Boilermakers with Bulleit

We've been cheating a bit on beer lately, exploring the wide varieties of whisky/whiskey. For the most part we haven't had them together but we recently played around to see if we could find some pleasant pairings, better known as boilermakers. Armed with boilermaker suggestions from Ninkasi Brewing Company using Bulleit Frontier Whiskey and supplied with a couple of fifths, we were eager to try our own hands at it.

Bulleit Bourbon
Ninkasi selected their flagship Total Domination IPA to pair with this "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey" and we agree that an IPA (even a hazy IPA) is the way to go with this one. We didn't happen to have any Total Domination on hand however we did have cans of their new-ish Prismatic Juicy IPA that created a far more complex pairing than we anticipated. Another local IPA, this time from Culmination in the form of their Phaedrus, made for a pairing that we'd be happy to enjoy for a significant session. Going further afield, the result of recent beer mail, we appreciated the fruity/juicy hops in Track 7 Brewing's Sukahop New England-style IPA as a compliment to this whiskey. Going even more intensely hoppy we also found Pelican's Beak Breaker DIPA to be a pleasant pairing with its combination of Mosaic, Citra and Centennial hops.

Diverting from hoppy beers were two others that to our surprise were also great pairs with the Bourbon. First up was a very interesting collaboration between Rogue and Brew Dr. Kombucha called Kulture Clash. Labeled as an "imperial blonde ale blended with kombucha tea" the 6.9% beer was a bit sweet on its own with a fruitiness that may have come from the beer or may have come from the kombucha. Either way the fruitiness was enhanced quite pleasantly by the Bourbon.

Going to a truly big beer, we cracked open a bottle of Brewery Ommegang Game of Thrones - Hand of the Queen. Billed as a barleywine with a hefty 11% ABV it drank far lighter and fruitier than any barleywine that has ever passed our lips. Putting the surprise on the beer aside, one half of our tasting panel loved the way it created a smooth, boozy pairing that might be further enhanced with a cigar, a lovely evening and plenty of time to enjoy the trio.

Bulleit 95 Rye
A fan of the aroma of the rye whiskey, the flavor takes a backseat to the Bourbon for us and made us more skeptical about being able to select beers that would make suitable boilermakers. Ninkasi chose their Yours Truly Easy-Drinking Ale, a beer with "a sweetly-toasted malt profile and delicate hop bouquet" to pair and we were happily surprised to find Stickmen's lightly flavored The Bee's Knees a winner. Using Pilsner malt, a sweetly flavored,  lightly colored malt, and floral Tettnanger hops this beer likely works due to similarities to Yours Truly. 

In thinking about other beer styles that might work, we reflected on rye-containing beers we've had in the past. Often the lighter based varieties allowed more of the spiciness of the rye to come out more than we would prefer whereas those with a darker base have tended to taste more balanced and "right" to our palate, even some that leaned malty. While overtly malty beers, like Pelican Sea 'N Red Irish Red Ale don't generally make our hop-loving taste buds sing we happened to have some on hand we figured we should at least give it a try. Indeed, when paired with 95 Rye the beer found redemption in our eyes. Here the maltiness of the beer made a fine companion to the rye of the whiskey.  

Many thanks to the hearty souls who went on this adventure with us. Many thanks to the faithful readers who didn't pass over this post because there was something besides beer in it. We're always open to experiences that expand our minds and palates and hope you enjoy learning along with us.

Can You Tell Me How to Get, How to Get to Zwickelmania?

It's only Tuesday and things have just barely started to return to normal after Portland Snowpocalypse 2014 however it's time to start focusing on what's important. This Saturday is Zwickelmania, Oregon's largest brewery open house and if you don't have other plans (like Ft. George's Festival of the Dark Arts), there is no reason not to start thinking about which breweries you'll be visiting.

Statewide over 100 locations will be swinging open their doors, with half of those located in the Portland metro area. That's a lot of ground to cover during the five-hour event and to help you do that both safely and efficiently there will be multiple shuttles running in Portland. BREWVANA and Kells Brew Pub will both be offering free shuttles and Rogue will be utilizing a larger fleet to cover three different routes, with a $5 charge that will cover rides all day on any of their shuttles.

Five shuttle routes, 51 breweries, where's the beer lover to begin? Maybe you'll aim for places you've never been to. Maybe you'll focus on a specific area of town. Either way perhaps you'll find my Zwickelmania Google map helpful.

I'm still working on my list of places to visit; look for a post with the ones I'm most anticipating later this week if you're so inclined.

Zwickelmania
Saturday, February 15th
11 am - 4 pm

Walking Around, Enjoying Beer

A walking pub crawl is nothing new but who wants to be the guide, gathering up people and making sure the bill is paid when it's time to move on to the next stop? Brewvana, that's who. Starting in July they'll be offering walking tours Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in The Pearl visiting Deschutes, Pints and Rogue. I had a chance to be part of the dry run for the tour and just like hopping on the bus, the tour was all inclusive, well planned, led by a knowledgeable tour guide and above all, FUN.

Starting with a full six-beer sampler tray at Deschutes right when they opened at 11:00 am was a heck of a way to start a Tuesday. I'm pretty sure I've had most of these beers before but since they're more mildly flavored than what I usually drink, they tend to get lost in the shuffle. This time, however, I was able to evaluate them with a fresher palate and found that I really enjoyed the Chainbreaker White IPA. The hoppiest of the bunch, Inversion IPA, still won out as my favorite however.

In addition to tasting the beer, brewer Ben took time to tell us about their beer and answer questions. One bit of trivia that I got out of it was that 95% of the hops Deschutes uses are whole flower hops (as opposed to hop pellets). And I was reminded of my first glimpse at this place. It was right when they opened, back in 2008 when we were in town on a vacation. It seems hard to believe it's only been five years.

Before long it was time to finish our beers and meander to the next stop, Pints Brewing. Along the way our tour guide, Margot, talked about places we were passing, adding a bit of Portland historical education to our beer enjoyment.

Arriving at Pints we were ushered to their back space, which is open to the brewery, where tables were set, waiting for us to sit down and start sampling beers. Brewer Alan Taylor talked us through the three beers - Grissette, Kolsch and Triple Whammy.

Grissette had more banana aroma than I prefer and appropriately described as "grey." The Kolsch was much more my style yet more flavorful than many Kolsches I've tried. The yeast strain was one Alan had brought back from his time brewing overseas. The third beer, Triple Whammy, was a departure from the first two with the raisins and prunes that went into the whirlpool evident. Interestingly, those dark fruits didn't weigh down the beer and at only 7% ABV and it remained very drinkable.

Our time at Pints over, our group was pointed toward Rogue, with the history of the city's Benson Bubblers covered, among other things.

At Rogue we sidled up to one of their surf board-esque tables for appetizers and three more beers. The first was their Irish Lager, designed to float Guinness. Not a lager fan, it wasn't up my alley, but the next beer was. Brutal IPA was Rogue's first IPA and is its bestselling. The final beer, Rogue Farms Dirtoir Black Lager had a huge chocolate-y, boozy aroma and a very smoky flavor. It's not one I would drink on its own but I think it would be great with red meat.

Three hours and twelve beer samples later the tour concluded. Even though all three breweries were ones I had been to before and their beers were familiar to me, I enjoyed visiting and learning more about each. So if you're looking for some mid-week, mid-day fun for yourself or perhaps for visitors, check 'em out. 

#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.