The Abyss Flight 2007-09

Beer Luvvas,

Finally! I was able to get SQHub to drive down to PDX during the slow time around the Holidays, and we completed my first Three Year Flight of Deschutes The Abyss (2007, 08 & 09)!
All I'm going to say is that I have yet to experience a bad aged beer when that beer was of high quality. The 07 and 08 made the 09 taste just harsh - full of alcohol burn - relative to the smooth molasses and chocolate quality of the aged versions.

Needless to say, I'm done drinking 09's! They are going to sit around for at least a year. Luckily, I have one 07, and about 6 08's to consume this year if needed!

Prost to Deschutes Abyss 07! Prost to aging good beers!

A Christmas Prost

Beer Luvvas,

Tis the day after Christmas and all the packages were opened. The dogs are chewing on new toys, and the spouse is putting together a new puzzle. The carols are spinning in the CD changer and life is all together grand. Time for me to spread some Christmas Cheer across the cyber-land.

I assume that most of you who read my blog - and the many other beer blogs available - have a near religious devotion to the hops and barley brew that most of my posts relate to in one way or another. But today I want to take a moment to reflect on what I believe is the reason I am able to enjoy these great beverages.

I believe that approximately 2009 years ago, a Savior was born (discussions of the accuracy of the Gregorian Calendar that today's modern sense of time passing is based on are beyond the scope of this post). And that is an excellent reason to Celebrate!

If we only share a love of the hops and barley brew, I'll respectfully wish you a Happy Holiday Season. However, if we also share the same belief that He was born to save us from our sins; I wish you a Merry Christmas with all the Joy that is implicit to the statement.

Prost to Christmas! A Savior is Born!

Deschutes "Fresh Squeezed" IPA

Beer Luvvas,

Need a break from Holiday Shopping? Stop into Deschutes Portland Pub for a "summer breeze" of flavor. Try the "Fresh Squeezed" IPA! This Portland Tap Room only fare is only 60 IBUs but it packs more citrus IPA flavor and aroma than should be allowed in one pint!

No details on the tasting notes on which hops were used (other than many), but it's definitely crisp, and lacking in the floral side of hop notes.

I'm officially done shopping, so on to more Holiday Cheer!

Merry Christmas from Hops & Barley Blog!

Last Minute Beer Holiday Gift Coupons

Beer Luvvas,

And friends/family of Beer Luvvas!

Check out the Holiday Gift Codes below for the Microbrew of the Month Club (or any other monthly club from the same sponsors).

Click on the ad in the upper right hand corner of my blog, and use one of the codes below to give your Beer Luvva the gift of Beer this Holiday Season!

$15 off any prepaid order of 6 months or longer. Use Code GMCH15 - Expires 1/2/2010

$25 off any prepaid 12-month order. Use code GMCH25. Expires 1/2/2010

Prost to the gift of beer this holiday season!

Brr-Mance Over Before it Began

Beer Luvvas,

I hate to say it, but there were no 1/6 barrel kegs of Brr at the warehouse so my Brr-Mance is over before it began.

However, don't cry for me. It's still the Celebration time of the year, and now Freebird and I will enjoy it with Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale. Tis still the Holiday Ale time of year!

Prost to Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale!

It's a Brrrrr-mance!

Beer Luvvas,

Freebird and I are having a Brrr-mance! Just reserved a keg of Widmer Brrr for pickup this weekend (Broken Halo is finally kicked) at John's Marketplace.

It's cold outside: Brrr!

Merry Christmas: Brrr!

Happy New Year: Brrr!

I'm being asked to take the last two weeks of the year off from work: Brrr, Brrr, Brrr, Brrr, Brrr, Brrr, Brrr (I think you get the picture).

In addition, we're going to fill Freebird's corney keg w/something from Laurelwood too!

Woohoo!

Prost to John's Market and Widmer Brrr!

2009 HAF Special Tappings

Beer Luvvas,

A great new, hopefully annual, addition to the Holiday Ale Festival was the inclusion of some special tappings: one keg of rare holiday ale, tapped at a specific time, and poured 'til it's gone! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any time off from 'working for the man,' so I missed the noon tappings. In addition, once I got to the fest, there wasn't a specific section for the Special Tappings, so I missed a few of the late tappings as well.

But here are my notes from the beers I was able to sample:

Hair of the Dog JIM 2008: As mentioned in my previous post, I missed 07; but 08 was nice - although not as smooth as this year's blend. I'm not sure how to quantify JIM's flavors for those whom have not had the experience of this blended beer experience. It's sweet like a Belgian, but without the Belgian yeast funk. Best I can do.

Alaskan Brewing Alaskan Smoked Porter '08: Another good, strong, Porter. However, it failed to set itself apart from the other porters at HAF. Also, I believe that Stone's Smoked Porter has a much stronger smoke flavor.

Widmer Babushka's Secret: I was waiting a whole year for another shot at this beer! Unfortunately, my expectations were too high. The black raspberry notes were muted this year, and although the Russian Imperial Stout base is KGB - one of my favs! - it wasn't as good as I had hoped.

Rogue Ales Rogue Imperial Stout '08: This was the steal (IMO) of the special tappings this year. I wonder what those '2 secret ingredients' are, and how they aged so well! Very smooth and dark and chocolate! Yumm!

The ones that got away....I really missed out on these (so I've been told):
BridgePort Brweing Old Knucklehead Batch #11 (2003!)
HotD JIM 2007
Lompoc Brewing Bob Farrell Memorial Braggot - mmmm, mead!
Cascade Brewing Barrel-Select Baltic Porter
Kona Brewing Da Grind Buzz - Kona coffee stout. What a concept from Kona (duh) brewing!
Lompoc Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Pagen Porter - kicked while I was in line! Damn!

Needless to say, HAF was another great event this year.

Prost to the Holiday Ale Festival! 350+ days til 2010 HAF!

Freebird Returns to Old Stomping Grounds

Beer Luvvas,
Freebird sent me this great pic from San Tan Brewing - our old local in Chandler, AZ! Their Winter Warmer was one of my favs (along w/the IPA).

Cheers Freebird!

Prost to the survival of another good local brewpub!

2009 Holiday Ale Fest: Joy to the Beer World!

Beer Luvvas,

I'm terrible. I deserve a lump of coal in my stocking this year. I actually attended this year's Holiday Ale Festival three nights, and it's now the Monday after and I'm finally getting around to blogging about them. I suck.

Key item of note: No lines on Thursday night during the Civil War! I love the local rivalry game on the Thursday after Thanksgiving for ESPN national television!

On to the beers! FYI - I didn't taste them all, and I'll only comment on the ones that I consumed.

Alameda Brewhouse Papa Noel's Special Reserve: I'm not sure if the fact that this special reserve is aged with Whisky-soaked oak spires makes it different than the standard Papa Noel, but it was quite tasty with just a faint whisky note on the finish. One of my favorites of fest!

Bear Republic Brewing Barrel Aged Old Baba Yaga: This Russian Imperial Stout aged in French oak Cabernet barrels tasted more like a strong ale than a stout in my opinion. Dark, but the cab barrels imparted a mellowing, yet alcoholic, flavor to the beer. Still quite good, but very different from a standard Russian Imperial.

Block 15 Brewing Oaked St. Nick: 2 months in American Oak and Mt. Hood dry hopping makes Oaked St. Nick....Good (er) Oaked St. Nick. Very nice.

BridgePort Brewing BourbonEzer Holiday Ale: One of my votes for Best of Fest! This American Oak Bourbon barrel aged holiday ale is near perfect. A faint hint of bourbon on the nose and the finish along with the expected Ebenezer flavor.

Collaborator Sled Crasher: one of the few brews under 7% ABV, but still an excellent Winter Warmer. Smooth, and yet full bodied.

Deschutes Brewery Lost Barrels of Mirror Mirror: A perfect example of why beers should be brewed to age! So much smoother than the first release each year. This is why Freebird's wine cellar in the new home will need to make room for a few 22oz bombers each year!

Full Sail Brewing Wassail Holiday Blend: Although the 65%/35% blend of fresh Wassail and Imperial Porter aged in Makers Mark casks was unique, I found the flavor to be more muted than I expected from the description. Tasty, but underwhelming relatively speaking.

Golden Valley Brewing Barrel Aged Tannen Bomb: Oh Tannen Bomb, Oh Tannen Bomb! Now that you are barrel aged (annually for the HAF), the Holidays are much, much brighter!

Hair of the Dog Commemorative Jim 2009: For the first time in the history of Jim, I've found the fresh edition smoother than the aged (2008, I missed out on 07) version! Wow! So smooth! April Dock Sale here I come!

Hopworks Urban Brewery Kronan The Barbarian: My second vote for Best in Fest! This Baltic porter was robust and smooth and just plain yummy! I am Kronan! Hear me roar!

Kona Brewing Black Sand Porter: Get rid of Pipeline! Brew Black Sand year round! Full-bodied is right! Excellent porter!

Lagunitas Brewing 2008 Olde Gnarly Wine: Third vote for Best in Fest! Just a classic version of a barleywine, but sooo smooth and easy to drink. Another example for aging beer!

Laughing Dog Brewing Chocolate Huckleberry Stout: My first minor disappointment of the fest. Not a bad stout, but the flavors - both chocolate and huckleberry were faint, to non-existent.

Laurelwood Brewing Co Polska Porter: Last vote for Best in Fest! Spicy! Excellent!

Lompoc Brewing Brewdolph: Although a Belgian Red, received one of Freebird's votes for Best in Fest. The ardennes yeast was definitely muted by the spicy clove of the malt. But still present.

McMenamins Old St. Francis School Elivn Conspiracy: Didn't know it was a Belgian Triple when I tasted it. Could tell from the first sip though.

Ninkasi Brewing Unconventionale: Best Stout of Fest! Another winner from the best thing to ever come out of Eugene since TrackTown Pizza!

Oakshire Brewing Ill-Tempered Gnome: Might have received my Best in Fest rating if I didn't drink 5 double-tasters right @ close on Friday night. Needless to say, Saturday was Ill-Tempered ASG.

Oskar Blues Brewery Mama's Little Yella Pils: Best in Fest from my coworker Terry who is now the new Capitan Pilsner! If it ain't Pils, he ain't drinkin it!

Pelican Pub & Brewery Bad Santa Black IPA: OK, seriously this is THE BEST IN FEST! The Black IPA may be my new favorite style of brew - 70 IBUs but dark and complex malts.

Redhook Ale Brewery Roggenhammer: Imperial IPA my arse! Lame! Wimpy! 57 IBUs. It seems that one of the founders of NW craft brewing has been resting on its laurels waaaay too long.

Rogue Ales Mogul Madness: This strong ale received Freebird's Surprise of Fest award! AKA she really liked some of the 7 different hops in this brew!

Sierra Nevada Brewing Estate Brewers Harvest Ale 09: Another solid product from one of the craft brewing founders....not resting on their laurels!

Southern Oregon Brewing Son of Santa: Freebird's Best in Fest! 100 IBUs from this Imperial Red Ale! Fabulous. I'm not going to say that it's better than her first brewing ever (an Imperial Red), but I'm not going to fight her for it.

Three Creeks Brewing Rudolph's Imperial Red: Freebird's #2 - duh. It was also quite tasty, but at ONLY 80 IBUs it doesn't meet her new hop expectations.

Check the next posting for my notes on the special tappings I was able to sample!

Prost to the Holiday Ale Festival! The best beer festival in the land!