Author: Andy

Organic Brewers Festival 03

Scott and I made a trip out to Port Halling for the first annual Organic Brewers Festival. Nearly 30 beers were on tap at the event, as well as many local “green” organizations and beer groups. It was a fun event, and looks like it was successful enough to happen again next year.

I’ve personally been baffled by organic beers because although I want to like them, I have generally not found them to be of comparable quality. I find it hard to believe it has anything to do with the ingredients, but considering most of these brewers also make fine non-organic beers, I’m not sure what the deal is. This event at least showed me that there are several great organic brews out there, and that I shouldn’t loose hope. I’d like to see what’s available next year.

Bones & Brews

Scott, Sarah, Michelle and I hit up Rogue’s Bones & Brews fundraiser this afternoon, slightly before it started raining. It was a nice event, but somewhat different that what I’d expected. Quite entertaining, great food, great beers, and I don’t think enough can be said about how involved Rogue is in the community.

Kind Gesture

My wife’s long time friend and her new boyfriend were in town this week. We took them to the Horse Brass because they smoke, and she wanted a hamburger, and I wanted beer. We had a good time, and as a gift, the boyfriend bought us a six pack of Heinekin. Its not something I drink, but he knew that I liked beer, and for all he could tell, it was a good beer. It was a very kind gesture, and I appreciate it. Its been hot enough in our house lately that an exceedingly pale lager is just what the doctor ordered.

Yakima IPA 5, Kegged 90 Schilling

Sunday I kegged the 90 Schilling Scottish with 1 oz. of Cascade Hops for that extra fresh hoppiness. The beer was quite good on its own, but I want to try kegging with hops. I also brewed a batch of IPA using a slightly modified Yakima IPA recipe. Its in the recipes gallery. Added Biscuit for a slightly bolder malt taste.

Stout & Steak

I’ve managed to get most of the garlick smell off my hands, but its still wafting about the room as I type. I just finished making the marinade for some cheap steaks using my oatmeal stout. Its a simple recipe:

  1. Stout Beer
  2. 2-4 chopped garlic cloves
  3. Olive Oil
  4. Steak(s) of whatever quality you can afford.

Let it marinate for several hours, remove from marinade and grill. Serve with veggies, bread, and more stout.

Tour de Fat

Like college all over again!

This weekend New Belgium Brewery with several local bike groups put on a festival in Sellwood Park. The brewer donated beer, and each purchase went to local bike & alterative commuting groups. Also, because New Belgium is so hip, the keg cups were biodegradable, and all the waste was to be composted. The entire event was zero-waste. Well, until the alt-theater bike group threw shaving cream pies and cabbage everywhere. Regardless, there were lots of cool bikes, great beer, and sunshine. Please come back next year!

Dublin Pub

Scott and I went to the Dublin Pub tonight for a couple pints. Despite the trappings of a regular pub, (smoke, lame music), the Dublin is a great place. Why? 85+ beers on tap. With a nice selection of local and regional beers, its hard to go wrong. The bartenders were friendly, and offered both samples and advice. Ultimately I had Dry Hop Orange for Caldera Brewing in Ashland (damn good), Bigfoot Barleywine from Sierra Nevada (Damn fine, though better in the bottle), and Lagunitas IPA (Solid). It was a fun time, and the first time I didn’t have to drive in quite a while. Woohoo!

Horse Brass Pub

Last night my wife and I went to the Horse Brass Pub over on Belmont with her father and step-mother. After living in Portland for two years, we’re only finally getting around to taking them to some of our favorite pubs, and some new ones as well.

The Horse Brass Pub is in authentic British styling, wonderful decoration, awesome beer selection, great food, and great service. We all had 2 pints over the course of dinner, but afterwards, our waitress started bringing us samples of beers she thought we might like. Damn was she right! Anyway, I’m looking for any excuse to go again. Its wonderful.

Moved site directory, watching for errors

I’ve just moved some stuff around on the server, so things might be somewhat out of place. They should all work since I set up Apache’s mod_alias to redirect people still using the freed.dyndns.org links. I’ll keep an eye on the logs, but let me know if something just doesn’t seem right.