By Marc Demeule, Brewpublic’s Quebecer Beer Trekker

Crossing the border for another beer adventure can lead to unexpected discoveries.  Our first stop was at Burlington’s American Flatbread where we enjoyed their famous pizzas and sampled a few Vermont beers from Zero Gravity Brewery.  I also had a Cuvée de Jacobin that made me remember good times at the Casacade Brewery (but it didn’t equal all the extreme sour ales I had in Portland)…  We gather with other beer geeks for few trades.  Charlevoix Lupuplus, Dieu du Ciel!, Saint-Ambroise Barleywine, Corne de Brume are some of our products that can be easily traded to US geeks.  At least, they don’t have access to those ones!

We reached Winooski Beverage Warehouse for a quick beer shopping session.  The selection always gets better here.   They have all the classics US craft breweries, but also a good selection of Belgian products.  I was pleased to find some Mikkeller Single Hop Amarillo IPA and Tomahawk IPA.  Now I’m just waiting for a special event to open them.  Because we have an environmental conscience, we brought some of our empty bottles and were surprised to discover a recycling center behind the beer store.  I saw three guy sorting all the bottles and cans.  It was the first time I saw such an organization in a beer store.  Is it the same everywhere?   Maybe they recycle for other places because you can’t generate enough empty bottles from this one spot to keep three dudes employed.

Have you ever hear about the Trapp family?  The land they own in Stowe, Vermont is absolutely unique.  But what interested us is that they recently (end of January) opened a brewery.  “High in the Green Mountains, low in a labyrinthine basement beneath the Austrian Tea Room at the Trapp Family Lodge, Allen Van Anda toils away like a crafty alchemist, pouring water and yeast into shining stainless-steel vats and hoping the combination turns into something close to heavenly”.

Our contact arranged a meeting with Allen, the brewer.  He leads this brand new brewery which specializes in German-style beers.  We had the chance to taste three beers, a Helles, a Bourbon Barrel Bock, and a Dunkel.  These beers help to increase the beer standards in Vermont.  For now, distribution is in its early stages, but they will be soon become more widely distributed. And, if you happen to see one of those kegs in your preferred bar, ask for a pint.  We will have to make a detour by Stowe when we’ll come back to Vermont.

A last stop at Waterbury to the Alchemist Pub and Brewery is necessary.  I’ve talked about this place a few times, so what was new on the taps?  A Heady Topper Double IPA.  Simply malty enough to support a blast of pine and citrus (claiming 120 IBU, we could expect it). I took a taster tray, just to be sure that this double IPA was my preference and I was right, it was.  Please, don’t change the recipe.

At the Canadian border, we were been caught.  No alcohol importation for a day trip.  So I had to pay 10$ of taxes for a case of 50$.  It is nothing when you figure the trip we had.  Thanks to Émilie, our designated driver.  We owe you one.

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer reviews

by Marc Demeule

April 2^nd, day off and sunny time.  In a car driven by friends, it’s my first visit to New York City for another beer trip.  As usual, our first stop was at customs.  We were not alone.  Too many people like us decided to take advantage of Easter time in a city that could satisfy our eyes and, in our case, our thirsty throats.  It took an hour and forty five minutes before being welcomed to the United States of America.  Smile, Big Brother is now watching us.

Spuyten Devil was visited three times during that trip.  The tap turnover revealed a diverse selection of bottles.  The little terrace behind the bar is just perfect in the afternoon when the temperature reaches up to 27 (about 81 F) degrees.  In the evening, the place got rapidly crowded.  Can 50 people have a seat inside?  Probably not.

Best beer tasted:  Kuhnhenn Mayhem Belgian Dark Strong Ale

The Barcade is the perfect bar if you liked the 80’s as much as I did.  Nostalgia is a good seller.  The bar owns a collection of classic arcade machines like Paperboy, Contra, Donkey Kong, 1942…  A real kid garden.  The beer menu is more than interesting with 24 taps and one cask.  The beers poured were too cold.  Nevertheless, the bar was a little bit overcrowded so the beer temperature didn’t preoccupy me that much.  It could be nice to visit again this bar, but at the open time to avoid the crowd.

Best beer tasted:  Ithaca Cascazilla

Our tourists’ visit led us to the Empire State Building where we discovered that this noble giant houses a brewery named Heartland Brewery and Rotisserie.  Driven by the discovery instinct, we tried their eight brews.  My first impression was the similitude with the Rock Bottom in PDX.  Those impressions were only true of the motif.  Not one of the beers were infected, but nothing was interesting, even the IPA wasn’t much to speak of.  This place is for the family, not good for a beer crawl.  Anyway, we took a crazy cab (the myth is true; they really do drive like hell!) and reached our next destination.

Least unpalatable tasted:  Farmer Jon’s Oatmeal Stout

The Blind Tiger

I’d like to live in this neighbourhood and have this place for my daily draft beer.  Dick’s Brewery has invaded the tap menu (18 of their 28 offerings) when we showed up.  Those tiny bars are getting crowded rapidly and I’m getting to an age when you appreciate having a drink and a seat.

Best beer tasted:  Allagash White

Rattle n Hum

The next time I come back to New York, it will be my first destination.  Their slogan, “No crap on tap” is true for the 40 taps and two casks proposed.  Cool staff and rock music of the 90’s complete the ambiance of this taproom.  Eight taps were dedicated to Bear Republic during our visit.

Best beer tasted:   Bear Republic Rebellion Simcoe

The Ginger Man proposes a cozy lounge ambiance.  When you can have access to their comfortable sofas, you conclude that you could spend the rest of the night there, with the 66 different taps offered.

Best beer tasted:  Birrificio Pausa Cafè, Tosta

If you’re a vegan, skip the following lines.  The Fette Sau BBQ will fulfill your meat expectations.  Lamb, pork shoulder, Angus beef, beans, and sausages are served and priced according to the weight.  The more you eat, the more you pay.  Built in an old garage, this place is owned by the Spuyten Devil folks.  We were there for the opening and I was surprised by the queue of meat lovers.

And the beers?  Nine taps, served in Mason jars for 5$ a pint.  Great selection.

Best beer tasted:  Arcadia White

d.b.a wasn’t scheduled in our brew tour, but I discovered it as another nice place with an inviting terrace.  You know, kind of bar without excessive noise and without a giga plasma tv on every wall?  Just nice.  What did I find there?  A bottle of HOTD Fred #75 for 6$.  Isn’t that life beautiful?  Don’t try to guess on the best beer tasted here.

The Gutter

After a mix of arcade and beers, the owners of the Barcade decided to mix another concept with beer:  bowling.  Here is the Gutter.  Take a pair of bowling shoes and strike!  My score:  105

Best beer tasted:  Dogfish Head Raison d’être

Half time

1800 bottles.  I don’t care if it is the largest selection in the world, I’m just happy to be there for beer shopping.  They have everything, even some Fred and Ruth.  Bill:  ± 216 $

Gilded Otter Brewing Company.  On our way back, we tried this awesome brewery.  It is the first time that I see the brewing installations located through the place like this.  Unfortunately, the beers are very ordinary.  The brewer will need to improve his recipes.  It is not just necessary to have products that are not infected, but you need to improve your products as well.  On a strictly beer point of view, it was a deception.

Conclusion:  There are great beer places in New York City and every style is offered so you can always find something that will accommodate your palate, but you may expect to pay a bit too much for bottled beers.  What about Brooklyn Brewery?  It was closed.  Even brewers can expect a break for Easter.

Next major beer event in Québec will be Le mondial de la bière in June.  Come and visit us!

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer reviews, places to drink beer

Brewpublic’s Quebec Marc Demeule informed us early this morning of a new beer recently approved by the European Union trademarks authority to the dismay of an Austrian village. According to Spiegel Online, a German firm was permitted to register the brand name “Fucking Hell” for a new beer.

Fucking is an Austrian village in the municipality of Tarsdorf,o the Innviertel region of Western Upper Austria. The village is located 21 miles (33km) north of Salzburg, and 2.5 miles (4 km) east of the German border.

According to Wikipedia: “Despite having a population of only 104 people, the village has become famous for its name, particularly in the English-speaking world. Its road signs are a popular attraction for visitors, and they were often stolen by souvenir-hunting tourists until 2005 when they were modified to be theft-resistant.”

According to Wikipedia, “In 2009, the European Union’s OHIM trade marks agency disallowed a German brewery to market a beer called “Fucking Hell”. They sued, and on 26 March 2010 got permission to market the beer. They claim the beer is actually named after the Austrian village Fucking and the German term for pale lager, hell.”

Further the article from Spiegel Online adds:

The Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union said in a statement that it had rejected a complaint that the trade mark “Fucking Hell” was upsetting, accusatory and derogatory.

“The word combination claimed contains no semantic indication that could refer to a certain person or group of persons. Nor does it incite a particular act. It cannot even be understood as an instruction that the reader should go to hell,” the Office said in its statement.

EU Trademark Office Has No Problem with Name

“Fucking Hell” was an “an interjection used to express a deprecation, but it does not indicate against whom the deprecation is directed,” the Office added. “Nor can it be considered as reprehensible to use existing place names in a targeted manner (as a reference to the place), merely because this may have an ambiguous meaning in other languages.”

That is good news for German marketing executives Stefan Fellenberg and Florian Krause, who own the rights to the brand name, and who had referred to the town of Fucking in their application to register it.

Tittelconsulting, a marketing agency, said in a statement on Monday that the owners will use the trademark to manufacture a variety of products including clothing and beer. “It includes the marketing of a beer among other things,” Tittelconsulting said in a statement.

The new brew was likely to be presented in August or September, it added. Contacted by SPIEGEL ONLINE, Fellenberg declined to give further comment, so it’s unclear where the beer will be brewed.

It is likely to heighten Fucking’s fame, which is something Meindl, the town’s mayor, isn’t happy about, given the trouble the name has caused it over the years. “Twelve or 13 town signs have been stolen. We’ve taken to fixing them with concrete, welding and rivets.”

The Bavarian towns of Kissing and Petting have the same problem, as does the eastern German town of Pissen. But so far, there are no plans to name a beer after them.

Don’t be surprised to see a beer in the future from the Labrador town of Dildo.

Posted under beer news

Fill up the car, grease your liver correctly and be prepared for the Extreme Beer Fest (EBF), managed by the Beer Advocate (respect beer). It was my third participation in this event.

Before, let’s take a look at this 800 miles car trip. Surprise! Our first stop is at the US customs. New security rules… well, they look inside the car, asked us questions and didn’t really understand why four guys would attempt to Boston for a beer festival. We started earlier so we could have a first beer tasting for lunch at the Martha’s Exchange Restaurant & Brewing Co. Eight homebrews where on tap, including an India Red on cask. Thumbs up to the Another Ale, an American pale ale brewed with Simcoe and Warrior hops. Food was quite greasy, so that’s why we will return there only for the beers.

EBF

A walk from our hotel leads us to the queue for the first event: Night of the barrels

( NOTB ). A very special, exclusive, and all inclusive evening of wood-aged beers (from fresh oak to bourbon barrels to wine barrels), guest speaker panel, tasty snacks, complimentary hydration, chance to rub elbows with the industry. Not to be missed. Limited to 500 tickets. For a 3 ½ hour session, over 50 different beers were offered at will. Yes, at will monsieur! Even if you try to be cartesian, it is unfortunately impossible to drink all these beers in a short period of time. I can assure you that all Russian River products can perfectly be aged in barrels with brettanomyces. Supplication, Beatification, Consecration and Temptation are incredible chef d’oeuvre. Lost Abbey Angel’s share grand cru is a magnificent blend. Captain Lawrence presented a special blend for the event. For all of you in PDX who likes Cascade products, order some of CL brews, you will be pleased of their sour ales. Portland brewers were represented there with Rogue (John John Dead Guy Ale) and Full Sail (Top Sail Imperial Porter Brewmaster Reserve 08 and 2010).

Even if I recommend attempting to this event once in your drinking life, I discovered that my consumption capacity is affected by barrel-aged products. After a couple of tasting, I would have appreciated something softer, just to change a little. Perhaps that I will skip this session at a subsequent visit and scout for Boston’s breweries and taprooms instead. That’s exactly what we did to achieve this first beery day.

Cambridge Brewing Co.

Cambridge Brewing Company has been founded in 1989, which makes it the oldest brewery-restaurant in the Boston area. They installed the brewery in a refurbished mill building where exposed brick, light woods and earthy colors combine for a casual, lively atmosphere (adapted from their website, I don’t have such a good English). Close to Boston MIT, the place serves a crowd of students and they certainly learn good things about beer over there. My favourite brew was the Big Man Ale, an American strong and hoppy ale that felts refreshing after all these barrel aged beers. The other 5 beers tasted there did correspond to their respective style (amber, porter, tripel, scotch ale, pale ale). An excellent local brewpub.

Session 1 of the Extreme Beer Fest.

100+ Extreme Beers from upwards of 27+ American brewers. Quite possibly the best fest on planet Earth, and now in its 7th year, this is the original fest that helped define what “Extreme Beer” is all about. This epic celebration of American brewers who push the boundaries of brewing will feature a stellar line-up of creative and unique beers. Limited to 1,000 tickets per session. A must. Simply a must for the quality of beers presented here. First thing to do is to try to get the most precious ones. Instead of Night of the barrels where the kegs had no ending, the situation is critically different today. Alex gave me a sip of the Sierra Nevada vintage 1994 Bigfoot barleywine. This keg runs out in less than an hour, same thing for the 27 % 2009 Samuel Adams Utopias. Gone! A real chicken run and you can’t drink those precious beers like macrostuff. The strategy I adopted was to have one and taste it while being in another line up. Russian river with Pliny the Elder & the Younger had a huge line up, so did Dogfish head with magical brews like the World Wide Stout and the 120 minutes IPA. I would like to drink gallons of those beers. A Lagunitas Hop Stoopid remembered me that Brewpublic anniversary party at Savaveza’s. Good times there.

I had the chance to have a Lost Abbey Framboise di Amarosa (well I thought the name was Frambooze…), added at the last minute to the line up. So intense, raspberry, lactic, kind of drinking a glass of jam… so I had another madame s’il vous plaît.

A discovery from Italia, Birrifico le Baladin. Xyauyù Fumé 2006 is certainly the weirdest beer I’ve drink. This barley wine smells like smoke and taste like kind of ashes and peaches. Even if it has 13,5% of alcohol, it is quite soft. A very strange beer sold at 50$ USD. The aging process of this beer seems complicated and takes 2 years ½, which explains the high cost of that unique product.

Wormtown brewing presented a Medieval Ale. It is always interesting to learn and figure how beer might have been brewed in the past times. This beer has been mashed one hour, put into a fermentor, casked and served 36 hours after brewing. It gives a flat beer with a taste of cereals and a touch of herbs. Interesting recipe which combines history and alcohol.

After all those (and others) incredible beers, we went to the Sunset Grill & Tap. This place offers the biggest beer selection on tap I’ve ever seen. 112 taps. Can you beat that PDX ? A Turbodog from Abita Brewery and a Bear Republic Racer 5 kept me in shape before dinner. Every time we come the Sunset is during the EBF. I would like to see this place when it is less crowded, if it happens. Nevertheless, the service was excellent and it bar is a must, just for the view of the 112 taps line… Think of it!

We choose to have a dinner at the John Harvard Brewery. This brewery is very nice, but those extra large tv screens does give a sports bar ambiance, which doesn’t fits to me. Anyway, we tasted 5 brews there and conclude that everything was good, but not exceptional. A good brewery to initiate your fellows who only drink major’s breweries. If they don’t like, they could listen the hockey game while you sample the beers.

On our way back, it is essential to fill up the car with good and precious bottles at Julio’s Liquor Store. Just imagine the Belmont Station with enough space to shop with a cart between rows. I saw few bottles of Cascade Kriek ale, but they disappear suddenly, bought by somebody with a no-ending throat. Anyway, the choice offered here is so amazing. As long as you have enough budget (some bottle are getting quite expensive), you can fill your cart with great brews impossible to have in Québec. Our cellars will be more respectable, for a while.

After the loading process, we drove to New London, NH at the Flying Goose Brewpub & Grille. We had a good surprise there. 15 different beers are offered to local consumers. I did prefer their porter and the brown ales offered. Haven’t found incredible beers there, but everything been good, which is a good point.

The last beer stop we had will be described in another post. I really think it is deserved. Keep on reading.

Towing times to town.

Yeah! It’s been a long a time I had a major failure with a car. Our driver exploded the water pump before the US customs. We’ve been able to run the car to Canada and then make an hour towing ride back to St-Hyacinthe. Three beer geeks squeezed on the front seat. Shit happens, but we saved the beer.

On remet ça l’an prochain, c’est sûr!

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer events, places to drink beer

Brewpublic’s Marc Demeule and his homebrewing friends had a one of a kind brewing session, in extreme conditions of the Quebec winter.

We decided to brew an extreme IPA with all the leftover hops we had.  For a 50 liter batch, we included 20,8 oz of whole and pellet hops.  We also threw in all of our leftover home grown hops (maybe a half pound of Mt Hood).  With an anticipated 140,9 IBU, according to ProMash, we only expected something that could be drinkable, but extreme too.  If you want the complete recipe, just e-mail me.

The particularity of that brewing session was that we had -10ºC in the garage and the vapour generated created condensation that could contaminate when cooling.  Let’s say that when a functional ventilation system is added to the garage, it will be better.  Insulating the mash tun is also necessary to keep a constant temperature.  The funniest thing was when we realized that we had no water to cool our beer.  Frozen pipes!  Even with a torch, no water from the outdoor access.  It is so nice to live in a Nordic weather country.  A brand new home garden hose bought at the nearest hardwork center saved our batch by hanging from the ceiling to finally chill the beer (and the entire house) for a little while.  Always brew when you’re wife is gone to avoid problems…

The result is a double IPA, 8%.  Amber, good foam holding.  The cereal taste is present, enough to balance the taste for few seconds before you feel and explosion of hops, resinous, herbal taste.  It will never possible to brew that again, but we will appreciate it down to the last drop.

Santé.

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer me, beer tools

Brewpublic’s Marc Demeule makes his annual pilgrimage to Le Mondial des Cidres de Glace, a spectacular display of ice ciders amidst the cold Quebec winter.

The organizers of the event did well for the 3rd edition of Le Mondial des Cidres de Glace. A more spacious and wind-resistant tent has been installed. Even if we had a feeling of -13°C ( 8º F ) outside, it was quite comfortable. I’ve described the development process of the ice cider in my last year’s post.

Close to twenty different producers attempt to the Mondial. Most of them were there in the past editions, but we see new producers every year. To be really objective, we decided to taste every product, which resume in ± 40 different ice ciders. It brings me the following conclusions:

- Two distinct tastes can be felt, depending of the development process. Ice cider made from apple juice or apples frozen to supply the production schedule will give products with a major apple mouth feel taste, a light touch of acidity and a taste of sweet sugar. I do prefer this style of ice cider.

- The other category of ice ciders, crafted from frozen apples harvested in the trees in January and also the barrel-aged ice ciders will develop more complex tastes, and are slightly more liquorous.

Producers are still developing their actual recipes and new products. Like the brewers, they use apple blends and different yeasts to create ice ciders with flavours like pineapples and citrus. Another product I discovered is the pear ice cider (poire de glace). Like beer, it seems that the potential for the ice cider is unlimited.

Here are the products we liked the most. Please ask them at your preferred liquor store.

Vergers Philion – Friga

Val Caudalies – Réserve d’Éole

Antolino Brongo – Cryomalus

Domaine Lafrance – Cuvée spéciale

La Face Cachée de la Pomme – Neige réserve

As homebrewers, we decided to develop our own ice cider recipe for the first year. I’ll talk of it later, especially if we have good results. I wish we will.

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under craft cider

by Marc Demeule

I saw this article in a business newspaper ( Les affaires 14-20 November 2009 ) when I went to the bank to meet my financial counsellor. It is quite rare to see people you know in those kinds of newspapers, so reposting it on a blog dedicated to beer would allow reaching a better public.

Here is the translation (my translation): Microbrasserie Le Trou du Diable. Create a distinctive enterprise that Shawinigan citizens could be proud of: That was the first objective of those five investors of the Trou du Diable microbrewery. They won their bet! Named in reference of a curious shape of the city waterfall which confers a unique character to the city, the cooperative employed 20 persons and had a fast development. They will soon begin their third development phase. Now known and recognized throughout their region, they constantly look for the quality of their 40 exclusives beer recipes, meals privileging local terroir products and the cordial ambiance of the brewpub. The next project, a major production of barrel oak aged beers, will allow exportation to Western Canada and United States.

I’ve talked few times of Le Trou du Diable in my earlier posts. I should visit them more often. Nevertheless, behind this, there is something probably as important the award; peoples. The brewer isn’t alone! Breweries are businesses that provide jobs. Brewmasters, directors, managers, chefs, waiters and bartenders are part of this industry. It directly injects incomes to the community.

We have about 70 breweries in our province. Those young businesses provide new jobs and contribute to the economy. Most of the breweries (personal observation) are located in the downtown part of the cities and their implantation usually involves building renovations. It revitalizes, diversifies and gives a new breath to the local economy. A lot of them promote culture by according a scene to small music bands and offering theirs walls to visual artists. They also sponsor local festivals with their products, and educate population to a wonderful product that is called beer.

Next time you will visit your local brewery, remember that you’re taking part of the local economy and you support the hard work of devoted peoples. Awards and recognition is important, but it is sure that behind awards, your visit is probably what they prefer.

Santé

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer awards, beer news

We recently had the fourth edition of this great event. Cooking with beer is a pleasure and should be included to every day recipes. Brewpubs with kitchens use their own products to create delicious meals, so why couldn’t we?

The guidelines we gave us were simple:

1- All the meals had to be cooked with beer.

2- You bring bottles of the beer used into the meal.

3- I’m not allowed to cook my beef stew anymore because it is too simple and I have to make a culinary effort.

Eleven people gather around the table and shared the following menu. We had small portions so everybody could, and did, taste everything. We eat enough so I could skip breakfast next morning. Good food, but hard times for my stomach. I chose to leave the menu in French, so it looks more exotic for our Portland readers. Be sure that most of those meals could figure on a brewpub menu. I’m sure of it and if you’re willing for the recipes, just ask or better, try it by yourself.

This event was also dedicated to beer, so we had several quality brews (just look at the menu) between services, making this event a great tasting session.

Bon appétit!

marc@brewpublic.com

Posted under beer and food

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

I had a wonderful week in Portland and I decided to achieve it with another beer trip. To access it, you need a boarding pass and an ID. There is no surprise here because everybody did ask for my ID. I’m talking of the PDX airport.

Let’s have a quick beer tour before getting back home to Saint-Hyacinthe, just to be sure that even people leaving this town might keep a good souvenir of Portland’s brews.

The Rose City Cafe: My surprise is that Deschutes owns three taps (Obsidian, porter, pale ale). Bridgeport owns two (ipa, blue heron) taps and sells the hop harvest in bottles. They also have a double red from Ninkasi, with a good caramel taste.

Stanford’s do offer the same beers. The waiter understands my quest and proposed me a Ninkasi Summer Ale, only available at this bar, to enlarge my previous tasting. You will find there a good beer selection if you consider that you’re in an airport.

I was expecting good brews from Rogue brewery, but it was deeply closed at 9:00 PM. Unbelievable. I’ve been very disappointed about it because behind the boarding gate, Laurelwood was now the only brewery available. I had their expensive tasting tray, but didn’t enjoy it that much. Please note that this is my personal opinion.

After all, you’re supposed to use the airport to travel, not as a bar. I can propose you a good destination if you have an interest for the beer. It is called Portland. You won’t just believe it!

Santé

Marc Demeule.

Posted under beer reviews