Monday, August 27, 2012

Calapooia Hullabaloo

You walk into the room and instantly are enchanted by the warm lights, honest wood furniture, and robust colors that surround you at the Calapooia Brewing Company in Albany.  Furthermore, these lovely qualities are mirrored by the excellent beer they graciously serve.

a beautiful shrine of beers
Walking up to the counter, I was mesmerized by the wall of taps and colorful chalkboard list of beers.  Bipolar Bear however, quickly orders a Chili Beer while I stand aside dumb-founded.  The very kind bartender suggested a sample.  I feel similarly about beer samples as I do about ice cream samples, and that is, to a certain extent, I don't like them because they make me feel like I'm cheating, or something.  Nevertheless, samples can be convenient, as long as I don't cross the mooching-line.

I sampled three beers, plus BPB's chili beer.  I tried the Raspberry Wheat, - "Bhairy-bear would live this; it's like raspberry bread" - the Caber Toss Scotch Ale, and the Spruce Tip Ale.  They were all fantastic and I especially enjoyed the unique flavor of the Spruce Tip Ale.  However, I took Bipolar Bear's chili beer and he got a Raspberry Wheat because of the spiciness of the Chili Beer was too much, which was somewhat ironic for us.

Generally I am not one for spicy foods.  My one, random, exception is jalapenos.  I just love their flavor and the spiciness is often hot but not so overwhelming that it hurts or prevents flavor.  Asheville Pizza Brewing Company's Fire Escape Pale Ale is one of my favorite beers ever and it is infused with jalapenos.  I was anticipating from the first sip of Calapooia's Chili Beer that it would be a similar experience to the Fire Escape Pale Ale.  This was not the case.  This Chili Beer is so hot, after a few sips I couldn't taste beer, just chili juice.  Also, trying to taste anything else was next to  impossible.

Trying to get another taste of the Raspberry Wheat - it may have been the fault of the overwhelming Chili Beer, it may have been the comparison to McMenamin's exceptional Ruby Ale - "it tasted thin upon listening", as The Postal Bears say.

The atmosphere and the welcoming crowd were lovely though.  Here at Beer Bears Inc. we try to do a triple testing routine to quality in all the beers we judge.  This routine includes smelling, tasting, and throwing about the bar while covering ourselves to experience that wonderful stale smell of dried beer in the subsequent hours.  Accidentally knocking my beer about the place, the Chili beer also managed to get on my face and in my eyes.  The bar crowd immediately jumped into action as if I were a guest in their own home.  They directed me to the restroom, assured me it was nothing to be embarrassed about, cleaned up my mess, and even got me another beer.  After returning from washing burning acid beer from my eyes we felt like one of the family.  I must say that I would be a very happy and exceptionally lucky bear if this were my local.

Next time though, I plan on getting the Spruce Tip Ale.  Interesting, delicious, and harmless.  But overall, this bar and beer is more than worth the visit.  Two beary thumbs way up for the Calapooia Brewing Company of Albany, Oregon.




Saturday, August 18, 2012

Do Bears Migrate?

Two bears walk into a local bar and discover a beautiful scene of woodwork, hanging lights, and a number of brewery originals.  These beers have traveled the valley, currently with plans of meeting old friends for a drink or two, and had been recommended Migration Brewing Company as a great place to catch-up and grab a pint.  One of the bears samples a few of the drafts and decides to go with one that piqued her interest.  Different from any other beer she had tried, its name was Old Silenus Ale, ESB.

ESB was once explained to Ambear as being the acronym for Extra Special Bitter.  It had also been said to stand for English Style Beer.  Consulting the internet in hopes of finding the truth to the acronym (in reference to beer), Ambear also came across answers such as Extra Strong Bitter, Extra Special Beer, English Style Bitter, Extra Strong Beer, etc.  However, after searching Wikipedia she discovered that the term Bitter is the English term for a Pale Ale, and ESB is a brand meaning Extra Special Bitter, which includes any English Pale Ale with a 4.8% abv or higher.

Now, the Old Silenus Ale is an English style Pale Ale with an alcohol content of 6.3%, thus an ESB (extra special bitter).  [side note: Indian Pale Ales originally began when the beer being sent to England's colonies (specifically India) was going bad during the trip, so they started adding more hops and creating higher alcohol content in their beers so that they would stay good.  However now, alcohol content ranges in all styles and it is the brewing style and flavor which define its denotation.  So, although the Old Silenus has an incredibly high abv, it is just an ale and not an IPA].  Now Ambear had tried ESB's before and never thought much of them.  This however, was something completely different.

Old Silenus Ale is sweet and very, very malty, with light bitter notes but heavy hop tones.  The astringency of the hops gives this beer a very dry texture.  Although Ambear enjoyed it's uniqueness for a pint, she couldn't imagine ordering another.  However, the atmosphere of Migration was lovely and indulgent.  The food smelled great and the energy kept the conversation happy and relaxed.  A definite place to visit on 28th and Glisan if your ever wandering the lovely Laurelhurst area of Portland.

Besides Bears

Besides being bears, we are lovers and friends.  That's how the song goes right?  So, as such, we decided to act like complete strangers at a local dive, Calamity Jae's.

The onion ring aroma drew me in but the incredibly cute guy at the bar, cheesy jukebox music, and bad flirting that got me to stay.  I then enjoyed a Total Domination IPA by Ninkasi and flirted with an unappealing persona put on by an unusually attractive bear.  Unable to slight my interest, I continued to chat with said bear as I drank my delicious IPA.  Total Domination always surprises me in how clean and refreshing it is, but then satisfies with an intense bitter edge.  Its beautiful golden-amber color and light fizzy mouth-feel make this Indian Pale Ale one of my most acceptable and accessible beer choices generally available at the local watering hole.

male bear at bar: "all guys who like IPA's are sexy beasts"
female bear: "I heard that" ^_^

*****
this is not beer...
The first attempt, unable to be taken seriously by bears and bartenders alike, was a flop.  So we moved on to another bar in hopes of finding those heavenly smelling onion rings and our inner flirts.  Across the parking lot we found the 108 bar, and inside, something curious.  I am a big fan of Widmer's Hefeweizen on draft, but what I saw was something new by Widmer, the Pitch Black IPA.  I felt like a kid again, when I used to be obsessed Mountain Dew, but then they came out with Code Red!  Yeah, the nostalgia and excitement hit hard and I bought a pint.

Darker than my sexy outer coat, this IPA is the least IPA looking IPA I've ever encountered (PA, pale ale; this, not pale).  It was also one of the hoppiest.  Slightly less hoppy than one other beer I had had - a beer that I don't remember what or where but was pretty much hop tincture in a glass - it was still incredibly hoppy but also fantastic.  Creamy, hop-centric, and possessing the consistent IPA bitter edge.  It was like the milkshake cousin of other soda-pop IPA's.

The flirting again flopped...
for obvious reasons ^_^



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

In Portland, At Pints

 Finally.  Back home in good old P-Town.  Still roaming a bit, but staying within the Northwest for sure until this whole "summer" thing has blown over.  Also, since I was already home for the holidays, I figured that I ought to catch-up with some of my homebears, and thus, sent a message out to my friend Mr. C-bear.  Me an C-bear have known each other for quite some time, but he didn't know about my newly budding love of beer.  But, as I wandered around downtown Portland, visiting many sites of nostalgia such as Pioneer Square, the downtown library, and the MAX line in general (when your a broke HS student with a monthly bus pass, sometimes fun is just riding through the city with friends and finding new parks to hang at) and discovering many of the ways that Portland has grown - adding fountains, squares, a pavilion solely for the Saturday Market - including the addition of one Pints Brew Pub and Coffee Shop, or, as the site says, "PINTS is Everyday Coffee in the morning and Urban Taproom in the afternoon".  Thus, my glossy eyes gazed at the pub-front and I knew, this was where my afternoon was meant to be spent.

Pints Brew Pub and Coffee shop
Me and C-bear met and soon went inside this lovely cafe to find what our beary hearts had been searching for: original, local beer.  At this point in time I was missing my hubbybear and so I ordered one of our classic favorites, and a style which almost always is sure to please, the stout; which was, in this case, Pints own Steel Bridge Stout.  C-bear got the Rip Saw Northwest Red Ale.  Now, I've not had many red ales, so I was excited to try this novel concoction.  It was light and bitter, similar to an IPA, but smoother and less hoppy.  I quite liked it, but there was a flavor which I couldn't identify but C-bear said made the beer "crazy smoky; like beef jerky or something".
Steel Bridge Stout (left) Rip Saw Northwest Red Ale (right)
I would have loved beef jerky beer (which reminds me; we need to discuss Rouge Brewery's maple-bacon bar beer sometime.  Surprisingly stupendous), but unfortunately I could not say that that was what I got from the Rip Saw red.  However, it was quite good.

Now for my stout.  Oh, my stout.  Normally stouts always play jazz with my taste buds.  This stout however left me without a melody.  I can see the argument against this metaphor in that jazz tends to be rambunctious and spontaneous, so you can't expect a solid melody, but, I must say, there is always a melodic foundation.  This stout felt flavorless.  I kept looking for some toasty notes or hints of coffee or chili, but it was just plain stoutsy and a bit watery. It was the stout brother of Polygamy Porter.

However, to make up for his lackluster friend, me and C-bear enjoyed a Seismic IPA which knocked our socks off.  It was very good, lightly hoppy but refreshing.  Best IPA I've ever tasted and it couldn't have come at a better time.  IPA's are distinct and I always thought that only coffee drinkers could enjoy them because of their generally bitter nature.  However, after I've drank IPA's time and time again with Bipolar Bear, I finally acquired the taste for them.  It is a very happy day.  This was the delicious straw that broke the camel's back, and now I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy a hefe the same way again...

In any case, this was a thoroughly enjoyable experience at a great new brew pub, with wonderful friends and fantastic beers.  I would go back again in a second.  But, one warning: watch out if you sit outside because the tables (possibly because of uneven bricks) were dangerously wobbly and almost single-handedly ruined the afternoon.  We just set our beers on the ground for safe keeping ^_^

*****

something neat I saw and wanted to share
 



Monday, August 13, 2012

The Utah Sampler

It had been a long, hard trek, but the bears were doing well as they drove into Salt Lake City, Utah.  There they would be staying with a gracious host and friend of Ambear, Abbear.  We ate homemade pizza, played music, and sampled an array of local beers.  It was heaven in Utah.

Heaven is very dry...

Music rippled through the air as four music bears, one beer commentator, and a snail (literally) enjoyed the evening air, delicious food with friends, and sampled Utonian? Utahite? Utahn beer.

(This is just going to be a quick run-through from my note book because I'm behind in my posting and time is running on.  So, to start...)

We began with  Squatter's brand Radio from Hell "Red as Hell" Ale.  One of our first introductions to a red ale and it was thoroughly enjoyable.  "It's stoutsy" comments BPB.  Smooth with slight stoutsy roasted bitter notes.  Really good.

"Red as Hell", left

Next was the Wasatch's "The Devastator" Double Bock Lager.  It had a slight sour flavor, but retained a strong build.  Although it was smooth, I was personally not a fan, wishing to myself that it had stronger sour tones, if it was planing on being sour at all, by adding some sauerkraut.  Ambear loves sauerkraut...

Anyway, on to another Squatter's, the Hop Rising Double IPA.  We found this IPA to be full bodied yet reserve a gentle balance within it's hoppy and bitter characteristics which was then lightly topped by citrus esters.  It still had the usual hop-centric vibe that one would expect from a Double IPA, "very hoppy" but "absurdly sweet for an IPA" my IPA guru-bear commented, which we figure accounted for the IPA to maintain a decent level of drinkability.  I would recommend this beer, especially if your one of those hop junkie beerophiles.

Home-grown Sampler Set
(It is important to note here that, the taste-buds were getting a bit fuzzy at this point in time.  Although we were not yet drunk, as we had only shared 3 beer among 5 people, our judgements were becoming impaired by the overwhelming range yet similarities in flavors.  Especially without pallet cleansers.  So, this is essentially a disclaimer.  I will expose my findings, but I can not swear upon their accuracies.)

So, what happened next was that, after going one round with Squatter's Double IPA, we foolishly moved onto their regular IPA. There were no more citrus notes, and I felt this let the hops move in and take advantage of my tongue.  Bipolar Bear says, "I like it".

Then we had Squatter's Big Cottonwood, Amber Ale.  Now, despite our similar naming, Ambear does not enjoy Amber Ales... so instead of expressing my dislike for Amber's, I'll just say that for me it seems that all Amber Ales are the same Amber Ale.  And they all taste bad...

Next!  The Wasatch White Label Belgian Style.  The note are silly, but I'll just say really quick before getting into those that White beers are an odd breed which I have minimal experience but they always
seem clean but a bit bland... now my notes.  Clean? Interesting, strange smell and taste... capers again? artichoke? What's going on?!

And finally, Wasatch Polygamy Porter... the anti-Porter.  Yes, it was the end of the night.  Yes we had already sampled 6 other beers.  But, it just tasted to us, after knowing the fullness and roasty notes of McMenamins' Porter, like it was lightly carbonated water with a bit of porter flavoring.  "Kinda tastes like dirt after a doughnut", notes Abbear.

The most surprising thing we found in Salt Lake, right

And so our wonderful visit ended, as did our great American excursion.  After this we left Abbear's lovely apartment in Utah and booked it back to wonderful, green Oregon.  The bears had taken captives from Missouri and we went to find asylum in the most beautiful place in the world, the Willamette Valley.  The End... sort of.

God descending on Utahn Mountains next to our car...

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Beary Classy

This post used to have some wonderful imagery and pleasant lyricism, but it has all unfortunately been lost due to my ineptitude with the internet.  I am especially sorry about how this now affect the light which I wanted to shine on McCoy's Public House in Kansas City, MO.  It is a very classy place with good drinks, pizza, art, and, a very important concern for broke bears, prices.  Bear welcome, to a shining star of relief amidst the midday sun of the south.

The bartender was helpful as BPB order his usual of a local IPA and I tried my tongue at something new, but which sounded refreshing, a ginger shandy.


Ginger Shandy left, Newcomb IPA right

The IPA was light tasting without too much of the hoppy or bitter tastes which generally accompany this style of beer.  I declared it enjoyable and easy on the tongue.

Now the shandy.  Oh, what a shandy.  Or, what is a shandy?  According to Wikipedia "a shandy, or shandygaff, is beer mixed with citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or cider. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste, normally half-and-half. There are also non-alcoholic shandies known as 'rock shandies'".  This is not the definition I was expecting, although after having the Ginger Shandy from McCoy's, I'm not surprised.  I had just assumed that a Shandy was a type of beer in and of itself, from how I'd seen it presented in stores and even on this bar's menu.  Although I suppose I didn't look too closely, I don't remember any indicators that a shady was not just another style of beer.  But, now I know and my notes from this occasion make a bit more sense.

Straight from the notebook:  The Ginger Shandy of McCoy's, very good.  Made with ginger and lemonade.  Tastes like light, watery, carbonated lemonade.  A dangerously deceptive drink; if it had been handed to me without a back story I would probably never have guessed that it was beer.  Delicious all the same.

Overall, McCoy's was a wonderful place to relax, grab a pint, and enjoy a decent slice of pizza.