No Longer a #FoDA Virgin

Thanks to my better half for buying tickets to Fort George's Festival of the Dark Arts on a [inebriated] whim, I'm no longer a #FoDA virgin. We're not very good about planning vacations or even weekend getaways but having secured tickets early was all that it took to follow through with getting a place to stay and before I knew it, it was time to hit the road to Astoria.

Going out a day early gave us the opportunity to take the short trip at a leisurely pace with an impromptu stop at Seaside Brewing along the way. We bellied up for a couple of beers and a plate of some of the best nachos I've had in a long time (the nachos being a decision based 100% on seeing another couple at the bar enjoying some when we arrived). Mag chose their Lockup IPA; I went for my second choice, the Stormcrow Imperial Stout. I "won" in this round, enjoying a glass of roasty, creamy goodness while Mag struggled through his pint of decidedly Belgiany IPA. Before we got too comfortable we shoved off and finished the drive to Astoria.

Once there we did a little sightseeing, checking out the Columbia River Maritime Museum and adjacent Lightship Columbia boat, did a little sea lion watching and eventually checked into our B&B before hitting Buoy Brewing. We lucked out that the inner bar was full, "forcing" us out to the main bar where we snagged seats that allowed us to watch the ships float by. Our bar food nibbling continued with an outstanding hummus plate where it was clear there was as much care put into it as there has been into their beers. There was of course also the glass-floored area where we could peek in on the sea lions napping below. We kept it tame knowing there was plenty of beer ahead the next day.

Saturday, after putting down a good drinking base with breakfast at the B&B, we waited for the drizzle to subside and the big show to begin. Once in the door opened I grabbed my first beer in the Lovell Brewery and then raced to catch up with the group up the spiral staircase in the Pizza Joint. While the Truffle Shuffle wasn't super special, it was a solid stout and a great start to the fest. As the day progressed, the venue filled and we made our way from one area to the other. No festival can provide a lineup of 100% awesome beers but you take the good with the not so good and at least for me there weren't any drain pours and more than a couple that I really enjoyed, including Mill City Brew Werks Tripwire, Bear Republic Brandy Barrel Aged Grizz and Buoy Raspberry Chocolate Stout.

Not only is the Dark Arts a beer festival but there's entertainment in the form of live music, ice sculpture carving, belly dancing, fire dancing and more. I would have enjoyed sticking around for the fire dancing but that didn't start until over five hours in and while I did a decent job of pacing myself, by that time my endurance had run out. No worries, though, there's always next year, right? Because as much as I have enjoyed Zwickelmania in past years, Fort George makes a strong case to choose their festivities over Oregon's beer open house. If you haven't been I'd highly recommend it as it is one of the best festivals around.

Thanks to my buddy, Baker, for snapping a pic of us, part of the large contingent of Portland usual suspects that attended.

Zwickelmania, Festival of the Dark Arts & a Very Limited Release Beer

Happy Friday, friends! Those of you in Oregon know that tomorrow is a big day with both Zwickelmania and Fort George's Festival of the Dark Arts going on. If you're going to Dark Arts you're on easy street, you know exactly what you'll be doing. For those of you planning to zwickel, there are questions to be answered - where are you going to go, how are you going to get there, how many places can you hit before you hit the wall.

One place you might want to work into your plans is Breakside Brewery. Why? Well because earlier this week I had a chance to try a couple of new releases and one will have a very limited bottle release at their Dekum and Milwaukie locations only on Zwickelmania. That beer is Safe Word Triple IPA and with only 40 cases available if you want to get your hands on any of the bottles I'd suggest getting to one of the locations early in the day. At 11% ABV this is a big boy but in the most wonderful way. It starts with a deliciously stanky aroma and finishes with a hint of gin. For more about Safe Word and their other limited release, Bellwether, check out the video of head brewer Ben Edmunds.

Many of you know that I am the marketing director for Brewvana Brewery Tours and I'd be remiss if I didn't plug our two FREE shuttles that will be running for Zwickelmania. One will be making a loop around Portland to eight locations while the other will be out in the west suburbs. Our wonderful brewery partners have helped to provide you with a safe way to get around so take advantage of it if you can and hop on!

Finally, for anyone who isn't in Portland and is wondering what this zwickel thing is all about, here's a video to help explain it.

Get Thee to BTU

This is not just a post for my beer friends, but also for my foodie friends. I implore you take the time to get to BTU Brasserie on NE Sandy Blvd because when co-owner and the man heading up the food side of things, Chris Bogart, says they are making beer to go with food, he isn't just blowing steam from their boiler-fed brewing system up your arse, he means it.

Last night I started off with the Dark Helmüt Schwarzbier, one I remembered from my visit as I was writing my piece for the Oregon Beer Growler as going wonderfully with the dry-fried green beans. Mag went for the BTU lager, their flagship beer that is made with Chinese short grain rice. It's a beer that despite it being a lager is also one I really enjoy and shows off the facty that brewer Nate Yoyu knows what he's doing. As with the green beans, the Dark Helmut went well with nearly all the food we had, starting with the smoked duck baos, mock eel (crispy fried shiitake mushrooms) and dan dan noodles and their corresponding assertive flavors provided by the hoisen, sweet soy sauce and mala-based sauce respectively.

The same can be said for the Robust Rye porter, although after acclimating to the Dark Helmüt it tasted sweeter than it probably really is, and the Jolulpukki bock, a beer I don't think I'd enjoy on its own but went incredibly well with the food. And it's not just a bock, it's a bock made with Cinderella pumpkin, Sichuan peppercorns, fresh ginger, star anise, cinnamon, bitter orange peel and coriander. That's a lot going on and while two wrongs don't make a right, there's something awfully right going on with this assortment of ingredients.

My least favorite dish of the night, and only because we had it in the middle of the rest of the food was the fried rice special. Had we started with that and a pint of lager or Sandy blonde I likely would have appreciated its more subtle flavors better. But, hey, that just means I have another reason to go back and visit soon to prove my point, right?

 

If you need more reasons than I've already listed, here are two good ones.

Enough dumpling options to satisfy any leftover Dumpling Week cravings




The best Mug Club offering I've seen since leaving Minnesota