Click the name to see the video…
Mikkeller Cascade
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”
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.
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.
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.
Thanks to the Library for putting on a good show.
Dirigible beer
more expensive beer news from Draft Magazine
“Seventy-two years ago, the Hindenberg airship went down in flames, killing 38 people, injuring another 60, and destroying all the beer on board. Or so we thought…
On Saturday, auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son will sell off one bottle of Lowenbrau found by firefighter Leroy Smith at the scene of the accident. Smith’s niece now owns the beer, which is expected to fetch a shade under $9,000. Assuming it reaches the price, it will become the most expensive bottle of beer ever sold. Actually, since a $400 bottle of limited edition Carlsberg currently holds the record, we’re pretty certain the Lowenbrau will exceed that amount.”
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.
To help you rate beer…
…here is a good example of a helpful way to rate beer.
Review – Leavenworth Whistling Pig
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24IBPBtAc9w]
Fifty Fifty Brewing
from Truckee California comes today’s brewery.
“Find Your Balance“. You can do that at 50 50 Brewing. They have Belgian inspired beers as well as the usual pale and IPA culprits like this beer that I recently had..
Rockslide IPA
If being in one of the coldest places in the US isn’t extreme enough, the contents of this beer may very well redefine your commitment to the pursuit of hops. Rockslide IPA is brewed in the ‘West Coast’ style with aggressive amounts of American hops such as Amarillo, Centennial and Summit hops. You are greeted with a full frontal assault of citrus/grapefruit/pine hop character, followed up with malt to balance the mouthfeel. This beer is all about hops.
65 IBU / 6.7% ABV
Harvester Brewery
Beer is verboten to those who cannot handle gluten so this is welcome news to those who would like tasty brew that their systems could process. Enter Harvester Brewery.
They are new to the Portland scene which seems full to bursting. Thanks to Brewpublic for getting the word out!
new brew from Hair of the Dog
Alan 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.