Category: Other Beers

I’ve missed most of the PDX Barleywine Long Haul, but did manage to catch up on some of the samples last night at the Blue Monk. What amazed me the most was the quality of the samples – they were approaching beer perfection. I was especially happy with Lucky Lab’s Old Yeller 2003. If you can – try this beer. Its on tap at Blue Monk and probably at the brewery.

I know this isn’t beer, but its too good not to share:

Cork Taint via Chris.

Not content with blissful ignorance about beer’s origins, Geraint Bevan has started a list of beers he knows to be vegetarian, or in some cases, vegan friendly.

What? Aren’t all beers vegetarian? Well, no. Some animal byproducts such as isinglass are used for clarity. Isinglass is a derivative of gelatin, a protein most often collected from pig or cattle hide or bone. In beer, most isinglass comes from fish swim bladders. As such, they aren’t fit for vegetarians.

An alternative to isinglass is Irish moss, which is dried seaweed. It seems a no-brainer, but there are probably reasons people prefer to use isinglass, including custom.

When I brew, I use Irish moss, so my veggie friends need not worry. Even that beer that ended up tasting like over-salted pork contained no animal products. It was just an overdose of sanitizing solution.

thanks to Al for the link.

It appears that Bridgeport’s brew pub will be closing for 10 months for renovation. Holy crap that’s a long time to go without cask IPA, Caesar salad and roasted garlic pizza.

“The project calls for major changes, including the creation of an on-site bakery, with freshly prepared breakfast pastries, espresso drinks and express lunch service. The bakery will act as the daily wholesaler for all of the breads, rolls and pastries offered at the pub and its sister restaurant, the BridgePort Ale House on Hawthorne Boulevard.”

Pastries and espresso? I figured they were making it bigger because its crowded with newbies lately, and the new wait to be seated model sucks. At least they’re adding a rooftop bar. Should I be worried about that? They had a Streetcar Saison to mark the introduction of the streetcars, an Rope-themed amber to celebrate their residence in an old rope factory, but will they create a Rooftop Brew to celebrate the new bar? I’d better speak to my wife lawyer.

A number of small Oregon craft brewers say business is booming with double-digit growth numbers in recent years. Odd that most of it ends up in Portland.

Anheuser-Busch has announced a new beer-like beverage that is an “infusion” of beer, guarano, berry aroma, ginseng, and caffeine.

“It’s indicative of how seriously Anheuser-Busch is taking this challenge from the liquor folks … who are growing faster than beer,” said Eric Shepard, executive editor of industry newsletter Beer Marketer’s Insights”

Seems more to me that its more indicative of AB’s ongoing mission to dilute beer to an unrecognizable consumable. CAMRA, the campaign for Real Ales is also combatting the rise of red bull & vodka style drinks, but its doing so through education rather than self-mutilation.

If the lawyers of Budvar/Czechvar are reading this – please use B^e as further evidence that Anheuser-Busch doesn’t deserve the Budweiser name.

Saturday was possibly the last beer tasting in Manland, and was a great time with excellent beer and terrific company. The final beer list was as follows:

1. SchellÂ’s Pale Ale, Minnesota
2. Tyranena Bitter Woman IPA, Wisconsin
3. Rapscallion Blessing, Massachusetts
4. Smuttynose IPA, New Hampshire
5. Fantome BBBrr
6. Long Trail Double Bag, Vermont
7. LaConner Dry Hopped IPA
8. Southampton Old Herb Barleywine, New York
9. Allagash FOUR
10. Thomas Hardy 1990, England
11. OId Dominion Oak Barrel Stout
12. Dogfish Head Olde School, Delaware
13. JW LeeÂ’s Harvest Ale 2002, England
14. JW LeeÂ’s Harvest Ale 2001, England
15. JW LeeÂ’s Harvest Ale 2000, England
16. JW LeeÂ’s Harvest Ale 1999, England
17. JW LeeÂ’s Harvest Ale 1998, England
18. Traquier House Ale ’91
19. FullerÂ’s Vintage Ale, England
20. Three FloydÂ’s Dreadnaught, Indiana
21. Weyerbacher Old Heathen Imperial Stout, Pennsylvania

I was only around for the first ten or so, but it was everything you’d want a tasting to be. I’ll be linking to my reviews in the list as I get them posted.

Thanks again to the host, Weefisheads aka David Bradley.

Today I made a trip down to Widmer to make sure I got another taste of Muscat Love before their last keg ran dry. Since I was already going down there, I decided to hop on their brewery tour.

The tour was surprisingly popular. There were at least 15 people there total, and with the brewer’s actually working, it made for a somewhat warm and crowded tour. It wasn’t bad – but not as intimate as others I’ve been on.

The facility was very nice, and Widmer seems to have planned ahead by adding ample room for combining batches and nearly a dozen lagering tanks. I was also pleased to see a hop room full of Yakima valley’s finest.

Following the tour was a complimentary tasting where we got to sample their flagship Hefeweisen (85% of their product), Blonde, Oktoberfest, IPA and a Milk Stout. I’m not a big hefe fan, and I like theirs even less than most, but their IPA, Oktoberfest and Stout are quite good. The tour guide even gave us a free pint glass, which I believe I accidentally left, as is my custom. Damn.

Following the tour I stopped by the bar to try another glass of the Muscat Love, which I had at OBF this year and was very pleased by. However, I didn’t have it until later in the evening was wasn’t pleased with my memory. It was still excellent and the combination of grapes and hops created a very stimulating sensation, like when you rub a sage brush sprig in your fingers. It was excellent.

The bartender, despite being quite busy, brought me a couple samples. I tried the Old Embalmer barleywine (decent) and KGB bourbon barrel Imperial Stout (superb).

The trip was a bit of an eye-opener for me. I’ve pretty much turned my back on Widmer because of what is available in stores (Hefe, blond, amber) don’t strike me, and because they are partially owned by big – bad AB. However, they are excellent brewers, and as the beers at the Gasthaus show – they’re quite imaginative.

Time and monetary considerations prevented me from spending as much time or trying as many beers as I would have liked to this year, but I still had a great time and was able to enjoy the festival with friends.

The Good: Muscat Love from Widmer, Boundary Bay’s Dry Hopped Simcoe Pale Ale, Laurelwood’s Organic Monkey Malt Liquor, Tuck’s Red Rye Lager, the hippie New Orleans jazz band, the surprising coolness despite 100ºF weather, and the elation that several beers, good weather, and good company brings.

The Bad: Couldn’t reuse/recycle mugs from previous events, sample size increased, as well as price for samples, drinking water was scarce and warm, Mango Tango, and the blinking Ropewalk necklaces that transmitted the following message in Morse Code: “Bridgeport sells out!”

Sadly, there were a few brewers I missed this year, so I’ll have to try again next year.

In another massive beer manufacturing copulation, Molson and Coors have announced a merger.

“The new Molson Coors Brewing Company, created from Canada’s largest brewer and the third biggest in the United States, would be the fifth biggest brewer in the world by volume of beer sold.” – from CBC

Damn you Molson! The people at Coors have spent decades and millions trying to make the world less like Canada. And they’ve spent nearly a century selling crappy beer with women. And polluting Colorado.