Weights and Measures

Have a look at the following picture and tell me 1) what's wrong with this pour, and 2) what's right with it?



Got it?

This is, in a nutshell, why the Honest Pint Project exists. The wrongness of it is clear by visual inspection, yes? It's the Herve Villechaize of pours (that means "short" to those of you too young to have enjoyed the high art spectacle of Fantasy Island back in the 80s). It is in fact a rather succulent cask XPA enjoyed earlier today at Deschutes (a certain beeronomist is racing to capture the picture in the background to offer a competing, erudite post on the lessons of symmetric information). The rightness? Because this is an honest pint, you know exactly how short the pour is. Because we know what the size of the serving vessel is, we can make adjustments accordingly.

Your options: 1) order a regular tap, 2) stiff the waitress, 3) blog about the injustice later.But because the pint glass is honest, you have the opportunity to adjust your behavior accordingly.

And on to the Senate...

The Honest Pint Bill passed another hurdle, making it out of the Oregon House. Now it's on to the Senate. Strangely, the O is already on the case (read the comments for extra amusement):

"It's a little past 10:30 here, but it's 5 o'clock somewhere," said Rep. Jules Bailey, D-Portland, in opening his pitch on the floor.

The vote was 34-26. Critics argued businesses could do this on their own. They don't want state agencies spending time on this and anyway, isn't the economy tanking out there?

Rep. Nick Kahl, D-Portland, put his own spin on that kind of thinking.

"Our state faces serious problems and we're dealing with this bill," -- wait for it, wait for it -- "because now more than ever, Oregonians deserve a full 16 ounces."

Another milestone, and just two left before it becomes law. Who'da thunk?

Update. KGW also has a story up, quoting from this blog (is there any better evidence that the MSM is in trouble?). I will confess to being totally mystified about why the media thinks this is news. I was even beginning to wonder if my few hundred readers on this site--which is an exclusively beer-interested crowd--still cared. But two major news outlets have stories up already on the assumption that their hudreds of thousands of readers care. Far out.

The Difficulty Defining "Craft Brewery"

In case you missed this comment from my "I am a craft brewer" post, have a look. It highlights the trouble the Brewers Association has in trying to nail down which breweries qualify as "craft." A lovely and passionate defense of independent regional breweries:

"I was a craft brewer." That's the movie I want to make. Because, I was at one time, according to the BA and the video. But alas, I work for August Schell now, and we are not craft brewers (just ask the BA). Never mind the fact that we will celebrate our 150th year in 2010 as the second-oldest family owned brewery in the US. We survived prohibition, a Native American uprising that burned New Ulm to the ground, and the vanishing of regional breweries in the 70's and 80's. Forget the fact that we sold a tree on our grounds in the 80's to pay the bills. Discount that we brewed a German Pilsner and Weizen in 1986.

Because, the fact is, the bulk of our production uses corn as an adjunct. And even if you discount that beer, we would still produce a larger volume of non-adjunct beers than most of the top craft breweries. But hey, what does that matter?

No, I am not a craft brewer, and I'll happily be that for another 150 years.

Cheers!

David Berg
August Schell Brewing

I have written about this issue when A-B released American Ale (both here and here) and when the BA dumped Widmer/Redhook. This is definitely going to be an issue--and soon.

The Scorsese Principle

America's contribution to the history of film is mostly on the commercial side. There are a few exceptions--Billy Wilder, John Ford, Orson Welles. One of these is surely a contemporary, Martin Scorsese, whose oeuvre will one day be considered among the world's finest. Among his credits are some landmark films that changed cinema (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The Last Waltz, Raging Bull, Goodfellas) as well as some underappreicated masterpieces like Gangs of New York and Bringing out the Dead. Yet for none of these was he awarded Hollywood's supposed marker of artistic achievement, the Oscar. That he was finally awarded one for a minor picture is a testament only to the shame of the academy who had spurned him for three decades.

The point is, Scorsese's talent didn't require an Oscar for validation. That the Academy hadn't seen fit to award him one only reflected their own shameful, stunted sense of art.

I bring this up because tomorrow is the final day to vote in Charlie Papazian's online poll to recognized "Beer City USA" at next week's American Craft Beer Week. It is likely that the winner of the poll will be Asheville, NC, which currently leads Portland 39% to 34%. This is, of course, a function of a more robust effort at boosterism among the locals of that nascent beer community than anything like an objective survey of which town beer geeks think is the most beery. Some from Beervana are mounting a last minute get-out-the-vote campaign to push us over the top, and so maybe we'll win in the end.

I say don't worry about it. Let Asheville win the contest. It may be good for their brewing community to have a shot in the arm like that. Maybe more people will head down to their local pub and try a craft beer. In the end, a contest like this says a lot more about the people conducting it than who wins. Scorsese's films were landmark creations whether or not the Academy thought Kevin Costner's directing was superior. How many of you still rent Dances With Wolves?

A week or two ago, I was in the County Cork after work having a pint and a lentil burger. In that sun-suffused neighborhood pub, eleven tables were occupied and in the room, eight of the patrons were children under ten. They were accompanied by their parents, nearly all of whom were also having a pint, and by seven, seven-thirty, they had all departed, mostly by foot. Of the many ways in which to gauge what a "beer city" really is, I can think of no better marker. If you have local pubs where families go to dine and enjoy locally-made craft beer, you have deep penetration into the culture of the town. You have young parents who are beer fans and who are rearing their children to regard beer not as a vice, but a healthy, wholesome part of the diet and the pub as a healthy, happy place to see members of your community. The health and roots of such a beer community are robust and sturdy and will support the creation and consumption of local beer for decades to come.

In my admittedly not-to-extensive travels around the country, I've never seen anything like it. Show me a mom with a toddler on her hip and a stout in her hand and I'll show you Beer City USA. Better yet, I'll show you Beervana.

What the?

In yesterday's email, the Oregon Brewer's Guild listed new and renewing members, including Hop Valley Brewing, a Spingfield brewery that celebrated its grand opening April 24th. Anyone hear of this (besides Brewpublic)? What kind of blogger am I to have missed this? Anyone tried their beers?

With the new spate of breweries opening over the past 2-3 years, I really gotta get down to the Southern Willamette Valley and check them out. I see a road trip in my future.

Hopworks is Your Winner

Via Twitter, Brian alerts us that the winner of the Cheers to Belgian Beers Fest (and his blog post on the matter): Hopworks, with their impressive Dubbel Suplex. I'm quite pleased with this selection--it was one of four beers I thought was distinguished and worthy of winning. I don't wish to ruffle feathers, but suffice it to say that last year's winner, the Lucky Lab, was not in my top echelon. Hopworks deserved it.

Top Ten finishers (alpha order):

• Astoria Brewing Co.’s-Avante Guarde Akloo(say it with a French accent)
• Deschutes Brewery & Public House Bend La Fleur
• Deschutes Brewery Portland Pub Streaking the Quad
• Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom Ingelmonster-Barrel Fermented
• Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom Ingelmonster
• Fort George Brewing Co. XVIth Chapel
• Lucky Labrador Brewing Co. Beljamin
• Pyramid Breweries Smooth Operator
• Roots Organic Brewing Co. Feudal Surfer
• Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. Forever and a Day Trippel

Two passing thoughts upon seeing the winners:

• Could it be that Corey Blodgett's excellent Zen Lunatic didn't win because drinkers, disrespecting the McMenamin's brand, didn't try it? My only disappointment is not seeing it among the winners.
  
• Half the top five were dark beers, half were light.

As winner, Hopworks may host next year, select the yeast strain, and also select the benefiting charity. I would say now is the time to begin lobbying them on the yeast strain. Say it with me now: Saison, saison, saison!

"I am a craft brewer" Vid--Oy

A video titled "I am a craft brewer" has been circulating the internets over the past few weeks. For some reason, I never stopped to look at it--until now. Man, is it tripe.

The idea is to distinguish craft breweries from faceless corporate industrial breweries, yet the video is so overproduced and badly-written that it sounds a whole lot like faceless corporate propaganda. The swelling music, the painful sincerity of the speakers, the insistence on first-person readings of pap that obviously came out of a marketer's brain--all of this is terrible.

This is one of those times when a less-produced and funny approach would have been way, way more effective.

Honest Pint Act Vote Today

I received word that Jules' Honest Pint Act is headed for a vote in the Oregon House today. If it passes, it's on to the Senate. A legislative process is slow and incremental, but this would be a pretty big deal. The number of bills that die after clearing one chamber is substantially lower than those that get introduced or even sent out of committee. So if it passes, that will be something of a deal.

Here's a question. I'm too close to the issue to have much perspective. I notice that my updates about it rarely elicit a comment. So are you all disinterested or secretly opposed and just too polite to tell me to shut up?

Final Thoughts on Cheers to Belgian Beers

In no particular order, a few random observations, opinions, and questions about this year's edition of the fest...

• The glasses rocked. I have boxes of old glasses from other fests. None has been upgraded to my regular beer-glass rotation, but this one will. Classy shape, good size, cool logo, an an absence of sponsors or other unwanted signage.

• What happens if a non-Portland pub wins the event? Are we off to Astoria or Corvallis next year?

• All beers must be made with the same yeast. Last year, I voted for a brewery (Full Sail) that didn't use the selected yeast. (They eliminated that problem this year with an official ballot.) This year, a pretty decent number of the beers weren't made with Inglemunster. Breweries like Upright, which didn't exist when the event was set, get an exemption.

• More volunteers. For the first couple hours on Saturday, there were two guys manning every tap in the fest. Two! I know this thing is only a semi-official fest and that the proceeds go to charity. Still, seems like they could muster a couple more folks.

• On the other hand, the fest was an amazing value. The glasses were only five bucks--you'd pay at least that in a store--and the pours were just a buck. Given that most of the beers were north of 7%, your buck went pretty far.

• The idea of compelling breweries to select a general quadrant (strong/mild and light/dark) was a good start. It effectively resulted in a number of different beers. Two things would improve it more: use a more versatile yeast (my vote: saison), and give breweries at least six months to brew their beers. Even better, start right away. Breweries might even have a chance to try a few different batches if you gave them a year.
  

• What happens when they run out of yeast strains to try? Is this event doomed to sunset? (Or do we just go back to some of the ones we've already used?)

• Other reactions: Beer Around Town; Doc Wort, Brewpublic. (Holler if I missed one or if some of the usual suspects update their blogs with reviews.)
  

Big fun. Can't wait for next year.

Cheers to Belgian Beers Wrap-Up

Among the many markers that this is indeed Beervana, we enjoyed the fruits of the third Cheers to Belgian Beers fest. (Asheville, your move.) Two-dozen beers from 19 breweries in probably 20 styles, and they all used the same yeast. In this case, Ingelmunster, the yeast Kasteel uses for their range of beers (longer description, if you missed it, here).

Yeast Character
First a general comment on the yeast. I had the very good fortune of sitting next to Dave Logsdon, founder of Wyeast Labs, the guys behind the Ingelmunster yeast all the breweries used. (He's an Ohioan, and had family in town who were all sporting Buckeye paraphenalia. Eventually Sally and I--alums of Big Ten rival Wisconsin--finally had to call them out, and that's when we learned who it was.) We chatted for a bit about yeasts, and he mentioned--gingerly--that Ingelmunster is a yeast that takes its own sweet time. Not unusual for Belgian strains. However, the breweries didn't have a lot of time to get these beers going--style guidelines weren't assigned until February. Ingelmunster, according to Wyeast's description, is "very tart and dry on the palate," and a "high acid producer.'

You wouldn't know it from the beers at the fest. With one expection, they were sweet and wet. In the more successful experiments, brewers used this character to their advantage (there's nothing innately wrong with sweeter beers). Unsuccessful beers tended to cloy or were inappropriately sweet. And Sally and I kept picking up a funky note that was just short of foul (call it compost or cabbagy--in some cases it drew out almost to a burning chemical quality). It seemed to be worse in the dark beers. I harbor a suspicion that it was a volatile note that would have, given more time in the tanks, worked its way out. Maybe half the beers had it.

The Beers
I tried 14 of the Ingelmunster beers, as well as Alex Ganum's semi-debut Upright Four. (We'll treat that to it's own post.) Four of the Ingelmunster beers stood out for me: Astoria Brewing's biere de garde (Avante Garde Akloo), Corey Blodgett's McMenamins Zen Lunatic, Pelican's Le Fleur Amere, and Hopworks' Dubbel Suplex. I had to make a call on my ballot between Astoria and McMenamins, and it was close enough that I'll keep my vote to myself--both Corey and Bolt produced very nice beers.

Astoria's was a silky, rich biere de garde. Brewer Bolt Minister took full advantage of the yeast's sweetness, and the result was the most quaffable of the Ingelmunsters. Zen Lunatic, by contrast, managed to produce some of the quality I think the yeast is supposed to have--it was a little drier and had some of the tartness. Bright, crisp, and floral, it was accomplished and tasty. Pelican's gets a nod for boldness. The idea was an English-hopped IPA with the Ingelmunster. I would say it wasn't exactly the right yeast, but the execution was nice. Perhaps if it has a chance to age, it will dry out and allow some of the dry-hopping to come out. Finally, Hopworks brought what I would call a "fortified dubbel"--it was a traditional dubbel recipe amped up with cane sugar. The result was the prettiest beer of the day--a clear and bright hazelnut brown. It was the one beer that finished out dryly. Using the sugar was an inspired call.

If you want a fuller review of these beers, I'll point you to Doc Wort, who tasted almost all the same beers I did, and had almost identical impressions. (Yes, the world must surely be about to end.) The beers of which he disapproved I found tolerable near-misses at worst. However, look at his Lompoc Le Chat Noir description--I think he's identifying at the same qualities I kept tasting.

A great event, and I had a great time. I think the Twitter experiment was even worthwhile. Or worth further testing. I'll have one more post with some final, scattershot thoughts and observations about the fest more generally. I'll leave you with a few more photos.

Honest Pint in Seattle Weekly

On Thursday, Seattle Weekly had a nice piece that covered both the Honest Pint Project and Oregon's proposed Honest Pint Act.

Enter Oregon House Bill 3122. Introduced in the state legislature in Salem earlier this month, the Honest Pint Act states that, as an added service during a regular visit by the health inspector, Oregon bars and restaurants may request a measuring test of their glassware. If it passes the full-pint test, the establishment is certified as serving an "Honest Pint," good for two years and for the privilege to display a sticker on premises. Jeff Alworth can take much of the credit for getting this bill off the ground. A much-respected beer blogger and long-time chronicler of beer for Willamette Week, his Web site, HonestPintProject.org, first proposed a non-legislative solution that the act in the legislature now closely resembles.

It's a succinct overview of the issue, handled as well as I've seen. It does, however, conclude with a sentence that doesn't thrill me:

As with many ideas born in our plucky little sister to the south (craft spirits, the bartenders' guild), expect something like the Honest Pint Act to hit Washington soon.

"Plucky little sister?" I will accept a number of descriptors: "historic leader," "moral guide," "pioneering visionary," "brewing giant." But plucky little sister--nyet.

Anyway, go have a look at the whole article.

Live-tweeting Cheers to Belgian Beers

This experiment will begin when I arrive, sometime in the early afternoon. Join me:

Saturday, May 2, Noon – 10 p.m.
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.

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.

Flash Version

Weekend Best Bets

A quick-and-dirty survey of the city's most alluring pours:

1. Cheers to Belgian Beers Fest, Lucky Lab NW, noon to 10 pm.

2. Deschutes the Dissident, Bailey's Taproom.

3. Upright #4 Farmhouse, Saraveza.

4. Double Mountain Kolsch and Caldera Pilot Rock Porter, Horse Brass

5. Cascade Mouton Rouge, Belmont Station.

6. Trade Roots (formerly Laughing Buddha) Ginger Pale, Concordia Ale House.

7. Deschutes Oatmeal Pale, Deschutes

8. (Pacific City edition) La Fleur Amère ("the Bitter Flower"), Pelican's entry to CtBB, Pelican.

Twitter Question

Okay, you smart techno-geek types. I would like to embed my twitter feed into a blog post so that tomorrow, when I'm Cheering to Belgian Beers, my post will be updated with tweets of every beer I try. Two questions:

1. What's the code to embed?
2. Is it possible to embed a code that would capture not only my own tweets, but tweets of others who use a # tag?
   

If this works, it could be groovy as we head into fest season. Beta test tomorrow--but only if you can help out! Me stoopid wid tech.

Update. Well, turns out Twitter has embeddable code you can cut and paste. That's my speed, baby, cut and paste. It's a flash application--can everyone read this?

Cheers to Belgian Beers

Fri, May 1 and Saturday, May 2, Noon – 10 p.m.
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.

How did this happen? Although I've been anticipating it for weeks, somehow the Cheers to Belgian Beers event has managed to sneak up on me. It begins tomorrow (!). Brian Butenschoen has posted a lot of nice information about the event at the Brewers Guild website, and I will now steal profligately from the best parts.

The Event
In years one and two, it was two-sentence simple: participating breweries all used the same yeast strain to brew a beer of their own design, and fest-goers picked a winner. The winning brewery got to select the yeast strain and host the event the next year.

This year, things got more complicated. Breweries are all still using the same yeast, but the Brewers Guild decided to try to create a little variety by compelling breweries to brew within one of four quadrants of very general strength/color divisions. (They held a dart toss to determine who got what.) Beers will be either lighter or darker than amber and stronger or lighter than 6%.

As a drinker, I think this is a good call. Breweries at last year's event gravitated toward a similar type of beer, and I suffered style fatigue before long. (Some of the breweries, sotto voce, grumbled.)

The Yeast
From the Brewers Guild: "This year’s yeast will be Wyeast 3822 Ingelmunster Ale (formerly known as Wyeast 3822 Dutch Castle), which is a unique Belgian ale yeast that produces spicy/phenolic aromas, tart and dry on the palate with phenol and ester production balanced, for a complex beer." You would expect Doc Wort to provide a dissertation on the background of this yeast, and so he has. Briefly, it's the yeast used by the brewer of Kasteelbier. I would love to tell you more, but of the dozens of Belgians I have tried, Kasteel is not among them.

The Beers
We have the official list, and as your eye is drawn down the page, you will notice a few familiar names. Breweries are taking advantage of the event to release regular beers to their line-up, a wonderfully unexpected side-benefit of Cheers to Belgian Beers.


Finally, I'll leave you with a little video I shot at last year's event. It gets a little draggy there in the middle, but I was enchanged by how the couple enjoyed and discussed their beer, so I left the whole thing in there. See you at the fest!

Big Men

Tonight I will be settling into a probably painful couple hours as our two big men, Joel and Greg, try to subdue a bigger man, Ming. So far, they've had no luck down in Texas. I am a moth and this is my fire--no matter how how painful the flames get, I must see the Blazers end--or maybe, just maybe--extend their playoff run.

If you wish to avoid the pain or are--and this is slightly hard even to imagine, but such is the capacity of my brain--not a Blazer fan, there's a different big man appearing from 5-7 tonight at Belmont Station: Full Sail's John Harris. He is big in reputation and accomplishment, if not Blazer big: a stint at McMenamin's during its formative days, founding brewer at Deschutes (Mirror Pond, Black Butte, Bachelor Bitter--his) and now the master of the big beers at Full Sail. If you haven't met him, this is a decent chance. He'll have some Black Gold, as a fair lure for those not cracking a Session in front of the game.
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Photo: John Foyston

Review - Three Creeks Brewing

Brewer: Dave Fleming
721 Desperado Court
Sisters, OR 97759
(541) 549-1963
website

Sun-Thu, 11am - 9pm, Fri-Sat 11am - 10pm.

Beers: A modest range of well-selected NW-style ales.

Sisters is one of those towns, like Cannon Beach and Joseph, that flourishes because of what surrounds it. In this case, it's the stunning Three Sisters Wilderness Area, with Alps-like peaks and roaring wild water. (When we visited, the snow was still a foot deep over the pass.) Like Joseph and Cannon Beach, it has a historic strip of restored buildings and is home to a high density of artists and galleries. There are only a thousand residents, but nearby are "cabins" with world-class views that are anything but rustic. Just down the road is Black Butte Ranch, an established resort studded with expensive real estate. You sense that Sisters is the locus of some substantial cash.

The owners of Three Creeks Brewpub must have known this, because this is no duct-tape and bailing-wire project. It's obvious not only in the size and beauty of the pub, but the carefully branded beers and merchandise. Central Oregon still maintains a cowboy ethos, and Three Creeks plays on that with western touches. The beers have pistol-toting blondes, and you pass into the bar through wild-west style swinging doors; a fire blazes in a large, showy fireplace. But these are just evocations; like Black Butte Ranch, Three Creeks isn't the real frontier, but a comfortable, plush space that merely nods to the distant past. It achieves character and fits in nicely with the restored, slightly boutiquish town.

Beers
Of course, ambiance is (for natives of Beervana, anyway) a secondary consideration. We want to know how well the ales are designed, not the building. If the beer sings, we may look up and take note of the surroundings. And indeed, brewer Dave Fleming's beers do sing--and with a more indie, Portland rocker beat than the surroundings would suggest. The range is relatively small, but obviously well-considered. Just six regular beers and a seasonal, and they track along a familiar continuum: Knotty Blonde, Anvil Amber, a rye, a pale, Firestone Red, and the requisite IPA. And for spring, when we visited, a dry stout. I sampled four of these, and they were all accomplished and enjoyable. One was excellent and one was fantastic. I should probably have tried either the blonde or amber, which I surmise are the offerings for non-beer patrons, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I started with the Rye, which was the big winner.

• Stonefly Rye. The difficulty with rye is that it's a husky, ornery grain, and has been the ruin of many a young beer. Fleming wisely pairs it with wheat here--he actually seasons a wheat beer with rye--and the result is a light, refreshing beer with a lively spicy note. The beer is made for summer, and is bright and tart (lemongrass?) but not assertive (4.6%, 28 IBUs). Don't try the IPA or pale and expect to detect the tasty subtleties this has to offer. Rating: A-
• Old Prospector Pale. Both the pale and IPA are at the upper reaches for style, and the pale, to judge the palate, anyway, is halfway down the road toward an IPA. In my notes I called it a "whallop of hop," and the brewery describes it as a "hammering." Your mileage may vary, but you get the point--it's resinous and sticky, not unlike some of the Lucky Lab beers Fleming used to brew. Although strong, it's a damn fine beer, and hits a mark I like, the petit IPA, all the flavor with a slightly less punishing level of alchol (5.3%, 48 IBU). Rating: B+
• 8 Second IPA. This seems like the latest victim of strength creep. It is only 6.6% alcohol, but a towering "85+" IBUs (I believe it). The result is a top-heavy beer that is sort of the inverse of the rye--whatever subtlety might otherwise be present was laid waste in the nuclear blast of alpha acid. There is a segment of beer drinkers who love this kind of beer, and to them I say, enjoy. (If you're like me, the pale--or red, which I didn't try--should be your last stop.) Rating: B-
• Irish Stout. This was just a near miss. A very dense, bitter stout with loads of dark malt, I think the goal was an almost coffee-like roasting. In fact, that's how the waiter described it. For me it was like Starbucks, though--too roasted, almost burned. This note didn't overwhelm the otherwise tasty, creamy stout, but if it were scaled back 25%, the beer would have been a winner. Rating: B-

Food
I only had one meal there, so it's difficult to judge. The menu is typical for brewpubs--sandwiches and burgers and a few meaty entrees. I tried an ahi sandwich that was a bit limp; the sauce had no wasabi I could detect. The fries were crisp and not greasy, and everyone at the table seemed to enjoy their burgers. The waiter was a bit slow to return with beer, but he was helpful and knowledgable. (Jon's review is complimentary, and he's a local, so there you go.)

Most towns of this size can't expect to have a brewpub, never mind a good one. Three Creeks is that and more. I hope we see some of the beer make it across the mountains so folks here can get acquainted. On the other hand, as road trips go, you could end up in worse places.

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Image: the Brew Site

Damn You, Bill

A few weeks ago, Bill at It's Pub Night posted a wicked little piece about how (pick one: bad, phony, useless, pretentious, silly) most beer reviews are. By way of skewering bad beer descriptions, he made a little review generator that produces a pointless, cliched language better designed for concealing the writer's ignorance about beer than communicating anything about a sample--with a touch of The Onion for humor. ("Pours a translucent strawberry blonde with a soft, pillowy head. Heavy lacing. Brilliant tart scent, with just a hint of sour milk and hops.... I also get some papaya and split pea soup.")

It has haunted me ever since. Of course, much of that language might have been lifted verbatim from my own descriptions. When I was writing up my notes from our grand weekend of imports, I felt my brain cramp up as I searched for adjectives. I waffled between the uselessly ultra-spare ("pale, white head, alcoholic, excellent") to the uselessly florid (but I didn't go so far as "split pea soup"). In the end, I felt like I should just offer hand signals, as if steering in a 747; ones that directed you toward or away from favored or despised beers.

I now confront the specter of a Three Creeks review, knowing that I'm going to have to do better than what I managed to scribble at the time. ("Wheaty," really? Hey past self, thow me a bone here.) I want to take the blue pill and go back to when I thought I was doing a decent job with these damn descriptions.

Honest Pint Act Update

Just thought I'd let you know that Jules Bailey's Honest Pint Act (HB 3122) made it out of committee last week and now heads to the floor of the Oregon House. The vote was 7-3:

Voting yes: Barton (D), C. Edwards (D), Holvey (D), Kennemer (R), Matthews (D), Schauffler (D), Witt (D).

Voting No: Cameron (R), Esquival (R), Thatcher (R).

It was, barely, bi-partisan. Perhaps that's good news for its prospects. I've heard no scuttlebutt on that score.

Finally!

When I got my iPhone six months ago, an app leaped into my mind: an updated list of all the taps around town, so I could make my pub decisions based on what was pouring. (My "On Tap" list is a rudimentary effort to do the same thing.) Well, it's not an app, but the website Draft List is optimized for the iPhone and now has nine pubs listed. Go check it out.