Tag: Portland

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PDX Peek – Zoiglhaus & Great Notion

Zoiglhaus

I was super excited to go here because of the fact that the brewmaster is a fellow Linfield alum. And the beer did not disappoint. The Cedar Fever was a great combo of light pilsner base with cedar and hops. It really popped and got my trip off to a great start. The Festbier worked well too. Good malt to luxuriate in. The restaurant space left something to be desired. It was cavernous and pretty empty on a Friday afternoon. Also the food was only so-so for Portland.

Great Notion

Well this place was busy. Even some brave souls out on the patio. I had to find a standing room only spot for my taster tray. My favorite was the Contraband Saison despite the rep for the hazy IPA’s. I did check out three of the hazy offerings of the seven listed! Of those Grape Lotion was the most intriguing with a wine grape addition that fought the hops to a draw.

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Cold Brew and Gluten Free


I have always wondered why gluten free beers didn’t you an overabundance of hops or other strong flavors when crafting their beers. It seems to me to be the way to bridge the regular beer drinker to their ales and lagers.

Someone heard me or, more likely, Ground Breaker Brewing decided that the coffee culture of Portland would be well to be represented in their line-up of beers.

Hopefully, I see this one in my local beer shoppe. Will be quite interested to see how it tastes.

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PDXit

My faith in politics and politicians was never that strong. And with the last election, my faith in the American electorate sunk to historic lows as well so I have been avoiding as much Trump talk as I can because it seems futile to not only struggle against Washington DC but the 306 Electoral College votes as well.

Throwing craft beer into the mix seems like a plan that could turn out bad. Seems too partisan for actual nuanced discussion.

But others are taking a different tack and not surprisingly Keep Portland Weird has taken a stand with….

The stated mission of Beer Party PDX is to “Organize members of the PDX beer community to effectively protect and promote basic civil rights, including voter access, freedom of speech, and equal rights.”

Members of the craft beer community have already stood up against one of the many questionable cabinet secretary choices (Scott Pruitt for the EPA) so this may be the start of more organizations that have both beer and what I would call common decency in common.

I think breweries do need to stand for agenda items like clean water and small business help and local issues like potholes on the road outside your establishment. Protecting people who are your customers seem like a smart play to me as well. Whether people will agree or boycott when you take a stand on action items that don’t have direct links to beer or the beer business is another thing though. Along with the attacks on journalism there is an even stronger, “stay in your lane” brew beer not dissent camp in the U.S. now.

But with Trump approval ratings cratering fast, going Anti sooner, rather than later, could be the smart business now (if you are located in liberal country) and later (when more disturbing leaks are revealed).

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Complete IPA Brewery # 2 – Great Notion

We have reached the 2nd stop pulled from the book Complete IPA – The Guide to Your Favorite Craft Beer, Great Notion Brewing of Portland, Oregon.

What a combo! Great Notion Brewing is next to a Pine State Biscuits. Now if only there were apartments right above.
GNB is a 7 Barrel brewery plus tap room in N.E. Portland which is appropriate since they “focus primarily on juicy New England-style IPA’s and creative sour ales”..

As you will see from my choices, they don’t stop there. Really cool fun fact: they age some of their beers in clay amphoras.
Instead of starting with their lauded hoppy ales, let’s go breakfast first, then finish with more breakfast for the initial taster flight….
Blueberry Muffin Sour Ale
This Blueberry sour will remind you of your Grandma’s freshly baked blueberry muffins!

Mandela (with Nelson) IPA
Mandela (w/ Nelson) is an IPA brewed with Citra, Mosaic and dry-hopped 100% with Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand.

Over-Ripe IPA
Over-Ripe is an experimental IPA brewed with Azacca, Simcoe, Columbus & Motueka hops. We get loads of overripe fruit like cantaloupe, honey dew, and papaya.

Juice Box Double IPA
Bursting with pungent American hops, with aroma’s of peach, mango, and passion fruit. Juice Box is brewed with over 4 pounds of hops per barrel, but the creamy smooth mouth feel and mellow bitterness makes this Double IPA dangerously drinkable.

Double Stack Stout
Imperial Breakfast Stout brewed with Clutch coffee and Vermont maple syrup.

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Happy Zoigl-ing

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Two preliminary things about the following. One is that the brewer is a Linfield alum like me which is super cool and two, we need more of this Zoigly thing going on. But first here is the information….

“While you can’t legally sell beer out of your home, you can do the next best thing: fill up your carboy with freshly brewed wort at Zoiglhaus, take it and a fresh can of yeast home with you to ferment your own beer. Add dry hops, extra flavorings, or leave it as is. It’s up to you. When the beer is done, you can share it with family or friends in the Zoigl spirit.”

Alan Taylor the brewer at Zoiglhaus Brewing was inspired so much by the medieval tradition of village brewing that he put the hard to spell word into use for his Portland brewery.

What excited him was the practice where each village had a single brewhouse which the villagers could utilize by getting the wort made and then taking it home to ferment. Then when done they would sell it from the home/taproom.

The first wort from Zoiglhaus was a pale ale by the name of ZPA, it was made available to buy by the carboy and then next month on the 7th, those that want to participate can bring their creations back to the brewery for judging by the people. The winner wins, well, the next batch of wort to play with.

What I would like to see is an L.A. brewery creating a wort then giving it to three other breweries to “finish”, then have a blind taste test to determine the winner.

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New Portland Brewery # 3 – Scout Beer

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Our last new PDX stop is at Scout Beer. Which has gone from a beer garden to two beer gardens and now their very own brewery as well.

So let’s dive into the possibilities for a taster tray (skipping the too weird for me Sour Patch Kid beer and Coco Puff beer)….

Porridge: “Oatmeal pale ale brewed with cinnamon raisins and vanilla. A drinkable, seasonal option for the fall/winter.” 5.5% ABV

Jam: “Malt-forward red ale brewed with marionberries. Refreshingly fruity and a perfect blend with our PB porter.” 5.9% ABV

Pink: “Heavily hopped IPA coming in at over 100 IBUs and mellowed subtly with fresh strawberries.” 6.1% ABV

Nori-Torious: “Classic gose salted with nori. A tart, refreshing beer with a hint of salt.” 6.2%

Immortal: “Fruit beer with 3lbs of honey in each keg. Combined with vanilla and an additional 3lbs of peaches and smoked in our own backyard.” 7.1% ABV

Sap: “Strong ale brewed with over 5lbs of maple syrup per keg, smoked oak, and finished with spruce tips.” 9.5% ABV

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New Portland Brewery # 2 – Ferment

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It is not new to have a main brewery in Hood River and a taproom in Portland. Full Sail trod that path first. And now a second brewery will be bi-river. (Columbia and Willamette)
Ferment comes from former head brewer at the excellent pFriem Family Brewers, Dan Peterson. The plan is to eventually brew in Hood River and operate their taproom at the new building called The Yard on 3rd and Burnside.

The brewery is aiming for a fall 2016 opening. You can read more about them and why they are so anticipated HERE.

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In the Tap Lines for August 2016

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With any luck the heat in Los Angeles will start to drop into fall-ish temperature ranges because there are quite a few Oktoberfest biers heading our way as well as the annual influx of gourd beers. Speaking of the pumpkin, considering the backlash and overproduction of the pumpkin beers last year, it will be interesting to see how much does get to shelves and if it is a little less this year. Now onto what you will see this month on this blog….

~ e-visits to three of the new arrivals to the filled Portland, Oregon scene. Ross Island Brewing, Ferment & Scout Beer.
~ special featured reviews of a mix of styles with fruits and herbs (but no fruited IPAs this month).
~ 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 City of the Lost
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world

Here are two events to get your August started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) August 2nd – Hopernicus DIPA re-release at Beachwood
2) August 11th – Nisei Week Pre-Launch Tap Take Over with Coedo Brewing at Far Bar.

…and here is the beer photo of the month…(OK, no beer this month but this time lapse photo of the moon in front of the Earth is too wicked cool to not re-post)
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