Hey all I know I have been quiet for some time. Life and all...boring on to beer stuff! As we all know July is Oregon craft beer month in addition to the big events there are a few you might not know about Cornell Gardens nursery has their Summer in the Garden event happening on July 19th, Rogues Bones and Brews is also coming up. Speaking of Rogue I recently got a bottle of the second Voodoo beer into my hot little hands. The Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana. Unlike the Bacon Maple I really liked number 2. I'll describe it like drinking a candy bar..in a good way. The Chocolate is definately the dominant note in this one. If you are a fruit beer lover get on over to Mcmenamins the Purple Haze is on which is their boysonberry beer. Light and tart like the ruby but a diffrent not quite as acidic character. I'll be back in a day or two with more summer beer mini reviews...

R.I.P. Don Younger

Portland beer legend Don Younger died today.

He was a tireless activist in the local beer scene and will be sorely missed.

There will no doubt be memorial events organized soon.

21st Amendment

Last Tuesday I had the chance to go to one of the Green Dragon's Meet the Brewer events. Shaun from 21st Amendment Brewery from San Francisco was up here.

Now you loyal readers know that their Hell or High Watermelon is one of the chick's favorite fruit beers....sadly for me they were pouring IPAs at this event.
The goods news is they were well balenced IPAs with a solid malt backbone to counteract the bitterness.

They also had one of those Black IPAs to offer, still convinced on this as a style, but I find I am liking more of these than I do regular IPAs as long as the brewer doesn't get uber-crazy with the hops, which Shaun didn't.

I got to spend a lot of time talking with him and it sounds like 21st Amendment has a lot to offer in the future as well as plans to expand the range of beers available in cans (YAY)

As a bonuse also got to spend a few moments chatting with Jamie from Ninkasi whose Believer I'm a huge fan of.

The Dragon also had Salmon Creek Brewpub's Helles on tap, which is one of my favorite beers ever so it's nice to kegs escaping into Portland where more people can try it.

Don't forget the Creek's annual Octoberfest celebration is this Saturday people. Warm German Potatoe salad new beers....'nuff said

Fringe Fest 2010

Most years Belmont Stations hosts some tastings with local breweries that aren't being featured at the Oregon Brewers Festival, and this year was no exception. I missed the earlier in the day tastings, because I was still making my way through the Brewer's Festival.

We did catch several folks in the afternoon, and here the rundown on what they had to offer.

First props to Mr. Henry Gorgas of Fire Mountain who was very patient with my brain going hay wire and confusing his brewery name with another similiar sounding one. His website isn't up yet but will be at firemoutainbrewery.com, in the meantime we do have a link to his facebook page

He was pouring 3 beers

Oregon Pale Ale, which was light with just a hint of sweetness.

Bad Henry IPA, which I have to say was just brillant, he managed to create a very mellow beer that still tasted like a Northwest IPA, but does it without turning your mounth inside out.

Steam Stout, this one is a nice surprise, it starts out smooth and creamy with deep malt chocolate and coffee yum, and then has just enough bitterness to keep it from being overwhelming.

If we had a "Brewers to Watch" list (maybe I should make one?) Mr. Gorgas would make the cut. I particularly like that he is managing to get mellow european style complexity out of his beers while still using all Northwest local hops. I brought home a bottle of evertyhing he brought.


Pale Horse of Salem was our other tasing of the day. No website for them yet.

Hillbilly Blonde- a nice summer beer, a little heavier than is average with a blonde, but I think that gives it a better flavor profile.

Mystic Wolf Amber- A nice rich color with definate carmel flavors and just a hint of bitter citus

Hopyard Dog- This one was a bit strong for me unless I am really in a bitter beer mood, but there is a solid malt base to it so the hops aren't totally overwhelming, definatly one I class in the 'drinkable and not unpleasant) range

Pale Horse Stout- This one is a Irish Style Stout so it's on the drier end of the scale. Very good roasty flavors and nice dry snap to the finish.

Gilgamesh Brewing of Turner had a number of their beers on tap Saturday. The two that caught my eye were

Chocolate Mint stout- yes, with cocoa nibs and locally growen mint leaves. It was probably a bit warm for it right now, but I would love to see this one again over the holidays.

Mamba- black tea, tangerine peels and no hops at all went into this one and, I for one, really enjoyed the sweet citrus notes that resulted.

Oregon Brewers Festival 2010

First apologies to my loyal readers, I know that posts have been scarce the past few months. However, you will get two sizable ones today and I have been doing my best to try to recruit some other gals in the beer world into adding their voices to mine. So with any luck some of them should be chiming in to say hello soon.

The Oregon Brewer's Festival this year had gorgeous weather and my SO and several friends did our absolute best to try as many offerings as humanly possible.

Fruit Beers

21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon wheat is always a winner for me on hot days. Light and clean with good fruit flavor, I can drink this one all day. This one is now available in cans so if you local beer store isn't carrying it, ask them to.

Laht Neppur from Waitsburg Washington brought out a Strawberry Cream Ale that knocked my socks off and is apparently part of their regular summer line (their website also tells me there is a Peach Hefewiezen....I think I may need to drive to Waitsburg soon)

Marin Brewing of California brought out one of the two Blueberry beers present (boulder Beer of Colorado was the other) for my money Marin was the easy winner here, getting a lot more fruit flavor from the berries into the beer (Bonus: this one is also available in bottle)

Kona and Maui both brought out Coconut beers, a brown and a porter respectively. My preference was for Kona's offering which I found to be lighter and a bit sweeter than Maui's. However two of my girlfriends preferred the heavier, more nutty brew that Maui brought to the table


We saw a higher number to low hop farmhouse and sour styles this year than previously. We tried to get to these as early in the morning as possible so that the heat didn't have time to turn the flavors. Which is tip you can carry with you to any brewfest, taste low-hop or no-hop beers EARLY. They dont have the preservative power to hold in kegs in high heat (see, hops ARE good for something.

Overall the sours are a group that I have to be in the right mood for to appreciate, and 95 degree weather doesn't put me in that mood.

Cascade Brewing here in Beaveton brought out a Summer Gose. This held up a lot better than some of their previous beerfest entries, but I would still recommend that your best bet to get a taste for thier style is to visit them.

Upright brought out a Farmhouse Style Gruit with no hops at all but an interesting catalog of herbal flavors, including peppercorn and lemongrass, it didn't quite work for me but I commend the creativity it took to do it.

We saw two very nice cream ales, Anderson Valley's Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema and Pelican's Kiwanda cream. Both of these are available in bottle as well.

Rogue Brewing, as usual, brought out a specially brewed beer for the festival. It was called 21 and was a Oulde Ale which had surprisily strong banana notes of a very malt-y body.

Deep Breath, we are almost done! The only catagory left to talk about now are the hoppy beers. Now, this normally a catagory I find a lot to like in but there were two things going on with the IPAs this year that caught my eye.

First, a few breweries brought out offerings that used only a single variety. The Lucky Labrador was probably the most successful of these with their Summit IPA (which clocked in at a massive 111 IBUs). Not something I would drink a whole pint of , but very very well-constucted

The second thing of interest to me was that the brewfest was my first chance to get my hands on some beers brewed with the Citra hop, these have been around for about two years now, but this first time I've seen commerical brewers using much of them. The Citras were bred specifically for their fruit-y flavor.

Widmer and Deschutes both brought out offterings featuring them.

Deschutes called theirs Fresh Squeezed but my taste buds picked up more grapefruit than lemon. Still quite good, however.

Widmer went a step farther with their Captian Shaddrock IPA and added grapefruit peel to the boil in addition to the Citra hops. The result was very fresh, citrus smell in front with a taste that matched.

So in conclusion, keep your eyes peeled for bitter beers featuring Citra hops.

Black IPAs aka Cascadia Darks

I know I have mused about this style briefly once before.
However Belmont Station had a selection of these on tap over the weekend so they are back on my mind.

For those not familiar with the style it has the kind of heavy hop profile generally associated with an IPA coupled with the darker malts more commonly used in stouts or porters.

Overall it is a style I find myself conflicted about. I like the strong backbone that the darker malts deliver, and I find that they balance the bitterness of the hops in a way that is more to my taste than traditional IPAs. On the other hand many of them are either too bitter for my taste or have flavor profiles that just don't mesh.

My picks if you want to give this style a try

Widmer's '10

This is their spring seasonal and widly available. The hop flavors are bitter but also strongly citus-y with the finish firmly belonging to the malts.

21st Admendment's Back in Black

This one is very balenced with the jops leaning more toward the resin-y than the bitter. Not for everyone, as the tast is kind of pine-like, but interesting.

Southern Tier Brewing

I recently came across two of Souther Tier's Blackwater series of beers.
Thers are some lovely girl-friendly flavors, ladies. The entire series is dark beers with dessert-type flavors (vanilla, coffee, chocolate) and you can bet I'm keeping my eyeballs peeled for more of them.

The first one I got was the Creme Brulee Stout
Now, I am major vanilla nut and the name alone for me conjures up visions of creamy slight floral decliciousness. I fully expected to be disappointed, but I wasn't
Southern Tier delivers a rich, heavy mouthfeel with beautiful, sweet vanilla notes.
I am completely in love with this one.

The second one my beer store had was the Jah-va
This one is a coffee stout made with Jamaican beans. Once again, Southern Tier has taken an ingredient of intense depth and fully delivered on it's subtlety and distinctive character.


I have only 2 caveats to mention with either of these beers. The first one is that they are VERY sweet. The Creme Brulee more so, although I found the sweetness a bit more distracting in the Jah-va.

The second reservation I have in recommending them is that they are sold in 22oz bottles. There beers are very strong and very rich. 22oz was a bit much for yours truly. I still highly recommend both (and based on these any others of the Blackwater series you can get your hot little hands on), but I also recommend finding a friend to split a bottle with.

Stone is on my side!!

okay, probably only temporarily.

For those of you unfamiliar with Stone Brewing, they are based in San Diego, california.

Their philosophy is based on 'big' flavor. Given their geography this often translates into "insanely hoppy". They are one of the SO's alltime favorite breweries.

However, this isn't to say they don't make good beer or even that they don't make chick-friendly beer. What I am saying is if you don't like really really bitter beer the Ruination IPA is not your friend.

About the only thing that Stone puts out regularly that I can drink with enjoyment is their Russain Imperial Stout, which thick, dark and slightly bitter with coffee notes.

However this month their seasonals have gone dark. The first of two September releases is a Belgian Dark. Heavy on the malt side with a big bitter chocolate flavor and citrus fruitiness in the finish, I plan to buy a lot of more of this one.

On September 21st a colloboration with Maui Brewing will be released that is currently billed as a Cholcolate Macadamia Nut Coconut Porter...and I plan on hovering around the beer store on release day for that. Experience with Stone makes me think that we'll be looking at a bitter rather than sweet chocolate flavor with this which may save it from being too busy.

Fruit Beers

Alright, Oregon is going through a record breaking heat-wave so in the nature of finding boiling weather friendly beers I have decided to review an number of the fruit beers currently available in bottle.

21st Admendment, San Francisco, CA
Hell or High Watermelon Wheat

Loving this one. It's a super light wheat with a strong but not overpowering watermelon finish. Just remember it is a wheat and pour it out or shake it (trust me, pouring is safer) to agitate the yeast into the beer where it belongs.

Pyramid, Portland, OR
Audacious Apricot

Stupid new name and packaging aside this is the same Pyramid Apricot Ale many of us already know and love. Darker than a wheat with a hint a maltiness, but not heavy and a strong but not overtly sweet apricot flavor and scent.

Kona Brewing, Kona, HI
Wailua Wheat

A superlight filtered wheat with just a kiss of passionfruit flavor. I could drink this one all day if not for the effort of prying it from my boyfriend's hands...
Write a review and rate this beer : Wild Blue (Blueberry Lager) Review This Beer | Ratings [?]


Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Missouri,
Wild Blue

This is one of the big boys trying to play the micro-market and an Epic Fail. Go ahead and buy some blueberry Boones, you'll get pretty much the same effect cheaper.


Lindemans, Belgium
Framboise, Peche, Kriek, Cassis

All of these are well-balenced with nice strong fruit tones and a bit mineral flavor. I find the Framboise and Cassis a bit too sweet for warm weather but the Kriet and Peche are lighter and suitable for the evening.

Legends, Scotland
Ebulum
I like this one. We've reviewed it before so for now I will just say it is a bit intense for summer drinking.

Legends, Scotland
Grozet
The Grozet, on the other hand, it super-light with barely a touch of tartness from the fruit.

St. Peter's, Essex, England
Organic Strawberry Ale
I really wanted to like this. But the strawberry flavor is a tad overwhelming and there is an odd and unpleasant aftertaste.

Rogue 2009

Ran down to Newport yesterday and for first time I have been disappointed by the Rogue establishments there. Now let me say, I have been a Rogue Nation member since 1998, before several of these locations even existed. So this was not my fist visit. In fact I used to make a trips down there JUST to visit them. I don't think I will be doing that anymore.

As some of you know I've never been a huge fan of their Portland location and have always hoped that they'd eventually manage to get the atmosphere of the Newport pubs. Instead the infection seems to be spreading backward.

We visited 3 locations the Brewers on the Bay, the Public House on the historic bayfront and House of Spirits. All of them were understaffed. On a Sunday, in a seaside tourist town. In June.

They apparently did realize this and used it as excuse to cut their menu down from 4 pages to one. That's a MUCH better idea than hiring adequate personnel. Serving staff at both the Public House and Brewers on the Bay were showing the strain of being overworked and rather inattentive in consequence. I don't blame, the problem was clearly higher up.

They had also been drilled at getting people to join the Rogue Nation club, but every single one of them failed to ask for the card (which provides discounts) when running the check.

The House of Spirits is doing a new whiskey, which is a quite good single malt, I'm also told there is a vodka on the way. I'll probably wait for it to hit my local liqour store.

All in all it appears Rogue is learning all the wrong lessons from McMenamins, the Northwest doesn't need another line of beer-themed amusement parks.

What is a Vertical?

As with many questions this one came up on a recent outing. I was with my sister this time and one of my favorite breweries, Salmon Creek, had arranged a vertical taster tray of their prize-winning Brother Larry's Belgian. So, of course, I ordered trays for both of us. Which is when my sis hit me with our question for today.

Short answer is that a Vertical is a sampling of beers from diffrent years. Does it have to be the same beer? Most of the time.

If you are looking for reasons to try different beers this way Stone Brewing has been releasing a series of beers intended to be drunk in this fashion for several years now and Anchor Brewing releases a unique Christmas beer every year.

I know, I know, I can hear it. Several years of beer? But you said fresh beer is best!

I did say that. And I meant it. Most of the time. Some really complex or really strong beers do, however, benefit from the process of aging (bottle conditioning in beer geek speak). But it has stored carefully to keep the beer from spoiling (and even then some beers just don't age well). Belgians, for example, have a lot of sugar and can develop awesome dessert-y flavors over time.

Ok, that our question of the day is pretty well done. I promise the very next post will be a rough guide on cellaring your beer.

Raccoon Lodge

Raccoon Lodge is the brewpub that services Cascade Brewing.

As some of you may remember I've had some not very nice things to say about these guys on some of the after brewfest postings.

I went there this weekend.

The result? Every single beer I had on site was excellent, including those I've previously disliked at brewfests. The food is great, the staff friendly and it's all in all a great establishment I 100% recommend. Yes, including the beer.

I had the opportunity to chat some with Curtis, one of the brewers, about the brewfest vs on site taste diffrences and he couldn't really explain it either. But he did give us a little sneak of some of what they have coming up, and it's definately worth checking out.

I brought home a growler of the Razberry Wheat, before I had this at the Lodge I liked Mcmenamin's Ruby, Ruby WISHES it had the tartness and balence of the Razberry.

I will let you know if time in my fridge affects it, maybe the brews just don't travel well....

But get over there, they have lots of low hop options like the Flemish Sour that you just don't see much of that are worth trying out.

Winter Beers are back

Saturday was the first winter beer tasting of the season at By The Bottle in Vancouver and they had several good beers open. Anchor's offering for this year has a nice shot of nutmeg to it. But the standout for me was Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice ale. This one is a strong ale, but it has a wonderful caramel/toffee tone that makes me want to curl up with it on a cold night.

My usual Winter beer joy has been somewhat dimmed by Widmer brewing this year. As long time readers know one of my all time favorite beers is Widmer's winter release Snow Plow. So when my SO came home and told me he'd bought a variety pack and Widmer had switched to the winter seasonal I was thrilled, until he told me it ISN'T Snow Plow this year. They've release a red IPA they are calling Brrr. It might be okay if you like bitter beers, I don't and was sad.

Fortunately they are releasing my beloved Snow Plow in larger bottles this year, so I just have to go to a beer store to find it. And I will probably stop muttering about Widmer betraying me something this spring...

The Salmon Creek Brew Pub already has their winter seasonal on tap (Salmon Clause...mmm) as well as an Rum Oaked Porter (also mmmmm.)
Rumor has it Larry has some other Christmas goodies up his sleeve as well.

The Holiday Ale Festival starts Dec 3 and runs through the 7, so stay tuned.

A few words on Ciders

With fall in the air and apples in the market I've decided it is time for a quick overview of the more common hard cider style you may encounter.

First up, and sadly most common, the Not Hard Cider At All.
Look closely at what you buy. If the bottle says 'malt beverage' what you mostly have is fermented grain, most probably rice, with flavoring pretending to be Hard Cider.

Farmhouse Cider- these range from sweet to dry (and should be labeled as such). Most are going to be drier than the average person tends to expect. You tend to taste the alcohol up front with subler fruit flavor coming into play later. Many small cider producers make these

French Cider- this is the style most Americans will be more familiar with, it has a lower alcohol content and higher sweetness with a more 'apple juice' character to it.

Fruit Cider- this is hard cider with other fruit juices added.


Now I bet you are wondering why more breweries don't make their own hard ciders.
Simple answer here, it requires a winery liscense. In the U.S. alcohols fermented from agricultual products other than grains (like apples or honey) are legally considered wines. Which is why, I suspect, we tend to see the Not a Ciders hanging about in the grocery store...

Deschutes-Dissident

My local bottle ship managed to get Deschutes special release 'Dissident' in.

This is an interesting beer, it's one of very few in the US that's been brewed using a wild ferment. It is a Flanders Brown ale with cherries added.

The result is a tangy, fruity brew with some serious kick to it. It would stand up well to rich or spicy foods. All in all it is another excellent release in Dechutes Reserve line.

Really, the major complaint I personally have with the Reserve line is the packaging.
I mean, seriouly, if you MUST dip your bottles in wax, at least cork them. It is a total hassle to peel off enough wax to use your bottle opener on the cap.

And ladies, don't be lazy, peel off the wax a good way below the cap or you get crumbling wax bits in your beer when you pour it...not fun or tasty at all.

The Rock Woodfired Pizzia

Checked this place out because a friend told me that they brew their own beer. They are a Seattle area chain that recently expanded down into the Vancouver area.

They acutally don't. They have a selection of five or six beers that are re-labels from Seattle area breweries. Most of them come from Fish Tale, not one the chick's favorite breweries. If you must drink the beer here I would say stick with the Jumpin' Jack Black (otherwise knowen as Mudshark Porter).

However the pizzia is worth the trip all by itself. High quality ingredients, their own dough and a nice selection of somewhat unusual toppings make it a great place to stop and eat.

Don't worry, they also have a full bar that serves up some nice tropical-style cocktails.

July is Oregon Craft Beer Month

Yup, officially. The governer annouces it and everything.
Here is the listing of events I promisted a few days ago.

12 Mcmenamins 7th Annual Roadhouse Brewfest
Hillsboro -The Cornelius Pass Roadhouse

7 Release Party-Walking Man Brewery
Belmont Station

14-20 Puckerfest
Belmont Station- They will have wild yeast beers on tap all week

18-20 2008 Portland International Beerfest
North Park blocks the Pearl District

22 Fred Eckhardt's Annual Beer & Cheese Tasting
Portland Rogue

23-27 EMOfest
(Even More Oregon) Fest
Details on this event are still sketchy.

23 Oregon Brewers Dinner
Tcikets for this must be purchased in advance

24 21st Annual Oregon Brewers Festival
Portland, Oregon - Beer Festival

25 Oregon Brewers Brunch & Parade

25-27 21st Annual Oregon Brewers Festival
Waterfront Park

The Green Dragon will be having its regualarly scheduled Meet The Brewer Nights every Tuesday with the folks from The Lucky Lab, Roots, Double Mountain and Southern Oregon Brewing in that order.

North American Organic Beer Festival

July 26-27 was the Organic Brew Fest. It was an intersting event

The brewers turnout was right around 70 breweries from a wide geographic base. There were even a few from England represented. The majority were from Oregon however. There were also several ciders and one mead that turned up for the event.

In addition to the beers, the Organic Brewer's Fest also featured a number of vendors of various green products from home flooring to local produce.

However, in mayn ways I found the event really poorly organized. We went on Saturday, and the temperture was 104. I'd tell you what it was in the shade, but there wasn't any shade to speak of.

The live entertainment was also a problem for me, for the most part I found it more annoying than entertaining. Unfortunatly it was also close to half of the beer tents, so if you wanted to actually talk about the beers you were trying with those you were with you had to walk some distance to be heard.

Updates

I know we've been off for a while, and the calender isn't updated through July. I'm going to try to post July events here sometime in the next two days.

The main site is currently in the middle of a server change, so may be unrelable for a while. This shouldn't affect the blog since it is hosted seperately.

July is Oregon Craft Beer Month, so expect a LOT of big events going on in the near future.

Portland Deschutes

The Portland location of the Deschutes brewpub opened this weekend. The place was, of course, packed to the rafters.

That aside, the staff, although a little harried, was polite and efficient. The food prices are on the higher end for brewpub fare with dinner entrees coming in the $20 dollar range. However, Dechutes is committed to using local sustainable products. Most everything in made on site, and that includes house cured meats and their own pickles. The menu also includes a number of game-meat offerings, such as elk chili.

They are offering beers not available in bottle, and they are brewing on site. Including the flagship beer of the Portland brewery Armory XPA (named after the Armory just next door), which was a wonderfully citrus-y beer. There were a few snags with them running out of things, but time will work that out.

I loved the decor. It was a beautiful blend of Pearl industrial chic and ski lodge inspired color and wood carving including some just stunning archways.

All in all they have done a supurb job of blending a feeling of being local to their new location without giving up the company's roots in Bend.