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

Got this press release yesterday, and I'll have more to say about it. I find it pretty interesting. Stan has already picked it up and commented on it, too.

Denver’s Flying Dog Brewery today announced plans to release what is believed to be the first “open source” beer to hit the market in the U.S. “Open source” is a term most commonly used in the software industry and refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. In this case, Flying Dog’s Open Source Beer Project will allow beer drinkers and homebrewers to create or recommend modifications to the recipe.

The Open Source Beer Project will start as a Dopplebock but the style may evolve as participants offer ideas and tweak the recipe. “We are encouraging input on every part of the recipe, down to how what variety of hops we should use, how much we should use and when we should add them,” said Flying Dog’s Head Brewer, Matt Brophy.

Flying Dog’s Director of Marketing, Neal Stewart says that this is a unique way for consumers to participate in the creation of a new beer. “The Open Source Beer is a truly collaborative project and gives our loyal fans the opportunity to buy a beer that they actually played a major role in creating.”

The Open Source Beer will be Flying Dog’s latest “Wild Dog” release and will hit stores in October. Wild Dogs are extremely limited edition beers that come exclusively in hand filled, corked and labeled 750ml bottles. Only 5000 bottles of the Open Source Wild Dogs will be available to the public. Flying Dog’s current Wild Dog is a whiskey barrel-aged version of their popular Gonzo Imperial Porter.

For more information on the Open Source Beer Project, please visit www.opensourcebeerproject.com .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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...

Leinenkugel’s adds flavor to easy and low-calorie summertime favorite

Just in time for summer grilling, two Upper Midwestern favorites, the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company and Jennie-O Turkey Store, are introducing the best new product since sliced buns. Leinenkugel’s, the leading craft brewer in the Midwest, has teamed with Jennie-O Turkey Store, to serve up a fully cooked, heat-and-serve turkey bratwurst seasoned with Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat.

The popular summertime grilling favorite has been infused with Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat, a Belgian wit style beer that features a citrus character and the gentle spiciness of coriander, a complementary flavor also found in bratwurst. Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat has become one of the fastest growing new beers in the country, and led Leinenkugel’s to expand into more than 40 new markets across the U.S.

The new Jennie-O Turkey Store® Turkey Beer Bratwurst will help Jennie-O Turkey Store continue introducing pork and beef eaters of the Midwest to their extensive line of turkey products. The Leinenkugel’s Jennie-O Turkey Store® Turkey Beer Bratwurst will be available nationwide, but is targeted toward the Upper Midwest market – the nation’s largest consumers of bratwursts and Leinenkugel’s beer.

For fans of backyard grilling and tailgating who may be watching their waistline, the Leinenkugel’s Jennie-O Turkey Store® Turkey Beer Bratwurst touts half the fat of cooked pork brats and only 120 calories, 9 grams of fat, 0 transfat, 10 grams of protein, and 6 carbs.

The Jennie-O Turkey Store® Turkey Beer Bratwursts will be priced as six links per package for $3.79 and will be available at local grocers and supermarkets.

“Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat and Jennie-O’s turkey brats are perfect partners. In the Upper Midwest, most people stew their brats in beer before grilling, so Leinenkugel’s is helping Jennie-O Turkey Store make life easier and tastier for consumers,” says Jake Leinenkugel, fifth generation brewer and president of Leinenkugel’s. “And, like our specialty beer, Jennie-O Turkey Store is crafting a full-flavored great tasting bratwurst – one that’s so low in fat and calories, that there’s plenty of room to enjoy another Leinie’s.”

“Turkey is gaining popularity across the country due to its health benefits and ability to deliver flavor,” adds Mike Tolbert, president of Jennie-O Turkey Store. “Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat gives Jennie-O Turkey Store® Turkey Beer Bratwursts a distinguished, sweet taste that’s extremely satisfying. By introducing this great new brat infused with Leinenkugel’s craft beer, we’re hoping to see a few more turkey followers.”

Leinenkugel’s and Jennie-O Turkey Store have teamed up before, introducing the first fresh Jennie-O Turkey Store® Beer ‘N Turkey Bratwurst in May 2002, which featured Leinenkugel’s Special Ale.

About Leinenkugel’s

Leinenkugel’s, brewed in Chippewa Falls, is the leading craft brewer in the upper Midwest. Leinenkugel’s year-round offerings include Honey Weiss, Sunset Wheat, Berry Weiss, Leinie’s Red, Creamy Dark, Original and Light. In addition to Summer Shandy, Leinenkugel’s offers three other limited-release beers including Big Butt Doppelbock, Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest, and fall favorite Leinenkugel’s Apple Spice. For more information on the rich history of Leinenkugel’s, visit www.leinie.com.

About Jennie-O Turkey Store

Jennie-O Turkey Store, Inc., based in Willmar, Minn., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) and is one of the largest turkey processors and marketers in the world. Jennie-O Foods Inc., acquired by Hormel Foods in 1986, was united with The Turkey Store Company in 2001 to create the industry-leading processor and marketer of traditional and value-added turkey products for the retail, foodservice and deli markets.

Offering an array of high quality fresh, frozen, refrigerated and deli turkey products, Jennie-O Turkey Store produces more than 1,300 items, distributing its products throughout the United States and 26 countries. With corporate offices in Willmar, Jennie-O Turkey Store currently employs 7,000 people throughout the United States. For additional information, visit Jennie-O Turkey Store Web site at www.jennieo.com.

This came in via the contact form today.

Come celebrate the 1st Anniversary of the Downtown Bar and Grill, and enjoy some extreme beers - details below.

Where:
Downtown Bar and Grill
160 Court Street (between Pacific and Amity)
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: (718) 625-2835
Contact: Robert

When: Thursday May 31st — Saturday June 2nd starting at 6pm

Featuring the following on Draft:

• Dogfish Black and Blue 10%
• Weyerbacher - Blasphemy 12.5%
• Weyerbacher - Blithering Idiot 11%
• Allagash Triple Ale 9%
• Brother Thelonious Abbey Style Ale 11%
• Hebrew Bittersweet Lennys RIPA 10%
• Avery - Salvation 10%
• Avery - 14th Anniversary 9.5%
• Stoudts - Fat Dog Stout 9%
• Piraat - 10.5%

**More Extreme Beers Available** and over 500 bottled beer available throughout the year.

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 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.

This press release is a follow-up to Flying Dog's beer naming contest that I blogged about last December. Interesting to find out what was ultimately picked; bummer that they didn't select any of the names that I submitted.

New Belgian-Style Wit Beer to be Released in May

The People’s Republic of Flying Dog responded in a big way when given the chance to play a role in Flying Dog Brewery’s fascinating, yet irreverent history. Over 1500 names were submitted by consumers from around the country for Flying Dog’s “Name our Summer Seasonal Contest.”

The newest addition to Flying Dog’s “litter of ales” will be a “Belgian-style Wit (White)” beer and will be called “Woody Creek White.” The winning name was submitted by Tom Havey of Wilsonville, OR. For his efforts, Havey wins a trip to Flying Dog’s hometown of Denver, CO for a VIP Brewery Tour and three-day pass to the 2007 Great American Beer Festival.

“Woody Creek White was the perfect name because it reinforces Flying Dog’s remarkable story and the collection of social misfits that created the brand,” said Neal Stewart, Flying Dog Brewery’s director of marketing. “Woody Creek, CO is a small, yet unconventional, mountain community that many people consider to be “Gonzo Ground Zero” and it is also home to our founder, George Stranahan.”

White beers get their name from their naturally cloudy or “white” appearance due to the suspended wheat proteins and unfiltered yeast. Woody Creek White is brewed with unique ingredients such as orange peel and coriander resulting in a refreshing and slightly citrus flavor that is extremely smooth and makes for a great beer to enjoy during the “dog days” of summer.

Woody Creek White Belgian-style Wit Beer will be available in grocery and liquors stores in 6-packs and on draught in pubs and bars from Mid-May through July.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cabin Fever is a Winter Warmer from Boundary Bay Brewing Company in Bellingham, Washington. It's a 7% alcohol beer that's lightly dry hopped with Cascades.

Appearance: Dark brown and murky-opaque. Light brown head, creamy looking.

Smell: Dark fruit and caramel, alcohol (fusel-ish, slightly). Dark fruit reminds me of raisin. Spicy and slightly fruity hop.

Taste: Alcohol and hops are the first things I notice. A touch of Belgian candy sugar. Coffee, dark toffee, dried fig. Still noticing the alcohol heat. Spicy. Bitterness in the aftertaste from the hops, which are strong and twiggy.

Mouthfeel: Creamy but dry, alcohol aftertaste coats the tongue and the bitterness lingers.

Overall: This definitely lives up to the Winter Warmer style of beer—alcohol heat is prominent, and the spicy dark fruit and candy accentuates that.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 86 out 100 with 94% reviewer approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.24 out of 5 and is in their 62nd percentile.

Again this month I feel compelled to offer up my own subtitle: "Mild Meanderings." Largely because I wasn't able to find an actual Mild Ale locally—though I came close, and I'm hopefully there at least in spirit—but also because I'll be segueing a bit as I write this.

The problem with finding an actual, honest-to-goodness Mild around here is that this is the Pacific Northwest, and that means Hop Country. The Northwest has (rightly) acquired a reputation for brewing and liking hoppy beers, even so much as to be able to (rightly) dub this the "Pacific Northwest Style." When shopping for beer, there is always an abundance of Inda Pale Ales, double/Imperial beers (particularly IPAs, porters, and stouts), American strong ales, extreme beers of one sort or another, and generally strong and dark beers.

The store I like for my beer selection (Newport Avenue Market) also has a very good selection of Belgian beers and a decent selection of German beers. Of the British beers, they carry the usual minimum: mainstream Samuel Smiths, some Fullers, some Youngs. No Milds, though.

In essence, I was looking for a beer that would fit the characteristics of a Mild so I could at least kinda sorta be on-topic. It's a shame that none of the local breweries produces a Mild, although I seem to remember that at one time the Deschutes Brewery had indeed brewed a mild as part of their tap rotation at the brewpub. The closest they come now is with their Dehlia Falls Session Ale and their Buzzsaw Brown.

The Dehlia Falls, though, is much too light to be considered a proper Mild: a pale golden yellow with a light malt bill. It's only 4.6% alcohol but a bit too hoppy to count as well—coming back around to the Pacific Northwest Style of brewing yet again.

The Buzzsaw Brown would be more promising, as Milds evolved from Browns and are closer in "family" than the rest. But I'd just reviewed Beertown Brown as well, and I wanted to try something new in the same spirit.

(Actually, on our San Diego trip I apparently did have a Mild: the Dawn Patrol Dark when we visited Pizza Port in Solana Beach. Their sign said "English Brown" but all online indicators I've seen say it's actually a Dark Mild; I wish I had more that a couple of quickly jotted notes: "On cask, so very smooth and creamy. Malty, a hint of fruitiness... a bit dry. Sweetish and a bit roasty. Yes, I know 'sweet' is the opposite of 'dry' but that's my impression.")

So the beer I finally settled on at Newport Market was a new one they hadn't had the last time I was there: Old Speckled Hen. Now, I know this is technically an English Pale Ale and is just outside the alcohol range at 5.2%, but for me it was more in the spirit of The Session: Mild Ale is a traditional, sessionable English style, and so is Old Speckled Hen. Plus I've never tried it before, so why not select it for the tasting? (Especially considering most of the other suitably low-alcohol beers I can find that might be comparable are lagers.)

This particular beer is the canned version, the one that contains the nitrogen widget that injects nitrogen gas into the beer when it's opened—much like the canned Guinness, or Beamish Stouts. This simulates a cask/nitro tap and arguably contributes to the "authentic" draught experience.

Appearance: Pour was super-dense creamy foam (from the nitro widget inside) that visibly settled into an attractive amber-orange, slightly hazy beer. Remaining head is beige-white and very thick and fine.

Smell: Clean and mild. Whiff of nitro foam gets in the way. Hops and caramel.

Taste: Bitter—hops are first—a bit woody, a bit spicy, herbal. No fruit or citrus at all (a nice change). Base is a nice pale malt—a bit sweet, a bit dry (from the hops)... no roasted character here or off-flavors or tricky malt combos. It's an excellent pale ale.

Mouthfeel: Extraordinarily smooth and creamy, from the nitro widget. Body is a bit shy of medium, but has nice weight on the tongue. Refreshing.

Overall: Okay, it's no Mild—it's too hoppy and higher in the alcohol—but I think it's as close as I'm gonna get around here, adhering more to the "traditional English pub" experience. It's a good, well-balanced pale ale, and the nitro flair is a bonus that I haven't had in awhile.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 81 out of 100 with 87% approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.17 out of 5 and is in their 58th percentile.

So I didn't help to clear up the "Mysterious Misunderstood" part of the Mild Ale mythos, but I enjoyed the tasting at least and got to try something new. I think my best bet for a Mild is to brew my own, so that will likely be my next homebrew project (whenever that happens).

I'd had a 2005 vintage Alaskan Smoked Porter for awhile and decided it was time to try it. Overall I've found Smoked Porter in the past to be an excellent beer, and I wasn't disappointed with this one. I really need to start buying one of these each year and keep notes to see how they stack up. Alaskan's site even has a bit about this in regards to vertical tastings:

A unique aspect to smoked beers that we have found at the Alaskan Brewing Company is that the smoke acts as a preservative even in beer. The smoke combined with the yeast left in the bottle allows the beers flavor and aroma to evolve over time. We have been known to hold vertical tastings with a variety of vintage years of Alaskan Smoked Porter. As it ages, the smoke becomes more of a subtle background note. Around the third and fourth years the beer's other flavors such as sherry, currant, raisin, and toffee-like nuances come forward. The fifth year sees the reemergence of the smoky character to the forefront.

That's interesting, because it did seem to me to be less overtly smoky than previous bottles I've had—the difference being this was a two-year-old bottle and the others weren't aged. At any rate, this is truly a sipping beer—not for its strength (only 6.5% ABV), but for the character.

Appearance: Dark brown, almost black. Opaque. Brown head. Almost looks like it should be a stout.

Smell: Subtly smoky, oily, deliciously of smoked food... dark coffee, some sweet malt.

Taste: Smoked coffee and grains... blackened but not burnt. Espresso. A hint of bitter cocoa. Roasted malts. A hint of caramel/molasses sweetness, well balanced by smoke. Lots of subtle flavors on the "dark" end of the spectrum.

Mouthfeel: Chewy, thick and a bit oily and astringent. Well done, smooth and creamy too.

Overall: A masterpiece of a beer, the smoke is well balanced with the chocolate, malty flavors, and not at all overpowering.

On BeerAdvocate, it gets high marks, scoring 91 out of 100 with 99% approval. On RateBeer, it's similarly high, with 3.92 out of 5 and in their 98th percentile.

The latest offering from BridgePort Brewing is named after the city of Portland, albeit in an unofficial capacity: Beertown Brown. It's their foray into the world of sessionable Brown Ales, and I think they pull it off rather well overall.

It's an English Brown Ale in style, at 5.2% alcohol.

Appearance: It looks like brown glass—like a beer bottle. Red-gold highlights. Yellow-tan head.

Smell: Sweetish caramel. A fruity note... sour? Roast malt. Nice and simple.

Taste: Light and mellow... clean and a bit dry. Bare tinge of burnt grain. A little rye, biscuit... pumpernickel. Some caramel sweetness. Hops are muted.

Mouthfeel: Light and fluffy, drier than I'd expect. Not thin, I'd actually say just a bit shy of medium-bodied... there's substance there, but ephemeral (the fluffiness).

Overall: I wasn't expecting dry, I figured it would have a sweeter character. But mellow and drinkable.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 81 out of 100 with 80% of reviewers approving. On RateBeer, it scores 3.06 out of 5 and is in their 48th percentile.

The next Session is coming up this Friday, and it's all about Milds. (Previously.) Jay (who's hosting) posted a good piece about Mild Ales today, worth reading.

The BJCP organizes milds under their Style #11, English Brown Ale, with 11A designated mild and two additional sub-styles, northern and southern English brown ale. They suggest IBUs of 10-25, SRM of 12-25, and ABV of 2.8-4.5%, with most falling between 3.1-3.8%. The only American example they list is Goose Island PMD Mild.

For the 2007 Great American Beer Festival, The Brewers Association will for the first time include milds as a separate category in the style guidelines. Two categories, actually, as they’re dividing them into two separate styles, English-Style Pale Mild Ale and English-Style Dark Mild Ale. These appear to be the same as Category 56 for the World Beer Cup. For the BA, Pale Mild has IBUs of 10-20, SRM of 8-17 and ABV of 3.2-4% and for Dark Mild, IBUs of 10-24, SRM of 17-34 and ABV of 3.2-4%.

The color distinctions between the two are described as “golden to amber” for pale mild and “deep copper to dark brown (often with a red tint)” for dark mild. Both are dominated by malt favors with very low bittering discernible and allow for some low levels of diacetyl (butterscotch). The dark mild may also include some licorice or “roast malt tones.”

I imagine I'll be loosely following these guidelines with my selection rather than drinking an "authentic" Mild—only because I can't seem to find a Mild around here anywhere, short of brewing my own. And I didn't have time to do that.

That's okay, I can be creative and come up with something...