Weekend in Review

Friday: Cascade’s Deluge

Where o where to begin? Another great weekend in the books. Thanks to the much appreciated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it resumed until Tuesday. Friday was the second straight bottling day over at Cascade Brewing at the Raccoon Lodge. Here, Ron Gansberg and a small ensemble of beer geek henchmen bottled up 500 cases of this year’s Apricot Ale in 750 ml bottles. The tart and resonantly fruited beer is brighter flavored than last year’s batch without losing any of its vibrant olfactory luminosity. Still, the beer needs some time to condition. According to Gansberg, about a year and a half.

After work was through, I was fortunate enough to partake in the delving in of Cascade’s exchequer for some unique sampling. Some noteworthy favorites included the ever-compelling Sang Rouge, Sang Noir, a magnificently rubicund Saison, and a special blend of Gold Yeller with a splash of the Nightfall Blackberry Ale. This mix is a favorite of Raccoon Lodge owner Art Larrance, who, along with aficionado Preston Weesner, joined us for this much appreciated sampling experience.

Saturday Afternoon: Ambushed

We finally enjoyed BridgePort’s new seasonal, their Highland Ambush Scotch Ale over a wonderful lunch at their Hawthorne pub location. Lots of rich oaky, malten notes made it a perfect brew amidst the throes of January. Kudos to the BP crew for this treasure.

Saturday Night: John Foyston’s night at Roots

It’s obvious how much people in the craft beer community love and respect John Foyston. Foyston is the nonpareil beer reporter in Portland amidst a seemingly endless sea of us. Not only is Mr. Foyston a talented journalist with his finger on the area’s beer pulse, he is also a pro motorcycle mechanic, and accomplished painter. An installment of Foyston’s oil paintings are currently showing at Roots. On Saturday the talented gentleman was on hand for this unique showing of some intriguing depictions of Eastern Oregon and Washington imagery. It was quite evident the admiration folks in the community have for him, as the place was packed. It was a great experience to sit down and quaff a handful of Roots’ organic brews like the Burghead Heather Ale, the Island Red, and the Exxxcalibur Stout. There was even a Craig Nicholls sighting. All in all, a great time was had everyone.

After our fun and flavorsome experience at Roots, we headed home, stopping by The BeerMongers to pick up the essentials: a four-pack of Maui Coconut Porter, a bottle of Stone and Brewdog’s BASHAH Belgian Black IPA, and a few other beers. Thanks to Sean for hanging out and sharing his brews.

Sunday: Chill

Sunday was a relaxing day where not a lot happened. A little football was watched during the day before enjoying a wonderful dinner with our friend Alex Ganum of Upright Brewing. Alex shared selected bottles of Upright’s Billy the Mountain Old Ale and Oyster Stout, and even brought a special bottle of bourbon barrel stout from Old Market Brewing in Beaverton that was off the chain! It was a great cellar-raiding, quaffing good time.

Monday: MLK Day

Not much exciting to speak of on this day. However, we did slip away from a Netflix marathon long enough to return some materials to the Multnomah County Library and snag lunch at New Old Lompoc’s Hedge House alongside a glass of the new Old Tavern Rat Barleywine and a Condor Pale Ale back.

So here we go…back to the week. Looking forward to another long weekend ahead.

–Angelo