A Bear Abroad, Again

And so, I left.  With debt over my head and the road calling my name, but, it wasn't until too late that I discovered the two types of traveling.  This time I left for the money and the opportunity for freedom and adventures farther away than before, someday.  The real trouble was though, I left my heart behind.  When they say, home is where your heart is, it's true.  When I traveled with my heart beside me I was never homesick, rarely sad, and always comfortable.  When I left my heart behind I became instantly homesick, lost, and lonely.  I was discussing this dilemma with my once removed younger brother-bear, Bearalex, when he says,

"your a writer, you can write stories to express yourself"  -wisdom of a youth

Now, I don't consider myself a writer, but when I returned to my fading blog and jotted down a few lines I did start feeling better about where I was, and thus I was able to embrace the why and ignore the what.  A bit anyway.  Another thing which helps is returning to one of the passions which influenced this blog and aided in reconciling me and my heart, beer.  So, here's a go, far from my home, relaying beer.

I forgot my computer attachment cord in the glove-box of my car, so the photo's are not available, but I was invited to a restaurant called Bonefish.  It was a very busy place with some lovely wall art and high (by my standards) prices.  The fish and chips were outstanding though.  While I was looking at their limited draft list, I was recommended the Olde Mecklenburg Seasonal.  It is apparently quite popular, however the beer I tasted was yeasty and bland.  It also never improved no matter how much I drank.  Sometimes beer does that.  Either the first sip isn't so good but it improves over drinking, or the first sip might be great, but the further into the beer you get, the worse it becomes.  This one was not very good, from beginning to end.  Or so I thought.  It was their Oktoberfest submission too...

Anyway, that was the local seasonal I gave a shot and was disappointed.  Theoretically though, none of the people who might stumble upon this post will ever come across this disappointing drink.  I wish I had better news, but next time I'll be going back in time and share a mountain climbing adventure that climaxed with some Shock Top ^_^

Cougar and Bear

Like a more amiable version of Fox and Hound or a less innocent tale than those of Frog and Toad, the bear duo of Ambear and Bipolar Bear went to the Cougar Hot springs for one last evening together (or so we thought).  The truth that neither of us had realized was that my flight had been pushed back several weeks.  Nevertheless, the night was as lovely as it was brimming with honesty, adventure, and indulgence.  The evening started with A Bridgeport Summer Squeeze and Hop Czar, as we sat on the cliff side facing one of the most beautiful lakes in the world and the sun warming our backs.  It was a perfect moment, and it was complimented by the most perfect beer.

Again, failing to know at the time, I had been lucky enough to catch Bridgeport's seasonal summer ale the week before it left the shelves.  It was amazing and easily was set among my top three choices of fantasic beers.  Super clean, refreshing, citrusy but not sour or moldy feeling, with bold notes leaving it distinct and memorable in the best way possible.  I searched high and low for that sweet nectar again, but, it had been displaced by the changing season(al)s.  However, Witch Hunt spiced ale is a post for another day.  In the meantime, the Hop Czar is an excellent excellent IPA.  It's clean, super hoppy, but possessing just the perfect level of bitterness which allows for a cold refreshing wave of satisfaction to settle on your heart as you sip this beer.

After sipping beer on the hill side, we started are real adventure into the wood towards and magic spring which flows hot from the mountain side and brings peace to the souls of all bears who revel in its waters.  During his enjoyment of the hot springs, Bipolar Bear began chatting with some of the other character's in the pool.  On of them, a very interesting entrepreneur who lived up the road and visited the hot springs at least 3 times a week, told us of a hidden trail just past the springs which would take us to the most amazing, beautiful, and romantic place ever!  We were intrigued.  Thus, we followed the jolly witch doctor's instructions and eventually came upon a green moss dragon!!  Surrounded by broken logs created by the troll limbs she had dismantled during their attacks, this overwhelming deity had long ago rested her fangs in a call of peace and current spouts the freshest water in the world from her lips as a peace offering to God for all the havoc she foolish released.  When we arrived we felt her calming spirit and followed the path laid to her underbelly which was covered in the softest layer of moss, and there, in her cleansing flow and lovesong, we kissed for the last time.

The End.

*****



Good Bye to Bipolar Bears.  Perhaps ^_^

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.

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 ^_^

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

 

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...