From Los Angeles to Portland

Los Angeles to Portland by car seems foolhardy. You can be at PDX in under 3 hours by plane and be going from brewery to restaurant to brewpub tasting all that you can.

The problem for me is that when I am up there, I see all kinds of bottles that I want to bring home and try at my leisure. And the TSA thinks it is strange to want to bring 5 or 10 bottles of great beer on a plane. So driving it is. And to make the most of it, I decided to stop along the way at the great beer places in California and Oregon.

My first stop was Paso Robles. The home of Firestone-Walker and lead brewer Matthew Brynildson. I chose a stool in the tasting room and ordered a glass of their Bavarian Wheat and Li’l Opal.

The Bavarian Wheat is a lovely hefe. Great clove and banana aroma. It pours a hazy golden with a spicy bite at the end. Very refreshing. It really cools a person down. The Li’l Opal is a saison. Very similar in color to the wheat. Has a sweet, malty aroma as well as a touch of the farmhouse funk. Just a touch sour with yeasty notes to it. Then I asked for a quick tour before I got back on the road. Veronica was kind enough to show me around and halfway through we ran into Matthew and he passed over a sample of their new Imperial IPA, Double Jack. It wa great to try something that hadn’t even been released yet! Just from that taste, I could tell that Double Jack will be a hit with the hop crowd. But I like that the malt was balancing all that bitterness.

I bid adios and headed for San Francisco, and after getting through some typical Bay Area traffic, found myself at 21st Amendment Brewery on a night that the Giants were playing just down the street. I had a glass of the Dahm Kolsch which was a lovely straw color. It is a very crisp beer. No soft edges on it. An uber-pilsner. Then I had the Rathskeller Alt. Not much aroma on it and unfortunately not much flavor either. Little malt sweetness. All of the beers were lower alcohol which is great.

I headed over to ThirstyBear to re-try one of the beers that started me on this journey to beer consultant. The Valencia Wheat. A California wit bier. Alas, it was not as good as the memory of ten years ago. Perhaps, I have had too many great beers since then and this one has faded to middle of the pack.

Then I found by serendipitous chance, the awesome City Beer Store that I will talk about in a separate post because I loved it so much.

The next day it was on to Chico, California. The home of Sierra Nevada. After a couple of wrong turns, I found the huge complex that houses their brewery operations, gift shop and restaurant. I had their new Kellerweis, served in the traditional glassware. It was a hazy orange/yellow color with an aroma more banana than clove with a little sourness at the end. Good Stuff. I also sampled their Southern Hemisphere IPA which was delicious. So delicious that I bought a bottle of it.

Then it was on to Ashland. After walking around the town, I headed for Standing Stone Brewing and ordered up their beer sampler. I received their Cream Ale, Hefeweizen, Amber, Rye, IPA, DIPA and the Oatmeal Stout. My favorites were the Cream ale which was golden and clear with fruit tastes to it and the Oatmeal stout which was a lovely, mild roasted coffee stout.

My last stop before Portland was Eugene, Oregon where I stopped at the McMenamin’s on High Street. I ordered up the Ruby Ale. My sister-in-law’s favorite beer and thanked the gods that the driving was close to the end. I also tried the Jalapeno Wheat. I could not even finish it. I am a pepper wuss and this was peppery.

Raccoon Lodge & Cascade Brewing

Boy did I have a tour of this wonderful place. Not only did I talk to Art Larrance who runs the place, but then I got tours from Ron Gansberg the head brewer and another tour from Curtis the assistant brewer. These guys are really cool.

I sampled so many beers including a Gose that they are working on plus so many NW sour beers. They have so many variations that it boggles the mind. I had their Cask IPA which is another example of the milder Oregon style of IPA. I tried their Mouton Rouge which was very sour. So good. Dark, dark red with a berry sharpness.

I would have to say that if you wanted to try something different. The Bruery and Cascade Brewing are the places to go on the west coast.

Avery 16

Oh how I would like to get my hands on this beer! 16 is a dry and estery saison brewed with jasmine, peaches, and honey that checks in at 7.9% ABV.

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Beer for Troops

I saw this tidbit in Draft Magazine….

Thanks to a Chicago-based group called Pizza 4 Patriots, American troops at VA hospitals around the country will receive another shipment of beer and pizza this fall. The organization, which sent 2,000 pizzas to soldiers in Iraq last July 4th and helped them drink Schlitz during the Super Bowl, has gotten donations of over 6,000 beers to spread around the country on Veteran’s Day.

Troops serving on active duty are banned from drinking while on base — with the exception of the Super Bowl — but vets in hospitals can imbibe accordingly.

New Glarus

You could celebrate America’s revolution with some nice New Glarus Organic Revolution which is made with organic Pilsner and Caramel malt, organic German Hallertau Hops, and nothing else. The use of 100% organic hops is even more than what’s required by the USDA, and it was just recently re-certified as organic.
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Hopfenstark

Hopfenstark is a micro-brasserie in Montreal. They have three different styles of saison, an oak aged framboise, baltic porter, holiday ale and that is just the seasonal selection!
They also have a really cool and offbeat website that celebrates Ostalgia.

Saraveza

Saraveza is a recent arrival to the crowded beer scene in Portland. (I mean that in a good way) They have a small but awesome selection of beer. Recently, I have seen Dogfish Head Black and Blue, Widmer 84-09 Double Alt, Lagunitas Sumpin’ Sumpin’ amongst others. They also have a rotating tap list that recently included…Bear Republic’s Oso Rojo and New Belgium’s Dandelion. Where else has that combo?

When I was there last, I had Fort George’s spruce beer and a lovely plate of summer sausage, cheddar and ritz crackers. Hit the spot.

They also host special beer nights like the recent Session Black party so you should check them out. They are doing it right.

Rauchbier from the BJCP Style Guidelines

Classic Rauchbier

Aroma: Blend of smoke and malt, with a varying balance and intensity. The beechwood smoke character can range from subtle to fairly strong, and can seem smoky, bacon-like, woody, or rarely almost greasy. The malt character can be low to moderate, and be somewhat sweet, toasty, or malty. The malt and smoke components are often inversely proportional (i.e., when smoke increases, malt decreases, and vice versa). Hop aroma may be very low to none. Clean, lager character .

Appearance: This should be a very clear beer, with a large, creamy, rich, tan- to cream-colored head. Medium amber/light copper to dark brown color.

Flavor: Generally follows the aroma profile, with a blend of smoke and malt in varying balance and intensity, yet always complementary. Märzen-like qualities should be noticeable, particularly a malty, toasty richness, but the beechwood smoke flavor can be low to high. The palate can be somewhat malty and sweet, yet the finish can reflect both malt and smoke. Moderate, balanced, hop bitterness, with a medium-dry to dry finish (the smoke character enhances the dryness of the finish).

Mouthfeel: Medium body. Medium to medium-high carbonation. Smooth lager character. Significant astringent, phenolic harshness is inappropriate.

Comments: The intensity of smoke character can vary widely; not all examples are highly smoked. Allow for variation in the style when judging.

History: A historical specialty of the city of Bamberg, in the Franconian region of Bavaria in Germany. Beechwood-smoked malt is used to make a Märzen-style amber lager. The smoke character of the malt varies by maltster; some breweries produce their own smoked malt (rauchmalz).