Fearless Scottish Ale

Calling the Fearless Scotch Ale, now available in a can, the worst tasting beer would not be fair. That statement would imply that it had a taste at all. While they have been successful at jumping on the band wagon of putting craft micro-brew into a can, they missed the part about having beer of quality go into aluminum. The 2.50 16oz will lose any taste test against a .90 PBR (Beer Mongers price), and get spanked by the cheaper Oskar Blues Scottish Ale. For $10 a FOUR pack, this ale, coming from the self proclaimed “grand exalted” brewer, should be more than good, it should be great. Sadly, like most other Fearless offerings, it is...blah.
Blah isn’t bad necessarily. If your buddy starts home brewing, and his first ale tastes like this, you should be happy. If your buddy asks you to pay 2.50 a pint for it, you should laugh, then punch him in the face, and then tell him to keep his day job. Unfortunately, the brewer at Fearless never had such a friend.
Even for Fearless this beer is lackluster, a poor representation of the style, and hardly worth the gas money to go get it, never mind the $10 four pack price tag once your there.

As a side, I “enjoyed” this beer at Beer Mongers on their beautiful new bar.

part two

Weinhard

I found this cool video on you tube, and had to share it. Apparently, it is the video they used to show people before taking the tour of the old Weinhard Brewery on Burnside. Enjoy. This is part one...

No fest for me

Ugh, the thought of fest season pains me. Sure, the beer is awesome and it is fun to talk with brewers and beer fans, but... No, I will not go. The lines, the crowds, the..the everything. I would love to go and report back to readers of this here blog about said fests, I would. Unfortunately my idea of a crowd is myself, my wife, and the bartender.
I just got back from Beer Mongers, I loved it. I could talk to Sean, maybe even talk with fellow customers, not feel rushed, shoved, or annoyed. I could go to the bathroom without a line in front and behind me. I know festivals are important and support the industry while showcasing new brews. I just can't do it.
My mind transports back to the first fresh hop festival at Hopworks. The beer was great, but the crowd was insane. For me it sucked the fun right out of the event. Yes, I know, I am mental. My perfect fest would be the beer, brewers, and...well...me (ok, my wife too). But that is me.
So new reviews or updates from the SB&WF. Nope.
Anyone else feeling along these lines, or am I a crazy bugger?

Upright's Four Play release..and my 100th post

Last night was the very generous media party at Upright. The occasion was created to release Upright’s newest seasonal, Four Play. I am sure you can read many reviews of it on any PDX blog. It was super tasty, and another feather in Alex’s cap. But, the beer I want to talk about is one that is going to be rare and gone fast, their Anniversary Apricot Ale.
As a general rule I do not like fruit beers. Most I have had have the complexity of a fart and the flavor to match. Pyramid’s Apricot Ale, to me , is an ale made solely to encourage one to stop drinking or possibly commit suicide. That being said, Upright’s Apricot Ale is something that is hard to put into words. As I was taking notes last night, the word I came up with was “sincere.” The taste was..sincere. Fruity, not artificial, bold but not pretentious. Sincere.
Upright’s Apricot Ale was aged in Gin Barrels. Barrel aged beer can go horribly wrong, or even worse, horribly boring. This went neither. [note: what we had was not aged in Gin barrels, but a future release of this brew will be, the Four Play however was aged in Pinot barrels] This 6% beer was intensely cloudy and had an amazing nose of natural apricot. I tasted not apricot flavor, but apricot. Of course, this was all balanced out with the house yeast, picked to suit the taste buds of the brewer.
It is one of the best beers that will never touch a bottle, and one that you would be remiss not to scurry off to try. It is so good, in fact, it makes me forgive Upright for the truly..umm... unique Eucalyptus beer.
After an exciting year in operation, Upright continues to produce beer that is made with skill, passion, and honesty. We should all count ourselves lucky to be able to watch with thirsty eyes Upright’s next experiment gone...perfect.
For more pics, please visit my Flickr page.
Also, do not forget, April 9th is Upright's one year anniversary party. Yes, there will be a lot of people there, but join the crowd.

Slinghost Lounge & The Trap

It was time to explore an area outside of my usual two block radius last night. I was hoping to play some darts at a few new spots, The Trap and Slingshot Lounge.
The Trap is a funny looking building at 52nd and Foster. While the front part advertises family friendly dining, the back holds what is the epitome of a neighborhood bar. At about 4:30, the place was nearly packed with customers that may very well have been there long enough to enjoy the advertised breakfast special. We had everyone beat by at least a decade or so, but they couldn't have been friendlier. If you don't mind a modest tap selection (PBR, Bud, Coors Light) and a bar maid that serves you only between smoke breaks, it's not a bad spot to catch funny car racing or waste an afternoon playing video lottery. The Trap is also known as a major dart playing location. The walls are completely covered with plaques and trophies from decades of play. The problem? They only have soft tip, pay machines. They do have an ATM for the currency disabled, like myself, but it was at the opposite end of the bar, and after two stiff gin and tonics, I wasn't making the trip.
Down the road on 55th is the Slingshot Lounge. Overlooked and easy to drive by, it deserves a stop. Now, I went to play darts since their My Space page listed it as a game. Alas, no darts. The board was taken out, but may be returning according to the bartender. We instead entertained ourselves with pool and air hockey. If you have never treated yourself to drunken Air Hockey, your missing out on one of the true joys in life. The walls are lined with really cool artwork, and the lack of TV is a welcome change from other bars.
The tap list was pretty good, we each had Ninkasi Spring Reign. The also have Lindeman's on tap, and Oly.
Slingshot has been open for three years, but only had a proper kitchen for six months. It may be a young kitchen, but the food coming out is really amazing. We tried the deep fried cauliflower, calamari, and Fava Bean hummus. It was all good, and it is all made in house. It was all but empty when we were there, which is a shame. I hope they do well enough to stay open, it's a pretty cool spot, even if it is on Foster.

random find

So, I did not go to any of the SE pub crawl events last night. Truth be told, I drove home past Bar Avignon and the crowd outside scared me. I decided to go to the much more low key Clinton St. Pub. I am glad that it was obviously a success, but large groups of people are not my thing.
I do not really have much to write about, but I did see something on a walk downtown today that caught my eye. In a for lease building on Hawthorne, was what seemed to be a full pallet of Sterling beer. Every heard of Sterling? I sure as hell haven't. It was a brewery that started in the 1800's in Louisville, KY. I could retype the whole history for you, or I could just suggest you check this out. Or this.
How this building on Hawthorne has a pallet of this beer is beyond me. Anyone out there have any input on this?

St. Patrick's Day

Does anyone really give a shit? In the town I grew up in, there was no micro brews, and every bar was a liquor license away from being the quality of a buddy's basement. Twice a year, the... umm, ok I'll call it a town, had two reasons to gather and drink. One was an unbelievably lame Oktoberfest, complete with Coors Light and Warsteiner for choices. The other was St. Patrick's Day. In hog country Illinois that meant the yearly tradition of green beer, and corned beef and cabbage. Let me tell you, green food coloring added to Keystone Light is something that only the most cross eyed of rednecks looks forward to year after year.
Now, here in Beervana, do we really need a holiday, that 90% of people have no idea what it means, in order to drink. It's fun to turn focus to Irish beer, sure. But does wearing green and acting like an asshole go hand in hand? Apparently yes. I hate holidays that are celebrated by the masses for the wrong reason, and celebrated by people that have no clue why we are celebrating it. In Illinois, we got off every year for Casimir Pulaski day. Think any of us kids gave a shit why? No, that was an extra day to sneak into our parents barn and smoke swisher sweets and drink the stolen can of Old Milwaukee from the old man.
I guess the point of my rant is, do we really need an excuse to drink? No, we don't. I drink for the taste, local offerings, and also in hopes that I will get so bombed that I will forget that I work for Shit Inc. with Satan as CEO. So, if you must get extra drunk tonight, take a moment to think about good ol' St. Patrick. I myself will get normal drunk, because that's how Patrick would have liked it, right?

Seattle Trip

About a week or so ago, we headed up to Seattle to catch a live show from the Trailer Park Boys. Before that though, we had a great time checking out a few watering holes, and playing some darts. The Owl and Thistle was our first stop. I found this place thanks to the Emerald City Dart Association’s website. They have three dart boards in the back room, which we were lucky enough to have entirely to ourselves. The beer selection is limited to what you may expect at an Irish themed bar, but the food was outstanding. Who knew you could beer batter Brie. The bar is hidden enough so that the typical crowds of tourists probably won’t find it.
We did stop at Pike Brewing, but this being my second trip, I enjoyed it much less. For me, it is just too busy, both in people and in atmosphere. The take the Applebee’s route in decorating, covering every square inch in some kind of memorabilia. Located right in Pike Market, it does attract every stray thirsty tourist. I prefer to grab a 22 at my favorite bottle shop back here in P-town.
Our last stop before the show was recommended to us by the most excellent bartender at Clinton St Pub, Wade. Shorty’s is not just a bar, it is an experience. Located north of the hubbub, it had a really great beer selection, full bar, and more creepy pics of clown’s than really should be allowed by law. It felt like Portland in Seattle. It is the location of several pinball tournaments, and rightly so. The entire back room is all dark, save the warming glow of the pinball lights. The front room has several classic games, including half pinball, half video Baby Pac Man. Knowing what I know now, I would have skipped the first two places, and spent a lot more time at Shorty’s.
Trailer Park Boys were funny as hell, and I encourage everyone to see their new movie, Countdown to Liquor Day. Also, a trip every now and then to Seattle is worth while, though, I must say, I think we here won the best city to drink in award in my eyes.

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.