We head back to my hometown of Portland for our next Winter Warmer from Ex Novo, Liquid Sweater…”PDX Red Ale with rich caramel & dark fruit notes. Willamette hops & spicy herbal finish.”
Sean Suggests for April 2016
Is it just me or are the shelves filled with frooty IPA’s? And are there more and more beers above $13 for one bottle? Here are three options that are neither on this tax due day.
~LIGHT
Oskar Blues/ Beerito 4.00% ABV
Beerito is a light bodied, amber Mexican lager brewed with premium German and coloRADo sourced craft malts and featuring a crisp accent from noble hops. The mouth feel is incredibly smooth with flavors of walnut, toasted bread, plum, honey and cocoa.
~MEDIUM
Ex Novo/ The Most Interesting Lager in the World 5.00% ABV
Crisp and refreshing, this Mexican Lager was brewed with Vienna and Pilsner malts with a hint of flaked corn.
~DARK
Eagle Rock/ Equinox 6.60% ABV
As the winter thaws and the daylight hours lengthen enough to balance with the night, it reminds us all that spring is in the air. The aroma of citrus, and the taste of Muscat grapes, starfruit and freshly cut grass are a refreshing blend in this young sour ale. The perfect balance of sweetness, an intriguing tartness, and subtle hop bitterness are like a cool spring breeze in the warmth of the sun.
Portland Report # 2 – Ex Novo
Up on Flint between Moda Center and Mississippi lies the 100% charity brewer, Ex Novo. And despite a Gose collaboration with Ecliptic that I didn’t cotton to, their beers were really well done. I would certainly re-visit.
And it was due to my Mom’s choice of the Single Hop Mosaic Pale which was my favorite beer of the trip. Close second was the Dynamic Duo Double IPA (brought a bottle home of that beer) Stiff Upper Lip their take on the ESB was solid but not spectacular, The Most Interesting Lager in the World could have dialed back the grain and toast and given a little more sparkle. Others may like their Vienna lagers like that though. YeastMode the Belgian Strong Golden fit into this B category as well. Below that (and surprisingly to me) was the Ecliptic Gose collaboration. It was dark and weird and a tad too salty. The balance was off.
The vibe inside reminded me a bit of a sunny McMenamin’s. A little hippy brewpub. But the fact that they are making a go of a charity brewery is fascinating and heartening to me. The fact that two of the beers struck me as so good is icing on the cake.
PDX Beer Update
Each time that I re-visit Portland craft beer scene, I make every effort to spend most of my time at the newest breweries and/or trying new beers.
This trip I succeeded more than usual with that task. Stops were made at the relatively new Ecliptic Brewing and at the new Fat Heads space on the Westside while trying new beer from the charity driven Ex Novo.
I even sampled a pale ale schnapps from the distilling stronghold of my brother-in-law.
But I start to digress. Let’s start from the beginning.
With a plane flight from Burbank still fresh on the mind, the traditional first stop was at Ken’s Artisan Pizza for the family’s favorite pizza. Where I encountered Ex Novo’s Damon Stout-amire. For Blazer fans, the name will ring a point guard bell. The beer was a little thin to me and could have used a boost of chocolate or coffee notes.
Next up was Fathead’s which is in walking distance of both the Deschutes and Bridgeport locations and though the beers in the tasting tray were uniform, I don’t know how many customers will be stolen away. The Holly Jolly was my favorite and the Head Hunter IPA was well done but the Chocolate Cream was a mess. Too many weird vanilla notes. The space is nice but a little too Applebee’s for my taste. The wait staff was great. Very helpful without being over attentive.
Ecliptic was a much different scene at the south end of Mississippi Avenue near-ish to Widmer. Astronomy is the theme in design and beer names My placemat of beers was well done. Rigel Sparkling Ale was light and crisp with minor Belgian notes but my two favorites were the Pollux Imperial IPA with tons of mango notes and the Canopus IWA – India Wheat Ale that very floral.
During the trip I also tasted Supergoose IPA from Hale’s Ales and Vanilla Cream Porter from Worthy Brewing that were strong but I really dug the Java the Hop from Fort George. Not so much IPA but damn the coffee was spectacular.
Overall, my top picks include two from Pfriem in Hood River, their Blonde IPA and their Single Malt Golden Promise. Just super tasty and easily separated to top of the pack. The other choice is Gigantic’s Peace Loving Decoy a lovely Vienna style that was perfect with dinner.
As usual, the choices were abundant and wide ranging. Now I just have to drink up all the beers that I brought back!