OBF Day 1

Beer Luvvas,

Thursday July 23 was officially the beginning of the Oregon Brewers Festival and Cowboy decided to have an unofficial work outing to 'teambuild.'. Excellent!

Since I had to be back in the office @ 0800 this morning, I stuck with tasters most of the afternoon, and made it an early evening as well. But I was able to sample some great beers!

Bear Republic Crazy Ivan: this blend of Racer5 and Red Rocket ales was top on my list to taste because I feared that the addition of a Belgian yeast would ruin this perfect blend. However there was barely a hint of Belgian flavor to accompany the slightly stronger aroma.

Terminal Gravity Festivale: this British Strong ale was not as "strong" as I expected (8.3% ABV), but the spicy malty character was very much appreciated. In the running for my Best of Fest Award.

Summit Brewing Horizon Red Ale: Summit's Red only brings 65 IBUs to the table, which unfortunately is not enough to tickle my pallet these days. Does not even compare to Double Mountain's IRA (also a potential Best of Fest even though I only had a couple sips from Freebird's glass since it is readily available in Portland), but was still a tasty Red in the Cindercone, non-hoppy, category.

Rock Bottom Eat a Bale o' Hops IPA: I was very pleased with this entry from McPub Brewer Rock Bottom. Even though the IBUs clock in @ a lowly 48, the smooth flavor and crisp finish made this an excellent summer sipper. Too bad it's not a regular McBrew at their multiple McLocations.

Laughing Dog Brweing Alphadog Imperial IPA: The most IBUs @ the fest this year were the 127 in a glass of Alphadog! A second bonus for the Alphadog, one of Freebird's coworkers was pouring generously, especially if the taster was female....who says chivalry is dead? Or is that chauvinism?

That was all for Day 1, I'll be back on site this afternoon for another go round.

Prost to OBF! The best beer festival in the world!