New Arrivals for 9.15.09 - The Better Late Than Never Edition

Well, 09.09.09 has already come and gone, but Stone's latest Vertical Epic release didn't arrive until today. Such is the way of things I guess. Today's delivery brought a few other things besides the VE, so scroll down the list and see what catches your fancy.

New Beers:

• Stone - Vertical Epic 09.09.09: This year's twist in the story line brings us down a dark alley haunted by mysterious aromas of tangerine and vanilla. At 8.5% it begs for a snifter and your complete attention.
  
• Stone/BrewDog/Cambridge - Juxtaposition Black Pilsner: Ignore the fact that "black pilsner" is just another way of saying "schwarzbier" because this brew bears absolutely no resemblance to pilsner, black or otherwise. It's dry, roasty, and pushing a double digit abvmore which makes it more akin to an imperial stout fermented with lager yeast. It's really tasty, just don't go in expecting any sort of classic lager.
  
• He'Brew - Rejewvenator: I haven't had this one yet, but the label says, "Half Doppelbock, Half Belgian-style Dubbel" and it's brewed with date concentrate, which definitely sounds interesting. With Rosh Hashanah beginning Friday, it's worth noting that the entire He'Brew line is Kosher Certified. In addition to the Rejewvenator we have their Genesis Pale Ale, Messiah Bold (a flavorful brown ale), and Bittersweet Lenny's Rye IPA. L'Chaim!
  
• Alaskan - Baltic Porter: This brew sold out quick last year, and as delicious as it is I'm really not surprised. Cherries, vanilla beans, and French oak add dimension and complexity to this classic style. Get it while it lasts.
  
• Kona - Pipeline Porter: This tasty little porter is brewed with real Kona coffee to give it an extra little kick.
  
• Blue Moon - Harvest Moon: Nothing fancy from the house of Coors; just an unpretentious amber ale with pumpkin and spice flavors.
  
• Hopworks - Bike Beer IPA: Whoa, another hoppy beer from HUB!?! Seriously though, this one is a little less astringent and a little more fruity than their regular IPA. I'd have to bust open one of each and do a side by side comparison to nail down any other differences...
  
• Baron - Oktoberfest: Classic "festbier" lager from Seattle. Flavors of caramel and nutty malt compliment the clean, crisp hopping in the finish...
  
• New Old Lompoc - Monster Mash: Despite what the angry jack-o-lantern on the label would have you believe, this is an Imperial Porter and not a pumpkin beer. This should be around for at least a couple of months, but if it sells faster than the Heaven's Helles did it could be gone in a couple weeks, so don't delay.
  
• Midnight Sun - Obliteration V: The fifth beer in the Obliteration IPA series is an 8.2% double IPA brewed with Tomahawk and Magnum hops. I haven't had this one yet, but based on the hop selection I would expect it to lean more towards pungent and piney rather than a typical west coast citrus bomb.
  
• Elysian - Night Owl: The northwest's most popular pumpkin ale is back.
  
• Great Divide - Tripel: Great Divide's take on the trappist mainstay is a little sweeter than the classic Belgian examples, but all in all I think they did a great job on this one.
  
• Great Divide - Hoss Lager: This is becoming a favorite around the shop, and "Hoss" is well on it's way to becoming a slang term for rugged and/or manly. For example, Patrick Swayze's character in Road House was definitely "Hoss." Anyway, come and grab some Hoss before Jimmy and Lucas drink it all.
  
• Hales - Super Goose Imperial IPA: One person at the shop decreed that the Super Goose is superior to Russian River Pliny the Elder. Debatable perhaps, but at less than $5 per 22oz bottle it's certainly worth buying one of each and conducting your own experiments.
  
• Coney Island - Freaktoberfest: It smells and tastes like an oktoberfest beer, but the bloody red color might throw you off a bit. Buy some to freak out your Halloween party guests.
  
• Crispin - Honey Crisp: This seasonal cider from Crispin is only roughly filtered which results in a very cloudy cider (with a color reminiscent of dirty dish water), and the tartness of the apples is smoothed out with an addition of organic honey. Speaking of Crispin, we're hosting a tasting with them this evening, so stop in from 5-8pm and you can sample this for free along with the rest of the Crispin line.

That's all for now; keep your eyes peeled for the stream of fresh hop beers coming out in the next 2-4 weeks. Most of them are truly delicious, but the season is painfully short.

New Arrivals For Tuesday April 14th

New Beers!

~Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale: Stone's 11th Anniversary beer (a black IPA) was so popular that they've brought it back as a year-round beer. Roasty, hoppy, and full bodied.

~Stone Imperial Russian Stout: This is the highest-rated beer in the Stone portfolio according to the users of Ratebeer.com, and with good reason. A complex wave of flavors and aromas washes over you with every sip; bitter chocolate, roasted coffee, anise, herbal hoppiness, even a little peppery spice. I haven't had one of the fresh bottles yet, but if it's anything like prior years it's probably a little boozy at the moment. Not that that's neccessarily a bad thing, but I'm guessing it would benefit from at least a couple months to meld like a good stew.

~Butte Creek Organic "Initial Attack" IPA: I'm getting mixed info on this one. My distributor rep informed me that it's a fresh hop beer made with New Zealand hops, but I can't find any references to it being a fresh hop beer either on the bottle or the web. Unfortunately the Butte Creek website is under construction, so I can't go to the source either. I'll take one for the team and report back as soon as possible.

Returning Favorites!

~Stone Cali-Belgique: A special version of their IPA brewed with a Belgian yeast strain. This one went quickly last time we got it in, so don't delay.

~Russian River: Fresh cases of Pliny the Elder IIPA (bottled on 04.07.09) are in the cooler and ready to go home with you. We were supposed to receive a few cases of Blind Pig IPA as well, but they didn't make it onto the delivery truck this morning so they'll hopefully come in on Friday.


Last minute tasting reminder:

We're hosting a Hot Lips Soda tasting this evening from 5-8pm.

HOTLIPS Soda is real fruit soda pop. Picked-ripe fruit is cooked in open kettles, bringing out the nuanced flavors. Seeds are filtered out, but not pulp, then water, pure cane sugar and organic lemon juice are added. Then it is carbonated, put into bottles and pasteurized. It’s simple. High percentages of real fruit. No shortcuts, supplements, artificial flavors, concentrates or trickery. And no corn syrup. Even the bottles are local, manufactured from 80% recycled glass right here in Portland.

As you can see, they take their soda as seriously as most of the breweries around here take their beer. Only the best ingredients and practices go into making them, and it shows in the flavors.

Tonight they're pouring samples of their Strawberry, Raspberry, Pear, Boysenberry, Blackberry, and Black Raspberry sodas. It really is great stuff, either on it's own or used as a mixer for delcious fruity cocktails.

That's all for now. Have a great week!

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:

Roll Out The Barrels on Monday June 30th!

We've finally gotten the new walk-in finished, the system is dialed in, and we've got 16 glistening new Perlick taps just waiting to dispense some delicious beer. If you read the previous post you may recall that I said 12 taps, and maybe you're wondering where the four extra taps came from. It's simple; taps 1-12 will be filled with interesting, eclectic, rotating beers all year, and the other 4 are set aside for future growth and special events like the one you're reading about.

Anyway, enough jibba jabba; here's the details:

Join us Monday June 30th as we celebrate the Grand Opening (grand tapping?) of our new draught system. We'll have at least 5 oak or barrel aged beers on tap and perhaps some other surprises too! The event kicks off at 5pm, and the kegs will run until they're gone.

The Beers:

Ft. George Bourbon-aged Cavatica Stout: This was the centerpiece of Ft. George's Stout Month back in February, and we're happy we squirreled away a keg. It's rich, full bodied, and leaves a long trail of vanilla, bourbon, and oaky tannins as it glides across your palate and down the hatch.

They describe it as "an immense, bold, black as night, American-style beauty; there's nothing dry or Irish about it. The name reflects the brewer's affinity for arachnia. Be forewarned: this beer WILL stain your clothes."

Ft George Bourbon-aged Illuminator Doppelbock: A couple kegs of Illuminator have popped up around town, but this is quite the rarity. I've haven't had a chance to try it yet, so I called Chris Nemlowill (brewer/owner) yesterday to get a little more info. It was brewed last fall and modeled after the classic German beers that created and defined the style; Salvator, Celebrator, Optimator, but adds an extra dose of hops to help brace all the malt. Chris took it one step further and gave it the barrel treatment for several months and basically ignored it until spring.

He wanted the bourbon to integrate rahter than overwhelm the beer, so he used barrels that had previously held a batch of Cavatica, hoping that the first beer would have absorbed the bulk of the sweet brown liquor. However, after 6 months in the barrel he discovered that the Illuminator had become a bourbony beast of it's own, so it was blended with the remainder of the batch that had been resting quietly in stainless kegs all winter. The result: a malt-lovers dream come true. Waves of caramelly, fruity malts carry the subdued bourbon essence across the tongue, and a solid blast of hoppy bitterness keeps all the sugar in check.

Stone Oaked Bastard: This is the only beer that hasn't actually spent time in a barrel, but it's so good that we'll forgive Stone for simply using oak chips instead. Becoming a year-round bottled product hasn't dampened people's enthusiasm for the arrogant brew, but kegs of OAB are still a rare treat and we're happy to have one here to help us celebrate summer with our new system. On most days this would be a heavy hitter, but at only 7.2%abv, this will probably be the most "sessionable" beer in the line-up.

Allagash Curieux: This is another special treat. Bottles of Curieux only come out once or twice a year, and this is the first time any kegs have made it this far from Maine. Curieux started out as Allagash's deliciously complex Tripel, and 8 weeks in a Jim Beam barrel added several more factors to the equation. Spices, wood, bourbon, caramel, fruity yeast esters; this brew will have you scratching your head as you pull flavor after flavor out of the glass. If you're hoping to try this one I'd suggest getting here as close to 3pm as possible. We only received a 5 gallon keg, so this will be the first keg to blow on Monday.

BJ's (Portland) Whiskey Barrel Stout: We're still a bit upset about BJ's corporate and their decision to cease brewing in PDX, but hopefully this beer will leave us with a fond memory of the place. Fresh, "unwashed" whiskey barrels are used to age this beast, so this will be the most intensely boozy brew of the bunch. If you like your whiskey with a beer back, this is the one to reach for. To the best of my knowledge, this is the last keg of Whiskey Stout in existence, so enjoy it while you can.

To recap (feel free to cut, paste, and copy):

Who: You, me, and as many other beer lovers as we can squeeze into the cafe.
What: 5 deliciously potent examples of brewing excellence, aged to perfection.
When: Monday, June 30th, from 5 to 11pm
Where: The BierCafe @ Belmont Station - 4500 SE Stark St PDX, OR 97215
Why: Because we've been waiting a long time for the new taps.
How Much: Free (as always) to get in, beer prices will vary.

Cheer, and enjoy the long-awaited sunshine!

Today is a Good Day

Shhh...Keep This On The Down Low...

Rumors have been swirling for a few days now about a second wave of Abyss arriving in Portland this week, and I can confirm that there are a couple hundred more cases dropping tomorrow and Friday. As far as I know, every place that received some of the first wave should get another small allotment, and a few places that got screwed the first time will be getting a some as well.




We won't be getting anywhere near the amount we received on the first batch, so in order to spread the joy a bit we're going to limit people to 3 bottles per person (per day) for at least the first week.






As if that wasn't enough to motivate you to stop in on Friday, we should also be receiving Full Sail Bourbon-aged Top Sail, Stone Old Guardian Barleywine, and maybe (it's a slim chance) some Oregon Trail Bourbon Porter. Even if the Oregon Trail Porter doesn't show up that still leaves you with 3 world class beers arriving on the same day!

Throw in a few other things we've got in stock like Great Divide Oak-Aged Yeti, Orkney Dark Island Reserve, Beer Valley Black Flag Stout, or Rogue Russian Imperial Stout, and you've got the makings of one heck of a beer tasting. Just a thought...

Just be sure to take it easy on Friday night. Trying to drink all three (maybe 4) of these 10%+ monsters in one sitting is a recipe for disaster, or at least a nasty hangover.

Lucky Lab Barleywine and Big Beer Fest

The Lucky Lab's annual big beer and barleywine festival seems to be coming together nicely. Dave Fleming just confirmed (via the Oregon Brewcrew listserv) that this years' event will be held Friday and Saturday, March 7th and 8th, at the Beer Hall on NW Quimby, and the beer starts flowing at noon each day.

The entire list hasn't been publicized yet, but here's the list of things that have been confirmed thus far:

Hair of the Dog - Adam 2007

Bend Brewing - Outback X 2006

Terminal Gravity - Barleywine 2005

Great Divide - Old Ruffian Barleywine

Caldera Brewing - Imperial Stout 2004 and 2005

Stone Brewing - Old Guardian 2005

More to come...