Archives : 2007 : May

Laurelwood Public House and Brewery

May 31st, 2007

In Portland, the Laurelwood Brewing Company occupies two locations: their NW Public House in northwest Portland, and their Public House and Brewery located in northeast Portland, in the Hollywood district. This Hollywood location is relatively new and very kid-friendly, and since we had the kids with us on our Memorial Day trip to Portland, we decided to try it out.

First, a note about driving there: most likely (if you’re not native to Portland) you’ll be traveling east on Sandy Boulevard to get to Laurelwood, which is on 40th Avenue, and as you approach 40th you’ll see the building housing the brewpub on the left. However, there are no left turns allowed for that and the next several intersections; we found out the hard way to go right and back around the block to 39th, past Sandy and come in the back way. This makes it frustrating for first-time visitors, I’d imagine.

The brewpub has a small parking lot on the north side of the building, but we parked on the street a block away—the lot was full. There is also outside seating along this north wall, but it was all filled when we arrived. No problem; we got a seat inside right away.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the place is definitely kid friendly. A big crate of coloring books and stacks of small buckets full of crayons are near the hostess station by the door. In a back corner, overlooking the brewing operation, is the kids’ corner: a play area with a bunch of toys and activities that the little ones can hang out in. There were a good number of kids there, though surprisingly they weren’t overly noisy—any more than the ambient noise of the brewpub anyway.

The atmosphere and layout felt, to me, old fashioned, as if it were an older tavern or somesuch. A mix of bench seats and chairs flanking long(ish) tables contributed to this, as did the raw wood beams exposed on the ceiling—which was not a bad touch, actually. Dark hardwood floors and furniture added to this feeling, and there was a half-height railing separating the bar from the rest of the dining area. The word that came to me near the end of the visit to describe this: "Roadhouse."

Service was good, and efficient: my dinner salad came out really, really quickly. And the dinner followed just as fast! I was impressed with how quick they were.

The food was excellent, too. I ordered the chicken fried steak, which came with mashed potatoes and really fresh, really good asparagus. Everyone else’s food looked good too, but frankly I was too preoccupied with my beer to take much notice.

Yep. The sampler tray. Comes with all their standard beers, and a seasonal—although the "seasonal" that evening was one of the regulars on cask. Here’s what I had:

Mother Lode Golden: Crisp and hoppy. Pale yellow gold. Hops are bitter without being fruity. Nice malt base, light and refreshing. Nice firm but thin body.

Piston Pale Ale: Nice copper color, though clear and pale. A bit on the light side malt-wise, but has a nice hop kick—though not overpowering. Nice Northwest Pale Ale.

Ettinger Amber Bier: An Altbier style! Nice amber-brown like I’d expect. Very nicely malty—tasty—with nice malt backing. This was also the casked "seasonal" selection. It was good; I think my favorite of the bunch.

Free Range Red (Organic): Red-brown—so far the colors match up really well. This is hoppier than the rest, I think, but (again) not overpoweringly strong or bitter—up front and dry. Thinner body than "standard."

Boss IPA: Hop kick—the Northwest IPA for sure. Nice and sweet malt body with the big hop character—woody.

Tree Hugger Porter (Organic): Roasty, dark, dry. A little thin and and little dark (burnt) and dry for my liking of a porter. Not bad, just heavy on the roasted/black malts.

Overall, good food, and good beer, and a neat retro atmosphere—and a good place to go if you want quality microbrew and have kids along. I’ll just cap this with a couple of pictures of the brewing operation:

Gotta dig the awards and the row of beer bottles lining the wall.

Laurelwood Public House and Brewery (Hollywood location)
1728 NE 40th Avenue
Portland, OR 97212
(503) 282-0622

Woody Creek White

May 30th, 2007

Woody Creek White is Flying Dog’s new summer seasonal, the one they held a contest to name, and I was fortunate enough to receive a bottle from the brewery to review. It’s a Belgian Wit style of beer (commonly known as a "white ale"), a pale wheat beer brewed in typical Belgian fashion with (among other ingredients) orange peel and coriander. It’s a tasty style of beer, and I expected no less from Flying Dog, and I wasn’t disappointed. Plus, at 4.8% alcohol (their site says 4.7%), this is quite a sessionable beer and a good summer seasonal choice.

Appearance: Pale yellow—very—straw colored… hazy. Very white fluffy head piles up. Nice appearance, about as "white" as a wheat beer’s gonna get.

Smell: Orange, coriander—heavier on the coriander—very refreshing and fresh-smelling. Fresh cut grass, citrus blossoms, lemongrass.

Taste: Crisp and tangy, with a bracing edge of wheat—raw wheat—and light and fruity with a hint of citrus. Bitter from orange peel, I’m guessing. Spicy and sour, but not sharp. Light orange.

Mouthfeel: Fresh, crisp, light in body but with a nice "cloudy haze" feel to it. Refreshing.

Overall: Makes me want to sit on the deck with a glass of it while the cicadas sing. By my judgment (not that I’ve had that many witbiers), it’s a good wit.

On BeerAdvocate, there are only three reviews so far, no enough for an overall score, but those three average 3.92 out of 5, with all of the reviewers approving. On RateBeer, it’s pretty much the same story, with two reviews averaging 3.45 out of 5.

Beer pics

May 30th, 2007

Just a quick post to document a couple of the "new" beers I found in Portland: Rogue‘s Portland Saturday Market Artisan Ale, and Cedar River Amber from Trader Joe’s.

Here’s the Rogue. It’s their standard 22-ounce bomber. The year on the bottle indicates 2006, also, and it has a funky label. Here’s a closeup of that:

The Cedar River Amber I found at TJ’s is offered under a "Northwest’s Best" label, but is really brewed by Hale’s Ales in Seattle. There were two other varieties of "Northwest’s Best" there, too: Puget Sound Gold and St. Helen’s Stout.

Back from Portland…

May 29th, 2007

Came back from Portland yesterday to find a package from Flying Dog at my front door: they had sent me a PR package containing their new Woody Creek White. Nice!

Also had dinner and beers at Laurelwood Brewing Company‘s new(ish) Public House in Northeast Portland. We had the kids with us, and I’d been hearing that Laurelwood’s new place is very kid friendly (it is), so it was nominated.

At the Portland Saturday Market, we stopped at the Rogue booth and I bought a bottle of their never-before-seen (by me, anyway) Portland Saturday Market Artisan Ale… very exclusive, it would appear.

Finally, a trip to Trader Joe’s found a $9.99 12-pack of an amber beer (I don’t have it in front of me at the moment, and can’t remember the details), "Northwest" ale, possibly from Hale’s Ales… though it doesn’t seem to be any of the beers listed on their site, so who knows. I’ll have more to report when I crack into the box after I get home.

Off to Portland

May 25th, 2007

We are heading off to Portland for the weekend, so don’t expect any posts for a few. If we get to any breweries, though, I’ll make sure to write about them.

Press Release: Leinenkugel’s Celebrates 140 Years of Legendary Brews

May 24th, 2007

Leinenkugel’s takes a retrospective look at the beer, the family legacy and its loyal fans

Nothing says “Happy Father’s Day” like a beer and brat compliments of Leinenkugel’s. Dads and beer fans alike can get away this Father’s Day weekend with the Leinenkugel’s family to celebrate 140 years of Leinie’s brewing history at the Leinie Lodge Family Reunion.

For the fourth consecutive year, the legendary brewer from Chippewa Falls, Wis. is hosting a Leinie Lodge Family Reunion on Saturday, June 16, 2007. From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., Leinie Lodge members and loyalists will mingle with members of the Leinenkugel family and enjoy the beer they love as part of the 140th anniversary celebration at the place where it all began in 1867. More than 3,000 Leinie fans are expected. The event was created in 2003 as a grand opening for the newly built Leinie Lodge. Since then, each June, Leinenkugel’s have hosted a Family Reunion to celebrate loyal fans who serve as members of the Leinie Lodge. Today there are over 175,000 Leinie Lodge members across the U.S.

“This year’s Family Reunion is special since we will be celebrating our 140 year anniversary with our loyal Leinie fans and Leinie Lodge Members in the place where our brewing history began so many years ago,” said Jake Leinenkugel, fifth generation brewer and president of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company. “The entire Leinenkugel family looks forward to this annual opportunity to meet and have fun with loyal Leinie fans.”

In honor of the 140th anniversary of Leinenkugel’s, this year’s Family Reunion will take on a lively, retrospective theme. Reunion guests are invited to sport their Leinie’s vintage wearables for a chance to win prizes and the first 140 Leinie fans – ages 21 and over – to arrive to the Leinie Lodge for the Family Reunion will win a special gift that promises to excite the palate. All Family Reunion guests will be treated to tours of the recently renovated brewery, as well as an exciting line-up of vintage family reunion games and special surprises commemorating Leinenkugel’s 140th anniversary.

Guests will be among the first to taste the new Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat flavored Jennie-O turkey brats and sample the brand’s new summer seasonal, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy. The Leinenkugel’s Family Reunion is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.leinie.com.

90 Minute IPA

May 23rd, 2007

It’s rare to find Dogfish Head beers around here, so when I came across their 90 Minute IPA recently, you’d better believe I was all over it.

90 Minute IPA is an Imperial IPA that weighs in at 9% alcohol by volume, and the name reflects a Dogfish innovation: the wort boil last for 90 minutes and the hops are added continuously during that time, rather than all at once at the beginning. A continuous hopping like this goes a long way toward giving the beer its essential hop character without the enormous bitterness that dumping them all in at the beginning would give.

Appearance: Nice clear copper orange, with two fingers of creamy white head.

Smell: Hops, but not as sharply as I’d expected. Very nice floral scent. Sweet caramel-toffee malt. A hint of its alcohol strength.

Taste: Hops are the first blast on the tongue—syrupy and herbal, a slight woodiness but not harsh. Nicely bitter. Malt is molasses-sweet (not cloying) with none of the dark flavors (of molasses)… it balances well with the higher alcohol strength. Very well-balanced and tasty and strong.

Mouthfeel: Nice and firm, not chewy but thick like a syrup. Alcohol is prickly-strong.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 91 out of 100, with 98% approval from reviewers. On RateBeer, it scores 4.07 out of 5 and is in their 99th percentile.

Beers from Lost Abbey

May 22nd, 2007

Holy smokes! Check this out:

I got a shipment today from The Lost Abbey, one of the breweries I didn’t get to while in San Diego, though I wanted to. They were kind enough to overlook this flaw in my beer travels and sent me their lineup of beers:

• Avant Garde
• Lost and Found
• Red Barn Ale
• Judgment Day
• Devotion Ale
• Ten Commandments
• The Angel’s Share
• Cuvee de Tomme

(No, that list isn’t in the order I took the picture in. I don’t think. If it is, it was purely coincidence…)

I’ve heard nothing but good things about The Lost Abbey and the people there, and this is just the icing on the cake for all that. I’m aglow with anticipation to review these.

Thanks, guys (Sage and Tomme).

Tooheys New

May 21st, 2007

Tooheys New is an Australian lager of 4.6% alcohol by volume. I had picked it up while looking for a Mild for the previous Session, not knowing it was a lager (and therefore unqualified), but game to try something new as always.

Appearance: Very clear. Light copper in color, turning to gold-orange.

Smell: Grainy lager smell—typical of that import type of lager, I’m finding (the macro lagers from the part of the world around Southeast Asia), with a bare hint of sourness and skunkiness.

Taste: Raw grain, steel-cut grass, lightly malty. Actually pretty drinkable. It has a retro feel to it—kind of a generic draft beer you’d find in an older tavern. Slight bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Light, with an edge. Not watery, but has a similar character cutting through it.

On BeerAdvocate, they don’t find it as drinkable as I do, scoring it only 69 out of 100 with only an astonishing 13% of reviewers approving. On RateBeer it’s the same story: 1.97 out of 5 and in their 7th(!) percentile.

Gee, I didn’t think it was that bad…

Liberty Ale

May 16th, 2007

Anchor Brewing’s Liberty Ale is one of their beers that I can get here (unlike their Bock which I reviewed yesterday) but for some reason never had. It’s one of their older beers—first brewed in 1975—and according to their site is brewed "strictly according to traditional brewing methods." Traditional it is; this beer oozes tradition.

That’s a good thing, by the way.

Appearance: Yellowish-orange, clear with a hint of haze. Very traditional looking, if that makes any sense… Head is fairly white and leaves a slight bit of "legs" on the side of the glass.

Smell: Hoppy, with a fruity character… a berry. Very clean, malty.

Taste: Very competent, nicely bodied pale ale with a nice, cleanly bitter hop running through it. Very well balanced, hops are refreshing and complement it perfectly… very traditional. I quite like it.

Mouthfeel: A hint on the watery side of medium bodied; the hops and the carbonation tickle the tongue.

Overall: Wow, I used "traditional" a lot. Excellent beer. A classic. I’m tempted to go so far as to proclaim it an iconic American beer. It’s really, really good.

Ironically, Jay over at Hedonist Beer Jive reviewed it today also, and had the opposite reaction:

What Liberty Ale is is a decidedly average – no, check that – below average American pale ale. Even a hometowner says so. 5/10. I’ll stick with the ‘Steam.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 88 out of 100, with 98% approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.62 out of 5 and is in their 90th percentile.

Anchor Bock

May 15th, 2007

Anchor produces some distinctive and excellent beers, and I was lucky to find one that I haven’t had before: Anchor Bock. I don’t recall seeing it available around here, and in fact I picked this up on the way back from our San Diego trip.

Appearance: Dark brown with deep ruby highlights. Creamy beige head.

Smell: Roasted grain, coffee, dark malt and dry roast.

Taste: Dark and dry with dark coffee and roasted malt. Pretty dry. There’s a residual sweetness in the malt. Neutral hops, not very noticeable. Reminds me of a Schwarzbier.

Mouthfeel: A bit thin, just short of medium-bodied. Very dry.

Overall: Much drier than I would have expected for a Bock style; I expect a more malty, sweet flavor to it. This is not a bad beer by a long shot. I’ll bet a cask version of this is the cat’s meow.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 86 out of 100, with 100% approval from the reviewers. On RateBeer, it scores 3.52 out of 5 and is in their 84th percentile.

Palma Louca

May 11th, 2007

Beer from Brazil—this was a new one to me. The only other Brazilian beer I’ve had is Xingu (which seems to be from the same company). Palma Louca ("wild palm") is a pale pilsner, and that’s about all I can say about it… it wasn’t very good, to be honest. From their site, looks like the Palma Louca people are more interesting in promoting Brazil than this beer: "Our beer company is committed to promoting the Brazilian people, its cultures and arts." Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Appearance: Very clear, pale yellow with a tint of gold. Head is stark white.

Smell: Like a Grolsch… lagery and skunky, though not terribly so. Light, a bit of grain and a bit of corn. Mildly hoppy.

Taste: Light lager with a surprising bite—almost fruity or green, somehow. Very mild, almost no hops that I can tell (despite what I smelled). Similar to the Mexican style of lager.

Mouthfeel: Light, effervescent, very thin—a bit watery. No real body.

Overall: I was disappointed. I was hoping for more from a pilsner, but this was just weak.

On BeerAdvocate, they agree with me, scoring 72 out of 100 with only 23% approval. On RateBeer, it’s a similar story: 1.77 out of 5, and only in their 4th percentile. Ouch.

American Craft Beer Week (2007)

May 10th, 2007

Next week is American Craft Beer Week.

Celebrate the Flavor and Diversity of American Craft Beer!
May 14-20, 2007 is designated as a time for all legal-drinking-age Americans to explore and celebrate the flavorful beverages produced by our small, traditional and independent brewers. Craft brewers produce flavorful beers that combine classic European recipes with bold American innovation.

Same as last year, you can join the “Great American Beer Tour” with a chance to win prizes. I like the spirit of that, but I just don’t have the time… maybe next year.

And, Flying Dog Brewery has released a press release concurrent with next week’s events:

Denver’s Flying Dog Brewery will celebrate American Craft Beer Week, May 14-20, with week of special brewery tours and contests. The week recognizes America’s small, independent and traditional brewers and contributions the craft beer community makes to our economy.

Flying Dog always offers FREE tours on weekdays at 4 P.M. and Saturdays at 1 P.M. and 3 P.M, but brewery visitors will be treated to special tours during American Craft Beer Week. All tour-goers will be registered to win a variety of Flying Dog prizes, including pint glasses, and one Grand Prize Winner will receive a three-day pass to the Great American Beer Festival in October. All week, tours will be given by Flying Dog’s brewers, culminating with German-trained Brewmeister and CEO Eric Warner giving the brewery tour on Friday, May 18. For a complete schedule of brewery tours and who will be giving them, log on to www.flyingdogales.com.

“It’s rare that the brewers have a chance to get away from the Brewhouse to give a tour, so we think it will be a special treat for visitors to get an extremely inside look at our brewing process,” said Flying Dog’s Director of Marketing, Neal Stewart. “And Eric probably only gives four or five tours a year, so this is an excellent opportunity for Flying Dog fans to interact with one of the country’s most knowledgeable brewers.”

The theme of this year’s American Craft Beer Week is “Visit your local brewery” in an effort to highlight America’s 1,300 craft breweries (there are 99 in Colorado). With at least one in every state, the average American lives within 10 miles of a brewery. To further encourage brewery visits, the Brewers Association will conduct the Great American Beer Tour from May 14-20th. The program awards points to participants for each brewery visit, allowing them to earn premiums such as beer mugs and logo shirts. The beer tour traveler who accumulates the greatest number of points will receive an all-expenses paid trip for two to the 26th Great American Beer Festival held in Denver, Colorado October 11-13, 2007. More than 850 Brewers Association member breweries will have passports for validation. Details of the program are available at www.GreatAmericanBeerTour.org.

“America’s small brewers are part of a movement, a shift in consciousness, and the trading up of what beer people drink,” stated Julia Herz, a spokesperson for the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association for America’s small brewers. “American Craft Beer Week will highlight craft brewers and the beer drinkers that support this grassroots effort.”

Over the past three years, craft beer has grown 31.5%, and for 2006 the segment had sales of $4.6 billion. According to scan data from Information Resources Inc. (IRI), the craft beer segment is the fastest growing segment of alcohol, surpassing other beer, wine, and spirits with a 17.8% increase in the US Food channel (dollar sales) from 2005.

Singha

May 9th, 2007

Even though it’s billed as "the world’s most exotic beer," most people will simply see an American-style macro lager in Thailand’s Singha. Even for that, it’s not all that bad a beer.

Appearance: Crystal clear, pale straw yellow. Fluffy white head. Very much like a macro lager—slightly darker.

Smell: Corn, grain, slightly skunky. Lightly grassy hops.

Taste: Grainy, hoppy—mild and a tad spicy. Caramel. More flavorful than a typical American lager, but still light. Could see this matching with spicy foods (as in a Thai meal).

Mouthfeel: Light body, crisp, a bit of a bite which is surprising. A little gassy.

Overall: Better than most of the American macros. Day to day, though, I’d stick with my micros.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 74 out of 100, with only 51% approval. On RateBeer, it scores 2.28 out of 5 and is in their 12th percentile.

The next Session (June): Local Brews

May 8th, 2007

Next month’s Session is being hosted by the Gastronomic Fight Club and is a departure from the usual theme of tastings by style: Local Brews.

The idea here is to be as helpful as possible for visitors to your area. What is the beer/brewery/brewpub that you feel is quintessential to your city? What do the locals drink? What could a tourist drink that would make them feel like they’ve found something special; something that they’re going to miss when they go home?

Here are the rules:

• You can pick anything commercially made within 150 miles of your house, but try to pick the brewery or brewpub closest to your house (NOTE: the average American lives within 10 miles of a craft brewery).
• You can select any beer or even a sampler if you want.
• If you select a single beer, let us know why you choose this beer (e.g. favorite,seasonal,limited edition, best seller).
• Preferably you’ll shy away from beers with wide distribution outside your immediate area.

I like it already. I have six local brewers just in town alone, and I know just the one I’ll write about. (Regular readers can probably guess.) Actually all the local brewers deserve to get the full review treatment, but that’s too big a project for one Session, unfortunately.

Via Stan.