Beer Road Trip

This summer was great for Beer Tasting. It started with Hop Valley in Eugene. The have a cool outdoor patio and a big beer list. The stand out was the Light It Up Lager, nice for a hot summer day. Next Stop was Caldera Brewing in Ashland. They had 40 beers on tap and 5000 bottles of beer on the wall. My wife loves the Ginger Hibiscus, I liked the Hatch Chilli Ale and the Mother Pucker Raspberry Sour. While down there we also went to Southern Oregon Brewing. If you every want to try something from there I recommend the Nice Rack IPA.  Smooth, balanced and Hoppy! Next Leg of our trip we went to Russian River, known for Pliney the Elder. Everything there was delicious. I really like Consecration, a sour ale with currents aged in Pinot Barrels. Driving Back up the coast we stopped by Anderson Valley Brewing. They have a cool little brewery with a disc golf course and tasting room. I had the Experimental Sour which had watermelon in it. Our Last might on our trip we stayed in Portland. We hit Hair of the Dog, Cascade, Commons Brewing and Laurelwood. Stand outs were Michael a flanders ale from Hair of the Dog, Fleur De Blanc a white farmhouse ale with rose and elderflower and Megafauna a rare double ipa from Laurelwood. Eat, drink and  be Merry 

Prost!

Tacoma and Gig Harbor Breweries

Yesterday I went and hung out with my brother, we went out some breweries. We started at 7 Seas Brewing in Gig Harbor. The taproom was really nice and they have their own food truck outside. The first beer I had was the Port Royal Export Stout. It was solid. Roasty and complex, a very good stout. The next beer I had was their flagship beer the British Pale Ale. It is smooth and the hops and malts are balanced

The next Brewery on our tour was Narrows Brewing. They are located in the Narrows Marina. I had a Rye Ipa. This beer had nice hop characteristics, wasn't to bitter and just enough floral aromas. The great thing about this place is the view and will probably be packed in the summer. 

We then went to a place in Tacoma called Red Hots, it is a beer and hot dog place. It was brewers night and New Belgium. I had the La Folie and the. Switched to the Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose. Both were delicious. La Folie is a sour, which really hits the pallete. Anderson Valley was sweet and salty like a traditional gose bit flavored with Blood Orange made the beer pop. 

Last Place we visited was Wingman Brewers I had their Peanut Butter Cup Porter and the Belgian Cherry. Porter wasn't overly sweet. It had the nice balance of peanut butter and Chocolate. The Belgian Cherry was decent. Nice Cherry Flavor blended with the Belgian yeast. 

Thank you to my brother for inviting me out and having a great time enjoy beer and conversation.

Proust!

Stouts

For my birthday I enjoyed a Rum Barrel Aged Cavatica Stout from Fort George. It was tastey once it warmed up. First Sip the Flavor seemed muddled from being cold. Once it warmed up the flavor began to contrast. I do think Stouts are better aged in Whiskey or Bourbon barrels, but I will try any beer once.

Also Fremont finally bottled the Darkstar Oatmeal Stout! I have been waiting for this for awhile! Go grab one today!

Cheers! 

2012 Old Birdbrain

Old Birdbrain is an American Barleywine aged in Rye Whiskey barrels. The first sip was reminiscent of maple. As it warmed up the flavors became more complex and balanced out the Rye barrel. This is satisfying barleywine. The 2014 release is at the end of February, I will be stocking up. Proust!

  

Tacoma Breweries

Saturday the 17th we went on a little outing in Tacoma and checked out two new breweries and swung by Wingman Brewing for Porterpalooza. 

The first stop was Pacific Malt & Brewing. This place is in the old City Hall Building. Nice layout and warm feeling inside. The beer that stands out to me is the 1897 pale lager. It is a recreation of the original beer named by its namesake It was crisp and refreshing and  dances on the pallet. 

The next brewery we stopped by was Odd Otter. They had a huge list. The standouts were The Luck of the Otter Stout, Jolly Otter ESB, and the Blind Otter(barleywine aged in Woodenville Whiskey barrels). The Blind Otter was my favorite. I also feel this place is is trying too hard up front, making to many experimental beers such as the Winterface winter ale and Strawberry blonde ale. 

We stopped by Porterpalooza at Wingman. They released  10 versions of the P-51 porter, including the bottled Peanut Butter Cup Porter. With it they had on tap a Bourbon Stout that was phenomenal. I had to buy a bottle.  

If you are ever in Tacoma swing by these fine establishments you will not be disappointed. 

Cheers!

Delicious Ales

Let start with the Common's Brewing 2013 Bourbon Barreled Little Brother. This is a belgian style aged in bourbon barrels. I was dubious of this at first, but the flavors blended nicely! The second one was Hair of The Dog Doggieclaws 2014, this beer had the flavor and is delicious. You get notes of figs and dates; however this batch did carbonate well which I thought made 2013 version. Thirdly I tried Fremont Cinnabomb. It is the Abominable ale aged in bourbon barrels with cinnamon and coffee. This beer was amazing. The flavor were balanced and danced on the taste buds! I can't say enough good things about this   beer. I have been recommending it to everyone, so go get a bottle! Proust! 

Mother's Day

Went down to Pelican Brewery in Pacific City for Mother's Day. The release of the Mother of All Storms Bourbon barreled Barleywine that they do. It is an English Style Barleywine aged in Kentucky Bourbon Barrels. It has caramel and toffee notes. The barrel brings out the complexity if the barleywine and is a real treat. While there I had their vintage vertical flight. They had the Stormwatchers Winterfest 2013, 2012, & 2011. This is the base beer for the Mother. Then they had Mother of All Storms 2014, 2013, & 2011. It was nice arrangement and should the changes of the flavors over the years. If you get a chance yo try it go fo it, it is worth the money and one of the best barleywines in the country. Cheers!  

It was the monster mash...it was graveyard smash

Enjoying a Monster Mash Imperial Porter from Lompac Brewing. It has a robust coffee flavor with a subtle smoke finish. It's flavor is Ghoulish! Cheers 

Long time Blogging....or Since it has happened

This summer was busy with a lot of sun and fun and beer. A couple notes on what has been drunk this season. First off my new favorite seasonal stout, Indra Kunindra from Ballast Point. It is a stout with curry, coconut, cumin, and kafir lime. It is delicious with spicy sweetness. 

We also went to Missoula and checked out Big Sky and Bayern. Big Sky had on tap a Orange Mocha Stout which was amazing. 

Thirdly we went to Bellingham and went to Chuckanut Brewing. Came back with bottle because they are not distributed statewide. I recommend the Dunkel Lager.

For the Fourth of July we were up in LaConner and we decided to go Anacortes Brewing. I highly recommend the food and beer.

We did a couple of "Beer Tastings" Highlighted beers from the tastings

Fremont Old Bridgerider-a bourbon barrel aged barleywine

Breakside Elder Statesman-a bourbom barrel aged red ale 

Cascade Vlad the Imp Aler-a sour aged in bourbon barrels . 

Evil Twin Lil B- Imperial Porter

Rodenbach Grand Cru-a grand cru

Robinson's Brewing Trooper-a bitter from England

On our anniversary we enjoyed three tasty beers from breweries that we have visited together our favorite was the Mogli from Caldera. A chocolate porter aged in oak barrels, best chocolate beer I have ever had. 

Final Odin opened a new location in South Center. The tap room is really nice and spaceous. They also have Odin's Gift on Nitro! All in all it has been a good flavorful summer. I and my taste buds are excited for fall flavors , Elysian's Dark of Moon......oh yeah! Cheers!

Sour Fest 2014

Took May 15th off and went to Sour Fest with my brother and brother-in-law. We tried a lot of good beer. Here is our list with rankings out of 8.

Black Raven king dandy  5/8

Cantilion rose' 7/8

Cantillon st gilloise 6/8

Cascade bourbonic plaque 7/8

E9 rhubarb wild 6/8

Logsond peche & brett 6/8

Almanac Barreled Age Pèche 6/8

Breakside A Saison in Hell 4/8

The Common Trillium 7/8

Crux Banished Better off Red Flanders 4/8

10 Barrel Apricot berlinnerweise 7/8

Ballast Point Sour Wench 5/8

Bear Republic tartare 5/8

Bruery Rueze 7/8

Birrifico 4/8

Mikkeller Betelgeuze  5.5/8

Snipe Mountain Quinceañear Prieta 6/8

Surley Pentegram 5/8

Lompac Cherry Christmas 5/8

Struise blonde Sour 6/8

The standout from the day was 10 Barrels apricot berlinnerweise, my favorite was Trillium from Commoms brewing. Prost

Delicious Stout Beer

The last couple weeks I have had some delicious beer. Let start with Hair the Dog's Matt. It was a bourbon barreled stout, that is also aged in brandy barrels. Sweet, roasty and delicious. The next beer I had was Pelican's Irish Handcuffs, it is a dry irish stout. It is smooth, balanced and subtly sweet. At 4.4% it is a quaffable stout. The next beer I had was Black Raven's Grandfather Imperial Stout. This beer is from 2012, aged for 2 years. It was thick, creamy and satisfying. Black Raven has never disappointed. Also while driving through Astoria stopped by Fort George and picked up a limited release Cavacta stout aged in Rum barrels. I haven't had one yet but once I do I will write about. Drink and be merry! Prost! 

Portland Drinking

We went to Portland March 8&9. Surprise Surprise. First stop was lunch at Hopworks Urban Brewery. Had the 7 Grain Suvival Stout and my wife had HUB ESB, both were excellent. Then we went to Powell's off Hawthorne. After that the next Brewery we hit was Gigantic, I had the Most Premium Imperial Russian Stout and she had the Bang on British Pale Ale. The stout was creamy, sweet and roasty. The pale ale was beatifully balanced with malts and hops. We then stopped by Hair of the Dog and I got to try Strawberry Fred from the Wood and she had Greg. First with Greg it is a squash pilsner, and beer that my wife actually likes from Hair of the Dog. Strawberry Fred was amazing. Lastly we hit Basecamp Brewing which is becoming one of my favorites in Portland as well. The have great beer(smoked weiss & Northwest fest), two food trucks that deliver inside and the to go beers are in aluminum bottles which is pretty cool.  To end the trip we also hit Belmont Station and Rogues PDX bottleshop and came home with some good selections like Mikkler's Santa's Little Helper aged in Cognac barrels. Prost! 

Beer tasting 2/14

Enjoyed a 2013 Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws. One of the more enjoyable Christmas beers. It is a barleywine. 13%, an American Style with more hoppy notes. Makes me all warm and cheery inside. We also did a beer tasting with some friends. My Top 3 were Port Brewing's Old Viscosity, it was a roasty malty barleywine, looks more like a stout then a barleywine. Very Delicious. 2nd was Gigantic Brewing Massive. It was also a barletwine. Balanced, sweet, and easy to drink. 3rd was Avery/Russian River Collaboration Not Litigation, this was made by both Breweries. They both have a Belgian beer named Salvation and this is a blend of each one. Hunt and Explore beer, you never know what tasty concoction you will fine! Prost!

Sam Adams Utopias tasting

Last night went to the Utopias tasting at Beer Junction. We tasted 5 different Sam Adams beers. First the Stony Brook Red, it is a flanders style red. It started out tart and had a malty oak finish. A pretty decent beer. Second was the Thirteenth Hour stout, a belgian imperial stout barrel aged. This beer was disappointing. It came out flat and a lack of flavor. Third we tasted Tetravis, which is a belgian quad. It was bold and rich. Filled with complex sweetness characteristics. Fourth was Utopias. It was 28%! When you smelled it, it smelled like bourbon aged it brandy casks or vice versa. It was uncarbonated, thick and sweet. It was like drinking a glass of brandy and well worth the experience. We finished with Rebel IPA. It was balanced and floral. It was a decent IPA but average compared to PNW IPAs that are available. Cheers!