Double Mountain bottled beer

Here are some pics of the Double Mountain beers, Kolsch, Vaporizer (Dry Hopped Pale Ale), IRA (India Red Ale), and Hop Lava (IPA). All excellent beers and nice that I can have them without trekking all the way out to Hood River. They are 16.9oz bottles that are commonly used in Europe, Canada, and other parts of the world. They are made to be extra strong/durable so they are perfect for reuse which is what Double Mountain plans to do with them, you can return your bottles to them and then at some point they will be reused...pretty cool.  Right Now they are selling them only at the brewery/tap house but I expect that you will see them soon in Portland at the various bottles shops, New Seasons, etc.  www.doublemountainbrewery.com/blog/?p=822

Hood River trip

So a while back the family and I went out to Hood River and hit one of my favorite breweries/pubs...Double Mountain. If you haven't been yet you really need to get over to Hood River and check it out. Double Mountain has taken over the space next door so there's much more room now for eating and drinking.  This makes the experience better as they used to have pretty long wait times to get in. We walked right in and got a table and ordered a pint of the Dapper Dan Nitro Ale with an ABV was only 3.5%...really great beer and it was pretty early in the day so the low ABV was great. Emily had her favorite, the seasonal Devil's Kriek 2012, which she gets every time we go to the pub (if it's on tap.)  Now besides the awesome beer I think that Double Mountain puts out the best pizza anywhere- seriously it's awesome.  It always has this great char from being cooked at 650/700 degrees, its thin crust is always light chewy, simple ingredients, always fresh...the BEST! We ordered up to pizzas: one pepperoni for the kids and one of the seasonals for us, heirloom tomato, which was amazing.

Also on the way out I picked up a case of their newly bottled 16oz beers, Kolsch, IRA, Vaporizer, and Hop Lava. Its nice to now have Double Mountain beers in my beer fridge. doublemountainbrewery.com

Stop number 2 for the day was out to the Hood River Fruit loop. We stopped in at one of the local farms and picked up some fruit and the kids ran around in a hay maze, another one of those great things to do with the family. www.hoodriverfruitloop.com

Stop number #3 was at the newly opened Pfreim Brewing which is right on the waterfront on the Columbia River. Since I had the family with me what made this stop really nice is that there is a huge park right across the street with stuff for the kids to play on and a sandy beach for playing/swimming in the water. So we let the kids go over and play while I tasted the beer.
Most of the styles that they had on at the current time were Belgian-inspired beers which looks to be the type of beers they will be focusing on, but they had a couple of NW styles as well. I had the taster tray that had 6 tasters in a wood taster box which was a neat way to present the beers. The 6 beers were the Wit, Belgian Strong, Blond IPA, IPA, Belgian Strong Dark, and Belgian IPA. All the beers were really good, the space is small but nice and clean with the brewery in the back and open for view and they do have food but I was in a hurry so didn't order any food. It was really busy so if you get a chance to check it out don't be surprised that you might have to wait. I will definitely visit Pfreim again soon and stay a bit longer. pfriembeer.com

A couple of weeks ago I went down to visit my parents in McMinnville for a wine tasting and finally hit Heater Allen Brewing after a five year wait.... I'm from McMinnville and even lived in McMinnville in the last five years but I never made it down to the brewery until a few weeks ago. I have, however, had the Heater Allen Coastal and Pils at various establishments....anyway I lucked out that it was in the same warehouse complex as the winery we visited with my parents. Heater Allen has been around since 2007 and only brews lager/unfiltered beers. So, like I said, I lucked out they were open as they really don't have a tap room or anything - just an open garage door that puts you right into the brewery. They have a kegerator with a couple of beers on tap and then a refrigerator with all the bottles they are selling at the moment for tasting and for sale. The brewer/owner Rick Allen wasn't there but his wife was and she was really nice and let my brother and I try all the beers on tap. We had the Pils, Coastal, Schwarz, Dunkel, and IsarWeizen. All excellent beers. The IsarWeizen was a really interesting wheat beer - it had all sorts of  clove, nutmeg, banana... a very crisp and refreshing beer, especially since it was a hot day. I bought bottles of the Pils, Dunkel, Coastal, and IsarWeizan. And I strongly recommend you buy any of their beers if you see them in the stores or on tap. www.heaterallen.com

 The pig lagering away with the popular Bobtoberfest (Octoberfest style beer)

Heater Allen Pils - Had it at the Horse Radish in Carlton,OR while out wine tasting. Excellent beer, nice head with a pale straw color, very aromatic with biscuit and malt, clean and dry flavor, with a bit of hop and malt. A great beer.

Southern Oregon Brewing, Sierra Nevada, Hilliards reviews.

Southern Oregon Bewing Na Zdravi Czech Style Pilsner 4.8% - Medford, OR
Can't remember where I picked this one up, most likely at Fred Meyer. Pours a nice clear gold color, thin head. Aromas of malt, grain, mild hop. Taste is light and mild, overall a nice beer. If you're in Medford you should swing by and check out the brewery. I went a few months ago and it has a nice tap room with a great taster tray of beers, also has a tour, which I didn't go on......interesting fact when I was in college at Southern Oregon state in Ashland, my roommates and I wanted to open a brewery called SOB brewing.....or Southern Oregon Brewing....should have copyrighted the name....hahah. www.sobrewing.com   - (this is The Wife: Not a super fun tap room to visit.  Have to say it was lacking in atmosphere, but at least they served up free pretzels and there was a chatty guy sitting to my right that helped perk things up a bit. Otherwise, meh.)

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA 7.2% - Chico, CA
Picked this 16oz can from New Seasons; they can be found in bottles or 4 packs of cans. Nice gold amber color with nice big head. Smelled very hoppy and grassy. Taste is bitter dominant, hops, citrus,pine.  Good beer if you're in the mood for a pretty big hoppy/bitter American style IPA.   http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/torpedo.html

Hilliard's Saison/Farmhouse Ale 6.0 % - Seattle,WA
I've been waiting along time to try this beer, and had planned to hit the brewery the last time I was up in the Fremont Area of Seattle but couldn't make it during the short hours they were open, so I was very excited to see the cans at Trader Joe's. They have the Saison and Amber both in 4 packs of 16oz cans. Pours a hazy yellow, nice frothy head. Aroma of yeast, spice, pepper. Taste of lemon/citrus, pepper, yeast, spice. This is a great beer. I've never been a big drinker of Saisons but I really like it and the retro design on the can is really cool.  Next time I will pick up the Amber and hopefully soon I will visit the brewery. Pick it up if you see it and try it out.  hilliardsbeer.com

Ok after a brief hiatus, a couple of beer tastings:

1 - New Belgium Pale lager: This is a canned beer that is packaged in 4 packs. I picked up a 4 pack at Fred Meyer and its a really great beer.  Nice gold appearance, with nice frothy head. Nice clean lager smell with a hint of hops and bread. Taste is a bit sweet with a bit of hop flavor, very clean and crisp.Overall a solid drinker...I would be happy drinking a 4 pack any day of the week.
www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=fc35795d-8d9d-4f04-9e35-c1c55c2a0018

 2 - Redhook Long Hammer IPA: Another canned beer that can be found at the supermarket. I picked mine up (a six pack) at Fred Meyer, but it can also be bought in bottles. Redhook has been around forever and was one of the original microbreweries back in the day. And it was one of the first micros that I was introduced to way back in 1993 (I think) in college....Redhook ESB...we drank a bunch of it and were lucky to have visited the original brewery in the Fremont area of Seattle back during a spring break while in college...it's gone now (now a chocolate factory) and  Redhook is one of the big craft breweries (breweries now in Woodinville,WA and Portsmouth,NH) and part of the Craft Brewers Alliance, which is Widmer/Redhook/Kona breweries. The Redhook Long Hammer IPA is one of those great IPAs - has been brewed since 1984. Basically just the right amount of hops, not over hopped like you're seeing a lot of lately. Very nice appearance of copper, almost gold, decent head. Not much aroma, but it smelled fresh, a bit of hop, lemon. Taste was a bit of pine, sort of earthy, malt, seemed pretty balanced with the hop & malt, very mellow. Now days I think this is more of a hopped pale ale. I really like it, as I'm not really into the over hopped IPA craze. If you like mellow IPAs then you will like this one.
redhook.com/beers/ipa/

3 - Sin City Brewing, Las Vegas, Nevada: So Emily and I took a quick vacation to Las Vegas in July and had a great time, and if anyone cares we stayed at the MGM Signature which is a non gambling, non smoking hotel that is part of the MGM resort - they are behind the main hotel back behind the MGM pool complex...we had a great time, the hotel was excellent with each tower having its own pools..we used the adult pool (so great seeing the little kids being turned away...haha) sat around at the pool swimming and drinking...yes you heard it here BUDLIGHT.....hey it's so fricking hot that micros really aren't the best option and oh yeah they don't have any micros available...so it was Budlight and lots of mojitos.....anyway on to Sin City Brewing. I didn't even try very hard to get out and see the breweries of Vegas as you really have to make a serious effort to drive to get to them and I've been to a couple of them and just didn't want to do that this time. Also there are many new beer bars/ beer focused restaurants on the strip now and I really didn't make any effort to go to them...but I did decide to hit Sin City brewing in the Planet Hollywood in the Magic Mile shops. This is the original bar spot for Sin City. I've had their beer each time I've hit Las Vegas but never stopped in at the bar.....so my first impression is that this is the typical Vegas walk by bar, grab a beer and go, there really isn't much to it. It had like 7 bar stools at the bar and a couple small two-seater pub style tables, but really it's just a grab and go type of place. In fact the emphasis seemed more on buying the Sin City beer glasses and shirts as I watched a few people just walk right up and buy stuff but not try the beer. So I asked for a taster tray or tasters and the guy was like no problem, breaks out the plastic cups and gives me about a 3 to 4 ounce taster of each of the four beers on tap....had to almost laugh, hell of a presentation with the plastic cups....haha. They don't even have info on the beers, just a taster in a plastic cup....so a bit disappointing  but hey it's Vegas. I guess they assume that most people don't care about that sort of thing.  The four beers are Weisse, Amber, Blond, Irish Dry Stout. I must say that I actually liked all the beers Like I said earlier I've had their beers before and always am surprised by how good they are and for Vegas I think they are really good. Hopefully next time I can hit the Flamingo location as its supposed to be the largest and therefore maybe I can get a actual taster tray and really sit down and give the beers more time...also I hope to hit some of the new beer bars as well, Public House/Venetian, Holstein's/Cosmopolitan, and Hofbrauhaus just to name a few.
www.sincitybeer.com

More blog posts coming..

More blog posts coming.. reviews from Las Vegas, Beer tasting reviews.....Whiskey...Gin...

Oregon Brewers Festival 2012

Oregon Brew Fest time......my 19th! After looking at the beer list it should be a good year, lots of interesting beers to try.  www.oregonbrewfest.com

Ok, been a couple of days now since the OBF and I had a great time. Couple of thoughts:
 1- Thursday is no longer a day for the hardcore beer geeks, snobs, etc......the secret is out and it was pretty busy right from the start.
2 - Why is the south tent not as busy as the north tent? I've noticed this the last couple of years....especially weird as the buzz & the sour tent are right next to the south tent so you really have it the best if you stay on the south side.
3 - Why do people stand in front right where the beer lines start...after you get you beer get the f*$@k out of the way....last time I checked that's why they have tables and chairs.
4 - All in all a good year, had fun with my brother, Casey, and Gavin and his wife Tiffany.
 
These are the beers I tried, just sample pours, and no pours of any beers I've tried before.

1 - Electric Brewing/Bisbee, AZ - Kolch, first beer of the day and a good one to start with.
2- 10 Barrel /Bend, OR - Raspberry Crush, a sour beer with Raspberry. Not a big fan of sours but this was really good.
3 - Bayern Brewing/Missoula,MN - Dark Doppel bock
4 - Beer Valley Brewing/Ontario,OR - Oregonberry Wheat ale
5 - Bison Brewing Co/Berkeley,CA - Honey Basil Ale, really liked this beer, the honey, the basil just really interesting flavors and actually really refreshing.
6 - Boulder Beer Co/Boulder,CO - IPA.
7 - Boundary Bay Brewery/Bellingham,WA -Double Dry Hopped Delta Pale Ale, really liked this one.
8 - Bridgeport Brewing/PDX -  Stumptown Tart.....funny I've never tried this beer, even though everytime I see it at the store I think about picking it up. It was good for a fruit beer and I think I would enjoy it if I was offered it.
9 - Collaborator/PDX/Oregon Brew Crew - Pineapple Express, wow a really good beer, bit of sweetness and aroma from the pineapple, really refreshing.
10 -Eel River Brewing/Fortuna,CA - Climax Extra Pale Ale
11 - Flyers Restaurant & Brewing/Oak Harbor,WA - Pacemaker Porter
12 - Flying Fish Brewing/Cherry Hill,NJ - Exit 16 Wild Rice IPA, wow crazy beer brewed with rice, big beer @ 8.5%, but was very smooth, one of the better IPA's of the fest.
13 - Golden Valley Brewery/McMinnville,OR - Rose de Vallee....interesting fruit beer, a bit sweet for me.
14 - Gigantic Brewing Co/PDX - Dynomite! IPA, Excellent IPA, nuff said, big lines for this beer.
15 - Goodlife Brewing/Bend,OR - Traditions Oak Aged Pale ale, really good beer, can't wait to get over to Bend and visit this new brewery.
16 - Lagunitas Brewing Co/Petaluma,CA - OBF Fusion.
17 - Logsdon Farmhouse Ales/Hood River,OR - Kili Wit
18 - Oakshire Brewing/Eugene, OR - 25/Imperial Oregon Ale......WOW best beer of the fest as far as I'm concerned.... 25 ingredients from Oregon were put in this beer, couldn't tell what any of them were while drinking the beer but it was excellent, this would have been a full beer for me if I was at a bar..
19 - Old Market Pub & Brewery/PDX - Cherried Alive/Fruit beer.
20 -  Occidental Brewing/PDX - Kellerbier, Crisp, fresh, easy drinker.
21 - Oregon Trail Brewery/Corvallis,OR - Oregon Trail Lavender Ale
22 - Phatt Matt's Brewing Co/Redmond,OR - Kolsch
23 - Prodigal Son Brewery & Pub - Pendleton,OR - Splendor in the Glass V:The Splendor Under the stairs....American Pale Ale...really good, seemed sort of earthy.
24 - Redhook Brewing/Woodinville,WA - Peach Trippel
25 - Russian River Brewing Co/Santa Rosa, Ca - Row 2/Hill 56-The Story of Simcoe...American Strong Pale Ale. Another excellent beer, a full pour drinker...big lines for this beer, seemed to be an IPA but whatever it was awesome.
26 - Vertigo Brewing/Hillsboro,OR - Tropical Blonde/Fruit beer.
27 -  Wasatch Beers/Salt Lake City,UT - Wasatch White Label Witt
28 - Widmer Brother Brewing co/PDX - Smooth Cream-N-Ale, Another great beer made just for for the brewfest by the Widmers, excellent beer

So I think I left a few out but that's what I have on my list, had a great time as a usual.

Columbia River Brewing, Beer Mongers, and Gigantic Brewing

My brother and I went to a couple of breweries and a Bottle shop this weekend. First was Columbia River Brewing. I have been 2 or 3 times but my brother hadn't been, so we got a taster tray of all current beers and a couple of special releases. Rose City Wheat (Raspberry Ale), Sandy Blonde, ESB, CRB Pale, Hop Heaven IPA, Ground n Pound Double IPA, and Stumblers Stout. Seasonals: Bavarian Pils, Rye Ipa, Barley Wine, Belgian Trippel, Belgian Wit. Beers were all pretty good. It's a bit weird going there as I used to frequent it as Laurelwood's original brewery/pub. Nothing has changed as far as the pub and basic feel of the place, but the beer and food is different. If you haven't been you should go check it out. www.columbiariverbrewpub.com

Next we went to the BeerMonger's, and it was the first time checking it out for both of us. Pretty cool place, pretty small but a very good selection of beers in refrigerator cases broken into American breweries and foreign breweries. Then it has a couple of tables, a long table and a small bar, with 8 beers on tap. We had 5 beer taster trays with Epic Brewing Hop Syndrome Lager, Commons Dark Saison, Logsdon Seizoen, Logsdon Oak-Aged Seizoen, and one more that I can't remember.  All great beers, and I really love that you can get a taster tray at a bottle shop. It really gives you a chance to try a bunch of beers and what's better than that...I also picked up a mini growler of the Epic Brewing's Hop Lager, if you get a chance to stop in at BeerMongers, do it. It's a great place with a great selection of bottles, nice small selection of taps and the owner was super nice. thebeermongers.com

 The last place we went to was the hot new brewery in PDX, Gigantic Brewing in Southeast Portland. It's a bit of a drive to find, but well worth it. The brewery/pub space is really cool, with a patio with tables, a small indoor bar with chairs, and a big garage door that can open up on the nice days. We walked in and were the first customers.  We got the four beers samples that were on tap, Gigantic IPA, The City Never Sleeps, Raychweizen & Bandit and Axes of Evil. All the beers were excellent and the popular Gigantic IPA is going to give the excellent Boneyard RPM IPA a run for its money. So if you're out in Southeast Portland stop in and get some samples, or start looking for their Gigantic IPA in 22oz bottles or on tap in PDX and Vancouver. www.giganticbrewing.com nothing on the web page but you can access their FB page and twitter from it on the bottom of the page, looks like they are using FB as the main social media page.

Fort George/Big Als Collaboration "Cousin Yeti IPA" Release Party

So July 6th the kids were gone and I decided to go check out the Fort George/Big Als Cousin Yeti White IPA Release Party at the Vancouver location, after a couple of drinks at Roots in Camas.  So the Belgian style -White Ipa was very good as I expected, coming from Fort George Brewing. This was a beer brewed in collaboration with Fort George & Big Al's and is on tap at the Big Al's locations.  So with this beer release you got the pint of beer ($3) and got to keep the glass which was cool, but the head brewer was supposed to be there and have samples,etc...didn't see anything really related to Ft George anywhere other than the pint of beer that I got, no signs, table with swag, etc. But of course Big Al's isn't really a destination spot for beer so I'm not surprised that nothing much was really done other than the beer & free glass. But it was a tasty beer and if you're at one of the Big Al's try it out. www.fortgeorgebrewery.com  & www.ilovebigals.com/vancouver

Cascade Brewing Barrel House

Last weekend my wife decided that she wanted to try out Pok Pok and then also go over to Cascade Barrel House. So after some dinner at Pok Pok we drove over to Cascade Barrel house. I've been a couple of times and not being a huge fan of sour beers was interested to see what my wife thought of them. Of course she likes wine so I didn't think it was going to be a big jump for her. We ended up getting the maximum tasters that one person can get which is 4 at $2 apiece. She had the Elderberry, 2011 Kriek, Sang Noir, and Honey Ginger Lime. I had the Portland Pale, Raspberry Wheat, Blueberry, and Barrel Aged Bruin. All the beers were really good. I think my taste for sours is coming around as I wasn't really turned off by any of the beers. The one beer that really stood out was the Honey Ginger Lime, just an amazing beer. All the flavors really mixed well and it was an incredibly refreshing beer on a hot day...my wife actually enjoyed all the beers and also really liked the Honey Ginger Lime and wanted to get a mini growler of it. They don't do growler sales of the sours so that was a bummer.  I really like the space that they have with the rollup doors, comfortable indoor and outdoor seating.  We didn't get any food and haven't any of the previous times so can't comment on the food. If you haven't been yet, you should check it out even if you're not a sour beer fan. Get some tasters and try it out - you might be surprised. Oh, and they do have a a couple non-sour beers on tap, so if you can't do the sours you can have one of the regular beers.  cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com