Beer and Cereal...The Pairing Journey Continues

After a successful first round of pairings I had hoped to get to the rest soon after. Like often happens, however, life got in the way.

For this second round I picked the two cereals that I thought would be the easiest to find pairings for - Kellogg's Corn Pops and Special K. I'm not sure that before this experiment I'd ever eaten Special K but Corn Pops was one of my favorites as a kid. It turns out Special K tastes a lot like Rice Krispies (NOT one of my favorites as a kid), just in a different shape.

Stillwater Artisanal Why Can't IBU?
Besides a catchy name, this 6% ABV Belgian IPA was a surprising "like." I found it to remind me a bit of a pilsner, mild enough on the Belgian characteristics with enough hops for me to enjoy. Eating Corn Pops with it brought out the Belgian characteristics a bit more.

Full Sail Cascade Pilsner
Not a fan of pilsners in general, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. If this is what most pilsners tasted like you can bet I'd be drinking a lot more of them. Special K doesn't have a whole lot going for it but at least with this pilsner it tasted less like cardboard or wood chips. The Corn Pops brought out a bit more of the pilsner bite in the beer.

Burnside Brewing Thundarr the Barvarian
Another great-named beer, the description on the bottle talking about the banana and clove flavors made me wary but being an imperial wheat redeemed it in my book. Just as the Full Sail had done, Thundarr made the Special K more enjoyable to eat. The Corn Pops seemed to contribute a honey flavor to the beer, a not all together surprising find but one that was tasty.

Brewery Ommegang Game of Thrones Take the Black Stout
It has a mouthful of a name and reminded me of a sweeter version of Guinness in flavor and in thinness, which for once is not a knock against the beer. Had it been more full bodied it would have been too much. This way it makes for a nice morning beer (even though it's 7%) to enjoy with some Special K, which you won't have to worry about tasting.

In general I was disappointed with this round of pairings. I'm not sure if I just wasn't picking the right beers or if the mild flavors really are more difficult to pair well. If the latter is the case, the lesson is, "don't be a milk-toast."

Behind the Scenes at Full Sail

Full Sail's main brewery is in Hood River but they also operate a small brewhouse on Portland's southwest waterfront. Situated within McCormick & Schmick's, they brew small batches with a 24-barrel brew kettle. Their fermenters can accommodate a double batch and their output is approximately 3,000 barrels/year, far less than the 100,000+ barrels the main brewery produces.

Brewer Phil Roche, who created Phil's Existential Alt for Full Sail's Brewer's Share series, makes the most of the small brewing space. The entire operation can be seen by standing in one place and when it's time to fill kegs and bottles, every piece of equipment and the supplies are carefully laid out with the finished products temporarily being stacked on the sidewalk outside. The coolest piece of equipment however is their tipping mash tun, which I'm told is the only one in the U.S. Even empty, it's pretty impressive and worth a minute to watch.

In addition to touring the brewery Phil also provided samples of three of their beers: Cascade Pilsner, Chris's Summer Delight Berliner Weiss and Session Black. I have to admit that I don't drink much Full Sail but after tasting these three, I'll be rethinking that. The pilsner was delightfully hop heavy with 54 IBUs, the Berliner Weiss a very approachable example of the style and the Session Black roasty yet clean and drinkable in the way one would expect a lager to be.

Tours of the brewery aren't generally available but you might be able to get a peek from above if you happen to visit McCormick & Schmick's on a Tuesday or Wednesday (the days Phil is most likely brewing). Nearly half of their taps are Full Sail products so short of visiting Hood River, this is the best place in town to sample a wide range of Full Sail beers (six-beer samplers are available). Who knows, even if you've had Full Sail beers in the past, you may find like I did, a new appreciation for them.

#OCBM – The First Few Days

For those of you who don’t live in Oregon, or just crawled out from under your Oregon based rock, July is Oregon Craft Beer Month. The start of the month was also nearly the start of our cabin stay for the 4^th of July weekend meaning what I’d be drinking for the first few days would be what I brought along since having the furry child in tow squashes any plans of checking out local joints.

As it turned out, the beer we ended up acquiring was indeed Oregon made: Full Sail IPA (Trader Joe’s carried it and I was already there) and Rogue Ditoir Black Lager and XS Imperial YSB (we hit the Green Dragon garage sale before heading out of town). Happily we both agreed the IPA had just the right combination of flavors that this could become a staple in our house. And for me, I could forget the fact that the Rogue was a lager and concentrate on its close resemblance to the much loved CDA-style brews. Finally, the YSB was not only tasty but came in the cute little bottles I first became acquainted with back in my early craft beer days when I’d buy Little Kings frequently.

People have different personal goals for the month: some to drink only Oregon beers, some to drink new-to-them Oregon beers, some to visit Oregon breweries. As much as I love my new state and the many fine brews made here I’m quite the whore when it comes to craft beer in general. I’m up for trying anything new, shiny, weird or otherwise. So I think the best I can ascribe to is that any day I’m drinking beer, I’ll have at least one Oregon brewed beer.

So here’s Oregon Craft Beer! Drink, enjoy and remember if you’re not here you’re welcome to play along at home.