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:***