Beer Blotter

BEER! BEER EVENTS!

Downtown Bar and Grill in Brooklyn. Pic courtesy of www.united-nations-of-beer.com.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Stoudt’s Promo Night: Reading, Pennsylvania

7:00PM-9:00PM @ Suburban Tavern & Restaurant

Our Head Brewer Brett Kintzer and brewer Jodi Stoudt from Stoudt’s Brewing Co. made a delicious Firkin/cask of our Fat Dog Stout. This is an imperial oatmeal stout which is bourbon oak aged and has been aging with Madagascar vanilla beans inside the cask! Talk beer with Eddie Stoudt and enjoy this special brew. There will also be 2 other Stoudt’s Drafts and the full line of bottles! If you are a cigar fan this will be a great compliment to a fine maduro wrapped cigar which you can enjoy upstairs in the Suburban Tavern’s new cigar Lounge. Pint glass giveaway from Stoudt’s and more. Hope to see you there.
Cheers, Eddie Stoudt.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Dogfish Head NO SUCK Beer Event: Brooklyn, New York

5:00PM-5:00AM @ Downtown Bar & Grill

This tap list is killer. You must go here between Wednesday and Sunday if you live in one of the five boroughs of NYC and feast on these Dogfish Head beers. You honestly cannot go wrong with any of these!

DFH 60 IPA 2011
DFH 90 Imperial IPA 2011
DFH 120 Imperial IPA 2009
DFH Burton Baton Imperial IPA 2009
DFH Midas Touch Spiced Beer 2010
DFH Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew Russian Imperial Stout 2010
DFH My Anonia Imperial Pilsner 2010
DFH Old School Barleywine 2009
DFH Red& White Witbier 2009
DFH Sahtea Farmhouse Ale 2010
DFH Saison Du Buff Farmhouse Ale 2010
DFH Theobroma Chile Beer 2010
DFH WW Stout Imperial Stout 2009
Sierra Nevada Big Foot Barleywine 2008

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Firestone Walker Afternoon: Norristown, Pennsylvania

1:30PM-4:00PM @ Capone’s Restaurant

Owner and founder of Firestone Walker, David Walker will be here with 4 amazing beers.

Double Jack (Draft and 22oz bottles)
Walkers Reserve (Draft and 22oz bottles)
Abacus (Maybe on draft but at least 22oz bottles)
14th Anniversary Ale (in 22oz Bottles)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Free Pint Glass Friday with Smuttynose: Winooski, Vermont

5:00PM-1:00AM @ Winooski Beverage Warehouse

Come welcome Smuttynose to our tasting room for another edition of Free Pint Glass Friday! We’ll have samples of the flagship goodies like Finest Kind IPA and some of the Big Beers, too!

Also, you’ll be able to sign up for an awesome Give Away Prize!

Saturday, April 15, 2011

Dark Lord v. Black Cat 2: Chicago, Illinois

7:00PM-9:00PM @ Intelligentsia Roasting Works

HOLY CRAP! If I lived in Chicago………..Dark Lord by 3Floyds….a vertical tasting. Oh my…

$100

Super rare, limited, vertical stout tasting!
Amazing food, desserts, coffee & beer!
Music!
Mayhem!
You must be 21 years of age to attend, sorry kids!

A unique opportunity to taste four different vintages of Three Floyd’s Dark Lord Stout at Intelligentsia’s Chicago Roasting Works. Each attendee will enjoy a small pour (2.5oz) of Dark Lord from 2006-2010. Food bar by Michael Sheerin (Blackbird Restaurant/Three Floyds), dessert bar by Mindy Segal (Hot Chocolate Restaurant), coffee bar by Intelligentsia. Only 90 tickets available! This event will sell out!

Dark Lord is the beer for which Three Floyds is most famous because it is widely rated as one of the best beers in the world. The brewery describes it as a “Gargantuan Russian Stout brewed with coffee, molasses, and honey.” It is sold only on one day per year, out of their brewery outside of Chicago. We have worked with them for the last 6 years, adding our Black Cat Espresso to the beer to give it a little extra complexity. For the last four years, we have squirreled away a case with the intention of putting on this event. A vertical tasting of this beer on this scale will never happen again! Representatives from Three Floyds & Intelligentsia will be there to chat with you about beer & coffee.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Brewery Tour with the Brewer: Bellingham, Washington

12:00PM-1:00PM @ Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen

1/3 of bb.com recently made a trip north to visit Chuckanut Brewery and was very impressed. For $5.00 you can tour the brewery and taste all of the beers on tap!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Homebrew and Bottle Collector Support Group: Boulder, Colorado

6:00PM-8:30PM @ Avery Brewing Company

Ok why haven’t we started something like this?!

Our first ever meeting was a great success!! Thanks to all those who made it with tasty homebrews and treasured bottles in hand. Hope you all enjoyed the Depuceleuse, 2008 Old Jubilation Ale and other brews that we broke out of the Avery cellars. Please plan to join us each month at 6PM on the THIRD MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH!

Group Info:
Have you ever crafted or aged a very special beer, only to serve it to a group of people that don’t know or really care what they’re drinking? It leaves you feeling hollow, right? That’s why we’re starting a monthly support group for homebrewers and collectors that meets on the 3rd Monday of each month. Bring your special beers down to the Tap Room (22oz. minimum) and open them around a group of enthusiastic and learned quaffers and revel in the time and effort that was spent crafting the beer. We’ll have the Barrel Room reserved and plenty of space to chat, sniff and taste! Each month, Avery Brewing Company will bring out a few treats from our own cellar to ensure a great selection.

This a free event, admission price is just a favorite bottle or two from your cellar or a homebrew of your own!

If you want us to write about an event or if you went to an event that you want to comment on, please email me at jess@beerblotter.com or leave a comment! Cheers!

Caramel dipped hop nuggets.

Enjoyed on 11/23/2010

Brewery: Avery Brewing Co.

Location: Boulder, CO

Beer: The Maharaja

Web: http://www.averybrewing.com/

Presentation: 22 oz. – Brown Glass Bottle – Capped

Vintage: 2010

Style: American Style Imperial India Pale Ale

Barrel: N/A

ABV: 10.24%

IBU: 102

Hops: Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial and Chinook

Malt: Two-row barley, caramel 120L, victory

Commercial Description:

Maharaja is derived from the sanskrit words mahat, – “great” and rajan – “king”. Much like its namesake, this imperial IPA is regal, intense and mighty. With hops and malts as his servants, he rules both with a heavy hand. The Maharaja flaunts his authority over a deranged amount of hops: tangy, vibrant and pungent along with an insane amount of malted barley – fashioning a dark amber hue and exquisite malt essence.

Beer Advocate: A- (4.2)

Rate Beer: 100 (3.95)

Timperial’s Notes:

Background.

The Maharaja is no. 3 on ratebeer.com‘s top 50 summer seasonals for a reason… it’s an amazing IIPA.  As part of Avery’s Dictator’s Series, along with The Kaiser (Imperial Oktoberfest) and The Czar (Russian Imperial Stout), this beer demands respect and admiration, and you’d be silly not to dole it out.  Before I moved out west, this was my number 1 favorite impy IPA.  I haven’t had it in about a year and a half so I’m really excited to sit down with it tonight.

Appearance.

This stately beverage pours into my pint glass with a pretty regal, cream-colored head that, as it slowly recedes, proves to be very sticky.  The edges of the lofty crown pull down, leaving a rocky dollop of bubbles on the center of the surface.  The lacing is so thick, I think I could write “Tim was here” on the inside of my glass.  The liquid itself glows with an opulent radiance, much brighter than I expected, taking into account the high lovibond crystal used in the mash.  I’d say there is a bit of an orange hue to the amber-colored fluid.

I could be wrong, but my guess is that this beer was filtered after fermentation and then dry-hopped in the bright tank.  The beer is not cloudy, per say, but there is a lot of floaters in there.  It actually looks slightly similar to the Green Flash IPA that I most recently reviewed.  It’s less cloudy but still noticeably permeated with minuscule bits of hop love.  Suspended hop chunks pretty much exude sex in every way if you ask me.  Uhh…in beer that is.

Odor.

Well, the odor is a perfect fucking 10.  It’s enough to make me just shout “OH MY GOD!” I’m weak in the knees.  I’ve already dropped in praise of the righteous Maharaja, without a single sip drank.  I’ve just been body slammed from the height of, I dunno, Mars, with a pure hop-tipped warhead, while simultaneously being lifted from the soil by the most maliciously rising volcanic peak of molten malt madness.  I’ve been pressed so intensely hard together at the impact that I’ve formed into diamond.  In fact, a five diamond score of perfection.

The hops are being poured from a dump-truck, directly into my nostrils.  The collaboration of hops used seem to meld into a cocktail of your most notable lupulin attributes.  Pine, herbal, woody, floral, citrus…you name it, it’s there.  Most notably, the caramel maltiness.  This is the biggest hop bomb that I can think of that is righteously balanced with malt.  Just plain silly!

Mouthfeel.

The MF (don’t hate) is, yet again, obnoxiously dead-balls accurate.  It’s syrupy, slick, sweet, cloying.  The body is stout like Schwarzenegger at his prime.  It dominates my moth like Conan the Barbarian, or wait…sorry your highness, like the great dictator Maharaja.  So far, this is the best rated IPA I’ve ever reviewed.

Flavor.

The flavor is layered like my famous dip.  Each sip is like being wiped about beneath the unrelenting seas at high tide, but here, fear shifts to joy as a slight lack of oxygen mingles with a sudden realization of the underwater beauty.  It’s an (only slightly) unnatural high.  Semantics…

Initially, there is a bitter firecracker explosion on the back of tongue, and then, the sound catches up with a mighty **CRACK** of sweet, caramely maltiness.  The inspirational soundtrack floats on in full orchestration when the finish brings boozed fruit and baked deserts.  When fully blended, the celebration is majestic, befitting of a king.  The perfection continues.

Might I add, in plain English, that this beer is the epitome of balance, as in, pushing extremes of both bitter hops and sweet malts in equal parts.  I’m awestruck.

I don’t find the hops to be too bitter, I don’t find the sweetness too overwhelming, I don’t find the heat to be overbearing.  I’m in a good mood, yes, but I’m seriously searching for flaws, in a devil’s advocate sort of way, and I’ve got nothing.

Aftertaste.

I’m a discriminating IPA drinker.  I realize that.  My best friend in the world, DSR, fellow BBB (beerblotter brethren), fellow homebrewer, fellow IPA lover, finds great comfort in bitterness.  A dry finish is a part of that game, and I know that many PNW beer drinkers play on that field, but it’s not my bag.  I like hop FLAVOR and minimal bitterness.  This beer’s aftertaste is precisely where I tread.  I’m happy to continue to tread there, that is, until there is no more sips to take.

Summary.

I was recently asked, by someone in the beer community whom I respect for his knowledge, what, other than the obvious ones (Pliny, Double Jack, Wisdom Seeker, etc.) was amongst my favorite IPAs/Double IPAs.  I responded with Avery Maharaja.  I paused, as I often do after stating such a revealing answer, for the resulting reaction.  I was greeted with apathy.  Indifference.  He was unimpressed.  I was embarrassed.  Maybe too much time had passed since I had last tried it.  Had it changed?  Had my respect for it need be diminished due to the current market of boldness?  Tonight, my stance has been solidified with complete and utter surety.  Avery Brewing has always been up there for me when it comes to the best breweries in the world, and tonight is just one more weight-bearing brick in the mortar for the dynasty that Adam Avery had born.  Respect!  

Color/Head/Retention [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.99

Odor [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 2.00

Carbonation/Mouthfeel [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 1.00

Hop Flavor [maximum of 3.00 points possible]: 2.91

Malt Flavor/Balance [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 2.00

Finish/Aftertaste [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.99

Total [maximum of 10.00 points possible]: 9.89

Pumpkin beers @ Elysian's Great Pumpkin Beer Fest 2010

As soon as I flipped my calendar to October, I immediately began to have thoughts of pumpkin beers. The countdown began to the weekend of October 16 and Elysian Brewing Co.’s Great Pumpkin Beer Fest. High profile names were released a couple of weeks before the event- Russian River, Jolly Pumpkin, Avery and Allagash. I could barely contain myself as thoughts of pumpkins danced in my head.

Pumpkin beers are an interesting breed. I find that people are disappointed when the beer doesn’t ooze pumpkin flavor. Although the juice of this large gourd does tickle my taste buds, I find the balance of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice just as tantalizing. Pumpkin beers are experimental and open for innovative interpretation which is why this particular beer fest is one I cannot miss.

Dick Cantwell, head brewer and owner of Elysian Brewing Co. is at the forefront of pumpkin beers. Not only does Dick host this event at his brewery’s Capital Hill location, he brews not one but eight (or more) pumpkin beers for this special weekend.

Elysian Pumpkin beers:

Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, The Great Pumpkin, Dark o’ the Moon Pumpkin Stout, Hansel & Gretel Ginger Pumpkin Pilsner, Kaiser Kurbis Pumpkin Hefeweizen, PK-47 Pumpkin Malt Liquor, Jack-O-Bite and Mr. Yuck Sour Pumpkin Ale

Enough introduction, the time has come and gone. We have enjoyed, tasted and conquered all that is the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest. There were beers to remember, beers that didn’t live up to our expectations, glorious weather and hassles of space. The Good,The Not So Good and The Awesome of Elysian’s 6th Annual Great Pumpkin Beer Fest:

The Good

 

• The event takes place outside and today it was sunny and crisp out. Elysian was decorated with mounds of hay, pumpkins and corn stalks. If this doesn’t put you in a festive autumn mood, then there is something seriously wrong with you. SERIOUSLY.

 

• The taster glass is a 4 oz (glass) snifter with an evil pumpkin face. This creative glassware is coveted by beer fest goers all around Seattle.

 

• Beers from all over the country: California, Michigan, Delaware, Massachusetts, Washington and more!

 

• Silver City’s Punk Rauchen - a pumpkin rauchbier where instead of smoking the barley like a traditional German style rauchbier they smoked pumpkins for 6 hours over apple-wood. This beer tastes like sausage, as most rauchbiers do, but also has an earthy smoothness that I attribute to the pumpkins.

 

• Snipes Mountain Pumpkin Death Stout- first of all, I am really into Snipes Brewing Co. and think they produce only top-notch beers. This is no exception. I always get excited when I see pumpkin infused stouts because I love stouts and I am always curious to see if the brewer is able to bring the pumpkin flavors and spices to the forefront of a style that is already overwhelmed with roasted malt flavors. Pumpkins do not inherently have a lot of flavor and here, in the Pumpkin Death Stout it is minimal. The beer however is very enjoyable, smooth and creamy.

 

• Elysian Brewing Co.’s Jack-O-Bite- we were pleasantly surprised by this beer which is  a pumpkin ale aged in Jack Daniels barrels. This beer had a bite and lived up to its name. It had warming qualities and the spices were reminiscent of a winter ale. Delicious.

 

The Not So Good

 

• Planning  a huge event is no easy task. Debriefing is proactive and there is always room for improvement. We hope that the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest will someday celebrate its 25th Annual fest. The Great Pumpkin Fest has outgrown the parking lot of the brewery. Within 30 minutes of opening the flood gates, there was barely room to stand. Problem solver: expand to all three Elysian venues, although this might complicate the logistics, it would spread the crowd. Another option would be to expand to the park across the street or to some other space that is connected to the brewery.

 

• Long lines-Due to the large number of people, there were very long lines to get your beers. Although these lines moved rather quickly, the lines, no matter what station, were around 30 people deep. A lot of people I spoke to would just get a beer and get back on line for the next one on their list. Problem solver: Instead of having 1 person pouring 2-4 beers, have 2-3 people pouring at each station. People love to volunteer to pour at events- tap into these willing beer lovers.

 

• Confusion about what line led to what station. Due to the small space, lines crossed each other and merged into the masses. I found myself accidentally waiting on line for the wrong station on a couple of occasions. This would be alleviated by the two suggestions above.

 

• No food outside. Now, I understand that it would be too much to staff the outside area.  Problem Solver: Instead of sending wait staff out to take and deliver orders, hire an outside vendor. Something simple will do, such as a sausage stand or roasted corn.  People are there for the beer, not food necessarily. However, it would be nice to stay outside, enjoying the fest while getting something in your stomach, especially because the inside was packed full of people sitting and enjoying their meal.

The Awesome

Besides the Good and the few tiny Not So Goods, there are some AWESOMES! Please note: all of the awesomeness are beer related. I did not get to try all of the beers, as I am only human and not all of the beers were pouring during my visit.

• Elysian’s Great Pumpkin- If you recall earlier in this article when I discuss the average beer drinker’s expectations of pumpkin beers having an easily detected pumpkin flavor, well this is the beer that hits it out of the park. One sip and its as though you are drinking pumpkin juice. It isn’t very sweet, it is slightly bitter, thick in texture and pumpkin to the core. No wonder this festival is named after the beer (or vice versa).
  
  

  The beers provided all of the awesome highlights!

 

• Iron Hill’s Bruce Camp Ale- their Imperial Pumpkin Ale aged in bourbon barrels was my introduction to this Pennsylvania brewery and man, am I impressed. Caramel in color with a bubble gum, sweet liquor scent. The thick mouth-feel creates a sensation as if there are sugar crystals are melting into your taste buds. As the flavor profile develops, the bourbon sweetness transitions into a slight funk. As the beer warms, the transition become smoother, just like a stiff bourbon drink.

 

• Russian River’s Pumpkin Sour- As I crossed the threshold into the pouring area, I quickly scanned the signs for Russian River. A quintessential Vinny sour with a citrus scent, it tasted like Temptation infused with spices. The sourness was bold and the spices complemented the citrus tartness.

 

• Jolly Pumpkin’s La Parcela- this sour beer aged in American oak with added coco was more earthy than tart (I generally expect more tartness from a sour ale. The smell was hypnotic with a combination of cinnamon and apples warming my soul. A smooth body with mellow flavors that begin to intensify as the sip develops. A harvest spice paired with earthy flavors followed by a subtle sweetness.

 

What a great day– one that will go down in infamy. There were unexpected breweries that produced exemplary beers, weather was on our side (for once) and the love of beer in the air was palpable.

Home of the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest- T minus 5 days.

Written by Jess R.

A low key weekend began with a Dogfish Head Punkin Ale at Whisk(e)y Bar (my new favorite, local watering hole), several Firestone Walker Union Jack IPAs, a New Belgium/Elysian Trip III and several Fresh Hop beers (it was a rough week at work, ok). Other beer highlights include Port Brewing’s Old Viscosity, an imperial stout worth a moment of silence and a couple of tall boys of Rainier. And now for your week in beer.

Monday, October 11, 2010

” I Love New York” Beer Week Begins: New York, New York

All week @ the Spring Lounge

Start spreading the news, its All New York, all week, with beer from Brooklyn, Ommegang, Captain Lawrence, Ithaca Brewing Co., Greenport Harbor, Coney Island, Sixpoint, Southern Tier, and more. Check out www.beermenus.com for details on the special events this week.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Green Flash Night: Whittier, California

7:00PM-9:00PM @ The Bottle Room

Not only will all patrons receive discounts on beer, the first 36 guests will receive a complimentary Green Flash Brewing Co. pint glass with the purchase of a regularly priced draft (minus $1 for LA Beer Week). From there, bring your pint glass in and receive a $1 off Green Flash drafts until the kegs are kicked. Green Flash flights will be available–4-4 ounce pours for $11. Expect some special Green Flash beers not available elsewhere to the public.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Avery Rumpkin Release: Boulder, Colorado

6:00PM-9:00PM @ Avery Brewing Co.

AN IMPERIAL PUMPKIN ALE AGED IN RUM BARRELS. Stop by Avery Brewing Co. (where the magic happens) and experience the release of what sounds like am amazing, seasonal brew. Imperial Pumpkin Ale brewed with pumpkin puree and a blend of five spices. Aged in extremely fresh Gosling’s Rum barrels for six months. Consume fresh and often, preferably with a pumpkin pie and/or s’mores.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Unibroue Beer Tasting: Cincinnati, Ohio

6:00PM-8:00PM @ Catskeller

Just $10.00 and you get beer from Unibroue paired with small plates. What a deal! The menu reads as follows:

Maudite: with bruchetta
La Fin Du Monde: with bacon scallops
Ephemere: with brie and apricot phylo
Don de Dieu: with smoked turkey club with feta cut in fourths
Terrible: with sharp cheddar quiche
Trois Pistoles: with rich chocolate brownies

Friday, October 15, 2010

Cleveland Beer Week Begins: Cleveland, Ohio

From the website:

The second annual CLEVELAND BEER WEEK will take place from October 15-23, 2010. A celebration of craft and import beers, CLEVELAND BEER WEEK features plenty of tastings, dinners, activities and more at more than 100 venues throughout Cuyahoga County and beyond. We hope you will join us as we celebrate the world of craft and imported brews at CLEVELAND BEER WEEK.

This beer week will not disapoint with participating breweries such as Hoppin’ Frog, Thirsty Dog, Great Lakes Brewing Co. and more. As if you weren’t excited enough, 12 breweries who participated in the largest known collaboration of its kind in the world, creating six brews. Family members have already agreed to mail us a six pack. Oh man! For more information, visit the event site.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Great Pumpkin Beer Fest: Seattle, Washington

(Saturday and Sunday) 12:00PM – the beers get tapped and the place shuts down @ Elysian Brewing Co., Capital Hill Location

I know we already did a write up about this event, but I am so damn excited, I had to mention it here- click here for details about the event from bb.com. Expect a crowd, a well-deserved crowd of people thirsty for pumpkin beers from Elysian, Russian River, Jolly Pumpkin and so many more. Sour pumpkin beers, pumpkin stouts, spiced ales and possibly beer brewed in a pumpkin. Also, get there early and you might get a sweet little taster glass (at least we did last year).

Sunday, October, 17, 2010

Farmhouse Ale Dinner: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

5:00PM-9:00PM @ The South Philadelphia Taproom

All you can eat harvest foods and beers for $50.00 (includes tax and tip). Featured beers include: Ommegang Hennepin, Sly Fox Saison Vos, Saison Dupont, St. Feuillien and more!

If you go to an event, want to talk about an event or a beer you had at an event, leave a comment or email us at beerblotter@gmail.com. Cheers!

The view as you approach the Barrel House

Week 36 of 52:

Cascade Brewing Barrel House
939 SE Belmont Street
Portland, OR 97214

(503) 265-8603

Rank: 4.5/5

Type of Establishment: Barrel house, blending facility, taproom, house of sour…

Visit: A Sunday day trip to Beervana, U.S.A. Our very first of many beer related stops of the day.

Beers on Tap (at time of visit):

Funk III

Beck Berry

The Vine

Nightfall

Noyeaux

Sang Rouge

Sang Noir

Bourbonic Plague

Vlad the Imp Aler

Amber

Fresh Hop Porter

RyIPA

Mid Summer’s Pale

Summer Gose

Winter Gose

Razberry Wheat

Kriek

What can I say, it's beautiful.

Bottles (available to go): Apricot, Kriek, The Vine, Sang Rouge

Food Options: Small plates/appetizers/soup/salad/sandwiches.  The owners wanted the Barrel House to be open to families with children, so local law states that food must be served to allow for those under 21 to enter.  The menu is fairly small and simple, but if you need a nibble whilst sampling the stellar brews, the option is there for you.  Considering that almost all of the sours are in the 8% to 12% range, a little substance in the belly is highly recommended.  Our visit did not include food, so we are not able to comment on the quality.

BAR OPINION: About a year ago, when Beer Blotter first heard that one of our favorite sour brewers in America would be opening a brand new tasting room in Portland, we all just sort of looked at each other with wide eyes and growing smiles and knew that we would be there as soon as it opened.  The simple reason: Cascade Brewing is just downright exciting.

This brewery exists in a niche of State Side breweries that is occupied by a very elite few.  An elite few that have the know-how and brewing facilities to allow for mass production in purposely infected beers.  Sours.  This art is not for the faint of heart, especially for those that also brew “traditional” ales and lagers that could easily be tainted with all those hazardous bugs crawling around.

If you’ll allow me to speak for all North-westerners for one moment, it feels really good to have a brewery that is unafraid to tackle this challenging but incredibly rewarding style of production in our own backyard.  An Oregon brewer that can be spoken in the same breath as Russian River, Jolly Pumpkin, Avery, Allagash, New Belgium. It feels good…a pleasant sigh of relief.  Cascade Brewing’s brewmaster is Ron Gansberg.  That name should be remembered.

Not my ideal use of a barrel, but still pretty clever.

The Barrel House opened its doors to the public on September 27th, and less than a week later, all three of us were inside.  Let me tell you, we had the highest of hopes for this place, and we were not disappointed in any way.

From the outside, the building, which used to be a produce warehouse, looks a bit like one of those newfangled fire stations.  Very sharp-looking indeed.  There is a very sizable outdoor area that offers both picnic tables and high-top tables fabricated from steel and actual wood barrels (see picture).

The seating is fairly similar inside, consisting of picnic tables, traditional booths, small circular tabletops resting on top of large barrels, and brushed metal bar stools.  If you are able to peel your eyes away from the alluring bar back for just a moment, you will notice the three flat-screen T.V.s strategically placed around the room.

Naturally, we wanted to be as close to the beer as possible, so we pulled up a few stools at the bar and got acquainted with the menu.  We were quickly greeted by one Cody Bottorff, Pub Keeper/Blender.  This was my first time meeting Cody, but the rest of the crew had met him a little while back when he was still at The Horse Brass.  He was expecting us, so after a short bit of banter and the choosing of beer number 1, we had the distinct pleasure of getting a tour of the facility.

Our first stop was the beer cooler, directly behind the bar back.  This little gem has been meticulously constructed to make your beer experience as good as it possibly can be.  To put it simply, the temperature and CO2 pressure regulation is painfully exacting.  You can always be assured to get a perfect glass of beer. One small example of how much care went into the development of the cooler is that they went as far as to assure that the water used to clean the glassware prior to the pour is the same temperature as the beer.

The most fascinating element of this leg of the tour was the sight of the two barrels that have been inserted directly through the cooler wall.  Yes, that’s right, they cut two circular holes in the wall and stuck barrels in them.  This allows for two special beers to be served to the public directly from the barrel.  This is freakin’ sweet!  They used the tube of a bike tire to insulate the space between the wall and the barrel.  That’s some real deal MacGyver action right there.

The next stop of the tour was the space that will soon act as the fruit infusion/secondary fermentation site.  Remember, this place is still really new and there is still work to be done behind the scenes, thus my use of “soon”.

We then ventured to the small side room that is currently housing the fruit infusion/secondary fermentation.  Though this room was fairly boring to actually look at while we were there (just a few barrels and a few recycled dairy fermenters), it was captivating to imagine what it must look like when they are filling the containers with outrageous amounts of fresh fruit.  Or even, what it must smell like when there are hundreds of pounds of Bing and sour pie cherries, apricots, raspberries, blackberries, dates, etc. being generously dumped into oak barrels.  I very much wished that I had x-ray vision and could see what wonderful fruity delights existed within those vessels.

The final stop in the tour was the barrel room.  This was a sight to see.  I can’t even tell you how much this room reminded me of Belgium, specifically the attic at Cantillon in Brussels.  Oh man, I’m getting emotional just thinking about it again.  All I can really say is, there is a little piece of one of the greatest beer cultures on the planet hidden in the back room of the Cascade Barrel House in Portland, OR.

Cantillon?

From here it was back to the bar for more beers, but first, further reflection on our first round choices.  For me, the Funk III was an absolute must.  This was the one ‘straight from the barrel stuck in the wall’ option.  Naturally, it was still un-carbonated, but it was chilled just as much of the rest of the beers.  For me, this had a very strong traditional Belgian gueuze like quality.  Maybe the lack of suds brought this thought on, but it was damn good and again, sent my memory reeling with thoughts of the Belgium trip.  Any beer that causes that to happen is a winner in my book.

Nightfall and Noyeaux were also sampled in round 1.  Nightfall is an oak aged sour blonde wheat beer with blackberries added.  If that doesn’t sound good to you, you probably should have tuned out a long time ago.  If you aren’t into fruit beers, it doesn’t matter, there is so much more to it than that.  But, if you really want to talk about complexity, Noyeaux can pretty much be used as a synonym.

Noyeaux
Noyeaux: 8.5% ABV / 13 IBU / $6 Glass
This one-of-a-kind NW sour is a blend of Belgian strong blondes aged in white port barrels with raspberries, then blended with select barrels of strong blondes that were aged on the toasted meat from the apricot nut, or Noyeaux.

Noyeaux has so many layers of brilliance that I don’t know where to begin.  I’m not going to allow this article to turn into a Notes of a Beer Nerd so you’ll just have to trust me when I say that it’s breathtaking and that you must go get one for yourself.

Our next round saw us order four beers to be sampled amongst the three of us – Beck Berry, the one and only Brett beer that they make/will ever make (apparently Ron gave it a whack and decided that once was enough, he uses Lacto), and the three bourbon barrel aged beers: Bourbonic Plague, Vlad the Imp Aler, and Sang Noir.

I have, ever since it won gold at GABF in the wood and barrel aged sour beer category in ’09, been hoping to try Bourbonic Plague.  It is a very hard one to get a hold of.  Well, it finally happened and it did not disappoint.  Truthfully, none of the beers disappointed, but Bourbonic Plague, of all the beers sampled, most played to my tastes.  It’s essentially a sour imperial porter with strong bourbon wood notes and some spicing.  Just plain insane.

Just before we made our way to our next destination we realized that it was completely dumb of us to leave without tasting the Fresh Hop Porter.  You know, because it’s a fresh hop porter…who makes that?!  Guess what?  It was delicious.  Go figure.

Seriously people, Cascade Brewing Barrel House is well designed, comfortable, and full of mind numbingly unique, complex and delicious beers.  If I lived in Portland, I have little doubt that I would go completely bankrupt because of this place.  No matter where you live in the world, consider it an absolute, 100% can’t miss beer location.  Go there, you will thank me.

I’d also be insane if I didn’t mention that the staff is crazy knowledgeable and super nice.  The world’s biggest high-five and a heart-felt THANK YOU goes out to Cody for EVERYTHING that he did for us.

Our gracious host. Thanks again Cody!