Puckerfest Finale Tonight!

It figures, I go back to Minnesota for a few days for some quality family time (BTW Nicole, it was a beautiful wedding!), and the cafe has some of the busiest nights on record.

I was happy to hear the Double Mountain and Cascade events were a hit, but at the same time I was a little crushed that I missed both versions of the Devil's Kriek AND the Barrel 323 that Neil, Curtis, and I worked so hard to pick out....

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Since many of you, and a few of us, never got a chance to try the Barrel 323 we convinced Curtis and Ron over at Cascade (aka Raccoon Lodge) to pull another 5 gallon keg out of the barrel for us, and it's on tap now. This WILL be the last chance to try it, so be sure to get down here this evening if you missed it on Monday.

Here's the full line-up of puckering delights for this evening:

• Cascade Brewing - Barrel 323: Last time I tried this it was pulled directly from the barrel, which means it was warm and flat. I know it had a distinct woody nose and a deep underlying sour quality. I'm dying to try it chilled and carbonated, so this will be the first thing I go for when I get off work...
  
• Rock Bottom - Maude Flanders: I have no idea what this actually is, but if I'm not mistaken it's a blend of several of the previous "Flanders" beers that have come out over the last couple years. All I can say for sure is that it's barrel-aged, fairly sour, and pretty darn delicious. Okely dokely!
  
• Cantillon - St. Lamvinus: Sour beer meets sour grapes. This one is out there, even by Cantillon standards. I would be very surprised if this lasted through the night, so be sure to put it high on the list if you want to be sure and have a glass.
  
• Full Sail - Berliner Weisse: This was brewed as part of Full Sail's "Brewer's Share" Program which allows each of their talented brewers to go a little nuts and brew (almost) whatever they want on the pilot system inside the Riverplace location. It's a crystal clear, pale gold color with a frothy, rapidly diminishing head that leaves wispy trails down the glass. At roughly 4%abv this lightly tart and lemony brew is a perfect way to wash away the 90 degree day we're having.
  
• The Bruery - White Zin: I haven't had this one yet (I've got some catching up to do), but local Ratebeerian BoFNjackson glowingly describes it: Poured cloudy orange with a white head. Spiced, dry aroma. Flavors were high in acidity with a tangy fruit character and a honey, herbal sweetness. Really dry with strong vinegar too. Buttery, shortbread-like malts and apple fruits in the finish. - Sounds great to me!
  
• The Bruery - Hottenroth Berliner Weisse: This one is a little cloudier than the Full Sail version, and a little lower in alcohol. Try them side by side and see which one you prefer.
  
• Roots - Flanders Red: Over 2 years in the making, this obscenely strong (for the style) sour red was partially aged in pinot barrels. Wood, vinous notes, sour cherry, and raspberry seed earthiness compete for your attention while the alcohol quietly sneaks up behind you...
  
• Trade Route - Sweet & Sour Ginger: This didn't sound like a very good concept when I first heard about it, but I've got to admit that the folks at Trade Route pulled it off. As one person on Ratebeer notes,it's like drinking sweet and sour chicken, but in a good way.
  
• New Belgium - La Terroir: This pale counterpart to the La Folie is dry-hopped in order to impart a slightly more bitter edge to the beer.
  
• New Belgium - La Folie: "The Folly" is darker, woodier, and a little more sour than the Le Terroir. Frankly, this as about as close to Rodenbach as you're going to get from an American producer.
  

As I write this the Ommegang rouge just bit the dust. We may slip something else into the line-up, but I'll edit this post if we do. Tune in tomorrow for a run down on any new arrivals we may receive; with the PIB starting tomorrow there's a good chance the distributors may have some extra cases of some of the featured brews.

Cheers, and pucker up!

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 12.04.07

The flood of holiday brew has finally slowed to a trickle, and only a handful of new things appeared today, but when the newbies carry the names of such respected brands as Roots and Victory it's definitely worth mentioning.

New American Craft Beers:

Roots - Organic Island Red: Big, hoppy reds are perhaps the only style indigenous to the PNW, and Roots' entry is no slouch. They take a slightly different tack than Laurelwood (and others) by adding a fair amount of oats to the mix which helps give it a creamier mouthfeel and dampens some of the hop presence. The toasty, toffee malt carries a lovely grassy hop nose and some bitterness in the finish, but it's distinctly different than the "red IPA" that you expect when ordering a Free Range Red or IRA.

Victory - Old Horizontal: This reddish copper beauty falls squarely on the hoppy end of the barleywine spectrum. A sweet doughy body is propped up with massive amounts of hops to give the brew adequate balance. A good dose of alcohol burn helps to increase the illusion of dryness and keeps the "Old Ho" from coming across as a cloying malt bomb. Good stuff, and rarely available this far west, so stock up while you can.


Sam Adams - Winter Collection: This 12 pack contains 2 each of the following brews: Boston Lager, Winter Lager, Cream Stout, Holiday Porter, Old Fezziwig, and Cranberry Lambic. Personally I think the Cranberry Lambic is one of the most foul "beers" I've ever had the displeasure of tasting, but the others are all solid. The Old Fezziwig and Holiday Porter are only available in this package (at least in Oregon), so if you're curious to try them you'll have to take home the whole set. Despite my feelings on the "lambic", the rest of the stuff is tasty enough to justify buying this pack, and if you discover that you enjoy the Cranberry Lambic please let me know and I'll gladly trade you mine for a bottle or two of something else from the set.


New Imports:

Duvel - 3 liter (Jeroboam): Same delicious Duvel, now in a devilishly large bottle. Snag one for your holiday party and blow people's minds with 3 liters of Belgian goodness.


Coming Soon:

Laughing Dog beers from Idaho. I just received word from one of my reps that they expect the first shipment to arrive "this week", so there's a small chance it'll show up on Friday, but realistically I expect it to come in Tuesday the 11th. Ratebeer lists 12 different beers from Laughing Dog, but my rep wasn't able to tell me which ones are going to arrive, so we'll just have to wait and see.

I think that's it for now. Enjoy our brief respite from the rain and go outside for a beer while you still can!

Beer List For FredFest 2007

You may recall my previous post about FredFest 2007, and I promised an update when I knew which beers were pouring, so without further ado I present the initial list of beers scheduled to make an appearance during the fest.


1- BridgePort Brewing - Cask Old Knucklehead
2- Deschutes - Coffee infused 20K Imperial Bourbon Porter
3- Full Sail - TBA
4- Hair Of The Dog - Cask Fred
5- Laurelwood - TBA
6- Lucky Lab - Russian Imperial Stout
7- New Old Lompoc - Oak aged LSD
8- Max's Fanno Creek - Belgian Dubbel
9- Pelican Brewing - Gran Cru
10- Racoon Lodge - Sour Wild Blackberry aged in oak
11- Rock Bottom - Ned Flanders Red. ( the original!)
12- Rogue - Dad's Little Helper Malt liquor
13- Roots Organic - Pinot-barrel aged Epic
14- Widmer - Collaborator Continuum Brown

Whoa. Seriously, if that list doesn't get you excited enough to drop $20 I don't know what would. Remember, all the proceeds from the event go to help longtime craft-beer supporter Merle Gilmore, who has been battling leukemia and faces astronomical medical and prescription bills. Gilmore has been an inexhaustible volunteer at beer fests and often assisted Hair of the Dog owner Alan Sprints in bottling and other duties around the brewery.

Cost for the event is $20 in advance or $25 at the door and includes a souvenir glass. To get on the list for advance-purchase tickets, e-mail fredfest@comcast.net.

Go. Buy tickets. Now.

Special Thanks to John Foyston for the great picture of Fred!

EDIT Tuesday, May 8, 2007: Just Announced! Laurelwood is featuring Green Elephant Organic IPA (2006, I believe) and Full Sail will be pouring the 2006 GABF silver-medal winning Black Gold Imperial Stout.

New Store, New Beer

I'm on my way out of town to go sample NW Washington's finest beers this weekend, but I wanted to fire off a quick note about a couple of exciting new arrivals.

The Konigshoeven Trappist beers have returned! The only Trappist brewery outside of Belgium hasn't been available in Oregon for a while now, but the Tripel and Quadrupel have finally reappeared. I haven't had a chance to try them lately, but I'll most likely try them this weekend and post on Monday.

Roots Organic Brewing is bottling! The first beer to hit the market is their excellent Woody IPA. I'm sipping on one as I write this, and it tastes just as good as it does on tap at the pub. As good as it is I'm sure we'll see it popping up everywhere in the near future, but for now we're one of the only places that carries it.

You'll also find a bunch of things that aren't neccessarily "new", but they're "new to us." We hope to become a become a welcome member of our new neighborhood, so we've added a few beers that didn't really fit the scope of the old store: Heineken, Grolsch, St. Pauli Girl, etc...Things that aren't quite "specialty" products, but since we're at least a 1/2 mile from the nearest grocery store we thought we'd try to offer a few of the more popular "mainstream" beers. We don't want to be perceived as snobs, so we're also beginning to offer 12 packs of PBR, Coors Light, and other assorted "mainstream" beers. My philosophy has always been, "I'll try anything once and after that it's up to our customers", so we'll give the big guys a chance to earn a spot in our coolers. However, I don't want slow-moving things taking up space that could be used for other things, so if the neighborhood doesn't want Bud and Miller they probably won't last long.