Beer Cocktails: Rum Edition

For our second installment of beer cocktails we chose the general category of rum to work with, leaving ourselves plenty of options by having light rum, dark rum, spiced rum and even Malibu coconut rum (which likely conjures up very specific memories for anyone). With such a wide array of liquor flavor profiles the beers we opted not to limit ourselves to a beer style and selected ones were equally wide ranging. Like any experiment there were some great ones and some “work in progress” (to be revisited and refined in the future) ones, the former of which are below.

Fell into a Pile of Leaves

- Whaler’s Rare Reserve Dark Rum

- Reuben’s Autumn Harvest Imperial Pumpkin Ale

- club soda

- coconut sugar

- candied jalapeno simple syrup

- white sugar rim

- candied jalapeno and roasted delicata squash garnish

Dry and mild with a distinctive “fall” taste. The pumpkin ale is one of the better ones we’ve had, providing a full aroma, yet restrained in the level of pumpkin pie spices found in the flavor with a well balanced body. In the candid words of Lee, “Ah, shit, that’s divine!”

Spicy Jungle Rum-tini

- Whaler’s Rare Reserve Dark Rum

- Evil Twin You’re in the Jungle

- Natian Cease & Desist stout (2018)

- cacao juice

- coconut sugar rim

One of the later creations from this session, a time when we were venturing further afiled, we used two beers in this cocktail - the stout to provide both body for the cocktail and as a balance to the heat of the Evil Twin, a habanero peppers-containing beer. Much deeper and darker than the previous cocktail using the same rum, it tastes like what comes after fall - the holidays.

Santa’s Dirty Little Secret

- Havana Club Puerto Rican Rum (añjeo blanco)

- Natian Cease & Desist stout (2018)

- homemade Kahlua

- heavy cream

This fairly straightforward cocktail was loosely based on the flavors of a White Russian and it was pleasing to find that each of the ingredients we choose stood up to the others. Cascading and combing over our palate, the multiple layers of flavor change with each sip. We think Santa would be quite pleased to find this “dirty milk” in place of the standard glass of white alongside his cookies. Speaking of cookies, we happened to have some coffee crunch cookies, a take on chocolate chip cookies, on hand that provided yet another layer of flavor. If you’re good little boys and girls we might share our recipe for these crunchy, coffee-forward delights.

You Put the Lime in the Coconut

- Malibu Coconut Rum

- Crooked Stave Sour Rose

- club soda

- cranberry juice

- sugar rim

- lime garnish

Just the aroma out of the freshly cracked bottle of Malibu made us want to find a beach, slather on some back-in-the-day tanning oil and relax. Instead we put our heads to work, coming up with a combination of sour/tart beer and cranberry juice to offset the overwhelming coconut profile of the rum, taking this from a 20-something drink to that a 35+ crowd wouldn’t be embarrassed to drink. The use of club soda boosted the carbonation provided by the beer for a cocktail that screams “lawn chair STAT and keep my glass filled!” regardless of the time of year.

Dark & Stormy Natian

- The Kraken Black Spiced Rum

- Natian Cease & Desist stout (2018)

- Cock'n Bull ginger beer

Once again taking inspiration from a traditional cocktail, this time a Dark & Stormy, we put a beer spin onto it, betting the stout would compliment the “dark” characteristics of the rum in this sipper. Keeping the cocktail from being overly dark was the ginger provided by the Cock'n Bull and the next time we make this we'll expand on that with a candied ginger garnish.

With two editions of beer cocktails behind us (here's the first one in case you missed it), we're looking forward to continuing to use our creative juices to bridge the gap between a pint of beer and a cocktail.

Opening Day at Holiday Ale Festival 2013

Yesterday kicked off the 18th Annual Holiday Ale Festival at Pioneer Courthouse Square. It was an appropriately chilly day but between the bright sunshine and the heaters, it was cozy inside the tent.

I came armed with my trusty cheat sheet of beers I wanted to try and determined to drink them in the pre-thought out order that roughly started with the lowest alcohol, most mild tasting beers. Right away my resolve was put to the test as I was told by multiple people that the High West Whiskey barrel aged Cappuccino Stout from Lagunitas was amazing. It was one of the highest alcohol beers at 12% ABV and the one I had designated to be last on my list.

As I started in I did take into consideration the input of my fellow, trusted beer friends and ended up skipping a couple of beers I had intended to try due to poor reviews. I mean, heck, it wasn't like there would be any lack of beers to try. In fact, I knew that it would be surprising if I tried all of the ones that I wanted to on this first visit.

Of the 12 beers that crossed my lips my favorite, and one that I ended up getting a full glass of, was The Twerking Elf from Stickmen Brewery & Skewery. This 7.2% ABV Northwest Sour Brown was the second beer that I had and was an excellent example of the style. For every person that told me about the Lagunitas, I told them about the Stickmen.

Other beers that I enjoyed included:
- Old Town Brewing Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum, a 7.5% rum barrel aged old ale. I hope that Bolt made more than the amount he sent to HAF because I'd love to have this again, served at a more appropriate, warmer temperature.
- Coalition Brewing Shenanigans, a 9.8% barleywine. The same goes for this beer, it was good at the festival but I think it would be even more enjoyable warmed up a bit.
- Lagunitas High West Whiskey barrel aged Cappuccino Stout, a 12% stout. My friends were right, the aroma was intoxicating, the flavor even more amazing. Michael hit the nail on the head when he said that it was, "the Velvet Merkin of two years ago."

There are still four more days of the festival so there's a fair chance I'll make it back. One beer that will be on my visit #2 list will be McGuinness from Nation Brewery. Mag really enjoyed this 9.2% imperial milk stout that was aged on Kahlua-soaked oak. I'll also be keeping my ears out for what you, my beery friends recommend.

The Cans Fest

At most beer festivals you’ll find the beer being poured out of kegs, firkins and the occasional bottle. At the first ever Cans Fest, from Jesse Cornett and The Guild Pub, there was none of that (almost none, but we’ll get to that a bit later).

Prior to the event, I went about my usual beer geek ways and poured over the final line-up of beers. I counted a total of 35 beers and to the best of my memory 11 of them were ones that I had never tasted or I didn’t recall seeing available for purchase at The Beermongers, Belmont Station and the like. My plan of attack, and subsequent “listing”, was to focus on the latter and if I had the time, energy or sobriety I would move on to some of the rest.

Overall, none of the beers blew me away. However that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the fest. It was great to try a bunch of new-to-me beers and it’s exciting to see more and more breweries embracing the canning of beer. My favorite beer, Trailhead from Two Beers out of Seattle, WA, was a style I had not seen before, India-style Session Ale. It combined a slight sweetness and maltiness with just enough hops to tickle my tastebuds.

Probably my favorite part of the fest though was something I didn’t even know about until I got there: a side-by-side keg vs can taste test. Put on by one of Portland’s own nano-breweries, Natian, they were offering their La Luz Summer Session Ale, poured by a new Twitter acquaintance, Emily. Mag and I made opposite guesses (as it turned out my guess was correct). There weren’t huge differences but certainly enough to back up thoughts I’d had in the past, either, “Gosh, this tastes better than I remember when I had it on tap,” or visa versa.

Like many first time festivals, there is probably a laundry list of things the organizers will improve upon or do differently next year. I’m happy to say though that from an attendee perspective, for the first time out of the gate, it was a good showing. I look forward to, and hope there will be, the Second Annual Cans Fest next year.

Finally, a thanks to Ryan and The Guild for finding me and awarding me one of the VIP tickets.