Tag: Oregon

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NW Cidery # 2 – Portland Cider Co.

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During my last Portland visit, I was finally able to sneak in some time at a cider tap room. In this case the satellite for Portland Cider Co. on Hawthorne. They lead with their own ciders including ciders with fresh hops (First Crop), cider with a Hawaiian twist (Maui Cruiser) and a cider aged in used gin barrels (London Dry). They also have ciders from other producers on tap as well so you can easily compare and contrast styles and apples.

I suggest going for the weirder ones but you could also start with their mainline offerings:

Kinda Dry
“Traditional English cider is dry, lightly carbonated, has very subtle apple flavors, and a lingering fresh finish. It is in the spirit of this traditional cider that we blend our Kinda Dry. We use fresh pressed juice from a blend of NW grown culinary apples such as Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Gala, Golden and Red Delicious, carefully ferment them with a yeast that preserves their subtle characteristics, give the cider time to develop to its full potential, then bottle or keg at just the right time. Just off dry, light, clean, refreshing, with a pleasant finish, Kinda Dry is the cider to always have on hand.”

Sorta Sweet
“If we had to describe this cider in a word it would be YUM! Blended with similar varieties of apples as our Kinda Dry, Sorta Sweet will hit you with apple flavor right from the start. Balancing the higher levels of residual sugars with just the right amount of tartness gives Sorta Sweet a fresh flavor that tastes like biting into your favorite apple. A nice long finish follows that makes sipping a pint something not to be rushed. We ferment it with the same care and give it the same attention to detail as our other ciders. Also lightly carbonated, pair a glass of Sorta Sweet with your favorite curry or any spicy dish and you cannot go wrong.”

Pearfect Perry
“Made from nothing but a blend of Bartlett and D’Anjou pear juice. This light perry is medium sweet and bursting with pear notes. Like all our ciders it is balanced and refreshing. Available on draft and in 22oz bottles, ask for it at your favorite growler station or pub.”

Hop’rageous
“Take a balanced dry cider, infuse it with the fragrant Citra variety of hops, then double down on the citrus notes of those hops by throwing in some bitter orange peel, and the result is an outrageously refreshing hopped cider that can only be described as Hop’rageous! With equal notes of bitter hop and tangy citrus, this unexpected combination pairs well with anything coming off the grill.”

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Do Not Be Deceived

Between Portland and McMinville lies a few wineries. Probably enough to last even the most ardent wine drinker for months. One small town en route, Dundee, is filled to the brim in its few short blocks. But this drive, I noticed that a brewery had sprouted up roadside as well.

Going by the name of Deception Brewing, it is a cozy little spot with parking out back. Two TV’s dominate the room which is plain and simple with a windowed view to one of the brewing tanks.
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The tap list had a few winter warmer stragglers since it was still wintry outside. I always have to remember the weather dictates what gets brewed and seeing a spiced holiday ale in LA in February would cause concern but shouldn’t in the wilds of western Oregon.

I went straight to a taster tray to see how the beers fared. The Apricot Wheat was quite pleasant. Both the grain and fruit were equal partners and it had a nice little fizz to it. I also enjoyed the Red Hills Pale, it too had a lovely balance and bitter zing to it. The Menage a Hop felt a bit muddy to me. One of those blends of hops where nothing really shines and all it is about is IBU’s. I also had their 80 Shilling Scottish Ale which was well done too.
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The other standout was the Rose Hip Saison which was another tag-team that worked as the Belgian influence didn’t overwhelm the rose hips and vice versa.

Not all out-of-the-blue stops work as well as this little brewery. I felt lucky that this one surpassed my unknown expectations.

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Both R&D

LA has been getting a nice steady stream of Ninkasi beers (still have to try Hop Cooler) and now two more rare beers might be on the way from the R&D (Rare & Delicious) series…
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# 1 – “Velocihoptor Double IPA is the first Rare & Delicious Series beer to be released. Created by Ninkasi brewer Jacob Schisel, the recipe for Velocihoptor was developed as a tribute to a dear hop-loving friend. Brewed with Meridian, Centennial, Simcoe, Columbus, Bravo, and Sterling hops, this beer has a larger-than-life hop profile. Resinous and citrusy, Velocihoptor captures the most loved characteristics of the Double IPA style.”

# 2 – “Next in line is a Tart & Soul Blackberry Sour releasing to shelves and draft late March. For the past three months, members of Ninkasi’s brewing team have tinkered with a variety of fruit sours and landed on a blend of blackberry and marionberry for this springtime release. Paired with a dry tartness imparted by the lactobacillus souring process, the subtle blackberry sweetness shines through, creating a sour beer that is both bright and tart.”

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Crux in L.A.

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I would have thought that, by now, if a Bend, Oregon brewery was appearing on shelves here in Los Angeles, that it would be 10 Barrel. What with their mad money from St. Louis via Belgium and Brazil.

But no, it is Crux Fermentation with their beautiful designed labels and intriguing Belgian/American beers that has shown up first. There are a few breweries in Oregon that I feel that I NEED to visit but are located in a part of the state that takes some traveling to get to. Ale Apothecary, Terminal Gravity and first on the list is Crux, so this distribution news makes me very happy indeed.

(I found a couple choices at Select Beer in Redondo Beach but bottles can be had at finer shoppes like Sunset Beer and Southland Beer too.)

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Portland Brewery # 3 – Culmination Brewing

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For aspiring Portland breweries, the wait time isn’t usually all that long but in the case of Culmination Brewing it was a much longer (2 year) period before opening, which they finally did this year.

But the wait will be worth it, especially for those who love live music because that is a focus of this brewery with a dedicated space for their Concert in the Brewery Series.
Before I get to my picks for my initial taster tray, Culmination also has guest taps as well and have done many collaborations while in process of building their own space so you will probably find something to taste, if not more than one.

Reynard Belgium Style IPA – “Our Belgium Style IPA (made in collaboration with Brannon’s Brewery) is a hop-forward ale brewed with a Belgium yeast strain offering additional levels of complexities and a citrus nuance that plays well with the northwest hops.”

4 & 20 Imperial Black IPA – “Our signature 4 & 20 Imperial Black IPA (made in collaboration with Lucky Labrador) represents the smooth complexities of our upcoming line of fine beers. The name, 4 & 20, derives from our infusion of four hops and twenty plato.”

To round out my tasters I would add the Brett IPA, Saison II and their Black Saison.

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Review – Venn & Oktoberfest from Ninkasi

I love it when a box of beer comes in the mail.  And when it is stamped Eugene, Oregon, I get more excited ’cause I know it is from Ninkasi.

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So, which of these two media samples did I like better.  Let’s start with Venn…

…which pours a darkish yellow meeting orange. That smell is the traditional swirl of spice and toast that you get from a clean, well made lager. This is a crisp beer. Not bubbly. Just crisp like biting into a neutral apple. It is strange but I taste a bit of strawberry here. Might just be me. But this is a juicy type of beer. No off flavors. No metallic minerality. Just really strong.

Now onto Oktoberfest in September. This beer pours a lovely orange color. Right off the bat, the aroma screams mineral to me. Again very crisp. Odd to have malt forward beers back to back. I just can’t escape the mineral saltiness that is in every sip. I keep looking at the empty Venn bottle. Not a good sign. There is a skosh hit of citrus in the flavor but it can’t overcome the major taste.

Obviously, this isn’t a toss up. Venn by a country mile.

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Can’t Keep Up with PDX

I’m start to get happy about the increasing rate of brewery openings in the greater L.A. / SoCal area and then I read an article like this ONE from the New School Blog that covers the Portland area.

Touting three new openings coming soon. (I particularly like the name Culmination for a brewery)

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Now I feel like we are back to being months and years behind Portland’s beer scene.  Aaargh!

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Not Trappist but Benedictine

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On the heels of the first Trappist brewery on U.S. soil comes another religious brewing experience, in Oregon this time.

The monks of Mount Angel Abbey and their Benedictine Brewery will be opening soon and will have their beer in bottles this year as well.  To check their progress, check out their Facebook presence for the latest.

“Taste and Believe”, great tagline.

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Review – Worthy Pale from Worthy Brewing

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Love the neon green pull tab on the can as well as the directives, “drink”, “tote”, “share”, and “rotating around the top of the can.  Crazy to think of how many breweries are in Bend along with today’s beer from Worthy Brewing. This American pale ale pours a bright orange with a thin head.  At first it tastes more of the XPA mold than pale.  But with the fluid (pun intended) way brewers pick styles that is not a big shock.  Wheat and small citrus aroma here which follows through to the taste.  As it warms though, more tangerine notes start plucking my tastebuds.  There are some bread notes at the back too.

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Big thanks to my mom for providing this can to me.  Always good to have a source for Pacific NW beers in SoCal.

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Review – Jabberwocky from Walkabout Brewing Co.

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First off, I was quite surprised by how many beers have Jabberwocky in the name.  But more surprising was the fact that I haven’t had a beer from Walkabout Brewing Co. in my life.  Now with a name like that you would expect them to hail from Australia but they are from the Southern Oregon town of Medford. (At least that is what the label tells me, a cursory internet search revealed little information about the brewery)

The beer pours a light brown with orange tinting to it.  The aroma is slightly woody with notes of caramel to it.  Taste wise, I am getting quite a bit of cola taste.  A little bit of English cider notes pop in and out as well and that also adds some sweetness to the proceedings.  Also a bit of raisin in the distance.  The beer really sticks to the roof of the mouth.  I also capture some nutmeg like spicing at the back.  Lots of notes here.

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