We are open!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are open for business today until 10pm. We will be open tomorrow from 10-6pm.

Travel safely!

Widmer Drifter Coming Soon

Last night one of our loyal customers was kind enough to drop by with a sample of the Brothers' latest creation, the new Drifter Pale Ale. It's hard to get excited about a simple pale ale, but I gotta say I thought the stuff was delicious. So good in fact that I forgot to take any notes while I was drinking and it was gone before I knew it. Oh well, I suppose we'll just have to wait until it comes out (in late January I'm told) and try it again.

In other news, we're open for business at the moment, but if you're planning on coming this evening I'd suggest calling us at 503.232.8538 before you head out.

Cheers!

The Dark Others

Let's not forget about the other thick, robust, and chewy beers whose names aren't Abyss, Dark Lord, or Entire...there's a healthy divergency of other distinctly qu/affable brews to sate your esurience for grubbin' goodness during these snowy hyperborean times. These are sapid specialties to not overlook.


Trappiste Rochefort 10: Any monk-blessed brew is a keeper for certain, but the Rochefort 10 stands in a league of its own alongside the ranks of the rarefied and regal West Vleteren 12 and the saintly Bernardus apt brew. A deep, nutty, pitchy chestnut character topped by a lasting beige head certifies this recipe as a distinct worldly wonder. Earthy, smoky, yeast, and layered with candied effervescence, the Roch-10 is a means to treat ones self to the utmost wonderment in craft beer.






Moylans Ryan O'Sullivan's Imperial Stout: Thick dark beer to chew on. this self-proclaimed cigar stout holds smokey and fruity undertones. Clean and very enjoyable from a snifter, Ryan's private reserve is one beer containing a distinct cacao and cherry nip. Finishing slightly dry and wholly gritty and lovable during the dark and cold months, this nearly coagulates as it percolates in your aperture. For the price, this beer rivals all of those highly hyped hearty, husky objects of study with the allure of barrel-aging and the like. This Imp Stout is simply a complex standout.





Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter: Imperial Porter? More like an Imp Stout. In fact, this big dark, beautiful brew was awarded a 2008 World Beer Cup gold medal in the Imp Stout category. Crystal, chocolate, and black malt makes for a ballsy Dr. Hunter S. Thompson inspired brew that delivers on a promise to "bite you in the ass if you don't show it the proper respect." The folks at Flying Dog claim this beer is also perfect with cigars ablaze as it undoubtedly pairs rich chocolate and hearty beef slabs. Like the late good doctor, this beer is deep, daring, and complex.





Victory Storm King Imperial Stout: Aphotic, atramentous and highly advisable brew from Downington, Pennsylvania's killer brewery that pushes out fat beers like Hop Wallop Double IPA and Old Horizontal Barleywine. Storm King is a hugely hopped, roasty, dark black Imp Stout. Victory claims this beer to possess "more flavor than mere words can adequately describe" which might seem amplificated, but the claims that the King "will warm your heart" are obviously warranted. 9.1% ABV, it is easy to see how a barrel aging and/or a wax dipped bottle could escalate the price of this special beer to a high level. However, this beer remains a year-round paramour.

So there you have it, four wonderfully deep, dark, delish brews with oomph.

Recent Arrivals

Even ice and snow can't keep the good beer from reaching us. Just be sure to drive carefully (or take Trimet) so you can get home safely with your new found treasures. Speaking of Trimet, we're 4 blocks north of the #15 (get off at 45th and Belmont) and 5 blocks south of the #20 (get off at 44rd and Burnside), so even if you don't feel like driving you should be able to reach us fairly easily. That said, here's a few new things to drool over while you're snowed in...

New American Beers:

The Bruery Partridge in a Pear Tree: Based on the text of the back label it appears that The Bruery is beginning a "12 Days of Christmas" series. The first verse is a Belgian-style quadrupel, which seems like a fitting choice for something that's designed to be held onto for 11 more years. As it stands now it's a little bit under-carbonated, but I'd guess that was an intentional choice to keep the beer from becoming over-carbonated at some point down the line.

Lakefront East Side Dark: (Commercial Description) "The rich, coffee-like aroma and flavor of this fine Dark Bavarian style lager beer is derived from a precise blending of three different specialty barley malts: chocolate, black patent, and Munich malt. Munich malt is also added to bring about the creamy body of this malty brew that has an original gravity of 1060. The most impressive aspect of this brew is the perfect balance between the specialty malts and coveted Mt. Hood hops. Unlike many other dark beers, East Side Dark doesn't have the bitter aftertaste associated with it. Instead, your palate is greeted with the rich body and balanced flavor that only this beer can deliver."

Avery 14er ESB: (Commercial Description) "Named for the 54 Colorado peaks which tower over 14,000 feet in elevation, our session beer is a spectacular copper hued beauty. The treatment of our water to simulate English hard water and the blending of several specialty malts and hops produce a delicate balance between aromatic maltiness and herbal hops."

Avery Ellie's Brown: (Commercial Description) "This beautiful, deep russet brew has the sweet and somewhat nutty character of Adam Avery's late (1992-2002) Chocolate Lab, for which it is named. Crystal and chocolate malts give this beer a brown sugar maltiness with hints of vanilla and nuts, while subtle hopping gives it an overall drinkability that's second to none, just like Ellie!"

Sam Adams Chocolate Bock: (Commercial Description) Samuel Adams partnered with Scharffen Berger Chocolate to develop their newest innovation, Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock. Tettnang Tettnanger and Spalt hops were hand-selected from the world's oldest growing area and combined with a complex selection of malts including two row Pale, Munich and caramel to create a rich and satisfying brew. This dark beer has a big, malty character that is combined with the subtle sweetness of chocolate. The chocolatiers at Scharffen Berger crafted an exclusive blend of chocolate for Samuel Adams made with cocoa beans from Ghana called forastero. Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock was aged on a bed of this chocolate to create its unique layers of flavor. As the beer matured, the fruity, tart, earthy and chocolate aromas were infused into the liquid to give the brew a complex, full-bodied taste with a velvety finish. A hint of vanilla was added to meld the symphony of flavors together.

Woodchuck Oak Aged Cider: Personall I thought this stuff was painfully sweet, but no more so than any of the other varieties of Woodchuck. It does have the slightest hint of oak character to it, but as the cider warms up the residual sugar starts to dominate and it's hard to get past it. If sweet cider is your thing it's definitely worth a shot, otherwise I'd suggest moving on to something drier.

Heater Allen Sandy Paws Baltic Porter: (Commercial Description) "Our Christmas beer. This year's Sandy Paws will be a Baltic Porter - think Dopplebock with more roasted flavors. Big, roasty, malty. A great beer to sit by the fire with. (1.022 BG, 6.60%, 32 IBU, 30 SRM)"

New Old Lompoc C-Note Imperial Pale Ale: Now available in 22oz bottles! For most Portlanders this beer needs no introduction, but for the unfamiliar it can be summed up in one word: HOPS. A huge load of "C hops" (Centennial, Crystal, Cluster, Chinook, Cascade, and Columbus) induces lupulin-based euphoria and the 7% abv is tucked under the smooth, creamy malt profile where you won't notice it until it's too late.

New Old Lompoc Special Draft (aka LSD): I have a feeling that this beer would be flying off the shelves at a much faster rate had the folks at NOL been able to write "LSD" in drippy, psychedelic lettering on the label. But this is America, and the TTB wouldn't want people to get confused and think there's LSD-25 in the beer, so they were forced to drop the distinctive logo seen on tap handles across Portland and change the name from "Strong Draft" to "Special Draft". Other than that, it's the same strong, hoppy, and slightly smoky brew you know and love, now in a convenient take-home package. We postponed the NOL bottle release and tasting until Monday the 22nd, so cross your fingers and hope the weather is a little more agreeable by then.

New Imports:

Unibroue Taster 4-pack #1 (6% series): This gift set contains one bottle each of the Raftman (smoked ale), Chambly Noire (black ale), Blanche de Chambly (witbier), and Ephemere (Belgian ale with apples). With the exception of the Ephemere, none of these is available in Oregon, so it's a great way to try some of Unibroue's other offerings.

Unibroue Taster 4-Pack #2 (9% series): The "strong pack" contains one each of Maudite, Trois Pistoles, Don de Dieu, and La Fin du Monde. If you're new to the Unibroue line up you should definitely check this one out.

Haandbryggeriet Nissefar: (commercial description) This beer is full of all the dark malts that we have at hand and displays a full and complex malt taste, almost reaching in to the porter style. It has a balanced fruitiness from hops with a good mouth feel and smoothness, and a lingering aftertaste of roasted malts.

(Struise T'sjeeses: (commercial description) "Deep to orange blond abbey triple winter beer which has been lagered for 8 months on different stone fruits. Tsjeeses was born out of a 5 year brew experience regarding x-mas beer without being capable of finding a suitable name up to now. With the name came a face, a caricature actually, that was drawn on the day Urbain, our brew master and master brewer, drank too many Tsjeeses's. Every time he drinks one, he says "Tsjeeses, what a beer". Therefore the name is more an expression of stupefaction than a curse. We have had already many discussions around the pronounciation of "Tsjeeses". Very close would be that you say "cheeses" or cheese in plural.

Dieu de Ciel Solstice d'Hiver: Mmmm, barleywine. Nothing says "cold weather sipper" like a glass of strong, warming nectar. I've yet to try a bad beer from DdC, and this one is no slouch either. Low carbonation, subdued alchohol presence, and a full body encourage you to take your time and savor the season.

Olfabrikken Winter Porter: Apparently it's a spiced Baltic porter brewed with honey and cold fermented, which sounds delicious. I'll be drinking one of these in a little bit, so I'll try and update this post ASAP with some more info.

Returning Favorites:

Chimay Grand Reserve Magnums: Same Chimay, bigger bottle.

De Ranke Pere Noel: This hoppy Belgian delight never lasts long, so don't delay is you want to grab a bottle or two.

Reindeer's Revolt: This English strong ale is from Ridgeway, the same brewery responsible for the whimsical "Bad Elf" line of Christmas brews that have become popular the last couple years. I'm not sure why it arrived months later than the others, but it's back and ready to get stuffed into someone's stocking.

Weltenburger Wintertraum: Most German brewers eschew spices, fruits, and other adjuncts in an attempt to follow the Reinheitsgebot, so there's not much room for creativity when it comes to seasonals. None the less, Weltenburger has crafted a wonderfully full-bodied Vienna lager to capture the warmth of the season.

Redstone Vanilla/Cinnamon mead: Mmm, fermented honey with spices. Simple, clean, and potent, which is just what you need after spending the day with your family...

Kulmbacher Monchshof Weinacht Lager (5 liter mini-keg): The Weinacht flows from the minikeg with a deep golden hue and a frothy white cap, reminiscent of the picture of Santa on the outside. It's medium-bodied and has a fairly pronounced "cookie dough" malt character along with light herbal and citrus hop notes in finish. Bring this smooth, easy drinking beer to your next holiday party and see if you can find a couple of elves to do a mini-keg stand!

That'll do it for now. There's more snow coming, so stay warm and safe out there...

Nation’s economy is down, but it’s not reflected in beer sales

Attendance at the 13th annual Holiday Ale Festival stays consistent, bringing in 17,000 beer lovers

from organizer Chris Crabb

PORTLAND, Ore. – Dec. 12, 2008 – Sunny skies and mild temperatures set the mood for the 13th annual Holiday Ale Festival, which witnessed attendance consistent with the year prior: final numbers reached 17,000. The West Coast’s most prestigious winter beer festival took place Dec. 3 through Dec. 7 at Pioneer Courthouse Square.


Organizers added a fifth day to the event this year, which was well-received by the public. According to event manager Preston Weesner, the goal was to have 500 attend on opening day: more than 1,000 turned up, many to sample an additional eight special beers that weren’t available the rest of the weekend. A new annex with a third bar was also deemed a success, as it helped to alleviate the crowds in the main tent.

The Belgian Beer and Brunch, an auxiliary event held on the Sunday of the festival, sold out, with more than 80 people sampling prestigious beers and noshing on pastries, meats and cheeses.

The Holiday Ale Festival presented more than 50 robust winter craft beers on draught, all of which were either created for the event, or were rare or vintage beers not readily available in the state. These winter warmers were all designed to ward off the chill of winter and warm both the palate and soul. Complex in aroma and flavor, these beers were rich in color, big in body, and high in alcohol.


The People’s Choice winner, which was determined by the beer that went through the most kegs, was Collaborator’s Hallucinator Olde Ale, followed by the Holiday Ale Festival/Hair of the Dog Commemorative Blend Jim II.

Festival attendees stayed warm and dry under a large clear-topped tent that covered the venue while allowing for views of the city lights. Gas heaters created a cozy ambiance under the boughs of the city’s Christmas tree.

In addition to beer tasting, the Holiday Ale Festival also featured on-site food from Rogue Ales, event merchandise, complimentary Crater Lake Sodas for designated drivers, organic cheese pairings, mead sampling, and seasonal background music.

Next year’s Holiday Ale Festival will take place Dec. 2 through 6, 2009. For more information about the Holiday Ale Festival, visit www.holidayale.com or call 503-252-9899.

Pike Entire Stout Arrives

Only one new beer today, but it's a special one.

via John Foyston's blog:

Pike Entire is a blend of three beers: Pike's XXXXX Extra Stout; the same beer aged for more than half a year in oak Bourbon barrels; and an Imperial Stout. The Entire blend contains 42.7% barrel aged beer and finishes at 9.5% alcohol.

Mmm...wood. We only received a couple of cases, so we ask that customers limit themselves to 2 bottles per person.



PS: We also received a keg of De Struise Black Albert, an incredibly rare "Belgian Royal Stout" from the brewers of Pannepot and Earthmonk. I'm not sure when we'll be tapping it, but it'll be publicized ahead of time so that anyone who's interested can hopefully have an opportunity to sample it.

Big List of (Sorta) New Beers

As promised, here's the list of everything we've received in the last 6 weeks or so, with the exception of a couple of things like the Abyss that have already come and gone.

12.02.08
~Firestone Walker - Walker's Reserve Porter
~Rogue Ales - Sig's Deadliest Ale
~Erie Brewing - Ol' Red Cease and Desist Wee Heavy

11.28.08
~Santa Cruz Organic Brewing - The People's Organic Coffee Porter

11.25.08
~Hair Of The Dog - Doggie Claws Barleywine
~Anderson Valley - Deep Enders Dark Porter
~Heater Allen - Hugo Bock

11.21.08
~New Belgium - Frambozen
~Alaskan Brewing - Baltic Porter
~Dansk Viking Blod - Danish Mead with hibiscus and hops
~St Bernardus Christmas Gift Packs - Contains a St. Bernardus and 1 bottle each of the Pater 6, Proir 8, Abt 12, and Tripel.

11.18.08
~Professor Briem's 1809 - Berliner Weisse
~The Bruery - Trade Winds Tripel
~The Bruery - Autumn Maple
~The Bruery - Black Orchard
~The Bruery - Orchard White
~The Bruery - Saison Rue
~Harvey's Brewing - Christmas Ale
~De Dolle - Dulle Teve (Mad Bitch) Tripel
~Alesmith - X Pale Ale
~Alesmith - Yulesmith

11.12.08
~Goose Island - Bourbon County Stout
~Pinkus - Jubilate Lager
~North Coast Brewing Co. - La Merle Saison

11.11.08
~Scaldis - Scaldis Noel

11.07.08
~Boulder Brewing - Never Summer
~Boulder Brewing - Killer Penguin Barleywine
~Ridgeway Brewing - Bad Elf
~Ridgeway Brewing - Very Bad Elf
~Ridgeway Brewing - Seriously Bad Elf
~Ridgeway Brewing - Insanely Bad Elf
~Ridgeway Brewing - Criminally Bad Elf
~Ridgeway Brewing - Santa's Butt Porter
~Ridgeway Brewing - Lump of Coal Stout
~La Choulette - Noel
~De La Senne - Zinnebir Xmas
~Olfabrikken - Kloster Jul
~Olfabrikken - Jule Ale
~Brasserie Geants - Noel de Geants
~Mikkeller - Not Just Another Wit
~Sogaard's - Julebak
~Nogne O - Pecuiliar Yule
~Norrebro Bryghus - Julebryg
~Curious Christmas 4pk - contains one bottle each of Bad Elf, Seriously Bad Elf, Lump of Coal, and Pickled Santa spiced ale
~Otter Brewing (UK)- Hoppy Otter IPA
~Otter Brewing (UK)- Otter Head ESB
~Redhook - Double Black Coffee Stout
~Sam Smith's - Winter Welcome 2008

11.04.08
~Anchor Our Special Ale (aka Anchor Christmas)
~Rogue Ales - Yellow Snow IPA
~Rogue Ales - Santa's Reserve
~Jenlain - Noel

10.31.08
~Stone Brewing - Double Bastard (we have plenty of bombers and 1 3ltr bottle left)
~Green Flash - Le Freak (Belgian Tripel/IPA hybrid)
~Lang Creek - Glacier Pilot
~Elysian - BiFrost
~Schmaltz Brewing - HeBrew Jewbilation 12
~Professor Briem's 13th Century Grut Bier
~Sam Adams - Winter Lager
~Widmer BRewing - Snow Plow Milk Stout (only available in 22oz this year)
~Laughing Dog - Cold Nose Winter Warmer
~Big Sky - Powderhound
~Big Sky - Slow Elk Stout

10.28.08
~Mikkeller - Santa's Lil Helper
~Mikkeller - To: From:
~St. Bernardus - Christmas Ale
~Dick's Brewing - Double Diamond
~Snoqualmie Falls - Harvest Ale
~Pyramid - Sno Cap
~Sierra Nevada - Celebration Ale
~Cascade Brewing - Cuvee du Jongleur
~Cascade Brewing - Cascade Blackberry
~Cascade Brewing - Cascade Kriek
~Ninkasi - Oatis Oatmeal Stout

10.24.08
~Mahr's Brau - Christmas Bock
~Van Den Bossche - Kerst Pater
~Golden Valley - Tannenbomb
~Bridgeport - Raven Mad Imperial Porter

10.17.08
~Avery Brewing - Old Jubilation
~Sierra Nevada - Harvest Ale
~Bridgeport - Ebenezer

10.14.08
~Kiuchi (aka Hitachino) - Yuzu Wine
~Grado Plato - Chocarrubica
~Glazen Toren - Cuvee Angelique
~Glazen Toren - Saison d'Erpe
~Wye Valley - Dorothy Goodbody's Our Glass
~Montegioco - Draco Barleywine
~Tsmisje - Guido
~Del Borgo - Genziana (ale with gentian)
~Del Borgo - Te (ale with tea leaves added)
~Hanssen's - Kriek
~Hanssen's - Oudbeitje (strawberry lambic)
~Harviestoun - Old Engine Oil
~Harviestoun - Ola Dubh 12yr
~Harviestoun - Ola Dubh 16yr
~Harviestoun - Ola Dubh 30yr
~Hitachino - Espresso Stout
~Hitachino - Ginger Brew
~Hitachino - Weizen
~JW Lee's - Manchester Star Dark Ale
~JW Lee's - Moonraker Barleywine
~JW Lee's - Harvest Ale 2006
~JW Lee's - Harvest Ale 2007
~JW Lee's - Harvest Ale: Calvados '05
~JW Lee's - Harvest Ale: Calvados '06
~JW Lee's - Harvest Ale: Port '06
~JW Lee's - Harvest Ale: Port '07
~Uerige - Alt
~Uerige - Doppelsticke
~Ettaler - Curator Doppelbock
~Ettaler - Kloster Dunkel
~Ettaler - Kloster Helles
~La Rulles - Estivale
~La Rulles - Tripel
~Bayerischer Bahnhoff - Leipziger Gose
~Birrificio di Como - Malthus Baluba
~Birrificio di Como - Malthus Birolla
~Alvinne - Melchior
~Alvinne - Gaspar
~Alvinne - Podge Imperial Stout
~Baladin - Baladin Noel Magnums
~Baladin - Sour Edition Saison (Vintage 2005)
~De Dolle - Oerbier
~Birrificio Troll - Palanfrina
~Birrificio Troll - Shangrila
~RCH - Old Slug Porter
~Brasserie Vapeur - Saison De Pipaix 1995
~Sinebrychoff - Porter
~St. Michaelsburg - Kellerbier
~Laurelwood - Free Range Red

Whoa. That's a lot of brew...

Most of these are listed on either Ratebeer.com or Beeradvocate.com but I'm happy to answer questions if anyone is curious about something on the list.

Cheers!

~Chris

Breaking The Silence

It's been a long six weeks, and every day that I don't write something, it becomes harder to figure out what to say.

I was hoping that some of the other folks on staff would have the urge to post something in my absence (I would like to thank Angelo for throwing a couple posts up there), but they don't get paid to write so I certainly can't blame them for not posting anything.

I doubt that anyone really cares to hear all the reasons I've been MIA, so I'll distill it down to as few words as possible: Sudden, unexpected eviction from my home which resulted in the loss of home internet connectivity. Ratebeer.com (my primary source for researching new beers) hacked to oblivion. Writers block. General malaise, bordering on burn out. Contemplation as to the future of the blog. Add it all up and you have a recipe for lack of content.

Despite what the time stamps on many of my posts would lead you to believe, the vast majority of my blogging (or at least the research) happened at home, and the loss of home internet access greatly hampered my ability to post.

I've also spent a great deal of time contemplating where to go with the blog. When I started this thing (back in March 2006) there was almost nothing in the way of local beer news online. I saw the blog as a way to not only keep people informed of new beers, but to keep everyone abreast of all the other happenings in our region. It was also a great way to kill time on really slow days in the old location, where I was often the only person working, and the time between customers could often be measured in hours. There's only so much cleaning and stocking a person can do, and I get bored easily, so writing gave me a (semi-productive) way of passing the time.

Fast forward to fall 2008: Between buying and tracking the ever-increasing selection (now over 1100 beers), managing our wonderful staff, and the general increase in business that comes with the holidays, spare time at work is a precious commodity these days.

There's also been an explosion of locally-focused beer writing in the last two years. It now seems as though every brewery and pub in town has a Twitter feed, and for more verbose write-ups we've got John Foyston's Oregonian blog, Portlandbeer.org, Beervana, Guest on Tap, The BS Brewing collective (aka The Champagne of Blogs), Beer Around Town, and Brewpublic, most of which are written by much more accomplished wordsmiths than I.

In some cases these are professional writers who are getting paid to sit in front of the keyboard. In other cases it's people with the motivation (and transportation) to visit every brewery and beer bar in the state in order to keep us all informed. In almost every case it's people who have more time, energy, and writing skills than I do, so I've been feeling as though my posts about upcoming events and festivals aren't really needed in this suddenly crowded space.

What does that leave me with, content-wise? I don't receive the press releases or previews to festivals and events like John Foyston does, so there's a good chance that he (or Angelo, or Jeff, or...) will have written about said event before I've even heard about it. The front page of our website stays current as far as our tap list and impending events are concerned, and the Events page is updated with every new tasting as soon as it's scheduled, so it's kind of redundant to post those in yet another location. The only thing left that I can think of is to list the new beers that come in on Tuesday and Friday.

Is there anything I'm forgetting? Some theme or topic that the few remaining readers of this humble blog want me to expound upon? Let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do. I received one of those high tech "smart phones" recently, so I might try my hand at some mobile blogging when I find myself in a bar with an interesting line-up, or perhaps even "live on the scene" updates from festivals and such. Of course, that depends on whether or not I can get blogger.com to work properly on the phone, so I'm not promising anything yet...

Stay tuned; in the interest of anal-retentive completeness I'll be posting a list of every new beer we've received since the last post on October 14th. Going forward I'll also try to post something every Tuesday and Friday (at the very least) to keep you all informed about the new arrivals in the store.

Cheers!

~Chris