Recent Arrivals and Random Notes

We haven't had enough new arrivals on any given day to justify a full post, but I think we've received enough in the last 10 days to make it worth your time reading.

Many of you have been asking for the Laughing Buddha Beers, and it appears as though the brewery has been listening. We recently received our first shipment of beer from the Asian-inspired brewery, all of which are well-crafted and fairly unique. The initial line up contains 5 brews that run the gamut from light and crisp to dark and full-bodied:

• Purple Yam Porter - This is probably my favorite of the bunch. There's a hint of hint of candied yam flavor, but the thing that sticks with you is the subtle vanilla notes that linger on the palate after each sip. All the folks that keep asking for beers with vanilla in them owe it to themselves to give the Purple Yam a try.
  
• Ginger Pale Ale - A light-bodied, spicy pale ale with a ton of ginger zing. This beer is the perfect counterpoint to spicy dishes, or anything with wasabi in it.
  
• Mango Weizen - The whole "American wheat beer with fruit" thing has almost become a cliche; it seems like every brewpub has some mediocre example on hand to appeal to the non-beer drinking crowd. Thankfully, the LB Mango Weizen is a heck of a lot better than the insipid versions you so often find. The mango character is noticeable without being overwhelming, and the underlying beer is solidly constructed. If they brought this to the OBF I could see it giving 21st Amendment's Watermelon Wheat a run for the money.
  
• Dragon King Lager - This Asian-style lager is brewed with Saaz hops and crystal malts (no mention of rice) for that "Premium Lager" flavor. Added bonus: It's a heck of a lot fresher than the actual Asian stuff
• Pandan Brown Ale - To the best my knowledge I've never had anything with Pandan leaves in it before, so I wasn't not sure what to look for in terms of flavor, but I'll go out on a limb and assume it was the slightly sweet/nutty character. Combined with the slightly roasty malt character it makes for a wonderfully drinkable brown ale.
  

Other Recent Arrivals:

• Full Sail - Slipknot Imperial IPA
• Alaskan Brewing - Barleywine
• Nogne O - Dark Horizon (2nd Edition)
• Oskar Blues - Dale's Pale Ale
• Oskar Blues - Old Chub
• Oskar Blues - Gordon
• Cascade Brewing - Apricot

Coming (Very) Soon:

• Sierra Nevada - Bigfoot Barleywine
• Sierra Nevada - Torpedo Extra IPA
• Cascade Lakes - IPA

Last but not least, Fuller's London Pride, Porter, ESB, and Vintage Ale are back after a long absence!

Upcoming Events:

Imperial Stout Week in the Biercafe!

Each afternoon we'll tap a new limited edition Imperial Stout (or two). (many of the descriptions that follow are based on commercial descriptions from the brewery).


MONDAY JAN 26:
STRUISSE BLACK ALBERT - Brewed and crafted in Belgium with 100% Belgian ingredients. Aroma of bitter-sweet chocolate, fresh torrified coffee beans, barley, candy sugar, complex fruits, and floral hops. The after-taste is well balanced and shows a panorama of extreme sensations like chocolate and coffee bitters, a plum cake richness that covers the palate, and a crisp impression of hop bitters that brings elegance and freshness into this massive brew. 13% ABV Rated 100 on Rate Beer!

LAURELWOOD MOOSE & SQUIRREL - Dark as night, thick and rich. Big roast and coffee flavors dominate this beer. 8% ABV 55 IBUs O.G. 20º Plato

TUESDAY JAN 27:
ELLEZELLOISE HERCULE STOUT - Belgian Stout lagered for ten days in German oak casks. Very malty, but dry, with a hint of sweetness in the finish, and balanced hopping. It has a very distinctive and intoxicating spicy aroma of fresh spruce. This unique house character probably derives from the strains of yeast used by the brewery – and possibly from the fermentation in oak. Named for legendary detective Hercule Poirot. 9%ABV. Rated 98 on Rate Beer.

LAUGHING DOG DOGFATHER - 7 different malts and 4 hops give this big stout a complex flavor profile. Over 11 months in the making with a portion barrel aged. 11% ABV 71 IBU. Rated 98 on Rate Beer

WEDNESDAY JAN 28:
DESCHUTES ABYSS - You already know all about this beer. You just want more. 11%ABV.

VICTORY STORM KING - With a huge, Pacific Northwest hop aroma & character upfront, Storm King subsides into massive, roast malt complexity. Rich, substantial & complex. 9%ABV


Last Minute Cascade Lakes Tasting and Release Party:

Be the first to taste & buy this fine IPA from Cascade Lakes Brewing in Redmond, OR. Owning Partner Rick Orazetti will be on hand to offer samples of the IPA & Monkey Face Porter and give you the lowdown on the brews. Plus Skookum Creek Strong Ale on draught!

That's all for now, but if you catch this post in the next hour we're having an Alaskan Brewing tasting until 8pm. We'll be pouring samples of their full bottle line-up as well as serving 2007 and 2008 Smoked Porter, Barleywine, and White Ale on draught in the Biercafe.

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:

Shelton Bros. Beer Tasting Sunday May 6

Come and sample a variety of beers from around the world at the Belmont Station Biercafe!

This Sunday (May 6) Ron Extract, National Sales Director for Shelton Brothers Importers will
host a sampling of these fine beers:

T'ij Zatte (Netherlands)
Ridgeway IPA (England)
Nogne' O Porter (Norway)
Geants Goliath Tripel (Belgium)
Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo (Michigan)
Cantillon Kriek (Belgium)
Kapuziner Weissbier (Germany)
Monchshof Schwarzbier (Germany)

This event is FREE and open to all those over 21. We will offer
special pricing on these beers to go during the event only!

I'm Back, and Bearing Tidings of Great Beer!

It's been a long, lonely three weeks since I had my cat5 umbilical cord severed in the move, but they've finally plugged me back in to the intrawebs so I can resume rambling about beer and other stuff in a semi-coherent fashion.

I want to start things off on a good note so I'm going to put aside my tirade on the OLCC's new ruling regarding the OBF and the hypocrisy of not "punishing" the big wine events in the same manner, but rest assured I've got plenty to say about that decision.

New Arrivals:

Sierra Nevada - Big Foot 2007: Year after year, this is one of the most consistently delicious and reasonably priced barleywines on the market. If you like your barleywines big, hoppy, and aggressively flavored you NEED to buy a case of this before it disappears. Yes, a whole case. If you don't I can almost guarantee you'll run out and suffer withdrawal symptoms sometime in March or April.

Sierra Nevada - IPA: This limited release spring seasonal is supposed to fill the gap between Big Foot and Summerfest, but they seem to have gotten ahead of themselves and released them both at the same time. Oh well, no complaints here. This 6.9% English-style IPA has lots of nice earthy hop flavor and a wonderful malt backbone that helps separate it from the current batch of west coast IPAs that seem to rely entirely on the "Big C" hops. Quite tasty, and quite limited, so grab a 6 pack while it lasts.

Rogue - Dry-Hopped St. Rogue Red: Not to be confused with Salmon Nation, Santa's Private Reserve, or any of the myriad other red ales from Rogue, this is in fact a NEW beer from the venerable Newport crew. This tasty little concoction can be summed up in only a few words: Clean and neat, with a well-defined hop character. Unfortunately I haven't seen any of the 22oz bottles of this yet (and the small bottles don't list the ingredients), but if I had to guess I'd say it was brewed with a singular hop, probably Crystal. That's my amateur speculation of course, but the hop flavors remind me of Fish Tale IPA and Rogue Brutal Bitter, both of which are 100% crystal-hopped beers.

Coming Soon:

The Danish/Norwegian invasion has begun. Denmark and Norway are rapidly making a name for themselves in the brewing world with cutting edge nano- and microbrewers popping up across the country. The first of the new breed to be imported are Nøgne Ø and Ølfabrikken.

I haven't even had a chance to see the bottles, much less try them, but given the reviews I must say I'm excited. With any luck they'll bring me samples today so I can have a write-up prepared for everyone when the cases arrive tomorrow. Since these are new, relatively-unknown beers, the first batch will probably be limited to a couple case of each variety, so don't delay...

Nøgne Ø - Imperial Brown Ale: description coming soon...

Nøgne Ø - Porter: description coming soon...

Nøgne Ø - Imperial Stout: description coming soon...

Nøgne Ø - Pale Ale: description coming soon...

Nøgne Ø - Winter Ale: description coming soon...

Ølfabrikken - Porter: OK, I just cracked a bottle (kindly delivered by the distributor) and all I can say is, "Wow!" They've taken the classic porter formula and added a nice dose of roasty, coffee flavors (presumably from the malt and not actual coffee) and one heck of a lingering aftertaste. This stuff pours dark, thick, and opaque with a tight creamy head that lingers for quite some time. It should be priced in the $5-6 range, which I'd gladly pay for something like this. It's not quite Speedway Stout or Peche Mortel, but it's awfully close and it costs a lot less. I can guarantee this brew will go fast, so we may have to impose a 4 bottle per person limit until we find out how much is available.

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