North 45 Timbers Pre-Funk

Beer Luvvas,

Today the Timbers are hosting their future MLS NW rivals: the Seattle Sounders. And it's a GREAT evening in PDX so I'm meeting The Pickle @ North 45 for a few prea-game pints on the patio.

Round 1: Double Mountain Vaporizor Pale Ale

I've seen Bear Whiz (the beer) darker than this extremely light colored ale. However, the citrus aroma is reminiscient of the defunct Saxer Leamon Lager.

The first quaff: crisp, light, slightly sweet forward but citrus finish.

An excellent summer sipper! Double Mountain shoots and GOOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!!!

Prost to North 45, Double Mountain Vaporizor Pale and the Portland Timbers!
GH
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Alameda CDA

Beer Luvvas,

I'm on my way to PDX to pick up Mrs. Hobbit so I stopped in @ Alameda Brewing to drop off our corny keg for filling.

I'm happy and sad at the same time because I was able to sample their Cascadian Coal IPA, but since it's currently a seasonal I can't fill the corny with it.

As you can tel. From the pic Cascadian Coal is black as night. The aroma is almost non-existant but the flavor packs a punch!

An interesting combination of coffe and citrus overwhelms the pallete upon first quaff. And the hop bitters linger lovingly on the back of the tounge.

I hope that the CDA or Black IPA style is more than just 2010's ESB or Sour flash in the pan. Because the Cascadian Coal IPA needs to become a permanent tap so I can fill a future corny!

Prost to Cascadian Coal and Alameda Brewing!
GH
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Finally! An Interesting beer post from Asia

Travelling around China, I am usually cursed with nothing more than Tsingtao. If I'm "lucky", I get Tiger. And that's not very lucky at all.

In Tibet, I hit the mother lode. Five new beers. Some were actually good. I had high hopes for the "barley beer" since most beer in China is made with rice (a sin comparable to aging white wine in oak barrels). Unfortunately, they make it with barley flour instead of malted barley. Don't ask me how.

Enjoy the photos.

Old Rasputin @ Davis St. Tavern

Enjoying my favorite is not as good as sharing 'an other' with another.

GH
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Davis St. Tavern

When are bottles better than taps?

GH
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NAOBF 2010

Beer "uvvas,

I'm here! I'm stoked! But Elliot Bay Vanilla Porteer is already kicked. I'm bummed.

GH
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2010 NAOBF Starts Tomorrow!

Beer Luvvas,

The 2010 North American Organic Brewer's Festival starts @ noon tomorrow: Friday June 25th!

Last year was our first year of attendance and it reminded Freebird and I of what the OBF used to be 15+ years ago when we first started attending that event - a bunch of great people, brewing and drinking some pretty good beer.

We still love OBF, but the much smaller size of NAOBF gives it a much more intimate feel that's gone from OBF.

Below is my list of Must Trys for this year's event:

• Organic Vanilla Bean Stout - Elliot Bay Brewery; Seattle
• Flower of the Gods IPA - Lompoc Brewing; Portland
• Concordia Ryenoceros Rye IPA - McMenamin's Concordia; Portland
• Subtex Organic PNW Red Ale - Oakshire Brewing; Eugene

Gotta Run.

Prost to NAOBF! See you there!

Foster Burger: Top 10 Burger Joint with Top 10 Brews Too?

Beer Luvvas,

Bon Appetit Magazine just listed Foster Burger to their 10 Best New Burger Joints list for 2010. As a fan of 'the burger,' I thought I'd check out their menu - which looks excellent!

Although they didn't list their Microbrews on tap ($4.50 pint / $16 pitcher), they have Widmer Hef, Guinness 16oz 'Widget' cans and Anderson Valley Boont Amber in bottles. The Anderson Valley inclusion is what I would consider a little out of the norm for most NW establishments. That, along with their praise for fresh, local ingredients in their burgers, makes me think the taplist will be worthy - if not extensive.

Prost to Foster Burger! And Prost to anyone who can provide their taplist!

New Brew Review: Lagunitas WTF

Beer Luvvas,

Was able to try a couple new brews late yesterday, so I'm a bit behind on the posting.

Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot (WTF) is a dedication to the crazy year that is 2010. I won't go into the info on the label, but needless to say it has been a WTF year so far, eh?

The WTF color is a very dark brown - not almost black, definitely dark brown. Prior to my first quaff, I had heard WTF described as an 'Imperial Brown.' AKA - an overhopped brown.

However, my first take was much closer to a CDA/Black IPA rather than an overhopped brown. WTF lacked the sweetness that I associate with brown ales. Although I do agree that it's overhopped.

Gooney's take was that WTF was more barleywine than brown. I'd agree except for the lack of either a) the alcohol burn of a young BW or b) the sublime smoothness of an aged BW.

Either way, a nice way to end a Sunday.

Prost to WTF!

HUB DOA on the Deck!

Beer Luvvas,

The deck has been sealed so Freebird and I washed the deck furniture and are now ready for summer!

To commemorate the event we opened a bomber of Hopworks Deluxe Organic Ale.

At 55 IBUs, DOA is almost as refreshing as a 20something Meg Ryan in the movie of the same name. Excellent twist ending if you've never seen it - netflix it.

Prost to summer on the deck...whenever that happens!
GH
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Widmer W10 Black IPA @ PGE Park

Go Timbers!

Prost!
GH
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Timbers Prefunk @ Goose Hollow

Ninkasi Believer Double Red on tap!

Go Timbers! Play like Mexico!

Prost to Thirsty Thursday!
GH
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Mad River Double Dred Imperial Red

Beer Luvvas,

The beat goes on @ Bailey's Taproom with Round 2:

Mad River Brewing Double Dred Imperial Red Ale:

Mexican food arrived from Santaria's across the street....waaaay to spicy to accurately describe the Double Dred bayond:

There are hops and we like it.

GH
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Stone Sublimely Self Rightous Ale on tap @ Bailey's!

Where else to meet Freebird for HH on a random Tuesday?

GH
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Widmer Sunburn Summer Ale

A refreshing quaf @ HairM. Waaay past time for a trim and scalp massage!
GH
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Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

Beer Luvvas,

Stone's CDA: Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

Major hop aroma and dark, dark, dark color.

The flavor is immense! Roasted malts and Xtreme citrus finish!

This is an amazing beer!

Prost to Stone!
GH
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DIA Concourse C: Last Stop

Standing room only @ Lefty's, but I was able to get a pint of Boulder Brewing's Pass Time.

By color it's an amber. No distinctive aromas and the sip is rather simple.

The malts are not sweet, nor roasty. The finish is crisp but no real hop notes. My take is that Pass Time is brewed to be the Centrist Amber Ale that most politicians claim until they win your vote.

Not too bland, but not daring at all.
My flight departs in an hour. Hopefully we board shortly after I finish this beer.

Prost to Denver International Pub Crawl!
GH
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DIA Concourse C Strike 1

Line for all seating @ brewpub chain. And the wrong end of the terminal for my eventual flight.

We'll see what's @ the other end.

GH
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DIA Concourse B: Hard not to get New Belgium

I'm @ the Colorado Sports Bar in Concourse B for Two reasons:
1 the New Belgium Hub is waaaaay down @ the far end of the terminal and
2 the other option is New Belgium.

I'm drinking a Sam Adams on draft because the other options are Coors Light, Bud Light, Blue Moon (aka Coor$) and....New Belgium.

Note to better Colorado Brewers: don't resign to allowing New Belgium to rule the local taps away from your tasting rooms!

Prost to O'dells; the only non-NB beer I've found on tap outside Wynkoop this trip!
GH
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Good Combo for DIA Pub Crawl!

GH
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DIA Concourse A: Denver Chophouse and Brewery

It's now after 5pm and the tornado warning has been lifted! To celebrate I'm having a light dinner with a dark beer @ The Denver Chophouse and Brewery in Concourse A.

I'm sure that they don't brew on these premises, but they do brew in LoDo across the street from the Keg where I ate earlier this week.

DCHB brews 3 traditional German beers and an American Pale. Their dark lager (in the pic) is remarkable lacking a distinctive aroma and is percptively less sweet than I expected from such a malty lager. I barely noticed expected lager 'twinge' in the finish.

Fundamentally, the roasted malt pairs well with my french onion soup and I'm surprised by how much I enjoy this quaf!

Prost to dark lager celebration of tornado warnings passed!
GH
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Denver Airport Pub Crawl

Beer Luvvas,

I'm waiting for my flight @ DIA and have now experienced my first ever tornado warning. Sounds like 2 good reasons for an impromptu pub crawl!

I'm outside security and enjoying a Cold Hop British-style ale @ the Boulder Beer Pub. They're out of the Mojo Risin' Double IPA.

The Cold Hop has a nice citrus aroma with a surprisingly sweet up front flavor. It finishes very crisp with a citrusy, but not at all bitter, hop note.

I will concur with their assessment as a refreshing quaf.

Prost to the first stop on my DIA Tornado Tour!
GH
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Wynkoop Rail Yard Amber Ale

Wynkoop's 'signature' beer. Solid amber color with a very light head.

MUCH better than the IPA! This beer has great balance with perfect hop character to balance the malts.
Also I just found out that the IPA is cask, but pressurized to get it upstairs to the bar which could have made it a bit funky.

Also the B3K Schwarz Bier won a GABF Gold in 08.

So there are plenty of options @ Wynkoop. Come on down!

Prost to Wynkoop Rail Yard Amber Ale!
GH
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Wynkoop Monkey Fist IPA

Beer Luvvas,

After an enjoyable O'dell's IPA with dinner @ The Keg Steakhouse across the street, I've ditched my coworkers for a pint or 2 @ Wyncoop Brewing in LoDo Denver.

As you can see from the photo, it's very clear and slightly amber in color. But I must say that I am disappointed in the flavor. Overly malty for an IPA but with enough hop citrus finish ti qualify.

The Blackhawks just won the Stanley Cup, but the Rockies are still playing around the corner @ Coors Field so the bar is empty. Great atmosphere with plenty of pool tables.

Stay tuned for another pint review.

Prost to Wynkoop Brewing!
GH
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Denver Light Rail to Wynkoop Brewing Downtown

Beer Luvvas,

I'm heading downtown with a couple coworkers for dinner. Our hotel is a couple blocks from a light rail station so we hopped the train.

9 bucks for a round trip ticket! Yikes! Hopefully the gas and parking saved is worth it.

Will post Wynkoop Brewing info later.

Prost to mass transit!
GH
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Imbre Hall One More Stop

Slowing down. Both on the road and on the beer. Splitting another Dark Star pitcher/glass with Freebird.

Legs are sore. Butt is sore. I stink and need a shower.

Prost!
GH
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Rouge North Plains

Stop No. 4 time for Dead Guy!

If I'm not dead yet, I must be getting stronger.

Definitely felt the lactic acid build up on the post lunch section. Ready for another brew...

Prost to Rogue North Plains Pub!
GH
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Service Note

FYI we waited longer for our pitchers of beer @ Rock Creek than we waited for our 13 food orders @ Helvatia.

Prost to Helvatia service!

GH
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Helvatia Tavern: Lunch

The rolling hills from Rock Creek were much shorter and less hilly than I remember from 5 years ago.

We stopped @ Helvatia Tavern for lunch where the group ordered 3 pitchers of PBR and 2 pitchers of Coors Light. I had to puck the trend with a pint of Widmer Broken Halo IPA.

Prost to Helvatia burgers!
GH
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Second Stop: Rock Creek Tavern

All downhill (almost). Trying the seasonal dark star. We think its a Cascadian Dark Ale. There's a good hop aroma and crisp finish.

A winner! Prost to McMenamin's Dark Star!
GH
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First Stop Skyline Tavern

Top of the course. It's all downhill from here!

Deschutes Inversion was the best 'light' beer option. And I'm in the poker lead with a pair of Tens!

Prost to the first Poker Ride beer: InversionIPA!
GH
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Crazy Bird Poker Ride 2010

Beer and bike luvvas,

This is the start of the 2010 Crazy Bird Poker Ride. 5 bars and 35miles of west side hilly hell.

I'll be the guy in the Hair of the Dog Fred struggling on a 15yr old mountain bike.

Prost to riding for your beer! Check in for our bars and their beer choices!

GH
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Six Pack Equivalent of a ZooBrew

OK, I'm not clear on how many oz are in a zoo brew glass. Dare a guess from previous photos?

But a full glass is 5 tokens aka 5 dollas. I think that's a buck for every 2oz or a sixpack equivalent of 36 bucks!

Errr, no. Note to self don't tell the volunteer that's too expensive and go back to a dollar taste. Worst pour of the day.

Anti prost to 5 buck full glasses!
GH
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Full Sail Spotless IPA

Wow! 70 IBUs with Willamette and Zues hops. But a corrianderish sweet aroma and up front flavor sort of ruins the bitter hop finish. Not as good as The DOG!

GH
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Lompoc Proletariat Red

A great beer from a great local brewer! Soooooooper malty! But not too sweet like Seven Brides Ember.

This will be a future korny keg fill for the home system!

GH
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Oakshire and Seven Brides Brewing

Line Dry Rye from Oakshire is in line for best in fest. The kiss of honey mingles with the rye extremely well.

Seven Brides Emily's Ember is not in the running. Sweet malt, too sweet for its own good.

Prost!
GH
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Mac's Grifter IPA

A good reminder as to why I don't buy MacTarnahan's. No hops in this IPA.

Fyi Deschutes Hop In the Dark CDA already has a line. It's 45min after opening.

GH
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ZooBrew 1 and 2

First 2 brews: Klamath Basin Drop Dead Red and Pale Horse Brewing Hopyard Dog IPA.

The DOG as the program refers to it, is 7.58 abv with solid mouth feel, strong malt (for an ipa) and a balanced citrus finish. Nice.

Snuck a quick sip of Freebird's Red. Verrrrrrry Malty. Duh, program says dark malt ale. Not much hops at all. Not bad.

Prost to the first 2 zoo brews!
GH
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Red Star Tavern Happy Hour

Beer Luvvas,

I finished a bit early and Freebird is going to be a bit late. So a little happy hour Total Domination IPA and carnitas tacos @ Red Star Tavern to pre-funk before ZooBrew!

Prost to Happy Hours!
GH
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Getting Ready for 2010 ZooBrew

Beer Luvvas,

It's approaching 5pm on Friday - which normally is a good thing. Today it's a GREAT thing!

I'll be leaving shortly to the 2010 ZooBrew event at the Portland Zoo. I'll try to post some mobile blogs so you can all appreciate the glorious Portland overcast and (hopefully) not rainy weather. Oh, and I may include some tasting notes on some available brews.

Prost to ZooBrew! Hope to see you there!

Six Pack Equivalent - Home Keg System

Beer Luvvas,

For awhile now, a fellow blogger colleague over at It's Pub Night has been reporting on some of the disparity in costs of beer - both in growlers and 22oz bombers - where the cost of brew per ounce is significantly higher than the cost per ounce for a six-pack equivalent of the same beer.

Now that Freebird and I have 3 taps running in our home system, I thought it would be interesting to post on the six-pack equivalents of the brews we have on tap.

Current Taps:
Widmer Drifter 1/6th Barrel - John's Marketplace - $70
Double Mountain IRA 5gal corney keg - Double Mountain Brewery - ~$65 (purchased along w/food and pints @ the pub, and my record keeping isn't stellar)
Laurelwood Workhorse IPA 5gal corney keg - Laurelwood Brewery - $53

Previous Purchases:
Alameda Brewing Papa Noel's Olde Ale 5gal corney keg - Alameda Brewhouse - $50
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA 1/6th Barrel - John's Marketplace - $71

Keg Serving Details from Wikipedia.
1/6th Barrel Keg: 5.23 Gallons; 56 12oz servings = 9.333333 six-pack equivalents
5gal corney keg: 53 12oz servings = 8.83333 six-pack equivalents

Drifter 1/6th Barrel: $7.50 six pack equivalent
Racer 5 1/6th Barrel: $7.61
IRA corney: ~$10.83
Workhorse corney: $6
Papa Noel corney: $5.66

Now, I have no problem paying a premium for Double Mountain since you can't get it in bottles (today) anyhow. And I wouldn't consider $7+ overspending for Drifter or Racer 5. But I'm sure that everyone would agree that $<1 per 12oz serving is a damn good deal!

Prost to It's Pub Night for blogging the six pack equivalent! Prost to sub $1 beers!

Father's Day Coupon Codes

Beer Luvvas,

Father's Day is around the corner, and many Fathers enjoy beer....or cigars, or wine.

Click on the Microbrew ad in the corner and use the coupon codes below to get your Dad something truely special for Father's Day. A gift that will remind him for many months how special he really is.

Father's Day Coupons (expire 6/21/10):
FD10 - $10 off any prepaid order of 6 months or longer.
FD20 - $20 off any prepaid 12-month order.

Prost to Fathers!

Drifter and Bay Scallops

OK, all I can say is that the Drifter was a BIG mistake! The acidity of this meal completely overwhelmed the Drifter!

Acids:

• Lemon Juice
• Tomatos
• Balsamic
• Vineger

Freebird commented that the IRA was completely 'mellowed out' as well. I gave it a quick sip and agreed that the hops were preferred, but IRA's malt was too sweet for this meal.

Hindsight 20/20, we should have gone with the Workhorse IPA, or maybe cracked a 22oz bomber of Deschutes Hop Henge.

Remember: acidity equals hops - lots, and lots, of hops!

Prost to beer and food pairings!

Tonight's Beer/Food Pairing: Drifter & Bay Scallops

Beer Luvvas,

I'll try to periodically post my beer choices to pair with Freebird's exquisite culinary skills.

Tonight she's preparing bay scallops with scallions and a lemon couscous. Our side is a balsamic, tomato and avocado salad.

I chose Widmer's Drifter over the Double Mountain IRA and Laurelwood Workhorse IPA in an attempt to keep the hops bitterness as mellow as possible (given our current lineup). Freebird opted for the IRA, so check back later when I update this post with our post pairing perspectives!

Prost to food and beer pairings!