Kind of a whimsical post to commemorate Groundhog Day today. The groundhog saw his shadow, so six more weeks of winter. Bust out the barleywines and winter warmers! Or, check out Carolina Brewing Company: they brew a different seasonal Groundhog Day beer each year. From their brews page: Since our … Continue reading

Tonight’s beer was a Belgian ale—a "Quadrupel", specifically, which is like a Dubbel or a Tripel, only stronger: Trappistes Rochefort 10 (no particular site that I can find, sorry). The Quadrupel tag is well-earned: this beer is an amazing 11.3% alcohol by volume! It’s quite good, too. It’s this type … Continue reading

Had Dogfish Head‘s unusual Aprihop last night. It was pretty good. The apricot is there, but understated… not an overly fruity beer, but nowhere near as awful as some fruit beers out there that also aren’t overly fruity. I’ll name some names in a moment. First, my notes. Appearance: Poured … Continue reading

FestiveAle—another fine and slightly unusual beer from Rogue. Why unusual? It’s a Saison style beer brewed with, among other things, Grains of Paradise (which is actually a spice from West Africe similar to cardamom), myrtle leaves, bitter orange peel, and ginger root. I think I can honestly say I’ve never … Continue reading

Yes, it’s already been all over the internet, but I just had to do it too: Asahi Breweries has designed a robot beer refrigerator that will open a can of beer and pour a perfect glass every time. They’re planning on giving 5000 of these away… in Japan only. To … Continue reading

Tonight I opened up the bottle of India Pelican Ale (from Pelican Pub & Brewery) that I found at the Newport Avenue Market here in Bend. That’s a find, actually, because I’d never seen any Pelican brews anywhere outside of the Oregon Coast. The Pelican is one of my favorite … Continue reading

I had this beer last night, actually, but didn’t get around to writing about it yet: Melbourn Brothers Strawberry. I found it at Ray’s Food Place on Bend’s west side, hadn’t heard of it before. It turned out to be quite good, very much like a lambic—Melbourn’s relies on spontaneous … Continue reading

Tonight I got to drink a pint of Poor Richard’s Ale at the Bend Brewing Company, although there’s a caveat: the place was packed, so it was standing-room only in the bar, thus I didn’t get to really do a proper tasting. It was pretty good, despite that. Reminds me … Continue reading

I highlighted Anderson Valley‘s Winter Solstice when I was doing the Beer Advent Calendar last month, and tonight I tried a bottle of it myself. I’m glad I did! It’s an excellent beer. My notes: Appearance: Poured clear, a bronzed-copper/amber-brown color. Two fingers of creamy beige head dissipated slowly. Nice … Continue reading

Over on Slashfood Sarah Gim has blogged about "Learning to Drink Beer". I had to comment, of course, but first, a review of the beers she tried: Tecate and Corona: needs lime, otherwise just "okay." Samuel Adams: bitter, had to add lime. Pilsner-Urquell: skunky. Becoming suspicious of green bottles. Miller … Continue reading