New Arrivals and Event Notices

There's been a slow, steady trickle of new beers over the last few days, and a couple of exciting special releases, so I figured it was time for a new beer round-up. We've also added a couple fun events to the calendar; details on those follow the list of new beers.

New American Craft Brews:

• Deschutes Mirror Mirror Barleywine - Arguably one of Deschutes' first (and some would say best) forays into "extreme beer", the first batch of Mirror Mirror was released back in the spring of 2006. Clocking it at 11.5%abv (up from 10% last time) and aged in a variety of barrels, it has been an elusive, sought-after beast ever since it first hit the market, causing almost hyperbolic raves on the local BeerAdvocate and Ratebeer forums. Supplies are limited, so we've instituted a 6 bottle per person limit through Saturday. If there's any left on Sunday it'll be fair game. They state on their website that it will be "best after April 2010", so try and save a bottle or two and see how it evolves...
  
• Deschutes Red Chair IPA - The newest release in the 22oz Bond St. series is big on hop flavor and aroma, but low on the bitterness. It's perfect for those times when you want to satiate a hop craving without totally blowing out your palate for the rest of the day.
  
• Widmer 84/09 Double Alt - This imperialized version of the Brothers' original brew is big, bold, and yet still refined. They didn't make much, and it won't last long, so grab it while you can.
  
• Lagunitas 2009 Correction Ale - A pale hoppy beer from Lagunitas? Who'da thunk? Seriously though, this is a great little (big) beer. Pale, clean, and with a nice fruity hop note. Call it Hop Stoopid Light, call it a tweaked version of Kill Ugly Radio, but whatever you do, don't call it an Imperial IPA.
  
• Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy - This is Leinie's take on the beer/lemonade concoction known as a radler or shandy. In Germany this blend is especially favored by bikers (radler is German for Bicyclist) and other outdoor enthusiasts because if it's light refreshing character and lower alcohol content. The Leinenkugel's version is a 4.2% lightly filtered hefeweizen flavored with lemonade and "natural flavors." While not a true 50/50 blend of beer and lemonade it hits the mark pretty well and will make a nice light yard work beer.
  
• Boulder Sweaty Betty - Boulder summer offering is a pleasant, unfiltered wheat beer with a slight citrusy character and a smooth finish.
  
• Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat - This was one of Lost Coast's offerings at the 2009 Spring Beer and Wine Fest, so some of you may have had it on tap. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but ratebeerian GodOfThunder describes it thusly, "The aroma is light and full of sweet tangerine fruitiness. The flavors are the same. Thin mouthfeel, light, refreshing, fruity and actually comforting. Reminds me of a tangerine mimosa. I like this a lot, and I am surprised. This would be great for a day at the beach. Nothing bad about it." Sounds good to me...
• Bison Single IPA (Willamette) - I can truly appreciate what Bison is trying to do with this series from an educational standpoint, but this is probably my least favorite of the single hop series thus far. Willamette hops have a very grassy, earthy, herbal aroma which usually works pretty well in understated British-style IPAs, but in this case I think the excessively grassy character is poorly suited to the Werst Coast-style base beer they've created. That said, I would still recommend that anyone with a passing interest in brewing try a bottle of this, if only to gain insight into the nuances of this classic American hop variety.
  
• Widmer Hefeweizen 5 Liter Minikegs - The same classic hefe that started the "American Wheat Beer" trend, now in a 5 liter "minikeg" that's perfect for barbeques, beach parties, or a long day of home brewing in the sunshine...
  

New Imports:

• Kostritzer Schwarzbier - This classic Schwarzbier dropped off of the distribution lists for a couple of years, but it's beack and just as delicious as always. If you've never ahd a Schwarz, this is a great into to the style. It's also a fun beer to hand someone when they give you the old "I don't drink those dark beers because they're too heavy" screed. Light on the palate, with just a hint of hops and roasty malt.
• Guinness 250th Anniversary - Speaking of schwarzbiers, Guinness has unveiled a new beer to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the lease on their flagship brewery in St. James Gate. It's supposedly a "stout", but it's actually more of a brown ale/schwarzbier hybrid with a transparent brown hue and only the slightest hints of roasty malt character.
  
• Saison 1900 - This is a pretty nice little saison. A little "bubblegummy" yeast character sets it apart from some of the others in the style, but it's pretty light and easy drinking. At roughly 5%abv it's a bit easier on the liver than some of the stronger saisons as well.
  
• Three Horses Lager - Canned beer from Madagascar. Again, it's probably a typical tropical yellow beer, but how often do you see beer from Madagascar?
  
• Saigon Lager - I haven't had this one yet, but I assume it's a typical hot weather lager. It does add one more country to the list, and we've already had a few customers snatch some up to fit their Vietnamese dinner plans.
• Rialto Lager -Tropical lager from El Salvador. It's got a cool looking silk-screened bottle with Incan ruins on it, but there's not much going on inside.
• Sam Smiths Organic Fruit Ales - We received three new "organic hand-crafted fruit ales" from the venerable British brewer today: Strawberry, Raspberry, and Cherry. I haven't had a chance to try any of them yet, but Sam Smiths is known for high quality brew, and I wouldn't expect them to put these out unless they were solid.
  

Events and Stuff:

Monday May 4th 6-9pm: Trade Route Tasting/Meet The Brewer: Join Chris Castillo as he offers samples of Dragon King Lager, Mango Wiezen, Ginger Pale Ale, Panden Brown Ale, and the Brand new Infidel Kaffir Lime IPA. Choice Trade Route Draft in the Biercafe.

Wednesday May 13th 6-9pm: Barley Browns Tasting/Meet the Brewer. If you've ever been out to Baker City you know how great their beer is. Brewer Shawn Kelso will bring us some very special drafts for this big night in the Biercafe: WFOIPA, Tank Slapper Double IPA, 18 Month Aged Double Whiskey Malt Ale, and Armstrong Double Golden. Barley Browns beer on special in the Biercafe all day.


Off Site Events:

May 1 and 2: Portland Cheers to Belgian Beers at the West Side Lucky Lab. Full beer list and details are available at the Oregon Brewers Guild site.

Saturday May 9th 2-6pm: Fredfest 2009 takes place at the Hair of the Dog brewery. Join 250 of Portland's beer community in celebrating Fred Eckhardt's birthday. Details and tickets available at the Fred Fest site.

That's all for now. Have a safe and happy weekend!

Blue Frog Beer Arrives in Oregon

We got 5 new beers in this morning from Blue Frog Grog and Grill in Fairfield, CA. I haven't had a chance to taste any of them yet, but I'll try and squeeze them into the line up for this weekend.



We've got their Blonde Ale, Hefeweizen, Red Ale, IPA, and "The Big DIPA" imperial IPA.

In addition to the Blue Frog we saw a few seasonal favorites return to the shelves or coolers:

Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial Ale (very limited, so please don't hoard it)
Dogfish Head Midas Touch
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
Anderson Valley Summer Solstice
Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale (now in 6pks!)
Hale's Kolsch
Pyramid Curveball Blonde Ale

I think that's it for today. Don't forget about the Spring Beer and Wine Fest this weekend!

New Beer, New Equipment, New Photos

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so consider this my 3000 word treatise for the day.


New Beers!

From left to right: Bridgeport Hop Czar, Full Sail Keelhauler, Cascade The Vine, Laurelwood Hop Monkey IPA, and Lagunitas Gnarlywine.

Other new beers not pictured:

Alaskan - White Ale
Kona - Wailua Wheat
Bayern - Dragon's Breath Dunkelweizen
Bayern - Maibock
Buffalo Bill's - Orange Blossom
Lang Creek - Cherry Porter
Lang Creek - Huckleberry and Honey
Ommegang - Biere de Mars

New ciders, meads, and ciders:

Red Branch - Hard Lemonade
Red Branch - Apple and Honey Cider
Rabbit's Foot - Dry Mead
Rabbit's Foot - Sweet Mead
Rabbit's Foot - Apple Ceyser
Rabbit's Foot - Raspberry Mead
Rabbit's Foot - Diabhal Golden Ale
Rabbit's Foot - Biere de Miele Koelsch


New Equipment!


After much delay, we finally got our beer engine installed last week. A pint of well-kept cask-conditioned ale is one of life's most delicious pleasures, and we're happy to finally have the means to provide them. We've got Hopworks IPA on right now, and there's a keg of Beer Valley's Leafer Madness Imperial Pale lined up behind that. I can't give out any more info at the moment, but we may be tapping something very special in the next week, so keep your eye on the blog or twitter feed.

Last but not least, I had the pleasure of attending a tasting at Bailey's Taproom on Wednesday night. It was comprised of mainly Beeradvocate users, with a few industry folks like myself, Ezra (the Samurai Artist), and Geoff, the owner of Bailey's. Geoff was kind enough to allow us to bring in outside bottles; a very generous offer considering his only source of revenue is alcohol. I tried taking a few photos to test out my tiny new pocket camera (a nice little Sony Cybershot), but between the poor lighting and my unfamiliarity with the device my pictures turned out mediocre at best. I did end up with one photo that (after a bit of tweaking) does a fairly accurate job of summarizing how I felt after plowing through a table full of strong, rare beer:


Highlights included several vintage sour ales, a growler of Russian river Sanctification, Brooklyn Local #2, Upland Cherry Lambic, HOTD Cherry Adam From the Wood, and Cave Creek Chili Beer.


I think that's it for now. Be sure to stop by the Biercafe on Tuesday to help us raise money for Mercy Corps - 25% of all food and draught sales in the cafe will be going directly to the NFP for their "Dine for Darfur" program. Click here for more information on Mercy Corps and Dine For Darfur.

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!

...And Then There Were 9

First off, I apologize for the lack of posts recently. Maybe it was writer's block, or the weather, but for whatever reason I couldn't motivate myself to sit in front of the computer any more than I already have to.

However, today is a new day, and with it comes big news. After months of planning, designing, and lots of waiting, our new draught system is almost complete. We now have 9 tasty selections to whet your whistle, and with any luck we'll be up to 12 by the end of the week. We'll still continue to rotate through all your favorite locals and imports, and the added capacity will allow us to feature a broader range of styles at any given time.

We're also going to bring in some "forgotten favorites" on occasion; classic craft brews like Pike Pale Ale, Mad River Jamaica Red, and Rogue Imperial IPA that you may not have had in a while.

It's all a work in progress as far as styles and selections, but if there's anything in particular you'd like to see on tap please leave a comment or mention it to the bartender next time you're in the cafe. With that, here's the list...

On tap as of now:

• Alameda El Torrero IPA
• Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA
• Lagunitas Gnarlywine
• Pike Pale Ale
• Warsteiner Premium
• Weihenstephan Hefe Weissbier
  
• Cascade Lakes Monkey Face Porter
• Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
• Six Rivers Framboise (aka Losen Frambozen)
  

Speaking of the Warsteiner, some of you may have received our email last week mentioning the 2 liter boots that are now available. We have plans for those boots as well (I'll save the details for another post) and if you've seen the movie Beerfest you should have an idea of what we've got in mind.

UPDATE: Thursday June 5, 2008 @ 5pm

We got 3 more lines up and running, which brings us to 12 taps. In addition to the list above, we've also tapped:

• New Belgium's Le Fleur Misseur (their spelling), a 6.5% Belgian-style blonde fermented entirely with brettanomyces. It's fairly light, a little funky, and pretty tough to come by, so stop in and have a pint. It's about as close to Orval as you're going to get on tap...
  
• Allagash Black, a delicious Belgian-style imperial stout from the other Portland. Smooth, silky, and full bodied, it's a truly rare treat to sip.
  
• Schneider Aventinus Eisbock. (Coming tomorrow) I don't recall ever seeing this on tap before, so I'm as excited as anyone to try a glass of this.

That's all I got for now. Don't forget about the Dick's beer tasting on Tuesday (June 10th) from 6-8pm. Dick's Brewing makes perhaps the widest range of bottles of any brewery in the region, and I don't know what all we'll be offering, but I can guarantee there'll be at least 7-8 different bottles to sample. We'll also have a keg (or two) of something tasty pouring in the cafe. Check the events page for more details on this and other upcoming tastings.

Viva la Choice!

One last note for the anonymous poster requesting AK Smoked Porter: I'm not sure if the distributor has any left, but I'll do what I can to scrounge one up!

New Arrivals For Tuesday April 22, 2008

This is perhaps the slowest time of year for new beers. Other than a trickle of summer seasonals from the bigger craft brewers, there's not much of interest being released. In the meantime I've been exploring the wonderful world of sake. Look for our selection (now hovering around 25 hand-selected varieties) to expand as we continue our never-ending quest to bring you the finest libations we can.

New Beers:

Malheur Brut Reserve - This strong golden ale undergoes "methode champenoise" to produce a high level of carbonation and a dense head of tiny bubbles. Aromas of citrus fruit, light floral notes, and nutty malt lead into a cleanly malty, effervescent body before coalescing in a long, dry finish.

Lagunitas Lucky 13 - Brewed to celebrate their 13th anniversary, the Lucky 13 is is hoppy, red, and delicious. C'mon, it's Lagunitas, what more do you need to know?

HeBrew Rejewvenator - HeBrew has declared this "The Year of the Fig", and to celebrate the occasion they've released the Rejewvenator, and dark malty brew loaded with fig juice.

Alaskan Summer - Alaskan Summer Ale balances a softly malted palate with the clean freshness of Hallertauer hops. In the tradition of the style, neither overpowers the other. Both hops and malt come together to refresh and renew the palate. The straw-gold color and easy drinkability are an enjoyable way to celebrate summer.


New Sakes:

Zen Tokubetsu Junmai - As the name implies, Zen is balanced. Clean and smooth with notes of peaches and rice milk. Just dry enough to encourage you to take another sip or two.

Itami Onigoroshi - This is about as dry as sake gets. Subtle fruit and floral notes linger on the palate for several minutes after each sip.

Yuri Masamune - This off-dry sake starts with aromas of alcohol and flowers. The fruity, off-dry flavors blend into a woodsy, earthy finish. Great value for the price.

Momokawa Sake Sampler - This is a great way to introduce yourself (or your friends) to the wonderful world of sake. One bottle each of Momokawa Silver (off-dry junmai), Momokawa Diamond (dry junmai), Momokawa Pearl (genshu nigori), and Moonstone Plum (fruit-infused sake) are included in the set. Grab some sashimi and expand your horizons with Japan's ancient beverage.

Not really new, but worth mentioning: The Greene King Abbott Ale and Wexford Cream Ale have finally returned. Many customers lamented the loss of these two pub cans when they disappeared from our shelves a few months ago, but they've finally found their way back into our coolers.

Upcoming releases to watch out for: Stumptown Tart, Bridgeport's first fruit beer, is a Belgian-style ale infused with tons (literally) of Oregon Marionberries. Look for it to hit the shelves late this week. The next 22oz special release from Laurelwood is also due in this Friday, and this is likely to be the fastest-selling one thus far because it's their incredibly delicious Green Elephant IPA. They're only bottling a couple hundred cases, so snag it while you can.

I think that's it for today, but don't forget about our toast to Vasili happening tomorrow night!

New Arrivals For Friday 12.21.07

Another day, another new beer. Make that 3 new beers, 2 new flavors of Beer Chips, and a partridge in a pear tree. OK, the partridges were out of stock, but we'll get them soon...

NEW BREWERY! (sort of): After a long absence, the Mt. Shasta (aka Weed Ales) beers are once again available in Oregon. These guys certainly aren't shy about the ganja references; in fact they seem to have a chronic desire to reference "the herb" whenever the opportunity presents itself. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise considering the brewery is located in Weed, California, and it should do well in places like SE Portland, but I have to wonder if the names and imagery are a hindrance in more conservative locations. Anyways, regardless of your position on cannabis the beers are pretty tasty, and well worth picking up.

Mt Shasta - Mountain High IPA: I haven't tried this one yet, but here's what the brewery has to say: A deep golden, mild and malty India Pale Ale. Late hop additions contribute a floral and piney aromas reminiscent of Mount Shasta. Note: If you need more info on any of these beers click the embedded links to view the ratebeer.com listing for each brew.

Mt Shasta - Weed Golden Ale: I haven't had a chance to drink this one either, but the brewers want you to know that's it's "A light, fruity, golden colored ale, tasting crisp and clean as the mountain air. A perfect introduction to craft brewing."

Mt Shasta - Shastafarian Porter: This is the most highly-regarded beer in their portfolio, and for good reason. Everything just works. The body is nice and full without being overwhelming, the chocolate and roast flavors are in perfect balance with the hops, and the slightly bitter finish leads you to take another sip.


Returning Favorites:

Redstone - Vanilla Bean and Cinnamon Mead: I've had this delicious holiday treat on several occasions, but Degarth sums it up better than I can. "Full aroma of honey and vanilla with only a suggestion of cinnamon. Still and headless with a shiny light golden color. Tastes AMAZING. Probably too sweet for beer and Red Wine drinkers, but I thought this was perfection and would gladly buy many bottles of it. The honey predominates, but the other flavors are present and complimentary. Would make a great holiday treat for guests. I doubt anyone could truly dislike this and most would love it."

Fullers - Vintage Ale 2006: This wonderful, bottle-conditioned ale is brewed with a different recipe every year, and it evolves over time, so it's hard to say how this vintage is doing right now. When I last had one (probably 9-10 months ago) it was still young and seemed like it needed time to mellow and mature, so tonight might be a good time to revisit it. Each bottle is individually numbered and comes in it's own box, so if you're looking for one last beer gift for that special someone I'd recommend stuffing one of these in their stocking.

Lagunitas - Kill Ugly Radio: The Lumpy Gravy should be here on Monday, but if you missed the last release in the Zappa tribute series you've got one last chance to snap a bottle or two.

That's it for the beers. Oh yeah, the new flavors of Beer Chips. Can't forget about them. In addition to the original beer flavor, they've added Hot Potatoes (spicy bloody mary flavor) and Chip Shots (margarita flavor) to the menu. I had a chance to sample them over the last couple days, and if I had to put them in order of tastiness I'd put the Margarita flavor at the bottom, the regular Beer Chips in the middle, and the spicy bloody mary flavor at the top of the heap. The bloody mary flavor really wasn't that spicy, but they have a nice tomato tang and a worcestershire/pepper zing to them. The margarita flavor was too sweet and "limey" for me to really get into, but if you like sweet and salty stuff they'd be right up your alley.

One more last minute update: The Roots Epic Release party is happening as I type this, so if you're reading this tonight I'd suggest popping down there and grabbing one of the magnums while they're still available. If there are any magnums left on Monday they should be bringing some of them here, so if you miss the release party give us a call.

New Arrivals For Tuesday 12.18.07

The Laughing Dog brews finally arrived, and we received a last minute addition to the mini-keg collection, but other than that there isn't much new to report today. We also got 15 more cases of Lagunitas Brown Shugga (the first 12 cases sold out in less than 24 hours) and this is likely to be all that we're alloted, so let me emphasize once more that if you want to have ANY hope of buying some Shugga this year you need to go out and find some today. Serious. That said, lets dig into todays' pile and see what we've got...


Laughing Dog - Cream Ale: (brewers' description) Our Cream Ale is a traditional Cream Ale fermented with both an ale and a lager yeast, which gives us the creamy smoothness of an ale with a nice dry crisp finish.

Laughing Dog - Pale Ale: (brewers' description) From out of the PAcific Northwest the Micro-brewers were born and with them came an ale that was unlike any other, the American Pale Ale. We brew our pale ale big, bold, and hoppy using five of the finiest hops from the fields in Yakima, WA. To balance the intense hop flavors, five different American grown malted barelys add malt flavor and smooth finish.

Laughing Dog - IPA: (brewers' description) A profound love of hops and big brews led to our IPA. A little over the top, it's a hophead's dream come true. An intense hop aroma and strong malt body are followed by a smooth clean finish.

Laughing Dog - Cold Nose Winter Ale: (brewers' description) After a romp in the snow on a cold winters day, this brew is just what's needed to warm you up. Dark and malty with a big hop presence, it is a great winter warmer

Full Sail - Slipknot Imperial IPA: Bracing. If I had to sum up Slipknot in one word, that would be the one. This is a serious IPA for serious hopheads. It's also a great way to get your Full Sail fix and tide yourself over until the Bourbon-aged Top Sail comes out in February...

Bayern - Dancing Trout: (Formerly known as Trout Slayer) I haven't had this beer in ages, but I seem to recall it nailing the style pretty well. If you're a fan of kristallweizen (aka filtered wheat beer) this one's definitely worth a try.

Monchshof - Weinachts Bier: What could be better for the holidays than a 5 liter mini-keg of tasty German beer? How about a 5 liter mini-keg with a picture of jolly old St. Nick on the side? A mini-keg of Bell's Two Hearted would top it, but I can't think of much else. Sorry if I got your hopes up (since Bell's isn't distributed in Oregon), but I just can't stop thinking about how nice it would be to have one of those mini-kegs in my fridge.

I think that's it for today. Remember, friends don't let friends drink crappy beer.

Random Notices

Last minute reminder; Shawn Loring from Lazy Boy Brewing will be here at 5pm today to answer questions and pour samples of his IPA and Mistletoe Bliss. We'll have special pricing on bottles of Lazy Boy beer during the event.

The Lagunitas Brown Shugga is FINALLY in stock. We've been getting barraged by requests, so tell all your friends to come and get it while it lasts. FYI, a little birdie informed me that there's only about 600 cases for the ENTIRE STATE, so don't hesitate to grab an extra six pack while you can.

The Laughing Dog beer failed to arrive on the delivery this morning, so we'll have to wait until Tuesday to give them a try.

We will be open on New Years Eve from 10-6. If you are planning on a hosting a party and need to order a keg, the deadline for special orders is Wednesday 12.26.07 by 3pm. We have a limited amount of space in the keg cooler, and if the number of special orders exceeds that I may have to stop accepting orders before next Wednesday, so please don't delay. Every major "drinking holiday" brings a string of last minute phone calls from folks who waited until the day of their party to line up a keg (and by that point the selection is pretty thin), so don't say I didn't warn you...

That's about it for now, but check back later this afternoon for a quick list of new arrivals.

New Arrivals For Tuesday 11.06.07

Todays' delivery brings us some of the most sought after beer of the season, so let's not waste time on idle chit chat...

Anchor - Our Special Ale 2007 (aka Anchor Christmas): This one's a mystery every year, but thankfully the rep brought a sample bottle the other day (Thanks, Brady!), so we got to try it before bringing it in. This year's recipe has less of the nutmeg/clove combo and features more earthy, spruce needle flavors. Quite tasty now, and it seems like it will be a tasty vintage to lay down for a few months or more. Available in 12oz bottles, 1.5ltr magnums, and draft for a limited time.


Stone - Double Bastard: Ye shall know the Bastard, and the Bastard shall set you free! If you've never heard of Double Bastard, or the "regular" Arrogant Bastard, then this beer probably isn't for you. Clocking in at 10% abv it isn't quite double the arrogance, but it's enough to knock you down a peg or two if you're not careful. Available for a VERY limited time in 22oz bottle and 3 ltr Jeroboams.


Lagunitas - Cappuccino Stout: This welcome addition to the holiday beer calendar is brewed with Sebastapol Coffee. Big buzz, small price. What more could you ask for?


Mad River - John Barleycorn: One of my favorite barleywines, and reasonably priced too. Best of all, it's organic, so you can feel good about saving the planet while drinking it.


Beer Valley - Pigskin Pale Ale: Brand new, we'll let you know as soon as we've tried it.


Beer Valley - Highway to Ale: Also brand new. Check back soon for an update.


That's it for now. If you happen to read this in the next couple hours be sure and pop in for the first in our series of Winter Beer Tastings. Tonight's tasting includes Deschutes Jubelale, Big Sky Powderhound, Lost Coast Winterbraun, Golden Valley Tannenbomb, New Belgium 2 Below, Pyramid Snow Cap, Sam Smiths Winter Welcome Vintage 2006, and the new St. Peter's Winter Ale. As usual, we'll have sale prices on the tasting beers throughout the evening.