

It’s always a little scary to go into a sequel when you loved the original so much. As you may remember, the original Stumptown Tart still holds as my favorite beer of all time. So when I heard they were remaking it with a new formula, I was super hesitant. I was also however super impatient, so without waiting for it make it to the local store, I drove downtown to pick up a bunch of bottles from the Bridgeport Brewery. (Before I go on, I would like to point out that buying beer at the brewery is ridiculously cheaper than buying it at the store. Still love you — Belmont Station!)
So I fired up the BBQ, poured a bottle into a cool glass, and took a sip. Now, when I went to the new Star Trek movie last week (awesome!), it took a while to really get into it, because I had to put out of my mind the movies and shows that had come before it, and accept it on its own (Winona Ryder?). This beer was much the same. I finished the whole bottle, but actually refused to do any reviewing at all until I had a second bottle (not right away…geez I’m not that much of a drunk).
It was after finishing off the second bottle with Grandpa Goodbeer that I decided this beer had really come into its own. It’s a cherry wheat, which if Sam Adams is any indication, can be done very, very wrong. Luckily, Bridgeport knows how to do what so very few brewers do, and that is to make a fruit beer that doesn’t feel like you are getting a swirly in a beer tinged fruit salad. This stuff is great. The fruit is really low key, and the aged ale gives just the tiniest hint of sourness.
The only downside was reported by the wife, who had a real problem with the smell of the beer … which to be honest did have a hint of ‘wet dog’. Luckily I’m a mouth breather with allergy congestion, so this issue evaded me. Still, I figured I’d mention it just to warn you ’smell endowed’ folks.
In all, although ST2 isn’t quite the elixir of love its predecessor was, its still a super awesome beer. Not Wrath of Khan, but way better than Matrix Revolutions. Movie analogies now exhausted, it’s further proof that Bridgeport is the ‘awesomest of awesome’ craft brewery around.

Any beer that labels itself “pilsner” scares me a little. I mean, I went college…I’ve been to bars on nights filled with military guys on leave. Even though nasty domestic beers are the farthest thing from a true pilsner, I can’t help but have visions of the old Coors cans my Grandpa used to put his cigarette butts into. Presumably to make it to taste better.

Anyone who remembers SwillJockey’s post from last year’s Brewfest will remember how much fun we had with the crushing horde of humanity there (It wasn’t fun!). I thought for sure that my days at beer fests were over. Luckily, thanks to the miracle of the internet and a timely mention by my buddy Mister Q, I was able to discover a mini-me version of Brewfest over in McMinnville aptly named Brews & BBQs. With a name like that, how could you go wrong?
I called it New Belgium’s “last stand”, and it appears the Alamo survives another day. It’s labeled as Sour Brown Ale, and holy cow is it. Pucker up buttercup. But in truth, damn tasty. Having had a few “Oak aged” beers now, I can tell what flavor that is, and New Belgium does it excellently.
Sam Adams on the other hand, takes a beer type I generally enjoy, Bock. And turns into something more like BBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKKKK!!! Like punch you in the face with malt Bock. This stuff was terrible and totally undrinkable. Tastebud attack!! 

This is a strange post for me. Normally, I sit here and comment how beer I don’t like is brewed of the devil, and only suitable for cleaning the sink. So here I sit today instead, having just had a beer that truthfully I didn’t like. And yet… I don’t have anything bad to say.
An hour or so ago, I made a Twitter entry that proclaimed my intention to drink this, given that I had nothing else in the fridge. “In the land of the thirsty, the one starred beer is king” it proclaimed. Well, it turns out that the land of the thirsty is a lawless place. Not even my desire for a beer could get me choke down this swill.
In a move that has the stockholders in a tizzy, I’ve managed in this review to combine my heretofore unrelated themes of Nasty Malt Liquors and Imported Oddities. Today, we consider a product of the Polish brewery Okocim, a brew they named “Mocne”, which I presume is Polish for “Malt Liquor” and not some sort of slang contraction involving acne and some other body part along the lines of “bacne”. Now before you start cringing at the anticipation of Polish jokes, let me assure you that I won’t go there — I’m Irish, and I’m rating beers, often quite bad beers, so I really can’t throw stones.
As I will be heading up to Seattle tomorrow, I thought it appropriate to finally mention how much I dig Naughty Nellie Golden Ale. As a matter of fact, in the fridge these days are several bottles of Nellie’s curves, taunting me to drink. You know how the naughty ones are, “don’t have milk Frosty…look at my sexy yellow bottle.”