This week's list starts with two beers that were enjoyed at the 11th annual Cheers to Belgian Beers festival last week.
Migration Quinn and Juice - A take on "gin and juice" this Belgian Strong Pale aged in Old Tom Gin barrels starts out with the gin botanicals in the aroma and drinks very smooth, both with a surprising mouthfeel and pleasant flavor that belies the 9.2% ABV.
Baerlic Black with Two Sugars - We love coffee and coffee beers and this one is a great one for sure. From the get go the coffee is present in the aroma and follows through to a flavor that is similar to cold coffee with heavy cream and just a dash of sugar.
And while both are great on their own, should you find yourself in the presence of both, have a little fun and blend them in a one-to-one ratio.
The remaining three beers are wildly different in style but find common ground in being wildly good.
Culmination Lime Tea - Culmination's gose game is strong and this one brings in one of our favorite citrus flavors - lime. Perfectly light for summer, the flavor is of a lime sickle.
Fort George 3-Way IPA - The latest edition in Fort George's 3-Way series is a collaboration with Great Notion and Reuben's Brews out of Seattle. And it might be the best since the first couple with its juicy flavor and great mouthfeel.
Sam Adams Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru (2105) - This beer achieved a very rare 5 out of 5 stars in our book with so much amazing dark fruit, tart, yumness. Huge thanks to Sean for an amazing beer lineup during his birthday party at The BeerMongers, with this being just one of the gifts he gave to those that showed up.
Tomorrow begins PDX Beer Week and Portland Fruit Beer Festival runs Friday through Sunday, both of which we'll look at in greater detail in the next two posts so make sure to check back for a preview.
Today is the second (and final) day of the 2017 Cheers to Belgian Beers festival at the North Warehouse. We went yesterday and while we only had 17 of the 70+ beers we're happy to share recommendations based on the things we drank.
We, along with a majority of the folks we compared notes with at the festival, easily put pFriem Abrikoos and Crux In the Pocket on the "don't leave the festival without having these" list. Abrikoos was new to us and is a fantastic Lambic-style beer that’s a very drinkable 5.5%. In the Pocket, a red wine barrel aged Saison with Brett and a beer we'd had recently (bottles of it are around town) is also very drinkable...but with nearly double the ABV at 9.9%.
Two others that hit high notes with us were Baerlic Black with Two Sugars and Migration Quinn and Juice. Coffee is our second favorite beverage and Baerlic's masterfully crafted beer drinks like a cold version of it, with a luxurious splash of heavy cream (although there isn't actually any in it) and a touch of sugar. The hook on the Migration beer for us is that on the rare occasions we drink hard liquor, gin is our go-to. This beer displays the aroma of those botanicals and is accompanied by a surprising mouthfeel to create a dangerously drinkable package weighing in at 9.2%.
We happened to be drinking with one of our friends who is supremely talented when it comes to blending beers. Yes, that may be blasphemy to some but if you're game we highly recommend blending, in a one-to-one ratio, Baerlic Black with Two Sugars and Migration Quinn and Juice. It doesn't sound like it would work but trust us here, it does.
The other blending might be a little more intuitive but it's the ratio that is important here. Start with Ex Novo Are You Afraid of the Dark?, a Saison fermented with boysenberries and black currants, and add just a splash of Gigantic The City Never Sleeps black Saison. Start with a small splash and add another if needed to get to that perfect black beer base that's complimented by the berry flavor of Afraid.
With that, get on with the drinking and cheers!
Cheers to Belgian Beers
North Warehouse, 723 N. Tillamook
Saturday, June 3 Noon - 8pm
$20 (glass + 8 tickets)
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| Coalition Sour Patch |
The six beers that made this week's list are particularly stellar and we have to give big thanks to Chris and Chris (just two of the Chris/Kris crew regularly found at The BeerMongers) for sharing. For something a little different this week, we'll list these in ascending rank starting with four that tied with 4 out of 5 stars.
Coalition Brewing Sour Patch - Love Sour Patch Kids candy? Then you'll love this beer. A version of Two Flowers, their CBD beer, it truly is the love child of beer and candy.
Baerlic Watch the Bridie - A true to style gose, it is salty, tart and utterly fantastic. Also true to style is its ABV - a sessionable 4.5% - which makes it easy for summer drinking.
Matchless POG - Familiar with POG? In case not, it stands for pineapple-orange-guava and that's exactly what this IPA offers to compliment the medium body and low bitterness. Juicy and infinitely drinkable, or nearly so at just a touch higher ABV of 6.2%.
Beachwood Brewing Mocha Machine - The biggest of the bunch, clocking in at 9.2% ABV, it definitely is a "well-engineered endeavor" combining British and German malts and Portola Coffee Lab roasted coffee which was then aged on cacao nibs from Ecuador. The fudginess was reminiscent of Sunriver Cocoa Cow but taken to another level with the coffee. Thanks to Chris T. for sharing!
Now for the runner up, with an impressive 4.25 out of 5 stars, New Holland Incorrigible Reserve (2017). This white sour ale with mango and pineapple was surprisingly affordable with the bang for the buck coming in the flavor as opposed to the ABV (a mere 4.5%). With the aroma of a bright, tropical fruit salad and an addition of just the right amount of tartness to the flavor this is a sour beer lovers of the style should definitely pick up.
Finally, for the best of the best this week (and probably almost any other week of the year)...Modern Times Asteroid Cowboy. First off, huge thanks to Chris (a different Chris) for sharing this! A Brett IPA dry hopped with Mosaic, Citra and Horizon, all of the components in balance, resulting in a tart and hoppy delight that is the total package of delish.
It really was one hellava week for beer. We hope even a small percentage of similar wonderfulness made it into your glass. Cheers!
