BRIDGER'S BEER LOG

Farewell

2008-09-15T09:36:00.001-07:00

It's quite obvious at this point that BRIDGER'S BEER BLOG has dutifully served its purpose, and is no longer updated. Don't worry, I'm still drinking beer, I just don't have time to write about it anymore -- too many other projects. The lack of upkeep at this blog certainly doesn't reflect the beer scene in Portland these days. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I would say the pervasiveness of craft beer is expanding here and across the northwest. The same is true of spirits and food. Despite increased prices across the board, these are heartening trends. So consider this the last post. Thanks to everyone for the good conversation. Cheers! Bridger

Freshops Tastival and the flavor of beer

2006-10-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

Felecia and I went to the Freshops Tastival at the NW Lucky Lab last week where 16 or so beers of seasonal Northwest bounty were available on tap. I think it's one the better beer festivals I've been to, There were hardly any lines, people were kind, and one got the feeling of sampling unique beers hardlyconceived of by the general beer-drinking public. It made me feel rich in local culture.

And though drinking at the Lab's never the same without our buds, Jen & Patrick, I say: "The beers were great."

Following the Great American Beer Fest in Denver, there's been an ongoing argument over at Beervana (a quality beer blog) about the quality of Oregon beers that started with their perceived lack of balance to the tongue of a particular comment-writer. As a man of humble pedigree there's not a lot I can say on the subject except that judging beer shouldn't be like judging a dog show. The beers I tried at the Freshops Tastival were bold, experimental, new, fresh, and local. Those are the qualities that mean something.

...As opposed to something completely meaningless like...

I saw this news article today about Miller and Bud producing flavored, seasonal beers. I didn't realize that regular beers were not flavored. This is clearly a breakthrough. Here are some choice quotes...

"Consumers have a broader drinker's set today and are looking for different options and different products," McGauley said. "We know they're going to be looking around and we're going to provide beers and products that really satisfy those needs.... According to Mintel Research, the top selling flavor last year was regular, but second was pumpkin, which brewers such as Coors Brewing Co.'s popular Blue Moon label roll out in the fall harvest season. Rounding out the top five? Honey, vanilla and nut, respectively.

Good night.

Alt, not Kolsch at Laurelwood

2006-09-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

I've enjoyed a beer style called Kolsch this summer that I had been completely oblivious to. Alaskan Summer Ale is a great example, and both Mcmenamins and Roots made seasonals this summer that I couldn't resist. I'll leave it to Jeff at Beervana to explain its history, but I will testify on behalf of its lustrous gold to orange color, drinkability, and unique roundness that is thick like milk and tastes like bread and citrus.

But summer's gone.

Last night Felecia and I rinsed out our growler and walked to Laurelwood in hopes of trying their Fresh Hopped Kolsch. I read recently, on a blog that now alludes me, that guys at Laurelwood drove south in the Willamette valley and picked up a truckload of fresh hops which they rushed back to the brewery to transform into beer that very same day. This little story is very exciting for me, and I longed to enjoy the exploits of their hops odyssey.

But to get to the point of this story; the Kolsch is all gone. We heard that the Laurelwood pub on Sandy is out too. Instead we got their new seasonal, an alt they call Sticke Altbier. It's dark red, roasted tasting, hardy, and bitter. It's great.

Lucky Lab House Ale Board

2006-09-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here's the NW Lab's beer board as of last night, September 19.

If you stop in, the cask No Pity Pale Ale is awesome.

They have a new single hop IPA, Willamette. There's also a new "Dogtoberfest Lager" on the menu that's not available yet. It's subtle appearance must constitute the new beer's pre-product launch ad campaign. @ Lucky Lab marketing team: way to start the hype.

The New Old Lompoc revisited

2006-09-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

Felecia and I strolled down to the New Old Lompoc after work last night for Miser Monday, which means $2 pints. The place looks like it's been around awhile but we first discovered it last spring and have neglected it for a few months now.

The Lompoc is dark and grimy, the kind of thing that makes for a really comfortable hangout. Walking in the front door you first encounter a small bar framed by a hops motif in tile. The walls seem encrusted with funny pictures, fliers, old brewery ads, news-clippings, and beer bottles. The look seems classically nostalgic at first, but I think its really just a big sarcastic joke. Ha! To the right is the main seating area, and to the left of the bar are a few tables that are non-smoking before 8 and a hallway that leads past the kitchen to a large patio in back.

Besides $2 (16 oz.) pints all day Mondays, Lompoc has happy hour food and drink menus.

The beers at the Lompoc are brutal and distinctive. Alcohol contents run high, as does flavor. There's also a particular feel that runs through all the beers that I can't describe. It reminds me of drinking mineral water, and maybe it's due to the brewery's plumbing or water source. They serve two IPAs, C-note, and Cenntenial. C-Note seems to be more in the vein of double IPA popular lately, but more bitter than delicate or floral. They serve LSD (Lompoc Strong Draft), a big monster of a beer, that looks dark and dirty and tastes mean. Both IPA's and the LSD have great potential to end one's night quick. A pitcher guarantees either a party or a nap.

My darling of all their brews is the Condor Pale Ale. It's mildly hopped, with just the right amount of bitter unique nutty flavor. It's really delicious, and almost subtle.

Lompoc also serves a stout that's hearty but unremarkable, a pilsner that the wait staff doesn't recommend and a couple seasonals. Right now they have a red and brown ale.

Overall the New Old Lompoc is an awesome little pub. The beers lack the refinement of other microbreweries in the nieghborhood, but are unique, cheap, and enjoyable. The atmosphere is authentic, smoky, comfortable, Portland. I think it's exactly the grail Mcmenemin's trys to achieve in some of their pubs. The food is spectacular pub fare.

The thought of coming in for beer soup and a sandwich in the chill damp evenings this winter is heartening. This place is comfy like an old quilt.

It's too bad that getting there, for me, involves a walk down NW 23rd Ave, which is irritating, or amusing depending on my mood. The first annoyance is all the fucking people in my way. I own these streets (I think), and I don't generally appreciate swarms of Abercronbie victims from Washington county and hordes of other undesirables that come between me and a cold drink. Last week a scabby girl across the street from Music Millennium accosted us with a CD she was peddling.

“What kind of music do you guys like? I'm like a singer-songwriter, and the music's kind of electronic and (directed at Felecia) its really sultry and something that I think, like, other women can totally understand.” This nearly ruined my appetite.

When we told her we don't have much money for purchasing random music people push on us on the street corner she said, “[scoff!] What are you doing on this street, then?”

As we were leaving we saw her drinking a beer a the Lomoc. She must have sold a CD.

Lucky Lab Beer Hall Update

2006-09-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

As of last week the Lucky Labrador Beer Hall on NW Quimby in Portland is serving fresh batches of Five Ton Strong Ale and Superdog. All the beer served at the Quimby Beer Hall is brewed on site in small quantities so selection is highly variable.

I'd like to find out the magnitude of smallness that might describe the Lab's production. Does anybody know? Somethings are easily quantified, like volume or various other numbers and attributes used to describe beer and brewing. Goodness is more subjective but I would guess, “highly good” is a fitting designation for the Lab's beers.

Five Ton Strong, named after the industrial lift hanging from the hall's ceiling and served in a 10 oz. goblet, is sweet with a dark amber color and a slightly caramel taste. It's very smooth for its punch; I still found it refreshing during our summer heatwaves. Served, it looks like an overfilled glass of brandy. The new batch is notably darker in color and a little more bitter. Superdog has apparently increased its alc/vol. From 6.0 to 6.4. I haven't tried the new, Super[charged]Dog, but I'll probably give it a go tomorrow when its only $2.50.

The Lucky Lab's website hasn't been updated since the '80s and the beers listed aren't very accurate, at least for the NW location. I need to take a picture of the chalkboard next time I'm in, but for now here's some of the beers they might have from the top of my head:

Macleay's Summer Ale
Blue Dog
Single Hop IPA - Cascade
Superdog
Five Ton Strong Ale
Stumptown Porter
Black Lab Stout
(?) Pilsner
No Pity Pale Ale (this one's organic)

hmm, what else...

Reggie's Red (a mere tease, I've never seen this one available)

One of the beers is always available on nitro and they serve one guest tap.

Emergency Beer Procurment Plan

2006-09-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

It's a recurring theme in my posts. For one reason of another Felecia and I are broke until payday and must devise and implement strategic crisis budget beer procurement plan. Curiously, a plan of similar magnitude is seldom put into effect before crunch time. We manage money in a way similar to George Bush managing the national debt, which is extremely poorly.

The plan usually entails some combination of selling treasured items, eating only ramen noodles and redeeming the deposits from the mountain of empty bottles that have accumulated since our last income deficiency. But it also implies making wise choices with our remaining dollars to make sure we don't sit out too many dry nights. Ahem.

Here are some tips; some lessons I've learned about drinking beer with little dough:

Buy one microbrew six-pack and two six-ers of PBR (or similar swill) tall boys. After work drink a bottle of the good beer with someone you love, taking special care to note the characteristics you enjoy. Comment on them with your companion. Then drink a couple 16 oz. PBR's, noting how the flavor has little in common with beer. If you need more to drink after this, seek professional counseling. Hurry to bed, the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you can start another day and enjoy another BEER.

Repeat the steps above, substituting Charles Shaw Cabernet, Shiraz, or Chardonnay for the swill beer. You may become hung over.

If it's Tuesday, and you happen to live in Portland, OR (you're a luckey sonofagun), collect all the spare change in your house, cash it in for dollar bills. Exchange two of these for a Five Ton Strong Ale at the Lucky Labrador NW Beerhall, and get an entire quarter back (save it to buy lunch tomorrow).

Finally, getting through a tough times isn't always about buying the cheapest thing in the beer isle. A 27 oz. bottle of Sheif's Stout, is the darkest, creamiest thing one can buy for $2.78. It will sustain you. Or, try buying a couple bottles of Killian's Irish Red by the bottle. The six-pack at Fredy's is perpetually on sale for $4.99, or $0.84 for a 12 oz. bottle. Sure, Coors is tricking you into thinking it's a microbrew, but... fuck it, at least you're not stealing.

Indian (PA) Summer

2006-09-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

Every summer has its own character. I don't want to talk like its all over, but it is September already and I think we're in the the last throws of warm evenings. Felecia's back in school (teaching) this week, while I have only a lonely couple weeks of laziness and masturbation still in the bank. I'll remember the warm months in 2006 as my summer of IPAs... and I'll be releasing a commemorative coin.

The Belmont Station Beer Forum reports that there will be a Fresh Hop Beer "Tastival" next month at the NW Lucky Labrador in October. Its a fitting harvest festival for a pleasantly bitter summer. I can't believe I spent the last one drinking gin and tonic. (I'd ask to have it refunded, but you should never ask back for the gin that's drank.)

The IPA-tion of summer was partially fueled by local breweries:

The Lucky Lab, besides having an exceptional IPA, Superdog (I claimed it as my favorite beer to the AP, I'll stand by it), serves a limited release of single hopped IPA's, for educational purposes, I assume. They change roughly by the month, whenever the old one runs out. Right now the Lab on Quimby has a Cascade hops IPA, which I haven't tried yet.

Other pivotal events were Laurelwood's brewers' IPA-off a couple months ago, Widmer Bros. permanent bottling of Broken Halo, my discovery of Terminal Gravity and Deschutes' introduction of Inversion.

I've consumed more super-hoppy ales this spring and summer than the rest of my years on earth combined. People from my generation are branded by our consumption I'm... damn trendy. My cells are constructed from molecules sold by Widmer, Deschutes, and the Lucky Labrador. So this summer has been a pretty good time.

Summer decadence - sorry

2006-09-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

So it's been awhile since I've posted on this space...

and I guess any former reader who accidentally clicked an old bookmark to be surprised by this new post deserves some explanation. I wish I'd been busy on a beer tour of northern Europe, sharpening my Belgian beer whit, but the truth is I've spent the last couple monthes mostly lolling around town. Besides some short trips to California and MT I've been riding my bike a little, keeping the Lucky Lab in business, and monitoring six-pack prices at Fred Meyer. Though I've perchased, guzzled, and metabolized healthy quantities of micro-brewed-bottled-bliss, my fingers have failed in typing its virtues.

This blog fizzled , contrary to common sense,when I took summer term off school leaving little responsibility besides showing up to work sometimes. When I was busier, during finals week for instance, I couldn't wait to sit at my laptop and write about my favorite distraction, drinking beer. But confronted with a demands of an open schedule, it seemed like work.

It's funny how I completely loose motivation for tasks that I've come to perceive as responsibility. I stopped showering and brushing my teeth for the same reason (when I was 7; I got over it). And this little bout of summer laziness will end too.

It's also funny how drinking beer never seems like work, but I swear, the minute it does, it's over... I'll take a long break and have a beer.

This blog was a lot of fun when I was updating it, and I'd like to start again. For a while Felecia was buying my sixpacks of new microbews to get me to post again; I rode that gravytrain as long as I could. But now it's time to collect my remaining neurons and put them to use documenting their demise again.

I've missed my internet beer friends, let's catch up.

Redhook Sunrye on the Fourth of July

2006-07-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

Last night Felecia and I had dinner at our buds, Jen and Patrick's house on the hill. Patrick made some huge blue cheese and bacon stuffed burgers (one might call them a vegetarian Jew's worst nightmare), that I assume celebrate iconic American decadence on this religious-toned national jack-off fest; what we call the fourthofjUly, Independence Day. They were delicious.

And I have to say that I think America is the world's greatest nation, but we have some issues. We are leaders of liberality and innovation, our culture says "be an individual, like the rest of us." We proclaim democracy as a global agenda while installing, arming, and then provoking despots worldwide. Our country distrusts and exploits the weak, poor, and dark-skinned. Our capitalist marketplace revitalized craft brewing with an explosion of styles, new and revisited, but most people drink Coors light, or generally trust global conglomerates responsible for beer-hate, self-hate, fat people and foreign wars. ...and the greed...

These troubles and inconsistencies are difficult for secular, morally-minded, individualist, rationalist students like us, with incredible and historically unprecedented college debt loads, to make sense of. This rant is too wide ranging to ever find a conclusion except that the 4th is a day when I contemplate my country, my place in it and that brings up mixed feelings and bewilderment.

We washed down to cheese, bacon, and beef sandwiches with Redhook Sunrye. Patrick says every beer should have a story printed on the label, the Redhook label doesn't say anything very captivating, and certainly doesn't relate their affiliation with the 'Kin of Beer', though a trip to thier website reveals some AB marketing glam seepage. If it did have a story maybe it would go something like this...

"After stumbling through temperate beaver-filled Cascadian rainforests for weeks, Meriwether Lewis lifted a mossy rock and out poured what might be the world's most refreshing drink, a Redhook Sunrye. Lewis stoked some coals, cleaned the grill and laid on some pork chops while Clark, Charbenoue, Pocha-honda, and even little Pompe swigged the newly discovered Sunrye with great satisfaction. Ever since, no Northwest barbeque is complete without a little Redhook Sunrye. That's what makes Redhook Sunrye an authentic Pacific Northwest refreshment expirience."

Can one Redhook Sunrye really satisfy 5 fictitious people? Certainly, and it tastes good too. The rye gives this bitter, but not overwhelmingly hopped, beer an interesting, smooth spunk. The yeast matches well, lending Sunrye a light fruity palette. Pretty good stuff for a warm summer evening.

After a few we sat on the lawn and watched fireworks while Felecia and Patrick recited, with heart, various songs of American glory and allegiance; it almost brought a tear to my sunrye.

Deschutes Inversion v. Lagunitas IPA

2006-07-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

I little while back Felecia and I rolled up our sleeves for a tough task inspired by Laurelwood's great drinker's choice IPA-off. We conducted a back to back comparison of those especially strong and hoppy IPAs from Deschutes and Lagunitas. Like the Special Olympics, there are no losers in such a contest, unless you spill. Inversion is slightly darker than Lagunitas and has a denser flavor of both malt and hops. The hops bitter is very similar, with a little more aroma from Deschutes. Overall I preferred Deschutes at the time of tasting, but this reflects my mood and preferences rather than quality. I enjoy a little hops receptor over-stimulation sometimes. Although Lagunitas IPA is not as explosive on the tongue, it's no less a fine beer. It's rich and satisfying in a more understated way, while remaining totally fresh and delicate tasting. Overall, the similarities between these brews outweigh their differences.

Felecia and I enjoyed a near perfect combination six-pack after a single night backpacking trip on the Salmon River trail near Zig Zag, Oregon this week. The combo is just three Deschutes Obsidian Stout and three Inversion IPA, two of the beers that make Deschutes stand out among the big Oregon craft breweries in my mind. It's hard to beat the over-the-top flavors combined in symphonic ratio in both of these beers.

Black Butte Porter is probably Deschutes' most well known ale, but its chocolaty perfection is thicker and meaner in the stout, which I would bet on in a knife fight. Inversion might be the grassiest hay-bail in a bottle to be so widely distributed; surely a service humankind.

Larry Sidor, I swear you're not a giant douche, that was crass, and mistaken.

BridgePort Supris & NW Lucky Labrador

2006-06-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

BridgePort Supris took me a bit to warm up to, but after a couple tries I can see it becoming a constant summer companion, like barbeques, sunburns, and brassmonkeys down by the river. Maybe it’s because the weather’s warm and I just got back from riding my "authentic" Peugeot 10 speed, but today its bright yellow color and sunny character seem about perfect. It makes me feel nostalgic for a summer paradise that’s a mix of all my favorite mental associations. Just imagine…

Felecia and I had three pints at the new NW Lucky Lab yesterday when we discovered something similar, an impossibly yellow Summer Ale; the yellow-est thing I’ve ever seen. Supris shares a similar dry, yeasty fruit flavor, and both have some subtle spice, but it lacks Labrador Summer Ale’s full wheat finish. Supris is sour and satisfying. I admit to trying one with lemon; don’t do it, it tastes good but covers up the intricate flavors that taste like the spring breeze blowing in my window, or something else they show in a commercials for fabric softener.

We’ve been hitting the new Lucky Lab on NW Quimby all we can (like ghetto booty) the last week or so. It’s no great departure from the one on Hawthorne. There are some good pictures of the place on Personal Telco. Pints are $2.50 on Tuesdays and the tapmaster told me all the beers they serve are brewed in the building. It’s the sweetest thing that’s ever happened to me; I’m considering quitting my job so I can wash dishes there.

The guest tap at the Lab is still regular price Tuesday. Right now they have Hop Rod Rye from Bear Republic that's worth an extra buck for a try.

Drinking with Daren

2006-06-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

EDIT 6.24.06: Daren told me today that Roots Summer Soltice Kolsch Release party is indefinitely postponed due to lack of Kolsch. I'll let you know when I hear more.

If you live in the Portland area you should check out an excellent public access show called Drinking with Daren. He goes around to local breweries and beer festivals, samples the beer and talkes to the brewmasters. I think he's a genius; imagine all the free beer. A Google search for the show yields disappointing results but Daren's my MySpace friend, which makes me really cool. You can checkout his profile or drop him a line. Right now he' promoting Roots Organic Brewing Summer Soltice and Kolsch Release party and at their brewery at 1520 SE 7th Ave. in Portland on Friday, June 30th. Roots is one of my very favorite breweries and great proponants of craft beer and organic brewing. Make an appearance and maybe you'll end up on Daren's show.

"Drinking with Daren revisited" is on every Tuesday at 10pm and Thursdays at 11pm on comcast channel 21.

Here's the schedule for brand-new episodes of Daren's show for the next few weeks.

"Drinking with-out Daren" Fred Eckhardts 80th B-Day
Fri 6/23 7:30pm comcast channel 21
Sun 6/25 5:00pm comcast channel 21
Thur 6/29 6:30pm comcast channel 21
Sat 7/01 7:30pm comcast channel 11

"Drinking with Daren" Pub crawl
Sun 6/25 9:00pm comcast channel 21
Tue 6/27 11:00pm comcast channel 21
Sat 7/01 11:00pm comcast channel 21
Thur 6/29 10:00pm comcast channel 11

"Drinking with Daren" 2006 Spring beer and wine fest
Thur 6/29 11:00pm comcast channel 21
Sun 7/02 4:00pm comcast channel 21
Wed 7/05 9:30pm comcast channel 21
Thur 6/29 6:00pm comcast channel 11

Widmer Brewing

2006-06-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Felecia and I walked over the Broadway Bridge to Widmer Brothers Brewing in North Portland for lunch and beer reconnaissance. We walked down Interstate Ave along the MAX tracks in one of Portland’s most stark, industrialized neighborhoods. There’s a plaque outside the brewery that says the neighborhood in north Portland used to be its own city, Albina, but merged with Portland in the late 1800's to make the third largest city in the American West.

It was our first time at Widmer. The pub has a couple rooms that wrap around the part of the brewery separated by huge windows. Across the street is a distribution center. The whole thing matches the neighborhood well; cargo ships load up Oregon grain a block away in the Willamette to ship across the Pacific as Widmer ships another great export, cases of Oregon beer, across the country.

They have a good selection of new interesting beers on tap; much more than you can find at the store. 4 oz. tasters are 99 cents, so we shared six new brews. We agree one of the best at Widmer is Summit Hop Pale Ale. It’s light, with liberal aroma hops for a nice chewiness without an overwhelming bitter.

It’s a really great beer. Besides seasonal and yearly releases, Widmer teams up with local homebrewers via the BrewCrew with the Collaberator project. The current offering is awesome. It’s the Pre-Prohibition Lager; and I think beer like this could remove the stigma surrounding anything light among beer geeks. It's an incredible insight to what an American lager can be… compared to PBR. Better than Session? Probably, but everything’s more tasty on tap.

Pints are $3.50 except on Mondays after 4 and Sunday afternoons, when they’re only 2 bucks. The only thing missing is something really strong and interesting, like an imperial IPA or barleywine.

They have a stout on nitro that’s fine but unmemorable. So my advice to the Widmer Bros is brew me up something thick and dangerous.

2006 North American Organic Brewer's Festival: done right

2006-06-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 7:15 this morning with a 100% organic hangover, a souvenir from last night when Felecia, Patrick, and I celebrated Jennifer’s birthday by getting pleasantly sloshed at the North American Organic Brewer’s Festival. Happy birthday, Jen (it’s almost as if it were my birthday).

The Forestry Center was packed by the time we showed up around 7. The elevator from the MAX station was full of dreads and patchouli, forecasting the demographics at the festival above. As we waited in line, pleasant traces of burning buds wafted over us. The band, Adair Village, played some hip-hop/reggae hybrid with a wicked bass groove.

I wonder if the guys at Roots were surprised by the turnout. The space was clogged with brewery reneges, rebels of funk, and my giddy drunk ass.

The beers and the atmosphere were great. My only suggestion for the next NAOBF is overhead signs above the taps, because its hard to tell which line your getting into at first. But who can complain?

While the keg taps were hard to reach sometimes, the soft-drink area was slightly less popular. Har, har.

As 9 approached the beer variety grew sparser; no one wanted to tap a new keg so late. Red shirted alcohol monitors stalked around all evening like they were expecting an insurrection and cut off the beer at 8:45. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that the OLCC is an institution of our homey little state, they carry an air of federal goon-ery.

I made some new friends I’ll never speak to again and even got to meet Laurelwood brewers Chad Kennedy and Dustin Kellner, as they closed the taps. Chad looks pissed either because I’m a truly pathetic drunk or he can’t wait to get out of there and have a beer himself.

My first sample was an awe-inspiring IPA by Alameda Brewhouse, which is so bitter it dominated my palette through the next beers. And eventually at these things everybody gets wrapped up in having a good time, tasting beers gets usurped by drinking beers as beer festivals soon turn into an exploration of who pours the most generous samples. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble but there’s one particular brewery that one might call a ‘Fortunate Companion’ that's mucho bueno. There’s a particular brewer for said brewery that’s my new personal hero.

Patrick got the last glass of Lucky Lab’s No Pity Pale, it was all head but pleased him all the same.

Finally, here’s proof everyone had a good time; some dude is shaking his ass at the alcohol monitors; a good way to fight the system after 10 beers.

Widmer W'06

2006-06-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

Widmer W'06 tastes like candy. I actually got a sugar high. It has two very distinct flavors, super-sweet maltiness and a gruff hop bitter borrowed from Broken Halo IPA, that don't meld very well. Their website lists the bittering hops as Alchemy, which I've never heard of. The first sip was surprising, but after that it seemed over-done. Blah.

Incidentally, my critiques must be put in perspective. I drank a PBR tall boy after a couple of these and it almost made me gag. W'06 is a hell of a beer, and only inferior in the context of the craft beer deluge surrounding my little Portland apartment.

Deschutes Twilight Ale, IPA trials

2006-06-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

The beer log has waited languorously the last few days as final week approaches and a semester of beer-enabled procrastination comes to term. The next days I’ll be writing about the Classic Maya collapse (or was it?), the scientific method (or is it?), and urban dystopia (it is).

Of recent interest in the world of Bridger’s beer drinking is Deschutes’ Twilight Ale. It’s light, noticeably hopped with a full fresh flavor, a little estery I’d say. I’m sure it’s designed by those marketing geniuses in Bend with to capture the summer market, and it’s a good fit. Here’s how Deschutes describes it on their website:

"Twilight Ale will be a happy passenger in your ice chest when floating the river, at concerts in the park or wherever your summer adventures take you. As you will soon discover, Twilight is best enjoyed when chilled and consumed outdoors."

Try it from a paper bag on W. Burnside, but make sure it’s properly chilled.

If you need something light and yellowish orange buy Twilight before, Pete’s Wicked Rallycap, Bluemoon, and Henry Wienard’s Summer Ale cause that shit sucks in my opinion.

Felecia got paid on Tuesday and we celebrated by investing her money in our first IPA-day. It began with a pitcher of C-Note Imperial IPA on the patio at the New Old Lompoc. C-Note is relatively dark, cloudy, and the beer definition of bitter; quite a contrast to the Broken Halo that keeps finding its way to my refrigerator. It’s boozy too, but the hops are so strong one can’t tell. The outside deck at Lompoc is great except for chicken smoking near the door to the kitchen. The chicken smoke kept wafting over our table and stinky chicken smoke smote my clothing. Or… That smoky chicken smoke sot and soaked my cloak with smoke (I’m sincerely sorry for making you read that, but it begged to be written).

This didn’t worry me until after my IPA induced 2 hour nap when I woke up groggy and smelling of burning bird flesh. Other IPA’s enjoyed that day were Broken Halo, predictably, and Deschute’s Inversion IPA. I’m sure no one reads this blog for my beer descriptions, so suffice to say this beer smells like Humboldt’s chief export.

Tonight I was inspired by some recent advice on SudsPundit and picked up Lagunitas’ IPA for a direct comparison to Deschutes’ Inversion IPA. It’ll be a rumble in the jungle that I might tell you about next time.

Soon school will be out and I’ll have time to log beers to my heart’s content. Until then…

Organic Brewer's Festival at the Forestry Center

2006-06-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

I often ponder what makes organic beer a superior beverage. Could it really be that a lack of pesticides and poisonous fertilizers is evident on my tongue as I knock back a glass? Maybe it's just the idea that I like, but I present as evidence my favorite breweries: Laurelwood, Roots, Otter Creek, Fish. All four will be on the hill this Saturday at the 2006 North American Organic Brewer's Festival along with many craft breweries unheard of in these parts. Wholly Shit.

The celebration is organized by Roots Organic Brewing which offers one explanation for organic superiority on their festival webpage:

"Up until the last century, hops and barley, as with most crops were grown organically, without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It is only appropriate that the historical beer styles revived by the craft brewing movement be brewed organically."

Some intrinsic aspects of brewing and beer culture remain valid in my idealistic perspective; community, craft, artistry, commerce, good times, building positive relationships through healthy interaction. Organic craft brewing to me is a natural extension of the best beer ideal. Corporations consider best management practices; organic craft beer is a best practice for living. It's sad that products need to be certified by the government as free of pesticides and other chemicals, but if that's what it takes to inform consumers it's probably worth the hassle and expense.

OK, if you’re still not convinced to meet me at the Forestry Center on Saturday consider this. You can take the MAX to Washington Park, the continent’s deepest train station. An elevator pops you out 260 feet above in beer Eden where you’ll sip some of the world’s finest liquid sustenance in a forested park overlooking downtown Portland.

If one brought a bike, one could conceivably hurtle down the Westhills at ridiculous speeds after organic beer imbibation, angering old aristocrats and barons of industry in their mansion fortresses with fervent whoops and howls. Such activity would be reckless, illegal, ill-advised, but inimitably Portland. I do not condone such behavior.

...and wear a damn helmet.

More on the BridgePort renovation

2006-05-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

If your still curious about what's happened at the BridgePort Brewery since renovation check out this great post, "BridgePort's Renovated Digs" on Beervana.

BridgePort is described thus:

"The new place is engineered to appeal to those who love sterile steel, vast expanses in which to be seen, and an unchallenging nouveau industrial (nouvel industriel?) chic style. In short, none of the people who used to go there."

Jeff Alworth puts the new BridgePort in a historical perspective I couldn't muster. It makes me wonder if the Gambrinus Co. consciously displaced their customers with a more stylish crowd.

NW Portland Brewpub Stumble; Mecca to yacht club

2006-05-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes on my way home from work on the airport MAX, visitors to our fine city ask me what there is to do around Portland. I try to be helpful. I send people to Jake’s for seafood and Tom McCall Waterfront Park for the “Doobie Bros.” Last week I sent a couple drunken frat boys, downing whiskey from a bottle of vitamin water, to McFadden’s. They wanted girls, and that’s the only place I could think of besides Mary’s Club, with females that might take them seriously. But in my unsanctioned role as MAX ambassador, I recommend Portland’s beer most often, and with earnestness. Felecia and I recently joined our buds Jennifer and Patrick for a microbrew crawl around the neighborhood. What a place to live, where one can stumble between world-class brewpubs.

So, in celebration of Patrick’s birth we gave Rogue Ale House, BridgePort Brewery, and Laurelwood Public House each a call.

ROGUE ALE HOUSE 1339 NW Flanders St

I’d never been to Rogue Ale House before but Felecia and I visited their brewery in Newport a couple years ago. The beers are spectacular, but the pints cost $4.50 or $5. Even though you could spend half as much at Lompoc, it’s certainly worthwhile for a treat. They serve a real beer log, as pictured at the top of the post, that’s much more satisfying than my beer log. The tastes and variety are amazing. I had their Uber Pilsner. It’s not my favorite style, but interesting anyway; swallow and the taste disappears with intriguing abruptness. The chocolate stout is implausibly thick and delicious. They have so many good and interesting beers you must visit and try them yourself. We witnessed a couple guys drinking soda with their burgers. All I can say is, “whatthefuck.”

BRIDGEPORT BREWPUB 1313 NW Marshall St

This was my first visit to the newly remodeled BridgePort Brewery. It seems they’d like to remake their image too. The Pearl District seems artificially tacked on the old city’s soul sometimes. In a real physical way the new buildings were built up, over, on top of, and inside old Portland. It’s an urban garden of brick and bridge vistas carefully engineered by developers for San Jose tech moguls who buy lofts in which to dwell for a bit in the summer or on an occasional long weekend. I’ve gradually come to the view that the Pearl, though tastefully presented, is a tourist encampment, and Bridgeport, on the district’s northwestern tentacle, is the new enclave of the upwardly mobile who have no real investment in this community and its people but for their entertainment.

BridgePort IPA was my first favorite micro, and the beer is still good. The building looks great. But now you’ve been warned.

Since I hardly described the place before my rant, check out an accurate and informative review on alt.portland.

LAURELWOOD NW PUBLIC HOUSE 2327 NW Kearney Street

Laurelwood makes my favorite beers in town, with the possible exception of Roots. Their (organic) Free Range Red is about the most fresh and flavorful, completely drinkable ale around. I was also lucky enough to enjoy a pint of Workhorse IPA, their new head brewer, Chad’s entry in a three way IPA brew-off. I’ve been sampling a lot of IPA’s lately, and this was light, fragrant, and plenty hopped, though by this point in our pub walk I wasn't prone to displeasure. Laurelwood has good, cheap burgers, tremendous beers, and it’s a nice place to hang out on NW 23rd. They have an outdoor patio and a balcony hidden in the neighborhood’s thick deciduous canopy.

Wow, Laurelwood makes me happy.

Check out their only slightly propagandistic blog. These guys are finding success, but deep down, I think they’re really in it for the beer.

Bridger's Frog Log

2006-05-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

I’ve been away from the beer log for the last few days but fear not, I’m still drinking. A book report was due this week for my Mesoamerican history class, so all my writing energy was expended with the ancient Maya instead of my beers. The Maya did some strange things, including cutting their penis’ and dancing around, throwing kids in wells to predict the future, and wearing the skins of foreign kings after a “Temple of Doom” styled extraction of their still beating hearts. It turns out the Maya didn’t even drink beer but they did go to some extreme lengths to achieve inebriation. I came across this in my textbook the other day:

“The Maya, like most Mesoamerican peoples, made fermented alcoholic beverages, using maize and agave…

alcoholic beverages were drunk at every ritual occasion…

During the Classic period these substance were not always administered orally. Several painted pottery vessels graphically depict the use of enemas in apparent ritual setting; the direct introduction of alcoholic or hallucinogenic substances into the colon results in immediate absorption by the body, thereby hastening the effect.”

- Sharer, The Ancient Maya. p. 751

I can think of a couple beers that should only be consumed rectally, if at all. Anyway, the fact that the Maya liked their booze in their asses didn’t stop a German company from marketing a product called “Magadon, the mystic Maya drink.” There’s a cute little story about how the Conquistadors were astounded at the Maya’s strength and then they realized that their power lay in drinking Megadon. I don’t want to ruin Megadon’s history lesson, but if you read further you find that it has no alcohol and its actually orange juice. I’ve never tried Megadon, so this can’t count as a review; I enjoy a glass of orange juice in the morning sometimes with my eggs. It’s good stuff, it’s not beer.

As a parting thought: the Maya also sucked a poisonous toad, Bufo marinus, to get loaded and hallucinate. If I were an ancient Maya I’d call my blog, “BRIDGER’S FROG LOG.”

Beer Blogger Meetup

2006-05-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, beer bloggers are an attractive, intelligent, and successful bunch. The bloggers at SudsPundit are visiting their friends in Portland in July for the Oregon Brewers festival. So if you blog about beer or read beer blogs stop by to share a pint and a nice chat. Here's the discussion planning the meetup on SudsPundit's blog. There's good reason we just can't get enough of each other.

Widmer Broken Halo IPA

2006-05-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

If you were in Portland yesterday you know the weather was supremely fantastic. I tried Widmer's Broken Halo IPA on the balcony with Felecia. I read Widmer first brewed it as a limited release but brought it back recently due to popular demand. It's happily hoppy in a way that is becoming more common, but is finely balanced unlike some superhopped beers I've tasted recently. The pleasant hop bite built up on my palate and when I finnally went to bed, my mind aldled by beer and pseudophedrine, I could still feel the bitterness on my tongue. In half sleep I floated through IPA-filled fields. It was fucking great. I'll never brush my teeth agian.

Felecia and I drank these as the sun sunk and wispy clouds grew pink. I'd forgotten how awesome the long evenings are as we near the solstice. Below is a picture of Broken Halo, which could easily have lived up to its name if it had fallen off the railing and landed on someone's head. But like all worthwhile pursuits, risk is intrinsic to achievement of a satasfying buzz.

Lucky Labrador & Roots Organic Spring Brew-Cruise

2006-05-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

I cruised over to SE Hawthorne yesterday with Felecia to check out The Lucky Labrador and Roots Organic Brewing on our day off together. We rode over the Hawthorne Bridge, one of my favorites in Portland. I’m very thankful for the Portland Beer Map, I think it will help inspire many more brew-cruises this summer.

THE LUCKY LABRADOR BREW PUB 915 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Lucky Labrador would be a good place to decompress after work. You walk in past a dart board and continue down a hall that opens into what seems like a big old barn. It’s open and airy; the effect is welcoming. There’s long-board hanging from the rafters and lots of wood and natural light. The bar’s huge and the taps are capped with abstract weathered steel shapes. The kitchen serves sandwiches and bento there’s an open patio in back. Felecia ordered Super Dog and I had Got Hops?, but the bartender gave us both Got Hops?. What a jerk. It took us a couple minutes of arguing to conclude we had the same beer. Unfortunately Got Hops? tastes a lot like what’s in the frig at home, which is Pyramid Thunderhead IPA. Both are unmemorable; plenty of hops with nothing behind it. We should have ordered half pints to begin with. After half a beer my mood improved at we got 10 ounce-ers of an imperial and a stout. The stout was outstanding, chocolaty and smooth. I would have liked to enjoy a pint of each but we were feeling buzzed and restless.

ROOTS ORGANIC BREWING 1520 SE 7th Ave
It seems like organic beer does taste better. Do pesticide-free ingredients come out in the flavor? Roots’ location was revealed by dozens of beer-drinkers and their dogs soaking up some spring sun on the sidewalk on industrial SE 7th Ave, about two blocks from the Lucky Labrador.

You must step down from the street to enter the dark island sanctuary. The tiny brewery is on the right and a pub is on the other side of a partial wall that separates the space. There were lots of people and several families with kids.

The vibe is more comfortable than the Labrabor; it’s like stepping in a jungle cabana. We started with Pond Turtle Pale Ale and Burghead Heather. They make Burghead Heather by using heather tips instead of hops. The result is a very round, sweet flavor with no bitterness. I liked the texture but the flavor is hard to get used to.

It reminds Felecia of rosemary, she says it would go well with mashed potatoes and a beef roast. I think it needs some crunch to balance the smooth malt and heather.

We tried Island Red and Woody IPA, before riding off into the sunset. So far, Roots is my favorite Portland brewpub.

Otter Creek Copper Ale

2006-05-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

I tried another beer from the Otter Creek Brewery in Middlebury Vermont last night. They are also the makers of the exceptionally tasty Wolaver's Organic IPA. Apparently Wolaver’s is Otter Creek’s brand for the organic beers they make. The one Felecia and I have in the frig is called Copper Ale. The flavor is predictably malty and sweet at the beginning but the nose has an unusual but pleasant sourness. This is a relatively bitter beer that’s a little lighter and more hopped than most red ales I’ve tasted. I’m still perplexed about whether red, amber, and copper ales refer to any single beer style. They seem inconsistently applied. Obviously Scottish red ale is different than American amber ale but I think that some labels are interchangeable and are marketing methods rather than accurate designations that say something precise about the style.

Otter Creek Copper Ale is a fine beer, but it doesn’t compare in quality to Wolaver’s Orgainic IPA, which is what led me to buy it instead of a local micro at the Plaid Pantry last night. If I were shopping for a good red I would probably buy Widmer’s Drop Top or Deschutes’ Cinder Cone Red over Otter Creek in the future. Vermont is a long trip from Portland, and I wonder if freshness is a significant factor in my assessment. The beer I tried was bottled on March 27, about a month and a half ago. Is that a time span that might effect the flavor of a beer without preservatives or pasturization?

I don’t see many East Coast micros at the store and I’m happy to know people are enjoying craft beers in Vermont too. It seems like Vermont is an ideological brother to the progressive parts of Oregon, but separated by nearly 3,000 miles, a desert, three mountain ranges, grasslands, rednecks, rabid suburbanites, and a couple turnpikes. That’s my derogatory condensation of it all at least. Here we are on either side of a vast conservative continent, drinking craft beer, making hay-bale houses, and marrying gay people to their pet iguanas. I salute you, Otter Creek Brewing, and you Birkenstock-wearing neo-hippies sipping fine ales in far off Vermont. You are our eastern brethren.

Pike Brewing Pale Ale & Naughty Nellie's

2006-05-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

After a couple dry days, I’m back to supplying my neurons the daily beer-lubrication they demand; I’m celebrating my short, but exultant existence once again with the finest embodiments of zeal for life ever bottled and capped. That’s how I like to look at it.

Seattle's Pike Brewing was the subject of my latest beer adventure. I tried their Pale Ale and a beer they call Naughty Nellie’s ale. The Pale Ale is richly malty, with a deep, peaty lining. It’s a satisfying beer with a strong round flavor. I couldn’t help but compare it though, to Fish Tale’s Pale Ale, which I tried last week, and makes Pikes seem disappointing. Pike’s Pale Ale lacks the freshness and the purity of flavors that make Fish Tale’s so hard to match. This isn’t a fair, head to head comparison, and you’d do yourself no harm facing these beers off for yourself - preferably with someone you love. This is a serious business.

Naughty Nellie’s is a “crisp, refreshing session beer,” according to the label. It’s mildly hopped and fruity with yeast. I enjoyed this beer more than Pike’s Pale Ale as well. Naughty Nellie would be a perfect August afternoon companion for sitting on the porch listening to the ball game. The color’s great too. It’s golden yellow with a little hint of pure white cloud.

The name, according to Nellie’s packaging, honors Nellie Curtis, who ran a “bawdy house” in the Pike Brewery building during WWII. It must be an auspicious building to go from production of one indispensable carnal pleasure to the other. Pike Brewing Co. also makes an IPA and a Scotch ale they call Kilt Lifter that I’ll try at the brewery next time I’m in Seattle.

Miller v. Bud

2006-05-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today I reach the 48 hour mark in an unprecedented expiriment with sobriety. It's going OK, I'm a little shaky, but managed to fight off the angry hordes of snakes and cockroaches. Tonight I think the ol' credit card might come out to save me from this opressive driness.

I'm sexing up the blog a little today. Does this make you desirous of a Miller Light? I wrote in a post a while back that Henry Wienhards is now owned by Budwieser. I've found that Henry's was actually bought by Pabst in 1997 who later sold it to the Miller Brewing Co. who own it today. Miller, Bud, what's the difference, right? It's all the same watery psuedo-beer to me, usefull for bathing, stain-removal, beerbongs, and roudy sporting events. Well apearently Miller is the new darling of the culturally impoverished beer drinkers in America, much to the dismay of AB. The Wall Street Journal, a few days ago reported that Bud is changing thier beer recipe by using more hops to appeal to changing tastes.

Check out a synopsis of the article from the Beer Therpy Blog.

The hilarity of these developments was not lost on Miller's executives who hired a plane with a banner reading "Sire, sire, pants on fire." to buzz Bud's HQ. Appearently, Shakespeare's incarnation works for the Miller PR department.

You can read the news article from the Millwaukee Journal Sentinal.

The whole conflict is a sad juxposition to the relationships between small breweries that make good beer and are happy to have eachother help while crappy corporate whores are always bearers of negativity. The big beer makers have been cutthroat for a long time, and spend billions marketing thier inferior products using various ridiculous ploys, so I guess none of this should be too surprising. But I think that good beer is sexy all by itself.

Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel

2006-05-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

Happy May Day. May your pay be fair,and your employment gainful. I think beer is the ultimate worker's beverage.

Tonight I report on a beer shipped to me across the sea from my ancestors' homeland. Ayinger Brewery in Munich, Bavaria sells three beers at Fred's down the street that have been on sale the last few weeks for less than $3. Altbairisch Dunkel is a lager and the first that I've tried, I think the other two are wheat beers. It's described as an "Authentic Bavarian Dark Lager," for which I must take their word. It's dark with a touch of amber, sweetly malty, and smells and tastes like the threshing floor. The flavors are interesting and the overall effect is smooth and perfect. I actually drank this beer about two weeks ago and passed it over in the blog because I had so much to write about. In solidarity with the immigrant workers' demonstrations today I'm staying home from the beer store. Having no money also lessens the temptation. The last immigrant in my family to this country was my great-grand father in 1925, not too long ago. His people were Bravarian farmers and Brewers. I wonder if the beers they made tasted anything like Ayinger?

PBR, the taxman, Blooms & Brews, and Session Lager

2006-04-28T23:08:00.000-07:00

We paid our Multnomah county tax a couple weeks ago. I thought that the tax had expired, but apparently it had one more year. At least it's a local tax, and I know it's probably more important for kids to get a little educated than for me to drink yummy beer, but as I slurp my PBR I feel increasingly jealous of my earnings. This shit tastes like the end of the world.

Tomorrow's the date for Blooms and Brews beer festival at the Oregon Garden in Silverton. Felecia has to work, so I'm working my buddy Sally's shift at the airport so she can enjoy the beer for me. I hope she chokes on a thick hefe (jus' kidding Sally).

I've been spoiling myself with so many good micros lately that Pabst was a real shocking disappointment to my system. It's not bad, it's just nothing. It tastes like the void, it takes twelve to make me ready for bed. But I prefer a lager to an equivalent pils. I think it's a style that could use more exploration, though it's too light to be a darling of the craft beer audience. I was happy to see Full Sail's Session won recognition in the Cream Ale/Lager category at the World Beer Cup in Seattle(5.1 ABV!). It's a lager that's great enough to make me buy PBR when I'm broke - and hate it.

Here's a picture form the archives. This makes me depressed, I'm switching to tea.

Fish Tale's Orgainc IPA and Amber Ale

2006-04-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

The Fish Brewing Co. is my new brewery of allegiance. I enjoyed their IPA and Amber the last couple nights. The IPA was the first down the hatch on Tuesday night. It could be that I was feeling particularly parched, but it was divine nectar on my tongue. Full bodied with an articulately defined hop bitter. The first impression was of a pinnacle of craft, agriculture, and biological symbiosis (we keep the yeasties warm, then they keep me warm). But Fish Tale’s amber ale was even better. It’s a little smokey and the malt is uniquely perfect. I’m curious to see how others have described it, but I don’t like to read reviews before my report to you.

Fish Tale is brewed in Olympia, “in the Republic of Cascadia,” which is where the salmon can swim. The ingredients listed on the packaging are water, organic barley, Centennial and Pacific Gem hops in the IPA, and Santiam and Hallertaur hops for the amber. Those sound like fine ingredients for beer. I can’t wait to try them at the brewery someday.

I’d like to compare Fish Tale’s IPA with Wolaver’s, my other favorite organic. I tremble in anticipation of The North American Organic Brewer's Festival in June that will afford the opportunity. The festival is first come first serve for brewery spots, so it should be a nano-brew orgy.

Walking Man Brewery

2006-04-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

The Walking Man brewery is in Stevenson, WA in the Columbia River Gorge. The brewery and pub are on First St, a block from the river, in a converted house. The second story may still be lived in, but the first floor is a resurant and brewery. Walking Man is locally famous for Homo Erectus and the Knuckle Dragger. Jen, Patrick, Fefe and I tried about everything they have. Here's their numbered beer list with ABV. I didn't get a picture of the Brown ale, but it reminded Pat of Rogue's brown. The beer pictures are labeled with the number that matches the menu, so you can tell what each is. The delicate balance of flavors in Walking Man;s beers really make them stand out amoung real micros. Thier brewers do an excelant job. A definite taste theme runs through all of the Walking Man beers. I think it might be a particular blend of malt, but I really don't know. In a world of overbuilt marketing, Walking Man is refreshing in its authenticity. The setting is specatular, but the beers are the main attraction. I've never had an Imperial Stout, and have nothing to compare it to, but it's an unforgetable expirience, unless you have more than a couple, then things become completely forgettable. The waitress, I'll call her Marleen, must have had fears for my own fidelity of memory as she unforgiably delayed my IPA. That kind of thing ruins the party. Perhaps I was being particuarly obnoxious, maybe she didn't like my looks, or more likely, Marleen took offence when I ordered a Homo Erectus for my "partner." In rual Washington, if you act "funny" you're probably a "homo." And that ain't good. Now, how could anyone mistake a model of masulinity such as myself for a limp-wristed sausage hound? I don't know but I'm off to the gym to work out some frustration and chisel some buns.

OK, I'm not gay, I'm married. But Marleen really struck my homo nerve.

Pete's Wicked Rally Cap

2006-04-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Don't bother pouring Rally Cap (AKA Lipton's Ice Tea) in a glass. I'm not sure there's a beer I could turn down on a cold, lonely night, but Pete's Wicked Rally Cap Ale is really disappointing lemony koolaid concoction. The first sip out of the fridge is refreshing, but after it warms up a degree, downing Rally Cap is an unfulfulling experience. There are few beers that pull off fruit flavors well, in my opinion, and Pete's is one of the worst. Three thumbs down. The only use for this I can imagine is chugging after work on a hot summer day.

my best "Ed Norton"

2006-04-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

Hey, mohawk maintinence is no joke. I had this done with garden clippers. What's this have to do with beer? Maybe nothing, maybe everything.

Trinity Red Ale

2006-04-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Trader Joe's sells some mysterious beers. Trinity Red Ale was $4.99, a buck or two less than local micros they sell. Beer Advocate says that Trinity is brewed by Goose Island Brewery in Chicago under a special marketing agreement. Strange. It's good for the price. It has a little chocolate malt taste that reminds me of Seaf's Stout, one of my favorite comfort beers, and a nice hop aroma without the cooked-in bitterness plus a little rye. I had second thoughts about buying it when I got up to the check stand. The clerk had to assure me that it was ok. I veiw the generic six-packs at Joe's with some suspition. My buddy Patrick bought a batch that was bad - the fist sip almost made him loose his lunch.

Deschutes Inversion IPA

2006-04-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Drinking With Darren is a great public access show in Portland where the hero goes to breweries and beer festivals, talks to the brewers and samples the beer. Drinking vicariously is nothing like the real thing, but it's better than watching Oprah. A few months ago Darren went to the Deschutes Brewery in Bend. I like Deschutes but the marketing guy they stuck on Darren was a giant douche. He was very intent on selling his beer, which made me disinclined to ever buy it again. He was glaringly different from the regular easy-going blokes he usually hangs out with who love beer in a self-assured, slightly perma-drunk, fashion instead of shamelessly humping Darren's leg. I got over it and tried Deschutes' new IPA, Inversion, today. This shit is something like $8.29 at Freddies but in a moment of weakness I indulged myself anyway. And the verdict is that its yummy. I know Deschutes has an Oregon landscape beer naming theme going with Black Butte, Cinder Cone, Mirror Pond and whatnot, but if I were them I'd call it Grassyass IPA because it smells like a haystack. And now you know why I'm not their marketing guy. I think people will like this beer a lot. Double hopped IPAs are trendy right now, and for good reason. They should come in hip-for-portland bundles with a man purse and belly shirt. I'm not puttin down, but just noting the obvious. Cheers for now, I have some mohawk maintinence to take care of.

The Rose and Raindrop

2006-04-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Why does my alcohol addled brain insist on replaying the most irritating part of the most obnoxious song like a merry-go-round to infinity during the morning withdrawal? I think it's its self imposed punishment for what I've done to it. It pleads "Start drinking again and I'll turn off this awful music."

Last night we went to The Rose and Raindrop on SE Grand with Jen and Patrick for food and beer. I tried Mia and Pia's Irrigator Dopplebock. It was really dark. I thought they had brought me the wrong beer (the Horror) because it looked like Patrick's stout. But held to the light its a dark red. I googled Mia today and found that Mia and Pia's is a Brew Pub/pizzeria in Klatmath Falls, OR. Their website reports the ABV of Irrigator at 8.0, which was a good start to my nightly headache acquisition procedure. After irrigating the Irrigator I had Greg from Hair of the Dog. The Hair of the Dog guys are some hard-core muthas. Greg had a flavor that I couldn't put my finger on, I thought it was a really mellow fruit combination. I discovered on Beer Advocate that they made it specifically for a Portland restaurant, Higgins, that uses all seasonal ingredients. Greg is named after the owner, Greg Higgins. That's great, but the best part is that Greg is made with winter squash, which makes it the only vegetable I ate yesterday, besides the sauerkraut on my Reuben. If your unframilier with squash, its not a game for old people, but a big fleshy, gourd-lookin thing that most people try not to eat if they can help it. In retrospect, I can see how it owed some of its unique flavor to the squash, but I could never have guessed its secret. I'll have to review the Reinheitsgebot purity law to see if squash is an acceptable ingredient.

Felecia had an superhopped IPA called a Leapfrog, or something like that. It was served in a 10 OZ glass and coated my tongue with hops. After the Irrigator I couldn't remember which beer was mine.

Wolaver's Organic IPA

2006-04-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

If you've read this blog before you know my love of beer basically comes down to getting loaded every night, but occasionally there is more to it. Though I bash Budweiser nearly every post, and it probably seems a little old, there is a good reason for it. It's very upsetting for me and my shrink. Here's a rant from the disillusioned business student in me: Beer is a traditional processed agricultural product that people have made and enjoyed for sustenance, fellowship, and to get laid, for a long time. I'm no historian, so let me know if I have this all wrong, but mass production and product standardization have reduced the wealth of variety and quality that evolved over hundreds of years of beer making that was done with local ingredients and techniques. The result in our corporate-dominated culture is a lot of inexpensive beer that tastes about the same, the mechanisms of our society created the beer equivalent of Kraft cheese. Often new beer styles are created and marketed for what they lack, instead of what they are. Kraft beer is better that no beer, I have to admit.

Thankfully, there's been an explosion of interest in real craft beer. Public enthusiasm and micro-brewers have catalyzed a new industry that has wrested the fate of my favorite beverage from the corporate behemoths by enriching diversity and quality in the consumer's favor. The fart in the glass elevator, potentially, is a new elitism spawned from the claimed special insights of beer connoisseurs that would turn the average beer-lover back to PBR in revolt.

There's an opportunity for people in the new industry to make the county a little better – or less bad. As new businesses gain market share from the old Milwaukee Brewers the jobs created can be local, fair-paying, and employee owned - maybe compensating for the decline in workers' power in the old industry. New breweries also have an opportunity and incentive to make every part of production what it should be; by the way they distribute and market their products, acquire the ingredients, and compensate employees.

Organic beer has been a little slow to catch on compared to some other food products, which is funny since I'm sure beer had always been organic up until... Anyway, Felecia bought me a six-pack of Wolaver's IPA brewed by Otter Creek Brewing in Vermont. It's an American style IPA that's not the hoppiest on the hop wagon but has a really distinct and pure hop flavor that's smooth underneath - it has an essence without making you chew those bitter buds yourself. It's the antithesis of IPAa with a delicate floral nose and outlandish hopptitude like Hazed and Infused because of its well integrated flavors. I recommended it to you. According to their website Otter Creek will be at the North America Organic Brewers Festival on June 18 at the World Forestry center in Portland.

Lompoc / Cascade Lakes

2006-04-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

I have a few beers to report on. First, I visited the New Old Lompoc, a brew pub on NW 23rd near Vaughn, the other day. They have $2 pints from 4-6 daily and all day on Tuesdays. I tried the pale ale and claim it satasfactory. They also have 2 IPAs I didn't try. One is double-hopped and the other is really really hoppy with 8 or so types of hops, accourding to the menu. I'm perplexed why they would need two, but perhaps a tasting would open my eyes. I'll leave that for your own investigation or another post.
I also tried Cascade Lakes' Rooster Tail Ale, it's a red ale that was fine, but not remarkable, I probably won't buy it again. Beer is nearly always better on draft. I think this might be especially true of this beer, the flavors really didn't stand out, and where's the head? You have to shake this shit to get a single bubble. I don't like a lot of carbination, but a little head is what I consider compulsory. My measure of a red American ale is Laurelwood's organic Free Range Red, who's delicale aroma and crisp, smokey flavor is unsurpassed, though I continue looking.
I love to buy Oregon beers though, and Cascade Lakes' bottle claims it's handcrafted in small quantities. The bottom of the six-pack carton has a typo that I find very reassuring. I'm sure Budwieser will soon label their bottles the coincidentally appropriate "The Kin of Beer" to emulate that microbrew mystique.
There are still a couple beers to report but I have to go to class now. Maybe, if I don't overindulge first I'll finish this when I get back home. It seems I somehow have more time for drinking beer than for writing about it. At the store I consistantly pick new beers to report on for you. You're Welcome! But after I get home and drink a couple of them I usually don't feel like typing this shit, but find myself more inclined to drink more beer. Beer Bloggin's no piece of cake, let me tell ya.

Budwieser Blows Shauna's Chi-wawa

2006-04-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

The consensus around the beer bong seems to be that Budweiser sukes da Kaiser. I said that the Budweiser makers have invented a beer that tries not to taste like beer. Steve says that people who drink Bud Lite get undressed in the dark. We're a couple fucking geniuses, no? Anyway, I came across a post on Belmont Station's Blog about Budweiser’s newest foray into profits and market share.

Check out this link. The post is called, "Big Brewers Gone Wild."
This brings up a question I hadn't considered before, "Is picking out a beer at the store for my evening drunk a moral test of my love for my fellows?"

Lost Coast

2006-04-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

Felecia and I just got back from a spring break road trip to the California Redwoods. The fist night we stayed in Arcata, that’s one fucking unique neo-hippy town. When Felecia asked a girl we ran into if she knew a good place to get a burger and a beer she replied, “Do you guys eat meat?” “Um… yeah, we mean meat burgers, I guess.” I suppose it’s reasonable to assume that we might be craving a good veggie burger, but it’s not quite what I expected. I found the exchange enlightened me to the sensibilities of this little white, middle class college town in Humboldt. We wandered on in search of a comforting, cheap restaurant as a typhoon blew in. It seemed a surreal. We braved the horizontal rain and blew off a homeless guy who wondered if we had an extra nug. There was a short, road worn woman standing in front of a gas station we walked by, smiling with all gums and waving a gas can at us. I think she’d been huffing it. We ended up at a cheap Mexican place where I had a Downtown Brown, a tap I glimpsed as we walked in. It was dark, dark brown, and delightful. We discovered the next day the Downtown Brown is brewed by Lost Coast Brewery in comparatively metropolitan Eureka! a few miles down 101. The next night we stayed in Eureka! a few blocks from the brewery and tried their 10 beer sampler plus a couple pints of our favorites. They had 3 or 4 wheat beers, which were for the most part disappointing; the apricot was really horrible and the hefe had a disturbingly light mouth-feel. I’m sure some people like that, but it just seemed wrong to me. Felecia’s favorite was the Tangerine Wheat, it was really good. I thought the Amber was great, perfectly balanced, maybe the ultimate beer. We were intrigued by their Great White, a light Belgian brew. We ended up taking a case of bombers of Great White home with us. It was $20 at the brewery (the same is twice as much at Belmont Station). We drank most of them two nights ago with Jen and Patrick when we got back to P-town. I stayed up way past my bedtime and had the worst hangover I’ve ever experienced from beer alone. Overall, I think that Lost Coast is a great little brewery. Their IPA was fine and had the most resilient eggshell coloured head I’ve ever seen, that shit just wouldn’t go away. The porter was far above average, although I only drank the 4 oz sampler (I wanted to save a little drunk for the tequila we’d drink back at the Hotel). Only one of the Great White bombers had a label on right, one had the label backwards and the rest were naked. I think the guy who puts the labels on got stoned and left to watch South Park.

Biere De Mars

2006-03-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

Felecia models the newest look in this season's beer fashion, the New Belgium Biere De Mars, from Fort Collins, CO. It's a sight to behold.

New Belgium

2006-03-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning with a severe aversion to light. This was mostly due to an overabundance of rich beer and a bottle of red. It really was worth the pain, but it all seems hard to reconcile in the morning. Felecia and I celebrated the beginning of the summer drinking season by having a beer on the balcony. The summer drinking season, or SDS, begins now and goes until it’s too cold to drink on the balcony. Then we start the winter drinking season, that’s usually when things get really serious. We picked up a six pack of New Belgium Brewery’s Biere de Mars, it’s a sweet, unfiltered red ale. Felecia said it tastes like caramel ice cream, but she’s loco. We also got New Belgium’s Trippel, a gingery Belgium style ale, with a single bottle of 1554 thrown in, which I’m slurpin’ down right now. So it’s sort of a New Belgium sampler. 1554’s my favorite, but the Biere de Mars is the prettiest beer ever.
Besides waking up feeling like my brain had been stomped, drinking all that beer and wine made me especially sensitive to the plight of the little African kid on the Constant Gardner, I think I cried. Drink at your own risk. I hate that African brat.

Budwieser and the Beer Monks

2006-03-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

Felecia and I went to the Blue Moon tonight after a little walk around the neighborhood. It was my first time out of the house all day. I had an IPA that was smooth and unmemorable except that it was cloudy and unfiltered. McMenamins changes their IPA every few months. I went off on how amazingly strange looking it is until Felecia told me that I said exactly the same thing to her last time I ordered it. That's how married conversation goes and only illustrates why I need this beer journal. I can't keep track of my shit. Now I'm enjoying an Old Boardhead.
Ah... refreshing.

Since I posted last I've had a twelve pack of Black Butte Porter and a six pack of Henry Weinard's Classic Dark. The Black Butte is one of my favorites; and it’s grown on me since I first tried it a couple years ago. Something about dark beers is intensely satisfying in the same was as red wine or an afternoon blowjob from someone you love. It makes me feel warm and content. Sheaf's Stout does the same.
The Classic Dark is less flavorful, and although it’s black, it has a light character. It’s my favorite Henry's, but seems half-assed in comparison. I've been told that Henry's is now owned by Budweiser. They used to brew downtown in Portland but now their beer is all shipped here from Washington and California. Budweiser wants part of the craft beer market. Now they make Bud Select. I’d be embarrassed to buy it. Does this make me a snob? It seems like all the great artistic accomplishments in modern American beer have come from small breweries owned by ambitious but ambivalent drunks who really love hops AND malt. They had a vision of uniquely gorgeous and loving beer and made it a reality. Modern-day monks they are.

The Billboard down the street, or, A BUNCH O' BULLSHIT

Craft beer makes a statement for social justice. The worker deserves his or her pay. It’s about the quality of our lives. Budweiser is based on a philosophy that beer tastes bad, and should be made less beer-tasting, until they realized they're missing out on some cash. I say “Fuck that shit.”

Barleywine

2006-03-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

Full Sail Brewery in Hood River OR makes a barley wine called Old Boardhead that I enjoy quit a lot. It's super hoppy with a crisp citris taste; its like a really chewy, superfreshIPA. The surface texture after the head melts off is syrupy like a malt liquor. Fred Meyer, the grocery store across the street, sells a big bottle, a pint and 9 oz I think, for $3.59 and the Handy Mart around the corner stocks it too. It's a lot of bang for your buck at over 9 alc./vol. Walking Man Brewing, right across the Columbia from Full Sail makes Knuckle Dragger, which is comparable. It was on tap at The Rose and Raindrop in Portland. I tried a new one the last week from Mad River Brewery in Hum bolt Co. CA called John Barleycorns Barleywine Style Ale. It's less hoppy and a little smokier. I'm afraid I couldn't tell you the IBU's or any brewmaster designations. It just makes me happy.
If you can find these beers I recommend all three. Let me know what you think. I got the Mad River one at Belmont Station in SE Portland, it's available at Liquid Solutions too.

The labels are from Cory and Nate's Beer Labels.

A brief history

2006-03-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

I've been hitting the sauce pretty hard the last few weeks, actually, for about as long as I can remember. [not long at all]

Beer is one of my chief passions. About three months ago I got stoned enough that I passed out without a drink, but I've been true to my habit ever since. One of my first memories is waddling off with my dad's budwieser, nude but diaper. A few things have changed since then: although I still often drink in my underwear, I don't run with beer in hand and I don't drink Budweiser except at Beavs game, where, by the 7th inning I usually have half of it on my shirt. I'm a little spoiled.

Hopefuly I've proven my love for a frothy cold one. This blog is where my slow but joyous slide to cirrosis can be documented. Come along with me, and by 40 maybe you too will be consistently slurring your words and too shaky to piss straight in the morning. That sounds great.