Unexpected Surprise

My day off, I was looking for something different to try as I fixed our sink. I did not want anything too complex, heavy, or truthfully that interesting. Just something cold, non-skunky, and alcoholic. My hunting was helped by the fact that I had snuck into Beer Mongers before they got their beer shipment. That being said, their selection was self admitted by Craig, one of the owners, slim. Well, that forced me to search out for something new. My eyes were caught by a bottle, a bottle that did not fit within my usually rules for beer. One of my biggest rules is thou shall not drink beer from a green bottle. In my experience, the true mark of ghetto goodness. This bottle was different, a brew with a long tradition, and one that I honestly have never tried. Enter Lowenbrau.
A staple at Oktoberfest since 1810, Lowenbrau can trace it's beginnings all the way back to 1383. Unfortunately, it got brewed by Miller from the mid 70's until about 2002. This period of time, roughly my entire life, gave the beer a bit of a tarnished image. I assumed it tasted like shit, even though I had never once tried it. Until today.
Now it is once again being brewed in Munich. And it is really good, really good. I did not notice any skunkiness as described by other online forums, only a clean tasting, cheap beer. Cheap in price only (at Beer Mongers anyway). I thought the nose was very nice, and I poured it into a glass to let it open up a bit. The taste was fresh, clean, crisp, and made me bummed that I only bought one.
The bad news? The distributor that services beer mongers has said that they do not plan on carrying it anymore. I would encourage everyone looking for something truly different, to go grab a six pack of Lowenbrau. Even if you have tried it years ago, give it another try. Come on, it's been made since 1383, that is 627 years of trial and error leading to what is one hell of a beer today.

Meet the Brewer night - Ft. George

Last night it was a packed house at Green Dragon. It was only second time I had been since the Rogue takeover. We were not there to play darts or pinball of course, since they ripped them out, we were there to see Chris from Ft. George brewery and have some tasty Murky Pearl. The whole crowd was definitely George friendly. Everyone listened intently as Chris talked about his brewery, and the romantic origins of his Coffee Girl Stout. After his speech Chris roamed the room, patiently talking to everyone wanting time with him, including this half drunk idiot. I appreciated talking with him, and will constantly promote Ft. George to anyone that will listen.

Zwickelmania

After a shift at my shit job, we only had time to visit one brewery during yesterday’s Zwickelmania. I love the idea of the one day festival, I only wish it could have gone on a little longer, for my own selfish reasons of course. So, we had to pick the closest brewery, and one I had not toured before, Hopworks.
The crowd was great, and everyone working there was super friendly, and eager to answer every question thrown at them. I didn’t learn any great truths, or anything shocking or amazing, but it is always nice to see the inner workings of any brewery. The highlight was tasting a new Bock straight from the tank, “For those about to Bock.” Also being highlighted was HUB’s Cascadian Dark Ale, a black IPA that was very good.
I am bummed we didn’t get to see more breweries, but there is always next year I guess. Just remember, everyday can be Zwickelmania here in P-town. Most breweries have scheduled tours, and others are usually always willing to give one with some notice.
By the way, in case you did not know, as I did not, a “zwickel” is a sanitary sampling valve.

The Murky Pearl

February is stout month at Ft. George. Instead of just promoting their own fine brews, they also have some hand selected offerings from Oskar Blues, North Coast Brewing, and Deschutes. For a measly $12, you can enjoy a taster tray with a Bourbon Barrel Cavatica Stout, aged in Wild Turkey Barrels; Coffee Girl Stout, the regular Cavatica Stout; a cherry flavored stout that goes by Bada Bing Stout, and their take on an oyster stout with Murky Pearl. Outside the George offerings are Deschutes Abyss, North Coast's Old Rasputin, and Oskar Blues Ten Fidy.
The beer I want to focus on for this post is the 7.8% Murky Pearl. I will admit, before I heard that Upright and Ft. George were making oyster stout, I was totally unaware of the style. I am sure like anyone else unfamiliar with it, it sounds..well..disgusting.
Long ago, oyster shells were used as a fining agent in beer. Oysters were also, and still are, considered to go very well with beer. Well, some adventurous brewer obviously put the two together, and mollusk flavored beer was invented. One has to wonder, was there ever a crab beer? Clam beer? History is full of failed beer experiments I am sure. But as we all know even bad beer will get you drunk, so is it ever really a failure?
Back to the Murky Pearl.
In the words of Ft. George..”we ran the wort through 3 buckets of Willapa Bay Oysters. We let the oysters sit in the wort until they started to pop open infusing the beer with the briny oyster juice.” Of course, I have to wonder what those oysters tasted like after being infused.
The beer, for the uninitiated, does not taste like oysters. The only hint of this fusion is a slightly, pleasant salt aftertaste. The body is slightly sweet, a little oaky, with hints of licorice and cherry. It is heavy, full, and complex. It was my favorite out of the eight we tried. It eclipsed my former selection of stellar stout from the boys on Duane street, Coffee Girl. Last years was monumental, and worth the drive to Astoria. This years, unfortunately, had a over powering coffee taste making it bitter, and difficult to enjoy.
So, oyster stout..what the hell. We have smoked beers, chili beers, mango beers, and seaweed beer. If it’s good, and not deadly, why not? It tasted great, and I am eager to try Uprights Oyster Stout.
Kudos to Ft. George.
For more info on oyster stouts, and especially Upright's Release, check out this link to the New School.

Deadlift Imperial IPA

Deadlift is a beer for hop lovers. Hard core hop lovers. The nose..is hoppy; the body..is hoppy. Not that it is a bad beer, but there really isn't much else going on with it than what you could also get from eating hop pellets. Interestingly enough, it doesn't come off as too bitter, or at it's 8.6% too strong. Erin and I split a 12oz bottle, and honestly do not think I could have wanted much more. It comes close to the beer that turned me off from IPA's for a very long time. For me, after the interest of the Cherry Dopplebock, and the release of Drifter, a boring overly hopped IPA seems like a lackluster step backward for Widmer. Maybe my tastes have changed since the days I craved C-Note and other etreme IPA's, but I find most imperial IPA's to be kind of boring, and more of a science expereiment than an enjoyable, drinkable brew.

The brew pub that never was..but says it is...but isn't

Have you ever have noticed an odd sign on highway 26 near North Plains? Listed on the food sign, along with Mc Donald’s, is a advertisement for Rogue Brew Pub. What!?! Well, I did not think Rogue had an outpost in North Plains, but I had to see. The font, and style of the sign is identical to that of a Rogue pub. Well, standing outside the establishment there it said, Rogue Pub. After entering it was still a tad unclear what the situation was. The place is covered with Rogue posters, and the menu has not only 4 or 5 Rogue’s on tap, they also sell Rogue 22’s.
First off, this brew pub does not brew at all. Or ever has. I am fairly sure the place does not have any association with Rogue, but it is a crazy coincidence. Does any one know about this place, and why it is like this?
If you see the sign, pass on by. Unless that is..you have a craving for triangle shaped fish, and one hell of a mystery.

Pelican Pub and Brewery

I am sure many of you have seen a Pelican 22oz at your favourite bottle shop, or tried it on tap at some point. Until last Sunday however, I had never actually been to the brewery and pub, located in Pacific City. So we decided to pack up, leave rainy Portland, and got to rainy Pacific City instead.
Pacific City is one of those little coast towns that you swear you have been through before, but you might not have been. South of Tillamook, you have to drive a ways off of 101 to get to it. Once your there, coming from the North, Pelican Pub is the first thing you see as you enter town. Immediately you realize that Pelican Pub may have the best view of any brew pub in all of Oregon.
The place was hopping last Sunday, we grabbed one of the few last remaining tables. As you first walk in you walk through the gift shop, selling everything form t-shirts and hoodies to little surfboard key chains. Ashamed of hawking anything that can fit a logo they are not.
We decided to grab the tasting tray for the low price of $6. It included all of the regular brews, plus their seasonal offerings of Bridal Ale, Anglers Amber, and Paddlers Pale Ale. Using a scale from one to ten, I can rank the beers:
Kiwanda Cream Ale - 3
MacPelicans Scottish - 4
India Pelican Ale - 3 (had some hard, overwhelming citrus flavors)
Doryman’s Dark - 5 (nice and smoky)
Tsunami Stout - 3 (weak body, watery, odd aftertaste)
Bridal Ale - 6 (smooth, low carbonation, and slightly sweet)
Paddlers Pale Ale - 4 (IPA-ish, bitter, watery finish)
Anglers Amber - 5 (clean, easy drinking, nicely balanced)

So, my favourite was the Bridal Ale. Though not a Belgian, it is claimed to be inspired by the country ales of France, and a Belgian lover would find something of interest here. It was sweet, but not malty sweet, more fruity. It was smooth at 6.5%, and could get you into trouble fast. On the mouth feel, I picked up notes of malt, banana, and possibly berries way back there. This was the best by far.
The food we had was very good, and I like that they try to use fish caught by the local Dory fleet when they can. The meals are in the 15-20 dollar range, but well worth it.
Overall, except for the food, I was let down. I guess I may just be off, since they obviously have won a lot of awards, a fact you are hammered over the head with when your there. And good for them. They have won the large brewpub of the year award at the World Beer Cup, and have taken gold in Australia for their India Pelican Ale. I didn’t have any beer that I had to spit out or anything, but nothing, aside from the Bridal, stood out as anything great. I wouldn’t go there just to go there again, but who knows, if your in the area, you have a long drive to anything else, and hell, the view is good.

Morrison Hotel

It’s always nice to find a surprise. I have passed Morrison Hotel Bar numerous times zooming down the one way Morrison St. on my way to down town. It always looked a little corny to me to be honest. I mean, as a Doors fan, to name a bar that and to make the logo look like that seemed like an amazing display of copy cat-ism. I was wrong. I hate when I am wrong.
The bar does not have many taps, four or five, but they boat an impressive collection of bottle choices that number well over 100. Everything form Strongbow cider, to the limited release of Widmer Brothers Cherry Oak Doppelbock. Why this place is not known as a bigger hot spot escapes me. The food is also fantastic. We had a house made veggie pizza that come out piping hot and tasty.
They even have a proper, steel tip dart board. Located in no ones way, and complete with a handy shelf for your drinks and food. As I was admiring this, my wife skunked me two out of three games. That hurt. My wounds were softened only by the pints of Alaskan White I was enjoying.
We can not wait to go back, and turn Morrison Hotel into a sexy dart playing Ménage à trois with nearby neighbor’s Root’s and Lucky Lab.

The Holy Trinity

For my money, Oregon is blessed to be the holy ground of three great breweries, breweries that stand high on a hill to be praised and respected. Is every beer they make perfect? No. Is every beer they make good? No. Is every beer they make unique, special, and make with a gifted creative vision? Yes.
Now to say this is cause for battle, I am sure. Oregon has a few breweries to choose from in case you haven't heard. So many in fact, I think a lot get lost in mediocracy. Then we have our mega-micro brews. They release consistently drinkable and enjoyable beer. We know what to expect from them, and we are pleased by their seasonal releases that show a little boost of interest from season to season.
The Holy Trinity is Ft. George Brewery in Astoria, Upright Brewing in Portland, and Double Mountain in Hood River. The beers flowing from these sacred tanks, for me, stand apart. The best beers I have had in the past few years come from all three of these. They make amazing beer, and they have made some, well, less good beers too. But even Gordon Ramsay dropped a steak here and there.
Upright’s Billy the Mountain is a big, brave, bold brew that causes instant silence, then contemplation, and finally an overwhelming thirst for more. But the Kiwi Cask Four, however, was hard to finish. But you have to respect the attempt.
Ft. George’s Illuminator may be the finest beer I have ever had. It was an accident that went right, and last year’s release causes me to count the minutes until the 2010 version. The beer they make with rhubarb?? Not so good.
The cause for this post, my recent trip to Double Mountain. A pint or four after a hike in the Gorge. A great mezza platter and darts. A beer that poured as sexy as a naked super model holding a pint in one hand, and a piece of smoked Coho in the other.
The Imperial Chaos, an amazing stout that pours with a cappuccino colored full head, and has a slight oak and coffee nose. The body is heavy, smooth, and every taste should be lovingly enjoyed. You can taste coffee, oak, the candi sugar used, and the subtle use of Summit, Challenger, and Warrior hops. I can think of no better 9.5% ABV beer to wrap up a day of January hiking.
So that is the good, now the bad. New to the brew list is a short offering of Jumping Jack Flash hard cider. Without going on some long rant of it’s faults, I will say it is cool they tried, but a great cider it is not.
Another bummer, the most excellent Devil’s Kriek seems to have lost something. It was a delight when it came out, as anyone that waited in line at Belmont Station’s sour fest can attest to. There is only about a month's supply left, and it has lost the charm it had. The cherry flavor has morphed into raspberry, and the sourness is all but gone. It still looks beautiful, but the taste is gone.
I have never gone to any of these three breweries without boyish anticipation, and I have never left without complete satisfaction and an experience that, well, causes me to write on my little blog.

Highland Ambush

A big brew has rolled out of Bridgeport. Aged 33% in Bourbon barrels, Highland Ambush is a tasty scotch ale available now in 22oz bottles. I found mine at a surprisingly well stocked Fred Meyer.
The nose was strong, giving up a sweet, malty and molasses odor. It poured dark and brown, with little head. The taste is what really pushed this Scotch ale past other offerings I have had. It was malty with a brown sugar and molasses flavor, which was to be expected both form the style and the nose. But there was clearly more going on. I, or maybe my imagination, tasted some grassy and hay notes in a pleasant Belgian style way. The feel was strong, crisp and had some intense bursts of flavor. All of this carried through the after taste, and made for a very satisfying experience.
The beer is 6.8% ABV, and available at better stocked Fred Meyers, and also at Belmont Station.