Good Pours at the Holiday Ale Fest

There are no absolutes in the subjective realm of taste.  "Good" moves along a sliding scale, depending on our preferences.  So consider the following beers provisional recommendations.  But you knew that, right?

• For me, the pick of the fest was Gigantic's Red Ryder BB Gun, a cranberry-infused saison.  The fruit choice was inspired: cranberries both offer a note of acid but also a fruitiness, so that the contrasting favorable qualities of the yeast--esters and attenuated dryness--are both accented.  With all the heavy, boozy beers, it also serves as a very welcome palate-cleanser.
• Cranberries were also put to great use in Burnside's Jingleberry, a hugely-thick imperial stout.  Again, the acid in the berries help cut through the dense folds of black malt (though they're nearly consumed by them).  Unlike some of the heavy beers, it wears well, too.  I could easily have enjoyed a pint.
• While we're on the porter-stout continuum, another winner was Coalition's Big Maple.  If you know its smaller incarnation, Loving Cup Porter, big brother will be familiar.  The maple is less obvious, which works to the beer's advantage by keeping the level of perceived sweetness down.
• A beer you might otherwise overlook was quite nice: McMenamin's Lord of Misrule.  It's called a stout, but tracked more like an old ale to me.  Anyway, the use of habanero peppers gives it a ton of spicy flavor and only the tiniest hint of heat.  (I suspect that only two of ten people would even make the ID if they tasted it blind.)  The beer is very sweet and I don't think I could do a pint.  Still, it's well-done and clever.  Definitely worth a pour.

Overall, the fest is studded with a ton of great beers.  I was not in love with Ex Novo's Moonstriker, a mole Baltic porter (too thin; the flavors didn't come together) or Viking's Aurora Braggot (I may not be a braggot guy), but those are mostly matter's of preference.  I didn't encounter a single beer I'd warn people to skip--though in the usual manner of trading recommendations, I was guided away from one or two.  (For obvious reasons, I won't be passing that info along second-hand.)

Gentlemen excited to pursue MORE BEER.

If you care for other picks and pans, check out the New School, Beer Musings, Not So Professional Beer Blog and Beervana Buzz for alternate run-downs.

Bird-Dogging the Best at Holiday Ale Fest

Holiday Ale Fest
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Wednesday 12/3 to Sunday 12/7
Full Details

The Holiday Ale Fest begins on Wednesday in its too-snug venue at Pioneer Courthouse Square.  A force of nature, the Fest has evolved into an event in which most of the beers are specialty one-offs, which makes it one of the most anticipated fests of the year.  And also makes recommending beers a total crapshoot. If you like red-hued beer, coffee, chocolate, and bourbon, you're in luck.  Lots of that this year.  There are a number of black ales to go with the usual complement of IPAs, and there are even several sours.  Overall, a nice variety.

It's a fool's errand to predict which beers will emerge as the big faves, but equally, the wide range also demands that the savvy get together a list of target beers.  In the interest of generating discussion, below are the beers that intrigue me.  I plan to head down the first day, so look for a report back on Thursday. 

• Base Camp Dunkelrauch Weizenbock (8.9%) and Old Town's Bluth's Original Chocolate Banana Hefeweizen (5.5%).  Base Camp's is all right there in the name--a smoked dunkel (dark) weizen.  What more can you ask from a winter beer than smoky, clovey, banana? Old Town's, which makes the list owing to the "Arrested Development" reference, is a lighter hefe with cocoa nibs.  Not so many sub-6% beers, so it might be a welcome pace-setter.
• Bear Republic Do Yo Want to Build a Snowman? (6.8%).  A melange of four barrel-aged beers I've never heard of, the result of which is billed as fruity and slightly tart.  Two or three years ago, Bear Republic had the best beer at the fest, and I'm hoping for a repeat performance.
• Burnside Jingleberry (8.3%).  Of all the stouts, this one most beguiles for the addition of fresh cranberries.  Fruit stouts are often lovely, and cranberries seem like an inspired choice.
• Cascade Gingersnaps (12.1%).  A gigantic blend of 2-year-old quads aged on bourbon and rum barrels.  Ron Gansberg usually sends over something special, and I like special things from Ron Gansberg.
• Coalition Big Maple (9.0%).  When she co-founded Coalition, Kylie Hoyt wanted to express a bit of her native Vermont and turned to maple syrup.  Coalition generally sends their wonderful winter strong ale, Lost Glove, but this year it's the big brother to their maple porter.  I love the little brother (Loving Cup), so this is a pretty sure bet.
• Ex Novo Moonstriker (8.0%).  A mole Baltic porter made in collaboration with Moonstruck chocolates.  This seems like such an obvious idea, and yet I've never encountered a mole porter/stout that really sings.  Let's see if Ex Novo pulls it off.
• Hopworks Incredible Abominable of the Enchanted Barrel Forest (9.0%).  Pretty much the only bourbon-aged IPA I've ever enjoyed was one made for this event by Hopworks, Kentucky Christmas.  It has heretofore been a tradition at the Fest but in its place we have a different bourbon-aged IPA.  I'll take a flyer on it.  (Also, standard Abominable is my fave beer from Hopworks.)
• New Belgium La Folie (7.0%).  Because New Belgium La Folie.
• Ninkasi Doppelbock (7.5%).  After having established their rep based on hoppy ales several years ago (I sampled my first Ninkasi, Believer, at HAF), Ninkasi has quietly been building an inventory of wonderful in-style German lagers.  I'm looking forward to test-driving this doppel and have high hopes.
• Oakshire Prestidigitation (7.0%).  This is not the first pale stout, nor even the first recent pale stout (or in Oakshire's locution, "white stout").  But it may be the first pale chocolate milk stout.  Coffee, cocoa nibs, and star anise are harnessed in service of wrapping a stout-y flavor in a pale wrapper.
•  Sixpoint Lump of Coal Porter (7.9%).  The reasons to be interested in this beer are two: 1) Sixpoint is located in Brooklyn and is unavailable in the Beaver State, and 2) it was a collab with the Beer Goddess, Lisa Morrison.  Not bad as reasons go, eh?

There are, incidentally, two beers that use mint: Slanted Rock Cordial Tease and Widmer Brothers Frostie the Munchyman.  I hate mint, so they got struck from my dance card, but if you like them take note.  The fest also has two-ticket (usually vintage) rarities that pour at designated times on each day of the event, but the Fest hasn't announced the line-up yet.  Watch this page for updates.

I'll leave you with the latest "pin-up" for further consideration.  Why on earth does the fest continue this bizarre tradition?  Consider it a provocation for a discussion in comments.  See you Wednesday--

Notes and Updates on the Holiday Ale Festival

Day one of the frosty Holiday Ale Festival is in the books.  Day two, less than an hour from opening, looks frostier still.  (It's 29 degrees as I write this.)  That makes for a lovely time under the tents, but don't depend on those heaters getting the temperature up to 68.  They strain to keep it pleasant, but there are pockets where it never really warms up.  (When the outside temperature is the normal 45, the inside can sometimes get steamy.)

A few other notes

The $5 designated-driver wristband.

The food situation is not great--and if you're a vegetarian, it's pretty terrible.  I'd advise you to eat beforehand and just snack while you're there.  There is water, but you have to go to the Northeast corner of the main tent, near the exit, to find it.  These are huge beers, and you really, really need to stay fed and hydrated.  A four-ounce pour of a 10% beer (common here) is the same a shot of whiskey. If you drink your first batch of 10 tickets, you may well find yourself in trouble, so beware.  To add insult to injury, the Fest is for some reason charging designated drivers five bucks just to get in.  For those good eggs willing to tag along to give your drunk self a ride home, this is a harsh penalty indeed.  Non-drivers should maybe pool their dollars and pick up the tab.  (Note to Fest: knock that off in the future.  You want designated drivers, especially when your beers are so boozy.)

The beer
The main event, of course, is the beer, and as usual they're pretty amazing.  Bière de noëls devide people, so it's harder than usual to make recommendations.  How do you feel about spice?  What about smoke?  Where's your sweetness threshold?  Depending on how you answer these questions, your mileage will vary.  I have always had a rocky relationship with spice, and so tried nearly no beers that used them.  On the other hand, I love smoked malt, so I was out sniffing for the smell of char.  Over the course of six hours, I had a full pour or neighborly snort of just 15 of the beers, so my sample size is also limited.  However, all those caveats noted, here were the ones I liked:

• Alameda Long Beard's Baltic Porter.  One of those smoky beers, and one of two or three that vied for my fave.  Baltic Porters are simultaneously smooth and intense (they're usually lagered), and a vivid, almost sour roast note is typical.  Alameda puts a spin on that with the smoke, and it really works.  Deep, resonant beer.  So many winter beers are meant to be drunk by the snifter, but I could have easily tucked into a pint of this.
• Cascade Cherry Diesel.  A very well-made cherry stout, meaning tons of roast battling tons of cherry.  The two tango in the way cherries and chocolate are famous for doing, and the effect is similarly decadent.
• Elysian Doom.  I confess I was attracted partly by the name, forgetting that I was getting an IPA (maybe the only one at the fest?).  It's exceptional.  A head like mousse and incredibly rich, super tasty hopping that blasted through my tired palate.  It was my nightcap and I'd like to try it again fresh.
• Ninkasi Single.  By contrast, I kicked the fest off with this beer.  A little titan--a mighty mite?--with a substrate of esters that harmonized nicely with spicy/herbal hops (Saaz?).  Also one of the best beers I tried.
• Old Town Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum.  Also late in the day, so my faculties were diminished.  It seemed to have a wonderful harmony between the rum barrels and burnished maltiness of the old ale.  
• Pints Hibernator.  A lovely weizenbock that functions as a perfect palate-refresher.  Lots of phenolics and spice that help enliven a tongue battered by alcohol and sweetness.

I also enjoyed BridgePort Honey Porter, Deschutes Yule Goat (though it was pretty brett-y), Fort George Hogfather, Golden Valley Santa's Smokin' Bock, and Hopworks Kronan the Barbarian.  Just four misses: Base Camp White Squall (balance was a touch off), Laht Neppur St. Dorothy's Peach Cordial Ale (too sweet), Mazama Mazamanator (too strong and too fruity for a doppelbock), and Viking Winter Squash Porter (a braggot that was actually really good except the spicing threw me off--I'd love a version without spice).

I saw a bunch of people there I wish I'd spoken to more (like Suds Sister, Matt Van Wyk, Ritch Marvin, Pete Dunlop, Sanjay Reddy and several others).  What is it with fests that make it hard to talk to everyone you'd like?  Here's hoping I get another bite at the apple; I'm planning for a Saturday foray too.  See you there?

A User's Guide to the Holiday Ale Fest

Holiday Ale Fest, Dec 4-8

Pioneer Courthouse Square

Wed-Sat, 11a to 10p, Sun 11a to 5p

Initial tasting package (required): $30, includes mug + 10 tix

Additional tix $1 apiece

No minors, no pets

____________________

I want you to just luxuriate for a moment in some names you'll find this Wednesday at the Holiday Ale Fest:

• The Scut Farkas Affair
• Oud Freakcake
• Hogfather
• Yule Goat
• Gargantua
• Doom
• Hibernator
• The Twerking Elf

The point is, brewers love love love winter.  They make and sell most of their beer in the summer, but it is the dark wet months, when yule logs crackle, when they get to turn their ids loose.  I just did a scan through the list of "standard" pours at this year's Holiday Ale Fest (those you'll find on the main floor at all times), and not a single one is a regularly-brewed offering.  Not one!  If you pine for a Wassail or even Abyss, this is not the fest for you.  If, on the other hand, you want to see what happens when a brewery ages an oud bruin in Maker's Mark barrels with cranberries, figs, dates and raisins, you're in luck.  This is the first rule of the Holiday Ale Fest: bring your good cheer and have fun.

Source

HAF is one of the best events of the year--and arguably the first "modern" beer fest.  It's a curated affair where beers have been specially brewed in service of a theme.  In this case, that theme is impressionistic, which adds to the fun.  A brewery might think nothing says noel like a German weizenbock while another thinks it means an abbey single.  Many, of course, believe it means a barrel-aged beer made with odd ingredients like marshmallows, panty hose (seriously, I think), and turnip honey (Oakshire, Slanted Rock, and Viking Braggot).

Many of those oddballs are going to be lumps of coal, but along the way these experiments will yield the occasional gem.  This leads us to rule number two: sample broadly and share information.  There's no reason more than one member of your party has to endure a train wreck--or should be hoarding the good stuff.

Since the beers are all one-offs no one has tasted, it's impossible to assess them by description alone.  However, there are a few ways to approach them if you want to divide them by category.  Or rely on me to do it for you. 

The Small Beers
Mostly you'll find grandes cervezas (more than half the pours are 8% or higher and 18% are in the double digits), but a few little guys may help lengthen your session.

• Deschutes Yule Goat (5.4%, a brett-aged brown ale); 
• Firestone Walker Luponic Merlin (5.5%, hoppy oatmeal stout); 
• Fish Gingerbread Ale (5%); 
• Ninkasi Single (5%); 
• Oskar Blues Black Mamba (5.6% dunkelweizen); and
• Rock Bottom You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid (4.8% helles). 

Straight-up Beers 
This is a surprisingly small group, less than 25% of the whole, and one to which I will direct special attention.  They are those beers brewed to relatively normal styles with no oddball ingredients (and there's a lot of overlap with the group above).

• Base Camp White Squall (barley wine); 
• Coalition Shenanigans (barley wine); 
• Dick's Code 1081 (winter warmer); 
• Firestone Walker Luponic Merlin, 
• Fort George Hogfather (I think; it's a Baltic Porter); 
• Hop Valley The Wolfe (English barley wine); 
• Mazama Doppelbock; 
• Migration Big Sipper (Belgian dark); 
• Ninkasi Single; 
• Oskar Blues Black Mamba, 
• Pints Hibernator, and 
• Rock Bottom You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid .

Barrel-aged Beers 
Breweries now cast their nets wider than just bourbon distilleries--this year they used brandy, rum, and wine barrels as well.

• 2 Towns Naughty and Nice Cider (bourbon); 
• Bear Republic Santa's Lost Wallet (brandy); 
• BridgePort Oak Aged Honey Porter; 
• Cascade Cherry Diesel (Heaven Hill bourbon); 
• Crux Oud Freakcake (Maker's Mark bourbon); 
• Deschutes Yule Goat (bourbon); 
• Eel River Gargantua (bourbon); 
• Gilgamesh BAHS (bourbon); 
• Hopworks Kronan the Bourbarian (bourbon); 
• Lagunitas High West Whiskey Barrel Stout; 
• Lompoc Revelry Red Ale (whiskey and wine); 
• McMenamins Mele Kalikimaka Coconut Stout (Hogshead Whiskey); 
• New Belgium Cascara Quad; 
• Old Town Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum (rum); 
• Rogue Big Ass Rye (new oak); and 
• Vertigo Polar Blast (whiskey).

Sour Beers
Wild ale fans will be disappointed to find only four beers to scratch their itch.  That's it.  However, watch for the special-release beers--there may be a tart or three in that group.

• Crux Oud Freakcake; 
• Deschutes Yule Goat; 
• Lompoc Revelry Red, and 
• Stickmen Twerking Elf. 

Black Beers
Give me a cold, drizzly night and you better give me a warming dark ale.  This is the fest for dark beer fans.

• Alameda Long Beard (Baltic porter); 
• Bear Republic Santa's Lost Wallet (stoutish); 
• BridgePort Honey Porter; 
• Cascade Cherry Diesel (imperial stout); 
• Columbia River Hawaiian Christmas (coconut porter); 
• Firestone Walker Luponic Merlin (stout); 
• Fort George Hogfather (imperial porter); 
• Hopworks Kronan (imperial porter); 
• Lagunitas (coffee stout); 
• McMenamins (coconut stout); 
• Natian McGuinness (imperial milk stout); 
• Slanted Rock Panty Hose Porter (Baltic porter); 
• Speakeasy Erotic Cake (chocolate milk stout); 
• Stone Spiced Unicorn Milk (chai stout); and 
• Vertigo Polar Blast (imperial vanilla porter).

The Really Crazy Stuff
You want weird?  HAF's got weird.  This brings us to the third rule of the Holiday Ale Fest: make sure you don't burn out on bizarre experiments.  But you should nevertheless try a few.

• Burnside It Makes Reindeer Fly (weirdness factor: a rye ale made with carrots and raisins);
• Crux Old Freakcake (weirdness factor: oud bruin made with orange and lemon zest as well as cranberries, figs, dates and raisins);
• Gigantic The Scut Farkas Affair (weirdness factor: gummi bears);
• Natian McGuinness (weirdness factor: milk coffee stout aged on Kahlua-soaked oak) (also note, to avoid confusion, that the founder/brewer is Ian Guinness);
• Oakshire Swiss Mrs. Alpine Alt (weirdness factor: an alt mashed with toasted marshmallows and brewed with cocoa nibs and lactose);
• Viking Braggot Winter Squash Porter (weirdness factor: a braggot--mead and ale--made with turnip honey and winter squash)

All of those are taken only from the "standard" group.  Each day they're also pouring specialty beers (mostly vintage stock) which add a whole 'nother level of specialness.  You can see the list and schedule here.

I'll be at the Fest on Wednesday and promise to have a quick and dirty reactions post up before the beers pour on Thursday.  See you there--

The Role of Star Power in Beer Appreciation

Connoisseurs are a funny bunch. And I mean here connoisseurs of anything--wine, dog breeds, indie rock. Embedded in their identity is a conflict of interest: on the one hand, they believe themselves to be the final arbiters of objectivity in their particular realm; on the other, there's a constant instinct to one-up everyone else by finding the new "best" or the obscurest rarity, but this can only be endorsed by the fellow traveler who is also in the know. Tribal objectivity; an oxymoron, but innate to connoisseurship. A few weeks back, the New Yorker had a wonderful piece on coffee, and writer Kelefa Sanneh captures its essence here:

Batlle resists snobbery, as any good evangelist must; she thinks that coffee salvation should be available to anyone who seeks it. But the coffee community she loves, where everyone knows everyone, wouldn't exist if the number of converts weren't so small. In order for connoisseurs to exist, they must be outnumbered by philistines, and if the connoisseurs are honest they will admit that they enjoy this state of affairs. The citric flavor of a Kenyan coffee might seem unpleasantly sour to a novice, and so loving Kenyan coffee is a way to show you are not a novice.

So it is with beer. Certain breweries have such bullet-proof cred among the geeks that their products enjoy a halo effect. Others are so scorned that everything they make is tarnished. This phenomenon was in play over the weekend at the Holiday Ale Fest--I think. You can weigh in if you think I'm off base.

Even before attending, I knew that the barrel-aged Velvet Merkin from Firestone Walker was going to be a buzz beer. Barrel-aged black ales are always loved, and few breweries enjoy such a solid reputation (an earned one, I'm happy to acknowledge) as Firestone Walker. Indeed, it was the fest's big buzz beer, and it was tasty.

It wasn't, in my mind, a perfect beer. The bourbon was overwhelming on the nose, and on the palate it was pure vanilla. I quite enjoyed it--the brewery describes it as "milk chocolate, smooth dark cherry, vanilla and coconut infused," which sounds absolutely delicious. I'd have preferred a bit more roast and beery balance, less Starbucks treat, personally, but hey, your mileage may vary. I enjoyed it, but.

Then I tried a beer from poor McTarnahan's, a brewery that suffered from years of wandering and neglect before finally finding its groove under some great brewers. Among beer geeks, few breweries have less juice than Mac's.The beer Mac's sent bore much resemblance to the Firestone Walker--a bourbon-barrel aged black beer, their Ink Blot Baltic Porter, steeped in Jack Daniels' barrels for a year. It was also not quite perfect--at 6.3%, it was a bit underpowered and thin. But overall, it was a quite lovely beer--the whiskey was milder and more integrated, the beer rounder and more complex. Of course, it got very little attention, and I, a classically conflicted connoisseur, ignored it most of the time I was at the fest.

Both were crowd-pleasing, tasty, slightly-less-than-perfect beers, and they had a lot in common. My guess is that if Preston Weesner had switched the kegs before the fest, the "Firestone Walker" would still have been the buzz beer. Loving Firestone Walker is a sure mark of the connoisseur, and the Mac's was a fantastic beer, so who wouldn't have been happy to laud it? We'll never know, but that's my guess.

As always, your dissents are welcome.

Holiday Ale Fest Wrap-up

Whew, what a Fest. When I first attended this event a number of years ago (last century, I believe), it was a relatively sparsely-attended affair. The tents bustled, but there was appreciable space between bodies. This year, from the moment I arrived at 1:30 (Saturday) until I left four hours later, the lines were long, and I was in contact with other bodies the entire day.

I don't mind crowds, but this seemed mainly like a problem with design. Besides the beer, there is a whole section of the space devoted to arts and crafts vendors. This may have made sense five years ago, but it's a disaster now. (In your mind's eye, envision Pioneer Courthouse Square. Now envision Waterfront Park. Now take all the festgoers from the OBF and cram them into Pio Sqaure. Now add a flea market. You see, the physics are starting to work against us.) I actually like some of the vendors--it gives you a little something to do while you're ducking from the throngs. But with the growing sophistication and popularity of big, complex beers, there's just not room for it all.

One other gripe: more beer. When I arrived at 1:30, four beers were already blown (this is two and a half hours into an eleven hour fest). By midafternoon, the majority were blown. In my preview, I mentioned several international beers--all of these were either blown by the time I arrived or within minutes after I got there. No Samichlaus for me. So, recognize that this is a bigger fest than it used to be and make changes. Okay, enough on that.

The Beer
As I expected, the beer was almost uniformly terrific. Parsing the merely good from the excellent is a fool's errand and I'll avoid it. There were a couple beers that stood out, so I'll highlight those, and the rest I'll just include a few of my notes. (They were sparse and erratic this year not because of what I'd drunk, but because there was precious little room to jot notes.)

Believer - Ninkasi Brewing
This was my first beer and I think managed to take all comers and emerge as my fave. It had one of the most succulent aromas I've ever encountered--sweet, citrusy, with a little mint. I had four people give it a sniff and they all did the same thing: sniff, eyebrows up, head back down for another sniff. The palate was every bit as good. Although it was a lighter beer, it was one of the few that really said Christmas--it had a touch of pine, sweetness, and warmth. I wish this were available at every pub in Portland. (At right is a picture of Jamie Floyd that I stole from Belmont Station's blog.)

Cabin Fever (Stout) - Klamath Basin Brewing
A close second was the fest's only stout. It seemed like a sweet stout with a heavy dose of lactose--sort of a beery equivalent of hot chocolate. It was rich and super creamy and seemed to have the essence of wholesome milk blended in. I love it when a brewery I've never tried before knocks my socks off. Klamath Falls now has two good breweries--not bad for a small town.

Regifted Red - Widmer
Aggressive and alcoholic. Reminded me of the Seasonal red they do (maybe that's the "regift," but with more oomph.

Blizzard of Ozz - Off the Rail Brewing
This is the one beer I found substandard. Somewhat funky and mildewy tasting. I think it was supposed to be a smooth toddy-style winter, ala Tannen Bomb.

Strong Scotch - Fearless Brewing
A good beer, but it didn't seem strong. (Looking at the brochure now, I see that it was 8.5%, and I'm shocked--it seemed half that.) I wrote "Great Scotch ale, wonderfully malty, but quite light. a 60 Shilling, not a wee heavy." Goes to show I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

Blitzen (tripel) - Rock Bottom Brewery
Long ago there was a chain restaurant in downtown Portland with a theme--they all have themes--of beer. You could get cute little ales that tasted like soda with your mediocre food. It was so popular people packed the joint. It was the one brewery in Oregon I never wrote about when I was writting for Celebrator and Willamette Week, because I refused to recognize it as a brewery. (They were pissed, but they would have been more so if I actually wrote about their beers.) Well, all that has changed. They brew real beers now, and I actually go out of my way to try them. This offering is a very tough style, and even good examples suffer by not having the complexity you'd find in a brewery with a 200-year-old yeast strain. That said, this was one of the best American examples I've had, with a complex recipe and decent yeast character. The head was remarkable, too--like whipped cream.

Full House - Pelican
In the Wassail/Jubel continuum of winter ales--rich, hoppy, strong, and tasty.

Jim K. - Hair of the Dog
Much has already been written about this beer, so allow me to be brief, since I wouldn't know what else to add in any case. It is a beer with great character from the nose to the aftertaste that seems to alternate among its various elements, seemingly emphasizing a sweet/sour note one moment and an old-fashioned hard candy note the next. I've never seen people respond to a beer like people responded to this. I'd love to see it come on the market and observe whether it was the festival atmosphere or the beer itself.

Cuvée de Noël - St. Feuillien
No notes on this one. I recall that it emphasized the malts and was smoother and less complex than I expected. A gentler winter warmer.

I also had sips of various other beers and so got a sense of a broader range, but for the sake of journalistic integrity, I won't presume that these were adequate samples. That's it until next year--

Holiday Ale Fest Video

I slapped together this video last night with clips from the Fest. As you'll note, I took liberties with the timing in the captions to emphasize what was happening. Cheers!

Holiday Ale Festival - The Scrum for Jim

I intend to put up a fuller report on the HAF later today or tomorrow, including video. However, as I'm feeling a little remiss in not getting something up sooner, here is an interim anecdote.

As with many brewfests, the HAF has only a limited number of kegs. The summer OBF handles this by allotting a certain number of kegs to each day, but HAF refined this system and divided kegs up into two batches, afternoon and evening. So, moments after getting my first beer at 1:30, the Fest slapped up a sign on Hair of the Dog's Jim saying that it would be pouring again at 5. I decided to hang around until then and zip back in for a last nip before heading home, and so at about a quarter til, I (and two friends) made our way through the extremely packed crowd.

(Sidebar: It was easily the most packed I've ever seen the Holiday Ale Fest, and perhaps more crowded than even the OBF on Friday night. The crowd was shoulder-to-shoulder and there were literally times when an entire knot of bodies had to time their move to make way for passing drinkers. The crowd was racous and jovial and everyone seemed to take this in stride. Sally, off at the St. Feuillien tap late in the day, spoke to a bug-eyed Minnesota dad who was visiting with his daughter. Remarked he: "I've never seen anything like this. People really take their beer seriously here.")

So we started back into the scrum. Inelegantly, a group of tables had been placed at the center of the main tent, and these tended to gum up the movement even more. Opposite them was, somewhere in the throng, a line to the not-yet-on-tap Jim. When we finally made it to the right side of the tent, we discovered that most of the people were also waiting for Jim and ushering others through to get different beers. So as five crept slowly toward us, the crowd became more and more densely packed with Jim-waiters. Eventually the chants for "Jim, Jim, Jim" began and it looked like the crowd might rush the tap (in one slow, many-legged push).

The wait endured past five and the crowd grew more spirited. By about eight after, a guy came out and, with theatrical flourish, removed the "back at 5 pm" sign. A cheer went up. We pressed closer, mug-ended arms forward. One by one, we got our elixir and began making our way back into the crowd. By 5:22, all the Jim was gone.

Was it any good? Stay tuned--

Preview - Holiday Ale Festival

Holiday Ale Festival, Nov 30 - Dec 3
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Thursday - Saturday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday: Noon to 6 p.m.
Free admission. Souvenir mugs cost $4, a taster is $1, $4 for a full serving.
www.holidayale.com

The Holiday Ale Fest combines the best and worst of the annual fests. Best beer, worst weather. Okay, both are subjective, but I loves me the dark, rich winter ales, and just have to rise above the grim barrier of gray drizzle to actually get to the beer. (The truth is, once you actually get from your car to the site, it's not bad--they've got heaters inside tents, keeping everything at a reasonable, dry temperature.

But the beers are the real reason to go. Unlike other fests, where you're as likely to see a brewery's flagship as something new, the Holiday Ale Fest generally has a bounty of rare beers. That's true this year, with specialty beers, international ales, and a fair sampling of one-time brews from brewpubs near and far.

As a result, I have only tried fourteen of the 30 odd offerings, so there's going to be a fair amount of intuition here.

Old Standbys
A few breweries have sent their usual winter offerings, which, while good and tasty, are available everywhere. You might like one as a palate cleanser, but leave them to the out-of-towners. There are too many other interesting beers you may never see again.

(Full Sail Wassail, Deschutes Jubel, BridgePort Ebenezer, Golden Valley Tannen Bomb, Lagunitas Brown Shugga, Winterhook, Rogue Santa's Little Helper, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Pyramid Snow Cap)

Familiar Breweries, New Beers
This is a relatively small group this year. As is their wont, Widmer is sending something unusual, a beer called Regifted Red described as a "NW Red." Large and hoppy isn't a dangerous guess. Hair of the Dog's Alan Sprints brewed up a beer in honor of beer pioneer Jim Kennedy called, not mystifyingly, Jim K. (Not an allusion to Kafka, methinks, but in the four-letter tradition of their named beers--Fred, Rose, Ruth, Greg, Adam, etc.) A version brewed for the Horse Brass celebration of Kennedy was described as a mixture of "Maredsous 8, a Belgian dubbel, with a blend of his own beers."

The McMenamins are sending a tripel, which I'll probably avoid--their experiments in lagers and Belgians have historically fallen short. Walking Man's Homo Erectus gets two more ho's and even more hops and alcohol to become "double imperial IPA aged in Jamaican rum barrels." (Motto: "if you're having less than one, Ho Ho Homo Erectus is the less-than-one to have.") And finally, celebrating their five GABF medals (two silver, three gold--a "full house"), Pelican sends an imperial version of their Doryman's Dark called Full House.

Distant Breweries
What do I know about these? They weren't brewed in Oregon. Wisdom of the elder fest-goer: camp out at the line, wait for someone to get a taster, then ask if they're any good. This crowd includes Eel River Triple Exultation (Fortuna, CA), Mad River Steelhead Double IPA (Mad River, CA--the Steelhead line of beers, not to be confused with Eugene's Steelhead Brewpub). Finally, the much-maligned New Belgium is sending 2 Below Winter Ale. (Don't blame me if you try it and don't like it.)

Brewpubs
Among the great number of brewpubs sending beers are these that intrigue me: Klamath Basin Cabin Fever Stout (because I love stouts and haven't tried a beer from this brewery before), Ninkasi Brewing's Believer (because brewer Jamie Floyd long ago made a believer out of me), and Off the Rails Blizzard of Ozz (because I never even heard of this Forest Grove brewery).

Exotic Beers
From way beyond Beervana come several international beers, among which three look pretty beguiling. First, Cuvée de Noël, from St. Feuillien, a historic brewery in Le Roeulx, Belgium. Made with herbs and spices, matured "long," and at 9% alcohol, I'd say this beer is worth a buck. Also from Belgium, Dubuisson's classic Scaldis. It is rightly one of the more famous beers in the world for its richness and complexity. I've had it a few times, and wouldn't miss sampling it on tap.

Finally, the even more legendary Samiclaus ("Santa Claus"), which was, while in production from 1836 through nearly its demise in 2000, the world's strongest beer (at 14%). It was Switzerland's main claim to brewing fame, and was reknowned for its intensity. In 1997, the Hurlimann Brewery was closed, but Austria's Eggenberg Brewery bought the rights to the name, recipe, and even the original yeasts, and began production in 2000. It has now picked up an H--Samichlaus--but is still reportedly worth a try. I had the original, and now I'll try the clone.

If you happen to go early and have something to report back, by all means do. I'll report my findings next week.

Beers of Summer - Saison Dupont

It's not really appropriate to call saison an "endangered species," among Belgian styles as Michael Jackson did in Great Beers of Belgium ten years ago. (Actually, his description is probably largely responsible for engendering the international interest that revived it.) There was a rennaissance in Belgium of traditional styles, and a minor one here with mostly less than traditional styles. The exception is Hennepin from New York's Ommegang, the only American I've tasted that comes close to the Belgian originals.

But among all saisons, the classic example is Dupont. Others exist--from Silly, Pipaix, Lefebvre, and Fantome, but these are harder to get. Saison Dupont is available at many supermarkets (though, as always, you're better off to get it at a retailer that takes care of its beer).

As a style, saisons are a collection of typically artisinal ales, typical of an earlier era when it was difficult to brew in the summer (the yeast gets funky at high temperatures). Thus it was brewed in the spring ("la saison de mars"--the season of march) to be laid down for a few months until summer. They ranged from very low alcohol beers (according to Jackson, "children's strength") to robust versions of 8% or more. Their palate is crisp, mildly tart, and hoppy. For people who enjoy IPAs (ie, almost all denizens of Beervana), I think saisons would be a wonderful beer to try.

Tasting Notes
It pours out a hazy, sunny gold--a chill haze that dissipates as the beer warms--with a very vigorous bead. It is so bright in the glass that it makes me want to go into a purple metaphor about capturing sunlight--but I'll desist. It features one of the richest, fluffiest, almost architectural heads of any beer--a head that stays through the final sip.

When I poke my nose into a beer, I conduct a forensic sweep, beginning with the yeast. I was initially struck by a cellary quality of Saison Dupont; in this case, it's not musty, but more of a mineral quality. As a minor note, there are a bit of hops, but Dupont has an alchemical depth in its aroma that comes from the yeast.

Crispness and a dryness are the hallmarks of the saison style, making it closer to a chardonnay than bock. It has a tartness characteristic of Belgian beers, but in a minor key; it's balanced by a mineral dry (partly, perhaps, from hard water) accentuated by Kent Goldings hops--lots of 'em. (The Belgians make classic regional beers, but they are far from parochial: borrowing a classic English hop to produce this classic Belgian ale is in keeping with Belgian virtuosity, and, I like to think, a tip of the hat to the kinds of beers like IPAs that may have helped inspire Dupont.) This is one of the hoppiest Beligian styles, and to my mind why it is tailor made for the Northwest palate. Finally, sometime after the initial, alcoholic first note and subsequent notes of tart and dry, but before the long, hoppy finish, the malts have their moment, offering a surprising amount of sweet fruit.

I will confess that if I were confined to a desert island with only five beers to drink the rest of my life, Saison Dupont would be one. So for that reason, you'll have to forgive me for the effusive review.

Stats
Malts: Pale malts.
Hops: Kent Goldings (maybe also Styrian and Hallertau)
Alcohol by volume: 6.5%
Original Gravity: 1.054.
Bitterness Units: Unavailable.
Available: Grocery stores with decent beer selections, Belmont Station.

Rating
A classic.

Beers of Summer - Sam Adams Boston Lager

For Independence Day, I can think of no better beer to review than Sam Adams Boston Lager*. What says independence more than a beer with a brewer, patriot on the label?

To begin, let's clarify something: there is no such style as a "Boston lager," This is part of Sam Adams' genius. By minting their own style, Boston Lager has now become its own thing. Perhaps this is how Newcastle Brown started. In any case, I guess you could call it accurate: the beer in question is brewed in Boston (or was, originally) and it's a lager. Perhaps due to its enigmatic designation, it has grown to be one of the best-selling craft beers on the market, and deservedly so.

Tasting Notes
In the glass, Boston Lager looks quite a lot like a scotch. Not so much when you pour it out--then it's a rich amber with a vigorous bead. But if you, as I did, accidentally leave an inch in your glass until the head and fizz have passed and the beer has become still, you could easily mistake it for Cragganmore. (Or is it Oban I'm thinking of? Nevermind.)

The beer is crisp and dry to my palate. The hops--classic German noble varieties--are present but not forward, as in a pilsner. But, neither do they hang back as in a helles. The malting is clean and smooth, with just a hint of biscuit. Throughout a single sip, I find the beer dry--from the first notes, through the clean malt middle, and to the aromatic hoppy finish. It is the rare beer that pleases on a hot summer day as well as a cool autumn day (in fact, I think the style in which it has the most in common is Octoberfest), but Boston Lager does.

I rarely choose to buy a lager when any kind of ale is available, but Sam is an exception.

Statistics
Hops: Mittelfruh and Tettnang.
Malts: Two-row pale and caramel
Alcohol by Volume: 4.9%
Original Gravity: 13 degrees Plato
Bitterness Units: unkown.
Available: Everywhere.

Rating
A classic.
_____________
*Yes, it is true that I write this on the 6th of July, but I intended to write it on the fourth.

Beers of Summer - Eugene City Honey Orange

Before beginning this review, several disclaimers:

1. The actual, full name of this review is Eugene City Brewery Honey Orange Wheat Ale, which for the purposes of titling has been cut down to size.

2. Eugene City is actually Rogue, which bought the brewery in 2004, and was formerly West Brothers, but was not actually formerly the brewery established in 1866, as the label claims.

3. This is not the same beer brewed under previous ownership, which was a wild, thick, cakey ride that actually had orange in it. It was totally unique and unprecedented in the annals of brewing (or anyway, those with which I was acquainted).

4. Honey Orange Wheat Ale is actually a modified Wit.

Tasting Notes
What is the quintessential summer beer? Belgian White Beers have a reasonable claim. Their name derives from the very pale, cloudy color (white is stretching it), but they might more properly be called orange, after the predominant flavor element. Traditionally, whites are made with coriander and orange peels from curacao oranges, as well as unmalted wheat (which contributes the cloudiness). Ironically, the orange flavor comes from the coriander and tart punch of the yeast; in the absence of hop flavor, the orange peels provide some balance.

Rogue's variant is sweet--overly so. Whites balance the innate sweetness of wheat malt and coriander with a tartness derived from the yeast and a bitterness from the orange rind. The balance is key, and Rogue's version doesn't get the bitter or tart right. It's almost like an alcopop, and I imagine few 17-year-old girls would turn one down. The coriander provides most of the character, but unbalanced coriander tends to turn syrupy--anyway it does here.

The style is hard to mess up, and I enjoyed this beer as far as it went, but compared to some of the world standards--Hoegaarden, Celis--Eugene City falls short. I'd love to see Rogue go back to the original.

Stats
Hops: Unknown
Malts: Unknown
Alcohol By Volume: Unknown
Original Gravity: Unknown
BUs: Unknown
Available: The pub is located at 844 Olive Street, in Eugene. Bottles (22 oz.) are available at the Rogue Brewery in Newport. Via Rick: it's also available at the Rogue Public House (formerly Portland Brewing Flanders Brewery) on NW 14th and Flanders in Portland.

Rating
Average.

Post updated July 2, 2006.