Stone: Double Bastard 2007 Release

Heavy, thick, good bite, heavy hop presence, and huge. Malty taste with little dark malts, it had a bit of spicy tang about it. Might be more of a super ESB than anything. Ya, that's where I'd put it. I had been saving this for, well, a year. Tonight for some reason the mood struck me and it needed to be drank. For a medium colored beer this one sure packs a whalop at 10% which contributes to some of the spiciness. If you ever find one of the limited release bottles (typically spring or fall?) try it out. But be prepared for a bottle that you might not finish all at once. Results may vary being I've had this one for a year. Fear not, though it may be my last 22oz bottle, I still have a 3L (thats right) 2007 Release Double Bastard on my fridge. Booya!

Dragonstooth Stout

I was in the mood for a stout last night, hadn't had one in quite awhile. The new Dragonstooth stout lable caught my eye and I know it to be a good stout so I picked it up. Some of Elysian's beers seem to taste simple, but it works - in a strait to the point you know I'm a good beer sort of way. Roasty coffee, chocholate malts, full body yep its got everything I was looking for in a stout. I'm keeping one of these on standby for my next stout craving.

Brewers by the bay, drinking for charity!

Portland bbrew festival

Typo's abbound. Beware. One thumb email'ing.

Dicks brewery: ipa - good, overly dry hopped, not sweet. That's good. 90ibu

grand teton brewery: bitch creek esb - choclaty, medium body, dark color, I would brew my esb more like this. get yours!

Rogue beer crust pizza: lol, good stuff. Needs more toppings. Tomato sauce with cheese. Blah. It worked.

Lost Coast: Great white - um. Better than pbr? Its lagerish. Very light. No flavor in either the hop or malt variety. Still, better than most american lagers? I think there are some better. One in our crew got this and I tried it, I'm not gonna waste my tickets on this.

stone: levitation ale - mmmm. I like stone. This is more of a light bodied IPA. Its rated at half the IBU as Dicks IPa. What's going on here? Is BrewMunkey_A correct in his IBU rating? It is ppssible. This is a decent IPa. I recommend it. Better than Dicks? I'd say its on par.

Summit Brewery: Extra Pale Ale - hey, not a bad ale. Its got decemt flavor, mediaum/dark body
, good body. I like for what it is

BM_1 OUT.

Portland brew crawl. Night 1

Its a late start to a long weekend. Twighlight Room. Appearantly started in 1969, not a bad place. Impressive bartender, nice pounded copper bar, Drop top amber, deschutes porter and pale ale, lagunitas, bridgeport, rogue dead guy, New belgium Fat tire, and a handfull of lagers. They keep the fryers going till late. Friendly staff. 3-4 pool tables, video golf, well lit. If your around, stop by!

Deschutes: Black Butte Porter

Not to be confused with the XX we have had here previously, this is the more frequently brewed variety. I happened to have a few in the fridge so I figured I'd do a near back to back comparison.

This brew has half the alcohol and weight of the XX. VERY similar in taste though it does lack the coffee burbon tones. I consider this light for a porter with a slight dry finish. A slight malty flavor is present while the chocolate and black malts take a stand back from being overbearing. Very drinkable considering some of the very chaulky porters I've had. If its on tap be sure to try it.

Deschutes: Black Butte XX

This is a thick beer! It had been in the fridge for a while now so it was cold. Poured thick, little carbonation. Reminescent of their standard Black Butte but with a much higher, pronounced, biting, alcohol presence and thick body. They boast of coffee bean and bourbon barrels, both of which are mixed deep in its syrap consistency but neither are over dominant. At $10/bottle I would prefer an imperial porter over this but this is a decent beer none-the-less. I enjoyed it and appreciated the complex flavors. Make your friend buy one and then snag a glass!

Rodenbach Grand Cru

I appologize for the late reviews...

A flemish sour ale, sounds weird - I think I'm going to have to try it!

Surprisingly good, very refreshing in an IPA lemondade sort of way. Smells like some kind of sweet tangy fruit, like sweet grapfruit jucie with some kind of oaky tone. The first sip gives you a little bit of a sour pucker but finishes pretty smooth. Further sips get smoother, with bitterness building back up toward the bottom of the glass. Good sitting around in the sun with friends beer, but at $10 a bottle I don't know if I'm going to be getting more bottles.

Interesting and definatly something different without going too overboard - give it a try if you have the chance.

Saison

http://www.brasserie-dupont.com/dupont/

Crisp and light with a dry finish. Huge head the just wouldn't go away. Definatly unfiltered, looks like a Hefeweizen. Don't remember much of a smell. Taste was good, but no real pronounced tastes. Good medium body, easy drinking beer, I'd put this beer a little above average.

I would like to try more saison's - this one didn't particularly impress me. I was told it was more towards the lower end of what this brewery offers, so i'm on the lookout for one of their higher end beers!

Deschutes, Oaked Black Butte Porter

Good beer, but overpriced in my opinion. It's normal Black Butte Porter blended with 20% oaked Black Butte Porter. End result tastes like a thicker sweeter Black Butte Porter.

For $10, between this and The Abyss, hands down The Abyss would be my choice.

However, Deschutes if you're listening, I would love to try the unblended oaked porter...

'08 Anniversary Ale

Sierra Nevada's latests anniversary ale tastes like chewing on a whole cascade hop (yes I know what that tastes like...).

Brewers By the Bay: Bellingham WA

I have been having troubles finding links and info for this event so I will be posting my own info that should easily be crawled by google. There does not appear to be any official websites for this event yet this is their second event held.

What: Pacific Northwest Beer tasting event

When: July 27th, 2008

Where: Depot Market Square (across from Boundary Bay Brewery in Bham WA)

Who:
http://www.stonebrew.com/events/index.php
http://gruvr.com/show/1352226/ (I don't know who this guy is)
http://www.georgetownbeer.com/events/index.html

Tickets: $25 each, call Glendine Barley of the Bellingham Bay Rotary at (360) 371-4027.

Lindemans Cuvée René Grand Cru

http://www.lindemans.be/

I tried the one on the right on the forth of July. It's a lambic that’s not blended like most of the other Lindemans products you find at the store. Thanks to Jeff at Du Jour Bistro (http://www.thevinesdujour.com/) for getting me a bottle.

First off, I'd been wanting to try a lambic for quite awhile. I'd had a Flemish Sour Ale I really liked and thought a lambic would be a lot like that. So, before I even tried it, I wanted to like it.

Ok, open the bottle, smells different more like a vinegary winey kinda smell. Pours like a normal beer, looks like an unfiltered light amber. Nothing to out of the ordinary yet… My first sip was… was… just ungodly bitter. Wow, did I just lick a grapefruit? Ok, I still want to like this beer, sip #2 – Its like that first taste of a warhead candy, just pucker your mouth bitterness that doesn’t go away. I put the beer down for a little while, maybe it needs to “breath” like a good wine… Nope. Still wickedly bitter, my mouth now feels like I’m dehydrated and have a serious case of cotton mouth.

Nobody else tried it and I just couldn’t drink it. I still feel a little bad about having to throw a beer that took someone so much time to make. Maybe I’ll try another one someday, but until then pure lambic beers are not for me.

What a sunset looks like through the eyes of a Munkey EYE.p.a.