Mactarnahans / Portland / Pyramid Brewery

Portland Brewing has been squeezed out by the Mactarnahans and Pyramid name. This sounds simple until you say both of them have been bought by a Vermont brewery...Magic Hat. The result is IBU...Independent Brewers United. NW Portland is a beautiful place to set up shop for a brewery. At any given time the Pyramid brewery in NW Portland could be brewing any of their current beer offerings.

Our Beer Club met at the Pyramid brewing Mactarnahan's taproom for the September gathering. It sounds like changes are in the works for the building name an for some of the beer. They will be keeping some the of the Pyramid names and expanding some under the Mactarnahans name.

The facility is very nice and the patio is a great place to spend a summer evening. Steve and Scott had the fish tacos and Steve claimed they were excellent. Todd and Rob had the the Chipotle chicken tacos which were also good. Now on to the beer.

Crystal Wheat - (Pyramid) This beer bounced all over the ratings. We heard comments from "chick beer" to good summer beer. I thought it was too sweet tasting bu the best comment was from Scott, "I'd drink it but I'm sure there is something better!"
Haywire Hefeweizen - (Pyramid) This is a decent Hefeweizen. Rob said it was is favorite Hefe in town. Steve was the first to finish the sampler but said he likes the Widmer better.
Lipstinger - (Mactarnahans) Wow, this is a pretty complex beer. Many flavors especially with the peppercorns. It is a complex beer but the flavor is very smooth.
Audacious Apricot Ale - (Pyramid) Okay the guy who likes apricots does not like this one. The guy who does not like apricots does like this beer. The best comment is it "smells like a candle." If you want a sweet fruity beer this is for you.....Not sure what else to say.
Mactarnahans - This is the standard Mactarnahan's offering. It is classified as an amber beer. It is good in its own right but can't compete with the Alaskan Amber. This beer has been used to improve many rounds of golf in the Portland area.
Draft Pale Ale - (Mactarnahans) I'm not sure how this works but if you put Mac's Amber on Nitro you have a Pale Ale! This is super smooth and easy drinking. Beautiful Pale ale with a creamy head. If you've never tasted it then it is worth the trip to NW Portland.
Grifter IPA - (Mactarnahans) This is a good IPA that is well balanced and better than most IPAs.
Juggernaut Red - (Pyramid) This was a tough call. Steve thought it was a blend between the Amber and the IPA. It is easy drinking with good flavors but the "red style" is always hard to define.
Snow Cap Winter Ale - (Pyramid) This beer started out good but somewhere along the lines the tastes changed and by the end of the sampler it fell out of favor. It is drinkable but not any ones favorite.
Ale House Amber - This is kind of a blend between an amber and a Belgian wheat. This amber is sweet and for some reason it is not quite right. This beer does the opposite of "grow on you".
Thunderhead IPA - This is more of the standard IPA. It is a little more bitter and not quite our style.
Thomas Kemper Root Beer - Scott and Rob ordered this one. They both liked it and did not think it was too sweet and it was not bitter. It was brewed on site but....the alcohol content is very low.

Over all the group had a good experience here and would recommend it for any gathering. The desserts were also good. Somehow we ended up with an extra brownie. I don't know the name but it had way too much ginger and molasses. Small samples were okay but non of us felt we could finish a serving by ourselves.

Until next time,
Todd

Max Fanno Creek Brew Pub

Belated posting from Dec 2008

This beer drinking session at Fanno Creek was held during the longest snow storm in recent Oregon history. We endured bitter cold temperatures (by NW standards) and high risk driving on icy roads while risking life and limb, potentially leaving our wonderful children father-less, all in the name of BEER. A worthy risk we all agreed.

Awesome, knowledgeable waiter (Ron) was a bonus to the experience.
As for the pub, this was not your high end brew pub; felt like something between a bar and pub, but an excellent place for a bite to eat and some good beer drinking with a decent family atmosphere.

Side note: They need to measure their ceilings before buying Christmas trees. The tree was jammed into the ceiling tiles and bent at a 90 degree angle at the top.

Food: We had some interesting delicacies….
Todd and Scott had the “Hee Haw Burger”, Rob the Black Forest Panini and Steve had the Pot Roast Sandwich as a tribute the big steak he ate for lunch.

Beer:
Pacific Red – general assessment was a little dark for RED, but good combo, not too hoppy.
Doppelbock – good, smooth, creamy and thick – generally okay.
Scottish Ale – Good character, good winter beer, malty flavor, little too carbonated.
Nit Wit – tasty wheat. Subtle orange peel flavor, very good. Nit Wit was a major hit. Good all gender beer (not that we care about what our wives like to drink)
Golden Ale – thick on the tongue for golden. Scott was waiting for something to happen, but it never did. Not sure what he meant, but didn’t notice anything happening either?
Celestyne Pilsner – Awesome, good thickness, delicious, smooth
IPA – Came back down to earth after the Celestyne. Not a lot of flavor, just the typical IPA bitterness. Scott disliked this IPA less than other IPA (sorry for the double negative, it’s just a quote).

Then we embarked on a religious journey with the last two beers:

O Holy Hops – Some comments include: Whoa, I’ve never smelled beer like this…Tough Pint….Coco when hits tongue….malty follow by bitter
Reverends Daughter – creepy taste. Need beer chaser to get rid of taste. Nasty wheat beer - no wonder they call it reverends daughter (I won’t comment on who said that).

Our recommendation is to stick with the staples and stay away from the religious experience.
In here were our top picks:
Todd, Rob, and Scott all chose the Nit Wit
Steve chose the Celestyne Pilsner

Alaskan Brewing

In addition to our monthly beer club meeting we decided to sample some beer from Alaskan Brewing during the Labor day weekend. Non of us had any plans to visit Juneau, Alaska so we brought a bit of Juneau to Portland. Here are the beers we tasted :

Alaskan Summer - They claim this to be a Kolsch style ale with a generous blend of European and Pacific Northwest hops. It does not taste like the typical Kolsch ale. Alaskan did a great job with the flavors in this beer. Our group typically does not favor the Summer ales but everyone liked this one. Easy drinking and a nice surprise.

Alaskan White - The Belgian style witbier. This is a nice blend of wheat and malts. The coriander and orange flavors are present but not overpowering. The group enjoyed this beer also.

Alaskan IPA - This is definitely an IPA but the hoppiness is not quite as intense. Very drinkable IPA.

Alaskan Amber - The Amber to measure all other ambers. It was voted the best beer in the nation in 1988 and you can find it on taps all around Portland....and for good reason...it is a very tasty beer. Balanced, smooth and it leaves you wanting another.

Alaskan Oatmeal Stout - Very dark in color but not too thick for a stout. Oats, malts and a hint of coffee and caramel are detectable in the great flavor of this beer. Again the group enjoyed all of this beer.

Alaskan Barley Wine 2008 - This barley wine had a beautiful deep mahogany color. Compared to other barley wines our group felt this was the best one yet. It was very smooth and easy to drink. The aroma was pleasant and reminded you of the elevated alcohol content.

You wont be disappointed with any of the beer Alaskan Brewing. We look forward to tasting the Pale ale which I could not find in the neighborhood stores. In season we also plan to taste the Winter Ale and the Smoked Porter.

Alaskan Brewing found a great combination of flavors and they blend well with the Juneau Ice Field waters. If you're ever anywhere near Juneau a trip to the brewery is a must.

Cheers,
Todd

the lost tastings...

okay so we haven't been keeping up with reviews..

the missing tasting reports

Max fanno Creek Brepub (Tigard) - December 2008

Deschutes Brewing (Downtown Portland) 2008

Septembers tasting will mark our 16th outing

Rob

Alaska brewing

Labor day weekend tasting

Our first remote tasting (alas no trip to Alaska, so we brought Alaska to us thanks to Todd).

The beers tasted our shown above., we also had guest sampler Patrick.

Overall , beers had good showing. The summer ale style not always popular with this group was respectable. The oatmeal stout was also very tasty.

Official September tasting coming soon

Rob

Hopworks brewing

August tasting

The first Eco-Brewpub in Portland offering all organic handcrafted beers. Hopworks is a happening, relatively new, modernized brew pub with something for everyone. Staff was upbeat and having fun, a thumbs up in the service department. It didn’t hurt that we had a perfect August night to sit outside and have a few beers.

Food:

They had a good variety of option on the menu.

Todd: Already ate so he just had a pretzel. Unfortunately the Pretzel was more like a breadstick than a pretzel – a true disappointment for a beer drinker. How can you screw up a pretzel??

Steve: Ceasar Salad – underwhelming…skimpy salad dressing – may as well have just eaten a ball of lettuce

Rob and Scott: Dolomite sandwich. Ahhh, this was the winning ticket. Very good Italian sandwich

General Comments on the BEER:

Organic Hub Lager: Tastes better than it smells, nothing outstanding

O-Crosstown Pale Ale: Fruit’o’rama. Not your grocery store pale ale for sure.

Belgium Single: Flowery, fruity (Todd). Taste like soap (Scott). – you decide.

Kolsch: Best so far, smooth and light

Wit (Wheat): More full bodied than Belgium, but similar taste

IPA: Todd said no, Rob said lots of body, Scott said his tasting glass needs to be rinsed.

ESB (English Beer Session – what?): smooth, pretty good.

Deluxe Organic: Rob - strong like a bull, but sweet like your mama. Steve – sweet, smooth 7% alcohol…yes.

7-Grain Stout: Excellent, light coffee flavor, little bitter on the finish, but good.

The winners:

Todd and Scott – 7 Grain Stout

Steve – Deluxe Organic

Rob – ESB (English Session Beer)

Steve