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  skylark 11:02 pm on December 7, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Holiday Ale Fest   

  Portland Holiday Ale Fest Round Up! 

  

  Nick and I pondering the universe... of BEER!

  This year’s Holiday Ale Fest was special in many ways. Beer and friends all under one big tent. However, the most special thing of all the special things about this years Ale Fest was that I just happen to work 50 feet and 8 stories away from it. It was hard to say, “Eh, maybe next year.” when I had to navigate the line just to get to my bus every night.

  So this year I made it down for a couple nights of beer and well, more beer. I was glad to see most of my favorites, there were only a couple breweries I didn’t recognize and a little disappointed not to see some that were new to me. I was also glad to have my trusty 33 Beers Journal with me. This handy dandy little booklet makes reviewing anywhere easy as a pils no matter how many you’ve had. The flavor wheel™ both enlightened my reviewing skills and helped me remember the sort of sensations rolling through my mouth, even in the middle of a crowd of fellow beer lovers.

  

  Beer Reviews Made Easy

  Over two nights I used my $20 worth of tickets (10 to be exact) wisely. I was able to purchase two mugs and about 3 tasters. Here’s the secret: bring friends. In addition to my own beer, I tasted several friend’s beers. I mean, I know it’s swine flu season and all, but I think it’s worth it. After all, it’s alcohol right? Kills swine flu dead. With a little help from my friends, I turned 10 tickets into about 20. I think I made a couple new friends too.

  In all I was able to sample 6 beers. I think I had more than that but I only wrote down 6 so that is what I will write about. I’ve got 27 more pages to fill up in my journal but that will have to wait until next time.

  Here is the roundup:

  Hair of the Dog – Jim 2009 (4 stars/5 mugs)
  I heard there was a 2007 tapped earlier in the fest but I couldn’t care less. Smooth, full-bodied, with hoppy, malty undertones and something salty and yeasty in the finish.

  Hopworks – Kronan the Barbarian (3 stars/4 mugs)
  Although I enjoyed the hoppy, spice-laden body I didn’t feel this brew was anywhere near barbaric. I love Hopworks but this one only made me wish I had a Crosstown Pale or organic IPA in my glass (er… plastic mug).

  Upright Brewing – Holy Herb (0 stars/-0 mugs)

  

  Holy Hell!

  Holy Herbs Batman! I usually steer clear of flavored brews because of results like this. Someone says to themselves, “I’m going to make a [insert flavor here] beer!” Then they set about concocting their flavor and getting it just right and somewhere along the line they stop making [blank] flavored beer and start making beer flavored [blank].

  Of course, Holy Herb sits on a level all on it’s own for being incredibly blech-face inducing, as you can see in the photo. The flavor wheel for this one had a bias toward bitter, astringent , and sour. Words like gnarly, tainted, and Xtreme were jotted hastily between gasps.

  Luckily, this was a friend’s beer so I didn’t have to endure much of it.

  Alameda Brewing – Papa Noel (2 stars/1 mugs)
  Love Alameda brews. However, I can’t say much for this one. It seemed totally dead. It was like it didn’t show up.

  15th Street Brewing (I think) – Oak St. Nick (2 stars/1 mug)
  Fruity and sweet with a floral texture. I can’t say I loved this one but it did well with what it had. It wasn’t my kind of beer but I can see someone, somewhere, liking it.

  Deschutes Brewery – Lost Barrels of Mirror Mirror (5 stars/6 mugs )
  This one from my one of my favorite breweries, was my first beer at the fest and my favorite. I went back at the end of the second night and had another. That is saying a lot considering I hadn’t even hit the Ninkasi (another fave). Oaky and bourbony, it was full-bodied and full of spicy textures. It was like someone took “woo hoo!” and put it in a keg. It was strong but smooth, a joy from the first sip to the last.

  I am constantly reminded of how lucky we are to live in a city with this much brewing talent. At this year’s Holiday Ale Fest, it definitely showed up. My only regret is that I didn’t get to try more! Next time I’m going to get more tasters and reserve the full mugs for my favorites.

   

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  skylark 10:46 am on September 21, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  More Goodness From the Freddy’s Fridge 

  

  Freddy's Point Two Selection... or so I thought.

  This weekend I stopped by my local Fred Meyer’s and was once again blown away by the beer selection added with the new remodel. The selection is vast and varied and this day I discovered an entirely new section (to me at least).

  I selected an Alameda Brewing Klickitat Pale Ale and satisfied with my choice wandered down the isle toward the checkout counter. I glanced over at what I thought was the imported section. I’m not really an import kind of guy, although I do have a fondness for Trapist Monk-brewed Tripels. I think Heineken and Amstel soured me at an early age.

  However, upon closer inspection I discovered that the section was entirely devoted to organic beers! Actually, I’m not really an Organic beer fan either but only because of a couple bad apples in the bunch. This isn’t one or two organic beers. About a hundred beers from about 40 different breweries both domestic and imported make up this section. I ran my Alameda Pale back down to the other section, pledged to come back and try it someday and made my way back to the organic section.

  There were many choices but I decided to stay away from the mainstream. I’ve never had good luck with organic brews. Deschute’s Green Lakes, Mothership Wit from New Belgium (tastes the same as all their other beers… surprise!), and even a Fish Tail Organic Cask Conditioned IPA always seem to under deliver. It is almost as if the focus on removing all things non-organic leaves you with a beer that is missing something. Maybe a little fertilizer in my beer adds to the finish.

  

  A friend had mentioned Hopworks the other night and the design of the bottle (I am a sucker for well-designed packaging) caught my eye. The interesting thing I noted is that all of Hopworks’ beers are organic. Maybe they would deliver where others failed because they were totally devoted to being organic.

  I chose the Crosstown Pale Ale  and headed home a little nervous about my choice. I hope I would not regret putting the Alameda back. Crosstown did not disappoint. This wasn’t some candy-assed, watered down hippie beer. It was BEER. It just happened to be organic. Between Deschutes and Full Sail make up the majority of the beer I consume and every once and a while something special comes along and lets me know what I am missing. Crosstown didn’t mess around. Balanced, complex, and full of the hoppy goodness I expect from a Pale.

  

  I love good packaging design

  
  

  In the end, I didn’t feel like I had done something good for the earth, but I did feel like I had enjoyed something special. I might have to make this a series on Hopworks and I will definitely make it down to the brew pub.

   
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  Frosty 3:55 pm on May 25, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Hopworks Urban Brewery Crosstown Pale Ale. Err… 

  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.

  By all accounts, I would consider HUB’s Crosstown Pale a good beer. It’s not cheek smashy, not bitter, not burnt, not watery. In other words, nothing like Widmer beer. It’s only flaw really was that it was just too hoppy for my tastes. Slightly less hops, and this would have been a superstar. I drank the whole thing, but I really don’t think I would ever buy it again.

  On the bright side, since it’s made locally, it’s an organic beer. That way, the hops that turn me away weren’t also pesticiding my insides.