Archive for June, 2012

Review: Gilgamesh DJ Jazzy Hef

Author: Jason Harris
June 14, 2012

Gilgamesh Brewing

The summer is upon us and the lighter beers are out now. For me, a nice unfiltered wheat beer is a perfect summer beer because it’s flavorful, smooth and crisp.

Gilgamesh Brewing is a local brewery here in Salem, Oregon and has been making waves in the past few months. With a very nice lounge in downtown Salem, Gilgamesh is prominent in the local beer scene.

Today’s beer review is DJ Jazzy Hef – a light colored ale that pours a cloudy wheat color. According to the Gilgamesh, this hefeweizen ale is brewed with organic ingredients and a heaping does of jasmine tea.

The smell of jasmine is pretty noticeable with DJ Jazzy Hef, and this is a good thing. This hefeweizen just glides down your throat as you take your first drink. At first the sip tastes a little empty, but then the aftertaste kicks in and it’s really rewarding.

This is a flavorful beer that leaves your mouth tingling and wanting more. DJ Jazzy Hef is the perfect summer beer for hot days that demand a flavorful but rewarding brew.

This ale has an IBU of 9 and an ABV of 5.4%.

Review: Upright Brewing Supercool IPA

Author: Jason Harris
June 8, 2012

Last week I ventured down to Upright Brewing in Portland and spoke with Alex Ganum, owner of Upright. He introduced me to Supercool IPA as a “straight up IPA”. As a huge India Pale Ale fan, that’s all I needed to hear. 🙂

Supercool IPA is a super limited release and is described this way:

(Supercool IPA has) No twists, no odd processing or ingredients, just a grip of pale malt, pinch of vienna and special roast and plenty of nugget, columbus and santiam hops. We snagged a pitch of yeast from a brewery down the street and let it rip in our conical fermenter.

I asked Alex more about the yeast and he told me it originates from Amnesia Brewing,just up the street from Upright. He went on to say it has medium intensity and they used Santiam hops because it leaves a nice floral note on the palette.

When I pour Supercool IPA from the growler, it has a hazy golden brown hue. There’s a slight white head to this beer – but it isn’t very carbonated at all.

To the tongue, Supercool IPA has a hoppy but not overly bitter taste to it. It has a definitive citrus hint to the slightly floral flavor. I would describe the taste as impactful, but not overwhelming.

Beer drinkers who don’t like a “slap you in the face” strong IPA would enjoy Supercool as it’s balanced hoppyness does not overwhelm.

Look for Supercool IPA at Portand-area pubs on tap as it’s not being bottled.

Awesome Friday video: Bottle-Cap Blues

Author: Jason Harris
June 1, 2012

I love posting videos on Fridays – they are the perfect way to kick in to weekend gear.

Via boingboing, I found this awesome video called Bottle Cap Blues, a short film that artistically shows all the ways you can open a beer.  So inventive!

This is a short film that I was a part of for Adam Young’s solo Art Show at Common House Gallery entitled: Songs of the Early Riser. Adam had a concept for a video installation. I took his concept and put it into a video. We originally had 4 different edits looping at the show in his installation, but this edit is a compilation of my favorite clips from the three day shoot. This has been the most fun project I have been a part of to date. Sitting around with your friends killing a couple of six packs of beer trying to think of different means to open your next drink is pretty fun. I encourage you to try it.

Adam’s art is amazing. If you have an opportunity to pick up one of his pieces, I suggest you add an original to your collection. He is one of the best dudes ever…

More information/ reviews about the show can be found here:

http://common-house.com/2012/05/14/songs-of-the-early-riser-2/

http://www.vice.com/read/kill-the-engine-the-weird