Every Monday is a special night down at Tugboat Brewing, as whenever you enter you are cheered and if you leave you are booed. Quite fun. Additionally during the winter Linsel, my favorite bartender in Portland, has free popcorn with magical popcorn seasoning that I still crave the next day. He might lace it with cocaine. Tugboat closes down at 10 pm on Monday, and afterwards Tara and I joined Linsel and friends across the alley at Bailey's Tap Room for a pint.
One thing I enjoy about Bailey's is that their half pint (10 oz.) is actually close to half the price of their normal pint, making consuming less but trying more beer much easier to accomplish. Last night Tara and I were able to try two beers, one of which was a leftover from the Brewpublic anniversary party from several weeks ago.
Caldera Brewing: Rose Petal Golden
Imperial Golden
While I love beer in bottles, beer from a can amuses the heck out of me. It helps when the beer in question is a damn fine brew. Caldera has been making very tasty beers for a number of years now and canning several varieties for distribution (you should try their IPA and Pale, great canned beer), in addition to special beers that they distribute in kegs. This specific beer was made with what I am told was an outrageous 11 pounds of rose petals and 2 liters of Bulgarian rose water. It has a potpourri smell that stayed true in the flavor, with a fine floral taste presenting on front and ending with a moderate bitter. Not something I would drink all the time, but extremely interesting. ***
Golden Valley Muddy Valley
Oatmeal Stout ABV:5.8%
I love oatmeal stouts, but only when there is more to them than the great oatmeal mouthfeel. Muddy Valley had the correct feel, with a fine smooth finish with the usual tongue coating of an oatmeal stout coupled with a chicory-esque taste that lingered nicely on the palate. We were served this beer on nitro, with the smaller nitro bubbles enhancing the coffee smell and the smooth taste. ***
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A celebration of Beer Weekend
Yesterday Tara and I went with my parents out to Skamania Lodge in Stevenson Washington to attend the "Celebration of beer" weekend that the lodge and local breweries were hosting. While there were several events that made up the weekend, we were there for just the beer festival part- a sedate affair with perhaps 10 breweries each hocking 2-3 beers apiece. I like these small beer fests as it tends to draw a smaller crowd with fewer "frat boy drinkers". This is not to say that the majority of the attendees were especially knowledgeable, but rather the number of men smoking cigars, wearing shirts advertising their sexual prowess, and shouting every five minutes was next to none. Additionally the weather in the Gorge was breathtaking, with the festival taking place on the lodge's front lawn with a great view of the Oregon side of the gorge. I did not have a notepad with me, so please forgive me for detailing the beers entirely from memory.
Walking Man Brewing Hopalong
Fresh Hop Ale
The first beer that my father and I headed for was this year's fresh hop beer from Walking Man. Walking Man remains one of our favorite breweries, with such notable products as Homo Erectus and its offspring Big Black Homo and My Old Kentucky Homo. Additionally their Black Cherry stout is one of the most heavenly dessert beers around (always on tap at Henry's, just so you know). The Hop along was a fantastic fresh hop beer, getting the better of most beers made in the style by having a solid bitter character with a fine citrus mixed in with the hoppy herbal flavor. Often the fresh hop beers (especially the last 2 years) are all aroma and no substance, so this was a perfect way to start the festival out.
***1/2
Laht Neppur
Winter Warmer
Oatmeal Porter
These beers are both named exactly for their style. I started off with the Winter Warmer, which has a delightful cinnamon and spice aroma that mirrors its true to style flavor. The cinnamon is perhaps even more prevalent than the smell would indicate, and the slight honey edge gives it a near spiced mead quality. ***
The Oatmeal porter I was less enthusiastic about, as I generally do not like Oatmeal beers outside of the Oatmeal stout spectrum of drinks. The mouthfeel was the perfect thickness, but the chocolate flavor of the porter was diminished, resulting in a textured but not flavorful drink.
**1/2
Lazy Boy
Mistletoe Bliss
Redhead Imperial Red
Lazy boy continues to dissapoint me. The Imperial red was bland and unintersting (and let me tell you, us redhead are not bland) and the Mistletoe bliss was a suprisingly un-spiced winter warmer. Both seemed to greatly miss the mark. Too bad, as the company rep attending for them sure seemed like a nice dude.
Mistletoe Bliss: * 1/2
Redhead: **
Double Mountain
Dapper Dan- British Style Brown Ale
We had Dapper Dan at the festival, and later on at the Double Mountain Ale House, but it made quite an impression on the group. It is a true session style beer, made to let you stay in the pub arguing with your mates for hours without getting belligerent, due to its low ABV of 3.5%. The smooth, almost nutty taste was infinitely drinkable and we came back for several samples before our departure. ***1/2
Full Sail
Fresh Uebergehopt
Full sail's fresh hop beer was sampled, to it's detriment, after we had already hit the Walking Man taps. While the Ubergehopt (Super Hopped) was superior to the last 2 years worth of fresh hop beers, it was still somewhat lacking in flavor, with the hops largely imparting only a delicious aroma. Still, it was nice to get to try a Full Sail special rather than just having their Wassail (which is pretty fantastic this year) available at the fest. ** 1/2
There were several other beers that we sampled (think a Fish Tale ale that I was not tremendously impressed with, as well as something from Yakima brewing) but nothing that really stuck out. After finishing up the beers and having a pretzel by the outdoor fire pit, we grabbed some free coffee from the lodge and headed over to Walking Man's brewpub to see if they had anything special on tap. The brewpub was fairly packed and the beer board boasted nothing phenomenal, so after listening to some bag pipers for a few minutes we decided to head up to Hood River and try out the Double Mountain taproom, located on 4th avenue in downtown Hood River.
The brewpub isn't much to look at for Double Mountain. Not quite enough room for all the people drinking, crummy chairs, and the extra space that we ended up sitting in being heated by space heaters as it was part of the warehouse where they store their beer being aged in barrels. The food menu was sparse with sandwiches and Pizza being the main items, so we had a sausage onion and mushroom pizza and a Hummus plate while we drank and waited for the live music to start. The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. This was more than made up for by the beers we sampled. Tara and I both started with Double Mountain's yearly fresh hop beer Killer green. It is a potent IPA made with local hops that is solid from smell to finish, a true four star beer and my favorite in the style for the year. My mom had a Dapper Dan, and my dad plunked down the $8 for a 12 oz. goblet of "Terrible Two" a Bourbon Barrel Aged beer based off of their Uber Brown ale. At 10% alcohol it packs quite a wallop, but the mandatory intoxication is well worth it due to the fantastic bourbon barrel smell imparted on the ale, coupled with its heavenly bourbon flavor and strong warming character. This five star beer easily was the best of the day, if not quarter of the year and we all wished that it was available to be purchased by the keg, but alas it was not to be. Other beers sampled included Abbey Hoffman, a different Bourbon Barrel aged beer that I reviewed in my previous post.
Walking Man Brewing Hopalong
Fresh Hop Ale
The first beer that my father and I headed for was this year's fresh hop beer from Walking Man. Walking Man remains one of our favorite breweries, with such notable products as Homo Erectus and its offspring Big Black Homo and My Old Kentucky Homo. Additionally their Black Cherry stout is one of the most heavenly dessert beers around (always on tap at Henry's, just so you know). The Hop along was a fantastic fresh hop beer, getting the better of most beers made in the style by having a solid bitter character with a fine citrus mixed in with the hoppy herbal flavor. Often the fresh hop beers (especially the last 2 years) are all aroma and no substance, so this was a perfect way to start the festival out.
***1/2
Laht Neppur
Winter Warmer
Oatmeal Porter
These beers are both named exactly for their style. I started off with the Winter Warmer, which has a delightful cinnamon and spice aroma that mirrors its true to style flavor. The cinnamon is perhaps even more prevalent than the smell would indicate, and the slight honey edge gives it a near spiced mead quality. ***
The Oatmeal porter I was less enthusiastic about, as I generally do not like Oatmeal beers outside of the Oatmeal stout spectrum of drinks. The mouthfeel was the perfect thickness, but the chocolate flavor of the porter was diminished, resulting in a textured but not flavorful drink.
**1/2
Lazy Boy
Mistletoe Bliss
Redhead Imperial Red
Lazy boy continues to dissapoint me. The Imperial red was bland and unintersting (and let me tell you, us redhead are not bland) and the Mistletoe bliss was a suprisingly un-spiced winter warmer. Both seemed to greatly miss the mark. Too bad, as the company rep attending for them sure seemed like a nice dude.
Mistletoe Bliss: * 1/2
Redhead: **
Double Mountain
Dapper Dan- British Style Brown Ale
We had Dapper Dan at the festival, and later on at the Double Mountain Ale House, but it made quite an impression on the group. It is a true session style beer, made to let you stay in the pub arguing with your mates for hours without getting belligerent, due to its low ABV of 3.5%. The smooth, almost nutty taste was infinitely drinkable and we came back for several samples before our departure. ***1/2
Full Sail
Fresh Uebergehopt
Full sail's fresh hop beer was sampled, to it's detriment, after we had already hit the Walking Man taps. While the Ubergehopt (Super Hopped) was superior to the last 2 years worth of fresh hop beers, it was still somewhat lacking in flavor, with the hops largely imparting only a delicious aroma. Still, it was nice to get to try a Full Sail special rather than just having their Wassail (which is pretty fantastic this year) available at the fest. ** 1/2
There were several other beers that we sampled (think a Fish Tale ale that I was not tremendously impressed with, as well as something from Yakima brewing) but nothing that really stuck out. After finishing up the beers and having a pretzel by the outdoor fire pit, we grabbed some free coffee from the lodge and headed over to Walking Man's brewpub to see if they had anything special on tap. The brewpub was fairly packed and the beer board boasted nothing phenomenal, so after listening to some bag pipers for a few minutes we decided to head up to Hood River and try out the Double Mountain taproom, located on 4th avenue in downtown Hood River.
The brewpub isn't much to look at for Double Mountain. Not quite enough room for all the people drinking, crummy chairs, and the extra space that we ended up sitting in being heated by space heaters as it was part of the warehouse where they store their beer being aged in barrels. The food menu was sparse with sandwiches and Pizza being the main items, so we had a sausage onion and mushroom pizza and a Hummus plate while we drank and waited for the live music to start. The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. This was more than made up for by the beers we sampled. Tara and I both started with Double Mountain's yearly fresh hop beer Killer green. It is a potent IPA made with local hops that is solid from smell to finish, a true four star beer and my favorite in the style for the year. My mom had a Dapper Dan, and my dad plunked down the $8 for a 12 oz. goblet of "Terrible Two" a Bourbon Barrel Aged beer based off of their Uber Brown ale. At 10% alcohol it packs quite a wallop, but the mandatory intoxication is well worth it due to the fantastic bourbon barrel smell imparted on the ale, coupled with its heavenly bourbon flavor and strong warming character. This five star beer easily was the best of the day, if not quarter of the year and we all wished that it was available to be purchased by the keg, but alas it was not to be. Other beers sampled included Abbey Hoffman, a different Bourbon Barrel aged beer that I reviewed in my previous post.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Late Post
Better late than never I suppose. Back on October 10, brewpublic hosted their 1st anniversary party at Bailey's Tap Room downtown. Tara and I attended and were able to sample seven of the ultra-rare beers on hand for the celebration. Most of these were made in extremely small batches, or have limited distribution in the Portland area, so don't expect to find them at the QFC any time soon.
Cascade: 5 Barrel Thread
5 beer blend Abv: ???
This beer was a blend of five different oaked sour beers from Cascade. Tara enjoyed the tart fruit smell, coupled with a hint of spice. I noticed the spice but found the fruit smell to be prmarily Tangerine and a little disjointed. On the sip Tara thoroughly enjoyed it's fruit punch-esque flavor and perfect level of tart. I was less impressed with the blend, finding the individual components not mixing well. In addition, I thought the tart was slightly off. Overall this was a dissapointment for me, as Cascade has recently had a great string of success with their sours and I hate to grade them low.
Tara: **** Nick: ** 1/2
Double Mountain: Abbey Hoffman
Belgian Brown Ale: ABV 7.5%
Double Mountain continues to impress with this fine Belgian brown. Abbey Hoffman had a wonderful malt aroma with a hint of coriander that was slightly sweet. The flavor itself was a full bodied malty/sweet flavor that ended with a slight Belgian yeast taste. A fantastic beer.
Tara: *** 1/2 Nick: ****
Oakshire Collaborative Evil
Belgian Strong Pale ABV 10%
We thought that this Belgian Pale by Oakshire, a brewery that has had a number of surprisingly tasty beers recently, was generally underwhelming. It has the standard Belgian nose coupled with an herbal/grassy hop flavor. What is interesting about this specific beer is that you could not tell that it was a 10% beer whatsoever.
Tara: ** 1/2 Nick: **1/2
Block 15 Fat Monk
Bourbon Barrel Dubbel ABV 7.5%
Wow. We are pretty big fans of Bourbon Barrel aged beers (you should see my pantry, stocked with nothing but Bourbon barrel beers), and this one was a fantastic twist on the evolving style. The smell of Butterscotch that the Fat Monk gives off accurately promises the full bourbon/butterscotch flavor that the beer delivers. It had a wonderful, full, and warm mouthfeel that lingered on the tongue well after we had finished fighting over the last drop. I look forward to trying more beers from this particular Corvallis brewery.
Tara: ***** Nick:****1/2
Upright Brewing Fresh Hop of Bel Aire
Fresh Hop Saison ABV: 6.2%
True to the saison style, the Fresh Hop of Bel Aire gave off a delicious freshly mown lawn smell with just a hint of spice. The taste of this locally produced fresh hop beer was earthy with just a hint of orange peel. The mouthfeel on this beer was strangely watery, which I found distracting from what was otherwise a solid entry.
Tara: *** Nick:**1/2
Hop Valley Vanilla Porter
Vanilla Porter ABV: 5.9%
Vanilla Porters remain one of Tara's favorite beer choices, while I remain only slightly fond of the style. Too often the vanilla bean flavor is too akin to chugging directly from a bottle of vanilla extract. This Vanilla Porter I liked more than most as it was more of a Chocolate porter with a vanilla edge to it, enhancing it's dessert beer flavor. Tara was suprised at the level of bitter that they crammed in to an already complex flavor profile.
Tara: *** 1/2 Nick: ***
Walkabout Jabberwocky
Strong Ale ABV:???
Tara and I differed greatly on this beer, produced by a brewery that does not often have it's products appear in Portland. She detected almost no smell, and only got an extreme bitter off the taste with no supporting maltiness. I, on the other hand, smelled a slightly sweet aroma with an edge of malt. The flavor starts slightly sweet then gradually builds to a moderate bitterness. I graded this high based upon it's quaff-ability- I could easily drink a number of these in a session.
Tara:*1/2 Nick:***
Cascade: 5 Barrel Thread
5 beer blend Abv: ???
This beer was a blend of five different oaked sour beers from Cascade. Tara enjoyed the tart fruit smell, coupled with a hint of spice. I noticed the spice but found the fruit smell to be prmarily Tangerine and a little disjointed. On the sip Tara thoroughly enjoyed it's fruit punch-esque flavor and perfect level of tart. I was less impressed with the blend, finding the individual components not mixing well. In addition, I thought the tart was slightly off. Overall this was a dissapointment for me, as Cascade has recently had a great string of success with their sours and I hate to grade them low.
Tara: **** Nick: ** 1/2
Double Mountain: Abbey Hoffman
Belgian Brown Ale: ABV 7.5%
Double Mountain continues to impress with this fine Belgian brown. Abbey Hoffman had a wonderful malt aroma with a hint of coriander that was slightly sweet. The flavor itself was a full bodied malty/sweet flavor that ended with a slight Belgian yeast taste. A fantastic beer.
Tara: *** 1/2 Nick: ****
Oakshire Collaborative Evil
Belgian Strong Pale ABV 10%
We thought that this Belgian Pale by Oakshire, a brewery that has had a number of surprisingly tasty beers recently, was generally underwhelming. It has the standard Belgian nose coupled with an herbal/grassy hop flavor. What is interesting about this specific beer is that you could not tell that it was a 10% beer whatsoever.
Tara: ** 1/2 Nick: **1/2
Block 15 Fat Monk
Bourbon Barrel Dubbel ABV 7.5%
Wow. We are pretty big fans of Bourbon Barrel aged beers (you should see my pantry, stocked with nothing but Bourbon barrel beers), and this one was a fantastic twist on the evolving style. The smell of Butterscotch that the Fat Monk gives off accurately promises the full bourbon/butterscotch flavor that the beer delivers. It had a wonderful, full, and warm mouthfeel that lingered on the tongue well after we had finished fighting over the last drop. I look forward to trying more beers from this particular Corvallis brewery.
Tara: ***** Nick:****1/2
Upright Brewing Fresh Hop of Bel Aire
Fresh Hop Saison ABV: 6.2%
True to the saison style, the Fresh Hop of Bel Aire gave off a delicious freshly mown lawn smell with just a hint of spice. The taste of this locally produced fresh hop beer was earthy with just a hint of orange peel. The mouthfeel on this beer was strangely watery, which I found distracting from what was otherwise a solid entry.
Tara: *** Nick:**1/2
Hop Valley Vanilla Porter
Vanilla Porter ABV: 5.9%
Vanilla Porters remain one of Tara's favorite beer choices, while I remain only slightly fond of the style. Too often the vanilla bean flavor is too akin to chugging directly from a bottle of vanilla extract. This Vanilla Porter I liked more than most as it was more of a Chocolate porter with a vanilla edge to it, enhancing it's dessert beer flavor. Tara was suprised at the level of bitter that they crammed in to an already complex flavor profile.
Tara: *** 1/2 Nick: ***
Walkabout Jabberwocky
Strong Ale ABV:???
Tara and I differed greatly on this beer, produced by a brewery that does not often have it's products appear in Portland. She detected almost no smell, and only got an extreme bitter off the taste with no supporting maltiness. I, on the other hand, smelled a slightly sweet aroma with an edge of malt. The flavor starts slightly sweet then gradually builds to a moderate bitterness. I graded this high based upon it's quaff-ability- I could easily drink a number of these in a session.
Tara:*1/2 Nick:***
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