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

 

Bear-Back Tracking

We return our tale to a day in Knoxville, Tennessee, home to the most amazing blonde and a curse that forces you to dance in the torrential rain.  It was our first experience with White Pizza and a new brewery on a classy urban street.  The noise was overwhelming, the postures erect, and the attire expensive.  However, the happy hour beer and a shared White pizza were perfection at half the cost. 

  It appears to be called Woodruff's, but it is, in fact, The Downtown Grill and Brewery, Knoxville TN.  I Don't have any photos of my own because this is at a date before I began thinking about doing the blog.  We did sit right there though ^_^

We were hungry and downtown are almost always expensive, comparatively, but, we decided to split a smallish pizza, since bears don't have refrigeration to store leftover's anyway, and enjoy two happy hour beers.  I wanted to share two to see what they had to offer, but, on that hot, muggy day, that would soon turn into the most amazing rain storm and the second greatest lightning storms I have ever seen, I wanted something that I found refreshing, which tend to be wheats or blondes.  Bi-Polar Bear does not generally enjoy these beers.  But, I got one anyway and hubby bear got his go-to, a stout.  The State Street Stout and Downtown Blonde Ale to be precise.  Not the most clever names, but to the point.


The State Street Stout, as I recall, didn't wow us.  We felt that it was a sturdy stout, but nothing to write home about.  But, the Downtown Blonde, o' the Downtown Blonde.  It knocked the socks off our un-socked paws.  In our reminiscing session trying to recall our experience, without trying to dredge up old bear's tales of heartache and dread, Bi-Polar Bear said, "Hey!  That’s the only blonde I’ve ever liked.”  As a brunette this was greatly appreciated... Sorry, bad pun.  Anyway, It did say something after all the beer we bears have enjoyed and with so few blondes ringing true to hubby bear, this blonde was genuinely fantastic with its lightly sweet maltiness yet crisp fruity finish without creating sour tones.  Easily two paws up for the Downtown Grill and Brewery's Downtown Blonde Ale.