Day Trippin' with Craft Beer in Hood River
On a recent day trip to Hood River, Oregon, Brewpublic visited Double Mountain, Big Horse, and Full Sail. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun and a lot of good beer was enjoyed. Some highlights included:
Double Mountain Tripel Nipel – a new smooth and dry Belgian-style ale using Chimay yeast and a dose of Pils malt.
Double Mountain Spicy Brown – Yet another brown ale from the brewery. Bold spiciness from a kitchen sink of seasonings
Double Mountain Eve’s Revenge Apple Cider – made with five varieties of apples from brewmaster Matt Swihart’s Hood River orchard.
Double Mountain Bon Idee Saison – The “Boney Day” and Kriek are blended together for a special Valentine’s Day brew coming Feb. 13 to Saraveza for Brewpublic’s My Beer Valentine event.
Double Mountain Black Irish – This Guinness-esque Dry Irish Stout on nitro is distinctly refreshing and robust. Super session-worthy!
Double Mountain Devil’s Kriek – Aged since last summer, this fruity cherry ale is tart thanks not only to the fruit but the addition of Brettanomyces.
Look for a dark strong Belgian ale from Double Mountain at Portland’s Cheers to Belgian Beers in April.
Big Horse Over the Counter Pils – Not only a great name for a Pils, this snappy 5.6% lager really hit the spot.
Big Horse Mtn. Monk – Using Trappist 3787 yeast, this beer was inspired by a new monastery in the Hood. This dark 8% ABV strong ale with a lot of esters is a possible candidate for 2011 PCTBB in April.
Big Horse White Sheep Wit- A Belgian wit with refreshing presence of coriander spice and orange peel zest.
Big Horse Bitter Beginning – A new double pale/IPA using Columbus and Centennial hops. The result is one of Big Horse’s most popular tappings of late. Smooth and quenching; surprisingly 7.8% ABV. This beer has a magnificent floral aroma and lingering bitterness to match the balanced malt underpinning.
Full Sail Bump in the Night – A wonderfully floral and piny Cascadian Dark Ale with a hint of grapefruit and a touch of minty roast and acidity. Great example of the style!
Enjoyed a wonderful tempeh sandwich at Full Sail, too. The adventure concluded back at Double Mountain before heading back to Portland. Thanks to Kyle Larsen, Charlie Devereux, and Matt Swihart of Double Mountain as well as Jason Kahler of Big Horse and the friendly staff at Double Mountain and Full Sail for a fun day. Also, thanks to Morgan for driving me out to Hood River. Sorry I fell asleep on the ride home! -Angelo
About The Author
Angelo
Angelo grew up in Maine and is proud to call New England his original home. Cascadia is now his home. He fell in love with great beer in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California. He has been a correspondent for the Portland Tribune's Guest on Tap column, LivePDX.com, and has been featured in publications such as Beer Northwest and PDX Magazine. Angelo also has a great interest in independent music, and has been a booker and organizer for shows around the Portland under the name Pop Tomorrow! Angelo garnered much knowledge regarding beer from his experiences homebrewing, working at Belmont Station, Pyramid Brewing, Upright Brewing, By the Bottle, Beer Revolution, Olde Depot Public House, Falling Sky Brewing, Cascade Brewing, and from many many knowledgeable, passionate, and loving people along the way. It is Angelo's mission to bring "infotainment" and "edumation" to the readers of this website. If you have any questions or comments, or would like to contribute, please contact me at angelo@brewpublic.com
We were in HR this weekend! Had a splendid time at all three breweries.
The Devil’s Kriek and cider were the highlights at Double Mountain, for sure. The Easy Blonde (heh) and the stout at Big Horse won the day, too.
Also, we got in on some Everybody’s Brewing (White Salmon) and Walking Man (Stevenson) brews on the trip. Everybody’s has finally made the joke we’ve all been waiting for, with its delicious Local Logger. The Walking Man Black Cherry Stout is divine.
All in all, a great trip!