Archives for June, 2010
Must be kismet. June 15th’s beer was made by a member of the family that founded the Maytag washing machine company in Newton, Iowa. This beer is named after the first washing machine produced by the Maytag company (The “Pastime”), and brewed in Newton, Iowa. Alas, that’s the end of the relationship between these two [...]
I wish I’d tried this beer earlier. One sip, and I thought, “I should go find a case of this someplace.” But alas, the beer was on sale in March of 2010, and I haven’t seen it since. It’s been replaced with the next beer in Sierra Nevada’s 30th Anniversary series, “Charlie, Fred and Ken’s [...]
If you’re wondering about the flurry of reviews, here’s the skinny: I’ve gotten way behind in posting reviews, and I’m trying to get caught back up. I’m still trying a new beer every day (haven’t missed a day since January 1!), but I haven’t been the best at blogging about them in a timely manner. [...]
When I first moved to Portland in June 2001, you could still find 6-packs of local craft beer like Bridgeport, Deschutes and Full Sail for $5.99, and occasionally, as low as $5.49. Henry’s was around $4.49 or 4.99. Over the last 9 years or so, prices have climbed to the point where $6.99 is a [...]
Apparently this beer is all the rage in the Twin Cities, the original home of the famous Grain Belt brewery. I remember driving past the sign in my periodic visits, but being a native Iowan, I didn’t have much experience with the brewery’s beers, and knew it only as a nostalgic landmark. I’ll be honest [...]
I used to work in Southeast Portland when I first moved to town. I also lived in Southeast Portland, and rare was the day I ventured out of that quadrant of the Rose City. Everything I needed was in reach: job, home, grocery stores aplenty, and of course, beer. Great beer. I’d argue that Southeast [...]
I bought this beer mainly as a test of the brewery before I committed to buying their Double IPA (aka “DIPA”). I’m a big judge of labels, and I judged both of them to be cool, but wasn’t willing to pony up for the gold wax-dipped DIPA bottle without at least trying the flagship IPA. [...]
This was a nice beer for a cold, wet Portland afternoon/evening. The warmth of the alcohol paired perfectly with the heat lamp at New Old Lompoc’s quaint Hedge House location. I enjoyed myself so much that I forgot to record this beer for pictorial posterity! Beer Name: Spring Bock Brewer: New Old Lompoc Brewing Price: [...]
There are some things that exist simply to serve as calibration for everything else. Absolute zero. Mt. Everest. The Marianas Trench. Moylan’s Hopsickle. It is without qualification the hoppiest beer I have ever had. It’s not the bitterest, nor is it the most alcoholic, or even the sweetest. But tasting it is akin to consuming [...]
One of the main benefits canners of craft beer will tell you is that, being opaque, aluminum blocks UV completely, resulting in a beer that can never, ever have a skuny flavor to it. But infected beer (usually from less than stellar sanitation at the brewery or cannery) can happen to a keg, bottle, cask [...]
This is, I believe the first Dogfish Head beer I’ve sampled for this project (I’m writing on at 32,000 feet, or I’d check*), which is just an oversight I’ll be correcting in the coming weeks. Say what you will about “extreme beers,” but Sam Calagione makes some damn fine beers that push the limits of [...]
I think it was the colorful label and the word “Dry” that grabbed me at the beer store. Portland has been suffering over the last few weeks. June is typically the start of our summer, with days of rain gradually being replaced by sunny, clear skies and, as a result, much improved dispositions. Lately it’s [...]
I was a little surprised to see that this beer is only 7.7% alcohol. Because, as the bottle would indicate, this beer has been my downfall on more than one occasion. There was that time I walked home from Kelly’s Olympian (pretty sure I had at least two). And that other time I ordered chicken [...]
I had this beer in the midst of an epic German beer-tasting, the likes of which I’ve never experienced. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not much for lagers, and most German beers tend to be more of that lineage than the fruitier, creamier ales I tend to gravitate towards. Something about all that [...]
Picked up this growler at the soon to be closing Laurelwood Pizza Pub, over my first actual pizza from the restaurant. It was good, but the beer was great. I had a pint with dinner, and ended up taking home this growler, too. Unfortunately, I failed to write down the last word in this beer’s [...]
I’ll be honest. I give my friend Blu a lot of crap for his choice in “beer.” You see, he is partial to “The Silver Bullet,” Coors Light. I kid him a lot about how he could save a lot of money in bars if he would just order water, which has about the same [...]
This is not the Cristal Jay-Z celebrated, then denigrated. That’s a fancypants champagne that costs too much. This is a beer from Peru that costs $3 a bottle at la hora des amigos at Pam Biche, a Cuban restaurant here in Portland. Based on their web site’s focus on marketing (y chicas), and not beer, [...]
I wonder sometimes what it must have felt like to be the guy who tried snails for this first time. I imagine that, seeing the “guy who discovered oysters”‘ success, he thought he’d win the heart of his cave-beau by making a similar gustatory discovery inside what looked a lot like a slowly moving rock. [...]
Enjoyed this over a great dinner with great friends at Portland’s Simpatica Dining Hall. It’s a unique dining experience, with only one seating per night. Unusual for Portland, where casual is the rule, you must have reservations, as seating is limited to just 40 people. Everyone sits on long, communal tables, and eats precisely the [...]
Looking back on my notes, maybe I was a little harsh. “Craft beer’s answer to Coors?” I mean, both breweries are in Colorado, but it wasn’t that bad. I mean, I did give it two stars. It’s a lot better than Bud Light Wheat. Then again (spoiler alert) when was the last time you had [...]
I’m not really sure where the misinformation came from, but the bartender at the A&L tavern (lots of taps, very little care shown for beer) told me the brewery used to be across the street. Or very close by. But that they had since moved operations elsewhere … by which I’m going to assume she [...]
The website says the goal behind this beer was to create “… a beer with the flavor of an ale and the smoothness of a lager.” It worked, I have to say. This is no “standard cheap American industrial lager,” but a truly different kind of beer. It is smooth, and it is an ale. [...]
Okay, I’m going to be honest. I don’t have anything special to say about this beer. It was good (I gave it three stars), but apparently, it wasn’t memorable. Except I will tell you that “glissade” may or may not refer to what looks to be a very fun way to descend a snowy mountain. [...]
They were out of my first choice when I ordered this from the menu at Fong’s Pizza in Des Moines, Iowa, an Asian-themed pizza place. No, I don’t know where it all came from, either. But I will say that the peanut-sauced chicken pizza was awesome, and the crust was a very respectable olive oil-based [...]
I used to get Millstream beers occasionally when I was in college, usually after I’d received a big check (all other times, I’d be drinking whatever was cheapest, usually Pig’s Eye or Leinenkugel by the case). The Millstream brewery is located in the Amana Colonies, about a 40 minute drive from Iowa City, where I [...]