Omission and Prostitution

Beer #679 Omission Pale Ale / Widmer Brewing Company, Portland, OR
Previously from this brewery: It's all right there.

There's a tool on the blogger.com website that lets you see what search words people used to find your blog.  This week, someone clicked on our website by searching for "German hookers in Munich". I'm guessing that's because of Thomas Hooker Brewery and their German style beers, and I'm also guessing that person was disappointed when they read my beer review and didn't find any prostitutes.

Today's beer is another one that was left in my cooler, a bottle of Omission Pale Ale from Widmer.  A clear, pale shade of copper in the glass, this beer gives you a sweet aroma of barley.  When you take a sip, there's a mixture of malt, bread, and light citrus, with just a hint of bitterness as well. This is another beer made for those who can't tolerate gluten, but the fact of the matter this is a pretty tasty choice on it's own even for those who (like me) can't get enough gluten.  Would I go out of my way to order it?  Probably not, as I do prefer beers that are a bit more complex (read: gluten-y), but this is definitely something I'd drink again out of a cooler.

OMIT.

And extra special thanks to a loyal reader for correcting a mistake I made when reviewing the Omission Lager; these beers are not technically gluten free, as it uses barley but there's an enzyme added that removes the gluten from the beer.  If you're hyper-sensitive, sorry; you're probably still out of luck.

Thing to Think About Today:
With a pale ale in hand, you get the band Pale Young Gentlemen covering MIA's Paper Planes.  The video today is just a link, seeing how the Youtubes don't seem to want  to let me embed the video, but this is a fantastic cover.  Click here and enjoy a great song.

Day 660: Rogue Beard Beer

A couple of months ago, I heard that my local Whole Foods got in an order of Rogue Brewery's latest installment of their Voodoo Doughnut beer--the chocolate, peanut butter, banana ale. Having been on a chocolate and peanut butter beer kick this summer, I figured I might as well try it.

As I came dashing into the beer cooler at Whole Foods, my impatience and harried self could only spot the Rogue Beard Beer. Thanks to Whole Foods' lovely beer guy on duty that evening, he pointed me in the right direction. He also asked if I was going to try the Beard Beer.  Umm, no. It's made with critters living on some dude's face. Eww.

But it wasn't just some guy. The beard belongs to John Maier, brewmaster for Rogue Ales. And after declaring my love of Belgian beers for the past two years, which rely heavily on airborne critters to give beer character, I felt challenged and quite honestly couldn't not buy a bottle.

Fast forward to last week and I finally found myself at home and ready to open my very own Beard Beer.

I perused the label for ingredients:
Water

Hops

Barley

Beard yeast

Yup. Right there in all it's cootie-fied glory was evidence of what I was about to drink. I thought to myself,  this is basically going up to Mr. Maier and licking his beard. Let's just file that away in the "Things I Will Never Think About Again" file. Sorry.

For the glory of Blog Named Brew, I pressed on. It poured a hazy, oranged-tinged light brown ale. It had a think white head. Based on looks, I was doing all right. It smelled fantastic. I may or may not have anticipated it smelling like hairy man. Again, sorry. I pressed on and took a big inhale and got orange and caramel and general beer hoppiness and maltiness.

After envisioning the boiling wort and telling myself that the critters were sterilized, I took a sip. It was light and refreshing. I wrote summery in my notes. There was light citrus fruit, grain and a nice mild hop finish. After some initial trepidation, I happily finished my beer!

Beer stats
Style: American wild ale
ABV: 6%
IBUs: 25
Rating: Good

Previously reviewed from Rogue
Another take on Beard Beer
Rogue's family include Eugene City Brewery and I reviewed the Honey Orange Wheat Ale
Juniper ale
Rogue sampler teaches me not to hold grudges

Beer 365: Hair of the Dog, A Homonym

The 9th anniversary of TJ's was a raucous celebration with outstanding beer and good friends. The only casualty of the day was the half of my barbecue chicken wrap that got left behind. I drank a ton of beer for the blog and can't wait to tell you more about it. After six hours of an amazing variety of beer, one would have thought that this morning would have called for a little hair of the dog to get going, but alas it did not. I should probably be worried about that...

Instead I'll tell you about another Hair of the Dog -- the brewery that partnered with de Proef to collaborate on Flanders Fred. This is a beer that I've been stalking for awhile now and was delighted to find it last night at TJ'S.

See what I did there? Hair of the dog. Hair of the Dog. Homonyms!

Gary's second career? Beer model.

Anyway this is an excellent beer and well worth the wait. It poured a deep apricot color and smells of overripe fruit, malt and funk. The flavor reminded me of tea and figs. It was sweet and sour with an almost IPA-like bitterness. Truly amazing. And it looks like it's still on at TJ's. If I weren't still lounging in my pajamas, I'd be tempted to go back for more!

In case you wanted to know more about the collaboration, here is some information: Legendary brewer Alan Sprints of Hair of the Dog joins Dirk Naudts at De Proef to create this unique bottle conditioned beer. Flanders Fred is a blend of Flanders-sourced lambic with a collaboratively-brewed version of the famous Hair of the Dog Fred. Now you know.

Cheers!

Beer 202: Cascade Brewing...A Sour Lover's Paradise

This picture originally included 4 butts on barstools.
Thank god for photo editing!

Isn't that a beautiful sight?  They're from Cascade Brewing in Portland, Oregon.  After visiting Rogue (reviewed yesterday), we stopped by Cascade Brewing at the recommendation of Rogue's bartender.  Kudos to him!

Cascade specializes in sour beers.  SOUR BEERS!  There were so many...I wish I took a photo of the menu.  I was in heaven and am honestly a bit surprised that I actually left.  Sour beer = happy Marci.

I started off with the sampler (from left to right):

Raspberry wheat.  It smelled like beer -- I wasn't picking up any raspberry in the nose.  It definitely had a light raspberry flavor and was also wheat-y. It was very smooth and looked like a rosé wine.

Next up was the strawberry sour. This one was very tart with a light strawberry flavor. There was a nice sweetness that went along with it for balance but it was predominantly tart.  The flavor was green and viney - does that make sense?  Delicious!

#3 was the Sang Noir. I can honestly write that I believe it rivals Russian River's Supplication.  You can taste the oak barrel.  It's rich and earthy and very tart.  If you like tart cherries and just a bit of earthiness, this beer is for you.

Finally there was the barrel aged bruin.  It tastes darkly alcoholic like a cross between whisky and rum (the description says sherry...).  It is intense.  Not as tart as I would expect, but full of red fruit and smoothness.

I followed up the sampler with a full-sized Sang Noir and some snacks.

In conclusion, if you like sour beer, you need to go to Cascade.  It is a can't miss stop on an Oregon beer tour!  Seriously...check out this list.

Cheers!

Beer 199: Vertigo Apricot and Strange Days Indeed

I've been back to work post-vacation for three days.  For most of the six trips back and forth between home and office, I've managed to see some really strange things.

1. Hot pink Mercedes - no marketing stickers, just some dude (yes, dude) in a hot pink luxury sedan.
2. What I can only describe as venetian blind style rims. They may have been on a Lexus, but I'm not sure. I was too busy trying to figure out what was blinding me.
3. Mid-size truck that looked like a drivable Timberland boot.  WTF?
4. Car from Massachusetts speeding - as in like 65MPH or more - down the SHOULDER of I-76.  Morning rush was practically nonexistent. But this cat was clipping along like it was the HOV lane.

I was honestly sad when tonight's trip home was uneventful.

***

On to the beer review.  Vertigo Brewing's Apricot Cream Ale brews in Hillsboro, Oregon and I found the Apricot Cream Ale on draught at Henry's Tavern in Portland, Oregon.  First off, Portland is a beer lover's paradise.  Second, Henry's is awesome.  They have something like a hundred taps -- pouring all sorts of delightful brews.  I originally wrote about Henry's here.

The Apricot Cream Ale poured a bright golden color with a thick white head that left lots of lacing behind as it faded away.  The scent was all apricot and wheat.  The flavor was full and creamy, apricot at first then rolling into a nice malt with a hint of hop in the finish. Perfect beer for the perfect weather we had in Portland!

Cheers!

Beer 198: Time Machine to Portland Day #2

Day 2 in Portland took us to many places, but most importantly to Dan & Louis Oyster Bar where many, many oysters were consumed.

While there I definitely made a run at giving myself mercury poisoning. I also had a Lawnmower Lager from Caldera Brewing. Caldera is out of Ashland, Oregon and has a pretty varied selection of beers. I figured the lager would go nicely with the oysters.

This is definitely a beer to drink while mowing the lawn. The ABV is 3.9 percent. It actually looks like a pilsner...very light in color.


It smells like grains and beer. The taste is light and a bit on the sweet grain side. While it wasn't at all what I was expecting, I definitely saw its value on a hot day with lots of yard work. The brewer thought so too...the label stated something along the lines of great to drink to rinse the dust and grass out of your mouth after mowing the lawn.

Caldera isn't making a challenging beer with this one. But I say they are making a great beer to drink on my oyster bender!

Cheers!

Beer 196: Double Mountain IPA and Farewell to the West Coast

First night in Portland wound down with what I was told was a hoppy Irish red. Turns out it was a straight up IPA. (Insert Marci frowny face here.). The Double Mountain IPA poured a hazy chestnut color with a tan head that disappeared quickly. It smelled like cured meat and kind of sweet. I also thought it was poured entirely too cold. It took quite awhile for it to smell anything other than cold.

The bartender did not lie about the level of hops. There was a citrus, resin-y flavor throughout. There was some light malt flavor. Pretty good beer!



As I sit here waiting to board my flight home, I realized I learned a lot on this trip. For today, I'll share that the Pacific Northwest grows some crazy flavorful hops. And they brew beer that shows off those hops. At the very least I think I'm returning home with a new found appreciation of IPAs, American pale ales and anything brewed in the northwest. Cheers!