Archives for May, 2010
I typically buy a case of Blue Dot every year at the brewery’s semi-annual dock sale. This year, with the brewery moving to its new SE Water location, there was no dock sale, and thus, I am case-less. Thankfully, it’s available at most grocery and beer stores in Portland, although I’m not sure how far [...]
I bought this beer … man, a long time ago. January, I think. When a beer with a polar bear on the front seemed both seasonally appropriate and … novel. Scuttlebutt isn’t distributed in Oregon, and I’d never seen it before. It’s a (grand)mom and (grand)pop brewery in Everett, just north of Seattle, and from [...]
Though bottles form the backdrop in the picture below, I actually sampled this beer on draft at the brewery from the holding tanks just a few feet away. It doesn’t get much fresher than that, and combined with the open garage door and warm summer evening, this beer really hit the spot after fighting traffic [...]
A very surprising beer. The graphic designer in me looked at the early 90′s-era packaging and I thought the contents might be similarly passe. Instead, I found the contents to be very palatable, if a little unusual. Most red ales seem to emphasize the hops, especially in the West. This one had a lot of [...]
Reason number 131 I’m glad I decided to do this project. A little more than 10% of the way through, but I’ve tasted beers I probably never would have tried. This is definitely one of those beers. It’s not exceptional, but it is tasty, and one I’d gladly grab again, particularly on a hot day. [...]
I’d really been hoping I could find a bottle of this beer at some point in this beer-tasting journey. I’m writing this blog (if you hadn’t guessed yet), at least in part to test and demonstrate my 33 Beers beer journals, so it seemed only fitting that I’d eventually review the beer that shares a [...]
Tough week. It was really nice to hang out with my dad over barbecue, sipping a hoppy Chicago craft beer and then, later, head back to his house to watch a Red Sox game on cable. A total comfort, and a much-needed mental vacation. Too bad the Sox lost, but you can’t win ‘em all. [...]
A return to home. This beer was enjoyed with with one of my oldest high school friends, the best man at my wedding, and a great guy to drink beer with. It was consumed on a sunny Iowa afternoon inside a very dark Iowa bar. I drank a lot of Miller Lite with Allan Pille [...]
Despite the terrible reason for my traveling, I take small pleasure in living in a city whose airport includes so many excellent choices for a pre-flight beer. I went with Gustav’s, a German pub and grill that has several locations outside the confines of PDX, good german beer, and in my opinion, the most reliable [...]
I’m only going to say this one more time. But listen. You. Can. Keep. Growlers. For. More. Than. Two. Days. This puppy, sealed up tight in my beer fridge, was as fresh as the day I filled it, lo these nine days later. And then I left town for a week, and finished it when [...]
Fellow BS Brewing crew member Jay came over tonight, accompanied by a film director and a six-pack of one of my old standards: Terminal Gravity (compensation for helping them launch a quickie web site for their very intriguing film). There was a time when I consumed this IPA almost exclusively … seems like everyone had [...]
One of the great things about having a party these days is all the beer that people leave at the house … if only my college friends had been so generous! Thanks to Rodrigo for leaving this six-pack at the house; I like Lagunitas beers a lot, but I’d probably go for the IPA before [...]
Ever wondered how 33 Beers books get from Portland to you? Here’s a quick little video I put together that shows the process from web order to mailbox. Unfortunately, the post office wouldn’t let me follow the envelope all the way to you, so you’ll just have to place an order if you want to [...]
I consumed beer today, but I barely tasted it, to be honest. On the morning of my son’s first birthday party, I received the terrible news that my best friend in high school had died prematurely the night before. I drank some during our Kentucky Derby-themed party, but kept my consumption to a minimum, knowing [...]
Once again, I’m busting the myth that growlers need to be consumed within a day or two of leaving the brewery. Five days after its purchase, this baby was as fresh as the day it left the serving lines, with lively carbonation and still crisp hops. The key is filling the growler to the tip-top [...]
This is the kind of thing you expect to see at FredFest, but it’s rare to see something so special out in the wild. I still have some mixed feelings about the Green Dragon’s ownership change, but I have to say that they’ve kept the beer list fresh and you have to appreciate a bar [...]
Sarah and I picked up a six-pack of this on our spring visit to Northern California, the same trip where we visited Russian River and sampled three or four highly-regarded IPA’s as close to the source as possible. So I was surprised to taste this beer, heretofore unknown to me, and have my mind completely [...]
I fully expected to rate this beer “5 star” before I opened the bottle. I always grab a six-pack of the beer when I’m back visiting the Midwest, and I guess I’ve come to fetish-ize it a bit. Don’t get me wrong – it’s great beer, a very drinkable 7% abv IPA – but under [...]
A favorite memory from my ill-advised but highly-entertaining 30th Birthday Beerstravaganza Road trip to San Francisco Beer Week 2009 was our stop at 21st Amendment. We had been beer tasting in cities to the north of SF all day long, and to be honest, we were pretty … happy … by the time we got [...]
Wow, only the second Hopworks beer I’ve reviewed for this project. Surprising, given how much I enjoy visiting this kid- and earth-friendly brewpub. I tend to sample their hoppier offerings when I visit, but because of this effort, decided to try something new. The Earth Day Ale wasn’t particularly special, but it paired well with [...]
Let me come right out and acknowledge the fact that I received this bottle as a freebie from the brewery when I visited there in February. I should also acknowledge that as a fellow Iowan, I am pre-disposed to admire the products of other Iowans. But I’ll be blunt: I didn’t enjoy this beer as [...]
There are people who like coconut, and people who don’t. I’m a coconut person, especially when coconut is used in curry, or used to encrust things like shrimp, or garnish things like cupcakes. I must say, though – not a huge fan of coconut in beer. The beer seemed like it straddled an odd divide [...]