Almost as bad as the beer hat

saw this in the Los Angeles Times, I fear for humanity

Beer belt Ah, Memorial Day: a long weekend perfect for hanging out in the backyard and catching up with old friends.

And who wants to miss a minute of the action by going back and forth to that pesky cooler? Urban Outfitters literally puts the hip in hipster with this balancing act of a solution: the Beer Belt. The plastic holders mean you can strap in and sling back a six-pack while slinging burgers at the grill.

Aside from the serious repercussions of too much alcohol intake, we also have to point out that there’s no cooler. In this climate, you’d have to drink fast in order to keep your PBR nice and chilled.

Want to belly up to this belt? It’s yours for $18 at UrbanOutfitters.com.

Brew news you can use

If you want to get interviews with important Oregon brewers, get excellent beer reviews or just listen to a fellow beer geek then I urge you to take a listen to Lisa Morrison and her Beer O’Clock radio show / podcast.

I personally think that every part of the country should have someone broadcasting the great things that are going on in each area’s brewing scene. Be it Portland or Asheville.

New email address!!

Now whenever you have a beer or beer related question, like, why is Budweiser advertising that they have new specially designed glasses for drinking Bud out of? or why is Busch Gardens no longer giving out free samples of of Bud? You can send them to me and I will give you the best answer that I can.

beersearchparty@gmail.com

Terminator Stout

In honor of the not bad / not quite good new Terminator movie, I present McMenamin’s Terminator Stout. If I had a glass of this during the movie, I would have been more kind to the plot and direction.
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This is a really good example of a stout. I especially like it when it is on the nitro tap.

What's in the 'fridge?

One from Mexico and one from Washington state..
honey

Nice Amber ale with just a touch of sweetness. This would go well with sweet BBQ. Easy to drink and not bland like some ambers can get.

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From Red Hook brewery, this is another amber type beer. Nice to drink but lacks a little something. Not bad but I could certainly find more bold tastes in the beer aisle.

Mountain State Brewing

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My expertise is skewed to the left coast but I do no want to leave out the rest of the country on this blog so for those in West Virginia and Maryland you can try out Mountain State Brewing “born and brewed in West Virginia. As with alot of our great craft brewers they started at home in the ’90’s and now you can taste the hard work Brian & Willie have put into their beers.

North American Organic Brewers Festival

This June 26-28th is the 7th incarnation of this great festival in Portland, Oregon. Just take a look at this line-up….
Alameda Brew House
Portland, OR
• El Torero Organic IPA • Double IPA

Aspall Cyders
Suffolk, England
• Cyder • Estate Cider

Bison Brewing
Berkeley, CA
• Chocolate Stout • Dry Foreign Style Stout
• Single Hop IPA • Single Hop IPA

Caledonian (pending)
Edinburgh, Scotland
• Golden Promise • Golden Ale

Crannog Ales
Sorrento, British Columbia
• Backhand Of God Stout • Irish Stout
• Red Branch Irish Ale • Irish Red Ale

Deschutes
Bend, OR
• Green Lakes • American Amber Ale

Double Mountain Brewery
Hood River, OR
• Hop Lava •
• Kolsch •

Dupont
Belgium
• Foret Saison • Saison

Eel River
Fortuna, CA
• Acai Berry Wheat • Fruit wheat beer
• IPA • English Style IPA

Elliott Bay Brewing
Burien, WA
• Organic Coffee Stout • Coffee Oatmeal Stout
• Hop von Boorian • Belgian Style IPA

Fish Tales Ales
Olympia, WA
• Wild Salmon Pale Ale • American Pale Ale
• Fish Tale IPA • American IPA
• Organic Blonde • Blonde Ale with Rye

Fort George
Astoria, OR
• Quick Wit • Belgian Style Wit bier

Grand Teton Brewing Co.
Victor, ID
• Au Naturale Blonde Ale • Blonde Ale

Hopworks Urban Brewery
Portland, OR
• Hopworks Organic IPA • Double IPA
• TBD •

Lakefront Brewery
Milwaukee, WI
• Organic ESB • Extra Special Bitter
• Fuel Cafe • Organic Coffee Stout

Lammsbräu (pending)
Neumarkt, Bayern, Germany
• Dunkel •
• Pils •
• Lager •
• Hefeweizen •

Laurelwood Brewery
Portland, OR
• Organic Green Mammoth • IPA
• Something Delicious •

Lucky Labrador
Portland, OR
• Recession Session • Light Lager
• TBD •

MateVeza
San Francisco, CA
• Yerba Mate Ale • Ale
• Yerba Mate IPA • IPA

McMenamins
Portland, OR
• Crazy Enough Blonde • Belgian Blonde
• Gunslinger Pale Ale • Pale Ale

Nelson Brewing Company
Nelson B.C. Canada
• Paddywhack IPA • IPA
• Old Brewery Pale Ale • English Pale Ale

New Belgium
Fort Collins, CO •
Mothership Wit • Belgian Style Wit bier

New Old Lompoc Fifth Quadrant Brewery
Portland, OR
• Bald Guy Brown Ale • Brown Ale

Oakshire Brewing
Eugene, OR
• Watershed IPA • IPA
• Overcast Espresso Stout • Coffee Oatmeal Stout

Pelican Brewery
Pacific City, OR
• Heiferweizen •

Pike Brewing Company
Seattle, WA
• Naughty Nellie’s Golden Ale • Golden Ale
• Monk’s Uncle • Belgian Style Tripel

Pinkus Mueller
Munster, Germany
• Pinkus Munster Alt
• German brown ale
• Pinkus Hefe-Weizen • German Hefeweizen
• Pinkus UR Pils • German Pilsner
• Jubilate • Dark Lager

Rock Bottom Brewery (pending)
Portland, OR
• Oregonic Amber •

Roots Brewing Co.
Portland, OR
• ROTATING TAP •

Samuel Smith
North Yorkshire, U.K. • Organic Ale
• English Pale Ale
• Organic Cider • Sweetened Cider
• Organic Lager • English Lager
• Organic Raspberry Ale • English Ale with Raspberries
• Organic Strawberry Ale • English Ale with Strawberries
• Organic Cherry Ale • English Ale with Cherries

Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing
Sant Cruz, CA
• People’s Porter • Porter
• Pale Ale • Pale Ale

Silenrieux (pending)
Cerfontaine-Silenrieux, Belgium
• Sara Buckwheat Ale • Double IPA

Standing Stone Brewing
Ashland, OR
• Hefeweizen • Hefeweizen
• Double IPA • Double IPA
• Oatmeal Stout • Oatmeal Stout

Schneider (pending)
Kelheim, Germany
• Edel-Weiss • Double IPA

St. Peter’s Brewery (pending)
Suffolk, UK
• English Ale • English Pale Ale

Ukiah Brewing Company
Ukiah, CA
• Pilsner Ukiah • Pilsner
• Emancipator Dopplebock • Dopplebock

Upright Brewing Co
Portland, OR
• Reggae Junkie Gruit • Farmhouse Gruit
• Seven • Farmhouse Golden

Wandering Aengus Cider
Salem, OR
• Heirloom Blend Cider • Cider
• Semi-Dry Cider • Cider
• Dry • Cider

Widmer
Portland, OR
• TBD •

Wolaver’s Organic Ales
Middlebury, VT
• Ben Gleason’s White Ale • Belgian Style Wit bier
• IPA • IPA

1st Anniversary of The Bruery

bruery
First things first. Kudos to all at the Bruery for throwing a great party. There wasn’t even any sour faces at the sour bar.

I will begin with the beer reviews. My goal was to sample new offerings first. I started at the aforementioned Sour Bar and I was glad I did. The Gypsy Tart was an excellent Flanders red. Easy drinking, full of flavor. Tart without being puckery. On par with the Ommegang Flanders Red.

The next beer truly surprised me. I selected it mostly out of curiosity. Melange # 1 is a mix of Russian Imperial Stout and Flemish Red. I truly loved this beer. They got the mix just right for my palate. Dark and fruity. Like having chocolate and raspberries. I recommended it to all that I talked to yesterday. Anytime I see it, I will order it up.

I followed that with their anniversary beer, Papier. To me it was a little too much. It is close in flavor to the Melange # 3. Both are dark and bourbon-esque. Good to sip by the fireplace in the cabin by the woods.

Next was the Hottenroth Berliner Weisse. The sourest of them all wasn’t at the Sour Bar. I really enjoyed it. 3.1% alcohol. So easy to drink. I could see adding some fruit syrup to balance out the sour but it was great on it’s own.

100% Brett Saison de Lente was very good as well. Full bodied almost amber. A very balanced beer. A complex beer.

That was the end of the beers I had not tasted before. To finish, I had the Humulus Blonde and the White Zin. The blonde is nice but tasted differently from one I had previously at Blue Palms. Not as hoppy as I remembered. The White Zin was good as usual. Zippy with a nice sharp wine taste to it.

Food wise the BBQ from Beachwood BBQ was great. Even tried a fried pickle. The dessert plate was awesome. Belgian waffle, three types of cheese and bacon wrapped in chocolate. Heavenly!
dessert

new from Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen

The great Imbibe magazine/website alerted me to this new beer set to arrive in June. When I get my hands on some, I will give you a review. Sierra Nevada is branching out into newer beers. First there was the Torpedo IPA now a hefe. I wonder if this will be in the banana/clove style or the Widmer wheat style.