Pints and Steins

Finally, the fresh hop season is upon is. This special time of year comes right as Autumn descends upon our fair State.

Each September, brewers from around the state come to the Willamette Valley to pick hops directly off the vine and boil them immediately into amazing ‘fresh hop’ beers.

This year, Deshcutes Brewing is going all in with special versions of Fresh Hop Mirror Pond Pale, Inversion IPA, Oktoberfest and a few other special ales.

This year is especially unique because Hop Trip will be available in stores as 6-packs as well as the normal 22 oz bottles. Fresh Hop Mirror Pond is available in 22 oz bombers.

So get yourself to a Deschutesutes Pub, in Bend or Portland, today and try out the new ales – you won’t be disappointed!

Seven Brides Brewing out of Silverton, Oregon has made a name for themselves in the mid-valley. The passionate group behind the brand has 4 signature brews that are available on a regular basis. I have reviewed Emily’s Ember, which, in short, I would describe as an average amber ale.

In today’s review, I’m taking a look at the Silverton brewery’s first IPA. As the label says, ‘popular demand’ required them to look at making an IPA. In this spirit, they have tried to make it as hoppy as humanly possible. Looking at the label, they invite hop heads to unite.

Quoting the bottle:

Frakenlou’s India Pale Ale. In response to your requests “demands”! we present our first IPA. Our first batch was just 1.5 barrels of this Hop Monster.

Using only the Northwests’s finests hops, and the desire to make a monster IPA, Frakenlou’s was born.

Think of it like this, we use enough hops in each batch if IPA to make three of our other beers!

Frakenlou’s comes in at 7% alcohol and is 10f IBU’s, making this a very bitter beer with some massive hop creds.

To me, when I read the label, I expected this to be a hoppy bitter beer that made me cringe when I took my first sip.  Almost like a DogFish Head 120 Minute IPA. This ale will definitely delight any hop head, but it’s not a pucker up and cringe when you drink it beer. It’s relatively smooth with a bitter finish that leaves you wanting more. It’s a heavy beer when it comes to alcohol content, so you’ll likely want to share it.

I’ve written about how I wish we had a brewery here in Salem. However, I’ve always thought we just need a restaurant or bar that serves amazing beer from the already existing selection of local beer we have in the Pacific Northwest.

Salem, Oregon, please welcome Venti’s Cafe and Taphouse, which opened yesterday. My family and I went to check it out and we can gladly report that Venti’s taphouse is an amazing place to sample beers and get some great foot at the same time.

The location for Venti’s is quite convenient, no matter what part of town you live on as the restaurant and taphouse has set up shop on Commercial Street SE in the building that used to be home to Buster’s Barbeque. The owners of Venti’s did a complete remodel on the interior and the new look is stylish and modern.

The Venti’s Taphouse tries to be family friendly with an open feel and a dedicated kids area. As the Dad to a 1 and 4 year old, I can appreciate this, my daughters enjoyed the toys that could easily be retrieved from the kid’s area in the restaurant.

However, the joy of Venti’s Cafe and Taphouse is the beer selection. There are 24 rotating taps that feature all types of beer from throughout the Northwest. Additionally, there’s an amazing bottle and canned beer selection bringing the total to about 124 available beers.

I had the 10 Barrel India Summer Ale  from Bend, Oregon and my wife had the Dupont Saisan Farmhouse Ale and both were amazing. The India Summer Ale is refreshing and flavorful and the Farmhouse Ale is a German-style light ale, I’d describe it as a Kolsh type beer with a slight bite at the end.

The food selection spans pizzas, burgers, Asian inspired dishes such as Chicken teriyaki.  it’s a bit of a mish mash of food selection but you can guarantee that there’s something for everyone on the menu.

Conclusion

Overall the new Venti’s location (there’s one already downtown) is a welcome addition to the Salem restaurant scene. The amazing beer selection will impress any beer snow or connoisseur.  If you want to see what’s on tap right now, visit twitter.com/ventiscafe as the taplist changes so often.

I am a huge fan of wheat beer. Because of Widmer Hefeweizen was one of my first microbrews, wheat beer is high on my list. With that said, I bought Mana Wheat from Maui Brewing Company with excitement. As you’ve seen, I’m not well into a series of brews from Maui Brewing Company and so far, so good with the beers I’ve had thus far.

Mana Wheat is Maui Brewing’s unfiltered beer. In fact, to give an interesting Maui twist to the wheat beer, the brewers infused Mana Wheat with Maui Gold Pineapple. Because most wheat beers (including hefeweizen) require lemon or something simliar to sweeten the taste of the beer, the pineapple is an interesting move.

Upon the first pour, this ale is very cloudy, which is normal for a wheat ale. To the tastebuds, Mana Wheat starts off as a smooth tasting beer with zero bitterness. Then the pineapple kicks in and provides an amazingly refreshing and not overwhelming sweet taste. There’s is a nice fruity sweetness that makes this a balanced and very pleasing beer.

As the Oregon summer kicks in and we have some hot dry days, Mana Wheat is an amazing brew that gives a full body but refreshingly delivered taste.  Check out Mana Wheat – it’s worth the price.

When I first started drinking microbrews, I wasn’t a fan of dark beer. I found it to be too thick and murky. However, as my palette has grown, I’ve taken dark beers and love them now. I especially love porters as I find them smooth and tasty.

This review continues the series on brews from Maui Brewing Company, a Lahaina-based brewery that is quite popular in Oregon. Today’s brew is the CoCoNut PorTer (I’m not sure what’s up with the capital letters) and I was very intrigued by this beer. Porter is a nice taste by itself, would the coconut add or take away from this experience? Also of note, I hate flavored beers – the ones ‘enhanced’ with berry flavors especially or orange citrus hints…not cool, dude.

Coconut Porter is a strong beer, coming in at about 6% alcohol. According to the web page, it’s made of six varieties of malted barley, hops and hand toasted coconut.

When I first opened the can, I could smell the hints of coconut and it excited my taste buds to see what the first drink would taste like. The experience is supposed to go like this: beginning with a malty-toasted first sip, then a followup taste of coffee and a finish aftertaste of coconut and hoppy spice.

However, when I first tasted the porter, I picked up on the malt overtones and the hoppy finish, but missed out on the coconut altogether. In fact, this could just be called porter in my book with no coconut at all.

With that said, I wasn’t disappointed at all – this is a GOOD porter that has a slight punch that isn’t overwhelming with malt, just enough to make you want more.  I like this porter a lot – not as much as Black Butte Porter, but it’s easily my second favorite, ever.

I hoped to have more coconut taste in this beer and was let down a bit. However, I’m going to pick up another can because maybe I just got a weak tasting batch.

Have you tried this beer?  What do you think?

Editor’s note: This post begins a four part series that will feature four brews from the islands, specifically Maui and the Maui Brewing Company.

I am positively a huge fan of IPAs. It’s likely my favorite style of beer. That said, I’m pretty picky on Imperial Pale Ales and I only have a handful that I get again and again.  Will Big Swell IPA from Maui Brewing Company join that list?  Let’s find out.

First of all, Maui Brewing Company comes from my most favorite vacation spot on the globe: Maui, Hawaii. I’ve heard great things about Maui Brewing Company and know of the company because they came to the Oregon Brewers Festival last year where I had a brew of theirs. This brewery has some fans in Portland, Oregon, which is why I know of them.

Big Swell IPA has a slogan that I dug from the beginning of the buying experience: “Big, Hoppy, Bold, Smooth, And Hoppy…Did We Mention Hoppy”. I mean, with expectations like that, this brew better own up.

The hops for Big Swell IPA come from the Northwest including Columbus, Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe and a few others.Big Swell IPA comes in at an ABV of 6.8%, so it’s a sipping beer and a not so bitter IBU rating of 50+

At first sip, this beer does taste very flavorful. I wouldn’t say bold, but smooth and hoppy is the way to go. Bold to me sounds overpowering and like getting a sucker punch right in the kisser.

Big Swell IPA is smooth and flavorful. As advertised, the malt is the first flavor that your mouth picks upon. Then the hop flavor, a bit floral but more just punchy, kicks and makes for a very balanced drink.

Big Swell IPA is a very nice balance of all the ingredients. I was sad when I finished my can (yes can…this beer is not bottled) I desired more of the flavor of this beer.

I can easily say that Big Swell IPA will make the shortlist mentioned above. This beer is amazing and is a very very good IPA any beer lover would enjoy.

Do you like ales, kind of like an IPA, that pound you in the face with hoppy bitterness?  I do.  In fact, it’s my favorite kind of beer.  To me, 120 Minute IPA from DogFish Head is too sweet (think Barleywine) and leaves me wanting to pucker my lips when I’m done.

Today’s visit takes us to Petaluma -based Lagunitas brewery where we will try their Hop Stoopid Ale.

Hop Stoopid is a strong beer – measuring 8% in alcohol.  However, it doesn’t come across as being way too bitter.  I’m not sure what the IBU rating is, but Lagunitas balances the intense hop flavor with enough malt to make this a very smooth and balanced beer.

If you like a blast of bitter with a crisp finish, Hop Stoopid might be for you.  Please weigh in with your comments below if you’ve tried it!

The Lagunitas review series continues, this time we’re visiting the summer ale Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ ale.  This beer is a seasonal summer ale that is intended to be an easy-drinking beer for a warm day.

What’s interesting is that I tried it on a cold windy day in an Oregon Fall day.  However, it did stand out.

Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale is a hearty wheat ale that is drinks smooth and makes for a very smooth drink.  Anyone familiar with Widmer Hefeweizen will like this beer.  It’s a bit more smooth and has a clean finish – and it doesn’t leave you with a ‘full feeling’ like a Hefe.  So, to me, it has the essence of a hefe but with the clean finish of a pale ale.

Many of us travel.  Many of us go to other places where English is not the primary language.

So, what happens if you find yourself in a foreign country and you need to order another beer?  Well, you say, “what would Jason suggest”?

Follow this link, and see how to order another beer in 50 languages.  This is lifesaving advice, and you know it.

For example, if you’re in Finland, say, “Vielä yksi olut, kiitos”.  If you’re in Germany, you must say, “Noch ein Bier, bitte”.

You read it here first.

[Photo credit: Fieno]

With this review, we begin a new series of reviews, this time of Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California.  Lagunitas is sort of a cult favorite up here in the Pacific Northwest.  We are a pretty territorial bunch up here, typically preferring beers that are made locally (like within 20 miles); but the Petaluma brewery has some fans up this way.

So, with that, lets take a look at Lagunitas IPA.  Their take on the India Pale Ale is an interesting one.  Here’s how the brewery’s website describes their IPA:

India Pale Ale
Thanks for choosing to spend the next few minutes with this special homicidally hoppy ale. Savor the moment as the raging hop character engages the imperial qualities of the Malt foundation in mortal combat on the battlefield of your palate!

So, they describe it as super hoppy.  To me, this would imply bitter and therefore uber yummy.

However, I had a 22-ounce bomber of this IPA and I was thoroughly disappointed.  This beer is not very hoppy at all – in fact, it tastes like a weak pale ale.  A barkeep could have served me this beer and told me it was a pilsner and I wouldn’t have flinched.

Lagunitas IPA is very pale in color.  It is almost tan, again, like a pilsner.

I guess up here in the Pacific Northwest, where we grow hops and wear flannel and like our coffee strong, this IPA doesn’t cut it.

Also, I’m being brutally honest here and perhaps I’m missing something.  Are you a Lagunitas fan – can you shed some light and perhaps show me the way?  Or am I justified in my dislike for this IPA?