The Beer Thread

[walk,on,by]

went to a place that had over fifty excellent only beers / ciders on tap and twenty something beers in bottles, and that is pretty good for our area.  fresh squeezed ipa on draft, and though tasty, not as good as it in the bottle, which I found odd.  second, and last beer of the day was a stone ruinten triple ipa.  damn fine cup of beer.

[sweetcell]

fresh squeezed ipa on draft, and though tasty, not as good as it in the bottle, which I found odd. 

that is kinda weird, but it could be a function of how the keg was treated, how old or carbonated it was, etc. 

second, and last beer of the day was a stone ruinten triple ipa.  damn fine cup of beer.

i'm still kinda on the fence about the new ruinten.  it's solid but not my favorite DIPA/TIPA. 

but i'm not so on the fence that i wouldn't finish a 32 oz half-growler to myself, like i may or may not have done last weekend.

[Space Freely]

They sure do gots some good beer out here in the PNW.

Breweries visited:

Portland:


Hair of the Dog:
Great atmosphere, tasty food, always solid high abv beers. But they don't seem to come up with much new stuff.
Favorite beer(s) tried: Adam


Cascade:
I was there four years ago and hated sours. I love sours now, but Cascade still really doesn't do it for me. Oh well, our server was very nice.
Favorite beer(s) tried: Cascade Rouge


Upright:
Love this place. Hard to find, in the basement of an office building. We ran into the one guy running the tasting room as he was in the hallway of the office bulding running errands. We asked for directions, he said "just follow the music." Not only was he pouring beer and selling bottles (all cash only), but he as also spinning the vinyl (old school reggae, some old N'awlins stuff, all excellent).
Favorite beer(s) tried: Upright #7, also their first attempt at an American Barleywine

Hopworks Urban Brewpub:
Surprisingly excellent food for a brewpub.
Favorite beer(s) tried: the standard IPA



Hood River:

Double Mountain:
Great pizza and very good beer. What not to love about that.
Favorite beer(s) tried: Devil's Kriek

Pfriem:
Everything was solid. Nice location down by the river.
Favorite beer(s) tried: the Belgian pale



Seattle:

Holy Mountain:
Most eclectic and interesting brewery in Seattle. Too bad it was 21+. At least I got to go.
Favorite beer(s) tried:Kiln and Cone Pale Ale. Ok, so there were some more interesting beers I tried at HM (the foudre aged Belgian pale comes to mind), but this one was one of the best pale ales I've ever had.

Reubens Brews:
I didn't make it here, but my wife did, and she didn't sound too impressed. Oh well.

Fremont Brewing:
Best beer spot to hand out in Seattle. Beers all good, though they had nothing special on draft.
Favorite beer(s) tried:Interurban IPA



Other:
Belmont Station (Portland) Best bottle shop, and maybe best draft list in Portland. So awesome that this place was literally around the corner from our airbnb.

Chuck's Hop Shop (Seattle, Cap Hill): Great bottle shop in Seattle

The Wurst Place (Seattle): Sausage place with vegan options, great draft list, slightly punk rock vibe.

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

Holy Mountain:
Most eclectic and interesting brewery in Seattle. Too bad it was 21+. At least I got to go.

it is funny that one would actually say a bar is 21+
but I have noticed that most breweries cater to the 35-45 year old male who likely has 1-2 kids
therefore they have cater to that audience by allowing kids and sometimes having playgrounds or things for them to do

20 years ago people wouldn't even consider bringing kids to a drinking establishment (at least that's my perception)

Sausage place with vegan options

blasphemy!

[Space Freely]

The kid thing was interesting. I'm not sure what the laws were. But in Portland, it all seemed to be at the discretion of the establishment. Some let kids in all the time, some not at all, some had signs fro minors only at certain hours.

I thought I read that you had to at least serve food in order for minors to be present, but at least for Upright, that was not the case.

There were several breweries (and restaurants) I didn't even bother with, because my homework had already indicated "no kids at any time". But the Seattle portion of the trip was business, so i went with a work colleague to Holy Mountain and left the family behind.

[Space Freely]

I'm a bit beered out right now, but somebody should go to this:

http://www.eatyourpizza.com/events/founders-tap-takeover-815-georgetown

CBS! KBS!

[grateful]

WOW!

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

So made it to Pizzeria Paradiso for the founders tap takeover
riding 10 miles when it was about 95 might not have been the best pregame for drinking some heavy beers

But I finally had the KBS!

It was good, looked like a shot of espresso in the glass.
Was I floored, not really?  It had  a lot of character and I am loving dark beers lately, but I don't get all the hub-bub. I had great choco/coffee taste, was very smooth to drink, but I thought you could really taste the alcohol.
 
In retrospect, probably should have gone for the 2014, but I got the 2105

The Backwoods and the rye were both very good.

Wish I could have stayed for a few more flights, but it was not meant to be

[Space Freely]

What about the CBS?

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

There were only three other Founders beers on the list in my photo
The RedRye and the KBS14 and KBS15.  I didn't see or ask about the CBS

[Yada]

There were only three other Founders beers on the list in my photo
The RedRye and the KBS14 and KBS15.  I didn't see or ask about the CBS

Oooof... that was the whole reason to attend that event, sir.

[Space Freely]

Had a 32 oz growler of this yesterday. Best beer I've had by Sam Adams. Ever.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/samuel-adams-kosmic-mother-funk-kmf-grand-cru/224151/

[sweetcell]

There were only three other Founders beers on the list in my photo
The RedRye and the KBS14 and KBS15.  I didn't see or ask about the CBS

Oooof... that was the whole reason to attend that event, sir.

seriously.  had i been able to make that event, i would have had only CBS (assuming that the first glass lived up to the hype).

instead, i stayed home on saturday and brewed for the second day in a row.  i now have an IPA*, two saisons and a quad/belgian dark strong happily bubbling away in the basement.  still... CBS.  t'was a tough call.  that beer is my white whale.

*IPA was made with HBC-438 hops, a new experimental variety that is being released to homebrewers only (no craft breweries got this hop, this year, except for russian river that brewed a beer for the conference).  smelled amazing in the kettle!

Had a 32 oz growler of this yesterday. Best beer I've had by Sam Adams. Ever.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/samuel-adams-kosmic-mother-funk-kmf-grand-cru/224151/

i've been wanting to try that one.  a while back the beer buyer at my WF said that he's sitting on a keg and will release it at some point.

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

well dang....it wasn't on the list
I went on Sunday, possibly it was sold out and them made a new menu for Sunday??

I kept hearing all this talk about KBS, so thought that was the one to go for.
such a n00b

[Yada]

There were only three other Founders beers on the list in my photo
The RedRye and the KBS14 and KBS15.  I didn't see or ask about the CBS

Oooof... that was the whole reason to attend that event, sir.

seriously.  had i been able to make that event, i would have had only CBS (assuming that the first glass lived up to the hype).

instead, i stayed home on saturday and brewed for the second day in a row.  i now have an IPA*, two saisons and a quad/belgian dark strong happily bubbling away in the basement.  still... CBS.  t'was a tough call.  that beer is my white whale.

*IPA was made with HBC-438 hops, a new experimental variety that is being released to homebrewers only (no craft breweries got this hop, this year, except for russian river that brewed a beer for the conference).  smelled amazing in the kettle!

Had a 32 oz growler of this yesterday. Best beer I've had by Sam Adams. Ever.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/samuel-adams-kosmic-mother-funk-kmf-grand-cru/224151/

i've been wanting to try that one.  a while back the beer buyer at my WF said that he's sitting on a keg and will release it at some point.

Oh... it lives up to the hype. I've been lucky to have roughly 50oz of it or so this year and it leaves you wanting more! I recommend not drinking it side by side to KBS as it blows it out of the water.