New Beers For The New Year

Forgive the delay on some of these, I was busy spending Christmas in the frozen beer-wasteland of Minnesota. Strangely, it was warmer there than it was in PDX for the first couple days, and they had less snow...

It wasn't a total bust; our hotel ended up being less than a mile from Blue Max, one of Minnnesota's premier bottle shops. I managed to squirrel away a few bottles and cans (mmm, Surly) in my checked luggage to share with people here.

Like another unexpected load of snow (or hail?!?), the new year starts off strong with some incredible new beers from here and abroad.

Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van de Kaiser Rood (red label): (commercial description) - To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the "Cuvée van de Keizer Blauw", the brewery launched a blond-version : Cuvée van de Keizer Rood. This beer is similar to the previous Gouden Carolus Easter Beer. Blond rich beer that is brewed each year during the easter period. It contains several types of malt and during brewing 3 herbs are added. It's golden blond colour, it's high alcohol concentration of 10 %, it's full and balanced taste make this beer into a source of vitality and strength which will appeal to the demanding beer taster. For ideal tasting pour out gently in one pull to a temperature round 7-8° C. Served with pride it is drunken with respect. This pleasant golden blond beer is chosen for he who loves a richer, somewhat spicy and refreshing beer.

Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor: This pale beauty encompasses all that is right in the world of Belgian beers; a radiant orange color, a massive white head that leaves a trail of lace down the glass, and a complexity of flavors that can only come from Belgian yeasts. If you enjoy Taras Boubla, Urthel Hop-It, or Houblon Chouffe you owe it to yourself to try the Hopsinjoor.

Malheur 10: (commercial description) - 10% abv – re-fermented and bottle-conditioned Full bodied, medium strong, gold coloured beer, with a rich honey-like texture, and a pleasant warming, slightly hoppy-dry lingering aftertaste

Malheur 12: (Commercial Description) - 12% vol.alc. – re-fermented and bottle-conditioned Rich, dark coloured beer, with a wonderful hoppy, floral nose and well-balanced flavours, making it easy to drink.

Deschutes Buzzsaw Brown: This is a pretty respectable, if somewhat boring brown ale. A translucent brown body capped in beige foam leads to biscuity malt character and a smooth, nutty finish. Good for those spring days when it's too cold for a pils and too warm for an imperial stout.

Bridgeport Beertown Brown: (commercial description) - Roasted chocolate and pale malts shake hands creating mild caramel flavors. Brown is your new reason to love beer. Hops are added to create the perfect balance of sweetness to hopiness. Brown is back... and it's beautiful. The only thing I can add is that the beer is much better than the silly name...

Bakalar Czech Lager: A crisp, slightly sweet Czech pilsner. Simple and effective.

Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock: (commercial description) - Leinenkugel 1888 Bock, a lucisous brew, originally created to serve lumberjacks, will be available for all who want to try its excellent boutique of Caramel, Pale and two-row Chocolate malts. Cluster hops add a touch of citrus character and when combined with Munich malts and a 20- to 25-day cold lagering process, you have a truly timeless beer.

Stone/Nogne O/Jolly Pumpkin Holiday Ale: Pours a deep amber/brown color with a white foamy head and nice lacing. Aroma of spice, spice, and more spice. The smooth caramel malt body supports the wide array of spices and hops. A nice full-bodied mouthfeel leads to a moderately hoppy finish that drags traces of nutmeg and carraway along for the ride.

Stone Cali-Belgique IPA: Stone IPA meets Belgian yeast. Fruity, hoppy, and oh so delicious...

Nonge O Dark Horizon (2nd Edition): The first edition of Dark Horizon was one of the most intensly beers I've ever had. Coffee, roast malt, smoke, mollasses, and alcohol collided in a hedonistic expression of the brewers art. The label for the second edition suggest waiting until fall of 2009 for it to properly meld and round out. Do you have the patience?

That's it for now, but a little birdie told me to expect cans from Oskar Blues next week, and a keg of Gordon was delivered to the (painfully smoke-free) Horse Brass today, so it may already be on tap by the time you read this.

Speaking of a smoke-free Brass, I'd like to leave you with this great photo by Anand Barnard, compliments of the Willamette Week flikr stream:

Weekend Round-Up

Let me start by apologizing for the spotty content updates lately, it's hard to spend time sitting sitting in front of the computer when the last glorious days of Oregon summer are upon us. That said, here's your daily dose of new beers, local events, and maybe some random thoughts...

New Beers:

Coney Island - Freaktoberfest: If I had to describe this beer in one word it would be weird. Or maybe red. <--- That's actually a pretty close match. On first sight most folks would assume this is some sort of fruit beer with a frothy pink head, but there's no mention of fruit on the label. Served blind it comes across as a slightly roasty oktoberfest brew; malty and delicious with just enough hops to keep the sugar in check. Did I mention it was bright freaking red? It's been taking some heat from the ratebeerians for the use of food coloring and the supposed ABV of "6.66%", but trust me, the shock value alone when you pour this for your friends is worth the five bucks.

Elysian - Night Owl: The best pumpkin beer in the northwest is back. Ordinarily I'd give this one a high grade based on past experience, but this appears to be the first Elysian brew to come rolling out of New Belgium's facility, and I'll have to see how well the recipe scaled up to NBB's considerably larger system. I have faith that the people who put out La Folie won't dissapoint, but I expect some differences at least. More to come...

Lagunitas - Cappuccino Stout: Mmm...coffee and beer. The cap stout is a real winner in Lagunitas' seasonal bomber rotation. It's smooth, and just a little bit sweet, but there's a good dose of roasted coffee bitterness snuggled in the malty blanket.


Events and stuff:


Hop Harvest Release Party 9.12.08: Tonight marks the official release for Bridgeport's Hop Harvest fresh hop ale. Oddly enough, I can't find ANY information on Bridgeport's website, but my trusty assistant Neil informs me that it runs from 5-8, and that they're supposedly featuring a firkin of last years' Hop Harvest. The thought of all the precious lupulin trapped in a keg for a whole year makes me shudder, but I'm still going to have a pint.


SNOB Gathering @ Hopworks 9.13.08:

From Brian Butenschoen of the Oregon Brewer's Guild:

Open to new, renewing and current SNOB's and their significant others. Brewery tour @ 2:30. Raffle to be held during event. Special price on pints - let's you keep a special Oregon Brewers Guild pint glass. Hopworks Urban Brewery 2944 SE Powell 1-4p 503-232-HOPS

Ayinger Glass Night in the Biercafe 9.17.08: Join us on Wednesday from 5 until close as we kick off the Oktoberfest season. We'll be tapping a fresh and delicious keg of Ayinger Oktoberfest, and every pint purchased includes a complimentary glass. There's a chance that someone from Merchant du Vin (the importer) will be on hand to answer questions, but the boss is out of town so I can't confirm that.


Collaborator Release Party 9.17.08: Also next Wednesday, Concordia Ale House is hosting the next Collaborator release from 6-8pm. Go and be one of the first to try Double River Doppelweizen, Jeffry Fisher and Laurie Yadon's ode to Schneider Aventinus, courtesy of Ike Manchester at the Widmer Brothers Rose Quarter Brewery.


Oktoberfest Tasting in the Biercafe 9.18.08: Join us on Thursday from 5-8pm as we sample a wide range of Oktoberfest brews from home and abroad. We'll have several O'fest beers on tap in the cafe as well as free samples of as many bottled versions as we can scrounge up. Confirmed draughts at this point include Ayinger, Warsteiner, and Heater Allen, and there's a slim chance that Double Mountain's entriy will be ready in time.

Dogtoberfest @ The Lucky Lab 9.20.08: Bring your dirty dogs to the Lucky Lab between 11 and 5 and we promise to send them home squeaky clean! If you look closely, you may see a local celebrity doing the dirty work! In the meantime, kick back and enjoy lunch, a live band and a refreshing beverage. All proceeds benefit Dove Lewis.


One last random note: We have roughly 3 cases of Deschutes Dissident in stock. The 2 bottle per person limit will remain in effect through the weekend, but if we have any left on Monday it'll be open season.

I think that's about it for today. I'm going to head down to Bridgeport and try some fresh hopped love, and then the Pilsner Room for some of John Harris' ridiculously good Lupulin Ale.

Cheers!

Dissident Delayed Until Next Week

The headline pretty much sums it up. I've been told that there's a very, very slim chance that it'll arrive tomorrow, but I'm not counting on it.

On the plus side, they do have bottles at the pub in the pearl district already, so if you can't wait until Tuesday they're probably your only option. They've also got it on draught, so you can sit and enjoy a glass while you contemplate how many bottles to take home.

Deschutes Black Butte XX and more...

Greetings beer lovers! Just a couple quick notes for today:

Deschutes 20th Anniversary Releases - The Deschutes Black Butte XX and 20th Anniversary Wit will be arriving tomorrow afternoon. Due to incredibly high demand (and low production) for the XX we'll be implementing a 3 bottle per person limit for the first few days in order to spread the beer out as much as possible. The 20th Anniversary Wit will not be subject to any restrictions, and with the weather predicted to be in the 90's it strikes me as a perfect beer to beat the heat this weekend.

North American Organic Beer Festival - The NAOBF kicks off at 3pm tomorrow. With 70+ beers to sample you could spend most of the weekend sampling organic goodies without drinking the same thing twice. I should also mention that we still have a limited number of voucher/ticket combos left. As previously noted, they are $15 each (1 mug + 10 drink tickets) and we are only able to accept cash for the vouchers. Remember, purchasing a mug and tickets in advance allows you to skip the regular line and speed your entry into the fest.

The Rogue XS Family is Growing - The XS Imperial Younger's Special Bitter ( aka XSIYSB?!?) is coming back as a year-round product, and the new XS Imperial Porter will be making it's bottled debut. We should have several cases of each available tomorrow afternoon.

That's all for now. Tune in tomorrow for a weekend round-up, and the first in a series of posts highlighting some of the best events coming up in July. Check out the Brewer's Guild site or the new (so new it's not quite live) oregoncraftbeer.com for more details on the 120+ events taking place during the next month. Remember - Think Oregon, Drink Oregon!

On Tap for the Weekend

We've got some tasty treats on tap this weekend, so come on down and sit beneath the shade of our patio umbrellas and have yourselves a world-class beer or two.

Astoria Brewing (Wet Dog Cafe) - Bitter Bitch Double IPA (people's choice winner at SBWF'07)
Deschutes Brewing - Abyss Imperial Stout
Anchor Brewing - Anchor "Our Special Ale" 2006
Brasserie De Ranke - XX Bitter

The Abyss was one of the fastest selling beers in the history of the store (close to 60 cases in under 2 weeks), so if you missed out on the bottled version this may be one of your last opportunities to sample this amazingly complex oak-aged imperial stout.

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Tags: BierCafe, Astoria Brewing, Deschutes Brewing, Anchor Brewing, De Ranke

Here's a few beers that you might be interested in trying (These should all be available at Belmont Station.) :

Oregon Trail Bourbon Porter--The old timey bourbon bottle label does this warming big beer justice. This is the second year Corvallis' Oregon Trail has produced this annual brew. Dark brown with a prevalent flavor of bourbon up front, other subtle notes come forth after the beer settles in your pallet. Creamy vanilla to chocolate is evident in this 9.1% beaut. This beer should age well as last year's did.

New Belgium Springboard Ale--Before trying this beer, I must admit I was a tad skeptical of it for a few reasons. You see, I am not the biggest fan of New Belgium beers for the most part. Fat Tire never really did it for me (though I must admit to being quite fond of their 1554 Dark Ale). This coupled with the fact that I had never experienced a beer with Goji berries, wormwood or other Chinese herbs. Now this isn't the same (arromatic) wormwood used to make absynthe, that would be toxic lunacy. Infact, this beer turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. As the bottle warmed up some, the bitterness induced by the ingredience became more noticable and the complexity of the beer became more apparent. The color was very pale and there were lager-like flavors in this crispy concoction. It was slightly citrusy and those who like adding lemons or oranges to their hefeweizens might consider doing the same with this one.

Marin Mt. Tam Pale Ale--The commercial description of this beer reads "This pale ale has a bright golden color, a medium body and a smooth taste." Ok, so it doesn't sound so exciting. But let me tell you, this beer is well constructed. The description is in fact logical and founded, but what I found with this gem is that it is composed of an almost perfect balance of Northwest hops that provide a citrus flavor, grainy malt leave with a miniature touch of carmel malts that make it almost (dare I say) perfect. Especially for a hop head who is getting burnt on monsterously big IPAs, this pale is sharper and bolder than something like Deschutes Mirror Pond or Full Sale Pale. I might even go as far as to call it a golden hoppy ale or a mini IPA. The color is a beautiful array of orange-yellow with a foamy white head. I gotta have another one now!

Deschutes Hop Henge--Everyone in Portland has been gaggling about the idea of a new Deschutes ale house or brewery coming to town. When I first moved to Oregon nearly ten years ago and discovered the microbrews of this fine state, I was extremely impressed with the beers of Deschutes. Mirror Pond, Black Butte Porter, Obsidian Stout, etc. Lately I've not been as big on their beers either because the bottle conditioned beers have disappeared or because a new brewery seems to be popping up almost daily to challenge my views and palette. Either way, a recent trip to the Deschutes Bond Street location in Bend reaffirmed my early opinion of the brewery. It kicks ass! With the Abyss Imperial Stout out of stock at Belmont Station, the newest arrival is this imperial IPA, Hop Henge. Over 8% ABW and very IBU-ed up, this is a gentle beast in a season of doublebarrel assaulting hopped brews (See the next beer to catch my drift). If your not a hop head, this beer is not for you, but if you are a head, you can't beat this beer, especially for a pricetag of under $4 for 22-oz.

Fishtale Ten Squared Barleywine--My co-worker Chris summed it up when he described this beer. 10 % alcohol+ 10 hops= 100% delicious. This deep amber hued beer from the organic Fish of Olympia, WA makes Moylan's Hopsickle come off like a sessions beer. Not really, but it is one maganormous gigantuan universe of hops. Depending on who you talk to, there's so many differnt flavors prevalent in this brew of brews including mango, lemon, grapefruit, menthol, and crackers. It's not likely to mellow out anytime soon do to the absurd quantity of hops and the high alcohol level. It is recommended that you take your time with this guy and share it with a friend or three.

Avery and Russian River Collaboration Not Litigation Ale--This is one interesting story. This Belgian Strong Ale is infact two beers from two breweries combined. As the name suggests (Collab not Lit) Avery and RR each had a nice brew called "Salvation". Instead of running to court over the rights to its nomenclature, the two forced linked up and put forth this big badboy. Now I must admit, that I am nowhere close to being a guru of beer, especially Belgian styled American ales. In fact, I think the American Belgian-styled beers are usually too funky and unbalanced for my liking. And while this one is both funky and unbalanced, for some reason, it was quirky enough and quaffable enough to work for me. With a deep and rich chestnut bruin color, this beer is fruity, sweet, malty, dry, rich, and sensually complex as hell. That's all I can say. Sorry, but you are just gonna have to pick one up for yourself (while supplies last) and make your own call. Love it or hate it, this beer is definitely one of a kind.


That's all I have in me for now. Come by the new location of Belmont Station--4500 SE Stark (SE Stark & 45th Avenue) and grab your own preferred pleasure.