Don’t tell me the beer style but tell me that it is a collaboration between Wayfinder and Heater Allen, and I would point to the glass and say pour. Even me, not a rauchbier fan, would want to try it.
Smoking Hell
Yet Another Orange Tinted Problem
When I moved to Los Angeles from Portland, (to be more precise Milwaukie to Glendale) I would get a call from my Mom if news reached the NW of earthquakes or fires. Most of the time, the natural disasters associated with L.A. were far from my doorstep. The headline she saw read Los Angeles so she naturally worried.
I see this scenario playing out but in reverse as the federal thugs unleashed by what we all recognize as the worst President ever (by a country mile) has whipped up another problem as if we needed another one right now. Now I am looking at Portland when truly the problem is with one small section.
Portland is not a war zone. It has been a democracy zone. And if left alone, the peaceful protests would have continued downtown and if you lived just south in Milwaukie would not have been any sort of problem. It would at most mean a detour around a closed street or two.
But the Orange one wanted to score points. Either he thought it would be a quick sweep and protests done or it would be a standoff showcasing the strength of Trump. Neither is in the cards. It has only reinvigorated the protests bringing out Moms and Vets. With the not unexpected results of a veteran getting his hand busted up by the thuggish federal police officers “walking on him”.
His base can willfully ignore a lot of shit but a veteran (a white male one) getting maimed and mothers being tear gassed (more mostly white ones) are images that will peel off voters who will most likely just not vote causing a drag on downstream races. And considering he lost the lost election, the Orange one can’t afford losing any group of voters.
Yes, this is a beer blog but we all (fans, brewers, employees) are living in a diminished world due to the actions of someone who gets mashed potatoes in his hair at family gatherings because he is such a little brat.
And I would argue further, that Portland being a major light in the beer world means that beer people should be caring about this issue. This could cause less tourist visits and that could lead to breweries going under.
So, please keep talking about it. The longer it stays news, the sooner we can get a competent person in charge and that leads to us getting better Covid care at least and maybe bring changes that will allow beer to flow from taps freely.
Cold Kush
Last time that Wayfinder dropped some of their fine beer in L.A., I had their Relapse Cold IPA. And now I can explain what that means to them, it is a hybrid India Pale Lager / Malt Liquor. And now they have teamed with the fan favorite Great Notion on a variant of that variant, named Cold Kush. A hazy with Citra and Strata hops primarily with Galaxy and Cashmere backing up. This beer also has rice and flaked wheat too. And since L.A. also gets Great Notion on occasion, maybe this beer will show up on shelves.
111
Yup, Gigantic Brewing of Portland is up to art piece 111…
Brad Delay added the pizazz to the new Hazy IPA, Smackdab with a fun assortment of cartoon characters that had a sticker / tattoo look to it.
Great Beer Names – March 2020
OK, I lied in the March table of contents post because, we return to Oregon for the beer names / beer labels highlight for the month. Both of these beers, despite the disparate styles sound like a good pairing to me but I really like the juvenile wordplay for the Coasted Toconut and then the old school ‘fridge graphic for the pastry stout. Kudos to Hopworks Urban Brewery.
Birthday Beercation part the third – Photos
Birthday Beercation part the second – Portland
The Portland half of my Oregon Trip started at the NW Slabtown location of Breakside Brewing that had Empire Strikes Back playing on the waiting area TV. So mood bettered, I chose to get the sampler tray featuring collaborations and it had a list of heavy hitters: Alesong, Fremont, The Rare Barrel, Sunriver and the new Gorges Beer Co. Of the beers only the Hazelnut Super Stout struck an off chord. The Fremont collab was just too sweet for me. The Winner by a nose was the Gorgeous George Pale Ale that was just right. Most of the beers were hoppy but also in the 5% range as well.
The next brewery stop was a late night visit to Wayfinder where I had their coffee version of Devil’s Hand, Hidden Hand. Man, that aroma should be bottled. That was good coffee there and the black lager mixed perfectly with it. If not my favorite overall beer then it was a close # 2.
The next day was wine related but a visit to Hair of the Dog was snuck in. I vacillated between their special wood-aged beer and their special concrete-aged beer. HotD has an egg shaped fermenter that they use that is not their traditional barrel. I went for Fred since I wasn’t in an Otis Oatmeal stout mood, but after a few sips of the heavy coconut and burn from the Fred, I wish I had. It was good but fits into that, 5 ounces would have been fine category.
Other beers were had but that will be detailed in a later post.
Rip City Brewery # 3 – Bent Shovel Brewing
The final featured Portland brewery of November is Bent Shovel.
They had to make some location moves recently but have found a taproom home for now. Here is what I would order from their tap list:
Leafwalker Red Ale – “Enjoy our Leafwalker Red ales rich maltiness, deep amber colors and the aroma of orange peel and honeysuckle.”
TreCent IPA – “The latest in our “Tre” series of single hop IPAs, TreCent features Centennial hops from the Willamette Valley used 3 different ways in the crafting of this delicious IPA. TreCent shows off Centennial’s versatility, melding ample citrus flavors with this beer’s malt backbone.”
One Wagon Pilsner – “Our take on a classic German Pilsner. Named for the rope operated ferry across the Clackamas River. Ultra pale straw in color, this crisp and light lager is smooth with aromas of German hops and malt with just a touch of bitterness to balance the maltiness.”
Uncle Schwarz Dunkel – “A distinctly Dunkel inspired copper lager, Uncle Schwarz is made with lots of Munich malt to deliver it’s distinct, complex malt flavor reminiscent of toasted bread and very light hops. We broke from tradition to deliver this deliciously crisp, light-bodied, deep copper lager.”
PDX Visit – Threshold Brewing
I was sold when I saw that both brewing and blending was in the name of Threshold which is out near Mount Tabor. This is your typical Portland beer spot. Firmly in a neighborhood and not consigned ton industrial park. You have the picnic table seating and the children’s play area too.
I sampled five beers on their T emblazoned taster tray. Interestingly, they use a Grisette as the base for barrel aging. I tasted it, Jens as well as the whiskey version. Both were excellent and pretty much different beers. The other standout was the Brut Punch Tart IPA which really hit the drinkability and had a nice combo of tart and hop. The Pilsner and blood orange IPA were solid as well.
PDX Visit – Ruse Brewing
Located on 17th Street near the Max Line that leads to Milwaukie is new Portland darling, Ruse Brewing. The brewery is one tenant in this new development and despite my misgivings about their logo not really conveying much, I do like the space. If you sit in the center of the bar, instead of staring at taps and a cold box, you have a view into the brewery. I noticed that it is one of the few taprooms where the bartenders had more elbow room.
Beer wise, I had one of the prettiest beers in recent memory. Love & Lore was a lovely rose color and this tasted of cherry pie with a small touch of Pinot tannin. The base was a golden sour so it led with fruit and followed with a gentle sour. The Grizzly porter was quite nice, it cut the November chill and was my second favorite. I had two IPAs. One hazy and one that they describe as bright. The Bright or West-Coast Facts of Identity was my preference due to a pineapple taste that was really nice.
