Saturday, May 2, Noon – 10 p.m.This experimental post will feature--inelegantly--the Twitter feed in both html and flash formats. If you're reading this on the blog, the flash looks waaaaayyy better. But if not, you can see the html version below.
Lucky Labrador Beer Hall
1945 NW Quimby, Portland, OR 97209
Admission is free. There is a $5 charge for a tasting goblet, which is required to sample beers, and $1 for tastes. Tickets can be purchased at the festival entrance.
Flash Version
Upright is going to be a welcome addition to the Portland beer community
ReplyDeleteUpright the best so far, but it wasn't brewed with Ingelmunster. Of those, I like Bolt Minister's Avant Guard Akloo, a coriander-spiced biere de garde. But the day is young. Also good: Pelican Le Fleur Amere and Lompoc Brussels Stout.
ReplyDeleteIntersting on upright, I liked the Pelican too. Cascade was really nice, especially considering the low abv. This is Jpe by the way, can't figure out the login on the iPhone yet.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the Zen Lunatic. I am very proud of the final product. It is interesting to read about a vegetal aroma. I did not experience that when I used it. Interesting note: the Lunatic made it to a astonishing 90 deg F in fermentation.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Corey
Corey, yours was one of the highlight beers. We were winding down, and I told my wife--I gotta get Corey's beer; Bill at It's Pub Night says it's one of his last! I'll do a proper review soon, but at the top of the list were Zen Lunatic and Astoria's biere de garde.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a good time in Bend, and I really hope to be tasting your beer again, soon.
Thanks...I unfortunately did not get to try Bolt's Biere de Garde because it was gone!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Corey
I was fortunate that my employer let me off early Friday (lack of work), so I got there around 3. A friend of mine had already been there for close to an hour, and he recommended two right off the bat: Ingelmonster barrel-aged and Streaking the Quad… I should've listened. I wanted to start out light (Upright Four, excellent start) and work my way up, but I did try the Ingelmonster non-barrel aged, and it was too sweet for my taste (according to my friend, the barrel-aged version wasn't nearly as sweet, and "much woodier.").
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the barrel-aged was gone by about 4:30. The Streaking the Quad didn't last much longer, but I did manage to get one of its last samples… very boozy on the nose, somewhat sweet on the tongue, but not too much for my palate; kinda reminded me of Klokke Roeland (which helps that I tried it just 5 days earlier), but sweeter; I did like (love?) the Klokke better, but this was good too.
Cascade's 8 Monks was really good - "roasted fruit" is what I wrote, though just a good black ale would suffice - but it also didn't use the Ingelmunster yeast. I liked Philly's Saison du Philly as well - slightly sour (not as much as last year's, but they didn't use the right yeast last year either) but not "unintentionally so" as I heard one other complain. Silver Moon's Frauline Heather, OTOH, was a near-miss - slightly vinegary in the nose, slightly buttery on the tongue… not good.
In the what-were-they-thinking category, Ft. George used so much hops in their XVIth Chapel that I couldn't tell what yeast they used. On the front of the tongue it didn't seem so hoppy, but as soon as I swallowed… ugh… I couldn't even finish the sample. I imagine the IPA crowd loved it, but… talk about a palate-killer.
I agreed with most of the other observations, except for Hopworks (which seemed weak in every way for a dubbel - thin, light and bland) and Deschutes Bend (I thought sage more than ginger, but I liked it quite a bit), and pretty much everyone else seems to think the Pelican was hoppy, so I must have got the wrong beer (they may have given me McMenamin's Crazy Enough Blonde instead).
Top three were Astoria's Avante Garde Akloo (really strong flavor of the yeast - and I didn't get the veggy-compost note either… I like it a great deal more than the Ardennes), Rock Bottom's Floreal Trois (not as strong a flavor of the yeast, but still true to its nature) and CPR's Zen Lunatic (just enough hops to make it interesting, not so much that it obliterates the rest of the beer). Add the Upright and Cascade, and you've got a good evening right there… but there was plenty more to enjoy, and enjoy I did. :-)
-anónimo
Big Horse FTW!
ReplyDeleteThis year there were a lot of beers not made with Ingelmunster. I didn't realize that when I had the Upright (a non-Inglemunster, but I would have tried it anyway because I've been dying to try Alex Ganum's beer). Cascade's didn't use it, so I thought I'd try to find that beer around town. Sally and I managed to sample somethinng like 14 of 20. I'll get a full report up tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThere weren't that many… at least, as of the time they printed out the ballot - only 4 of the 28 total by my count (Bridgeport's Fallen Friar (really?!), Cascade's 8 Monks, Fanno Creek's Nit Wit and Upright's Four), though whether or not it turns out there were more "cheaters" remains to be seen. I didn't realize that was the case either until after I'd tried both the Upright and the Cascade… though I'm glad I did, regardless.
ReplyDeleteOf those on the ballot, there were only 6 that I didn't try (and probably another half dozen that I didn't reliably try, relatively speaking); unfortunately, Big Horse's Belgian B-Side was one of [the former]. Still, it was a good show, and I look forward to next year's in Astoria. :-P
-anónimo