The Best Things We Drank: November 20 - 26

This week's list is all over the style spectrum but solidly in the land of Get Your Hands on These Beers If You Can.

Montavilla Hunter of Shadows CDA - Getting your hands on this one might be beyond the realm of possibility as only one keg of this beer that was dry-hopped with Cryo Citra hops, Idaho 7, Magnum and a 'mystery hop' was produced and was tapped last Thursday. That being said even limited beers have a way of popping up unexpectedly and if was as well received by the rest of the people that drank it as it was by us then Michael and the crew need to make more. Roasty and dark without being bitter and clocking in at a moderate 6.5% this would be one we'd like to enjoy throughout the dark months ahead.

The next two beers, both from The Commons, graced our lips thanks to generous beer friends who not only invited us to join their Thanksgiving feasting but broke out multiple beers from their cellar.

Photo credit: Untappd user Rico S.

Good Problems - When this bottle was pulled out we couldn't help but think about foreshadowing as it is a collaboration with Modern Times that was produced at the end of 2015. A Saison with brettanomyces strains from both breweries and nebbilo grapes (an Italian red wine variety) from the Columbia River Gorge, all of the components of the beer were present and as would be expected from both of these breweries, perfectly balanced.

Bourbon Little Brother (2014) - On paper a Belgian Strong Dark Ale wouldn't catch our eye however when it's been produced by The Commons it's a different story. We first enjoyed this Heaven Hill bourbon barrel-aged beer nearly six years ago, the first year it was produced and it was good then. This three year old vintage has held up well and is tasting wonderful, amazingly easy drinking for 10%.

New Holland Incorrigible Reserve White Sour Ale with Mango & Pineapple - The lightest of the list at 4.5% it is packed to the max with tropical aromas and flavor, balanced by just the right amount of sour bite. We enjoyed it at Imperial Bottle Shop on SE Division and as of this posting, it's still on tap. As good as it is, however, it probably won't be around for long so find an excuse* to pop in for some of this sunshine get away in a glass. 

Cheers to not just surviving, but hopefully enjoying, this holiday season we find ourselves smack in the middle of.

*We're good at excuses, for example:
- some holiday shopping that needs to be done at one of the many nearby shops
- a hungry belly that needs to be filled at one of our favorite places, Bollywood Theater
- you just need to sit down to escape the crush of the holidays.

The Best Things We Drank: July 17 - 23

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!

A Double Edition of The Best Things We Drank

We were out of town a good chunk of last week getting a little R&R on a family fishing trip in northern Minnesota but now we're back and ready to catch up with a double edition of Best Things. Grab a beverage and settle in!

June 19 - 25
Being back in the Midwest we couldn't help but seek out some old favorites but also took the opportunity to try beer from some of the newer places that have sprung up since we left seven years ago. The former was rewarding, the latter was hit and miss.
Bell's Kalamazoo Stout - Bell's, which has seen some exposure in the Portland market, is extremely skilled when it comes to stouts and this beer is a Bell's classic. Roasty and smooth, this 6% stout is one that can be enjoyed year round.

Summit Saga IPA - Summit is similar to Widmer in that it has been around since the early days of craft beer in its respective state and like Widmer, has its standard lineup but has also managed to remain relevant with new offerings. Saga is newer (in the last five years) and is hoppy enough for NW IPA lovers to enjoy, a profile that comes from the combination of hops, both in the brewing and dry-hopping stages.

Fargo 1.21 Gigahops (2017) - This is the first beer that we've had from Fargo Brewing Company and although a bit sweet, it is appropriately so considering that it's an imperial IPA clocking in at 9.5%. The 12oz can size is just right for enjoying one. Interestingly, the founders and the brewers they hired have been influenced by the Pacific Northwest (give their history a read if you're so inclined).

Rewinding to the week before we headed out to Minnesota, it is a bit interesting to see that our top two beers actually hailed from that state. Those beers were enjoyed when we were invited to join in a bottle share with friends of a friend who were visiting Portland.

June 12 - 18
Lift Bridge Commander Bona Fide Barleywine - We've enjoyed Commander on numerous previous occasions and are proud to call the Lift Bridge guys friends. This, however, was the first time we'd had a "bone fide" version wherein the 12.5% beer is aged in Heaven Hill barrels. So smooth without any trace of heat, this is one to savor with friends.

Indeed Wooden Soul Cherry Dust - Indeed is one of the older of the newer breweries in MN and while we've had some good things from them, we haven't been 100% sold. This sour beer definitely improves our view of them and makes us hope they continue to produce sour beers. At a sessionable 5.4% the wild yeasts, tart cherries and wood aging mingle to produce a beer we'd happily drink a full 22oz bottle all on our own.

The rest of the beers that hit high notes for us that week hailed from Portland and California.

Great Notion Double Dry Hop Hop Dry Double - One of the beers at Eclicptic's Masters of IPA event during PDX Beer Week, we'd heard in advance that this was a good'en. They call it an "imperial session IPA" that is "a verbal assault on your palate." We call it juicy and drinkable. Now only if we had more of it to drink!

Montavilla I-205-PA IPA - Fans of Montavilla in general, on our most recent visit, this was the beer that really spoke to us with the combination of Amarillo, Simcoe and Mosaic hops. As much as other styles try too woo us, the hops always lure us back to IPAs.

Fire on the Mountain Galena Goodnight - We go to Fire on the Mountain for their wings (the best in town we say!) and have been pleased to find that their beer has continued to improve as the brewery has come out of its infancy. Labeled as a CDA the mouthfeel is more like a porter or stout with a deliciously roasty flavor.

Modern Times Oneida - We might sound like a broken record with the consistency that Modern Times has been making the Best Things list but dang it, the hits just keep coming. A complex pale ale, the flavor shares some characteristics with Fortunate Islands, another one we quite like although it is more aggressively bitter, which speaks to our hop-loving taste buds.

Lagunitas Dark Swan (2017) - Found in the sour section of The BeerMongers cooler, this 8.5% sour ale was a steal at $2.90 for a 12oz bottle. Lightly sour, the wine-ish flavor (with gorgeous grape color to back it up) drank more like grape juice. Adult juice box anyone?

Now a few days back in the Portland saddle we're finally feeling caught up from being gone and looking forward to what July, Oregon Beer Month, will bring.

The Best Things We Drank: May 8 - 14

This week's beers are all over the board in terms of style, size of brewery that made them and geographical location. Where they come together is that they all garnered a rating of 4 out of 5. With that, let's look at what made each of them stand out.

Montavilla Brew Works Warren's Big Barrel Porter - The only Portland (or Oregon for that matter) beer to make this week's list comes from one of our favorite breweries to drink at. The captain's chairs at the bar invite one to stay for a good long while, which we did, and as an added bonus to the beer, Flying Pie Pizza is just across the street. (Of course we got some of that as well.) This was tops of all the beers we drank there that night, starting out with a slight aroma and a flavor [especially as it warms] of gentle maple syrup with a touch of barrel. A very drinkable 9%, upon looking back at the check in saw a note that "it would be great with flan," which is particularly interesting since we don't eat much flan. But we'll trust our past self and roll with that idea.

Firestone Walker SLOambic Batch #2 - Firestone Walker does great things when it comes to wild ales and this one, fermented with blackberries, is no exception. Tart, sour and mildly fruity, it has held up well (brewed 1 1/2 years ago) and it was a treat for our tart/sour taste buds to be sure.

New Holland Dragon's Milk Reserve: Mexican Spice Cake - We've had plenty of beers that are designed to have a similar flavor profile to Mexican cake or hot chocolate and they've been done with varying degrees of success. This Midwest-brewed one is definitely one of the best. Starting off with an aroma of coconut (which is somewhat puzzling as there is no coconut in it...perhaps it's the vanilla beans?), the flavor is nice and spicy...eventually. This is a beer you gotta let warm up, so pull it out of the fridge/cooler a beer before you want to drink it but then savor every drop of it.

Other Half Hop Showers - Found in our beer fridge, we apparently forgot to put a note on it so that we could remember who gave it to us. There are two likely subjects but whoever it was needs to be commended. East Coast IPAs (and we don't mean the hazy, NE-style ones that have become so popular recently) have generally failed to wow us, being spoiled with the abundance of and skill used in creating hoppy beers by many West Coast breweries, but this one most certainly did. Thank you, Joe, Kris or whoever is responsible for gifting this to us!

2017 Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest

Yesterday the 2017 Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest kicked off its two-day run at the Oregon Convention Center. One of the few indoor only beer festivals, in addition to the beer and wine the name alludes to, there are also distilled spirits, food booths and something for just about everyone. Oh, and sugar gliders.

We always find ourselves introduced to someone new when we attend this festival and this year was no different. One of those new-to-us folks was Bandon Rain cider. Located on the southern Oregon coast south of Coos Bay they are a family operation that started as a hobby. They brought to the festival their signature cranberry apple cider, Cranberry Squall, and Apple Pie. Both are semi-sweet ciders, at 6.7% and 6.9% respectively. Beyond being available in Bandon and Coos Bay, they currently are available in Eugene, Forest Grove and here in Portland at Bushwhacker Cider.

Among those returning to the festival is Pono Brewing with two delicious and decidedly different offerings - Southern Whirl Belgian Strong Golden Ale with black currant and Oregon grown raspberries. Gorgeous to behold, the berries temper the Belgian characteristics to make for a drinkable 8.14% beer. Their other offering, El Garrote IPA, sports a great caveman logo and "will knock you out." We'll be looking forward to seeing much more of this around town.

Since we are hop heads, we can't overlook mentioning two other IPAs that we had for the first time at the Fest - Montavilla Citrasphere IPA and Modern Times Orderville. Citrasphere was the first beer in our glass yesterday and the lovely citrus aroma and flavor made for a great start to things. Shortly thereafter we had the dank-to-the-max Orderville. And while we won't go on and on about all the rest we drank and ate suffice it to say it was a very enjoyable time. The festival runs 12-10pm today and we'd recommend finding time to check it out yourself.

Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest
Oregon Convention Center
April 14 and 15, 12-10pm

2 Days, 10 Events (at least)

We have a busy beer weekend coming up with at least 10 beer events taking place, all of which we'd be at if we could clone ourselves. Alas, science still has a long way to go in that area. Thankfully the science of brewing fantastic beer is well developed so make your plans and enjoy!

Friday
Cascade Brewing Sour Fruit Fest - This festival actually kicked off on Wednesday and will run through Sunday, at both the SE Belmont location and the SW Raccoon Lodge. There will be 50 exclusive Cascade fruit sour beers rotating through the festival, 25 daily at Belmont and 10 daily at the Raccoon Lodge. Noon - close daily through Sunday.

Roscoe's Stout Summit - As with all their summits, this one will start Friday and run through the weekend or until the kegs blow. A full tap list is pending but the preliminary list includes some that were at last weekend's Festival of the Dark Arts and others that weren't. Taster trays available. 2pm - Sunday 8pm.

Montavilla Brew Works beer release - Conveniently located just blocks from Roscoe's, the folks at Montavilla are combining the release of their Dark Cherry Porter with the 28th anniversary of Johnny Cash's San Quentin Prison performance. Beer at 3pm, concert showing at 5:30pm.

Three Magnets/Logsdon Tap Takeover at Beer Belly - We'll be honest, we were involved in setting up this event and we want to have great turn out. Beyond that Three Magnets and Logsdon make great beer and this is an opportunity to try over a dozen of beers, many which are difficult to find elsewhere. 4pm - close.

Saturday

Hillsdale Brewfest (aka Battle for the Belt) - This long running festival, now in its 24th year, has been a great time every time we've attended. Yes, it's a McMenamins-only beer festival but this is where you'll see the best of what the brewers at each of the 22 McMenamins locations that are participating can turn out. It's a sample-style format, available by the tray (each tray containing 11 beers) and not only does the winner get bragging rights but also the championship belt. 11am - close.

Zwicklemania beyond Portland - The zwickling continues this weekend, the first time for the Oregon Brewers Guild to have expanded the open house-style event to two weekends. Breweries outside of the Portland metro will be open so if you're in the mood to hop in the car there are plenty of options to choose from. Pick a direction and go. 11am - 4pm

StormBreaker 3rd Annual Brewstillery Festival - We talked about this in detail on Tuesday and you can read that here but the short of it is that there will be 21 beer + spirit pairings. Noon - 8pm (VIP entry at 11am).

Lompoc Black Out Beer Festival - In the 5th edition of this event there will be 25 dark beers - porters, stouts, coffee beers and black IPAs - inside Sidebar and in the heated tent in the adjacent parking lot of Fifth Quadrant. Noon - 10pm.

Triple IPA Fest at N.W.I.P.A. - If big, hoppy beers are your thing, this is the place to be. And if trying all of them is your thing, you're in luck. Beers will be poured in 2oz sizes, up to six at a time. 2pm - midnight.

PDX Bottle Share - Open to anyone, this rotating-location bottle share takes place this time at John's Marketplace in Multnomah Village. The standard "entry fee" is one bottle (typically a 22oz/750ml) and it's a great opportunity to try a variety of beers the generous folks in the beer community have acquired. 2pm