This week's list is a bit longer than we've seen for the last few weeks. It is however the holidays, when special beers tend to get pulled out and like a kid on Christmas we're thrilled to have shared these gifts-in-a-glass with our Beer Santa friends.
The first two, both 2015 vintages of the FiftyFifty Eclipse series, were shared at a Festivus gathering.
Eclipse Coffee - A wonderfully complex version of this 11.9% imperial stout starts off full of coffee, then transitions the barrel characteristics making themselves known, finally finishing with cocoa-y goodness.
Eclipse Grand Cru - This version was heavy on the cocoa throughout in the most wonderful, smooth way and was the crowd favorite of the variations opened that night. Even with the high ABV it was very drinkable, to the point that it was tempting to steal off to a corner with the bottle.
The next set of beers on this week's list were shared at our local which is perennially filled with generous souls.
McMenamins Longest Night of the Year 2017 - Enjoyed, appropriately, on the longest night of the year, this barrel-aged English Barleywine was incredibly smooth. Not hot in anyway, even at nearly 11%, it was good enough that we'd encourage you, even those of you that aren't barleywine fans generally, to grab a bottle if you can find one. Like many of the other one-offs from the McMenamins' stable, it showcases the talent and skill their brewers possess.
Beachwood Blendery Earthbound Misfit - Switching gears to the lighter side, this fruit lambic didn't appear to display much flavor from the kumquats but was nonetheless delicious. Primarily tart in aroma and flavor with a fun effervescence, the use of rye in the brew and time in oak barrels balanced the sourness.
Jester King Omniscience & Proselytism (Blend 2) - Continuing on the sour path, this oak-aged beer that also spent time in a foudre with hundreds of pounds of Oregon strawberries tastes like summer. The wild yeast and bacteria allowed for refermentation, producing a dry, tart beer.
This next beer wasn't new to us by any means but stands out for the fact that it was consumed twice, days apart, at different venues.
Boneyard Incredible Pulp - As much as we enjoy RPM, we hope that this mimosa-like beer will gain an even greater following. Unlike some beers, each time we've had it we enjoy it just as much as the last time.
The final beer on this week's list comes from a gathering at a pizza connoisseur's place. The crowd may have come for the pizza but being primarily beer geeks as well, didn't show up empty-handed. Instead many delicious bottles were shared including...
Reuben's Breakfast Stout - A very tasty milk/sweet stout with coffee, even at 8.4% it would be easy to imagine drinking this in the morning.
As we head into what may be the longest night for many of us, we hope that however you choose to ring in the new year you are surrounded by friends, family and fabulous libations.
The Oregon Brewers Festival may be in full swing but we know festivals aren't for everyone, especially those that live here. So if you're looking for beers beyond OBF, perhaps one of our favorites from last week will be up your alley. As a bonus, three of the four came out of bottles/cans, a more convenient option for enjoying anywhere.
The first two come from Avery Brewing Co. and their selection was prompted by our buddy, Chris. He grabbed the Raspberry Sour off the shelf first and we happily followed suit picking up the Apricot Sour. Before checking into Raspberry Sour we figured it was a new-to-us beer. However according to Untappd we'd actually enjoyed this two years ago and as a testament to how good it actually is, we enjoyed every drop of it just as much as we did last time. Thanks to Dan for the first go-around sharing of this lactic, red raspberry gem.
The Apricot Sour was indeed new to us and equally enjoyable. Starting off with a fantastic, smooth apricot aroma from the "bushels" of apricots used, the barrel-aged tartness is more assertive on the aroma than the flavor, making for an all around delicious experience.
The last of the packaged beer on the list comes from the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across the World box we picked up and have been slowly making our way through. The West Coast-Style DIPA, a collaboration with Boneyard, is our favorite we'd had from the box so far. Not surprising considering our love of hops and Boneyard's skill with them, in this case a combination of Citra, Centennial, Simcoe and Mosaic. Hop heads like us will enjoy all 16oz of this 8.3% DIPA.
The one draft beer making this week's list begs to be enjoyed in the sun, which can happen on the Montavilla Brew Works patio or any outdoor venue when you get a growler filled with it. Summer Wheat is an American-style Hefeweizen with a 50/50 blend of Pilsner and Wheat malts with what we feel is just the right amount of blood orange puree (42lbs if you were wondering). At 5% one could drink this all day!
Switching over for a bit of insight from "the big show" in town this week (aka OBF), we visited for a couple hours yesterday and focused on fruit/sour beers. Of the 12 beers that crossed our lips Boundary Bay Raspberry Radler was easily our favorite. Our tasting notes are here and for those curious as to which G & T we preferred during our back-to-back sampling, the winner in our book goes to Coin Toss Toss Tonic (sorry, Gigantic, yours was a bit too Gin-powerful for our delicate beer taste buds).
FRIDAY UPDATE
Returning to OBF on Thursday we found three more beers that we'd recommend you give a go:
- Upright Heirloom Saison - Delicious wood on the nose, complex flavor and still refreshing.
- Baerlic Dropping Acid sour IPA - Starting with a sour aroma that brought a smile to our face, that smile was continued when the hoppy-stanky flavor hit our lips.
- New Holland Thai Curry Dragon's Milk - This is a meal/dessert in a glass and you'll get bang for your buck (11% for a single tasting ticket). It gets our nod for those attending when lines get long and a full pour is in order.
Cheers, friends!
After last week's marathon of a list we've dialed it back with just three Best Things, followed by four [very] honorable mentions.
Against The Grain Fruitis The Farmer Beescake - Selected during our recent beer and cheese pairing fun day (more to come on that) this melon Saison finished with Brettanomyces, a part of their Wild Series, displayed a sharp, almost cider aroma with a flavor that was definitely Brett-forward. Oh yum!
Three Magnets Helsing Tempranillo - One of the more difficult to find beers from Three Magnets, we have to give huge thanks to Chris for sharing some of this delectable drink with us. The flavor that is packed into the mere 7.5% combined with the great wine aroma is impressive, even for one who knows little about wine and drinks even less of it. Wine barrel aged on Tempranillo grape musts and bottle conditioned with champagne yeast, this is definitely worth picking up if you run across it.
Boneyard Incredible Pulp - Juicy and yummy, especially for a pale ale, while we most recently enjoyed it on tap, the artwork it pretty damn cool, too, if you run across it in packaged format. Boneyard is an expert with hops and this citrus-forward example further proves that.
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| Ruse Translator IPA |
In the honorable mention category come two beers that we've had in the past, Ruse Brewing Translator IPA which was enjoyed in last Friday's brilliant sunshine outside at Culmination Brewing, and Little Beast Fera that after debuting the previous week found its way onto the taps at our favorite haunt. Both beers were ones that we couldn't pass up enjoying again.
Additionally, we found two other beers that really tickled our summer taste buds. Uinta Lime Pilsner, in a very attractive can, was refreshing and although we really, really like lime and thought it could have used a touch more, this should be right up the alley of anyone that loves a bright, citrusy, easy-drinking beer.
The other was one we had seen in the cooler and mistakenly thought we'd had before. Upon checking however, Modern Times Fortunate Islands had not yet passed our lips. Rectifying that we found a refreshing surprise that was both more hoppy and tropical than wheaty.
All of these beers clock in at 8% or less, perfect for the beautiful, more seasonal weather we've been promised is coming this week.
While I wasn't correct about the brewery that made my favorite beer at Concordia's most recent Beer Brawl, I was part of the majority that voted #11 most often in the Brewers Choice category. The beer was in fact Hop Venom from Boneyard Brewing. Of the 674 taster trays that were ordered during the week-long fest, 342 people besides me voted for this beer in the category. That's pretty impressive but it should be noted that it just barely edged out Nectar IPA, my favorite in the IPA category, who had 334 votes. So while voters weren't given the opportunity to vote for their favorite out of all 12 beers (as Tracy suggested) it still speaks to the appeal of the beer.
The Pale Ale category contained Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Fremont Pale Ale (my choice in this category) and Hopworks Organic Pale Ale. Looking back at my tasting notes, I'm surprised to see my unfavorable comments regarding Hopworks as I generally enjoy their brews.
