Category: Guide to better beer

how to discover new beer to try

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Prost!

When I think of beer afficionados, I think innovation (or collaboration, depending on the day) so when I saw this article in the online edition of the Oregonian, it came as no surprise.

“After months of construction, Prost! opens today as the anchor tenant to the new Mississippi Marketplace, at the corner of North Mississippi and Skidmore. In one of the most interesting experiments in Portland’s dining scene, the new German pub is the first restaurant to open its doors to food-cart customers looking for shelter — and a beer.

Business man Roger Goldingay spent months (not to mention $900,000 in real-estate costs) to shape a new vision for North Portland: converting a dilapidated building and an abandoned lot into a food-cart center, a community gathering place and an incubator for small artisan businesses focused on food or crafts. The cornerstone of Goldingay’s project was finding a restaurant that could work synergistically with its adjacent neighbors: a little village of spiffy food carts and market stalls.

Prost! (pronounced “proast”) was in line with that vision. Cart hoppers can sit outdoors in Mississippi Marketplace’s large tented eating area. But they now also have the option to eat — day or night — inside Prost’s handsome new Greek Revival space, as long as they buy a drink. Surviving Portland’s monsoon season is a major challenge for Portland’s cart owners, and many die with chillier weather. The option to hunker down in a homey space could make is possible for Mississippi Marketplace cart owners to survive — and pave the way for other food cart and restaurant collaborations.

That shouldn’t be too painful, especially is you like German beer (prost means “cheers” in German). On tap: 11 German beers on draft and around 8 to 10 bottled options, plus with a hard liquor license.

Owner Dan Hart will also serve a modest menu of German-style snacks: sausages (sourced locally from The Original Bavarian Sausage), fresh-baked pretzels and sandwiches, with most things under $10.

Mississippi Marketplace is possibly a model for the future, as other developers are already looking to bring similar food-cart projects to other parts of the city. Goldingay says he has been contacted by several developers in recent weeks.

“Most restaurants consider the food carts to be competition,” says Goldingay, whose “Prost! was the first who came on and said we welcome the idea and support it. We’re praying we get through the winter!”

Prost! is located at the corner of North Mississippi and Skidmore, 3 p.m.-2:30 a.m., Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Saturday-Sunday”

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The mantra of creative / out of the box thinking is overused especially in the media this last year but I applaud everyone who actually takes it heart and acts on it.

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Bear Republic at the Library Alehouse

I don’t get out to the Library Alehouse often enough. They have good food (Spinach and Strawberry salad) and a nice selection of beers and at least one if not more that I haven’t had either before or in a long time.

Since Bear Republic was in town along with Racer X, I e-mailed my fellow beer traveler Richard and we tasted a sample of 4 Bear beers.

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First up was Norcal, it is a typical West Coast Pale. Assertive and hoppy without the citrus and pine that makes an IPA for me. It does go great with food though. Second was Racer V. This was my favorite of the night. As Richard said, pink grapefruit tastes. Third was the Racer X. Strong and bold at first but that dissipates to pine and orange notes. Last was Heritage, a Scotch ale. Nice malt and roasty flavors. Some coffee notes too.

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Thanks to the Library for putting on a good show.

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Zephyr

from the BrewDog blog comes this news…“The long awaited Zephyr is being bottled at the brewery today. This will be the first bottling from our new piece of equipment for filling champagne bottles which are to be bottled conditioned. Zephyr started off life as a 9% Double IPA which has spent 21 months in a 1965 Invergordon whisky cask which was stuffed with fresh strawberries. It is now a 12% translucent pink strawberry infused Belgian inspired wood aged ale.

We are expecting a yield of around 250 bottles. The label has been designed by young Scottish designer Johanna Basford and is stunning. The beer will also come packaged in a presentation box.

Here is some more information on the project:

We are fortunate enough that Martin’s grandmother owns a lovely little Scottish strawberry farm, we decided to take full advantage of this.

We also had a Invergordon 1965 whisky cask. Invergordon is a fantastic grain whisky with amazing coconut, vanilla and toffee flavours. The fact the whisky had been in the cask for 42 years prior to us getting it made it even more special. We decided to combine 3 of our favourite things; old whisky casks, Martin’s grandmother’s strawberries and IPA.

We filled the cask with our 9% Imperial India pale ale along with a whopping 30 kilos of fresh strawberries, or maybe 29 kilos – James seemed to eat alot of them…

After the beer had been in the barrel for 2 months we decided we could no longer wait to sample the beery treasures held in the oak. And what better time to open them than when 2 of our customers came to visit? James’ gently tapped the cask only for the bung to explode skywards followed by a 6 foot high volcanic eruption of strawberry beer, completely soaking everyone in the vicinity with sticky strawberry seeds and hoppy ale. It had been fermenting in the cask – allot! The sugars in the strawberries had triggered the yeast still in the beer. It continued to ferment away slowly for another few weeks – this time with a proper pressure release fitted to ensure no more strawberry showers.

It looks and tastes amazing. It is a bright, translucent, fluorescent almost transparent pink colour – it is unlike anything I have ever seen in a glass. The hops of the India pale ale have died down a little but still give it a reassuring bite, the strawberry flavours dominate the nose and the coconut, vanilla and oak flavours of the cask hold it all together.”

This is supposed to be retailing for $100. But it still seems worth it. I do like the IPA’s that have light flavours like berry and oak.

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new brew from Hair of the Dog

michaelAlan Sprints has crafted another special release celebrating a great beer advocate. This time it’s a Flanders Red with the name of Michael. Since, it’s an HoD beer, I fully expect it to be the most complex red ever.

There will also be a release party today where you can also get this rare beer…Matt, a bourbon and apple Eau de Vie barrel-aged sour originally designed to commemorate Bottleworks’ (Seattle) tenth anniversary.

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Habanero Stout

Roots Habanero Stout Release
3 p.m., Friday 11/06/09, Roots Organic Brewing,1520 S.E. Seventh Ave.

“An Irish style Stout brewed with chocolate malt, chocolate wheat & five pounds of coco nibs in the mash. We then boil this beer for two hours during which we slowly inoculated six pounds of organic free trade semi sweet chocolate syrup made by Alma Chocolates. After fermentation we dry hopped the Stout with 100 chopped Habaneros. ”

If this is anything like the McMenamin’s pepper beer then I will not be able to get close to it before the blast gets me.

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Lucky 13 from Firestone-Walker

“Firestone Walker Brewing Company announced the release of their much anticipated anniversary beer, “13” today. This annual release will go on sale for the first time at noon on November, 14th at the Firestone Walker Brewery in Paso Robles and the Firestone Walker Taproom Restaurant in Buellton.

Firestone’s anniversary series, a unique blend of barrel aged beers, has become quite a phenomenon each year as beer fans from all over the U.S. seek out this special limited release. In years past releases have sold out at the brewery in just a few weeks and these beers have garnered a hefty price tag in the market.

“These unique barrel aged beers have really changed the public’s perception of beer,” said Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “The care and time that went into this blend is more akin to wine than beer,” he added.

Brynildson again enlisted the help of Paso Robles area wine makers to assist in the blending of several barrel-aged beers into the final product. Barley wines, imperial stouts and an imperial brown are just a few of the beers making up the final blend. Many of the component beers have spent over 2 years aging in a combination of retired bourbon, rye, and wine barrels. This process contributes unique and one-of-a kind flavors not typically found in beer.”

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