Tomorrow we head back to AZ, home, and triple-digit weather…hopefully the monsoon season has started too so that things will REALLY suck…but today was a great Northwest day, tied together, as I suspect most great Northwest days are, with beer. I’ll skip the travelogue stuff (our trip to the Portland zoo, for example) and go right to the cerveza.
Stop # 1 was Lucky Lab Brewing Company. The place is semi-famous for its doggie-themed pub sign and frickin’ good chicken (or, if you insist, veggie) bento. Their commitment to canines run deep, as dogs are always welcome on their patio, and once a year they sponsor a huge Dog Wash. I started out with their Super Dog, a “Norhtwest IPA” (which our server pointed out was more-or-less a redundant thing to say), seved on nitro. Nitro and cask conditioning seem to be pretty big around here, and I decided I’d take advantage of that to try some new experiences. In this case it was a pretty good call, as the tiny creamy bubbles took some of the carbonation bite out of the IPA and let the (presumably) Cascade hops really do a number on my tongue. I think nitro/cask is a great way to enjoy an IPA. My second choice was an Anchor Steam clone on cask. I’ll just say this: cellar temperature steam beer isn’t a great idea…brewers out there, don’t put your California Common beers on cask: it’s just not flattering.
Next we stopped by Roots Brewing Company. Besides their Rastafarian theme, their hook is that they are totally organic, and that’s all well and good. But two of their beers stole my heart, different styles altogether, but sharing one thing in common: neither used hops, AT ALL, in their brewing. One was a heather ale, using tips of heather (a hardy, northern european plant), in a style which claims to have roots back 4000 years. The beer was definitely that: beer, but with a more delicate counter-balance to the malt. Not your citrus/grassy thing, more of an herbal/sweet tea thing. Way drinkable. The other was even more remarkable: a kölsch brewed with gruit, an amalgam of plants like chamomile and lavender, in place of hops. Gruit predates hops in brewing and was used for hundreds of years in some parts of the world. I can see why: this stuff kicked ass. It was light in color and midrange in alcohol, but its flavor was just fantastic, almost too weird, complex, and new to describe. I gotta say, lavender really adds something to beer, believe it or not…
Then it was off to New Old Lompoc. The name suggests a complex history, and there is one, but I’m not knowledgable enough to sort it out. The beer I had there was Lompoc… something, something…it was late in the day…but its initials are LSD. It was an “American strong ale” served–you guessed it–on nitro. Basically we’re talking Arrogant Bastard clone here, and a pretty good one too. The teeny nitro bubbles added a new dimension and, like the IPA mentioned earlier, let other tastes emerge that might otherwise be scoured away by CO2. I could get sick of nitro, as it’s a titch “trendy” (apparently), but it’s a great way to put a new spin on things every now and then.
Our last stop was just next door, Pix Patisserie. Boutique chocolate. Boutique beer. You do the math. I had a little moussy crunchy confection served with a slice of triple creme brie called a “Royale with Cheese.” Yes, they knew what they were saying, as the “official” description of the dish implies that you get a Burger King crown with your chocolate (you don’t). They were showing Hitchcock’s “The Birds” on one wall as my friends, family and I stuffed our faces with chocolate and (for the adults) beer. I washed my Royale down with some Hair of the Dog Adam (see Speaking of Beer #5), which turns out to be an excellent companion to chocolate.
Crap. That’s a lot of beer and stuff. I’ve skipped tons: our outing to Sudwerk brewery in Davis CA, my pint of Terminal Gravity SDS (stands for “San Diego Sucks”–take that Stone!), my trip to Bridgeport Alehouse, my shopping trip to Belmont Station, our dinner of grilled salmon and sweet corn in Beth and Jason’s backyard while we soaked up the Tuck’s Farmer’s Daughter and Trippel…wow, this was great.
I got lots of stuff recorded so keep your ears tuned to the podcast as I dribble it out for the next six weeks or so…just about until we take our trip to Philadelphia. I love my job.
Oh wait…I don’t get paid for this….
Folks have been sending in beer-related links like crazy lately, so I thought I’d round some up.
The waning days of the year are crammed full of activity for most folks, and we here at Cervesa Locution Studios are no exception. As a result, the release schedule of the podcast will alter slightly over the next few weeks. Show #19 will come out in about a week, and it will center around some classic holiday sippin’. Show #20 will be released three weeks after that, between Christmas and New Year’s, and cross paths with the “cocktail” crowd in time for the Big Ball Drop. Two weeks after that, we’ll be back on the regular schedule, with great brews, interviews, recipes, info and beery fun coming your way on a bi-weekly basis. Look for special guest contributions, a new Interbeer segment, and lots and LOTS of Speaking of Beer in 2007!
