Archive for June, 2011|Monthly archive page
CNN Creates Beer Douche War
Comments (1)CNN caused quite a stir today when they attempted to take on the topic of beer (Berrong on Beer – Going big on West Coast brews). While most of the article about the writer’s West Coast beer trip was innocent enough, they stirred the pot with comments such as, “Whatever it is, I say there’s no debating that the best region for beer in the United States is the Pacific or West Coast region”.
The comment board (600+ posts and counting) turned into a battle of beer douches from around the country, and plenty of preposterous comments. Here are some gems:
Marcus
The writer walked right over the fact that last year and this year, Asheville,NC beat out Portland Oregon and the entire U.S. as Beer City USA!
KCL
The author is 100% correct. I have lived on the east coast, deep south, and the west coast. I had not tried a real beer until I moved out west. My favorite is brewed out of Montana, Moose Drool!
John from Buffalo
Even though there are some outstanding beers on the West Coast, they suffer from sub-par water which is the key ingredient in making beer consistently good.
Karl
Grew up in the Seattle area and the best beer I have ever tasted (either in the Pacific NW or even throughout Europe) is from Mac&Jacks, a small brewery in Redmond, WA.
Carl
I from the west coast and now on the east coast I have tried them all and one place stands out most FULL SAIL BREWERY in Oregon.. Hands down the best If you have the time stop in there you won’t be disappointed….
JT
The west coast is easily among the best for beer (other than Europe), but the author leaves out a lot of the best breweries: Red Hook, Alemeda, Widmer, and Rogue.
Aaron
If you’d ever had an authentic craft beer from Wisconsin, you would never have even written this article. East coast…West coast… complete non-entities. Wisconsin is where good beer comes from, everthing else is a joke.
Lionsreplayman1
This guy goes to Portland and doesn’t mention McMinnimans?
T3chsupport
You go through Portland, and no Widmer?
And you missed Rock Bottom! They have a great restaurant, and great brews… and a sampler that will get you lit before you can determine a favorite!
Mike
How about Fat Tire from Denver? Best beer in the world!
Why Beveridge Place Pub is Awesome
I spent last night at Beveridge Place Plub in West Seattle for a friend’s birthday and was reminded that this place is frickin awesome. Here’s why.
Great atmosphere
BPP is the perfect place to enjoy a pint with friends. The walls and ceiling are adorned in beer signs, posters and banners. There are long oak tables, perfect for large groups, as well as areas with couches and comfy chairs. There are enough seats for everyone, creating a vibe so relaxed it feels like you could be in a friend’s house.
Local rotating taps
The taps are continually rotating, so there’s always something new on tap at BPP. Check out this list of local beers on tap last night:
- Two Beers Immersion Amber
- Baron Pilsner
- Schooner Exact Gallant Maiden Hefeweizen
- Hale’s Dublin Stout
- Manny’s Pale Ale
- Odin Freya’s Gold Kolsch
- Boundary Bay IPA
- Anacortes Red
- Anacortes IPA
- Odin’s Gift Ruby
- Georgetown Porter
- Fremont Summer Solstice
- Chuckanut Alt
- Lazy Boy Porter
- Lazy Boy Pilsner
- Lazy Boy Belgian Dubbel
In addition to the local taps, there were some other nice gems such as Deschutes The Dissident, Boulevard Tank 7 Saison, Racer 5 IPA, New Belgium Super Cru and Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu.
Worry-free tabs
Over the course of the night, we had about 20 people come and go at our group’s 2 large tables. This would usually create a nervous situation, with the hosts and other late-night party-goers figuring out how to cover a huge bill at the end of the night. The BPP set-up solves this problem. There is no table service, so each person just walks up to the bar when they are ready for their next beer. You just provide the bartender with your credit card and then you simply provide your last name when ordering additional beers. This means that everyone is on a separate tab and there are no complex math problems or covering for freeloading friends at the end of the night.
Bring in or have your favorite food delivered
BPP has no kitchen, but that doesn’t stop anyone from enjoying their favorite food. Outside food is allowed, and even encouraged, with laminated books of take out menus throughout BPP. The most popular is Zeek’s Pizza, located next door, which has some of the best pizza in the city.
Cheers Beveridge Place! You are truly awesome.
More Pics
Visit to Beervana’s HUB & HOTD
This past weekend I celebrated Father’s Day with a trip down to Portland and visits to two of my favorite PDX breweries: Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) and Hair of the Dog (HOTD). It was quite a treat.
HUB
The beer
There was a nice selection of 12 beers on tap, including two of my favorites, Ace of Spades Imperial IPA and Organic Seven Grain Survival Stout. (My other favorites, Secession Cascadian Dark Ale and Abominable Winter Ale are not currently in season.)
If you are looking to try several beers, I highly 
recommend their sampler tray of 10 beers (the 2 cask beers not included) for $8. Standouts for me were Ace of Spades, Survival Stout and Galactic Imperial Red.
The food
The menu has everything you could want from a brewpub — appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, salads, pizza and calzones. I split a medium pizza with my wife and it was fantastic.
Location and hours
2944 SE Powell Blvd
Portland OR 97202
Hours: 11am-midnight Friday and Saturday, 11 am-11pm Sunday-Thursday
More HUB Pics
HOTD
The beer
All the HOTD favorites were on tap: Blue Dot, Ruth, Fred, Adam and Doggie Claws, along with a special treat, Cherry Adam from the Wood. I went with 3 oz. tasters of Blue Dot, Fred, Doggie Claws and Cherry Adam from the Wood. If you’re not familiar with HOTD, their beers are incredibly delicious and strong as shit (10-12% ABV is the norm).
The food
Since I already ate at HUB, I didn’t have a chance to sample any food, but other revelers were munching on Beef Brisket, Chuck Norris Duck Wings, Mac & Cheese and salads. Everything looked pretty tasty.
Location and hours
61 SE Yamhill Street
Portland OR 97214
Hours: 2:00pm to 8:00pm Wednesday thru Sunday
More HOTD Pics
3 Signs of Beer Deprivation
You may have noticed that I fell off the planet following Seattle Beer Week. The day after beer week ended, I got a monster cold that ultimately turned into pneumonia. (Note: Seattle Beer Week has been vindicated from any involvement in this illness). This led to 21 straight days of no beer, a fate I wish upon no one, and allowed me to observe 3 debilitating effects of beer deprivation.
1) You hate everything (even more than normal)
I normally try to be positive, but I usually end up pointing out the bullshit in every silver lining. In the 21-day fast, these rants escalated and were applied to anything mildly annoying, whether it be lazy coworkers, worthless Urgent Care doctors, or track moms with no sense of proper track decorum. Without beer, everyone is really fucking annoying (although being sick and not having enough energy to exercise may have been factors).
2) Life is not as fun
Without beer, we take everything way too seriously. Having a beer is a great way to loosen up and focus on the fun things in life.
3) Extra cash
While sidelined with a cold, I literally bought no beer for 3 weeks, an approximate $20-$40 weekly savings. Who cares.
And for my first beer in 3 weeks, I made a special trip down to Beervana to Hopworks and Hair of the Dog. More to come on that trip later this week.
The universe has been restored. Cheers!
