Date Night @ Deschutes

Beer Luvvas,

Friday night Freebird took the train into town and we met up at the Deschutes Portland Pub for our first "date night" since returning to Beervana. And oh what a great night it was....but let's focus on the beer. ;-)

One of the first items of note, Halloween is a GREAT night to go out on the town. No lines, no kids crying, screaming, running around, negatively impacting the evening. I think I'll pull a Bill Siezmore and get a measure on the ballot to make Halloween a monthly event so those of us without kids can enjoy a night out in peace. Additionally, I'll make sure to invest in MARS/Hershey so I can get some interesting press about the measure for free advertising!

But seriously, there were very few patrons @ the Portland Pub for a Friday night, and it didn't take long for us to get our cheese plate (best app on the menu!) and our first pints:

I chose the Fresh Hopped Mirror Pond on Cask to begin the evening. After reading all the different blogs about the fresh hopped beers available, I had to give this one a try even though I'm not a huge fan of Mirror Pond - a little too mild for my tastes. However, since the base beer is so mild, it was easy to identify the additional floral notes that the fresh Cascade hops brought to this beer. Both Freebird and I approved of this "upgrade" to the standard Mirror Pond recipe.

My second beer of the evening was The Bond Street Series Hop Trip - another Fresh Hopped Pale Ale that was more potent than the FHMP, but yet not quite IPA-ish in citrus tang (or as Freebird would say, "Bitter Beer Face"). It was another good quaff.

Freebird chose the Oktoberfest which she enjoyed more because she "was in downtown P-town with (her) main squeeze," but would have preferred an OPA (Oktoberfest/IPA "blend" from San Tan) if available.... I'm going to have to monitor this to see if she's been converted to heathen, non-Beervana, beers.

We followed Happy Hour with a meal at the new Ten-01 on 10th & Couch (no flare in restaurant names anymore). Their wine list is Wine Spectator award winning, and their food was great. But as a place to get beer, their 2 taps just weren't noteworthy (one was Walking Man).

After dinner, we took the train back to Bethany which is where date night, and the blog shall part ways.

Prost to Date Night! Prost to Deschutes Portland Pub!