Brewery of the Month: Silver Moon Brewery (Bend, Oregon)

In a region that brews as much (if not more) beer than Germany, it's always hard to try and put a finger on your favorite brewery. In 2006, we would've sworn up and down that Ninkasi were the reigning geniuses with their Total Domination IPA. Before that, Eugene City Brewery's 100 Meter Ale saturated our hearts. This month, we have to say that we are in love with Silver Moon Brewery and this is the first time we've been in fisticuffs over which beer makes them the best.

J will swear he cried tears a first born son couldn't elicit when he tried their Bourbon Chocolate Stout; A swears the Hoptagon Imperial IPA is the real Eastern Oregon hero. Either way, this is the first time in awhile we were arguing over beers from the same brewery. Simply put, the beers were incredible and stole our hearts at this year's KLCC Microbrew Festival.

However, the appeal of beers is one part the drink, another part the conviviality that surrounds enjoying a new beer. When you fall for a new beer everyone must try it and everyone must hear about how great you think it is. A good drinking experience is dependent on good company. On this account Silver Moon sold us when the company's brewers shot the breeze with us in downtown Eugene.

Walking down to a pub from the Microbrew Fest we stopped at the crosswalk with another pair of guys heading in the same direction. When I asked them if they'd came from the brewfest they told us they were taking a short break. I immediately told them when they got back to try Silver Moon's Bourbon Chocolate Stout. "Then try the Hoptagon," A chipped in, "that was amazing too." The two guys looked at each other and the shorter of the two says "Wow, that's really flattering." When we asked why they pointed to the back of their shirts, "Those are our beers." (after getting home I recognized them from pictures online as Tyler West and Brett Thomas, the brewers of said beers). They talked for a few seconds and confirmed directions downtown then walked ahead of us.

After this we started discussing our next brewing plans and, in particular, our own recipe for a Pumpkin Ale that had turned out almost perfect except for the carbonation. I was debating with A the amount of clove that we needed in a 5 gallon batch when West came back and asked what we were talking about. We told him we were talking about our recipe. He asked about our ingredients then told us "This is the same conversation you have making beer even in a brewery. You'll be debating 'should I use more coriander or will it be too much'." After this they headed on and we gave a standing invitation to meet us at the Horsehead if they had time.

It's one thing to have amazing beers. It's another to stop for a minute and give a couple amateur brewers input on the process. This is why we simply have to put Silver Moon Brewery as our brewery of the month (possibly of the year). Thank you guys, we can't wait to drink whatever you bottle for us.

Brewtality of the Month: Schorschbräu Schorschbock (43% ABV)

This record-setting German steroid-bock is the "holy shit" of beers. Not solely due to the immediate alcohol poisoning that occurs in shotgunning just one 11oz. bottle; but also for the fact that it should be against the laws of nature for any yeast to ferment that much alcohol in any drinkable format.

However, the genius schnitzel scarfing brewers over the pond worked around such petty things as nature and found that by freezing the beer to a temperature that kept the beer liquid and the majority of the water frozen they could siphon off the best parts. From there they use a 15 step filtering method that compresses a vat of beer to 1/10 of its original size. An article in Wired cites that batches start as 350L and end up as 35L--then to the 11oz bottle which will take you back about $120.00.

For brewers and beer-lovers alike the price-tag alone will generally make this no more than bottle talk over the dependable and delicious brews that aren't trying to sexually abuse your wallets and palates. That said, I'm now collecting donations for a great cause...

Let's Get Back to the Homebrew Days

A good year for homebrewing.

KLCC Microbew Festival 2011

So the 2011 KLCC Microbrew Festival has come and gone, once again bringing more samples than one (or two) men could possibly taste. Here is a breakdown of the beers we tried at NPR's annual fundraising drink-a-thon with the ratings explained.

1 - Wouldn't wash a stray dog with this crap.
2 - Don't like, don't hate. The model of indifference.
3 - Like it. I'd buy it in the right mood.
4 - A standard. I'd love a case or four to grace my fridge.
5 - Tastes the way we imagine making love to Kate Beckinsale would.
W - A denotation that the brew had a strange taste that made it hard for our palates to categorize.

RPM IPA (Boneyard Brewery) - 4 - Great aroma, great flavor, no sour/waxy aftertaste, but didn't really distinguish itself the way Ninkasi's Total Domination or some of the other great IPAs do.

Cherry Wheat Beer (Boneyard Brewery) - 3 - This wheat beer tastes a lot like Heffeweisen with the citrus aftertaste replaced by the ghost of cherry flavor. Not amazing, but would be good as a summer seasonal.

Six Hop Wonder (Block 15) - 4.5 - This beer was amazing. It smelled gorgeous, it tasted very well balanced, but the kicker was the grapefruit aftertaste. It was the best IPA we had at the fest.

Back in Black (21st Amendment) - 2W - This one was weird. It was a Black IPA served to us out of a can. It looked like a guiness, it had damn near no aroma, and tasted like something between a strong ale and an IRA. Very strange, hard to categorize, and, thus, very hard to rate.

Licentious Goat IPA (Flat Tail) - 4W - Another weird one, but in a way that didn't leave us as confused as seeing a streaker at a dance recital. This IPA had an aroma that reminded me of dandelions, but had a sweet smooth body to it.

Cold Nose Winter Ale (Laughing Dog) - 2 - A sub-par dark winter ale.

Unconventionale (Ninkasi) - 3W - Ninkasi is an old standard. This was the same festival that, years ago, introduced us to a then fledgling hometown brewery and their amazing 5 star Total Domination IPA. It was nice to try something that wandered from their traditional multi-hopped red and pale ales. This brew had a clove taste to it which initially reminded me of a pumpkin beer, but the beer itself didn't do anything overly special. A decent brown ale.

Hop Fury IPA (Silver Moon) - 3 - This brewery out of Bend blew us away. They had some of the best beer we've tasted from a vendor since Ninkasi showed up. The Hop Fury IPA was a 3 basically because it was made to stand in the shadow of big brother Hoptogon.

Hoptagon Imperial IPA (Silver Moon) - 4 - The boost to their IPA gave this beer a great bouquet that put it up there with Boneyard and Block 15's IPA. Had we not tried Block 15's "Six Hop Wonder" this would've been our favorite IPA there.

Bourbon Chocolate Stout (Silver Moon) - 5 - Holy crap. First off this beer had three of my favorite words in its name, which is what brought me over to the vendor. This beer was one that will make you cry when its gone. First off, the aroma is the light sugary whiff you get off a now empty glass that was once graced by a perfectly aged whiskey. The flavor had the thick body you expect from a stout without being as heavy as many stouts (ie: Deschute's Obsidian). The very light influence of chocolate on the beer along with the whiskey aroma made this one absolutely brilliant.

Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale (Stone Brewery) - 3 - Stone has a hard time making bad beer, but this one doesn't have the ostentatious presentation that Arrogant Bastard does.

Jabberwocky Strong Ale (Walkabout) - 2 - Just not a good strong ale. Very little flavor. The only thing that saved this from a 1 is that it didn't have a skunked taste to it.