Tag: Portland

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Portland Report # 1 – The Commons Brewery

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The Commons Brewery occupies a spacious corner on what I call the mid-Eastside near Lucky Lab, Cascade and Green Dragon. After barely avoiding a driver who REALLY wanted to turn right in front of us, my party of hearty beer tasters settled in to ease our jumpy, thank goodness the brakes work nerves.

I selected a taster tray to get a wide range from light to dark beers. Starting with Myrtle (my favorite) a lacto meets Meridian hop saison. #No Filter is a collaborative beer where Myrtle was slammed into Sweet Heat the Burnside Brewing pepper beer. This version had apricots and peppers and melded both nicely. Kthonias was a hazelnut Oud Bruin sour and it didn’t work so well for me. The two flavors cancelled each other out. More successful was the Pumpernickle Rye Saison which had a nice spice duo that complimented the base saison.

It is a huge space and it has plenty of elbow room in the tasting room and the brewery. (Side Note: more tables please) The bar area is nice and the beer descriptions though a bit chalk hazy are thorough enough for the beer fan. I was impressed by the diversity of the tap selections but a little less impressed by The Bruery prices on the 750ml bottles.
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I like that there is a cool little cheese and food kitchen tucked into the corner for nibbles and the bread that I got was a welcome addition to the tasting.

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Style + Fruit

Hurray! Finally grapefruit in a beer other than IPA!
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If I can sneak in a 2nd visit to Ecliptic, I will really want to see how this works out. I always think of grapefruit the way my Mom made it for me, sprinkled with brown sugar and not paired with the salt of a Gose.

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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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Portland brewery # 2 – Buckman Botanical

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Now, I have been to a fair share of Portland breweries and ale houses but the Buckman Botanical Brewery eluded my trained eye.  Part of it is that it is literally based in the back of the Green Dragon Pub.  It is also a not so advertised part of Rogue Nation and finding it on that website is no easy task.

I wanted to include it this month because they focus on the fringes and not on hops.  Apple, pumpkin, ginger as ingredients cysers, meads and braggots can be found from brewer Danny Connors.

I would add to my taster tray the Double Fruitcake Stout, the Cherry Cyser, the Fresh Hop Mead and the Rum Barrel Braggot but they also have IPA’s and collaboration beers that look interesting too.

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Portland brewery # 1 – Baerlic Brewing

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We are back in Portland (my hometown) for a month of brewery “tours” to celebrate Oregon Craft Beer Month. The starting point is Baerlic Brewing which translates to “of barley” for those who speak olde English.

Here are the beers that I would have added to my taster tray:
Cavalier – Classic Cream Ale
“A brazen take on the style, our classic cream ale is as complex as it is refreshing. Aromas of hop spice and lemon balance perfectly with a soft and fluffy malt body. Brewed with Himalayan Basmati Rice.”

Primeval – NW Brown Ale
“A NW take on an American Brown Ale. Aromas of evergreen, cocoa & sweet orange dance with biscuit, roast and malty sweetness that finishes dry with bittersweet chocolate and citrus.”

Eastside – Oatmeal Pilsner
“Traditionalists would curse our addition of raw oats to this style of beer, but we just love the texture it adds. And it pairs perfectly with the spicy and fruity flavors & aromas of Czech Saaz and Santiam hops.”

Nice & Easy – Salted Oat Gose
“Gose (say “gose-uh”) is an ancient salty & slightly sour beer originally from Leipzig, Germany. Big aromas of floral hop spice, malt and oats are complimented by a slightly tart and saline finish.”

Altera – India Red Lager
“We paired the rich and sweet malt of a Northern German Altbier with the citrussy, tropical and piney hops of a modern West coast IPA and fermented warm with a German lager yeast.”

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In the Tap Lines for July 2015

header_attractionsNow that we are all recovered from L.A. Beer Week it is time to suss out what July will be like in the L.A. craft beer world Plus…..

~ e-visits to three breweries in Portland including Baerlic, Buckman Botanical & Culmination
~ special reviews of beers from new to L.A. Left Hand
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Beer-centric podcast review, 1 Beer, 1 Song
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 101 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month it is Bottles, Caps and other Detritus

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) July 4th – 4th of July Backyard Boogie at Beer Belly
2) July 11th – Draft Day at Cismontane Brewing in Santa Ana

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Pubs & Profs

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Let’s just say that my college is pretty cool.  Aside from a kick-ass softball squad, Linfield has a new series kick off coming up that is right in my wheelhouse.  Except for being in Portland and not L.A.  Here’s the blurb: the “Pubs & Profs event is for all alumni, parents, students and friends of Linfield College. Every few months, we will invite a Linfield professor to publicly present a culturally or socially relevant topic for our community. These events will typically be held at restaurants, pubs, breweries and wine bars in the Pacific Northwest.”

If all my classes were based on dinosaurs and beer at Lucky Labrador, well, I would have been to every class every single day. The first P&P is on Thursday, June 11 with Dr. Leonard Finkleman, assistant professor of philosophy, with a presentation on “Fuzzy” Logic: Dinosaur Feathers, Jurassic Park, and the Philosophy of Science.

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Featured Review – Lost Meridian Wit from Base Camp

Our last featured review is a wit by the name of Lost Meridian from Base Camp Brewing of Portland.

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This found Wit pours a pleasing hazy orange color. You never know with witbiers, where the brewer wants to take it. Floral, perfumey could be an option or more citrus notes.

Lost Meridian has both. Layered with creamsicle orange and tea-like tannin notes there is also a potpourri touch as well, especially in the aroma. It is dry and bitter as each sip finishes. You could probably also characterize it as being redolent of orange jell-o. But that finish keeps that from getting too out of hand.

Neither flavor knock my socks off though and I would like an edge of spice to round out this beer.

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Featured Review – Ultra Gnar Gnar from Base Camp

We turn to Base Camp for beer # 2 in the featured reviews for May. As opposed to many recent hop beers from Session IPA to Imperial have been a lighter shade but Ultra Gnar Gnar pours a near red color with tints of orange to it.  Plus for a beer of only 6.7% abv, it has some nice Rorschach lacing on the glass.

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The smell is close to apple tree.  There is a cider-y undercurrent to this IPA along with a perceptible orange spice tea note.  Getting some tannin notes in the flavor along with dried orange peel as well.  The bitterness is fairly strong without being oppressive.  As it warms up, I get more iced tea on the tongue as well as some grain to toast malt.

It certainly has multiple flavors going on but I wish it had a bit more orange juice to it to balance out the bitterness.