Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
The NBA season was steamrolled by the virus but that may have been for the best considering how my beloved Blazers were struggling and it gave time for Deschutes to craft a new lager with the red and black color scheme to prepare for the draft.
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.”
I would really like to hold that title. But Pyramid couldn’t choose a better person to put on the label of a Blazer beer than Bill Schonely.
With Moda Center next to pyramids, you can almost hear the “Rip City” from a three-point play in the air while the El Dorado and Calypso hops help with the pick and roll.
Now if the Blazers could get a nice roll going so I could enjoy this red session ale with wins that would be great.
I will be buying multiple bottles of this for the label alone.