Seattle Beer Week’s Last Call
While I wasn't able to attend any of the other great events that happened last week as part of Seattle Beer Week, I did manage to make the trip from Portland on Sunday for Seattle Beer Week's Last Call event. Twenty-two Washington microbreweries were represented at the event and each had one or two beers - most of which were unique seasonals or one-off brews - available for tasting. I had pretty high expectations for the day. Unfortunately, those expectations went unmet.
The Last Call event was held at the Hale's Ales Palladium, which is really just a fancy name for Hale's Ales' warehouse. While the warehouse offered us shelter as rain threatened outside, the space was dark, quiet, and surprisingly empty. We showed up at 1:00pm, an hour after the event started, thinking we would let the initial rush of people get in the door before we lined up for a beer. I don't think that rush ever happened. Instead, we walked right in and found ourselves looking over our beer options with plenty of room to walk around and check things out with ease.
I started the afternoon with the beer that intrigued me most: Port Townsend Luciferous Belgian Whiskey Sour. The story behind the beer is as interesting as the name. Luciferous apparently began a couple years ago as a hoppy red ale with which the brewers weren't entirely satisfied. Instead of releasing it or dumping it, Brettanomyces, Saccharomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus were added and the beer was left to ferment in a basement where temperatures were left uncontrolled. After two years, the beer spent five months in a bourbon barrel before being served this weekend. The beer was a slightly hazy brown color, mildly sour, crisp with a dry finish. While I detected some bourbon in the background, the whiskey and sour flavors weren't as pronounced as I had hoped.
Enjoying the Outdoors (and beer) in Hood River
My dad was in town this past weekend, so we decided to get out of town on Saturday and head out to Hood River. With clouds and rain looming over us as we headed out of Portland, we were lucky enough to leave the gray behind us as we drove east. We were greeted in Hood River with temperatures in the mid-60s and partly sunny skies. It wasn't long before the sun was shining and we went in search of someplace where we could enjoy a beer outside.
In recent trips to Hood River, I learned that both Full Sail and Everybody's Brewing (located just across the Columbia River in White Salmon, WA) have outdoor decks. But because it was earlier in the season, neither was open during our previous visits. On Saturday we decided to check them out. I highly recommend both of them; I'm not sure there's a better place in the area to enjoy good beers and phenomenal views while soaking up the sun.
For those making the trip, I'd like to offer a couple random notes. First, Full Sail's pint glasses are some of the best I've seen. The shape and quality are great, but equally as important, they're marked with a clear fill line that reads: A FULL PINT, and the fill line is about an inch from the lip of the glass. Second, Everybody's has some of the best brewpub food I've had. We've eaten there twice and the food was great both times.
Naked City & Elysian Fields: Two Worthwhile Stops in Seattle
In a quick trip to Seattle last week, I was able to stop by two brewpubs I had never been to before: Naked City and Elysian Fields. I had a great experience at both and would consider them to be worthwhile stops when in Seattle.
Naked City Brewery and Taphouse
Naked City is located in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle, just northwest of Green Lake. While it's a few miles north of downtown Seattle, it's worth the trip. I was impressed by the number and variety of beers on tap: 24 total beers on tap - four of which were brewed by Naked City; the remaining 20 made up a pretty impressive list of guest taps.
Schooner Exact 5 Grid & Naked City Spark in the Dark
Beer Brawl III at Concordia Ale House
Earlier this week, we met some friends at Concordia Ale House to participate in Beer Brawl III, a blind tasting of beers in different styles from Washington, Oregon and California, where participants submit votes for their favorites in each category. The categories included: Pale Ale, IPA, Stout, and Brewer's Choice; three beers were offered in each category.
The best part about blind tastings is drinking a beer without knowing anything about it, other than its category in this case. While I might be surprised when the beers are revealed next week, I was generally underwhelmed by the beers included in this year's contest. At times, I felt like we were trying to pick the best of the worst in a category; or, choosing a winner through process of elimination.
While we didn't like all the beers, we had a great time trying the beers and talking about them. My favorite beer of the twelve was beer #7, one of the stouts. My other votes went to: #10 for Brewer's Choice; #1 for Pale Ale, and #6 for IPA.
Everybody’s Brewing – White Salmon, WA
We had a beer loving friend in town from Chicago this weekend, and decided to venture outside of Portland to check out some breweries that we've been hearing about lately. Everybody's Brewing in White Salmon, Washington was one of those stops.
Just over the river from Hood River, White Salmon is about an hour drive from Portland. With this relatively new brewery (they've been open for a year and a half) in the area, you can find a great variety of beers from some good microbreweries in and around Hood River. Everybody's is certainly worth the trip; if you're headed out to the area, I'd also recommend making time for Double Mountain and Full Sail.
