Tag: Portland

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Lagunitas Day – Cross Country Buying Spree

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It must be a helluva big plate that Lagunitas has because they have added a lot to it recently. Lagunitas – Azusa is in progress with a 2017 spring target and now they have 5! more projects of varying scope across the country and up and down the West Coast. Or as the press release names them, “intense local alliances with very special local brewers whose work we admire and are proud to partner with.”

For us in Southern California, the big news is that Brian Hunt’s much lauded Moonlight Brewing Company will become part of Lagunitas while still retaining their brand and beers. This is huge because this is one of those small, passion businesses that may have been lost when the visionary behind it decided to call it a retirement. Now, Death & Taxes and other beers from the Moonlight stable will continue on and maybe in greater numbers.

Independence Brewing Company of Austin, Texas will also retain their name and brewing team but will have the resources of Lagunitas to work with. In Charleston, Southend Brewery & Smokehouse will be re-branded as the East Coast Lagunitas Taproom and Beer Sanctuary. This will give a small 10-barrel system to Lagunitas to create special beers just for South Carolinians.

And that is still not all! Two brand new “Community Rooms” will be opened up in Portland and San Diego. Not taprooms and not for the general public but instead these spaces are strictly for Non-Profit fundraising efforts. Expanded from what is already done in Petaluma and Chicago into stand-alone outposts. A Lagunitas team will be there to help with the event and the live music. This is the most exciting news to me because it shows that charity and smart promotion can easily co-exist. Lagunitas could have opened satellite taprooms and crowds would gather but instead they are becoming part of the community from a different angle.

Another nugget from founder Tony Magee’s statement, “ I believe that we will find more partners in other parts of the country that we can also share with and cultivate regional relationships through. If we can get this first step right then it is just the beginning for all of us.” So if things are humming along in 2017, expect more breweries to join up.

You can read more coverage on this news HERE and HERE.

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Brew City Documentary

There are probably quite a few documentaries that could be made about the past, present and future of craft beer in Portland. And I certainly will try to watch them all but the trailer for the upcoming
Yes, interviews with the people behind the beer, the beer writers and enthusiasts is all well and good, the 77 Portland Breweries crawl that producer John Lovegrove accomplished in one day (and filmed!) seems the much more fascinating facet of the film. I can’t imagine what he felt like halfway through the day let alone the next day, even if he drinks just one taster at each.

Oh and the logo and title needs to go.

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Featured PDX Beer Review – Olallie from Ground Breaker

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This is one of the clearest and reddest beers I have seen. Ground Breaker has taken the experiment of melding Crystal hops with Rose Hips and Blackberries for this beer and it has a very potpourri aroma. The rose hips floral notes are strong (most obviously in the luminous color) but a tang from the blackberry softens that blow initially. But then Olallie has an after edge of unripened berry that I wish wasn’t there. Maybe some honey would dry it and add a sweet touch to really close this loop up. This is an almost there beer for me.

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Featured PDX Beer Review – Dynamic Duo from Ex Novo

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All NBA season long, I have been treated to the duo of Lillard & McCollum scoring from everywhere. And Dynamic Duo from Ex Novo Brewing is the perfect beer to watch them play. The only question is whether Lillard is Citra and McCollum is Delta hops, or vice-versa.

The IIPA (proejct 007) pours a slightly hazy orange color. The aroma is quite imperial with a skosh of cat pee. There is some grape must notes here and a bit of tangerine citrus too in the flavor profile. This one is a cheek warmer for sure even at the mere 8% ABV. A bit dank and herbal at the end.

This is a strong beer with a great label plus it’s a not for profit brewery.

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Featured PDX Beer Review # 2 – IPA from Buoy Beer

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I had heard a tiny bit about the “other” Astoria brewery, Buoy Beer but had never had a beer from them before. But I think I should have purchased the 22oz bottle of pilsner before the IPA. I took a sip and immediately grabbed the bottle to look for a bottled on date which is never a good sign for an IPA. Even the most British and restrained of IPA’s have a hop kick somewhere but it was missing here. This beer was bottled Mid-January of this year so it shouldn’t have been this hop-less. There is citrus here in tiny amounts but the rest is some ESB-esque mix of flavors.

Maybe it was an “old” beer or mis-treated in transit but I will have to try fresh next time.

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NW Cidery # 1 – Cider Riot

Why cider tours of the NW this month? Well, they are in the news (see HERE for taxes and HERE for breweries making cider) + I visited one on my recent trip.

With the MLS 2016 season now underway and the Timbers of Portland attempting to defend their championship crown, it felt right to start with avowed Timber fan and Cidermaker/Owner Abram Goldman-Armstrong and his Cider Riot.

I like this one quote about cider, he says that it “challenges me, it inspires me, and there’s nothing quite like the dry tannic flavor of a well made cider.”

Here is what I would like to try:
Burncider® Dry Draught Cider 6.8% abv – Silver Medal winner in the Portland International Cider Cup 2014 – Inspired by the pub draught ciders of the English West Country, Burncider blends Oregon-grown traditional English cider apples, tart wild apples and dessert apples from Hood River. Just like Portland’s Old Main Drag™, this cider has a rich history and flavorful character.

Everybody Pogo™ Hoppy Cider 6.7% abv- A refreshingly dry cider that’s got hops. Our roughcut tribute to football terraces and punk rock shows, dry and quenching with a hint of sweet apple flavor, as organically grown Goldings hops do the pogo dance across your taste buds. A distinctly Oregonian product, Everybody Pogo mates Hood River apples and Willamette Valley hops. Unfiltered and lightly carbonated.

Never Give an Inch™ Oregon Blackberry Cider 6.9% abv – A testament to determination, hard work, and downright cussedness, Never Give an Inch celebrates the spirit of Oregon. Invasive Himalaya blackberries run riot across the fencelines and fields all across western Oregon. Fire, chemical poisons, machetes, bulldozers, even goats can only beat back their inevitable advance, as they attempt to take over every square inch of cleared land. Luckily their fruits are delicious, juicy, and plentiful, spawning the phrase “as Cascadian as blackberry pie.”In Never Give an Inch, Oregon blackberries and blackcurrants combine with Hood River and Yakima-grown apples create a tart dry cider with a fruity aroma.

Black Bloc series is our Bogman’s Cranberry Brettanomyces cider – Bogman’s is a blend of over twenty different cider and dessert apple varieties aged for a year on natural brettanomyces from the orchard where the apples were grown. Oregon cranberries were added to add a touch of acidity to balance the flavors of the brett. The cider was then allowed to bottle condition for nine months, to achieve a smooth round carbonation. It’s been a long road from the initial pressing in 2013 to your glass in 2015, so savor the complexity of this Black Bloc cider before it vanishes.
wildfree

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Featured PDX Beer Review # 1 – Mosaic Pale Ale from pFriem

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This is one of the best beers of 2016. Mark it down. (Mostly to remind me later.) Single Hop Mosaic Pale Ale from pFriem pours a yellowish orange and with the lift of the bottle cap the aroma just pours out and I begin pouring into a glass as fast as I can. It is straight up Mosaic. I get Concord grapes and fruit punch notes with a drying tug of bitterness. It is light but not bubbly. Viscous but not cloying. It is smack dab in the sweet spot. Touches of malt poke through at the end to add to the complexity. I could drink this all day long.
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This was the first beer popped from from recent haul of Portland beers. Can the rest keep up?

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BTU Brasserie

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With four nephews whirling around me (one being nearly as tall as me now), my brother-in-law mentioned that he had heard of a new-ish place in Portland that was a Chinese restaurant and brewery taproom!

I was in a state of disbelief before he called up their info on his phone and lo (mein) and behold, it was true! It was too late for me to visit but rest assured that BTU Brasserie is near the top of my list for my next visit.

BTU is a Modern Chinese Restaurant that happens to have a seven barrel in-house brewery so they can make beers that pair with their authentic cuisine. Not only will you get fresh beer but beer that is calibrated to the menu. Not having to settle for the lone Asian beer option is great.

Here is a snapshot listing of some of the beers that garnered my attention:

HIS NIBS STOUT
“Like a fresh glass of chocolate milk! Our newest milk stout is brewed with Tahitian vanilla beans, then aged on roasted cocoa nibs.”

THE SWORD
“Our newest sour ale. Brewed with beets from Prairie Creek Farm, honey malt, and a touch of sel gris.”

HIPSTER LAGER
“With our cuisine in mind, this American pilsner is brewed with puffed jasmine rice. Light, crisp, and refreshing…just like Dad used to drink!”

GHOSTMAN WHITE LAGER
“An unfiltered wheat lager using oats, creating a creamy head. Coriander and orange peel give this lager its floral aroma.”

BATCH 50 IMPERIAL IPA
“Our brewer Nate has been hard at work!Brewed exclusively with floor-malted Maris
Otter, and hopped with amarillo, chinook, nugget, and cascade.”

BANANA CRY DUNKELWEIZEN
“A German style dark wheat ale with huge banana esters from a Bavarian yeast strain.”

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In the Tap Lines for March 2016

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March has blown in for another round and this month, the Portland posts start us off and will be the featured reviews. L.A. happenings and news will start to seep in though as Phantom Carriage turns one and Brouwerij West turns One day + tickets for the 8th L.A. Beer Week Kick-Off go on sale in 4 days!

~ e-visits to three cideries from Oregon such as Portland Cider Co., Cider Riot and the Apple Outlaw.
~ special featured reviews of beers from Portland
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads the Best Food Writing of 2015
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 109 covers the topic, “?”

Here are two events to get your March started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) March 4th – The Doughroom will have (3) taps from Bend, Oregon’s Crux Fermentation on draft.
2) March 12th – Firkfest at Farmer’s Park in Anaheim

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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.
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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.
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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.