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