Lompoc and Deschutes Beer Releases

This week finds some great beer releasese in Portland. What else is new? Winter brings out the best in Pacific NW brewers and the past few weeks have been packed with exceptional beer releases. Tuesday and Wednesday are no different.

Lompoc Brewing Holiday Beers Release Party

Tuesday, Nov. 30th from 4 to 10 pm at the Lompoc Sidebar

Lompoc always steps up during the holiday season - in both quality and quantity. This year Lompoc is releasing 8 different holiday beers: Blitzen Golden Ale, Brewdolph Belgian Style Red, C-Son's Greetings Imperial IPA , Holiday Cheer Porter, Jolly Bock German Style Bock, 2009 Old Tavern Rat Barley Wine, 8 Malty Nights Chocolate Rye, and Bourbon Barrel Aged 8 Malty Nights.

Although I am not feeling the hops the last few weeks, C-Son's Greetings is a perennial winter favorite of mine. I also enjoyed the first edition of 8 Malty Nights last year and look forward to the Bourbon Barrel aged version. Both will also be available in 22 oz bottles shortly. All 8 holiday beers will be on tap at all Lompoc starting on the 30th.

Deschutes Brewing 2010 The Abyss Release

Wednesday, December 1st at 11:00 am. Portland Pub.

You know it. You love it. The Abyss. Sure, they produced a shit-load of it last year and bottles were all around town for months (actually I just bought a bottle of 2009 Abyss in Pendleton on Saturday!). I am not sure what the production is like this year and I doubt you need to be in line at the pub tomorrow at 11:00 am just to get a bottle. However, if you want to get in on the vertical tastings and food pairings, your only chance is likely to be at the release. You have been warned.

Holiday Alefest Preview

Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of joining my fellow beer blogging brethren in a little preview of the upcoming Holiday Ale Festival. We had the opportunity to try a full 1/3 of the upcoming standard beers on offer. That leaves 30+ standard beers and 12+ special tappings left for discovering at the festival.



Festival organizer Preston Weesner (above) guided us through a selection of the beers and gave us some good insider tips into the festival. Let's hit the basics and a few important pearls:

Location: Pioneer Courthouse Square

Hours:
Wednesday, December 1st: 2pm - 10pm
Thursday-Saturday, December 2nd-4th: 11am - 10pm
Sunday, December 5th: 11am - 5 pm

Cost: $25 entry at the door (2010 mug and 10 tickets).
$22.50 ($20 +$2.50 ticket fee) in advance online
$45 for VIP - extra tickets, express entry and beer lines, free water.
4 oz. tasters are 1 ticket ($1) for general beers. 2 tickets for special tappings (see below)

Pearls:

• If you want to avoid the lines - Go on Wednesday, Thursday or Sunday. Go early. Go during the Civil War game on Saturday.
• If you want to get closer than is considered comfortable with drunks and fratboys, go on Friday or Saturday afternoon and evenings.
• If you are going multiple days, it will make your life easier if you can keep your wristband on throughout the 5 day festival. It will help ease your entry into the festival on return trips. You must have your wristband and a 2010 mug to enter the festival. If you must take your wristband off (you corporate lacky), make sure to bring it with you on your next visit. (I agree that this is all a bit much, but Preston insists it is all OLCC driven).

Limited Release Special Tappings: The 2010 list is not up yet. Keep a close eye on the festival website here (2009 tappings listed as of 11/29 at 9 am) for an update list of the tappings. We were informed that the first special tapping would be a 2005 Samichlaus at opening on Wednesday. The special tappings are 2 tickets per taster.


Now to the beers we tasted. I am not going into great detail about all 13 beers we tasted. You can find reviews on most from the Brewpublic, New School, and It's Pub Night crews. I am simply going to list which ones I would seek out and which ones to avoid, in my opinion.

Musts:

• Block 15 Brewing - Figgy Pudding (Brandy Barrel Aged Strong Ale)
• Cascade Brewing - Sang Noir (Bourbon Fruit Sour Red Ale)
• Columbia River Brewing - Paddler's Porter (Chocolate/Vanilla Baltic Porter)
• Bear Republic Brewing - Ebeweesner Scrooge (Sour Ale)
• Lompoc Brewing - Franc'ly Brewdolph (Belgian Red)

Maybes:

• Alameda Brewhouse - Papa Noel's Moonlight Reserve (Strong Ale)
• Gilgamesh Brewing - Cranberry Saison (Belgian/French Ale)
• Moore Holiday Ale (Imperial Pilsner) - a good beer, but a pilsner in December?
• Vertigo Brewing - La Nina Coffee Porter. A little thin, but good coffee notes.

Misses:

• Coalition Brewing - Lost Glove (Strong Ale). The taste is okay but the aroma is off putting to me.
• Migration Brewery - Nor'Easter (Belgian Strong Ale). A bit better from Migration but still off.
• Natian Brewery - Old Grogham Winter IPA. The only IPA at the fest. I didn't enjoy it.
• Seven Brides Brewing - Weezin-ator (German Doppelbock). The lack of carbonation didn't help and may be due to the growler it was served from.

Behind the Scenes at The House of Sour

By Nicole K.


Ron Gansberg, head brewer at Cascade Barrel House, is a man always looking forward and rarely looking back. He speaks with passion and intensity about the blending process. Blending is how most of the sour beers are made. He says “I started my career as a kid, I blended things together to kills ants.” With his history of blending going back so far, creating sour, barrel-aged beers seemed like the next step. Some brewers get tired of giving tours of their facilities, but Ron has never shown exhaustion. Once he gets started, it is difficult to stop him. He has a story with every barrel and the liquid that releases from those barrels has a story to tell. On a recent tour with Ron, the first stop was the central room which will eventually be a production area. Plans are to increase the amount of barrels of product that are aging, a bottling line, and at least a 50 barrel tank. The existing drain in the middle of the floor is the foundation for all of the plans to come.

Ron mentioned that the initial goal was the, “effort and focus on getting the pub side open.” Now it is time to pay attention to the production and enhanced barrel aging. We tried a bing and sour pie cherry blend from an existing tank in, “the Fruit Room,” which had a sour finish, but a strong pie nose. The blend will be a base for one of the largely produced beers. Certain blends are committed to bottles because of consistency and quality control. One of the components of the Kriek is a bing cherry base. Straight out of the barrel it tastes tart, not sour. There is a difference between tart and sour when drinking such special hand crafted liquid.




Another space under construction will be a bottle conditioning room. Eventually, it will hold up to 24 palates. Ron says, “there is some Tetris going on in here.” However, when he is speaking, you can see in his eyes and his smile that he only sees the finished product.

We moved to the Barrel Room, which maintains an 80% humidity level. Barrels are stacked over your head and there are several rows. You walk down one aisle, then back up. Then you walk down another aisle, and back up. Finally, you stop and look up and around and realize that you are surrounded by a kind of beer far different from the ales and lagers you encounter at most breweries. The length of time that most of those barrels will spend in that room is unbelievable to the impatient person.

Ron gets the next barrel into place and it's tapping draws out the papparazzi.

After tasting a few other ingredients, Ron has to wrap up the tour because it is almost time for Tap-It Tuesday. Every Tuesday at 6:00pm, a new barrel is tapped and people have the opportunity to drink straight from the massive wood container. It was obvious that he could talk about the future for much longer. He talks about more triples and strong blondes, while he uses words like, “lush and velvety.” He talks about Bourbicide, as a base for the Bourbonic Plague and how it is an exfoliate and a defoliant. Beer should, “be like a mountain,” according to Ron. Take a moment and visual a mountain and then think about the beer that you are drinking right now, does it fit the bill?

Weekend in Review: Much Love to the PDX Beer Community

As many have stated previously, this past weekend was a big one for craft beer in Portland. Beer releases were taking place all across western Oregon from Hood River to Pacific City. It would have been hard to hit them all, although some gave it a valiant effort.

The fun for me started on Thursday. A slow day at work led to an early exit and I quickly found myself sitting at Beermongers enjoying a pint of Boneyard's Armored Fist Imperial CDA. Although it was advertised in some parts as a collaboration with Three Floyds Brewing in Indiana, I was later informed by SnobRitch, that it was merely inspired by conversations between brewers. Regardless, it was a delicious CDA - nice and hoppy over a strong, roasted malt backbone. While at Beermongers, I picked up a couple of beers for a beer and football party over the weekend.

From Beermongers I headed over to Bunk Bar for the release of Double Mountain Brewery's winter seasonal Fa La La La La. Always one of my favorite winter beers, this year's edition is no different. A hoppy amber warmer. Bunk Bar crafted a delicious Thanksgiving turkey sandwich to go along with it, which was an apt prelude to turkey and stuffing. I am still waiting to hear if Ritch won me a t-shirt.

I had to work all day and night Friday, which left me out of the Deschutes release of The Dissident. Likewise, I was not able to head to Pacific City for the release of The Mother of All Storms at Pelican Brewery on Friday or Block 15 Brewery for the release of Figgy Pudding bottles on Saturday. Regardless, thanks to the kindness of the Portland beer community, I managed to get one or more bottles of each release. To those that hooked me up, Thank You!

I did make it to the Hair of the Dog release Saturday morning, which was quite a mellow affair this time around. It was cold and raining. Twitter updates stated there were 50 people lined up around the block. Since I had to bring my newborn, I decided to show up a few minutes after 10 am so I wouldn't have to wait outside in the cold. I arrived to an almost empty tasting room and no line at all. I guess the sheer number of events this past week thinned out the crowds. I picked up a couple of $15 bottles of Matt and a bottle of Doggie Claws and went on my way.


After a breakfest sandwich at the original Bunk, I joined my friend Carl at Deschutes. I was eager to try The Dissident and the Sour Cherry Porter - a version of Black Butte Porter innoculated with Brett. Both were very good sour beers. The porter was so tart it was difficult for me to unearth the underlying porter flavors. The Dissident was more complex. I will give it some more time before passing judgement. I never tried the 2008 version, so I cannot weigh in on a comparison of the two.

Saturday afternoon I hosted a little bottle sharing party at my place. It was a come and go as you please event with people stopping by before and after various beer releases. Some excellent beers were shared including Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela (sour pumpkin farmhouse ale), Brasserie Dubuisson Freres Bush De Noel, and Hair of the Dog Matt. We just could not resist cracking open a fresh Matt. Despite a lack of carbonation, it was a wonderfully complex beer with flavors ranging from bourbon and brandy to apples and plums. We were glad we opened it and a few extra bottles were purchased by visitors on their way home! Certainly the $15 price tag for a 12 oz bottle raised a few eyebrows and I think the recent price creep on local specialty brews is concerning. However, the marketplace will ultimately set the price point in an ever more crowded beer scene. In this case, after tasting a fresh Matt several people were eager to grab at least a couple of more bottles.

Angelo and Margaret from Brewpublic stopped by in the early evening after the crowd had dispersed. They came bearing a gift: a growler of Walking Man's Anniversary Oak IPA fresh from the brewery's anniversary celebration. A real treat, I repaid them by letting my dog slobber all over them. That and sharing a bottle of Real Ale 2009 Sysiphyus barleywine from the Blanco, Texas brewery . A great way to end a fun day of sharing beer in Beervana!

Sometimes You Have to Leave Portland

Editor's note (did I just call myself an editor?): I would like to introduce the very first guest blogger on Portland Beer and Music. Nicole K. is a fellow NW Portland beer lover and was kind enough to share details of an incredible weekend chasing the stellar beer releases last weekend. You should follow her on twitter: @nicisoverthere.

Are you kidding me Pelican Pub and Brewery? 0800 on a Friday? I did it; I drove to Pacific City to retrieve the coveted Mother of All Storms. Several people will get the beer on a trade or other means, but there was something special and insane about driving in the dark, on the wet, curvy roads to buy beer. I got there about 0700 and another car parked next to me a minute later.

A few more minutes went by and I started to recognize other beer lovers from the greater Portland Area. I could have stayed in the warm air of the car, but why? It was rainy and windy, with a temperature of 40 degrees, but it was easy to have fun when you wait with other people who love beer and love to talk about beer. When the doors opened there were less than twenty people in line. More people came in the first hour. There was a sense of relief when the moment arrived when I realized, “no problem, I am in, there is plenty of beer and not too many people.”

After putting my case in the car, I was graciously invited to have breakfast with some of Portland’s great home brewers and beer connoisseurs. We started with the seasonal vertical, a combination of Stormwatchers and Mother of All Storms. The Stormwatchers included 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2010. The ’05 was a little oxidized, the ’09 and ’10 could use a little more cellar time, and the ’08 was at its prime. The Mother of All Storms 2009 (formerly The Perfect Storm) was still a little warm and the bourbon character still present. The Mother of All Storms 2010 was not too much different, but of course warmer. This is going to be an amazing beer with some mellow time.

Breakfast was in my belly, barlywine was in my whole body, and I got a growler filled and was on my way. It was a humbling experience, as I thought I was dedicated to drive to the Pacific Ocean at 0500, but there were people going to Stevenson, WA for Walking Man’s Anniversary after Pacific City. Now that was impressive!

No way! Now I have to go to Corvallis to get beer. The day after the Pacific City trip, came Block15 Figgy Pudding bottle release. The independently owned brewery had its first ever bottle release with an interesting and brave beer. Released at 1100, I was not there quite that early. I went in the evening, because, well, uumm, there was another release in Portland that morning. You know what I am talking about.

I left Portland at 1800, avoiding game traffic as the OSU game started at 1700. Even though it was dark, it was not raining and there were no curves with trees waiting to fall on me like going to the coast. A straight, smooth shot down I-5 and I was in Corvallis. They had about eight cases left, so they just put some away for me in my reusable bottle bag, a must have for every craft beer buyer. My husband was with me on this trip, so we shared a few taster trays. I was looking forward to trying some more beers from Block15. I have heard amazing things about what they are doing, but have only had a few of their beers that have made it to Portland, such as the La Ferme’ De Demons. When people asked me what breweries are a little distance, but not too far, something that can be done in less than one day, my answer is always Double Mountain in Hood River. They always have consistently stellar beer on tap. I have now added Block15 to that answer.

Totally worth the drive and the prices were unbelievable. The taster trays consisted of five, four-ounce pours and were $4.75 each. I have to assume that was wrong, but the receipt really said, “Tasters, 2 @ $9.50,” or something to that effect. Growler fills were between $11 and $14. I found very little wrong. I am not including tasting notes on all of the beers, because most of their descriptions were right on. A few highlights were the NuIPA and the Chocolate Porter. The NuIpa was listed at 25 IBU, but that was likely a misprint. It was bold and epitomized why Northwest IPA’s rock. It was aggressively bitter and a little out of balance, which is what made it a true standout among this style. The Chocolate Porter pulled no punches. With an aggressive chocolate nose and a little caramel, it had a thin and accurate porter body with a hot fudge taste in the finish that lasted and lasted. The Figgy Pudding, the whole point in making the trip, had a fig aroma and a sweet raison flavor forced by the fig and brandy combination. With an ABV of 11%, it had a soft finish.

Getting out of town was a little challenging as the Beavers fans from the North started to go home. I-5 moved well and in just another hour and thirty minutes I was home. Exhausted from the last two days, but satisfied that I purchased and drank at two of Oregon’s premier brewpubs.


-Nicole K.

The Decemberists Pre-Sale

The Decemberists are playing the Schnizter on Saturday, February 19th. If that is your cup of tea, the pre-sale tickets go on sale tomorrow (Friday, November 19th) at 10 AM.

Here is the link and here is a password: NATION

Enjoy.

Review: Bailey's Taproom Belgian Fest

Usually a review of an event like this is of little actual use to the reader because the beers are not often easily available following the event. Fortunately for you (and probably unfortunately for the good people at Bailey's Taproom), turnout for the Belgian Fest was apparently light and the majority of the beers will be available on Monday and possibly throughout the week at the Taproom.

Only 2 beers blew during the event and they were two of the better beers: Cascade's Sour Bain de Brugge and Oakshire's Oak Collaborative Evil. I will not go in depth on either since they won't be available at Bailey's this week. I will advise you to give both a taste should they reappear in the area. Another beer was voluntarily pulled by the brewer. The guys at Beetje Brewery tweeted that they pulled the Blonde Beetje off tap because it was flat. A learning experience for the young brewery no doubt.

On to the beers that you might have the opportunity to try and should do so. In order of my preference from top to bottom:

• Block 15 La Ferme de Demons - a nice dark farmhouse ale.
• Lucky Lab Doggie Kong - a good sour with a nice pop of sweetness from the lychee
• Upright Barrel-Aged Seven - the barrel aging really played well with the base farmhouse
• Lompoc '08 Brewdolph - a Belgian red aged in Port barrels which added a nice booziness to the spicy base
• Fort George '08 North II - this Grand Cru has held up well but mellowed a bit.

Beers I might avoid:

• Barley Brown's Trappist Strong - I found this one to have a weird metallic and medicinal taste that I did not enjoy. Then again, Angelo claimed to really like it.
• 10 Barrel Dubbel Woody Cab. - I only had a taste but it had a similar off taste. I saw a few pour this one out.
• Roots Brune "O" - consensus was that this one had turned.

There are obviously a few more that I didn't get a chance to try. I did manage to try the Deschutes Marooned Belgian the previous night at the Deschutes Pub. This 13.7% ABV monster actually hides the alcohol quite well and lets some subtle flavors come to the surface.

All in all a pretty good festival. The majority of the beers I was able to taste were at least average-above average. There were only a few true misses. Hopefully we will see a second annual Belgian Fest in 2011.

Battle of Saturday Beer Events: Beer Cocktails vs. Bailey's Belgianfest

As is the norm in Beervana, Saturday brings the average craft beer fan a tough decision. Two excellent beer events are going toe to toe. Those with livers of steel (I am looking at you Angelo) will certainly have no trouble making it to both events. The majority of us are left with a tough decision to make: Brewing Up Cocktails 2 or Bailey's Taproom Belgianfest?

I will start with Bailey's Belgianfest. I am ashamed to admit that this will be my first beer event at Bailey's. It seems every time they have an event I am either working, out of town, or my wife is giving birth to our second child. Stupid childbirth, always getting in the way of a good beer event. Anyway, I am excited about the lineup of Oregon brewers bringing Belgian inspired beers to this event. A few of the beers that I am looking forward to from the list include those from Astoria, Barley Brown's, Cascade, Beetje, Deschutes, Ft. George, Laurelwood, and Upright.


Bailey's Taproom. Saturday, November 13th. Admission from 4-11pm. Beer served until Midnight. $15 gets you a very nice tulip glass & 5 tokens. Pour = 1 token = $1.

Brewing Up Cocktails 2 sees the return of creative beer cocktails from the minds of Ezra Johnson-Greenough (The New School Beer Blog), mixologist Jacob Grier, and Hop & Vine owner Yetta Vorobik. The first installment during Oregon Craft Beer Month was a great success. The drinks this time around look quite interesting and there is quite a buzz building, especially for the Hot Scotchy. See Ezra's blog for an in depth description of what went into each cocktail as he has profiled a different cocktail each day this week.

Hop & Vine. Saturday, November 13th 6-10 pm. Cocktails individually priced.

Recommended Upcoming Shows

It has been a while since I gave a rundown of some good shows coming to the Rose City. Here are a few good ones starting with the laser happy Ghostland Observatory tonight (Thursday 11/11) at the Crystal Ballroom. This Austin, TX duo knows how to get the crowd dancing and they finally put out a new album a few weeks ago - Codename: Rondo.



11/13 Built to Spill (Crystal Ballroom)
11/14 Yo Gabba Gabba with special guest Keller Williams (Memorial Coliseum)
**Don't hate. I have a 2.5 year old. DJ Lance Rock is the man!
11/21 Freelance Whales with Miniature Tigers (Doug Fir)
11/28 Black Mountain with Black Angels (Wonder Ballroom)
11/30 Seattle band Fences (Miss. Studios)
12/1 The Long Winters - another Seattle band (Wonder Ballroom)
12/12 Badly Drawn Boy (Doug Fir)

Drinking Craft Beer in the Winter Sun

A rare sunny, warm November day last week sparked my interest in compiling a list of good beers spots around town where you can not only enjoy your pint outside but in the sun as well. The days are only getting shorter at this point. The sun is a rarely seen beast in Portland in the winter. When it is not covered by the clouds, it hangs pretty low in the southern sky. When it is out and warm enough, you want to take advantage of it. This list might not come in handy all that often over the next few months but you just might want to bookmark it. When the sun does pop out, do not waste time. Head to one of these great outdoor spots.

The Brightest Spots:

• Cascade Barrel House: Huge south facing patio without any nearby trees or buildings just soaks in the sun all day long. Nice little view of the west hills too.
• Hopworks: Large south facing back patio with great views of the west hills. Even a west facing front patio that gets good sun later in the day.
• Alameda: A few tables on the sidewalk out front take in sun all day.
• Laurelwood NW Public House: This location on NW Kearney has a great south facing front porch with abundant tables. A second front porch upstairs above the trees too.

Afternoon Loungers:

• Green Dragon: The west facing tables out front are great in the late afternoon as the sun heads out over the west hills. The larger patio gets sun but this time of the year the sun is so low in the southern sky, I am not sure how great the sun exposure is.
• Lucky Lab NW: Hit it at the right time of day (I am guessing lunch time) and the great beer garden will have some nice sun. The roof overhead cuts out the western sun though.
• Apex: Despite facing north, the outdoor area is so big and the adjoining building low enough that it is going to get some sun.
• Eastburn: West facing tables out front get plenty of sun in the afternoon.

A few others that seem like they should get some sun but I do not have enough "research" to confidently recommend: Hop & Vine's backyard, Bottles' sideyard, Widmer's sidewalk tables (is the building across the street too tall?), Amnesia's huge patio (not sure about sun exposure in winter), Rogue's sidewalk tables.

Finally, a few recommendations for the normal winter weather in Portland. Where to go when it is cold and dreary and the last place you want to be is outside:

• Lompoc Sidebar: My favorite spot when the weather turns sour. Enjoy some creative, often barrel aged, beers on a nice leather couch in front of the fire surrounded by barrel aging beers.
• Upright Brewing: A cozy spot underground where you cannot see the rain coming down.
• Hair of the Dog: Alan's beers are just perfect for the winter months.
• The Horse Brass: Crappy weather only adds to authenticity of this British pub.

These are my picks for basking in the rare winter warmth and escaping the ever present rain and chill. Let me know if I overlooked your favorite spot.

Chasing the Fall Sun

Those of you reading this from outside the Portland area please note that the picture below is quite extraordinary. I am not bragging about my photo skills. The extraordinary part is the clear blue skies and the dark red leaves being in the same photograph. This past week we had a nice 3 day stretch of warm, dry, clear days that we do not see too often in November. Luckily I had Thursday off to take advantage of the beautiful day. I also was fortunate to have the day to myself (no parental responsibilities!) to explore a few places in town that I have neglected to visit.



After an amazing breakfast at Tasty n Sons on North Williams, I wandered down the street to check out progress on the rehab of the building slated to house the new Hopworks branch. They seem to have quite a bit of work to do but that block will be a great destination with Lompoc 5th Quadrant, The Sidebar, and Hopworks. Next, I grabbed the dog and headed down to the waterfront for a quick walk along the river.

That was a strategic move because once I finished the waterfront loop it was past noon and I was mere blocks away from The Cascade Brewing Barrel House. I took my time enjoying a glass of the Sour Busta Nut Brown straight from the barrel. This was one of the two sour beers on offer directly from the barrel, which are tapped every Tuesday. The sour brown was delicious. The best part though was the fact that the expansive south facing patio at the Barrel House was getting blasted with sun. It was terrific. Me and the pooch did not want to leave.

Leave we did though. After a quick errand, we found ourselves at Coalition Brewing for my first taste of the Liquid Sterling fresh hop ale. Just when I thought I was done with fresh hop season, I have one of the best of the season. Great fresh hop profile and aroma. Glad I made the effort to get this one. The beef short rib street tacos are also very good.



From Coalition I headed to another of the new breweries in town - Breakside Brewery. I had stopped and checked out the space once before while dining next door at Firehouse. This was before they had their own beer on tap and I didn't stop in for a beer. So, I was happy today to get my first taste of Breakside's own beer, which has been well received. I picked a good day to come as they still had 4 of the 5 smoked porter variations on tap from the previous evening's Night of the Smoked Porters. This involved a base smoked porter which was then altered with 4 different ingredients: honey, maple, chile, and espresso.



All but the maple version were still available. With neither the time nor the liver capacity to try all 4 (they were offered in 10 oz. pours for $2.50), I opted for a taste of the espresso and chile. Both were excellent. The espresso version really played well with the base smokiness. The chile heat was a bit more up front but still did not overpower the smoked base. I really liked the heat on the back end.

The guys at Breakside should really be commended for building a really beautiful space. The decor is spot on inside and out. Ditto with the space over a Coalition. In addition, both are making some fantastic beer and are a great addition to the Portland beer scene. My only gripe about both spots is a minor one and one that they have no way to fix at this point. The problem is both receive no direct sunlight on their outdoor seating. I know this is just me bitching and nothing is perfect, but if I were to open a brewery/pub/restaurant in Portland (or if anyone reading this is considering doing so), finding a location that has an outdoor space with southern and/or western exposure would be a major factor.

I didn't have time to stay very long at Breakside because I had a couple of more stops to make. Even if I would have had more time on that day I probably still wouldn't have stayed any longer though. It was too hard to drink my pint in the shade outside while staring at the sun beating down on the opposite street corner. We all need our Vitamin D right?

From Breakside I headed back south to Bottles on NE Fremont. This new bottleshop has about 5-6 coolers filled with a great selection of regional, national and imported craft beer. They also have 8 beers on tap. Read more about Bottles on this previous post from BREWPUBLIC. I enjoyed a glass of Silver Moon's Twisted Gourd pumpkin ale. Bottles has a great outdoor spot with southwest exposure that probably gets some great sun during the earlier part of the day. When I arrived the sun was too low for that area but it was shining on the three theater seats right outside the front door. Although you are not allowed to take beer out to the front of the store, there is a table right inside the front door. I simply placed my beer right inside the door and soaked in the sun while reading a few of the beer periodicals available.

Later that night I put an end to the day with dinner at Ned Ludd with my wife and some friends. I was excited to see Double Mountain Killer Green on tap. I can never get enough of this fresh hop wonder. The food was excellent. The music was pretty terrible - lots of eighties power ballads. The staff was gracious enough to fix the music after a gentle cue or two. You know they must have decent taste in music when this awesome poster graces the bathroom wall:

So ended an incredible warm, sunny November day in Portland. Griping about sun dappled patios has me thinking I need to make a post listing some of the better beer spots with sun drenched outdoor spaces. Look for that soon.

Laurelwood Bald Face Truth Teller Ale

You would think I would listen to music when I drive since I have a blog dedicated to beer and music. The problem is I am lazy. Too lazy to keep CDs in my car and too lazy to hook up my ipod or iphone everytime I get in the car. So, that leaves me with the radio. Any attempt to listen to local music stations rarely lasts more than one song. In the morning I am not awake enough for NPR and on the drive home I am too worked up to listen to NPR. What does that leave me with? Sports talk radio.

On the way home from work I listen to polarizing Oregonian columnist John Conzano's show on 95.5 The Game - The Bald Faced Truth (get it? Conzano is bald!). A few months ago Laurelwood Brewery became a primary sponsor of the show and Conzano started doing live remotes from the main Sandy Blvd. location during happy hours. Pretty cool. Fast forward a few months and this Thursday, November 4th Laurelwood releases a beer dedicated to Conzano called the Bald Face Truth Teller Ale.

The spiel: Canzano will broadcast his radio show live from Laurelwood Public House and Brewery (5115 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland) on Thursday, November 4th, the day the special brew is released, 3-6pm. Laurelwood will in turn donate 15% of sales that day to the Bald Faced Truth Foundation, which supports extracurricular activities for kids. The Bald Faced Truth Teller brew will be available to consumers through the end of the year.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company - Divine Reserve Series

I have roots in Texas. For it's size, Texas is severely lacking in quality beer. Draconian beer laws and the three tier distribution system have hindered development of brewpubs and breweries. Progress is being made though. A Texas Brewer's Guild was recently established and more and more breweries are opening up.


One of the pioneers of Texas microbrewing is Saint Arnold Brewing Company. Named for the patron saint of brewing, Saint Arnold of Soissons, the brewery was opened in 1994. They make one of my favorite TX beers - the Elissa IPA, which is named after an old sailing tall ship moored in Galveston, TX. It won a silver in the ESB/Strong Bitter category at the 2010 GABF. They also took home a gold for Fancy Lawnmower (Kolsch) and a silver for Oktoberfest (Scottish-Style Ale).


One of Saint Arnold's most sought after beers each year is the Divine Reserve Series. This single batch has a different recipe each year and is usually in limited supply. The only thing they have in common is they are usually big beers and they go quick.





Here is the lineup for past Divine Reserve series beers:

Divine Reserve 1: Barleywine

Divine Reserve 2: Quadrupel
Divine Reserve 3: Double IPA
Divine Reserve 4: Wee Heavy
Divine Reserve 5: Russian Imperial Stout
Divine Reserve 6: American Barleywine
Divine Reserve 7: Weizenbock
Divine Reserve 8: Scotch Ale
Divine Reserve 9: Imperial Pumpkin Stout

The Divine Reserve 10 is an English Barleywine inspired by a recipe homebrewer Chris Landis used to win the 2010 Big Batch Brew Bash homebrew competition. From the brewers: "This is a beer that not only will age well, but we are recommending aging it. It is clocking in at 11% ABV and could use some cellaring time. When enjoying it, we recommend serving it at around 60¬∞F. This really brings out the malt and fruit character in the beer (there isn’t any actual fruit in the beer). We were concerned that we had overhopped the beer when first tasting it in the fermenter, but the hop bitter has mellowed quite a bit. Having said that, it is on the hoppy side for an English Barleywine."

The beer is being release today, November 2nd. If you are reading this from Texas, go out and grab a six pack today. If you are reading this elsewhere, call your friend in Texas and ask him to buy you a sixer. Saint Arnold is only available in Texas.

Mini-Rocktoberfest Review: DJ Shadow and Sufjan Stevens

I had a nice little mini-Rocktoberfest lined up last week. DJ Shadow at the Roseland on Wednesday night. Deerhunter at the Wonder on Thursday night. Sufjan Stevens at the Schnitzer on Friday night. Well, not all plans make it to fruition. I fell asleep on the couch Thursday night and skipped out on Deerhunter. That's life as a father of two girls under the age of 2.5 years. But, I did make it to the bookend shows and they were both great and quite different.



This was my second time to see DJ Shadow. The first time was at the Showbox in Seattle a few years back when he was on tour with Cut Chemist. They were doing a special show where they both DJ'd simultaneously using only 45's. It was terrible. The show Wednesday night at the Roseland was fantastic. After a few choice beers at Bailey's Taproom, we headed into the Roseland.

Shadow played some great cuts from several of his albums, including Endtroducing and Private Press. He also played some new stuff. The crowd, although a little light, was really into it. The stage set up was cool if not a bit cheesy. He spun records from inside this orb, which allowed for some cool visual effects. Then he would spin the orb around to an open part to allow us to watch what he was doing.


Friday night, my wife and I headed out to downtown for the Sufjan Stevens show. We didn't have much time to grab dinner so we settled in at the Sushi bar at Dragonfish around the corner. A few minutes later, Gus Van Sant and a friend sat down at the sushi bar. They were in an obvious hurry and about 20 minutes later we were all walking into the Schnitzer for the concert.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I could tell a large number of people in attendance were a little disappointed by the fact that he concentrated on playing songs from his two recent releases - the EP All Delighted People and the recent full length Age of Adz. Now first of all, if an artist has a new album (or 2) out you can expect the live set to heavily feature that new material. Especially someone as eccentric as Sufjan. You should probably listen to those albums before the show. Second, both of these are superb albums with interesting material. So, it should not be a disappointment to hear the new material.

I was shocked by how many people in the audience had obviously not listened to the new albums and were merely waiting for him to play songs from Illinois. Sucks for them, they had a long wait. I am really enjoying the new album and the majority of the songs translated well live. Sufjan was quite chatty and gave great incite into the inspiration for the newest LP. He was really into the new material and showed of some interesting dance moves. I was thrilled when he launched into the new album closer "Impossible Soul", a 25 minute monster that I love on the album but was certain he would not tackle live. Tackle it they did. They even stretched it out to over 28 minutes and had the crowd on it's feet for the first time all night.

Sufjan threw the crowd a few bones at the end by closing the set with "Chicago" and playing two more selections off of Illinois during the encore. It was obvious he had moved on from these songs as they were played with less than maximum gusto and the entire band even changed out of the classic Sufjan inspired matching outfits for the encore. I walked out with a huge smile on my face but I heard plenty of grumbling as the crowd exited the Schnitz. Sucks for them.