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 ^_^