Frosty Goodness

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  Frosty 9:07 pm on January 31, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

  Todd Stadelhofer brews beer. 

  Wow, where did the month go? I assure you, that while the site has been quiet as a ghost, there has been no such respite for the livers of the Frosty crew. I myself have a backlog of over 12 reviews to add. So without further ado, I will begin the 2010 review season with that celebrated Frosty Goodness tradition: getting free beer from my co-workers.

  This time around, we welcome a new face into the stable of home-brew heroes: Todd Stadelhofer. When not battling the ravages of bad software code, Todd takes the time to make some ridiculously meticulous beer varieties. Todd has the current distinction of being the only guy in cubicle land who posts his recipe outside his cubicle. Beer geeks are awesome!

  Todd’s inaugural beer was a tasty dry hopped Pale Ale title “Springboard”. I couldn’t tell you more about the varieties of hops or anything, cause that’s not the sort of thing I do. I can tell you however, that despite not generally liking overly hoppy beer, I found Springboard to be wonderful for an all night design session. I was hesitant at first, but man, nothing makes a crap-tastic project go by quickly quite like a 22oz. of refreshing Pale Ale.

  So here’s to you Todd. May your brewing skills live on, and your beer geekery reach new heights. My liver salutes you.

  

   

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  skylark 9:55 pm on September 29, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Alameda Brewing Klickitat Pale Ale 

  

  Alameda Klickitat Pale Ale

  The other day, while browsing Freddy’s beer selection I put back my first choice in favor of a Hopworks Crosstown Pale Ale. Although I never regretted my decision I vowed to go back for the beer I left behind. That beer was an Alameda Brewing Klickitat Pale Ale. Alameda as in the Portland neighborhood, not Alameda, California. The extreme-localness™ of the company really caught my eye.

  So tonight, on another run to Fred’s for some random groceries, I returned. There she was, cold, a little proud, but eager to prove herself. Reunited at last. But, you know how you dream of times gone by only to realize they aren’t as good as the memory? Maybe I just built it up too much.

  Reflecting on my last sip I guess this Pale just a Pale. Nothing to write home about but a good pale nonetheless.  I mean, I want to write more but I’m just not inspired. I’ll definitely try another Alameda brew.

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    Brian 9:22 pm on November 23, 2009 Permalink

    I found this at The Beermongers and bought it on the basis of Klickitat Street being the fictional home of Henry Huggins, and I loved Beverly Cleary books growing up. And also, when I moved to Portland from Alameda County California, I was amazed to discover that the street is not fictional, and really exists in North Portland. Meanwhile, I was confused when I saw Alameda beers here, which I never saw in Alameda. So, it all comes together in this beer, which I found delightful. When I see some obscure brewery’s pale ale I brace myself for hop overload, but this has a cream soda smoothness that makes good friends with the floral and bitter flavors.

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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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  SwillJockey 6:25 pm on August 14, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  10 Barrel Summer Ale: My new favorite beer 

  Today was the second time that I’ve had this beer while having lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in Tanasbourne. Both times this pale ale was welcome treat. The first time because I’d never tried it before and it tasted good and the second because it backed up my initial positive tasting.

  Most pale ales these days want to smack you around with hops and make your cheeks beg for mercy. Not this one. Well balanced, light, and malty, it’s the perfect “I want a beer, but not a challenge” beer.

  It’s tasty on multiple levels and not vapid like your former college roommate’s blonde girlfriend from years past. I wish this stuff was bottled, but until then I may have to pay the people at Buffalo Wings more visits.

   
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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.

   
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  Frosty 11:41 am on May 23, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Set adrift in nasty. Widmer Drifter Pale Ale. 

  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.

  Hoppy where you don’t want it, tart in the rest, its just some kind of beer experiment gone wrong. Like, the flavors so bad that they decided to overcompensate by adding citrus “flavors”. “Needs more dog” as the saying goes.

  You know, the bottle has this tagline on it. “Brewers of Quality Beers”. Really? My sink doesn’t agree. Don’t get me started on Widmer, whose business lobby makes you pay for little things like tatoos and stickers. Somewhere along the way, local Oregon brewery turned into cash obsessed money machine. And the taste of the beer seems to gone along with it.

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    Swill Jockey 8:05 pm on May 23, 2009 Permalink

    Wholeheartedly agreed.

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  SwillJockey 1:33 pm on October 30, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Oh Pumpkin Where Art Thou? 

  

  Have you ever been cooking, worked busily on mixing up all of the ingredients, cooked the concoction, and then got all worked up preparing to taste your stupendous creation, only to find out you forgot a key ingredient?

  Let’s see if I can guess their beer recipe correctly……

  • 12 oz of well intentioned, but soon to be disappointing, water
  • Unknown, but appropriate, Qty of Suitably Spooky Hops
  • Unknown, but appropriate, Qty of tasty Zombie Yeasties who will feast blindly on the putrefying flesh of malted barley
  • Unknown, but appropriate, Qty of spices needed, but will ultimately fail to, simulate the presence of pumpkin in an amber liquid
  • Unknown, but Infinitesimal and quite possibly a world record holding too-small-to-measure, Qty of Pumpkin
  • 1 Well drawn Headless Horsemen beer label
  • 1 Ultimately disappointed 12oz brown bottle
  • 1 Pretty Blue Beer Cap

  Boil all of this stuff together long enough to make it tasty pumpkin-pie-like spicy, but not the least bit pumpkin-y. Toss this pre-congealed mass into the fermenter and let rot until some poor Headless Brewer determines that this stuff qualifies as beer.

  Have I nailed the recipe?? I think I have.

  To be honest, this stuff actually tastes OK, even if it is a bit on the spicy-sweet side. But in no way whatsoever does it taste the slightest bit pumpkin-y. I have been fu…..uhhhhhhhhhh….. screwed out of $1.59 for Pumpkin Ale with not so much as a pumpkin scented kiss for a thank you.

  Pumpkin Head ale, you’re just a tease.
   
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  skylark 5:55 pm on August 19, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  Traveling Man: Blue Moon, Palmetto, Ice House IPA (not the one you’re thinking of) 

  My backlog of beer reviews is growing due to “work” and “family” stuff (I know, I know… I need to get my priorities straight). I’ve been trying lots of new brews as I’ve traveled around for my job. I had a Belgian Wheat from Blue Moon ($1 at Tsunami in Charleston, SC) with an orange wedge garnish that was cheap if not pleasing. I also had a Palmetto Pale Ale in while at Slightly North of Broad (or S.N.O.B.) as it is known) which wasn’t bad but may have been good because of the insanely good shrimp & grits I was having. While in Virginia, I went to the Icehouse Bar & Grill in Herndon. I had their New York Strip & Crab Cakes special with their own Ice House IPA. It wasn’t bad, not up to NW standards but it was good to see those East Coast boys trying.

  A lot of people (especially those from the East Coast) get offended when you say something like, “The East Coast doesn’t know what real beer is.” They bring up something about Sam Adams “inventing” micro-brewing. Whatever. I’ll give you Sam Adams but that is pretty much the only contribution worth mentioning. They may have started it, but we Northwesters have taken it to the next level. Thats right, and I’ll kick the crap out of anyone who says otherwise.

  Anywhoo, my last trip to NYC led me to believe that the other coast was completely devoid of good beer. I’ve heard that DC has some good beers too. Who knows, maybe 20 years from now some East Coast dude will be hatin’ on Northwest beer like its old news.

   
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  SwillJockey 3:43 pm on August 3, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  An important lesson regarding beer temp and Cherry Wheat Beer 

  We had another one of those impromptu bbq’s at work today. Fortune, or possibly misfortune, was smiling upon me as I noticed another Sam Adams Cherry Wheat was in the beer bin. I arrived to the bbq early, so the beer hadn’t had long to steep in the ice.

  Now I see where some other people people got wildly different experiences from the Cherry Wheat than I did after my first taste of it. My first taste of the stuff was when it was VERY cold and it tasted wonderful. Today, it was just slightly cold and tasted of “cough syrup cherry flavoring”.

  I was disappointed that the mere change in temp could affect this beer so drastically. I finished the beer, but the experience knocked a few points off of my previous rating.

  I am thankful I wasn’t able to find this stuff sold by the case and didn’t end up saddled with lots of warmish beer flavored cough syrup.

  Moral of the story: drink this shtuff cold or don’t drink it at all!

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    Frosty 11:44 pm on August 3, 2007 Permalink

    Ack! I wonder if the semi-warmness had an effect on the taste of the OBF beer too. Thanks for the update, looks like I’ll be spending my hard earned dollar on the Schlitz Malt Liqour instead.

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    Smyguy 11:05 am on September 17, 2009 Permalink

    I enjoyed reading your post and I’m sorry you had a bad experience with the Cherry Wheat at your BBQ. However, I would like to make a clarifying statement about temperature in relationship to beer. As you may have experienced already after drinking Miller Lite, Bud, MGD, Coors or any other of those macrobrewery “crap” beers there is no flavor. Look at how they market it and dispense it…”frost brewed” and chilled for your enjoyment. While this campaign might fool the general public and someone who knows nothing about beer it does not fool me. Have you ever been poured a glass of beer in a frosted mug or glass. Refuse it! The cold temperature inhibits the taste and flavor of the beer. In addition, frost brewing beer and storing it at 32 degrees greatly effects the flavor profile of the beer. So if you like bland, watery, cold beer by all means drink it cold. On the other hand, you can develop a taste for new flavors and complexity if you allow a beer to warm up a little as you drink. I love Cherry Wheat and it is not because of the “cough syrup” cherry flavor. It is becaues if the bready wheat notes that make up the backbone for the beer. I usually pour a cold beer, have a few sips and then gradually sip away while it gets warm. You’ll be suprised at how a beer changes in character as you let it sit out. In the end the last sip of mine is a nice medley of flavor from all parts and ingredience of the beer.

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    SwillJockey 11:52 am on September 17, 2009 Permalink

    Yes, you’re right about the temp vs. flavor equation, but nothing can overcome the cough-syrupyness of this stuff when it warms up, even if a decent malt or hop profile manages to sneak its way in a higher temps.

    I can’t get to the front-bone if the back-bone doesn’t taste good to me. There’s too much good beer out there to drink something twice that you don’t like.

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  SwillJockey 6:14 pm on July 18, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  Stone Mill (Organic) Pale Ale 

  Usually I don’t buy beer to cook with first and drink second, but I did it with this one. It made OUTSTANDING grilled clams, only because the beer flavor disappeared when the clams opened up, but it’s not quite so nice to drink.

  This pale ale is almost trying to be an IPA, but fails. There is a lingering aftertaste that reminds you of drinking and overly steeped cup of tea. I think the brewer left the teabag in this stuff way too long. If you like the wake up in the morning, cotton mouthy taste that this stuff leaves behind, by all means swill a case of this stuff.

  It starts out tasting OK, but then quickly goes down hill with the hoppy, gritty, tea-baggy after taste. OK, no jokes about tea-bagging, but Frosty, you know who you are.

  I’ll not be buying any more. I might not even finish the two that are left in the fridge. I think I’ll let the kitchen sink choke them down.

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    Hops-scotch 9:17 pm on July 15, 2008 Permalink

    I was just about to write a review for this beer and then I noticed there already was one. I disagree with your review SwillJockey, sorry. I’m not a huge fan of super hoppy beers and this doesn’t have that cheek smash that a lot of Pale Ales and IPAs have.It’s not a great beer by any means, but I would maybe rate it a 4. Plus, it’s organic so it must be good for you. Either way I would pick this over Bud Lite, that’s for sure.