You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
~ Frank Zappa
Breweries far from the maddening crowd
It is easy to neglect parts of the U.S. because we fly over them or they are too far from what we call civilization so I would like to highlight two breweries doing their thing away from the major metropolitan areas.
First is Salmon River Brewing. Started by two couples who wanted to brew beer in McCall, Idaho for locals and visitors. Their regular beers include Udaho Gold, Sweep Boat Stout, PFD Pale Ale and Salmon River Quiver IPA. Their bar is awesomely rustic. When you want to get away but not from beer.
The Mt. Emily Alehouse is the only brewery in LaGrande, Oregon! They produce an Oregon Blonde Ale, Heifer-Weizen, Paleface Ale, Northwest Porter and Mr. Big and olde English Ale / IPA. They have a mug club if you want to join and get a little extra in your glass when you visit.
Mirror Mirror
The latest spontaneous Beer taste.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkmK6xOB7lg]
Have you tried this beer? Let me know what you think.
Something to think about…
“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed – Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, ‘It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.” – Jack Handy
Unibroue Tasting
If you weren’t at Bottle Rock in Culver City on Monday then you missed a treat. Unibroue was pouring 7 beers plus a special for only $15.00. Here are my thoughts…
Blanche de Chambly – bubbly and carbonated. Light straw in color. Had a wine aroma. Easy to drink. Not as spicy as I would like in a white beer.
Ephemere – bubbly as well. Apple taste was not as pronounced as in previous bottles. Nice farmhouse aroma. One of favorites.
Don de Dieu – caramel smell. Triple Wheat ale. Lovely orange-golden color. A little spice on the back end. Probably my second favorite.
Maudite – very alcoholy even though less ABV’s than the Don de Dieu. Complex but not in a good way. Flavors seemed to fight each other.
La Fin du Monde – very similar to the Don de Dieu but with much more of an alcoholic bite to it. Beautiful golden color.
Trois Pistoles – lovely dark color. Not much aroma. Better balance of flavors than the Maudite.
La Terrible – biggest ABV of the bunch but also very lovely. Nice lace on the glass. Dry.
As a special treat, there was a Unibroue beer served up that you cannot get here in Southern California. La Seigneuriale. What they call a Belgian Strong Pale. In English it means, Lord of the Manor. Very nice amber with lots of competing flavors that don’t get in the way of each other. It is my bronze winner of the night.
L.A. Times Beer Travels
Let me set the scene, it is Sunday morning, I am a little groggy still and looking forward to the Maltose Falcons club meeting. I open up the Sunday paper and there on the cover BEER!
I am thinking this is great. Then I read the articles. The San Diego beer tour article is the best of the two but lacking much beer descriptions or interviews with brewers. And why column space was used repeatedly about getting drunk and unruly behavior is beyond me.
But it is a paragon of journalism compared to the other article about the beer scene on the central coast and San Francisco. Mike Pitsker and Don Erickson who cover this section of California for the Celebrator magazine could have written a more informative article in their sleep. The writer goes to Santa Barbara and passes on Telegraph and Hollister. He can’t even find Russian River Brewing! Then while in San Francisco doesn’t talk about 21st Amendment, Toronado, Lagunitas. The list of missed opportunities could go on forever.
I beseech the L.A. Times to use the guys who know beer to write about it.
What is in the 'fridge?
from Bridgeport in Portland….
a Belgian Tripel from their Big Brews line
also from Samuel Adams in Boston
the Longshot Home Brew winners 2008
So sad…..
… I walk into my local grocery store (o.k. it was Ralphs). On the way in, a couple is leaving and they are carrying (together) their beer for the party. I look down. Miller Lite. I cringe. Hopefully they did not see me make the “I am about to throw up face”. Then to add insult to injury. The person checking out before me has a case of Landshark Lager. In CLEAR BOTTLES!!!
When I get my business cards made, I may have to start handing them out to the clueless among us.
This is why I started this blog. People my age and younger should know better. No one eats Hot Pockets or pre-sliced cheese and likes it. So why do the same with beer?
Not to get all philosophical but we all need to honor the time we have on this earth. Don’t buy a McCafe latte when your local roastery can make you something out of this world. Go to your Farmer’s markets. Buy the organic meat. It may take more time and it WILL cost more money but I would rather have one FANTASTIC beer with a great hormone free burger than a case of MGD and a whopper.
Wherever you are there is a brewery that is local and trying HARD to make a great pint. Drive that extra mile and get it. Don’t be the lazy, Landshark guy!
Mission IPA
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUoVLo0N2Ho]
More IPA!!!!
Liquid Solutions
If I had unlimited funds, I would spend a chunk on Liquid Solutions website. They have a great selection of Oregon and Washington beers plus foreign and California as well.
Let me give one example of how great Matt Maples and his staff are to customers. I needed Berliner Weisse for a beer & dessert tasting. None of my local spots had any. Now I could have driven to the Bruery for some growlers but I do not have the room to store it. I check Liquid Solutions and they have two types of Berliner Weisse, I had shipping questions that Matt answered and he even held off shipping to avoid excess heat!
I cannot recommend Liquid Solutions highly enough.