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...

East vs West, Porter Showdown

During the summer my beer of choice is generally a hefeweizen or if I'm lucky enough to hit up a McMenamins happy hour, their Ruby Ale (one of the best beers ever [made with 42 lbs. of Oregon raspberries]), however, for one of those cold winded evenings where the chill blows through the valley, or if I'm just feeling like being "one of the guys", I thoroughly enjoy a solid stout, or the stouts easy-going cousin, the porter.  My hubby-bear is all about the IPAs and stouts, but I often like to take a step back and only bring 3/4th of a loaf with my meal.  A porter is ideal for these occasions where you might want full flavor, but don't need it to overpower everything else you're putting in your mouth.

[side note] try your favorite porter with some chunky tomato bisque and salad or grilled cheese.  It's sing-along awesome!

So, as a fan of the porter, when a free Ninja Porter, brewed by the highly regarded Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company, was placed before two tipsy bears, my jealous bias was grateful for the opportunity to compare and contrast this unsuspecting challenger with the home-grown Porter from McMenamins Brew Pub and Restaurant. 

 I did not take either of these photos unfortunately but the one to the right is the Ninja Porter from the Asheville Brewing Company, while the one to the bottom/left is McMenamins' Porter

  Although later Bipolar Bear and I found out what an amazing Brewery the Asheville Pizza Co. is, this was our first introduction and I have to say, it fell short, especially after all the hype.  We found that the Ninja Porter's name is fairly apt as we never did encounter any real flavor.  For a dark beer it was surprisingly thin and empty yet with a bitter edge.  For me it was more of a chore than an experience to drink a full pint.  The McMenamins Porter, however, is creamy and toasty yet without undue bitterness or overwhelming bread-like qualities that many dark brews possess.

Without a doubt, although few beers are on par with the Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company's Fire Escape Ale (with real jalapenos!), their porter fall greatly short while the McMenamins' Porter soars among their other choice beers.  Today the West wins out, paws down.