What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[Dark Vampire]

The last one was Kwak, a very nice Belgian beer. The beer has a special glass and it's better you drink it slow, cause if you are near the end and you drink it too fast, you get a flood of beer onto your shirt.

 

[Rugged One]

Lots of good activity in the beer thread lately. Including Bubba brewing again? Awesome!

 

Well these pics are about 2 weeks overdue but I figured that I'd put them up anyway. Over the week of July 4th we headed down to our old stomping grounds of Myrtle Beach for some beer and new coasters and them up to the Charlotte area to hang with friends. Enjoy...

And I finish up with a 10 oz of the Seeing Double DIPA. Tasty stuff! Thanks for reading.

I love the food here. Lots of unique stuff on the menu like this buffalo burger.

It was a decent effort but nothing spectacular.

Like their Hurricane Hefe...

Lots of good stuff on as usual including some summer styles...

Nice and empty on a Sunday morning. Just the way we like it!

Speaking of Foothills we decided to make that our "requisite beer stop" on the way home. It's looking good in the summer too with its snazzy outdoor seating.

Currently sitting at #43 on the Best of BA, this is definitely a solid RIS with tons of coffee and roasted bitterness but surprisingly not a ton of chocolate. And please no jokes about Greg and I sharing some Sexual Chocolate. We've all ready heard em'!

They only sold 500 of these at the release and kept a few more back for special occasions. And you gotta love the label!

Back at Greg's we get into one of the bottles of Foothill's Sexual Chocolate that we bought back in February at it's release party at the brewpub.

This was a real surprise too. Lots of chocolate, roasted malts, and dark fruits. And it's all organic to boot! Btw, can you tell that I was out boating earlier in the day? Yeesh...

Greg and I decide to split a bottle of Eel River Raven's Eye Imperial Stout.

What's that I see up there...?

While they predominantly sell wine here, the owners are trying very hard to make this into one of the better beer destinations in the area. They have a pretty extensive list of cold beer you can choose or you can buy something special off the shelf for take out. They'll also throw it into the chiller for a few minutes so that you can enjoy it there.

It's got a pretty comfy vibe and a nice sized tasting bar.

My buddy Greg wanted to show us a new wine/beer bar that opened up earlier this year near this house. Appropriately enough it's called the Grapevine.

After this visit, I think I've got a new #1! Holy crap does this thing let loose! I had this thing snapping all over the place for the single best ride that I've ever had on a set of these. And I don't even ride the flyers that much!

Of course the real treat at this park now is the Phantom Flyers, which were relocated here in 2005. When I visited in 06, this was a solid #2 before the Knoebels Flyers.

And we can't live without the Bat-Wing! Whey don't more inverts have these? What a fantastic element!

Luckily one of our favorite B&Ms didn't get saddled with an completely craptastic name. We can live with Afterburn.

After a couple of days at the beach, we made our way back up towards the Charlotte area to hang with some friends. Of course a stop a Carowinds was in order. We hadn't been here in 2 years, so we were interested in seeing how the CF changes had come along.

They also really need to drop the admission price or offer an evening discount. Most people are out on the beach during the day and just aren't going to pay that much for some evening entertainment. The place was pretty empty on the Wednesday before the 4th, which isn't a good thing. Hopefully they can figure things out so that this visit for us wont' be our last.

For the most part we liked the park. It shows a lot of potential but also seems to have some work to do as well. Led Zeppelin is the best ride here with some fantastic Orlando worthy theming. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels though like they put more effort into the gift shops and selling merch than they did the overall guest experience.

It's hard to believe that they first started talking about this park when we still lived down here in SC. We're glad to finally be able to check it out!

We finally got to check out the new Hard Rock Park.

Ah well, at the least the happy hour priced bar food is cheap and tasty.

I guess they should just stick to the light and refreshing beers, like the Amber Waves Red Ale that Kim is drinking. It's hard to argue with $2.50 drafts here during happy hour, even if the price went up 50 cents for the first time in like 10 years.

I start out with an old fav, the Raspberry Wheat. While not tasting like very much anymore, at least it was quite refreshing. I also tried their darkest brews available, a Nut Brown and Porter, and neither was very flavorfull.

As you can see, the board doesn't look that different from our last trip here back in November. Lots of light-weight stuff to appease the tourists.

Back to Myrtle Beach and our old drinking grounds of the Liberty Steakhouse & Brewery at Broadway at the Beach.

[65skylark]

Haven't been in here in weeks, maybe even months, I can't remeber. I ran across some beer pics while posting my PTR on the main forum. I'm not going to even mess with putting them all up now. Hopefully I will get back into the swing of things again. In looking through all my pics, one stood out to me, as I had already forgot about its awesomeness. So here is my one pic from about 4 months ago...........

Ten Fidy! Best beer you will ever drink from a can and the second best Imperial Stout I have every had. Thanks again Derek!!!!

[Coaster Palooza]

Hi Guys,

 

I haven't posted in a while. Here are the photos from our London and Paris trip. I hope you enjoy them!

My last beer in London was a Fuller's with fish and chips. That is all for now!

we finished our crawl at the Duke of York.

Next place was the Albert...

This was during our fun pub crawl. We started at The Sanctuary House.

I think you can see what beer I am drinking here!

Another beer at the HRC before we took the train back to London.

We had a drink at the No Stress Cafe in Paris as well.

The wings are always good there. Robb's are better though.

We hit the HRC in Paris also.

I had a Guinness at the pub too.

This was my favorite pub of the trip. It is called the Allsop and it was across the street from the hotel. I think I "tried" all the beers. This one was the 1664.

We threw back a couple of Ales at the Sherlock Holmes Pub.

Sherlock Holmes Ale

Our free beer for being Americans and celebrating Independence Day in London!

Hard Rock Cafe in Lodon!

I know it is terrible, but it is a free beer.

[mcjaco]

Good lord, I finally get a breather from baseball, softball, and crap around the house. Here we go with a ton of pictures!

I was hoping for so much more. It just didn't deliver.

UFO's Raspberry Hefe.

 

I spy a little deliciousness behind it too.

Yeah. Nothing special here. No banana, no clove....nothing really at all.

Another purchase from Ohio, Firestation 5 Hefeweizen.

I am not constipated. This picture is terrible.

Just look at that Furious color.

Norwegian yumminess!

A new favorite, Nogne Saison.

That's right boys. I went to Ohio to buy this, and it was released in WI the same weekend. Grrrrr.

My gift to myself after I finished our bathroom remodel. Stone goodness.

An Abra sighting!

Uh oh. Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. This can mean only one thing.....

Curse this Troegs. Why must you taunt me? Stupid Chicago distribution laws.

What is this? Another gift from Derek. Sweet Jesus, how long have I not posted pics?

This did nothing for me. No real red ale characteristics to me. I found it a bit odd.

Southern Tier Big Red.

Oh so good.

Mu ha ha ha! Surly Furious.

Not exactly porter season, and I'm not a huge porter fan. BUT this one hit the spot. Thanks Derek!

A gift from Derek. Troeg's Dead Reckoning Porter.

This thing was kicking with raspberries. Awesome on a hot summer day.

Next up, Thirsty Dog's Raspberry Ale.

As always. You can't go wrong with a Bells.

First up. Bell's Amber Ale. Geez, I think I picked this up in Minnesota....

[Bubba83]

^ Sweet post fellow slacker!

 

Yeah, Fire Station 5 doesn't really brew anything good that I've tried. I thought their IPA was pretty terrible.

 

Also: I am jealous of the Surly.

 

I'm going to finish cleaning out all the old pictures tonight as I'm leaving tomorrow for vacation, yay!

And the finished product of my labors. 12 bombers, 17 standards. In about 2 weeks my uncle and I will be the fearless test dummies who taste this hoppy concoction.

The army of beers waiting to be sealed with the capper.

Now that it's siphoned off into the bottling bucket, we've attached the bottling hose to the spigot and started the flow to the bottle filler.

Okay so I accidently sanitized my air filter, which makes it inoperable, so I had to start the siphon without an air filter, risking contamination... I hope it turns out alright as I did everything else perfectly.

Sanitizing the bottles one by one certainly takes a while, especially when you decide to include some 12oz ones this time around.

And now for some bottling pics (I bottled Monday night after work, boy that was a long day) Here's the setup before I began.

And this one my friends deserves a bubba face for supreme excellence. I'm glad my friend Heath is an Imperial Stout connoisseur. Awesome all around, we like it better than Rasputin and Ryan O' Sullivan, which is impressive. Old Heathen is still top dog in my book though.

And this pretty much catches us up because Heath's shipment of trade arrived saturday morning so I shared this Heresy bomber with my uncle on Saturday night.

And I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's pretty good, tastes similar to a well crafted hefe, just darker in color. I would only give it like a B+ though.

After being dissapointed again and again by Gordon Biersch, I had to see if this beer was actually as good as its rating on BA.

My "dude, I forgot how good this beer is" face.

Staying classic with some Anchor Steam because we haven't had it in a while.

What's that off in the distance? Not far from my work, it's Drop Zone's tower. Great America is just down the street. You can actually hear the screams from outside my work.

See?

The grounds are nice outside the building.

I work at Vertical Communications.

I'll toss in a few pictures of my new work as well for good measure. I work in this building on the 4th floor.

Simply brilliant beer.

Can't go wrong when you're racing in gran turismo 5 while drinking a racer 5 IPA!

Still a lovely british style porter, low key yet the flavors are there!

We've been having more Blank Slate recently because I needed the empties to bottle my IPA.

Still really awesome stuff.

My last bottle of expedition from the six pack.

It's really a very satisfying oatmeal stout, good all around and doesn't fall short in any department.

We'd follow it up with some Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, which we've had quite a few of lately.

And it was still good stuff for sure. We both can't wait until the real Harvest comes back though, as it's decidedly better.

My uncle and I had some more Southern Hemisphere Harvest.

[DerekRx]

Nice to see more participants this week!

 

This weeks random beers, which has most of the stuff coming out of New York, but ending with an early Christmas in July since I'll be away tomorrow.

Pretty good stuff with a nice sweetness along with flavors of banana, plums, bread malt, Christmas spices, licorice, and just enough alcohol to make this one a "special occasions only" brew

and finally, for Christmas in July, time to enjoy the bottle of Gouden Carolus Noel that I got from Heath back at Christmas

Not bad stuff, just fairly average, and once again having lots of butter notes.

Back to New York and Middle Ages' Grail Ale, another amber ale

The smirk-o-meter suggests this one aged pretty well so far. Lots of caramel malt sweetness and fruit flavors along with a touch of chocolate, coffee, and smoke.

Purchased back on release day in January, I think it's finally time I open up a bottle of Baltic Thunder from Victory, using Heavyweight's Perkuno's Hammer recipe, slightly altered

This one lived up to its name, and was a pretty hopped up Red ale

Ithaca's Cascazilla was next

Although purchased back in March, this one was now past its prime, and ended up being mostly a drain pour

First up, Buffalo's own Flying Bison Barnstormer Pale Ale

[Coaster Palooza]

^^Way to go with the new job Kevin! I don't work too far from you.

 

If you need another "taster" for the beer, give me a call.

[65skylark]

This weekend I was able to head down for a short while to the Oregon Beer Festival. Unfortunately, my schedule was very tight, so the only time I could get down there was on a Saturday evening. I'm just going to post a few pics as I know Kevin will probably have tons of pics and he will be able to post a much better PTR of the festival.

And I will leave you with a cat riding a flying ram.

 

Glad I was able to meet up with you, Kevin. I look forward to reading your PTR and actually seeing some of the stuff I missed.

Scary dude riding a trout. Or is it a Salmon?

They have some "interesting" art work throughout the place.

Sandi opted for a Yukon Jack and Coke.

And some of the best hamburgers you will ever have.

Their food doesn't suck, either. Broccoli soup and fries.

Since the OBF was very light on stouts I got the Terminator Stout. A staple beer at McMenamin's and a very good stout overall.

McMenamin's. Our most frequented brew pub as they have a location just blocks from our house.

Overall it was just too crowded to really enjoy. Next year I'll try to make it down earlier in the day on a Thursday or Friday. Time for one more stop for dinner before heading home.

Another winner. I suppose I would consider it an amber with a nice medium body. Not sure what they officially classify it as but it was pretty good.

 

That is about all the time I had available. I left Kevin with a nice parting gift that I am sure he will enjoy.

With one token left I waited for a smaple of Glen from Rogue.

Most excellent! Very well balanced beer with lots of hoppiness and a good malty backbone.

Next up I tried Hazed and Confused from Boulder Beer Company on Kevin's recommendation.

Hey, look who I found! Kevin had already had the Levitation so he wasn't as disappointed as I was. I'm pretty sure he didn't mind having to settle for Ruination, either.

And apparently that isn't going to change as they were out and serving Ruination instead. Oh well, still very good.

Now we're talking. I have never had Levitation before.

I quickly realised that I would not be able to get a lot of different beers in, so I just decided to use my tokens for a full mug rather than spend 4 hours trying to taste maybe a dozen different beers. I started with Full Sail LTD a pretty light pale lager.

The North beer tent. Basically, there were no lines, just mobs of people.

Got my mug, lets see what they've got.

Oh my! That is the line, or should I say lines, just to get your mug and beer tokens. I wonder what the actual beer lines are going to be like.

Well, I know I'm in the right place.

I'm scared.

Hmm, Saturday at 5 O'clock might not have been the best time to come down.

[DerekRx]

This past weekend we headed for the shore, and since we were passing right by it and stopping for dinner there would help us avoid some traffic, we went to The Drafting Room again.

But I decided upon the lobster since we were heading to the shore.

While I had a tough time picking a special of the day as they all looked great

Nicole couldn't pass up the French Onion soup

Since I was driving and didn't want something too high in abv, I went with the Brooklyn Keller Helles, a nice summer session with a good combination of fruit, honey, and pale grainy malt flavors

Nicole went with the Left Hand Haystack Wheat, served without a lemon (but she added the one in her water)

The website hasn't been updated for quite some time, so here's the current style of the month, Wheat beers, and the tap list

Back again on a very crowded Friday evening, good thing I made reservations

[Rugged One]

Thought that I'd put up some pics from this past weekend. Starting out Friday after work and ending up on Sunday.

And this was very good! Lots of resinous pine bitterness were in there but it was all about the sweetness with this guy. Tons of honey and malts notes and some of the juiciest citrus character I've tasted in a long time. This reminded me a lot of Bell's Hopslam, which is definitely a good thing!

Finally, all day Sunday, I got into my Captain Lawrence growler of goodness. The Captain's Reserve Double IPA.

They have great burgers here too, as I'm about to devour mine and wash it down with a glass of Victory Braumeister Pils.

This is one of the few beer bars were we like the food as much as the beer. The wings here are some of our favorite anywhere. Lots of different choices and very crispy. Perfect!

Lots of hoppy goodness on for Summer. I went with a Founder's Centennial IPA. Very fresh and tasty on tap.

On the way home, we decided to take a detour and head to someplace that we haven't been in forever. Union Jacks!

And it was good to see them pimping out the decent NJ offerings (as little as there is though). All in all, this place was definitely up there for me and we'll definitely be back again!

...but it was the GINORMOUS wall of Imports that made me crap my pants. It actually started a few feet behind where I was taking this pic and was just loaded with all kinds of harder to get stuff. Fantastic!

The wall of American craft singles was tremendous...

C'mon! They've got their "Best of BA" shelf for crying out loud!

I wouldn't normally include this many pics of beer store but man, this placed ROCKED!

On the way home, we made a pit stop at what is widely considered to be a Top 3 beer store on the East Coast. The Oak Tree Buy Rite in South Plainfield, NJ.

And Kim shows what all of the hype is about. Cuvee de Castleton. It's an American Wild Ale that's fermented with grapes, than aged in Oak, and infused with Brett. They were giving out samples and it was delicious!

After you paid, you went in and picked up your bottles.

...so we said "Heck, since we waited in the growler line, we might as well get a growler!"

They had both a cash and credit line once they opened. We were closest to the credit line, so we waited in that one. Unfortunately it was also the line for growler fills and took a bit longer...

Saturday saw us take a road trip up north of New York City to Pleasantville, home of Captain Lawrence brewing. Every couple of months they have a bottle release and this is their biggest of the year! This was about a 1/2 before they opened and allready a pretty good sized crowd has formed.

I then finished up with some pizza at dinner and a mug of their West Coast Wheat (while getting attacked by Ffej!)

They also had a Mugger exclusive on tap. A Bourbon Aged Tripel that while loaded with Bourbon notes, also kept a lot of Tripel character, and stayed pretty quaffable for a 10% beer.

...and we got to meet the brewer, Paul Rutherford. He was a real friendly guy and a pleasure to talk too. He was previously the assistant brewer at the North Wales location and this gig is his first as a Head Brewer. He's doing a hell of a job so far.

...plus you get a up close tour of their brewing system (quite photogenic as you can see)...

Because it's there first Mugger Appreciation and "Meet the Brewer" night ! This was pretty nice too. Reserved seating and free eats...

Our next stop brings us back to Iron Hill Lancaster. But what would we be doing here on a random Friday night?

And of course Christmas in July wouldn't be complete without a taste of some Mad Elf. Holding up very well I might add!

And the rest of the crew is definitely down with the Troegs as well.

...and lots of Troegs beers were on special. Kim and I can't resist a $3 pint of Sunshine Pils on draft. Tasty!

Lot's of Christmas decorations were up...

...it's time for the annual Troegs Christmas in July celebration!

We're back at the Elephant & Castle and being July 25th, that can only mean one thing...

[DerekRx]

^Looks like a fun weekend, wish we coulda joined you, but we had another plan,....Rehoboth!

and to end, instead of getting a 60 Minute IPA which I had a sufficient amount of earlier, I decided to try something new to me, the Chicory Stout. Unique in that it combines Chicory coffee , chocolate, and roasted malt with odd things like licorice root and St. John's Wort. Pretty good and low in abv too

you should think of me if you ever end up going upstairs

It's a pretty small place, even with an upstairs, and really gets crowded once the sun sets during the summer months

Before it's gone I better grab the exclusive Ryehoboth Rye Ale, on Nitro! Smooth and refreshing, easy to drink, and packing in some good spicy bread flavors and a hint of hops. Went well with my crab and sweet corn chowder and tuna steak

on tap we see some usuals and even a brewpub exclusive. But sadly, no summer brew Festina Peche, it was gone for the season as Nicole found out.

Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats, the original. Located on Rehoboth's main strip

Getting back in Rehoboth we needed some food. So, let's have a walk down the beach to visit Dogfish Head Brewery's papa

and finally trying the Palo Santo Marron was worth the drive. A really different flavoring, which Dogfish Head is known for

It's kind of a bummer that they don't have more on tap to select from for your beer samples, but we were happy with our 60 Minute IPA and Indian Brown Ale

and now its time to taste some of the beers we learned about today

finally we finish up with the bottling line

I'd so quit my job to work in the Dogfish lab

joining the other fermenters seen here

here are some of the newest fermenters, helping to increase production

next up, we see the fermenters. First, the wooden ones used to make Burton Baton and other oak aged beers, and the one in the very back, Palo Santo wood used to make Palo Santo Marron.

they were actually working on a Saturday, getting ready to brew up some tasty 60 Minute IPA

here we see where the grain silos come into the building through the wall

behold, the brewing process!

next, a visit to the Brewhouse, where the magic happens

here we see the brewing system for the first batches of beer and its bottling line.

first stop, a history of Dogfish Head, including its first kegging line and the now retired Sir Hops Alot, Dogfish's revolutionary hop adding device

let the tour begin!

with tours every hour on weekends, as one tour lets out, the next one is ready to begin

and here's what we can enjoy after the tour today

after checking in, Nicole is armed with her Dogfish tokens for free samples after the tour

or check out the merch for purchasing after the tour

while waiting for your tour to start, you could enjoy a game of Bocci

I wonder if this will fit in the trunk of my car?

outside you'll see random things shown in Dogfish Head ads over the years

here you can see the big ole grain silos that feed the brewery its malty goodness

home of the beer thread famous Dogfish Head!

So, after about 30 minutes of driving, we found ourselves here in Milton, Delaware.

After battling the violent surf for a few hours, we were in need of safer ways to spend our time

We were supposed to stay at my coworker's beach house, but they had a plumbing problem a few days before and decided to put us up in a hotel, on the beach. Not a bad view to wake up to

[Bubba83]

Wow Justin got those pics up quickly.

 

Looks like this weekend may just have been the most action packed beer thread weekend ever?

 

Didn't expect those sweet posts from Derek and Heath doing seperate and individually awesome trips...

 

So what have you been up to Joe?

 

Here come the Portland Trip pics! I was able to meet my cousin and his friend up there which worked out really well.

 

Nice to meet Justin too! Maybe next time you can show me around town a bit more if business settles down.

And I'd enjoy a quick Organic Tree Hugger porter before I had to board the flight. Another really good porter that I enjoyed quite a bit.

The tap list.

Attempted a tap picture but the mirror didn't help things. 8 taps though!

In the airport while waiting for our flight to begin preboarding I seeked out Laurelwood in the airport, which was by far the best airport brew place I've seen.

This poster was hanging on a wall in the corner, and I thought our PA pals might get a kick out of it!

And who could forget the wonderful food at a place like Rock Bottom, the pulled pork sandwich.

And Todd, a crazy Flanders Red that was sour and reminds me of red wine vinegar. Still not sure I like the style.

This time I got the 4 brewmaster choice samples which included some really innovative stuff, like this blitzen belgian golden ale.

And the lunch before we left to catch our flight was again at Rock Bottom since it was close to our Max Light Rail stop.

Back at Deschutes for a late dinner because it was the only place still serving food. Here's a half pint of Red Chair IPA, which wasn't even on the tap list 2 days prior. Not quite as good as the other IPA I had but still dang good.

Quite a few belgian selections as well. I am glad I talked beer with the cashier guy because after he realized how hardcore I was he pulled some stuff out of the back after okaying it with his boss. They try to save special stuff for people they know will appreciate it.

More awesomeness.

Every bottle in these six packs is also for individual sale and they have 5% discounts for building your own.

Another cubby of crazy rare bombers all over the place.

This is definitely the best beer store I've ever been into. Looks like a run down liquor store but they know what they're doing.

It was great meeting Justin and briefly Sandy, and I'm crazy happy about the unexpected present Justin got me. I owe him big now! But I still wanted to shop for some bottles in Portland since I bought an extra suit case.

And we both agreed it was a really nice beer.

Then I suggested one for Justin since all the other ones he wanted to try were unfortunately tapped out (Like Bell's Porter and Coffee Bender) Hazed and Infused, one of my favorites from when I was in Omaha.

Justin met me at probably the busiest time at the beerfest the entire time I was there, Saturday around 5-6. Levitation was tapped out so we made some Bubba faces for Ruination.

Delicious. As good as it is in a bottle it's even better on tap.

On Saturday I made sure I jumped on a full glass fill of Lagunitas Hop Stoopid early in the day, which quite frankly was probably best in fest for me yet again.

And we just had to get a picture of this girl's shirt. Ride the South Lake Union Trolley (it's an up in Seattle thing)

Nice floral notes that the normal Bridgeport IPA falls flat on.

Bridgeport's Hop Czar was also quite good.

Good stuff, seemed like a high ABV milk stout that had been aged in bourbon barrels.

Another standout at the fest was New Holland's Dragon's Milk. Had a really strong oak flavor to it.

And I finished up the night with an Old Crustacean, since I'm too cheap to spring for their ceramic offerings at BevMo. This was an impressive barleywine for sure.

Then I had a sample of the Eugene Track Town Honey Orange Wheat Ale, which was also quite good.

I started off with their Smoked Ale, which was quite nice with the right amount of smoke.

And more tables to sit at.

Holy bombers and other knick knacks on the wall batman!

Really cool interior and a good vibe.

Once my cousin got there friday night we headed over to Rogue, also in the Pearl District.

Another look at the sea of people on friday afternoon.

Live Music at the Fest was good too, and a couple was even married on stage later in the weekend.

An awestone hopped up strong ale that I just wasn't sure Rogue would be able to pull off but it was really great.

Sorry for the terrible picture but Rogue's Glen was outstanding.

And I walked around the Pearl District a bit near Deschutes and just found a random Lamborghini Murcielago parked on the street.

I just had to get the King Screamer IPA which was quite frankly awesome. Great juicy malt backbone with awesome hop presence.

The taplist.

My Elk Burger, yes you read that right, and yes it was ridiculously good.

Had Deschutes for dinner on thursday (I know it's out of order, sorry!)

My Salmon BLT, which was quite frankly ridiculously good. This bread was the best ever!

The view from our table.

Ate here at Marina Fish House which used to be Newport Bay.

For lunch we went down by the Marina.

It was a curiously vibrant and tasty interpreation of a witbier.

Boulder's Zon was a big surprise for me at the fest.

Quite happy with this hopped up amber, yet it was still smooth.

Amazing how fast Hop Stoopid was tapping out each day. I was very happy to get to try Levitation though.

A swag booth. I bought a shirt I'm sure you guys will see at some point.

Bell's porter was also pretty good.

Excellent stuff, really tasted like strong coffee more than beer but I loved it, perhaps my favorite beer of the fest.

I'll post a few highlights now, one was Surly's Coffee Bender.

A better inside view of the seating inside the tents. That was another huge plus, even when it was really busy they planned seating really well and provided as much as possible.

More overview and a tent shot. They had a north tent and a south tent, each serving about 36 beers with trailers to keep the taps cold. It worked out pretty well except when it got busy line organization was confusing and sometimes it was unclear what line you were in.

The sign in the middle told you where each brewing company was location wise within the fest, which was nice. They also sold programs that were really well made with details descriptions of every beer served.

The crowds were light on thursday, which was when I had the best time at the fest, maybe early friday. However this picture is an overview when it was busy on Saturday.

The entry point. One of the cooler aspects of this fest is anyone can come in and out as they just check ID at the gates and give wristbands for free. Then once you're inside there are mug and token lines if you choose to partake in beer sampling.

Look at all them kegs!

The main sign so you guys know where I'm at!

The beautiful Tom Mccall Waterfront park that is always alive with activity and people out and about.

Here's some boats near the Marina.

The Photo TR wouldn't be complete without some shots of the beautiful city that is portland. This is on the waterfront park walk on the way to the fest. It's right on the Willamette river.

Equipment picture up in the 2nd store window.

And their Porter was also quite impressive.

Two standouts. The wheat was phenomenal, very different from any wheat I've had before. The spicing was perfect and very smooth.

I'd start with the sampler as Justin had informed me a ways back all their standards are good at this one. He was right. No brewmaster choice sample at all though due to the fest and a shortage of sample glasses.

Tap List. 4 Special beers on in honor of the Oregon Brewer's Fest.

First stop was for a late lunch on thursday at Rock Bottom since it happened to be right at the exit of the Max Light Rail System.

[ParkTrips]

So what have you been up to Joe?

only six new beers int he past 4 weeks =(

 

I've got an order from Lost Abbey coming in, and this weekend I'm going out of state and gonna be able to stock up on some more good stuff, so I'll be more active soon!

[65skylark]

Awesome pics, Kevin. I love seeing the city from other people's perspective. Looks like John's Marketplace was probably a better decision than Belmont Station. It's been years since I have been to Belmont and I have never been to John's Marketplace. That will change soon, though, after seeing those sixers of Dogfish Head

 

I forgot there was a Laurelwood pub at the airport. Glad to see you had time to stop in there since you missed their brewpub in Portland.

[Bubba83]

^ Belmont just wasn't going to work out for us that night, but I'll check it out next time. John's is a real dive, I failed to take pictures of their busted cooler with stagnant water on the floor among other dirtier things. Their prices can be a little high too, but the selection is so outstanding that you have to kind of expect some price hikes since they had to jump through hoops to get a bunch of the stuff. If you can get past it being so rundown though the people really know about their beer in there and the selection is OUTSTANDING.

 

Another Pro-Tip I heard at the Festival/Russian River's Newsletter, they just had a special event yesterday at the Horse Brass welcoming Russian River's beers to Oregon (Vinnie even made an appearance) and tapped some Pliny the Elder, they might still have some, not sure.

[DerekRx]

After going to Dogfish Head, seeing so much participation here this week, and receiving a nice gift from my boss on Monday, I decided to make it another themed week.

 

Time for IPA week, here's the first half the week thus far.

While no Pliny, it's much better than the ImPaled. Good citrus notes with a strong biscuity backbone and a nce earthy finish

more New York brews, Ithaca's Flower Power IPA

just a little bit of hop presence with a bitterness coming from something else. And again as with mostly every Middle Ages brew, an odd buttery finish.

Middle Ages ImPaled Ale was next

and wow is it ever fantastic. lots of citrus flavors followed by a honey and biscuit backbone and a nice blast of pine and spicy hops in the finish. Sadly it doesn't appear that this brew will make it to PA anytime soon with the high gas prices.

must drink fresh, ok. got it

as they like to mention over and over again with cute little sayings on the bottle

and unlike some other Russian River beers, this one you shouldn't age

Wow, this stuff is pretty freaking fresh!

Last week my boss went out to NorCal for business. Since he didn't take me with, he decided to bring me back some goodies, like a bottle of Pliny the Elder!

[65skylark]

Another Pro-Tip I heard at the Festival/Russian River's Newsletter, they just had a special event yesterday at the Horse Brass welcoming Russian River's beers to Oregon (Vinnie even made an appearance) and tapped some Pliny the Elder, they might still have some, not sure.

 

That's funny you mention that because I was just looking at their web site yesterday and noticed they had Plpiny the Elder on their upcomming tap list section. They have so many beers on tap at a time that they update their tap list on line on a daily basis. I thought I'd give them a call this weekend. We'll probably stop by this weekend, anyway. BTR to come.

[dammie16@vt.edu]

Guinness!!!!

 

Bout to have another!

[DerekRx]

Time to finish up IPA week.

more of a British style than a West Coast style, but you can still taste all the great West Coast hops they used. Lots of citrus with a nice caramel and bread backbone and a lightly bitter pine finish.

and finally we end back in California with Firestone Walker's Union Jack IPA

Lots of citrus. Citrus good, very refreshing in the summer

next up, something I'll send to Joe soon, Troeg's Scratch #12, an IPA. Also the same brew as The Drafting Room's 14th Anniversary IPA

but my presents are quite exciting, and will be reappearing in the beer thread sometime soon! Thanks a bundle, Joe!

packing peanuts are messy

Oh goodie, a nicely wrapped gift from Joe. Let's see what we've got

just as I finished drinking the last of my Hop Shortage, a package arrived from Georgia

not an overload of hops, but still quite fine

Terrapin's Hop Shortage Ale was next on the agenda, the first of their side project series

[ParkTrips]

I have a couple of random pictures from my trip to Florida, all cell phone pics or pics I stole, so bear with me here on quality =/

This is the only pic that I have from my afternoon at EPCOT though, an Optimator in Germany. The day also included a Carlsberg in Norway (uhh aren't they Danish?), a Maudite in Canada (sweet as always, but way too big for a 90 degree day!) and a standard Sam Adams in the American pavilion. Fun times!

I also bought a couple glasses as well.. which came in handy because I drank a couple of the Oberon's before I came home

Knightly was really awesome and I cam home with a bunch of stuff not available in GA - including a sixer of Oberon (hi Matt), some >14% beers from DFH and Avery, some hard to find Belgians and more. Only the Unibroue 17 is available in GA, but I haven't been able to find it.

I went shopping at Knightly Spirits down there, which probably had the best 5L keg selection I had seen. Several Germans, including a Schlenkerla Rauchbier, and Bell's and more

First up, La Fin du Monde at Wolfgang Puck. Probably could have gotten a better glass, but I was already a pain for the poor lady so I didn't want to be more of a hassle. Great BBQ chicken pizza to go with the awesome tripel!

[mcjaco]

^ Tease all you want.

 

Bell's is back in Chicago! I had some on Saturday!!!!

 

Is that place in Orlando? We made need to swing by there for real beer.

[ParkTrips]

yup, no more than 5 mins north of Universal

[Rugged One]

Well with the Discovery Channel airing their annual Shark Week marathon last week, I thought that I should have an appropriate theme for the beers that I would be drinking while watching it.

 

Hence, intermingled between episodes of Myth Busters and shows about shark attacks, I bring you...

 

STOUT WEEK!

This definitely isn't for the faint of heart but, my oh my, is is tasty! Big notes of chocolate, coffee, and dark fruits intermingle with some definite Belgian yeast character. That huge ABV is definitely there but it never seems to become stinging. Great stuff and I'm looking forward to lying a few of these down in the cellar.

Finally, another anniversary beer was also recently released. The Weyerbacher 13. After the last few of their anniversary releases that I had trouble getting down with, they've finally unleashed something that I can get on board with. A 13%+ beast of a Belgian Style Imperial Stout.

But hey, he can talk as much as he wants when a beer is this tasty. Think burnt chocolate chip cookie that drinks like a champ!

...and the usual diatribe from Greg Koch on the back. This one was even more long winded than normal!

Awesome anniversary logo as usual from Stone...

Up next is one that I can't believe no one has posted yet, despite being out for the last few weeks. The Stone 12th Anniversary. A Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout.

...but this was a lot better. Rich chocolate notes (even if they seemed a bit artificial) and roasted malts underneath made for a nice dessert beer that Kim had no problem helping me with.

A beer built for 2 is our next order of business, in the form of a bottle of Ft. Collins Double Chocolate Stout. Now I've never been big on their regular Chocolate Stout offering...

And to top things off, the beer is infected. Yeah! It's really a shame too, since this seemed rather nice underneath all the disgustingly sour bacteria notes.

This place cracks me up. Their labels look like they were printed off on an ink jet printer in someone's basement. Oh wait, they probably were!

Next, we've got some good ole' Midwestern RIS goodness courtesty of Oscar the Grouch and his buddies at Kuhnhenn. The Road Rash Russian Imperial Stout.

Dark beers are their specialty at Duck Rabbit and this guy is no different. Tons of chocolate sweetness that is balanced out by some very prominent dark fruit tartness.

We'll start off with something from down south in North Cakalaki. The Rapid Duck RIS from the Duck Rabbit Brewery.

[ParkTrips]

Tonight - an update from Joe! Strait out of Harlem!

The taste is solid. It had characteristics of traditional German bocks with its medium body and maltiness and hop flavors, but it also snuck in some sweet Belgian ale flavors. It was a pretty tasty beer, even if it is a sort of mixed breed.

look at all the sediment, jeez, this beer was probably brewed while I was in high school

Picked up down in Orlando, Jopen Bokbier from Haarlem, Holland. A bockbier with Belgian twists, but brewed across the border! The look is ok, but what do I see..