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It can take me awhile to process and put into words what a I have experienced. Especially with beer vacations. So while I string together some coherent thoughts, here are some photos from my recent trip back to the homeland…..
In my weekly perusal of beer blogs far and wide, I ran across this pre-opening review of a brewery in Portland from the New School blog.
Now a new brewery in Portland would not normally warrant a post because of the frequency of openings for Rip City. But the route for this brewery came through Ohio. Fat Heads (with the weird cartoony logo that I am not fond of) is a fixture in the Midwest but a bit of an unknown to left coasters. But they have plunked down a brewery in Downtown Portland.
I will review it in a later post but this trend of opening new locales in far-flung places seems to be the new thing.
Maybe it is because I will be going up to Portland soon, or that Breakside won gold in the IPA category at the Great American Beer Festival but I really want to try this beer.
Oh right, that’s why this made my mouth water, Toro Bravo. Potatoes Bravo and their Melon Salad are awesome. I am a big fan of restaurant and brewer collaborations. I think it kicks more ideas loose because there is a shared vocabulary but still there are major differences between chef and brewer.
Wow, Just down the street from my 2nd childhood home, Breakside Brewery is breaking some serious science. All in the name of wringing every last drop of lupulin from the hop cone.
So check out Breakside Fresh Hop 2014 from Ritch Marvin on Vimeo.
First off, thanks to mi madre for hitting up multiple stores in the Portland area to find me not one, but two Widmer beers from the 30th anniversary beer series.
We start with the year 1989 and the Bockbier. And boy does the label scream the ’80’s.
The Bockbier pours a light orange color. There is some nice lacing on the glass as well. But from a non aroma distance, you could mistake this beer for many un-bockish styles.
Honey is first to the nose. Followed by a bit of vanilla. The taste adds a bit of medicinal qualities and some bitterness. The finish has a bit of dryness to it but is more subtle than pronounced. There is a bit of hop character here as well but I don’t think there is enough to push it out of the style boundaries.
This beer was a very limited release and is probably only found in Portland or a beer hoarders cellar. If you want to try a bock to acquaint or re-acquaint yourself with the style, La Trappe makes a bock that is highly rated and would make a good start.
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)
Now I feel like we are back to being months and years behind Portland’s beer scene. Aaargh!
I don’t know about this experiment but I really like that it is tabbed as an experiment. So many beer releases have fancy, dressed up names but this one I may try because of the fact that they own up to their testing. Kudos to Harvester Brewing!
“Apple IPA features the wonderful characteristics of a dry cider crossed with a classicly-hopped Northwest IPA. It starts with an IPA base brewed with buckwheat and chestnuts and kettle hopped with three large aroma additions of Centennial hops. Then apple must is added to create a mixture of 51% IPA and 49% cider. The blend is fermented with an American ale yeast, and is finished by dry- hopping with 10 lbs. of Centennial hops.”
For 2014, I will be pulling up some bottles from my cellar and reviewing them. Not to be pessimistic, but I don’t have lofty expectations. Though my beers were light protected and kept at a consistent temp, beer can be fickle and some may have been better last month or next month. That being said, I am really excited to dig into the beers and see what time has wrought.
The second beer pulled up from the depths of the cellar is the Widmer Bros. Galaxy Hopped Barleywine ale But before that, the backstory on the beer from the brewer, “Limited Release #4. Spring 2011. Ale brew with huskless malt and Belgian candy sugar. Galaxy Hopped Barleywine is a new take on an old favorite. This beer pours a dark crimson, almost mahogany color. The yeast & galaxy hops deliver a big bang of red and yellow fruit aromatics like banana, pineapple, cherry, and strawberry. The experience begins with a taste of toffee and darkened sweet caramel overlaid on subtle tones of vanilla. All to be punctuated by the floral and citrus dry hop character.”
This beer pours a dark reddish brown. I got a strange whiff when opening the bottle and was worried because this is a hopped beer from 2011! But I figured that the high ABV of 9.5% and the candy sugar from Belgium would offset that. The initial aroma once in the glass is a bit of caramel, a little Werthers wrapped candy. But I also get a quick hit of bitterness and at the back the faint aroma of sawdust.
The taste is surprisingly good. This beer did hold up! There is a good sparkle to it. A little caramel which must be from the candy sugar and then a good bit of bitterness that holds on for a while. I’m also getting some notes of citrus juice too. The end dries up the palate a bit but then the next sip begins the re-hydrating process anew.
The final cellaring verdict: This was one of the beers that I was worried most about. I really feared that I had held it too long. Going on 3 years! But it held up. Because the hops probably dropped out fairly quickly, I think anything over 3 or 4 months would have been at about the same hop level as now. As it stands the candy sugar takes center stage along with the alcohol to make a pleasing glass. Maybe Widmer will make this again so I can try a fresh version to compare. Which may affect this review.
Though L.A. is in zero need for a winter warmer, I really wanted to try the NW version from Burnside Brewing, and Permafrost pours a hazy and muddled dark orange color. First sip is effervescent but soon settles into a heartier ale. The aroma is dark citrus with malt notes. A bright hit of alcohol also pops in and out. A dark bitterness takes root at the end. This is the 3rd beer that I have tried from my Christmas beer purchases and though it doesn’t reach the heights of the GoodLife or SixPoint. It continues the trend of great beers.
Talk about a cool and understated label with an intriguing beer from Ecliptic inside. The name is an inspired choice. Fits the brewery name and the season. Though, I have started seeing the nomenclature of Winter or Fall IPA’s on some beers and I hope this sub-set of a style gets some clarification. Otherwise we could be heading toward a free-fall come judging time.