Category: Discovery Afternoons

news and notes about Beer Search Party tastings.

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A fun Odyssey

One of your New Year’s Beer Resolutions can be to learn more about beer!

Even after a year filled with new beer and new breweries, there is still room to learn more.

That’s why I am excited to post today about an Oregon outfit that aims to teach and promote the great beer places in Portland.

The Oregon Beer Odyssey conducts “…. classes {that} aim to educate a broad audience about the diversity and quality of craft beer, both from the Northwest and around the world. In an intimate, small-group setting, customers can enjoy themselves, while sampling unique beers during one of our structured workshops. Our staff steward the events personally, assuring that customers’ needs are met and that these artisanal beers are presented with the class they deserve.”

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Open It!

Mark Dredge (who I had the pleasure to meet at the Beer Bloggers Conference) has come up with a great idea. A weekend where beer lovers open up their beer treasure chests and open up that craft beer they have been saving for a special occasion.

Here is the rationale behind the agenda:
“So here’s the idea: let’s create a special occasion. Let’s call this special occasion Open It! and let’s drink the good beers. Let’s find a bottle from the depth of the cellar and open it, drink it and then tell others about it (in blogs, blog comments or twitter or facebook).

Open it alone or open it with others; hold an Open It! party or take it to the pub to see what people think. Most importantly, get that bottle open and drink the thing and then tell everyone about it.

Open It! over the first weekend in December — Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th — and then blog about it in the week after. Use the #openit hashtag on twitter while you are drinking it and like the Facebook group. It’s just about opening something special and enjoying it.”

I am thinking about popping open the Monstre Rouge on one of those days.

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LA Craft Beer Crawl

One week from today, you can partake of beer (curated by the Beer Chicks) and food (curated by famed food writer Jonathan Gold)

Beer wise, Deschutes, Unibroue and Eagle Rock are on board with apparently more to come. And even the premier food show here in LA has talked about it on today’s show, so check out Good Food for more information.

Go HERE to check out the crawl info and purchase tickets

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Beer Dim Sum

Don’t be confused. This is not pairing craft beer with Chinese food. (That’s an idea for another day). No, this is a great beer tasting idea that the Belmont Station folks created. They rummaged around their excellent store and bier cafe, which you must visit. They pulled out some aged beers. What follows is a list that should blow your mind…
Stone Oaked Bastard 2006 & 2007
Stone Vertical Epic 07-07-07
Stone Vertical Epic 08-08-08
Stone Double Bastard 2006
Stone IRS 2006
Full Sail Top Sail 2008 & 2010
Full Sail Black Gold 2009
Full Sail Imperial Stout 2008
Full Sail Wreck the Halls 2006
Bridgeport Old Knucklehead 2009
Roots Epic 2008
Deschutes Abyss 2007, 2008 & 2009
Hair of the Dog Fred from the Wood 2006 & 2008

They named it Vintage Beer Dim Sum and each beer cost a different number of $1 tickets– from one to five tickets, depending on its rarity. Part of the proceeds went to charity.

This is a great idea. I am kicking myself that I did not think of it. You bought your tickets and the beer would come around. You could choose to use your ticket or tickets, or not. It wasn’t a tasting where you could feel cheated because you are the one choosing!

This is exactly how I am going to hold my next tasting event.

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Beer Search Party – Christmas Beer Tasting

lights

If you are a faithful reader of this beer blog, then you will have noticed the photo of me and Santa and the beer casks. That photo was chosen to draw your eye to my Holiday Beer Tasting that will be held this December the 5th at 3pm at my humble apartment that may or may not be decorated at that point.

I will be pouring seasonal beers that you may have never seen before such as Bells, Breckenridge, 3 Floyds, Southern Tier and also the grandpappy that started this all. Anchor Steam’s Our Special Ale. Feel free to bring your favorite Christmas beer to share as well!

And since charities are hurting along with the rest of us there will be beer swag for everyone who brings a check or cash for Food on Foot, a local program dedicated to helping people who need a hand up.

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Craft beer in cans tasting event

The third installment of the Beer Search Party – Beer Discovery Afternoon was all about the canned beer.

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The photo above (courtesy of Richard Rosen) shows the line-up but first, there was a pre-event beer of Tetley’s English ale (in the widget can). This got a fairly tepid response. Most participants found it a little bland. I liked the creamy mouth feel from the nitro. It really rounded the beer in my opinion.
Next up was the Watermelon Wheat from 21st Amendment. It got a better response but no one was jumping out of their seats. The fruity aroma scared some but they were all game to try.
Finally with the third beer, the response turned positive. Caldera pale got good marks from its hoppy attitude and aroma but surprisingly the beer of the afternoon was Moose Drool from Big Sky Brewing. Everyone enjoyed it. No disagreements. Though I am still at a loss to explain as to why more brown ales aren’t made by American brewers.
The last listed beer was the Siamese Twin. The Belgian dubbel from Uncommon Brewers. You will have to read Cap’ns beer blog to get his full take but he was the only one to enjoy this one (other than me)
Then there was a post-event beer. Young’s Double Chocolate. This got good reviews as well. I have not had it in a while but it really has a nice blast of chocolate flavors.
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For those in the Los Angeles area, I will be having a Christmas seasonal beer tasting sometime just before or just after Thanksgiving. When the date is nailed down. I will post it here and on Facebook. You will not want to miss (4) great winter warmers with a surprise or two tossed into the mix.

If you want to be the first to know about the date. Probably a Saturday afternoon. Then add your e-mail to a comment below and I will send you an early invite.

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Beer menu for Search Party Canned beer tasting

So here is the menu….

We start with 21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat. A nice wheat beer with the refreshing taste of watermelon. When I tell people about this beer, they usually wince and say it must be bad. Then I pour it and opinions change.

Second is Caldera Pale Ale. A classic hoppy pale ale from Ashland. It is an excellent beer to push people to try who are stuck in lager land.

Third will be Moose Drool from Big Sky. An excellent amber/brown ale. Easy to drink with a lot of flavor.

Lastly, Siamese Twin from Uncommon Brewers. A strong yet spicy Belgian ale. Very complex.

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Canned Beer tasting event

The fall edition of the Beer Search Party tasting event is now on the calendar!!
Sunday, September 20th at 3pm. I will be pouring 4-5 canned beers from brewers like Big Sky, Caldera, Maui and others. Only 10 slots available (Oops only 7 spots, I just checked the e-vite). Come discover some new beers or old favorites. And see what this can ruckus is all about.

can truck

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Beer Discovery Tasting – 2.0

Beer & Desserts! It’s true it works! My test subjects all agreed that it tasted great. Thanks to all who came over and tried out three brews that you should try for dessert.

1809
First off, was Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse either without or with raspberry syrup. Very acidic. Cloudy. Nice and tart. For a delicate beer it traveled well. With berry syrup not so good to my palate. I had hoped to get some woodruff syrup to try as well but I was denied. But the sour went really well with the buttery shortbread and I imagine would be awesome with a good cupcake or cheesecake.

ephemere
Second, Ephemere from Unibroue. Really nice apple taste and smell. Light and refreshing and oh so very easy to drink. Also poured a little hazy. Paired with gruyere and gouda cheese. Would be great with a fondue.

hub
Finally, what the crowds were most curious about, the beer float! Two options were made available. HUB Survival 7-Grain Stout or Maui Coconut Porter. Both were delicious but the crowd response for the coffee taste of the HUB was overwhelming. A great full bodied Stout with low alcohol but loads of taste. Smells like roasted coffee. Jet black color. The coconut porter worked well too and would probably taste better with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla.

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Extended Beer tasting review

1. Port Brewing – Hot Rocks Lager
Nice and malty. I like the fact that it was a collaboration with Tonya Cornett at Bend Brewing and that they were trying a new brewing technique. Had a nice full flavor without losing that lager style completely. Would be really good with a hamburger or ribs.

2. New Belgium – Mighty Arrow Pale Ale
A slight but noticeable citrus tang. Beautiful color and carbonation. Like a cross between a pale and an IPA that captures the essence of both. This would be an excellent gateway beer for people who aren’t into big hoppy beers. Chicken or pork in a citrus glaze or rosemary would taste excellent with this.

3. Telegraph – Reserve Wheat
First taste is very sour then it settles down some. Made with lemon verbena which accounts for the pucker but not very refreshing and not as easy to drink as the Mighty Arrow or the Hot Rocks. I would have to say that this goes into the noble experiment category.

4. Ommegang – Ommegeddon
Very funky smell. Barnyardy to the max. Complex but still a little on the astringent side. The brettamyoces yeast doesn’t do it for me. Sort of like the Telegraph in that it is thin but not easy to drink. Because this beer has such an overpowering aroma and taste, I would hesitate to pair it with any food because it would compete against the food instead of complement.

5. La Baladin – Nora
When I opened this bottle, it erupted which is sad considering the cost. My first sip of this was all pepper. I didn’t taste other spices but still drinkable. Very complex. Alot of things going on with this beer. This is another beer that defies food pairing but I think it might work nicely with a Caesar salad.

My favorite was the New Belgium with the Hot Rocks lager taking the silver medal and the La Baladin the bronze.