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...
127. Double Mountain Brewery – The Vaporizer Draft
I was considering getting this beer when I was in Hood River, but when I saw that it was on the list for beers at the Oregon Brewers Festival, I thought I’d wait until… well, today. Still on my quest to try as many Oregon beers as I could today, this one was right on the way down the line. And, after having dinner with Brewmaster Matt Swihart yesterday, how could I not try it! The color was a golden yellow, and it had a...
126. Lompoc Brewing – Son of C Note Draft
My mission to try more Oregon beers that I probably can’t get back in Illinois continued at the Oregon Brewers Festival. Before traveling to Oregon, I found out, as part of my Brewmaster Cuisinternship, I was going to be on a radio show called Beer O’Clock with Lisa Morrison, the Beer Goddess. I listened to the podcast of the show, so I knew what to expect, and on one of the shows they were talking about a beer from...
125. Terminal Gravity Brewing – Single Hop Double IPA Draft
It was time to try another Oregon beer, and nearby was Terminal Gravity Brewing of Enterprise, OR. In addition, I also like trying single hop beers, just to help me isolate and understand what different types of hops taste like in the finished beer. There’s also the fact that I really like double IPA’s, so this had a lot going for it. Besides, I think this one was listed as the second hoppiest beer at the festival...
124. Upright Brewing – Reggae Junkie Gruit Draft
After yesterday, I wanted to make sure I tried beers from Oregon Breweries today (despite starting off with the Alaskan Barleywine). I had heard of Upright Brewing on an episode of Basic Brewing Video a few months ago, and, similar to the Midwest’s Jolly Pumpkin, they did mostly farmhouse style beers. I had also never tried a Gruit – a beer brewed with herbs instead of hops. Given that combination, it was one of my...
