Beer

[eaterfan]

Got my two Pappy Van Remys. Haven't had either one yet. The release was crowded but handled well. 

[red321]

Rouge (obviously), Upright (seems to be a standard brewery as far as selection, but really good), Cascade (the king of sours. they only do sours and sour/fruit blends....probably my favorite brewery).

 

It's cool because Deschuttes, Rouge (tasting room), Upright, and Cascade are fairly close. There is another brewery or two that are also close, but we didn't plan properly and had too much fun at the others to visit.

 

Enjoy, Portland is beautiful. Can't wait to go back.

 

Just returned from our weekend in Portland. Didn't get to nearly as many breweries as I would have liked...but I did have to compromise some with the wife and do some sightseeing that didn't involve brewing equipment and tasting flights. Turns out it was also Zwickelmania, which is supposedly free beer day in Oregon. Sounds awesome, but what it really meant was crowded venues and no tasting flights available.

 

Hair of the Dog was excellent. The Blue Dot dIPA is top notch and their Fred Golden Ale was a great example of a Belgian Golden Ale. They had a few barrel offerings as well, didn't catch the name of them as I was running out the door but they were quite enjoyable. If you haven't been to this brewery, by all means you should do so...they have a fantastic food menu as well.

 

The Full Sail "tasting room" was located in a McCormack and Schmicks, which really blows the atmosphere. Hard to enjoy tasting beer when the guys next to you are expense account business travelers ordering a Bud Light. I will say their Slainte Stout was fantastic, probably the closest to a Guinness I've had outside of Ireland or Thailand (which has remarkably good Guiness).

 

We enjoyed dinner at the Deschuttes tasting room/public house. From a dinner perspective there was some great pub food. Beer wise they had a huge selection, most of which you won't find available outside of the public house. Thoroughly enjoyed the saison de perle, and was lucky to taste their Jumble Kriek, which reminded me of a Cherry Lambic. Also had the pleasure to ask their India Red NWPA that was cask conditioned.

 

The Cascade room was packed because of the festival so we didn't get a chance to do much tasting. Elbow to elbow. We sampled a white coffee stout, which was quite good, which surprised me as I'm not a huge coffee stout fan. The Sang Noir was fantastic. Great raspberry tones. They also a an Imperial Stout which was conditioned in Bourbon Barrels, called Bourbon Plague. The wife does not care for Imperial Stouts, and raved about it.

 

Didn't stop by Breakside due to time, but picked up their IPA at the 7-11. One of the better IPAs I've tasted. Nice citrusy hops flavor and nose and not overly bitter.

 

The Hopworks location was similar to Deschuttes. They offer a great tasting with about 10 different beers. Lots of hops in most of their selections, which can get over whelming at times. Their standard Hopworks IPA ended up being the best of the bunch and definitely should be something people pick up if they haven't had a chance to sample it. 

 

By far my favorite location was The Commons Brewery though (thanks for the recommendation James). Was packed so they weren't offering flights but we were able to try a number of farmhouse style ales, including one conditioned in a Gin infused cask. Was able to bring home a few of their Farmhouse Ales, including their Dark Farmhouse Ale, and they survived the flight so I'll be enjoying those over the next few weeks.

[James]

Red, Sweet man. Glad you went by there. I have only had a few of their beers due to bottle shares at Beachwood but they are always top notch.

[Brandon]

I liked the Deschuttes food, as well. Did you get to throw some coins?

 

Cool that you got to taste HotD and Breakside, those were two we missed. Breakside seemed to be a highly toughted local spot from a few locals we ran into.

[James]

This weekend was the third weekend in a row of straight beer for me.

 

Saturday we pulled into Alpine and met up with Scott and a buddy I met last year at Younger. Alpine was super busy but I was excited to see my favorite beer from the DIPA fest was on tap as the guest beer, Boneyard Notorious. This is honestly the very best Triple IPA I have ever had and hands down the best beer on tap at Alpine on Saturday. I filled up growlers and grabbed bottles and headed out of Alpine.

 

From there we headed to Santee to hit up BNS. Country music isn't my thing and this thing is set up with that kind of theme. It works though as the owners are ex military, I believe one was a Navy Seal. Anyways, they make great beer. The Law Maker, Revolver and Ma Deuce are all excellent. The standout though was Cupid's Tombstone. This is a Chocolate Red Ale that just crushes My Bloody Valentine out of the water. We talked to the owner for quite awhile and headed out after our flights of their beers were finished.

 

From there we headed to Hess North Park. This brewery is still a favorite of mine and their plum saison was absolutely fantastic. We didn't stay long since my buddy had to get back to the hotel before his wife got out of her conference. We checked out Acoustic Ales and they make a great triple IPA call Hop Way to The Danger Zone. Overall they were very solid with their brews as well. On the way home we hit up Rip Current for a quick stop and went to Stone Oceanside and Breakwater. Nothing mindblowing at these spot but they were all good. Sort of lose you palate after so many flights anyways.

 

Sunday I checked out Bottle Logic in Anaheim. I was rather unimpressed with the beers but loved the tap room and thought behind their concept. I was hoping that Tumescence would be on tap but it was not, I am really looking forward to that beer. I then headed over to Pacific Plate in Monrovia. This nano brewery has potential but he needs to refine his recipes. The Horchata Stout could be a game changer though.

 

So after Hopocalypse three weekends ago, Pliny and SF Beer week two weekends ago and SD this last weekend, it has been an expensive but great month for beer. Friday I am heading to Kern for my Citra bottles and plan on hitting up Kinetic on the way back down. Then on Tuesday Beachwood releases Amalgamator in bottles. It just doesn't stop this time of year.

Edited February 18, 2014 by James

[red321]

Seeing as I had to look up throw some coins...I'm guessing not! Not sure I saw anyone else doing that as well, though I wasn't facing the bar area.

 

I think one of the things we enjoyed the most was they had a lot of neighborhood tap rooms. Wasn't like the Southland where you have to drive 20 miles to get to a good drinking establishment where the focus was on good beer/selection, food, etc. The concept of the neighborhood centers/villages is very cool, reminds me of the east coast/midwest. 

[St1ck]

This weekend was the third weekend in a row of straight beer for me.

Saturday we pulled into Alpine and met up with Scott and a buddy I met last year at Younger. Alpine was super busy but I was excited to see my favorite beer from the DIPA fest was on tap as the guest beer, Boneyard Notorious. This is honestly the very best Triple IPA I have ever had and hands down the best beer on tap at Alpine on Saturday. I filled up growlers and grabbed bottles and headed out of Alpine.

From there we headed to Santee to hit up BNS. Country music isn't my thing and this thing is set up with that kind of theme. It works though as the owners are ex military, I believe one was a Navy Seal. Anyways, they make great beer. The Law Maker, Revolver and Ma Deuce are all excellent. The standout though was Cupid's Tombstone. This is a Chocolate Red Ale that just crushes My Bloody Valentine out of the water. We talked to the owner for quite awhile and headed out after our flights of their beers were finished.

From there we headed to Hess North Park. This brewery is still a favorite of mine and their plum saison was absolutely fantastic. We didn't stay long since my buddy had to get back to the hotel before his wife got out of her conference. We checked out Acoustic Ales and they make a great triple IPA call Hop Way to The Danger Zone. Overall they were very solid with their brews as well. On the way home we hit up Rip Current for a quick stop and went to Stone Oceanside and Breakwater. Nothing mindblowing at these spot but they were all good. Sort of lose you palate after so many flights anyways.

Sunday I checked out Bottle Logic in Anaheim. I was rather unimpressed with the beers but loved the tap room and thought behind their concept. I was hoping that Tumescence would be on tap but it was not, I am really looking forward to that beer. I then headed over to Pacific Plate in Monrovia. This nano brewery has potential but he needs to refine his recipes. The Horchata Stout could be a game changer though.

So after Hopocalypse three weekends ago, Pliny and SF Beer week two weekends ago and SD this last weekend, it has been an expensive but great month for beer. Friday I am heading to Kern for my Citra bottles and plan on hitting up Kinetic on the way back down. Then on Tuesday Beachwood releases Amalgamator in bottles. It just doesn't stop this time of year.

My brother was at Alpine on Saturday, and threw down a couple glasses of that Notorious. He said it was one of the best IPA's he's ever had. He sad he was chatting it up with a couple of guys at the bar, I'm curious if it was actually you guys.

[Brandon]

They have a duct reducer high above the back of the bar with ducting that trickles down and a drop off into a tip jar. We were sitting there and random people were throwing coins at it. It turned into bartenders having a little contest as they were bouncing coins off walls and in or deflecting them off the various items on the wall around the duct opening....which I was impressed they found the time as it was during Euros so it was busy. Essentially it's a fun tip jar that usually is drunk people throwing coins at the wall that hit the bartenders.

 

Yeah, we actually just hopped around the city on the tram and only used the car to cross the bridge for the other breweries.

 

Were you brave enough to stand in line for Voodoo Doughnuts?

[eaterfan]

Red, glad to hear you liked the Blue Dot. I have been trying to get one for awhile but always had trouble. I picked up 3 this weekend and am looking forward to drinking them.

[red321]

We used a combination of car/trolley to get around. We drove out to the Falls and spent some time photographing the Japanese Gardens. Had to come back with at least a few pictures that are sell able so I could write the trip off. It was pouring rain a good part of the weekend so that didn't go as well as I was hoping prior to heading out there. We stayed down near River Place, next time I probably wouldn't do that. Hotel was fine, but it put you at the southern part of the downtown area logistically a little more challenging to get to the Pearl District or across the bridges.

 

Didn't stand in line at Voodoo Doughnuts...but we did hit a few different coffee joints. Had some pretty great meals around town as well. Veritable Quandary and Ned Ludd were both top notch along with the others I've mentioned. 

[red321]

Red, glad to hear you liked the Blue Dot. I have been trying to get one for awhile but always had trouble. I picked up 3 this weekend and am looking forward to drinking them.

 

You found some of that locally?

[eaterfan]

Whole Foods in Laguna had some last Friday. Not sure if they still do. No bottle limits either. My sister works right by there so I had her pick some up for me.

[Brandon]

We used a combination of car/trolley to get around. We drove out to the Falls and spent some time photographing the Japanese Gardens. Had to come back with at least a few pictures that are sell able so I could write the trip off. It was pouring rain a good part of the weekend so that didn't go as well as I was hoping prior to heading out there. We stayed down near River Place, next time I probably wouldn't do that. Hotel was fine, but it put you at the southern part of the downtown area logistically a little more challenging to get to the Pearl District or across the bridges.

 

Didn't stand in line at Voodoo Doughnuts...but we did hit a few different coffee joints. Had some pretty great meals around town as well. Veritable Quandary and Ned Ludd were both top notch along with the others I've mentioned. 

 

Nice. We had a friend out there that housed us for the week....just a little outside downtown. So we would drive into town and then just walk around or trolley it everywhere. Portland has a very nice, but kind of quaint downtown, much like San Diego where it's not overwhelming and fun to check stuff out. I don't remember much of the food stops outside of Mothers which is known for and fantastic for breakfast. One night we went to a concert and when it was over it was late enough that the line wasn't too ridiculous and grabbed some Voodoo......good, but nothing is worth doing the normal wait.

 

We tried to not do too much touristy stuff, but did that tram that goes up and down the hospital that overlooks all of downtown.

 

Glad you had fun.

[Angel Dog and Beer]

Had a Lagunitas Fusion (18, I believe) on tap while up in NorCal. A citrusy, hoppy DIPA at a very drinkable 10%. Very good beer. Not sure how long it will be around, but def. try it if you see it.

[James]

Had a Lagunitas Fusion (18, I believe) on tap while up in NorCal. A citrusy, hoppy DIPA at a very drinkable 10%. Very good beer. Not sure how long it will be around, but def. try it if you see it.

This beer here was great. I was happy to get to it but really wanted to try the Couch Fusion which is coming soon.

[James]

You found some of that locally?

That has been pretty easy to find the last few months around here.

[red321]

That has been pretty easy to find the last few months around here.

 

Has it...maybe I just hadn't been looking for it since I didn't know of that brewery until I started doing research for the trip! Definitely be on the lookout now.

[James]

Has it...maybe I just hadn't been looking for it since I didn't know of that brewery until I started doing research for the trip! Definitely be on the lookout now.

Yeah, they upped production recently. I have ran across it quiet often.

 

Today I went and checked out Brian Brewers' new batch of beers at Abigale in Hermosa. Dude is a great brewer and a really good guy. Just started brewing personally and he offered me some NZ hops for my next brew. I have been very lucky to become part of the LA beer community. Just a great group of brewers who have an open door to pick their brain. If anyone here is around Hermosa, stop by Abigale and try his 2nd Anniversary 2IPA.

[Hot Damn!]

Those looking for Blue Dot Mr Ks in placentia just got some in. It's right infront of The bruery.

[Jason]

Just had the Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point. Outstanding stuff!

[Jimmag]

Big fan of Sculpin!

[Jason]

I saw it at Total Wine and it caught my attention as their labels have popular local game fish on them so I bought a couple of different ones. Very pleased with the ones I have tried but the Sculpin stuck out the most.

[epicbeergirl]

If you haven't checked out Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, you really ought to.

Their beers are great, especially for a new brewery, their tasting room is rad, and everyone who works there is super nice.

http://www.epicbeergirl.com/2014/02/bottle-logic-brewing.html

[epicbeergirl]

Oh, and had some Younger last night, was great...especially since there weren't any lines.

[James]

What did you enjoy at Bottle Logic? I was underwhelmed with the beer overall. The tap room is great as you state but I left feeling that the beer was solid but nothing that I Would rush back for until Tumescence hits the tap.