(Or Where I Feel Comfortable Taking My Sometimes Cranky Weimaraner)

By Frank James

One of life’s quandraries for dog-owning beer lovers is what to do with your pooch when you want to go out to have a cold one. For Portlanders, the answer is pretty simple: take Fido with you. Here in dog-friendly Portland, the real question becomes a matter of where to take Fido.

Obviously, you never want to go someplace where you have to drink bad beer. And if it’s a hot, sunny day, the numero uno factor is whether the place has sufficient shade, cause roasting like a lizard in the desert is a no-go from the very start. (No need for further tanning here.) Location is always another factor that comes into play in one fashion or another.

And as important as any issue is whether your pooch actually likes the place, as nothing will ruin a pleasant pint like an anxious, unhappy dog. Now, if you own your typically easy-going, no-drama Lab, just about any place that will allow you to park your pooch under the table is okay. But if you have a dog who can be just a little finicky, you have to be a bit more selective. So, as I go through my decision making process, Binx, who can be more than a little finicky, gets a heavily-weighted vote.

Binx, a 6 year old, rescued Weimaraner, pretty much runs my life. Or at least he seems to think so. He’s a great dog, but he definitely has a very well-defined sense of his likes and dislikes and he’s pretty upfront about expressing his opinion about those issues. He lives to chase the chattering squirrels who tease him in our back yard and at the parks where he patrols like a manic, furry pinball, bouncing from tree to tree as he glares up at his tormentors. But he thinks chasing inanimate objects like sticks and balls and Frisbees is about the dumbest thing any self-respecting Weimaraner could ever do. He loves ice-cold, fresh water -preferably filtered by Brita – but will literally turn his nose up if he’s presented with old, tepid water that came from a tap, no matter how thirsty or hot he may be. He loves little dogs, but is extraordinarily wary of Great Danes, especially if there is more than one around at a particular time. A true Oregonian, he hates the hot sun and will literally run to find shelter in the coolest shade around, where he’ll plant himself until he’s forced to move. Binx also has certain favorites when it comes to the Portland area’s craft beer establishments. How do I know? Am I merely attributing anthropomorphic traits to a mute, four-legged creature who wouldn’t know one bar from another?

Possibly, but as any dog owner knows, it’s pretty easy to figure out whether your dog likes something or someone or a particular location. Their posture, their ease – or discomfort – and whether they are happy or displeased about being in a particular place becomes pretty apparent, pretty quickly. In fact, if a dog owner can’t tell whether their dog likes a certain place, they aren’t paying attention. All you have to do is watch them closely and you’ll get all the information you need. What are the spots that rank as Binx’s favorite spots, ones that I also enjoy? What are the craft beer establishments with outdoor seating that Binx feels most comfortable? And why?

This isn’t a “best craft beer establishment to take your dog to…” listing. No, it’s much more subjective, as it is simply a list of the places I like to go to because I know that my dog is most comfortable at those places. There are specific reasons, and I’ll note those reasons, but the establishments I’ll describe are simply the places Binx really likes and I’ll let you know why he likes the particular establishment. He’s a funny dog. He’s very friendly, but he also hates to be bothered by other dogs who can’t take a hint when he tries to nicely tell them to bug off. He’ll tolerate a certain amount of guff from another dog, but then he will lose patience. Binx usually has a very friendly, goofy, silly posture – he’s never started a fight or incident in the three and a half years I’ve owned him – but if another dog refuses to simply leave him alone, he will get this look that reminds me of Robert DeNiro’s Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, when Travis says : “You talking to me? You talking to me?” And that is usually enough to motivate a too-curious dog to move along. But obviously, I prefer frequenting places where that type of mini-drama is unlikely to unfold, where Binx can just chill, scavenge leftovers from our meals and get a cool drink of water.

Now, the human in this equation does get a vote. These places are on the list because they all serve good beer, either their own or via a series of taps that are consistently of good quality. But ultimately, if Binx likes the place, it’s cool with me.

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Posted under Oregon beer, brewpubs, places to drink beer

Brewpublic’s Quebecer correspondent Marc Demeule recaps a malt-filled weekend in October where he returns to Portland for more of what he loves…craft beer. This time Marc does it fest-style with Brewpublic’s 1st Brewniversary at Saraveza, The Portland Fresh Hop Tastival at Oak’s Park, and the KillerBeerFest at Bailey’s Taproom. We just wonder if he will make it back for the Holiday Ale Fest. Well, there’s always something exciting brewing in Beervana.

Brewpublic 1st anniversary was a good opportunity for another great beer expedition. I don’t know if I’m dedicated, devoted or just addicted to Northwestern beers, perhaps a mix of all three. Well, I’ve been lucky to get vacation time in early October to fly to a city where hops are brewed fresh. Before reading this travel trip, please take note of that advice: If you bring beer bottles in your luggage, they will be opened by the security agency. Secondly, try to package your bottles as if they where porcelain vases. Consider that the carrier use them as wrestling partners and practice some “bodyslam” on it. I would like to thanks Delta Air Lines. Losing my luggage might be fine, but killing three of my precious beers was a hard and leaking experience to manage.

Anyway, it didn’t stop me. I had time to visit 22 different places during that six days’ trip. Of course, I could have probably drunk more than the 136 different beers I had, but I choose to have quality instead of quantity. Armed with a Tri-Met all zone seven day pass and a thirsty throat, I attacked this second pilgrimage, expecting to get the hop fever instead of the AH1NI flu.

- I did reconcile myself with Widmer Brothers. Nelson Sauvin hops is infused into the Half Nelson IPA, which is particularly resinous. This hop was a real revelation for me. Back home, we already made a homebrew with it, an IPA called the Tazmanian Devil. Simply awesome. Widmer’s Broken Halo did also impress me.

- I went to the Lucky Labrador on NW Quimby. Again, they use to offer plenty of great beers there, so I had the twelve tasters. It would have been bad to forget to taste one of those. Nitro Porter was excellent but the Bavarian Crystal Weizen won the top honours. Very fresh, with a little smoke taste.

- If I could live in Portland, I would regularly visit Rogue. Not for the omnipresence of the logo in their pub, but just for the beer selection. I could drink gallons of that Sesquincentennial. We can easily find Rogue products in Vermont, but it is always better on tap.

- I do admit that McMenamins isn’t my preferred brewery, but if like me you’re not excessively fond of their brews, you will certainly find a location within the 30 (maybe more) pubs they own in the city that you will like. I did enjoy the McMenamins theatre close to my hostel where you can have a movie for 3$ and watch it while you sample beer. This association is perfect when you travel to few pubs during the day and want to have a little break.

- Angelo did resume (very well) the first Brewpublic party we had at Saraveza in an earlier post. Again, thanks to everybody who came and support. Thanks to our host and to all the brewers who came and give us a bunch of stuff for the mighty mighty raffle we did. I think that nobody understands any French there, so calling the numbers in the two official languages of Canada didn’t accelerate the distribution. Brewpublic also released its brand new and exclusive t-shirt for the event. Hurry up, soon it will be sold out! The Lagunitas Hop Stoopid was one of the best taps there, but I had the chance to have a glass of Russian River Temptation. You know, that beer that makes you feel like you are in outer space for just a while…

- Saturday, October 10th, was quite a busy day. I attempted to the Fresh Hop Tastival in the Oaks Park. When you realize that you can have 15 samples and a souvenir pint of the event for 20$, you just don’t believe it. You are just spoiled. It is unfair to have such incredible beers. I had brews from Old Lompoc, Upright, Pelican but the discovery of this tastival (and “ze” beer of my whole trip) was the Beer Valley Black Flag Imperial Stout, hop harvest edition. I must also give an extremely good mention to the Beer Valley Leafer Madness Imperial Pale.

- A couple tastings later, the bus drop me at Bailey’s Taproom. You know that place? Well if you don’t have enough time for beer trekking through Portland, just go there. They have sampled the best taps just for you. This is a noble mission, isn’t it? Bailey’s generously hosted the first Brewpublic KillerBeerFest. I had a promotion and became a tourist-busboy for the evening. The beer listing was impressive and I discovered new breweries like Double Mountain, Vertigo and BJ’s (new to me, though no longer brewing in Portland) with the Belgian sour Enfant Terrible…kind of a liquid paradise. Thanks to everyone who came to this event and thanks for your patience. The line was a little bit long, but the beers were so fantastic…

- To bring back Portland’s best brews, a stop at the Belmont Station is necessary. I took as much I could and had to make heartbreaking choices (airport limitations). What is wonderful with the Belmont, is the Bier Cafe side. I had the pleasure to discover there another fresh hop festival in a bar with 16 taps and a cask. I noticed the sentence written on the menu: “Due to rarity & expense we do not provide free tastes of any beer costing over $3 per glass.” Only one of sixteen was over 3 bucks for a glass! And pints are 4$ !! Do you realize how cheap it is for a tourist? I would have another glass of that New Belgium Trip III anytime.

- I went to HUB, too… Excellent Bike IPA. Excellent service with qualified staff. Do I need to add anything?

- Deschutes Brewery is also an institution you need to visit. The quality of their beers is unique (The Abyss, Black Butte… ). I had my best tasting panel there. Fresh cereals, fresh hops and excellent food. Inversion IPA in cask and the Twilight Ale were simply wonderful.

- Angelo drove me (thanks brother!) close to Beaverton to the Cascade Brewery/Raccoon Lodge where I had a full tour of the brewery, most notably, the oak barrel section. I would like to thanks Curtis who welcomed us and let us taste almost everything available in the place. It is really an art to blend all those aged beers and to get such great results. Couldn’t decide which one is the best between Sang Noir, Sang Royal, Mouton Rouge or Bourbonic Plague.

- A new brewery I discovered is the Upright Brewery; located in the basement of a commercial building, they brew and fill kegs for distribution in the Portland area. Thanks to Alex for letting me visit the installations. I tasted The Fresh Hop of Bel-Aire, the chili-chocolate (Turkey on Rye) during my trip, and a bottle of Saison #4 for a tasting session back in Montreal. I’ve been surprised to see open fermentors there. I don’t think anybody does it in Québec. As Alex told me, you only have to keep it clean. Yeah, sure…

I did visit other places that I described in an earlier post of the PDX airport. I will just use few lines to list some of the best beers I had during that drinking week.

Beer Valley Black Flag & Leafer Madness

Rock bottom Swan Island lager

Cascade brewery Sang Rouge, Sang Royal, Quad Bourbon

Deschutes Twilight Ale

Lompoc C-Note

HUB Bike IPA

Vertigo Midnight Harvest

Upright Fresh Hop of Bel-Air

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

Rogue Dry-Hopped St-Rogue Red

Widmer’s Half Nelson IPA

À la prochaine !

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, beer reviews, places to drink beer

It’s not easy being a beer nut, but sometimes it can be fun as hell. Gettin’ geeked out on seasonals, one-offs, and, in general, brews I’ve never had before, is what it’s all about. Granted, the liver takes a toll for rewarding the palate, but in the end, it’s as publican Don Younger once said “It’s not about the beer, it’s about the beer.”

So, amidst scrambling about to shore up the final touches on Brewpublic’s big weekend, we performed a bit of quality assurance work. After a night of merriment…I mean Q.A. in the garage with Bailey’s owner/publican Geoff Phillips, the next morning was again filled with obligatory beer hunting.

Our first stop was Deschutes Brewpub in Portland where we picked up a couple cornies of beer for the weekend. Cam Cameron delivered us a barrel of King Cone Wet Hopped Pale Ale for our Brewniversary event at Saraveza, and one of the sticky Hop Henge #6 for our KillerBeerFest at Bailey’s.

After shoring those up, we returned to Bailey’s to drop of keg and Geoff. There we bumped into Dylan Goldsmith of Captured By Porches, who was providing the pub with one of the best named brews around, the Invasive Species IPA. Here, the brewer who recently made his brewing abode in St. Helens, Oregon, literally gave me the shirt off his back. If you haven’t seen CBP’s new label design and t-shirt, you must. It is quite artful.

After our stopover at Bailey’s Brewpublican Jay and I dipped over to Amnesia to sample a freshly brewed Goldy Hops fresh hop brew. Simply delicious and picturesque was this unfiltered beer that shortly sat illuminated in the afternoon sun beaming down on the brewpub’s beer garden. After our quick brews, we grabbed a keg of Copacetic IPA and headed north to Saraveza to deliver the Deschutes keg.

At Saraveza, we met with head pasty chef Spence Lack. One of the nicest guys around, we were obliged to no lack of suspense with a sampling of some of the great beers that Saraveza had on tap. This included a lavendar infused Ninkasi Transcendence Ale, Cascade’s Prequinox IPA, BridgePort’s Hop Harvest ’09, and a robust Bear Republic Heritage Scotch Ale. All of these were excellent.

Even further north across the Columbia River in Washington, we paid visit to our pal Arlene Nunez at By the Bottle to pick up some collaborative beer coasters. While we were there, we though it was only fitting to stock up on several bottles of fabulous hand crafted beer. Southern Tier favorites like Creme Brulee, Cherry Saison, and Pumking were obtained alongside other heavy hitters such as Victory’s Baltic Thunder Porter, Dogfish Head’s Theobroma cacao brew, and some other palatable knick knacks.

After returning from beer paradise, we partnered up with our boy Matthew DiTullo who has been diligently working on a video art piece for Brewpublic’s Brewniversary event to quaff and film. Back at the bat cave we unlidded said Southern Tier and Victory brews and I dragged some Northwest favorites from my cellar. Many money shots were captured and a great session of high quality grog was enjoyed. We even made room for a special pour of the Murai Family’s Nigori Genshu Sake. It kind of urks me when people use texting language for effect (e.g. LOL, BRB, etc) but all I can say about this day is OMFG!  TTYL.  -Angelo

Posted under beer me

Ugh! The weekend is over alas, but what a great one it was. Another year and we still haven’t made it to the Spring Beer and Wine Fest. Maybe it related to what Bill at It’s Pub Night had to say about beer snobs and this event, or perhaps it was simply that the weather on Friday called for sitting outdoors while enjoying delicious brews. Frankly, that sounded like a better game plan to the group I was with, than drinking inside the Oregon Convention Center. Maybe we’ll check it out next year.

So, organized by my brother Mario, a group of us met at the Bonfire, located on SE Stark and 28th. Here’s another pub known for its full bar and decent beer selection that I was interested to see how it had changed since the January 1 statewide smoking ban. Inside, Bonfire was dark and a bit dingy, but out front at a picnic table with the sun shining down, I was very pleased. Perhaps one downer about the smoking ban, if any, is that the smokers at bars like this now congregate out front, so outdoor seating involves more secondhand contamination. Still, it will be great once the cold winter months come back around.

Upon scanning the tap selection, I opted for a refreshingly floral Amnesia Dusty Trail Pale Ale. Probably one of this spring’s best Northwest Pale, Dusty Trail is good to the last drop. It’s glowing orange-golden body glistening in the sun beckoned repeated sips while enjoying the company of good friends. Following the crisp, delicious Dusty Trail Pale, I had to enjoy another Oregon Favorite, Terminal Gravity’s IPA.  I was also pleased to find that Bonfire offered Trumer Pils, Hopworks DOA, and Lucky Lab Stumptown Porter. Tres bien!

After a few pops at Bonfire, we made our way over to Concordia Alehouse, a place we hadn’t been for a while.

I hate to say it, but Concordia Alehouse has fallen slightly from the heights it once was at. Still delivering a great tap list with 22 micros pouring, Concordia, in recent years has devolved into a Oregon Lotto and game room driven jock bar where the ales pour about 5-10 degrees too cold. It is apparent also that the crew isn’t as geeked about the beers as in days of old, but to give credit where it’s due, the pub is still putting on some great events. Recently, Beer Brawl II, which saw Oregon defeat Washington and California in a blind tasting drew hundreds to celebrate the rich culture of NW beer. A Stone Arrogant Bastard seemed an appropriate fit for my spring palate. After sampling a few of the other folk’s brews, including a Klamath Basin Buttcrack Brown, I have to question how often Concordia cleans their taplines. There were some obvious funky flavors ranging from butterscotch to metal.  A $7 pint of Lindemans Framboise is fit to cleanse any palate. For a strict vegetarian, there isn’t much on the menu.  However, for grease-lovin’ carnivores, Concordia is your place. The vegheads in our crowd were glad they grabbed the cheap vegan tacos at Bonfire.

Saturday presented a mix of rain showers and sunshine. This truly is the best time of year in the Pacific Northwest.  While the air is chilly, it’s no where near as unpleasant as places like Maine, Ohio, Minnesota, or New York to name a few. The greenery is uncanny, and on Saturday, the new canopy over Amnesia Brewing‘s outdoor seating section was perfect on this day. We met up with our cousin Tony to sit out side and enjoy a couple rounds of Amnesia, one of Oregon and Portland’s finest breweries.

Friday’s enjoyment of Amnesia’s Dusty Trail Pale had us back to the source for more. Also pouring, the magnificent Copacetic IPA and a roasty, chocolaty Porter to die for. On this day, it was the best option we could think of. The smell of barbecue in the air, birds singing, and in the company of great friends, this was thee way to spend the weekend.

After the sun dropped below the horizon and the nip of early spring revisited the air, a brew at the Blue Monk on Belmont, and a night cap at the Victory Bar seemed fitting. We even got a taste of a ten-year, single-malt Bushmills chased by a one of a kind bourbon barrel-aged Laughing Dog Dogfather Imperial Stout. In addition, Victory had another beer we’d never tried before, Wit-kap’s Pater Dubbel, a rich brown sugary Belgian snifter. Mmmm…

Somewhere in all this, we managed to do some yardwork and gardening. Planted our vegetable garden and weeded/deadheaded at home with a some bottles of craft beer including Southern Tier Chokolat, the chocolatiest beer ever.  We love the weekend!

Posted under beer and food, places to drink beer

Beer dweebs like us are always seeking out the latest greatest beer and awaiting a new brewpub to open its doors.  Luckily, for folks in the Hood River area, another such beer lovers’ dream is becoming a reality.  Across the Columbia from Hood River, on the Washington hillside of another picturesque town known as White Salmon, resides a dapper new brewpub.  In a handsomely refurbished liquor store that was originally Odd Fellow’s Hall built in 1937, the sightly establishment dubbed Everybody’s Brewing is the dream of Doug and Christine Ellenberger.  Along with other partners, the two have put together an attractive display of guest taps and anticipate having Doug’s beer ready within the next few months.  A 17-barrel brew system purchased from Hamanako Brewery of Japan lives beneath large sturdy wooden planks bolstering the spacious hardwood public area above.  On a clear day, a breathtaking view of Mount Hood is framed by the large windows to the North.

Doug Ellenberger has put in his time in the brewing industry dating back to his days in Indiana where he was a brewer for Lafayette Brewing Company.  He also spent recent years as a  distributor for Point Blank in the Portland metro area.

Everybody’s Brewing currently features a dozen craft beers on tap and a few macros for the swill lovers.  “We’ve got something for everybody, hence the name” says Ellenberger “The locals who like the light beers, like Hamms and Rainier, and then we’ve got all the microbrews for the beer geeks.” When we visited, the pub featured delectable offering such as Amnesia Ginger Porter, Double Mountain Alpenbrew, and Walking Man Bare Foot Brown. “We plan on having three (mainstay) beers of our own” says Ellenberger. “The distributors told me that an IPA is a good idea.  I was thinking, that’s all (the beer community) needs is another IPA.  But they all sell!” The two other styles he is planning on producing is a California Common (steam beer) and a nice floral Pale Ale.  “Other than Mirror Pond, there’s not too many pales that grab people’s attention from around here.”

As for food, the downtown establishment features seasonal entree like BBQ ribs, Pot Pies, and pasta.  There are also a decent selection of salads, sandwiches, and burritos.  They also offer a kids’ menu and desserts like a chocolate peanut butter brownie terrine and a mixed berry cobler for the sweet tooths.  The brewpub is a ten minute drive from three fantastic Hood River brewpubs, about a half hour from Walking Man in Stevenson, and is close to lots of recreational areas that include hiking, wind sailing, and hot spring soaking.

For more information, visit http://www.everybodysbrewing.com

Posted under brewpubs

Eighteen beers, including six special releases from Amnesia, made the inaugural Amnesia Winter Ale Festival an unforgettable jubilee. The event was a benefit for the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation to provide Siebels scholarships in the name of the late, much beloved Falconer.  Falconer’s brother Quenton heads the foundation and traveled from the Bay Area to attend the event.

A 2007 and 2008 Amnesia Sleigh Jerker were among crowd favorites, as were two Walking Man brews (My Old Kentucky Homo and the Walktopus), a Caldera Old Growth Imperial Stout, and a 2007 New Old Lompoc Holiday Cheer Vanilla Porter.

The event was divided into two areas – a heated outdoor tent featuring jockey boxes filled with some scrumptiously brawny brews, and the inside pub area, cleared of tables to make room for early crowds.  In all, the event was surprisingly roomy with sightly holiday decor and lots of familiar faces from the Portland beer community.  Amnesia owner and head brewer Kevin King was pleased with the event and says he looks forward making it a yearly happening. “It was a great event in our first year” said King. “And for a great cause.  Glen was a great guy.”

Posted under beer events