Deschutes Round 2 (October 2011)

Last visited in November 2008 soon after opening. The review got lost with all of the beer, so another visit was in order.

The tasting crew consisted of Ben (the belgian lover), Rob (all over the map), Scott (likes em dark), Todd (gimme the porter) and Steve (i'll drink anything) .

There was a bit of mixup in our taster trays so it was a wild ride of tastings.

The list
Sour Crown Brown (yuk)
Bachelor Bitter (not as bitter as expected, too mild, favorite so far)
Chainbreaker White IPA (Robs favorite)
Hop trip (not too bitter, mild, hop salad, smooth like hoppy amber, better than IPA)
Odysseus IPA (smooth and creamy, nice IPA)
Jubel ale (nice flavor, )
Cascade Lakes organic Ale (pleasant, nice and crisp, a little fruity)
Inversion IPA
Rye-ders of the storm (like it favorite so far, better than pale)
Gluten Free NW Pale (pretty awesome, after taste not so good, Belgian flavor, never order it, the worst)
Mirror Pond
Fresh Hop Mirror Pond
Black Butter Porter- best of tray 
Mirror Pond cask (smooth, taste like brown ale)
Stout.. (smooth, coffee tastes)
twisted white (pucker beer, kinda sour, my favorite tart beer, least favorite), for a sour i like it, but would never order a pint)
Crown Point (almost smoky, different, least favorite)

The reviews were pretty jumbled because there were so many. A daunting tasting with 3 trays of 6 per person.

The winners:
Rye-ders of the storm (1 1st vote, 2 seconds)
Black Butte Porter (2 1st votes and a 3rd)

The gluten free was a surprise beer. Not loved by all but it wasn't completely out to lunch either. I was a fan of the Chainbreaker white IPA but I was alone in calling it a favorite.

For the food side of things, we avoided the mistake of trip #1 where we had the thai wings of fire first (awesome food but a palate killer for beer tasting).
beet burger- nothing like a burger
yellow burger- 2 orders, neither person blown away
meat flatbread- good flavor, crust okay (then again it was judged by a pizza connoisseur..
Overall inventive food, but not spectacular.


Recap-
The beer collection at the Portland brewpub was quite extensive. Something for everyone and very few losers. The food was decent but not the reason to come (other than the thai wings, yum)


until next month


Rob

Old Market Pub

On September 9th, 2011 we re-visted Old Market Pub. Our previous visit did not receive full attendance so we went back 3 years later. Many of their beer offerings were the same with a couple new ones thrown in.

The food and service were okay. The waitress did not even flinch when we told her we wanted 5 taster trays. This is always a good start.

Here is the beer in order of sampling....
Multnomah Village Golden - This golden is good. It is smooth with much more body than your typical golden ale. A "great summer beer". A comment from Ben was that it had almost a creamy flavor..."kind of like a cream-cicle."
Belgian Lager - More lager than Belgian. Very smooth
Mr Slates Gravelberry - not a bad berry beer. Similar to a Ruby (from you know where). Its not too sweet but you'll definitely taste the berry.
Great White Wheat - a hint of banana flavor, drinkable. Another comment was "underwhelming, kind of bland."
Hop-on - We are back in Oregon now. A strong hop flavor which might start to get old after a full pint. "a little too overkill for me".
British Bombay IPA - more complex than the hop-on. Hops first and then they disappear. Nice IPA.
Rat Dog ESB - Smooth and easy drinking or an ESB. One thought it had a little "off flavor".
Mr Toad's Wild Red - This beer has been a staple at OMP for as long as I can remember. It is definitely a Red Ale....perhaps it even defined red ales. A great beer and it never disappoints.
Pacific Porter - good porter flavor. Not as thick expected.
Old Granny Smith - Smell and flavor of a Granny Smith apple. Not cider sweet. "better than the Gravelberry."
Pinocle Pale - very drinkable and fits right in the pale ale category.
Black Magic Stout - Great smooth flavor. "a little on the thin side for a stout".
Hot Tamale - smooth at first building to a spicy finish. "now that is spicy". If you drink it fast a little of the lager flavor comes though.

The food was what you'd expect for a pub selection. It was good. The service was good especially for a Friday night. Hopefully next time they will have some new taps to try.

Until next month, Cheers.

Todd

Burnside Brewing

On June 16, 2011 we visited Burnside Brewing. The food was good, the atmosphere was nice and we were able to sit outside on a rare semi-warm non-rainy Thursday in Portland, 2011. The service was good and they had no issues or excuses about serving 5 taster trays.

Beer---
Burnside IPA- Easy drinking IPA, Liked it, Hoppy side but not too bitter.
Oatmeal Pale Ale - Good, Smooth, Oatmeal in the aftertaste. Almost nitro-like.
Sweat Heat - This is definitely sweet and spicy. It starts our sweet and and then turns spicy. "not-beerish" more like a carbonated fruit juice. "intriguing flavor".
Stock Ale - An amber with a bitter aftertaste. A light ESB...which is what they said was their intent.
Stout - Very smooth and tasty. Just a little thicker than a dry Irish Stout but not too thick.
Berliner Weisse - Sweet and fruity. More like a soda than a beer. "A weak beer".
Virgil Rye - Balanced flavor, hops and moderate bitterness.

And for the pint after.....
Todd - Stout
Ben - Virgil Rye
Rob - Oatmeal Pale
Scott - Oatmeal Pale
Steve - Oatmeal Pale

Until next month,
Cheers,
Todd
(substitute journalist for Scott)

Breakside Brewing

A nice neighborhood pub with a healthy selection of experimental beers plus regulars.

English Pale> solid beer, good start

Wit > taste like Tang plus beer (Steve), could be refreshing on a hot day (Todd), The more I drink the less I like it (Steve)

Hoppy Amber- great aroma, god chick beer (Steve) continuous taste throughout (Todd)

IPA- not as crisp as amber, similar to amber, bait and switch (Scott),

Aztec- spiciest beer I ever had , but well done (Rob) pretty wild, liquid jalapeno popper

Dry stout- ok

Brewers bramble- really interesting, like mikes hard lemonade (Rob), like lemondae beer (ben)

Lavendar fudge stout- like lysol in a stout (Steve) the sickness beer 9ben)

Aniversary (barley wine)- pleasant , pretty good for barley wine (Todd)

Ambience- nice corner /triangle lot. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Friendly enthusiastic staff

Food- ambitious

The whole group did not order food. We did have fried pickles, sweet potato waffle fries as starters, both were good.

For entree I had pork belly sandwich - sounded better on paper than it was. Can't recall what Ben and Todd had but their food was fine (better than mine)

The favorites-

Amber 4 out of 5 had this as number 1

The 2nd choice was a mix- hoppy amber, wit, bramble, dry stout, english pale

3rd choice stout, pale, wit, wit

overall a nice place. The experimental beers were not over the top. and all drinkable.

Rob

A trip to Germany...

Well 1 lucky beer club member got a trip to Germany out of work

Giesel Kolsch A > outside Cologne

MaiselsWeisse B > Cologne

Gaffel Kolsch B > Cologne

Binding Pils C > Frankfurt

Paulaner Pils A > Friom Munchen, tasted in Limburg

Schofferhofer Weizen A >From ???, tasted in Wetzlar

Weilberger Bier (Weizen) A > Weilberg

Hannen Alt B > - tasted in Weilberg

Rothaus B > tasted in Heidelburg

Krombacher Weizen A >tasted in Weilburg

The top recommended go to Geisel Kolsch, Schofferhofer and Krombacker... if you happen to make it to Germany anytime soon

Rob

St. Patrick's Day, 2011
The Irish Pubs around Portland can get a bit crowded on this Holiday. We decided to buy a good sampling of Irish beer and do some tasting on our own.

I have to say our server, Kimberlee, was the best we've ever had. We had steak, champ, salad and soda bread for our meal. All very Irish to start off the evening. The food was all good and the group said they would come back.

Now on to the beer:
Curim Gold (Carlow Brewery) - The bottle labels this as a Celtic Wheat Beer, fruity, aromatic and refreshingly crisp. The group thought there was a hint of a Belgian yeast flavor and the fruit was hard to sort out. One thought was apricot. The beer was okay but nothing special.

Harp Lager (Guinness) - This is an easy drinking light beer. Steve referred to as a Midwest beer with better flavor. It has a bit of extra sweetness to the flavor too.

Smithwick's Irish Ale (Guinness) - This beer was easy to drink too. The group thought of it tasted like a dark version of Harp.

Murphy's Irish Stout - "thinner texture than expected with such a dark color", "plenty drinkabe", "Water with an after taste". These were a few of the quotes. The beer also has noticeable chocolate flavors that are not as pronounced in Guinness. The flavor is a little light at the beginning with lots of flavor at the end.

Guinness Draught - "it is Guinness". Smooth with a "creaminess not found in American stouts."

Guinness Extra Stout - Definitely a completely different beer from the Draught. More carbonated, thicker flavors and a little more bitterness.

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout - This beer is a little thicker, still more flavor and a little more bitterness than the Extra Stout. The roasted barley is also much stronger than in the Extra Stout.

So, how did we rank 'em ,(in order, the top 3) -
Rob - Guinness Draught, Harp, Smithwick's
Scott - Guinness Draught, Harp, Murphy's
Steve - Guinness Draught, Curim, Harp
Ben - Guinness Draught, Harp, Foreign Extra Stout/Curim
Todd - Guinness Draught, Murphy's, Smithwick's

It is no wonder that you can find Guinness all over the world. It is a very smooth, creamy and enjoyable beer to drink all year long.

Cheers,
Todd

Nano Beer Fest

The Nano Beer Fest at Max's
Steve and I had a few extra hours on the last Saturday in February to stop by the Nano Beer fest. We tried to sample all the taps but missed a few.

The two Best In Show,
Gilgamesh Brewing (Turner, Or) - Hop Scotch Ale. This beer was very smooth and easy drinking. Lots of good flavors all around. My favorite.

Double Mountain (Hood River) - Sacre Bleu Dubbel. Lots of flavor. A little more bite than the Hop Scotch, a hint of Belgium and overall a great find.

Honorable Mention,
Caldera Brewing (Ashland, OR) - South Side Strong Ale
Bend Brewing (Bend, OR) - Belgian Doppel

We didn't have a bad beer...these were drinkable but didn't rise to the top,
Beer Valley - Black flag Imperial Stout
Oakshire Brewing - Overcast Espresso Stout
Terminal Gravity Brewing - Belgian Triple
Upright Brewing - Coffee Stout
Astoria Brewing - Solar Dog

We also tasted the cider from Wandering Aengus, the Anthem Pear. It was far to sweet for our liking.

And finally...Natian Brewing (Portland) only sent 1 keg of their Old Grogham....it was dry prior to our arrival. Not a good first impression. Maybe next time...

Todd

Coalition Brewing

Coalition Brewing Company

In October, 2010, we visited Coalition Brewing. The food was good and so was their service. We were expected a limited beer offering so we were pleasantly surprised to see so many on the tap list. Here is what we sampled.

Mr Pigs Pale - 2 votes for a good pale and 2 votes for "a little off".

Bumps Bitter ESB - Okay, not as bitter as expected.

Wu Cream - The lightest of the beer offering. Smooth but not really creamy.

Fresh Hop - "the best so far"....."liquid sterling". This beer was hoppy with lots of character.

2 Dog IPA - "A solid beer", "1 pint not 2", "bitter but not too strong."

King Kitty Red - Easy drinking, "not a bad red".

Maple Porter - "a hint of maple" and "the maple is evident". Good flavor.

Hanso Stout - 3 made the comment of "nice"....and 1 "not my favorite, due to the finish".

So those were the comments during tasting but now is where the truth comes out. What pint would you order and what do you pick as your top four. Normally it is the top 3 but apparently we had trouble with only 3 this time. Steve is from Wisconsin ... he has trouble saying no to any beer... he ended up with a top 5.

Rob - 1. Fresh Hop 2. Pale 3. Porter 4. IPA
Ben - 1. Fresh Hop 2. Porter 3. Red 4. Pale
Steve - 1. Porter 2. Fresh Hop 3. Pale 4. IPA/Red (okay top 5)
Todd - 1. Porter 2. Stout 3. Fresh Hope 4. Pale

Cheers,
Todd