139. Rogue Ales – Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout
After the Oregon Brewers Festival drew to a close, I decided to stop back by the Rogue hospitality suite one more time to see what was going on. It was my hope to see if any other brewers might be stopping by. It was mostly the guys from Rogue, but it gave me an opportunity to try another Rogue beer I hadn’t had before. There was plenty of the Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout, and I’m a fan of stouts, so I thought I’d...
138. Rogue Ales – 21 Olde Ale Draft
The Friday session of the Oregon Brewers Festival was drawing to a close, and it was time for one more beer before they stopped serving for the night. When I stopped by the Rogue hospitality suite earlier in the evening, they guys there told me that their “21” was brewed special for the Oregon Brewers Festival, and named because it was 21st different beer they had brewed for the festival. The olde ale included...
137. Cascade Lakes Brewing – 20″ Brown Draft
Things were still pretty busy, but I found my way back to the Oregon beers at the Oregon Brewers Festival. And now that it had been a long enjoyable day drinking beer, I was feeling a like having more malty beers rather than the big hop bombs I was having earlier in the day. When I saw the name on this one from Cascade Lakes Brewing in Redmond, OR, I knew it would probably fit the bill. As you might suspect, it had a deep brown...
136. Boulevard Brewing – Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale Draft
I’m most disappointed in myself that I came all the way to Portland, Oregon to try good local beer (not that this wasn’t good), and I end up having a beer from Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City. I also told myself that I wouldn’t give in to this big farmhouse ale/sour beer craze. However, as I mentioned, the lines were getting long, and it was easiest to get the beers which were closest. It was a very light yellow...
135. Surly Brewing – Bitter Brewer Draft
By this point on Friday evening, you could say that it was starting to get more than a little crowded at the Oregon Brewers Festival – big contrast to what yesterday and this morning were like. Therefore, I abandoned my primarily Oregon beer quest and started to go for things that looked interesting and were relatively close to where I was standing. The “Bitter Brewer” caught my eye because of the name, and so I...
134. McMenamins Concordia – Lucky Charms Irish Red
On the day I arrived, I had a friend tell me about McMenamin’s Edgefield which had a brewery. As I learned during my trip, the McMenamin’s fix up old buildings and other areas and turn them into breweries and other fun event spaces. The beer at Edgefield was fairly good, so I thought I’d give this one a try. It was a reddish brown color and had a creamy tan head. There was a nice, slightly caramelly malt aroma to...
133. Firestone Walker Brewing – Union Jack IPA
While I was committed to trying as many Oregon beers as I could today, I couldn’t pass up this one. I’ve read, and seen on video podcasts, much about Firestone Walker out of Paso Robles, CA. What I know is that they age their beers in oak barrels (although, as I found out, this one isn’t), and that they’ve won several awards for their beers. So, I really wanted to give this beer a try. It had a nice burnt...
132. Beer Valley Brewing – Leafer Madness Imperial Pale Ale
I had a good time hanging out in the Rogue Ales hospitality suite, but decided to head back over to the Oregon Brewers Festival for the rest of the evening. So far, it’s been a good day for trying to stick with Oregon beers – including the all-Oregon OREgasmic from Rogue – along with super hoppy beers. Just like the Alpha Centauri Binary IPA I had right before going to the Rogue room, this beer also registered 100...
131. Rogue Ales – Chatoe Rogue First Growth OREgasmic Ale
I was only going to stay at the Rogue hospitality suite at the Oregon Brewers Festival for a short time, but there were a couple of things that convinced me to stay for a little while longer. First, Brett Joyce, the president of Rogue Ales stopped in, followed by Patrick Rue and brother Chris from The Bruery (I had their 7 Grain Saison at the fest). Second, I was having a nice conversation with brewers from Eugene City Brewery and...
130. Rogue Ales – Morimoto Soba Ale
While at the Oregon Brewers Festival for my Brewmaster Cuisinternship, I was told about the Rogue Ales hospitality suite in the hotel across the street from the festival. They mentioned that if we wanted to get out of the heat, we could stop by there for a break. After a fun few hours at the festival, I headed over to check it out. Aside from all the Rogue swag (see the Rogue condoms, tattoos, etc. behind my cup), they had all...
129. Hop Valley Brewing – Alpha Centauri Binary IPA Draft
As you can tell by the big grin on my face on the right (which never went away the entire time I was in Oregon), I was having a great time making the rounds at the Oregon Brewers Festival. As you can tell by the other picture on the right, I still had to make it through a lot more beers at the festival. There were almost 80 different beers there under two enormous tents. I had never heard of Hop Valley Brewing, but simply by the...
128. Hopworks Urban Brewery – Organic Rise Up Red Draft
Continuing my Oregon Beer quest at the Oregon Brewers Festival, it was recommended by a couple locals I stopped and talked with that I should try the Organic Rise Up Red from Hopworks Urban Brewery. They told me a bit about the brewery and its commitment to earthy sorts of things – organic, sustainability, biking, etc. They thought the beer was good because of its focus on good, local ingredients. So, I thought, why...
