25. May 2010 by Brother Spargealot.

Due to its high caloric content Mens Health Magazine has named one of the country’s most revered Barleywines as one of its worst drinks in America http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slide/worst-beer-0?slideshow=184612#title. Labeling it as a “gut-inducing guzzler” sunk to the deepest depths of moral depravity, but to follow with a call to drink Lienenkugel’s Nut Brown in its place as a lighter substitute smacked of pure heresy. For this there can be no excuse and there will be no absolution. To that end The Church of Zymurology has labeled Men’s Health Magazine a blasphemer of the vilest kind and suggests all that would otherwise do so shun the publication. For those that have seen this tome or happen to look at its cover during a visit to a newsstand we suggest the immediate subsequent consumption of at least six  bottles of Bigfoot, preferably of the vintaged variety. And may God have mercy on your soul.

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18. May 2010 by Brother Spargealot.

Portland Oregon, those two words conjure up images of a craft brew heaven for anyone that loves good beer. And who could argue, the city and its environs host almost 30 different brewpubs and breweries , quite a few more if you count all thirty six metro area McMenamins (a local mega chain) and several brewpub taphouse offshoots such as those Laurelwood and New Old Lompoc operates. Laurelwood and Rogue also operate taphouse restaurants at the Portland Airport. But I digress, to see a more complete listing of breweries throughout the state and also printout a map go to www.oregonbeer.org, a site maintained by the state’s brewers guild. You will also find useful maps made by the same organization at most brewpubs around town.  Do some research just in case as some newer breweries and brewpubs such as Migration might not be listed.

While we were in Portland for Fredfest, which we covered with an earlier post, we took the opportunity while in town to visit many area brewpubs, breweries and taphouses. While not by any means complete the following is an account of what we found along the way. First off a few observations and generalizations -  Portland has a good transit system that allows for free travel within much of the downtown area, but unlike what you will find in Denver or Montreal for instance, brewpubs and taphouses in Portland are spread out and only a few lend themselves to walking pub crawls (mainly those in the Pearl district).  Stay on the Max (light rail) line if possible, even if you are in the Pearl district you will want to venture out.  Hotels in the convention center area are generally cheaper and still fairly convenient and central in that respect.

Our first night we ventured into the Pearl district and visited the Rogue taphouse (the brewery is located along the coast in Newport). A sampler platter of what we were hoping would be flavorful brews that included three IPAs left us a little disappointed and unfortunately their cask bitter had diacetyl issues (beyond what anyone would expect even if they had used Ringwood yeast - yes I know they have their own Pacman yeast).  Note that while Rogue doesn’t brew here they do distill at the location and you can try a number of their liquors. Although the time difference and traveling tired us out we were undeterred and determined to find something to end the night on a high note. Luckily the Deschutes brewery (the main brewery is in Bend) was only a few blocks away and well worth the diversion. Deschutes spent a pretty penny on this place which boasts a fantastic pilot brewing system which produces most of the non-standard beers there and northwest décor that includes a lot of carved wood and local stone. Standouts included a fantastic and clean, yet slightly fruity cask bitter as well as very fresh Hop Henge IPA (9%).  The food looked wonderful which prompted a return on a couple days later.

The next day we ventured South to the Full Sail brewhouse and taproom attached to the upscale McCormick and Schmicks.  Like Deschutes, most of Full Sail’s beers are made elsewhere (Hood River) but brewer John Harris (see half of him in the pictureto the left) makes many of the company’s prototypes and special editions on the system at this location. And if you go during happy hour you can munch on fantastic $1.99 appetizers. Several of the beers sampled were top of the line including an imperial stout and a cask version of the Slipknot Imperial IPA, although the other beers, most of which were regular Full Sail staples such as their pale ale were clean but still less inspiring by comparison so it might be worth it to call before visiting.  If you don’t mind a lengthy walk after Full Sail the Hawthorne Bridge takes you back to the Southeast part of town and almost directly to the Yellow Lab brewpub. The Yellow Lab is open with a large patio and normally a lot of dog owners, especially on a rare sunny day. A sample of some of their more flavorful beers including a stout and a few hoppy examples such as a triple IPA were clean but in some cases unbalanced. Go for the ambiance and to down a session beer or two but don’t expect to have your socks blown off.  We started to head into Roots brewpub a few blocks away when we received a call from our friend Charles (Google ”Charles beer nerd Portland” and he shows up as #4 on the list - see the obligatory picture to the right at Saraveza) who cautioned that the location was up for sale and had gone down a bit. Having noticed a fairly run of the mill line up on their board we agreed to save ourselves and head to the Green Dragon instead, which seemed to be about a five minute walk north. The Green Dragon is a beer bar that recently started brewing and shares space with a distillery. Rogue bought the place so it fell out of favor with some beer nerds, but we found their selection great and well thought out.  An 8% black IPA was their sole brewpub offering, but they had a wide selection including a personal favorite of mine, Mad River Barleywine.  From there we met up with friends Janice and her husband Warren and headed back out to the grand opening of a new beer bar called Apex (www.apexbar.com) where we finally met up with our friend Charles and his lovely wife Teresa and enjoyed Firestone Walker Oatmeal Stout and Union Jack IPA. From there it was across the street to the Beer Monger, a little bottle hop with taps and several tables where we enjoyed several bottles of HUB Imperial IPA among others. If my memory serves we left and were driven to the Concordia Ale House after that for a final beer and something to eat.

The next day began at a leisurely pace with a visit to Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB), a nice organic brewpub and restaurant with solid offerings but nothing to note beyond the usual, stout, pale ale and lagers. While HUB makes a good Imperial IPA it was not on draft (no IPAs in fact – which I found quite strange for Portland).  Venturing down to the brewery Janice was able to wrangle a free tour by co-brewer Michael (picture on the left) who showed us the nice shiny stainless and a very small cold room.  After eating at HUB we drove back north to Upright Brewing Company (www.uprightbrewing.com) which is located near the Rose Garden but a little difficult to find as it’s located in the basement of retail center. A very small Belgian inspired micro, Upright uses open fermentation and ages many of their offerings in various barrels. Their tasting room is open during limited hours on Friday and the weekend (picture on right). While an apricot limbic and another maltier experimental sour beer were standouts several others were not as impressive. Although the lambic was not available in bottles they did have a seasonal release called Four Play which sported a provocative label and given the description seemed like it would be worth taking a chance on.  Later in the early evening we met up with another friend Constanze, who came into town for Fredfest and made our way back over into the Pearl district towards Bridgeport, one of the oldest breweries in the state. Having visited almost fifteen years ago I was unprepared for how modern and swanky the place is now. Don’t get me wrong progress can be good, but it seemed like they sucked the soul right out of the place.  For a Saturday it seemed very quiet as we sipped on our stouts. Unfortunately they had none of their seasonal such as the barleywine or imperial anything on tap.  Somewhat disappointed we ambled a few blocks back to Deschutes for dinner and more quality offerings (which this time included two distinct but delicious cask bitters) before deciding to call it a day.

On our third night in Portland we rented a car and made some touristy stops on the way to Hood River for a visit to Full Sail via a stop at McMenamins Edgefield (a former workhouse now brewpub/hotel/distillery and drunk compound).  The Full Sail brewery is larger than I expected and the place was packed during lunch. We found space at the bar and ordered a sampler platter which included little beyond the normal Full Sail selections. It was interesting to note we all agreed the imperial stout we were served was not as roasty and full bodied as the one served in Portland and I forgot to ask John when we visited the latter again whether they were the same batch.  We then walked to nearby Double Mountain to try a few of their offerings that included a high gravity Kriek (described as a cross between a tripel and a kreik), another cherry Belgian inspired beer, and their Rye IPA. Aside from being a bit pricey the two cherry flavored offerings fell short with regard to flavor in everyone’s opinion. The Rye IPA which others seem to like was somewhat cloudy and not very hoppy in terms of bitterness or aroma.  Somewhat let down by what we found in Hood River we decided to start making our way back so we could stop in at Belmont Station and the Horsebrass nearby, as both are a little beyond any light rail stop. Belmont was first on the list being the premier bottle shop with an attached draft bar carrying quality offerings at reasonable prices. It was very nice to be able to shop while sipping on a Russian River Pliney the Elder. After loading up several boxes of beer into the rental car we went down the street to the Horsebrass (see picture to the right), a traditional English pub with only quality selections on tap and finally…hops. From Caldera to Walking Man we counted twelve IPAs on tap – bless you Don Younger! We finished our beers and were once again contacted by our local buddy Charles who suggested we go to one of his favorite watering holes, the Moon and Sixpence, another authentic British pub North of downtown with a quality draft selection including several casks. After returning the rental car I caught up with our friends at Saraveza later that night, a beer bar in far north downtown that also carries bottles to drink there or to go. We finally cracked open a Cascade Kriek along with a few other local selections including a can of Maui Coconut Porter.  It was a nice quiet end to a perfect day.

Our final day also began on a leisurely note (déjà vu?) as we headed out to do a little sightseeing and then visit one of the New Lompoc locations nearby (in Oregon, and in stark contrast to states such as Texas, one brewpub can supply other bars and its own taphouses with the beers it brews).  The location we visited, The Hedge House, was set in a residential area and reminded me of a quaint café, so we ate and sampled some of their beers, none of which deviated from the usual stout, pale ale, and IPA.  Wanting to end our afternoon on a high note before going to Fredfest later that night we opted to get a cab back over to the Full Sail brewpub for one last imperial stout then head to the hotel for a little rest. And as to Fredfest you can read the sordid details in our prior post, it was a fitting end to a long trip. While reflecting on our trip during the four plus hour flight to Texas I had some regrets about not getting out to the Raccoon Lodge and Brewpub, home of Cascade brewing, makers of some of the country’s best Belgian-style sour ales, but it is located on the edge of the city and its offerings seemed readily available around town.  We had similar regrets about Amnesia and Laurelwood, although again we did try bottle versions. In retrospect Portland is a great beer town and while it might contain the largest number of breweries in the US, true gems were somewhat more difficult to find than I had expected (or remembered from my trip 15 years ago). In my very humble opinion breweries in both San Diego and Denver have been more creative recently. So for all of those in Texas that pine away for the Northwest you shouldn’t feel too dejected.  Although Texas boasts relatively few breweries and brewpubs some of the ones in our own backyard are making wildly creative stuff and with several set to start up in Austin and Houston within the next year it will only get better. I’d much rather have one quality micro or brewpub making a wide variety of beers than ten making strikingly similar pale ales, stouts and lagers.  That said, I can’t wait to return again to find out how things have changed.  After all next year Fred turns 85.

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16. May 2010 by Brother Spargealot.

Last Monday Fred Eckhart turned 84 and over 250 admirers were on hand at the new Hair of the Dog brewery in downtown Portland to wish him a happy birthday. The event was limited to 250 and sold out several days prior. We lined up just after 5pm and the line behind us quickly grew. Admission was finally granted around 6:15 only slightly behind schedule and everyone rushed around seeking beers that would generate the longest lines and those that might be depleted early. Instead of heading to the beer we made our way to Fred and spent some time talking about old times, but as more people filtered in we decided to allow Fred to meet and greet others and find some beer ourselves. We would stop and talk to the guest of honor many times throughout the night. After downing a sample of Barley Brown’s Cherry Wood Smoked Rye I was told to get a sample of Hair of the Dog’s Cherry Fed from the Wood, a cheery wood aged version of Fred that was dark purple with a lot of alcohol, fruit and wood in both the aroma and taste. Other standouts that night included Firestone Walker’s Parabola, a wood aged 13% imperial stout that was incredibly smooth and drinkable given the alcohol content. Other high gravity beers of note included a nice malty barrel aged barley wine from the Lucky Lab as well as a 2003 Old Gnarly Head barley wine from Wild Duck by the late Glen Falconer. Several high quality sour ales also stood out including Cascade’s The Vine, a light colored barrel aged sour made with white grapes, and New Belgium’s The Trip V, made with vanilla, cherries and cocoa beans. New Old Lompoc’s Flamingo, a pale ale made with cherries was also mice if a bit subdued after tasting the others, while Rock Bottom’ Maude Flanders, a blend of several aged Flemish sours was unfortunately over the top with unpleasant acetone and solvent notes. With all of the big beers presented it was somewhat disappointing there were no hoppy ones.  In the picture to the right note the small boil kettle HOD is still using despite the size of their new brewery. They insist changing it might impact the flavor of their beers and I don’t think anyone would want that to happen. Several brewing big-wigs from Ninkasi, Widmer, Hair of the Dog (obviously) and others milled around, but the highlight for at least two young ladies with us involved being propositioned by Don Younger who wanted to take them back to the Horsebrass.  For more information on Fredfest see www.fredfestpdx.com.

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25. April 2010 by Brother Spargealot.

The brothers traveled to Conroe Texas today to take part in the judging of Southern Star’s Pro-Am competition. A total of 53 entries were submitted and 15 moved on to second round, among them a number of bocks and one Dopple Bock (my personal favorite). Judging began at 10am and all was completed by 2pm (including a short respite and bar-b-que lunch provided by our gracious hosts). Ultimately by consensus and then a final vetting by owners Dave and Brian the winner was chosen - the next Pro-Am will be a Smoked Porter submitted by KGB Homebrew Club member Ed Condon. We congratulate Ed and look forward to trying this delicious libation in the future.

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9. April 2010 by Brother Spargealot.

Cask ale is one of the styles of beer the Brothers at the Church of Zymurology love. But you have to venture to the continent or the Great British Beer Festival to enjoy much of what the UK has to offer because cask ale matures in the cask and most don’t survive the voyage to the US. If someone is intrepid enough to ship here the examples usually end up in New York where they go straight from the ship to bars like DBA or The Blind Tiger. However, Marstons which makes several ward winning cask ales including the ubiquitous Pedigree (made using the Burton Union method) is about to release a new technology which initially will allow for maturing casks to be served in places that lack proper cellaring (see http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/86328). While this might not lead to more cask ales coming across the Atlantic at first it does make us wonder whether the “yeast spheres” introduced for secondary conditioning could be released upon command after making a voyage to the US creating a proper conditioned cask from the UK available anywhere.  If it does happen don’t expect it to be cheap, prices for British beer including the Fullers line have risen sharply in the last year or two leading many pubs to take out their taps.

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22. March 2010 by Brother Spargealot.

OK, so the American Homebrew Association racks up a whopping number of entries that normally total over 4,000, but last week in snowy Irving Texas the Bluebonnet Homebrew Competition hosted by a number of area clubs took in a record setting 1,603 entries making it the largest competition in the state and among the largest in the country.  Shaun O’Sullivan of the 21st Amendment brought beer including the new Belgian inspired release “Monks Blood”, possibly the most interesting beer in a can today, and also gave a talk. Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker also brought some special selections and gave a talk.

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8. March 2010 by Brother Spargealot.

A quick update, Southern Starin Conroe is running flat out and looking for more fermenters. One of the owners is flying to California next week to possibly purchase as many as five more to keep up with demand which must be keeping brewer Dave Fougeron busy given they continue to operate on a 15 bbl system. While we visited they had run through all their Buried Hatchet Stout after a distributor came by and took the remaining 29 kegs they had the day prior. Luckily they had more in the finishing tank they were about to keg the next day.

A quick sidenote on the Purple Possum Meadery in Navasota Texas.  Anyone familiar with the place will remember the original owner passed away and his son and daughter-in-law were running it. While stopping in a liquor store near the Exxon station on the corner of 105 and 1774 in Planterville that usually carried their products we were told TABC shut them down as they did not properly file to re-open (or something to that effect) so they were no longer producing but hoped to do so again in the future.  As another aside, that small store just north of the turnoff for the Texas Renaissance Faire in Plantersville has a few beer selections that might surprise people including Gulden Drak, Piraat and Petrus.

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22. February 2010 by Brother Spargealot.

Hopefully I can get around to posting a comprehensive list of great beer bars and brewpubs in the New York City area, there are so many (from Blind Tiger and Rattle and Hum in Manhattan to Mugs in Brooklyn). It maybe be expensive but if you stay in Queens or Jersey and don’t eat at Tavern on the Green everyday it is actually not that bad at all. And if you have been or looked though any beer lists you will find both regional selections as well as imports from Europe that never make it beyond the boroughs. The latter is especially true of English casks if you are a fan. Anyway, my reason for this post is to link to a new story about Dogfish, Russian River, Baladan and del Borgo hooking up to open what sounds like a one of a kind brewpub in Manhattan - http://beernews.org/2010/02/sam-calagione-and-vinnie-cilurzo-to-open-nyc-brewpub-with-italian-brewers/. Stay tuned.

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