The first time we visited the Great Lost Bear in Portland, Maine, we knew it was a place we would make a point to revisit when back in town. Reminiscent of the U.K.-inspired Horse Brass pub in our Portland it immediately presented an atmosphere exuding great craft beer culture.

Nearly as old as the good ol’ Brass, the Bear has been serving up tasty regional microbrews and artisan imported brews since 1979. About two miles from the city’s touristy Old Port District, the establishment is unassuming from the outside, but within its wall lies a history of Old World style and New World innovation. Bedecked with a plethora of breweriana and inviting beer signage, the Bear’s telltale indicator of greatness is a framed photo of the mighty Michael Jackson upon his visit to this destination for every enthusiast of barley art.

Housing sixty-five taps of wonderful beer, the Bear regularly features four beer engines and a constant supply of unique Allagash offerings. All About Beer Magazine justly claims this establishment to be one of “125 Places to Have Beer Before You Die.” With regular events centered around a love for beer, the Bear maintains a rotating array of Belgian and Extreme Beer selections guaranteed to excite anyone from the newby quaffer to the seasoned connoisseur.

Some advantages the bar offers include a long-standing smoke-free environment and a diverse spectrum of food offerings that cater to both carnivores and strict vegans. The local weekly, The Portland Phoenix, named The Great Lost Bear as having the best burger in the city. They also offer tasty housemade soups and hearty burritos to pair with a frothy cold one.

Upon our last visit, we enjoyed a cask pour of Allagash Black, a Belgian-style stout brewed with German 2-Row barley, torrified wheat and oats, and balanced by a large addition of Belgian dark candy to give the it a full and silky mouthfeel. Roasted malts give this stout its classic chocolate, toast and malty taste, and contribute to chocolate notes and a hint of roasted coffee in the aroma. The Black is fermented with a Belgian yeast strain and refermented in the bottle with the methode champenoise to make this beer truly unique.

Many of the beers offered at the Bear are those brewed in Maine. Tempting offerings here include Sebago Runabout Red Ale, Belfast Bay Lobster Ale, Gritty McDuff’s Black Fly Stout, and Atlantic Brewing Bar Harbor Real Ale. During the warmer months, one can enjoy themselves on the establishment’s outdoor patio. There’s a little something for everyone at the Bear. If you find yourself in Portland, Maine, make sure to pay them a visit. You will not be disappointed.

Posted under beer and food, places to drink beer

While enjoying the stay in New England, Brewpublic had the privilege of visiting Allagash Brewing in Portland, Maine. Here, we discovered a variety of Belgian-inspired beers unlike any others found stateside. At Allagash, we visited with brewmaster Jason Perkins to learn more about the brewery’s success with their mainstay favorites as well as some innovative new brews, including work with spontaneously fermented brews produced in their koelschip (cool ship).

Here is part two of this exclusive interview:

Posted under Beer personalities, beer events, beer news, beers on film

Brewpublic, on a recent trip to New England, made certain to stop at Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine.

As mentioned on their website, Allagash, since 1995 and behind the vision of founder Rob Tod, has brewed a unique variety of traditional and experimental Belgian-style beers made with a dedication to craftsmanship and quality.

All of the bottled beers at Allagash are bottle conditioned. In a temperature controlled cellar, the beers begin a new fermentation process in the bottle and naturally carbonated the brews. Allagash’s focus on traditional Belgian character craftsmanship sets them apart from the majority of American breweries. It is a long, expensive and traditional process that the brewery adheres to in order to put forth an amazing product worthy of admiration from the biggest beer geeks around the world.

While at Allagash, we had the distinct pleasure and honor of meeting with brewmaster Jason Perkins. Perkins, 35, is in his twelfth year with the brewery, and has perpetuated the longstanding tradition of the artisan brewhouse.

Recently, Allagash has made waves in the international beer community by taking their spirit of experimentation to the next level by brewing a 100% spontaneously fermented beer in the tradition of the Belgian Lambics. In December of 2008, Perkins and company brewed the first two of their spontaneously fermented beers at Allagash. In brewing these beers they employed an authentic process paying homage to the classic Belgian Lambic tradition, including the use of a Koelschip (cool ship), which was built on premise, specifically for these spontaneous beers.

The brewery explains:

The process begins with a specialized decoction mash, which utilizes the addition of both two row barley and raw, unmalted wheat. After the mash and sparge, we add aged hops during the boil, which are traditionally used because they impart many of the beer stabilizing benefits of hops without contributing bitterness. The use of aged hops (aged a minimum of three years) necessitates an unusually long boil of over four hours.

After boiling, rather than cooling the beer in a sterile environment and adding a brewer’s yeast culture, the hot wort is pumped to a cool ship in a special room designed specifically to make these beers. The cool ship is a commonly used tool in Belgium, but is rarely seen beyond Belgium’s borders, if at all. It is a large, open tray that is 12 feet long, 8 feet wide and 1 foot deep. Once in the cool ship the hot wort spends the night cooling from near boiling temperatures to about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. To facilitate the cooling process, windows in the cool ship room are left open overnight. The cool Maine air, containing natural bacteria and wild yeast, drifts in and cools the wort. As soon as the wort is cool enough, the natural airborne yeasts and bacteria are able to survive in what will eventually be the spontaneously fermented beer (it is these natural yeasts and bacteria which will ferment the beer, rather than a yeast added by the brewer).

Next, the wort is pumped back into a brewery tank, where it will spend one further day before it is pumped into special French oak barrels. Within one to three weeks, spontaneous fermentation begins in the oak and will continue for over one year. After the yearlong fermentation this traditional beer will age in French oak for at least one more year, sometimes with the addition of fruits, before it is finally bottled.

You may have noticed less of Allagash’s fine beers on the shelf in the Pacific Northwest marketplace. This is related to the overwhelming demand that has brought the focus of their push toward a more localized front. Hopefully in the not so distant future we’ll begin to see more of Allagash’s bottles and kegs seeping their way back into the finer establishments around Cascadia. Until then, you’ll just have to do as we’ve done and pay a visit to the source.

Thanks to Jason, Kate, Naomi, and the entire staff at Allagash for their hospitality and a wonderful tour of the brewery.

Stay tuned for an exclusive Brewpublic video interview with Allagash brewmaster Jason Perkins.

Posted under Beer personalities, beer news, beers on film

After spending three days in the Maine woods, we headed out in search of any kind of craft beer. In Bangor, Central Maine’s most populated region, we made two stops. First, we hit up Sea Dog Microbrewery and Pub, an old haunt from way back when. These days, Sea Dog is owned by Shipyard Brewing Company and most of the production has moved a few hours south in Topsham.  The beers, like many of New England’s classic ales, are brewed with the ringwood yeast. This yeast lends itself to an astringent mouthfeel and often a prominent diacetyl presence.

At a nice location on the Penobscot River the pub featured an assortment of seafood options along with other standard pub fare. In the summer months, Sea Dog’s outdoor river view deck is one of the best atmospheres in town to enjoy a beer.

While at Sea Dog, we tried the newly brewed Summer Ale, a light golden ale with signature butter notes and dry mouthfeel. We also explored a mildly hopped Pale Ale with even more pronounced diacetyl flavors. The last beer ordered, a Hazelnut Porter, for us, was unfinishable. Artificially sweetened with a sugary flavoring and riddled with more diacetyl than the first two beers, this is a beer we’d characterize as a drain pour.

With decent food options and a nice location in the heart of the Queen City, Sea Dog is a brewery we hope will improve their beers because it is one of the first craft breweries we were drinking in Maine.

After catching a baseball game at Husson College in town, we headed back into downtown Bangor to visit a beer stop recommended by old friends. At the Whig & Courier, Bangor’s 2007 choice for best neighborhood pub, an assortment of area beers run the taps as well as a few standards such as Guinness, Bass, Harp, Miller, and Coors. Short of Allagash Brewing, there’s really not much to drool over when it comes to Maine’s craft beer selection where diacetyl is king. At Whig & Courier, named for an old city newspaper, we opted for Geary’s Bangor’s Best, a standard pale ale for the area. Other options were Atlantic Brewing’s Blueberry Ale, Magic Hat’s Circus Boy, a Casco Bay Seasonal, a Shipyard Seasonal, and Marshall Wharf Brewing.

Posted under beer reviews, brewpubs, places to drink beer

At the eastern edge of the White Mountains National Forest, near the shores of Lake Kezar, rests the quiet town of Lovell, Maine. Here, in a restored farmhouse adjacent to a beautiful golf course surrounded by groves of white pine trees, we came to Ebenezer’s Pub. Named for town founder Ebenezer Kezar, Ebenezer’s, run by Chris and Jen Lively, came highly regarded at the upper echelon of beer stops on the planet.  And, it lived up to the hype, perhaps even exceeded it.

Ebenezer's owner Chris Lively pours a beer

Tap after tap of mindblowing and mouthwatering beers left us baffled as where to begin. Chris, our friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate host recommended two outstanding draught offerings: Pannepot 2007, a dark unfiltered sipper with lots sugary dark fruit richness,  and Cambridge Benevolence, a rich chestnut colored beer mildly tart and quite dry from a Brettanomyces inoculation.

Speaking with Chris was worth the travel alone. His mind was a database of craft beer dating back to the 1930s. Halfway through our Pannepot, Chris opened up a less turbid bottled version for comparison. Other great beers we had the fortune of enjoying included a Dogfish Head and Biggoarlo collaboration brew known as My Antonia, a hazy golden-straw Imperial Pilsner with a world of complexity from a variety of herbs used–honey, anise, clover, and chamomile notes throughout the experience.

After Ebenezer’s small crowd locals began to dissipate, Chris kindly offered us an exclusive tour of his KILLER cellar. Was this brewtopia? It sure felt like it. In the understory of the farmhouse, we bared witness to unfathomable beers while we sipped from a rare Allagash #9.  This special spontaneously fermented Koelschip blend was made with local tart cherries and is regarded by Chris as one of his personal favorites. Glowing hazy orange hued with a wonderful tart and malty fruit melange, the #9 would prove to be a highlight of our New England beer pilgrimage.

As much as we wanted to be reporters while at Chris’s fine establishment, we decided to let ourselves go and soak in this once in a lifetime experience. We anticipate returning in the future, but considering how off the beaten path Ebenezer’s is, we’re not sure when that will be. Fortunately we captured some exclusive video of this rare experience. Even Chris manned the camera and provided us with some lighthearted special footage.

After wrapping things up in the wee hours of morning, we were kindly offered board at a gorgeous lakeside cabin in Lovell. Here, three kind locals unveiled another refuge for craft beer lovers. A kind gentleman named Joe, his brother Jim, and their friend Arnold introduced us to Joe’s delicious homebrews served from his very own wood crafted basement pub. Joe also opened some cellared beers for us as well including a bottle of Flying Dog’s Wild Dog, a tart Doppelbock. All of these experiences with these kind folks and these great beers culminated to surpass our already high expectations of  this evening. Is Ebenezer’s truly the world’s best beer bar? Perhaps. Is Ebenezer’s the most passionate establishment when it comes to craft beer? Undoubtedly.

Coming next: a video tour of Ebenezer’s cellar with Chris Lively.

Posted under Beer personalities, places to drink beer

SBS Imports is pleased to announce the arrival of the two newest beers in the De Proef line-up, Van Twee Belgian Ale (collaboration with Bell’s Brewery) and Witte Noire Imperial Amber Wheat Ale.

Van Twee (From Both) is the third beer in the Brewmaster’s Collaboration Series. Previous collaborations included Signature Ale with Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing/Lost Abbey and Les Deux Brasseurs with Jason Perkins of Allagash. Van Twee was co-designed and brewed by John Mallet of Bell’s and Dirk Naudts at De Proef. It is a deep amber-chocolate colored porter-dubbel hybrid, with Michigan sour cherry juice and brettanomyces in the secondary fermentation. Layers of rich chocolate and coffee notes are followed by underlying sweet-sour cherry fruitiness with a long finish. It is reminiscent of the famous filled chocolates of Belgium. It is available in cases of 6/750ml cork-finished bottles and 20L kegs. Suggested retail price is $16.99 per bottle. Alcohol 7.5% by volume.

Witte Noire Imperial Amber Wheat Ale is another unique style interpretation created by SBS’ President Alan Shapiro along with Brewmaster Dirk Naudts. Witte Noire is a companion to the highly acclaimed La Grande Blanche Imperial White Ale, blending darker malts along with wheat in the grain bill. Witte Noire is a rich chestnut brown color with a full tan head. It features light roasted porter-like notes on the front pallet followed by a round, soft middle. Clove-like spice notes dominate the elegant finish. It is perhaps a Belgian interpretation of the classic wheat doppelbock beers of Germany. Witte Noire is available in cases of 6/750ml cork-finished bottles, with a suggested retail price of $9.99. It is 7.5% alcohol by volume.

“Our goal with both the Brewmaster’s Collaboration and Brewmaster’s Collection series is to bring products of unique taste profiles to discerning Belgian beer enthusiasts,” noted Shapiro. “I believe these beers are exceptional additions to De Proef range available in the U.S.”

Highly regarded Belgian brewing engineer and professor, Dirk Naudts, founded the De Proefbrouwerij in 1996. He crafts each batch in an 11HL (9 U.S. barrel) brewhouse that blends state-of-the-art technology with traditional methods. Prior to creating DeProef, Naudts was the Brewmaster at Roman Brewery in Oudenaarde, Belgium and Brewmaster at the prestigious St. Lieven brewing program in Gent, Belgium. SBS Imports is based in Seattle, Washington and was founded by specialy beer industry veteran Alan Shapiro in 2002. IN addition to De Proef, SBS also imports Aspall Cyders from Suffolk, England and Batemans Ales from Lincolnshire, England. More information is available at www.sbs-imports.com.

Posted under beer releases

A recent vacation to Worcester, Massachusetts to visit my mom also included a visit to Armsby Abbey. The quaint setting located at the corner of Main and School Street in historic downtown Worcester offered up friendly service not to mention a wide selection of tasty brews. The Abbey features 22 rotating taps (with 6 dedicated to Belgian beers) and some 140 bottled beers from all over the country. Recently having celebrated their one year anniversary Armsby Abbey has received a plethora of “Best of Worcester” awards including “Best New Restaurant”, and “Best Beer Selection”. Speaking as a recent patron, the place did not disappoint. Wanting to try a local New England brew, I went with Allagash Brewing of Maine’s White; a perfect beer to combat the traditional muggy weather outside. Bartender Kyle Warren offered up his knowledge of Abbey selections to help this beerdrinker’s wife choose a smooth St. Bernardus Wit Bier. It is my recommendation that whether you hail from central Mass, or are visiting the area you be sure to wet the palate with an artisan brew oasis otherwise known as Armsby Abbey.

Posted under places to drink beer

Deschutes brewmaster, Larry Sidor, has a background that may surprise some. For someone who has come up with such boldly innovated recipes at Deschutes such as The Dissident and The Abyss, many may not guess that Larry got his start at the Olympia Brewing Company.

“I spent 23 years at Olympia. You name it I did. It started as a journeyman situation after I graduated from OSU with a degree in the food sciences. From there I did a six-month brewing apprenticeship and performed every aspect in brewing possible. After that I was sent to Siebels, and back at that time it was a four-month course. When I returned I was named project assistant brewmaster at Olympia.”

From there Larry was promoted to Operations Manager for the entire brewery and during that time Pabst bought out Olympia. Larry remained with the company and became the R&D Manager, QA Manager, wrote and developed contract brewing situations and even brewed in Japan and China. Larry brewed such brands as Stroh’s, Lone Star, Lucky Lager, Brew 102 and even the Beer Beer (the can just said “Beer” on the side) and of course all the Pabst’s Brands.

In 1997, Larry quit his position at Olympia/Pabst without another job lined up. He confessed that he had had enough of the revolving door of ownership. Recently, I had a chance to meet with Larry and talk about his past, where he is at now and how he sees the future of craft beer.

Margaret Lut: So how did you transition from Olympia to Deschutes?

Larry Sidor: Well, I am an Oregon boy. At least a Northwest guy. I love it out here. I grew up in Corvallis and spent my formative years in La Grande. I ended up going back to Corvallis and graduated from Corvallis High and then went to Oregon State University. When I quit Olympia without a job and went home to my wife and told her and she was like “OK, that is nice” “She was completely OK with it. So I starting looking around for a job and a hop dealer in Yakima offered me a job and I thought “Oh that sounds great! I have always wanted to learn more about hops.” I ended up spending seven years in Yakima in the hop business. I worked in technical sales and operations of pelletizing hops. One of my greatest accomplishments was pretty much revolutionizing hop pellet production. I made a lot of changes to improve pelletization and starting running a super critical carbon dioxide plant that extracted the essential ingredients in hops. Then it was put in a can. Not very glamorous but very interesting from a technical standpoint.

Here at Deschutes, I use a little bit of hop extract here but we are a whole hop user here. Occasionally I might use a pellet or two but only when whole hops aren’t available for what I want to do. While working at the hop farm someone from Deschutes called me and asked if I was interested in getting back to brewing. My response was “OK, when is the interview?” So I came down for the interview and it was right in the transition of getting ready to open this brewhouse (Bend production brewery) and it was really like the perfect fit.

Oh, here is another great story of how I decided Deschutes was the right choice:
I was looking through (different beers) my beer fridge and I was thinking, ‘Wow they use whole hops. They use whole hops. They use whole hops.  Hmm…they use pellets, but I’ll forgive them” and it occurred to me that I am naturally drawn to beers made with whole hops. I can notice the beers that are made with pelletized hops and those made with whole hops and I lean towards those beers made with whole hops. So when Deschutes called me up I was like well I always have Deschutes beers in my fridge. It is funny how you kind of go down a path that you don’t really know you are going down until you open up that door on the beer fridge and you go “Oh wow … whole hops!”

ML: Before you came to Deschutes were you brewing or home brewing in Yakima?

LS: No, I copped out. I bought a vineyard and starting making wine. When I was looking for a place to live in Yakima I found a place that had 3 acres of wine grapes. When I was at OSU I interned at a winery and it was my dream to someday own and operate my own vineyard. I sold most of the grapes to other vineyards and legally you can make 200 gallons of wine a year so that is what I would do (three whites and a red) and it was awfully fun. I would call up my friends and they would come and we could have a big spread. They would bring their campers and it would just be this big gathering of folks. I soon realized that my food bill was bigger then what it would cost to hire commercial pickers. So the following year I hired commercial pickers and people were like “What are you doing?!”. So the year after I would have people waiting in the parking lot waiting for the grapes to ripen for harvest.

ML: Having a winemaker’s background (temporarily) how did that transition into brewing? Did you bring your winemakers background into brewing, as far as the Dissidents or anything else?

LS: Absolutely, but I really bring more of my experience of brewing at Olympia and I also bring a whole load of information and technique from my days in the hop industry. I mean, I know more about hops then I care to admit. I spent seven years just living the dream of working with hops. So I am connected with the hop industry from a technical research stand point and from knowing growers and basically knowing how the system works. For example, you know the latest hop shortage, well guess what; we had no hop shortage here. In fact, we actually sold hops back into the brewing community to help them out. For us, the shortage was no big deal. I have a hop contract for the next 5 years already planned.

As for wine making and how it has helped me out in this job. The barrel information I had accumulated from wine making has helped. We get barrels from Hedges Cellars, his brother used to be my chemist at Olympia. So when I need grapes or wine barrels they are always there for me. A good friend of mine owns King Estates, east of Eugene, so you know, same thing. Through out the industry, wine and beer are kind of woven together. There is this great sharing of information between ex-beer guys that are now wine guys and vice-a-versa. So the two vineyards I mentioned, they have about 15-20 year careers in the beer industry so they understand the beer industry and so now they have 10 years of wine making under their belts and it is pretty good to be able to share that information.

Winemaking is fairly simple compared to making beer but wine growing is very complex. So I think that the agronomics of growing wine grapes is the most technically challenging part of making wine. If you look at beer making, we go from a very light Kolsch-type beer to a very dark Imperial Stout like Abyss and the wine folks can’t claim that. They play in this little flavor profile here and we have flavors that will just blow you away. That is why working with Brett or Acetobactor or some of the other funky yeast is just amazing. We can layer those flavors in our advantage where the wine makers can’t really do so. The wine consumer has a very close mine where the beer drinkers, especially those who like the The Dissident, The Abyss, Black Butte XX, etc. are like “Bring it on!” We don’t have limitations like the wine industry does so it is pretty rewarding and pretty darn cool. We can go play while they have to labor.

ML: When did you know craft beer was your path?

LS: I live to make beer. When I was in Olympia, and I know people don’t think this is right but they make great beer. They had great processes and it was a fun, entertaining, and wonderful place to work. I had a lot of creative outlet there, definitely not anywhere close to here, the yellow fizzy beer consumer was pretty picky and you couldn’t go too far out but one of the fun things I did at Olympia was I made a beer called Olympia Dark. I went from making it once a beer to making it year round. At Deschutes there is no boundaries. The boundaries we have are how do we get it done.

A focus project I am working on right now is making a Belgium Quad. We have made them off and on over the past few years and right now we are on batch number four. We have yet to make one that we are proud of.

ML: Which was the batch at the Portland Cheers to Belgium Beers?

LS: That was batch number three. For me what it was missing was the layering and the complexity of what I really wanted. The yeast we had to use, well…. We had some problems with that yeast. Once we figured out how to use it though, it was one of those situations where the horse was out of the barn type things. It was a great learning experience. Stay tuned, when you are at the Oregon Brewer’s Festival this year, they are having a Buzz Tent. We have three beers we are going to contribute. An Organic Sour Amber Ale, it’s going to be fairly hoppy and I will be curious to hear what the feedback will be on this one. For the buzz tent we will have a quad that has been aging in 14-year old bourbon barrels and for the event itself we will have a beer called Miss Spelt. I am very enthused with the Miss Spelt. I don’t think it will take the beer bloggers by storm or anything, it is not meant to be that kind of beer. It is meant to be a more full-bodied wheat style beer made with spelt that has notes of banana, clove and bubble-gum. Spelt is an ancient grain that has a very unique cereal flavor to it. When I first started brewing it, I used 50% spelt and it was way too much. It tasted like liquid bread. Since then we have cut back to where it is now and I don’t think I will mess with the formula anymore. One of the keys in making that beer for us has been how to manage the fermentation. We think we are there.

ML: Is this going to be Deschutes “Hefeweizen”?

LS: I don’t think we are going down that pathway. I think it is its own unique beer. We have never had ambitions to get into the Hefeweizen game. There are no spices in it so we are not trying to do the Belgium Wit type thing either. We are trying to let the yeast speak for itself really. We don’t want to call it a Hefeweizen, so we are messing around with some concepts. When you asked about creativity and this will make some people mad, but I don’t even look at style guidelines. One of my most anguished days is entering beers in the Great American Beer Festival. We simply don’t fit into the beer judging guidelines for most any beer that we make. I don’t really pay attention to it, it doesn’t really matter to me. We can call something a Pale ale or a Porter, Stout or an Imperial Stout but for example we make a beer called the Red Chair IPA and we call it an IPA because we don’t really know what else to call it. There are people out there that want to identify with a particular style. Red Chair is not really a Pale and it is not really an IPA, its just good beer. I think that from a creativity standpoint we are definitely doing the right thing. Maybe from a consumer confusion point we need a little education. But I like the way we do it. We strive to make a great beer for the consumer and we struggle putting a label on it or a verity or brand.

Another project I am working on right now is a gluten-free beer. I got a call from one of my brewers and he went “Larry, I don’t even want to call this beer gluten-free. I just want to put it out in the pub and call it beer. Larry, you can put a tag on it but I don’t want to call it gluten-free.” And I said, “Wow, you are that proud of that beer that we can do that.” And he said “Absolutely!” (That beer is the gluten free Wiess beer and it is on tap at the Portland pub as of this past weekend.)

ML: Do you have any beers that have inspired you along the way?

LS: Oh, there is a long list! Bridgeport IPA is a great IPA and the first time I ever tasted Black Butte Porter that was a turning point in my brewing career. A lot of the Belgium beers are just…. Wow. The Westmalles, to the Westvelterens, they are just incredible beers that make you wonder how did they do that. Some of the beers out of Germany and Pilsner Urquell were very inspiring beers for me back in the day and Guinness. I was in Germany in the early 1970′s and the beers of Munich were just amazing. One my more recent experience was going to Bamberg and visiting Schlenkerla and having their smoked beer. Their rauch beer was just incredible. Every place you turn in the beer industry there is inspiration. Someone is making fantastic beers, just waiting to be discovered. I back to the CBC and went to where Brooklyn beers are made and Cooperstown and Ommegang and Allagash and had some fantastic beers there. Inspiration is everywhere. We could talk for days on that subject.

ML: So what do you enjoy drinking these days?

LS: Allagash and Russian River just to name a few.

When I go out I don’t want to drink Deschutes, I know what it tastes like and I am not out to do QA to see if the beer traveled well or not. I want to try other brewer’s beers and see what is out on the market. I end up ordering some samples and analyzing the beers to the point to where I know the server gets frustrated with me and wants me to just decide what to drink.

Although, I will never pass up a chance to drink Dissidents or Abyss. I think Red Chair is a revolutionary beer. The marriage of malt and hop aroma and hop flavor without the rip your tonsils out type of bitterness that usually has to come with those kind of beers. The hop aroma in that beer just keeps coming back as you drink it. Where with bitter backwards beer that is somewhat unbalanced from a malts stand point, the brewer has gone way to far with the bitterness approach because they think that if it is bitter that people will like it.

Stay tuned for the second part of the interview where Larry tells of his passion for hops, Salmon Safe not organic hops and trends he sees coming to brewing.

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer

This post really has nothing to do with Northwest beers, Oregon, or the West Coast, but it sure does make me reminisce about my home state, the White Pine State, the State of Maine.  Maine was right there with Oregon as one of the pioneers in the craft brew revolution during the 80s and 90s and, today, per capita, still possesses the most breweries.  Growing up I first experienced craft brew in the two Sams…Samuel Smiths and Samuel Adams.  I remember the first time I tasted the Triple Bock from Sam Adams and not knowing exactly what to make of it except the fact that it was a hair bending beast of a brew.  When I got a little older, I had the occasional Sea Dog beer, which I never really became totally enamored by.  But Geary’s London Porter and Shipyard’s Export Ale still remain fond in my heart to this day.  It wasn’t until I lived in Northern California and Oregon in the late 1990s that I really got a sense of what an area’s agriculture could mean for a brew.  Full Sail, Deschutes, Anderson Valley, Lagunitas, and BridgePort were among the first beers from this region that really captivated my palate.  It wasn’t until after I’d moved to the Pacific Northwest that I even tasted Allagash’s amazing Belgian lineup of brews.  I remember seeing the Dubble and Trippel at a Wild Oats market, recognizing the name “Allagash”, a notable river in my home state, and thinking, “that’s a potent brew from Maine, sold.”  Today, I have enjoyed more beers that my Mickeys-drinking teenage mind could have imaged looking ahead with a greater appreciation for the vast brands now available on the market.  In 2007, I returned to New England to visit family and friends, and even was fortunate enough to attend game 7 of the American League Championship Series with my dad at Fenway Park in Boston to see my beloved team, the Red Sox win the pennant.  On my trip, I distributed a suitcase full of beer magazines for a start-up Northwest publication.  This was also a great opportunity to visit several beer hot spots in the region.  One of my favorite aside from Portsmouth Brewing (Smuttynose) was The Great Lost Bear in Portland, Maine.  A British-styled pub with about fifty taps of amiable micro and import brews, the Lost Bear was definitely the place to be.  Pictures of the late, great Michael Jackson upon his visit there, adorned the walls alongside Horsebrass-esque breweriana (except with a distinct Maine flair).  My only regret is that I did not have more time to spent there.

Posted under beer me

Geoff enjoys a weekend snifter of Curieux

The weekend has finally passed.  Okay, it’s Tuesday, and you extended it a little longer than planned perhaps.  It was a great weekend.  Lots of merriment while enjoying the remaining nice days of summer blend into the briskness of autumn.  Here in the Pacific Northwest it is still quite warm during the day and perfect beer drinking and beer brewing weather.  Here’s a look at some of the beers that I was fortunate enough to quaff over the extended weekend.  All of these I recommend you experience if you haven’t already.  And if you have, why not go back for another round to refresh your palate.

Snoqualmie Falls Harvest Moon Ale: This beer is described as “a smooth, Oktoberfest-inspired festbier.” Using Munich, Two-row, and light Crystal malts, this robust, flavorful beer could possibly be one of the best fall beers I have ever tasted (no joke!) A marzen amber-dark copper-orange body besets a thick beige head.  A nose of nutty, spicy flavorsome delight makes this 5.3% ABV beer unbelievably delicious.  Finishing off with a bite of German noble hops and waves of chewy grains.  Try it today.

Allagash Curieux: One of my all-time favorite beers, and quite possibly the most amazing beer to come out of Maine, the Curieux became an instant classic upon its release in 2004. A Belgian tripel aged in Jim Beam barrels, imparting vanilla notes and rich robust tannins.  A new flavor is unveiled in nearly every sip.  At a hardy 10% or so by volume, the alcohol is warming and bears a mild bourbon sting.  Bottles of this beer carry somewhat of a hefty pricetag, but it is a treat worthy of sharing with deserving company who appreciate world class craft beer.
Roots Epic barrel-aged in Pinot Noir: First making an appearance at the 2007 Holiday Ale Festival in Portland, this monstrous brew is an even more extreme twist on the Roots Epic Ale, released on the winter solstice each year since 2005. At more than 14% ABV, the Epic lives up to its name.  This barrel-aged rendition pours a murky, muddy turbulent body (we were near the bottom of the keg) and a head that looked like melted vanilla ice cream.  Flavor complexities range from sour, vinous tart to chocolaty sweet and sticky.  A beer not to be taken lightly, the Epic is comforting but can easily wreck your game.  Drink responsibly, this is the antithesis of a session beer.

Port Brewing 2nd Anniversary: From a 22 ounce bottle, this balmy hop gigantor took olfactic ownership of its surroundings with a stinging floral hops bouquet.  Pouring a bright orange-golden-amber body beneathe a thin, swirling whitish head, it might be an understatement to say this beer had a mammoth hops presence.  All about the hops, the over-the-top hop dosage quickly delivers warm alphas to the temple and cloys to the palate as it rakes all tastebud receptors away for quite some time.  Quite possibly one of the hoppiest beers out there (and 9.5% ABV to boot), this beer is more of an experiement on hops than a likely candidate for balance, yet a rigid malt background with biscuity appeal does some work to bolster the hops that tip the scales.

The Bruery Tradewinds Tripel: Thank you to Geoff at Bailey’s Taproom for sharing this rare 750ML treat.  “A Belgian-style ale brewed with rice and Thai basil.” How could one resist?  Ever on the quest to indulge in new and exciting beer styles, this beer was right up my alley.  From Orange County, California, Tradewinds clocked in a 8.1% ABV with a hazy, light blonde body and a thin yet lively blanketing white head.  The nose was reminiscent of a Belgian witte with hints of candy sugar and boatloads of fruity esters.  Quite carbonic, the body revealed a sour, nutty, gnarly herbal grittiness that finished with a funky, spicy, boisterous pizzazz.  I wasn’t blown away by this beer, but it sure was a unique tasting experience.

So there you have it, a few weekend beers to feel good about.  Now it is almost noon on Tuesday, which means I am half way to Wednesday.  Wednesday is humpday, which is halfway to next weekend.  I guess things are shaping up quite well.  More beers to feel good about to come.  Au Revoir for now…

Posted under beer reviews