Death by Irish

Quick review on a tasty that my friend Ry brought into town from Central WA the other weekend. I had some when we were hanging out but was able to give it a little more attention last night.


The Beer: Irish Death
The Style: Strong Dark Ale
The Brewer: Iron Horse
ABV: 7.8%

Pours pretty dark but not pitch black, very similar to a porter. The nose has a nutty character to it with a hint of hops or bitterness to it. HUGE contrast with the mouth; it's very sweet and malty with the roasted grain coming through which lingers for a little bit in the aftertaste and then it's gone. Alcohol presence is almost not there. This drinks like a session beer and I had to double check to see it's almost 8%! It does get kind of filling after a couple of pints so I would say a 22 bomber is perfect for a relaxing evening.

I personally like darker beers like this more in the colder months, so to me this would be perfect on an Autumn afternoon. It would also be interesting on nitro (drool....). Thanks to Ry for bringing this in to town!

Tomorrow I embark on an adventure in homebrewing. Making an IPA to start and expecting it to be ready in about five to six weeks. Stay tuned...

Weekend Completed

Had a great time on Saturday having a guy's night supplied by an armada of excellent beer. Music was played, poker hands were won and lost, and we capped the night with the timeless masterpiece that is Commando. I remember it being much better or at least tolerable when I was seven or eight, but that's probably true of a lot of our childhoods. Oh well, now I know.

My friend Ry brought down a growler of IPA called Zombie Killer. Awesome name, and think of all the movie/video game pairings! He and my friend Mark, who doesn't typically like IPAs gave high praise last time they tried it so I was looking forward to a tasting.

The Beer: Zombie Killer
The Brewer: Snipes Mountain
The Style: Double/Imperial IPA
ABV: 8%

 

For some reason the picture isn't playing nice with the blog so I hope you like the substitute. Medium orange pour. Very floral hop presence in the nose, smells fantastic. Floral and citrusy mouthfeel, very drinkable and I was surprised to learn it's an 8% because it went down so smooth. Light carbonation, which may have been in part due to the growler and the long trip it made. I think I'd prefer it with a little more bubbly going on but it's all good. I'd kill some zombies while drinking this for sure.


Now the other thing that I did prior to the evening was a little bit of shopping. At a homebrew store. A friend of mine had floated the idea of getting a kit and trying our hand at making some liquid magic. Things came together this weekend and we are loaded up with just about everything we need. Here in a couple weeks we'll actually start brewing (IPA of course!) and it should be ready about three weeks after that, so stay tuned. I have to say it was pretty exciting to have ingredients in hand. We'll see how it turns out.

What's going on?

As some friends have pointed out to me, it's been a while since I've posted. Rest assured that quality drinks have been enjoyed in the meantime, I just haven't gotten around to putting up full reviews. Sometimes you just need to relax. That said, I have a couple of projects for this Saturday with new posts shortly after.

I did go out last week with a friend to The Victory Bar which has excellent beers on tap. Chill setting and we even had great service, almost unheard of in SE PDX. The first time we came here we couldn't get eye contact for trying and ended up leaving, good to know they've turned it around a bit.

Anyways, more to come so stay tuned.

Drink that drank

I've kinda been getting behind on reviews so let's get straight to it.

The Beer: Old Ruffian
The Brewer: Great Divide
The Style: Barleywine
ABV: 10.2%

Finally getting around to tasting this one. It's been staring at me for a couple of weeks now. Waiting. Watching. Well guess what, it's drink time so quit giving me the guilt trip, ok?

A note on the style: Barleywines tend to be strong beers that can be cellared and aged for several years to get a more mellow character. Brewers will often label the bottles with what year the vintage is. I confess that I've never had the patience to do this myself but I have directly compared different years at tastings and there is quite a difference. It also tends to taste best at room temp or just below.

Pours a rich mahogany, very appealing. A touch of fruit and pine in the nose mixed in with alcohol. Mouthfeel is quite hoppy, characteristic of American vs English versions, but well balanced. Fruit comes through as well. This is a sipper, but very drinkable! I'd love to have this on a night at the coast.

Weekend Adventures

Our lease ends next month and my wife and I took the opportunity to look for a house. We're in town right now with a lot of things right in the neighborhood and within walking distance, including work, but we want a little more peace and quiet along with space for art and music. It's been a while since I've actively looked, mostly because of how close I am to work, but this weekend reminded me of how time consuming it can be.

The trick with Portland is to find the right balance of location, cost and space. There were a couple of candidates but after checking out neighborhoods and discussing logistics I think we're gonna stay here one more year. Aiming to get a car a little later this year and nothing that I saw this weekend really compelled me to apply funds for moving costs; in a way it's putting the cart before the horse. But it was a good exercise and I'm looking forward to what we can find next year.

Cause for celebration

So yeah, tax returns came out much better than expected. If all goes well with a few other things we can get a new car this summer. Useful for, you know, traveling and getting from a to b. So this and the fact that it's been a little while makes me think it's time for a beer review. All on a Tuesday night even!



The Beer: Iniquity
The Brewer: Southern Tier
The Style: Black Ale
ABV: 9%

This is kind of an interesting one as it's representative of a new developing style. Technically it's a black ale, but so generously hopped it could be thought of as an IPA. A dark IPA, which is kind of a dichotomy and yet is the same thing that makes it so interesting. The basic idea is to make an IPA using roasted malts, hence the dark color and distinct character. Several brewers have been rolling with this for a little while here in the Northwest and there is even some debate about the name. You might see this style listed as Cascadian Dark Ale, Black IPA, India Black Ale, etc. Hooray for experimentation!

Pour is...pretty dark (big surprise, right?). The nose is as you might expect based on my description above. Both the hops and the roasted malt comes through, mixing together quite nicely. Mouthfeel is right between a porter and a stout, with a bit of hops coming through in the finish but relatively subtle. Alcohol is barely there, impressive for its strength, although quite possible to get into trouble with a few pints. I know I've been focusing on Southern Tier quite a bit but they really do put out excellent beers.

Still have some more in the testing labs, hoping to get to the Old Ruffian this weekend. And then it will be off to the beer store for another round.

Cloudy Days

Warmer weather can get here right about now. Failing that, I'll settle for some more sunshine. Everything is looking so...blah. If it was raining, at least that would be something, but monotonous gray sky limbo world is not so fun after weeks of the same.

Now that I have that out of the way, I've decided to try a Belgian that my wife picked up. She's having some friends over for movie night so this gives me an evening project before getting back into the work week.

The Beer: The Sixth Glass
The Brewer: Boulevard Brewing
The Style: Belgian Quadrupel
ABV: 10.5%

The fact this this is a quad is enough to pique my interest. Strength is often described in Belgian styles by including "dubbel" or "trippel" in the name. Quads are a little more rare, something you might see around the holiday season, warmth and cheer and all that. Did I mention my wife has good taste? Ok, let's get on with the tasting!

Pours an attractive deep reddish-brown color, with a good amount of carbonation and head. The nose - oh man, so many things going on! Dark fruit, figs and raisins come to mind, along with the alcohol coming through. A bit of spice as well. The brewery must smell amazing when they're whipping this up. All this comes through in the mouthfeel, with alcohol warming coming through in the finish, yet very balanced considering it's strength. I would classify this as a great winter warmer, something to share by a fireplace with snow on the ground outside.

Testing Labs

New lineup waiting to be tested:

Let's see, what do we have here... A pale ale, dark ipa, belgian, barleywine, and an ipa brewed with yerba mate tea. My wife surprised me with the pale earlier in the week which works out because I wanted to include some session beers along with the big high alcohol brews. A good variety, methinks. Now I just have to decide which one I want first.

As a side note, most beers that I pick up are new to me. I tend to pick them based on a brewery that impressed me with another style I've tried or word of mouth. I'm lucky enough to live in a market where you can get a great selection at the closest corner or grocery store but for the largest selection I'll go to http://belmont-station.com/, which happens to be close by. I'll often check what's going on and what's new before I stop in; this is how I chose the Double Jack from Firestone Walker (which I wasn't disappointed by). Also looking forward to warmer weather and going out to some of the breweries in the area, hopefully bringing some friends along, comparing notes and having a good time.

ps: you can click on the pictures to get a higher resolution version.

Monday Bloody Monday

Rather busy day today at work, and it won't be letting up anytime soon. Too many side projects going on along with normal day to day stuff. Thankfully the evening has arrived and a beer is sounding good.

The Beer: Southern Tier Krampus
The Style: Imperial Helles
ABV: 9%

Helles is a light German style lager which I've had previously and rather liked, but it's not something you really come across too often in the States, so my interest was piqued when I saw this Imperial (more alcohol, character, body, moar!) version from Southern Tier. The story behind the demon is interesting; in some Euro countries he is basically St. Nick's sidekick. Except he actively punishes kids who were bad throughout the year. Sorry Hans.

Pour is burnt orange, quite a bit darker than the non-imperial version. A nice bit of crisp, piney hops in the nose but otherwise quite subtle. Mouth feel is a quick explosion of spicy hops and malts with a bit of alcohol warming and fades just as quickly as it goes down. The larger the sip, the larger the spice presence. Finish is clean, with just a bit of lingering malt and hops. Alcohol presence is really subdued; this is one that could sneak up on you. Southern Tier is cranking out the hits, this is quite excellent.

Currently pairing with this song and this song

And onto the beer

Excellent weekend. Went out to see Jujuba last night, a local afrobeat band that have been rocking pdx for a few years now. Very danceable rhythms with bandleader and talking drum player Nojeem, straight from Africa kicking the jams. You can read more about them on their site, http://www.jujuba.org/ but suffice it to say that they're always a good time to see live.

And I am now on to my first beer review. Here we go...

The Beer: Firestone Double Jack
Style: Double/Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.5%

Picked this one up as it is a limited release and it just made it's way to Oregon for the first time. Pours a burnt orange, lighter in color than I would expect for the style and strength. Smell is over the top pungent (but in a good way); makes me think I have fresh crushed hops in the glass. Taste is surprisingly subdued and balanced compared to the nose, although a nice rush of hops hits and lingers. No bitterness build-up. Alcohol is warming but barely noticeable, highly drinkable. Over the last year or so, and in large part due to friend's inspirations, I've been getting more and more into IPAs. This ranks up there with some of the best I've had; don't hesitate to try this one.

Concerning the style, the biggest hurdle I had previously was overcoming the bitterness. With the beers that I had tried, it just kept building up until I basically had cottonmouth, or hopmouth if you will. Several beers and years later, I've found that a high alcohol content is needed along with a bit more malt to balance it all out. When you do find that balance though, it's absolutely brilliant.

Bonus review, guest spot filled by my lovely wife

The Beer: Southern Tier Choklat
Style: Imperial Chocolate Stout
ABV: 11%

"Oh My God!  What can possibly be better than this?  My two favorite things combined: chocolate and beer."

I like chocolate, I like beer, and when honey told me he had gotten chocolate beer I was a bit apprehensive.  I like good beer and good chocolate, to have a beer that has some sort of chocolate added to it and have it be just sort of tasting like chocolate is a real let down. But not so with this. It has the body of a good stout, smells more of stout than of chocolate. But taste it and  instantly  reminded of true sipping chocolate flavors.  This really is the stout version of the very best dark chocolate hot cocoa experience... Like I said before, and I will repeat, truly the  best of my two favorite things.   YUM!

Coming along

Still poking around a bit to customize this layout. Despite me working in IT, I am a noob when it comes to web design. Pretty fun though.

Beer review will be forthcoming this weekend. I have a few in mind to pick up, aiming for Sunday. In the meantime, listening to music. Now, I'm not a favorites guy. There are too many amazing things to experience in the world and some things are better suited for certain times or even seasons. Having said that, I've come to realize that Blood Sugar Sex Magik is my favorite album. It's to the point where I can't imagine anything else surpassing it.

It hits all the right spots for me, funk, blues, hard hitting rock, emotion, melody, rythm, energy, feeling, even the cheesy lyrics fit for it's time. And playing music, I would be proud if I had written any of the parts on any of the songs. When I think of music to get me motivated, I think of this album. Absolute badass.

First

Here we are. This is a creative project for me; I'll be including beer reviews and other topics on pretty much everything that comes to mind. I was looking for an outlet more inclusive than other sites. Very much a work in progess.