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The month of March is featuring reviews of Oregon beers that I brought back from one of my semi-regular jaunts to my hometown of Portland and to start, I cracked open an IPA from Burnside Brewing.
Here is what the brewery says about the beer, “Burnside IPA is our flagship brand on our sparkling new 15bbl system. An IPA with plenty of malt body and thoroughly hopped with 6 varieties of the herbaceous perennial. Expect to taste notes of pine & grapefruit in Jason’s first offering.”
“Four native sons are hoping that the name recognition generated from the 15-year-old Coen brothers flick will help launch their fledgling brewing company in North Dakota’s largest city. Their first beer is called Wood Chipper, a whimsical reference to the famous prop from the movie.”
I am surprised that that name hadn’t been appropriated earlier. It is perfect for a palate wrecking IPA. And now the Fargo Beer Company is sending it out to North Dakota (which could use more breweries, if for the only reason that I could knock it off my tried a beer from each state list)
I have seen this new Sierra Nevada beer advertised in all of the beer-y magazines that I subscribe to and I cannot wait to give it a whirl in a pint glass.
Apparently this will replace Glissade which never won me over. It should be in SoCal markets now. Pick it up along with Bigfoot barleywine. If I find one in time, I will attempt to do a video review this month.
Stone Brewing really picks interesting combos for their collaborations. Whether it is a big trio of Dogfish, Victory and Stone or a Japanese theme, they really explore many different breweries. And the latest duo to combine with Stone are Ninkasi (fresh off a collaboration with another Stone collaborator, 21st Amendment) and The Alchemist (the famed East Coast brewer that is on my long, long wish list of brewers to try).
Nelson Sauvin, Delta, Galaxy & Citra hops combined into More Brown than Black a brown/black ale with proceeds going to help The Alchemist dig out from flood damage caused by storms earlier this year. Maybe this will be the medium roast version of the Escondidian that was good but a little too roasty for the hops (which appears to be a trend in the Black IPA/CDA style).
Bottles should be available now and would make excellent stocking stuffers!
The brewery that I can walk to in 20 minutes, Golden Road, has been making fast progress.
A name and a keg collar ready and soon the first beer will be too.
And speaking of ahead of schedule, what I consider the “backlash” articles are showing up. Just one now, and it is fairly tame but I do not like even an inkling of this sort of thing in an industry that I believe to be super collaborative.
Personally, I don’t care how or when you got involved in craft beer or how big or small your participation level is. All are welcome in my book.
Happy #IPADay!
Last month, I tallied some figures about my first 1,000 beers that I have rated. So you know that my highest ranked IPA was the canned version of Punk IPA from BrewDog and that my favorite DIPA was the Kern River Citra.
Here are the other IPA favorites of the last two years…..
Russian River Blind Pig – better than PtY and more plentiful
Hair of the Dog Blue Dot – when fresh this has a great bite to it
BridgePort Hop Harvest – 2009 was a great year. Looking forward to 2011
Mikkeller Single Hop Nelson Sauvin – grape and IPA. And it works!
Mammoth IPA 395 – super spicy and herby.
71
As in 71 IPA’s in under one roof in Redondo Beach. A tremendous number brought together by the industrious Martin Svab and the Naja’s crew.
Here are some photos from the event.
I sampled the Gauntlet from Iron Fist, the new Black IPA from Strand Brewing and Drake’s Symposium IPA. And I wish I could have had more.
I really enjoyed the Vanilla Porter that KS came out with and the BIPA is a style that I enjoy as well. Toss in the New Zealand hops and I am in.
“Blackball is a Belgian-inspired India Pale Ale with a robust West Coast hop profile. Belgian ale yeast, coriander, and Curacao lend a fruity and spicy character for an ale bolder than your average IPA. A blend of New Zealand and Cascade hops add a vibrant floral aroma and clean citrus hop bitterness that lingers through its crisp, dry finish. Drink up while it’s young, heavily hopped IPA’s are best enjoyed fresh.”
The second installment of Canadian breweries takes us to Half Pints Brewery in Winnipeg.
They have a Little Scrapper IPA with Amarillo and Cascade hops. As well as a brown, amber and stout. All of which are unfiltered and unpasteurized.
They also conduct “flavor training” courses and have cask ale nights.
It is fascinating to see how American brewers are influencing old school Europe.
Case in point…..
The brewery says this about their new offering, “We send our approach for the Svea IPA. As your growing thirst is leaning towards more bitter levels, we have carefully selected a set of noble hops, for you to enjoy on every suitable occasion.”
Now even a venerated brewery like Struise is upping the hop ante.