I Heart PCNW: Backyard Brewers to Back-Alley Delicatessen (Eugene, OR)

A and I gave ourselves to the brewgods at a ripe young age. When we started to brew together we both had just started college and there was only one shop in town: Valley Vitner and Homebrewing. They had the knowhow and materials to turn your fermenting fantasy into bottled reality.

While the store is still A and I's brewshop of choice, they may have further monopolized our free-time with the Falling Sky Public House which was started by the brewshop to showcase their years of dedication to Oregon's intoxicating crop.

The atmosphere is amazing from the moment you walk in. This isn't a black-tie affair and there are no pretensions of gormet in the modest two-page menu. But, after you've ordered at the counter and the meal arrives, you can't bring yourself to call it just another burger stand.

Right now, I can say without a doubt that I would commit various criminal acts to get another taste of their "Back Alley Burger" with cheese and forest mushrooms. I took me until the end of the burger to realize they hadn't added ketchup and I really didn't care. Better yet, I looked around me and realized I'd found Oregon's best burger in a garage off 13th avenue. Looking at the menu, I realized that the burger's deliciousness was second only to its customization. I added cheese and mushrooms, but bacon, carmelized onions, and a fried egg are also options. A and I have already set the date for trying this alchemist's concoction of flavors (one that I'm naming the "Trash Can Burger").

I wish I could have rounded off my experience by sampling a beer, but the fledgling brewery (just on the other side of a glass partition from the restaurant) would not be able to serve their own draughts until mid-March.

Either way, the selection was great, I got to leave with one of the brewery's growlers (given it was filled with Ft. George's IPA), I had the memory of the Back Alley Burger resting gently on my palate, and my pints were 25 cents cheaper.

That's right, a quarter off the beer. Why? Because it was raining of course. At Falling Sky, there's every reason to love your Pacific Northwest.

Fresh-Eyed Daisy or Black-Eyed Susan? (Widmer Pitch Black IPA)

My last foray into the brave new world of Black IPAs was 21st Amendment's less than stellar Back in Black. However, the idea of darkening IPAs has intrigued me since that San Francisco beer crossed my path at this year's KLCC brewfest. There have been too many times I've had my brains hopped out without even a kiss of flavor and it always seems as if it's the bed of barley that's missed in the passionate rush to get straight to the flavor.

So, when I found the Widmer Bros. had attempted a simmilar beer, I had to know how a solid Oregon brewery does the dirty (ehrm...IPA that is).

Let's just say that I heart the Pacific Nortwest (and un-heart California) for a reason. The Widmer Pitch Black IPA reminds me a lot of their Broken Halo IPA in terms of aroma and hop taste. What sends me over the moon for this beer is the rich malt flavor that balances out a definite increase in hoppage. The malts in this beer give the smooth flavor (a la New Belgium's 1554) that makes me feel like I'm drinking a good porter, but finishes with the gorgeous fireworks only the best IPAs can deliver.

In short: Black IPAs have found a standard. I look forward to see if this stays a limited release or a Widmer mainstay.

Apologies to A, I meant to save him some so he could share in the review. Whoops.

Brewery of the Month: Ninkasi Brewery (Eugene, OR)

Generally, if there isn't a "Brewery of the Month" listed it's because it need not be. If you live in the Willamette Valley (soon this next statement will apply to the entire Pacific Northwest) and you have yet to "worship the goddess," then you are most likely on the list to run out of this beautiful state into some god awful bastion of all things soulless and vile (i.e.: California).

That said, even your most faithful brews find a new way to kick veritable upper-thighs every once in awhile. Ninkasi, has done just that this summer.

It was obvious from the first time I sipped Tricerahops and Total Domination from tasters at local brewfests that Ninkasi was a brewery to follow in the grand success of other great Oregonian institutions (such as Rogue, McMenamins, etc.), but generally their beer was only found off the tap or in 22 oz bottles. The first thing I noticed during my weekly supply run was a nifty new 4 pack of Ninkasi 22s, containing all the staples a hop-addict, such as myself and A, needed: Total Domination IPA, Tricerahops Double IPA, Believer Double Red, and a Spring Reign to help gently croon to our traumatized palates until they found dreams of barley and worts boiling.

The mindblower was 6 packs of 12 oz bottles, below that 12 packs, then, just to make sure we're paying attention, Ninkasi released a new 4 pack of 22s. This one including the more obscure bursts of brilliance such as: Nuptuale (Cream Ale), Maiden the Shade (a summer ale with 7 hops used in the making), Radiant Ale, and Total Domination (lest ye forget who the boss is 'round these parts).

In short, I walked down the aisle to find myself a new adult soda to sip on during the evening. Instead I walked into the local city beer county to see Ninkasi owned these parts now.

To help further the love I already had for these brews, the Ninkasi 4 packs now hold a small code that allows worshippers to download a cd full of local Oregon music acts.

Who doesn't love the hometown hero who makes it big carrying fellow heroes (unsung though the may be) on its back? For this, our default greatest brewery deserved a few words.

Beer like Ferrets?

After sipping on (and thoroughly enjoying) what is a solidly delicious offering from Deschutes Brewery (Red Chair NWPA), J and I had the interesting experience of sampling Widmer's W'11 KGB Russian Imperial Stout. I won't speak for J, who may have had an entirely different experience of this brew, but as for myself:

As a fan of Widmer in general and very impressed with the past incarnations of the "W" series, I was excited to have my taste buds tickled by this latest offering. I was not disappointed; the KGB certainly was a tickler. After presenting itself as a pretty all-around standard Stout, its roasted, malty presence left on a curious note. As its cool, smooth effervescence slid down my gullet, I tasted something furry. Not furry in texture so much as furry in taste -- that distinctly musty flavor distinctive of the scent of fur, particularly wet fur. Now, perhaps this furry flavor was intentional, to remind us of those conspicuously Russian, if not caricatured, fuzzy hats of Siberian traipsing comrades.

Cut to a scene of hard drinking Russians in some hole in the snow refuge from the freezing Siberian winter, their snow encrusted hats melting from the heat of an open fire, à la Indiana Jones and the Raiders Lost Ark. This was not the fur it reminded me of, however. It reminded me of something much less palatable. And what could be less palatable than a damp, furry Russian hat? How about ferrets?

 

Having once owned a ferret, I am thoroughly familiar with the way their particular scent has an uncanny ability to stick in the back of one's nose, almost feeling as though one had tasted it. Perhaps it was this sticking quality that reminded me so inopportunely of ferrets, but a certain underlying mustiness contributed, as well. In the end, I had to laugh. It was quizzical, this taste. I wouldn't call it a bad beer, but not something I would go to frequently, and needless to say, somewhat disappointing considering my high expectations. My taste buds certainly had been tickled, nonetheless.

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.