As I said a few weeks ago, I traveled out to Oregon over the weekend to visit my brother who lives in Astoria, Oregon. Having never
gone to visit my brother on the west coast, I was really excited to get out to the west for a much-needed visit. I’ve only been as far as Colorado before, and I wasn’t able to drink at that time, so I was just as excited to finally get some of these west coast brews I can’t find back east. Ironically, I’ve actually had and enjoyed quite a few beers from Oregon, but I quickly found out I hadn’t really had anything yet.
We got into Portland around 8 PM their time. That of course meant it was already feeling like 11 PM our time. I’m a night owl so it wasn’t a big deal for me, but my wife was certainly starting to hit the sleepy wall. Since we were most likely heading back to Astoria pretty quickly, we decided to catch dinner in Portland before our hour and a half trek back. Lacking imagination, we tried to head over to Rogue for something to eat and drink. For some reason they were painting the place that night, so we had to find another 
place to go. They recommended we head over to Cassidy’s. Cassidy’s was alright on the beer realm, but it was great for food. I had Sleigh’r Dark Double Alt from Ninkasi and Working Girl Porter from Fort George Brewing. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t find either of these breweries over on the east coast, but I am actually quite familiar with both of them. Therefore, I was really looking forward to getting something from some breweries I hadn’t had.
The next day we were off in the Astoria area and visiting some of the places around him. We first headed over to see the Pacific Ocean in Seaside Oregon first. My brother informed me of a new brewery over there called Seaside Brewing Co. Of course I had to go in! While there I had some great brews. Their imperial stout Black Dynamite was actually being brewed homebrew style right as you walked in the front door. I of course had to have that one first. Both Black Dynamite and their Lockup IPA were quite good. If I lived over there I’d be there all the time. While there I noticed a pamphlet for something called the North Coast Craft Beer Trail.
Evidently, while on the trail, you move up and down the Astoria area trying out different bars. There are 11 bars on the list, and if you go to 9 of them, you get a commemorative glass for your efforts. Of course a glass may not seem like a big deal, but it gave me a goal to shoot for. Not all of the bars were the best, but I had a lot of good beers. Some of the beer highlights from the trail were the Black Bear XX from Alameda Brewing, Double Daddy Imperial IPA from Speakeasy Ales, the Roguenbier Rye from Rogue, and the Polish’s Black Walnut Stout from Fort George Brewing.
One of the biggest beer activities from the weekend was visiting Fort George Brewery’s Dark Arts Fest. When I first heard about it I 
made fun of my brother for dragging me to a witchcraft festival. Thankfully, I found out that instead it was a big stout festival featuring 40 different stouts from the Oregon area. I was actually quite impressed by the way it ran. They had different areas in their restaurant, on their porch, in their tasting room, in a performance area, and in the actual brewery for tasting of different beers. They also managed to get some crazy big and amazing beers in as well. Here are, once again, some of the highlights. The Abyss from Deschutes, Super Nebula from Block 15 (aged in Pappy Van Winkle Barrels), Suge Knite from Boneyard (14%), and Spiced Old Baba Yaga from Bear Republic. Fort George also put together 10 or so great stouts and barrel aged stouts for the event. It was certainly one of the highlights from the trip.
One of my other favorite things to do while in a different area is go bottle hunting. Thankfully one of the stops on the craft 
beer trail was at a bottle shop you could also drink at. While there I purchased a Vertical Epic 2008 from Stone Brewing, Fred from Hair of the Dog, and Consecration from Russian River. The man running the store was striking up some good conversation, so I asked about a bottle of Pliny the Elder. Thank goodness I asked because he walked in the back and brought one right out for me. Later in the week we found another shop run by a much less knowledgeable, but very nice, older woman. Perusing around I found a bottle of Abyss and The Dissident from Deschutes. Knowing I had to make a choice, I decided to go Dissident because I already have a bottle of 2012 Abyss.
Finally, after a few days of bumming around Astoria, we headed back to the big city of Portland. My big goal while there was a to
hit up a few breweries I couldn’t find back home. My wife was controlling the lunch decision, so I brought up a bunch of different menus from brewpubs located in Portland. She ultimately landed on Deschutes which meant I had to taste drive just about everything they had to offer. In fact, I didn’t drink anything more than a 3 oz pour the entire day. On the menu Deschutes did have a collaboration with Hair of the Dog called Collage. I wanted to taste it, but it only came in bottles, so I had to buy one for the ride home too. Finally, later that night, we ended up at Hair of the Dog for a tasting of the 7 beers they had available. I enjoyed just about everything I had, but I loved the Fred, Adam, Doggie Claws, and Otto from the wood. Certainly made me wish I could get a few more of their things around here.
Overall I had about 45 different beers over the course of the 5 days I was in Oregon. Over half of them came in 3 oz tastings, but it helped me realize I had only touched on the tip of the craft beer scene in Oregon. It was a great trip, and I hope to go visit my brother at his next location: Seattle.
sharing it with your friends. I’ve certainly been placed in the situation where you’re a little disappointed that the people you’re sharing with don’t quite appreciate it as much as you do. But, if you put the right people together in the same place, it can be a lot of fun. Saturday night frequent beer reviewer guest John and I traveled over to our friend Gavin’s house for a night full of shared beer and watching two grown men try to punch each other in the face until one of them stops. Okay, that makes it sound like I don’t really like watching the UFC. I actually really enjoy watching the fights, so I knew it was going to be a good night.
4. Pere Jacques – Goose Island Beer Co
of us. It was hard to put anything up over the bold booze and complex flavors packed into the little 12 oz bottle. I’m excited I have a four pack to age for a few years. Hardywood’s Gingerbread Stout was second on everyone’s list as well. Having just consumed Sam Adam’s version the day before, I was most excited for this beer. It was an incredibly complex milk stout that really tasted like gingerbread. My biggest problem with Sam Adams was that it lacked stout quality and instead tasted like a weak pumpkin beer. This one was all stout and all gingerbread. Allowing it to warm only increased its impressiveness. The beer to round out the top three wasn’t all that surprising either. Founders Brewing Co – Bolt Cutter rounded out the top three favorites on all lists. At 15 % Abv, it figured to be a huge hit to the head barleywine. Instead, it didn’t pack the punch we thought it would, and it had some nice hops to help keep the beer cleaner than expected. There were some change-ups in the lists from here on out; however, most of the beers in the middle portion all stayed in the middle. They simply moved up or down a place or two.
These were my beers that had the low marks. Third to last came Saint Botolph’s Town – Pretty Things Brewery. This one was the worst for Gavin and didn’t make it into the bottom for John. I personally did like it, but I just thought everything else above it was better. I have a feeling it may have just come in a little too standard in comparison to the rest of the beers on the list. The second least favorite for me was a little bit of a surprise: La Bk Stout - Birrifcio L’Olmaia. This was a stout from Italy that had been aged in wine barrels. We weren’t really sure what it would be like, but it was a really big surprise. There was no stout flavor to it at all, and it ended up tasting like a big sour beer instead. I’m not a big fan of sours, so I actually found this one a little tough to get through. It made it into the bottom three for all of us. The big loser of the group for me was the Wee Heavy from Iron Hill Brewery. I really like wee heavy beers, but this had some strange sweet fruit quality to it that I wasn’t feeling. It was a strange addition to a style I really like, and I just couldn’t hang with it. It was bottom two for John and I, but Gavin decided the Botolph was the worst beer of the night. I disagree!
