media, a Hazel Dell marketing firm.
To launch the week in style, sponsor Great Western Malting company, a longtime Vancouver anchor, has already bought every seat in the Kiggins on Thursday night — and passed the savings on to you. It’s free admission, but everyone is encouraged to buy some beers; all proceeds will go to local charities via Clark County’s third annual “Give More 24!” day of charitable giving.
Doors open at 5 p.m. for “Give More 24!” activities. Then, at 6 p.m., settle in for some beer viewing. First comes the city of Vancouver’s 11-minute new marketing documentary, “Brewcouver,” exploring and celebrating the history and local brotherhood of beer.
“Love” is the word that keeps coming out of the smiling faces of the brewers interviewed. Love for the craft, for their friends, for the scene. (Gary Paul of Trusty Brewing goes a little further, calling beer “the foundation of civilization.”)
After “Brewcouver” comes the main feature, “Strange Brew,” a questionable (cult) classic from 1983. Starring the most famous of all Canadian hosers, Bob and Doug McKenzie — aka Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas — the film manages to mash up Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and a plot to take over the world via mind-control beer.
It’s a beer lover’s film. Perozzo has seen it more than a few times, he smiled.
“I watched it a lot, growing up,” he said.
North Bank
“Brewcouver” was already the name of a passport program — encouraging people to visit many different local breweries, get their papers stamped and win prizes — started by Perozzo at ZZoom.
When the city asked if it could use the same name for its documentary film, Perozzo was glad to say yes.
“This is my hometown and I’m so glad to see the brewery scene here growing so much,” he said.
Beer Week was going to be a charitable pub crawl in connection with “Give More 24!” Then it took on a life of its own, said Devon Bray, the founder and owner of Loowit Brewing. So much is happening on the local beer scene, he said, it wasn’t hard to pull it all together and call it a special event — a Beer Week like they already have in larger cities like Seattle and Portland.
North Bank Beer Week “is not just Vancouver,” he added. “It’s meant to be a celebration of all Southwest Washington beers. All the breweries along the banks of the Columbia River.”
What’s in store, after the Kiggins kickoff? Check and recheck the website http://northbankbeerweek.com, because it will be continuously updated. Here’s just a taster:
• Shorty’s Oktoberfest and Autumn Brewfest. Sept. 23 and 24 at Shorty’s Garden & Home, 10006 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver. Advance tickets are $20 (Friday) and $15 (Saturday).
• Paint Night, 1 p.m. Sept. 24 and 7 p.m. Sept. 27 at Heathen Brewing Feral Public House, 1109 Washington St., Vancouver, WA. $45, art supplies provided.
• Brewers Cornhole Invitational Tournament, 4:30 p.m., Sept. 25 at Trap Door Brewing, 2315 Main St., Vancouver. Spectators welcome to witness the mayhem. Free.
• Beat the Brewers Trivia Night. 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at The Thirsty Sasquatch, 2110 Main St., Vancouver. Free.
• New beer unveiling by Backwoods Brewing. 6 p.m. Sept. 29 at Tapped Brewhouse and Pub, 2005 S.E. 192nd Ave., #100, Camas. Be among the first.
• Oktoberfest in Washougal, 4-11 p.m. Sept. 30, Reflection Plaza, 1703 Main St., Washougal. $13 for adults, $3 ages 13-20.
