The past week has been teeming with mouthwatering, hoppy dark brews, starting back mid-last week when we attended a Cascadian Dark Ale blind tasting with friends. Here we were lucky to sample ten different CDAs and get a feel of the various nuances from a unique unbiased perspective. Now, as can be expected with any blind tasting, some were obviously more favorable than others. Style champion and all around beer geek Abram Goldman-Armstrong got us excited for the CDA Week at Belmont Station and the CDA Symposium he would be hosting on Saturday morning. All and all, we’ve probably never had as many of one style of beer as we did over the last week.

Thanks to Ezra for hosting and sharing and everyone who participated in the Cascadian Dark Ale blind tasting this past week. Here’s some notes on these ten beer offerings.

On a recent trip to the coast that involved a magnificent stay at Pacific City’s Inn at Cape Kiwanda where we met with some craft brew-minded folks like Pelican brewmaster Darron Welch (look for an interview in the near future) and the Kiwanda Hospitality Group’s Jeremy Strober. Strober met up for tea and coffee in the morning before we headed down to the beach to soak up some sun and great views of Haystack Rock looming just out to sea. Later we also grabbed a pint and light lunch at Pelican (not light on the pocketbook, but being that we don’t get out to the coast much, this was a real treat). Strober told us all about the area. A native Californian, he was captivated by the quiet landscape of the Oregon coast and compelled to make the seasonal vacationland his year-round stomping grounds. Learning about lots of great things to do and places to see, he pointed us to some must-visit destinations for lovers of craft brew.

I could get used to this

Pelican’s Sixth Annual Brewers Summer Games June 20. You know what this means? Beach, brews, and bribes. On top of that, it’s a whole lotta fun for a good cause.

According to Kate Kauffman of Coates Kokes Promotion, “The Pelican Pub & Brewery won 10 awards at the Australian International Beer Awards yesterday. This is the third year in a row Pelican has won 10 medals at this event. In addition, every brew entered won a medal and half of them were Gold-pretty amazing.”