Well shit, looks like I missed 2 months.  Once upon a time, March 30th if you will, I wrote a recap of all the 2012 “What are you Drinking Tonight?” posts, mapping out anything that had been consumed by our fellow readers in the prior 3 months.  Since that time, not a single new “What are you Drinking Tonight?” post went up.  So for that I say – Whoops, my bad.  I’ve still been drinking though, I can promise you that.  Mostly I’ve gone with a Palate Wrecker, then a Deviant Dale’s, then probably back to a Palate Wrecker.  Throw in about a thousand Sierra Pale Ale cans and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 2 months.  And you know what?  I can almost guarantee you that’s my lineup for tonight.  Nothing outlandish or rare, I know, but this is my idea of heaven.  Those beers, and fish tacos – That is heaven my friends.

Enough about me though…

What are you drinking tonight?

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I feel it’s only polite to respond to free beer with a quick review.  After all, someone clearly went out of their way to pack up said free beer and ship it to a state that does not look kindly on those that send alcohol across its lines (Welcome to Massachusetts, land of the free and home of the taxed).  Also, this isn’t the first review I’ve done on Newcastle, having put up a post on their Brown Ale Draught Keg back when Aleheads was still in its infancy.  I like Newcastle Brown Ale.  Certainly not a great beer and way outside the scope of “Craft”, but it tastes good and I like it.  Nuff’ said.  I’m interested to see what Newcastle Summer Ale has in store.

As you can see, the Newcastle Summer Ale came to my home in a burnished, fibrous box.  This box was bound with translucent tape, stretching not only around the equator but spread evenly across any evident opening that may have been exposed to the elements.  A nice touch.  A subtle font was chosen for the coding of the address, swollen where needed and reduced when such ostentatious lettering would seem out of place.  Overall, a fine package indeed.

A quick swipe of the blade revealed the captive bounty.  What could it be?  Why, twas’ free beer.  Free beer, and a whole lotta bubble wrap.  When I arrived home earlier that day and shook the box on the doorstep, as anyone would when they find something on their stoop, I took notice of how “Airy” the box felt.  I also noticed a defined rattling.  Not always a good sign when expecting a shipment of beer.   My fears were quickly quelled not only when I felt a dry box on the exterior but also when I saw this glorious wrapping of bubbles.  I’ve shipped beer many times myself and my thought has always been to pack everything in so tightly that no beer would have a chance to move around.  If there’s nothing to bump into, I thought, then nothing could break.  The interior of the shipment in front of me was a little different.  A box that could have fit a twelve-pack, yet only a small orb lay in the middle with space a-plenty around each and every corner.  Nicely done.

And the reveal?  As expected, two 12 oz. bottles of Newcastle’s newest Summer Ale.  Also, not pictured, is a press release explaining just what it is that I’ve been sent.  Before I get into that, let me tell you this.  I find that the term “Summer Ale”, when used in the brewing industry, is an intentionally vague phrase used by the marketer to mask the contents of the bottle.  Could be anything in the bottle, any style really, but the consumer just has to assume that’s it’s  a lighter beer made to be enjoyed in the Summer months.  Sticking with that philosophy, the press release simply states the obvious – for “When it’s hot outside”.  Can’t really argue with that.  While it certainly doesn’t describe anything about what style the Newcastle Summer Ale fits into, they at least tell you what the intent of the beer is.  If it’s hot outside, drink it.  Vague, but honest.

Now, as we all know, Newcastle has taken on a recent commitment to no bollocks.  Seriously, no bollocks at all.  I’m assuming that’s pretty bad-ass.  Just look at the Newcastle Summer Ale label pictured on the left.  You’ve got muted colors, a star, some form of clear liquid hidden behind the scene – No bollocks, just Summer beer for when it’s hot outside.  At least that’s what they tell me.  Well, let’s pop one of these babies open and see for ourselves just what Newcastle has gotten into for the Summer season.  After all, it is hot outside, and they tell me that this beer should fit the bill.

So here’s the tasting note.  If you are a gentleman or fine lady who enjoys a crisp Heineken Light on a warm Summer’s eve, then you will, without a doubt, enjoy the hell out of Newcastle Summer Ale.  This is your beer my friend.  I want you to take that 12-pack of Heineken Light out of your cart, march right up to the besmocked shopkeep, and you tell him – “Good sir, exchange my package for some delicious Newcastle Summer Ale, for my thirst for Heineken Light is no more!”  The shopkeep will understand, as the Newcastle Summer Ale will be around for a limited time only.  Heineken Light is forever, man.

And a kind thank you to the fine marketing team that was nice enough to send me free beer.  If you need me, I’ll be enjoying a tall glass of Green Flash Palate Wrecker as that’s more my speed.  It’s not free, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

I was making the same face as the guy on the right the morning after drinking a half-gallon of this beer.

Sure, I COULD do a standard tasting note on the Founders’ Better Half, but really, how interesting is that going to be? It was rich, complex, delicious…blah blah blah. I mean, it’s a goddamn old ale aged in goddamn bourbon-barrels which were used to store goddamn maple syrup and it’s made by goddamn Founders. What would you expect? It’s amazing.

So instead, I’m going to do a tasting note on my hangover the next day. It was epic. It was surreal. It felt, as Muhammad Ali once said about fighting Joe Frazier, like the “closest thing to dying that I know of.” Let’s set the scene shall we…

Wifey and I are planning a cook-out with some neighbors so I run out to get some beers. No surprises there…everyone involved in the event knows that I’m a pompous Alehead, so clearly the beer procurement will be my responsibility. I head to the package store and stock up on Green Flash Palate Wrecker for myself, Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy for Wifey, some Good People Snake Handler for everyone, and some Anderson Valley Summer Solstice and a few lambics for my neighbor’s wife who is just starting to get into craft beer.*

*Sneer all you want, but if you want to get someone hooked on craft beer, mix up a half a Framboise lambic with half a cream soda-esque bottle of Summer Solstice and watch their eyes light up.

As I was set to check out, the little demon that lives in my brain (I call him Catch) reminded me that I hadn’t scoped out the draft lines yet. The package store in question has about 50 taps available for growler fills. It’s usually just the same stuff they have in bottles and since I wanted a little variety that evening, I was going to skip it. But the demon persisted, so I perused the list. Nothing really jumped out to me until I noticed the words “Founders”, “Better” and “Half.*

*In that order.

For those in the dark, the Better Half is the third offering in Founders’ Backstage Series that was made famous by the wildly popular Canadian Breakfast Stout. It’s their delicious Old Curmudgeon (a tasty old ale) aged in bourbon barrels that were formerly used to store Michigan maple syrup. The resulting elixir is a 12% ABV beast, redolent of maple syrup, molasses and booze.

It’s also very rare. Bottles of the Better Half are very hard to come by and, as far as I knew, Alabama only got one keg of it (showcased at the J. Clyde a few months back and drained very soon after it was tapped). I asked the store manager and he said he was pretty surprised to get a keg too. He actually wasn’t even going to sell it in growlers…he was planning on just selling small tasters in the store. But, for whatever reason, he changed his mind and added it to the taplist.

I already had more than enough beer in my shopping cart…but really, how could I possibly pass it up? I heard warning bells ringing in my head…I KNEW that I was going to be the only one actually drinking this thing (I figured Wifey would like it, but perhaps just a sip or two…and my neighbors would likely not get within 10 feet of that monster). I also knew that I’m not one to let a growler go unfinished and that I was probably going to be in for a rough night. As usual, I ignored all of my wiser instincts and happily snapped up a half-gallon of liquid death.

I won’t go into too many details beyond that. Suffice it to say, I finished 64 ounces of 12% ABV old ale in about 90 minutes. Then I drank a four-pack of Palate Wrecker as part of a wholly ill-advised game of beer pong (played with paddles, of course…the way God meant it to be played). Somewhere in there, I had an Ode to Mercy and a Summer Solstice too. In truth, I don’t recall any of that.*

*Nor do I remember falling out of bed and sleeping on the floor for an hour or two. Thanks to Wifey for describing my heroics in painstaking detail the next morning. Her tone was 50% bemusement and 50% “why-did-I-marry-you-again?”.

I may be an unrepentant Alehead, but in my old age, I’m actually fairly responsibly about my consumption. I generally just have a beer or two with dinner. A “big” night out might see my consume three brews. I’ve got kids and dogs that wake me up at the crack of dawn, and a wife that doesn’t appreciate when I’m incapacitated. Still…on occasion…maybe once a year, I drop the ball. This was one of those times. Although, instead of dropping the ball, I kind of punted it into the stands and then punched my coach in the face.

Anyways, here’s that hangover tasting note I promised/threatened:

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FOUNDERS BETTER HALF HANGOVER

Appearance: Red, bleary eyes…one of which could not open all the way. Sallow, wan skin with a sheen of sweat throughout the day. Hunched, almost pained walking and slow-motion limb movement. Often horizontal positioning. Slight tremors. General look of a zombie…except not even the kind of zombie that other zombies would want to hang out with. Even my zombie brethren would have been put off by my appearance. I was like some sort of zombie/leper hybrid.

Head: Tangled, matted hair…even after a 45-minute shower. Unkempt beard. I suspect that even if I had been clean-shaven, I would STILL have had an unkempt beard. Of course, if I had attempted to shave that day, I probably would have sliced my nose off. My hands weren’t so steady.

Lacing: I didn’t see any, but I smelled like I was covered in a thick layer of Brussels lace. Actually, considering how much I drank, that probably wasn’t that far from the truth.

Nose: Pervasive scent of sweat and alcohol coming out of every pore. Mild aroma of bile and stomach acid. Faint smell of whatever plant life I fell into while attempting to recover lost beer pong balls…maybe a wax myrtle? Oh, and I fell into a rose bush too. I don’t remember that, but I had thorns in my leg the next morning.

Taste: The aforementioned bile and stomach acid were the dominant notes. Plus, the highly unwelcome taste of partially-digested Better Half which kept attempting to revisit my mouth. Fortunately (or not), it remained wholly ensconced in my tortured stomach. There was no taste of any food or drink since the thought of ingesting anything that day was laughable. Also, a distinct, very strong flavor of shame, lack of dignity, and failure (I remember those tastes well from college).

Mouthfeel: Cotton-mouthed. Dry. A little sticky. Tongue felt swollen and too big. Felt like I had been chewing on an old gym sock…with a foot still in it.

Drinkability: This was a one and done. I can absolutely assure you that I will not be repeating this hangover again…at least not with a half-gallon of Founders Better Half. But if another ultra-rare, ultra-strong brew appears on my package store tap-lists then yeah…I’ll probably be seeing this one again. Stupid fucking demon.

Rating: 4 Hops for the beer…Zero Hops for the hangover. Bleh.

Unfortunately, I only had one weekend (one day, really) to spend in the city for CCBW this year, so I picked the event that seemed best to me on the day I was there–the first-ever Mash Tun Festival in Bridgeport, organized by one of my favorite Chicago beer bars, Maria’s Package Goods & Community Bar.* The organization appealed to me: a single $40 ticket bought unlimited sampling of most beers, a set of four tickets for special pours (more tickets available), a commemorative glass, snacks and a copy of Mash Tun, the new craft beer journal for Chicago and namesake of the festival. I like that. Getting lots of stuff for my money = good.

*An aside: Maria’s really is an awesome bar. Not only do they not even try to cater to non-craft drinkers (they offer “$2 random shitty beer” on the menu), their beer-to-go store in the front of the venue often has hard-to-get local stuff that has long sold out of bigger package stores like Binny’s. If you’re looking for something that nobody else has, check Maria’s. Unless, of course, I’m also looking for the same beer as you, in which case, go to hell.

What is not good is when you show up at a beer festival and what is being poured is pretty different from what was advertised. You may recall that I once went into this in depth in a post titled “How Not to Run a Beer Fest,” and this festival shared some of the same problems. Overall, however, it was a much, much better time than any bad festival could be. In short, the features they did have greatly outweighed any negatives. I’ll get to some of the issues later, but first let me detail for you some of the interesting beers I had at the event. Also, this picture of a horse at the Bridgeport Art Center, where the festival was held:

It’s a horse. A horse in close proximity to a beer festival.

Now that we got the horse out of the way, on to the beers. These notes will be very brief, as there was not an overall beer program to take home (which would have been nice), and I just jotted down brewery names and beers on a crumpled piece of paper. So yes, these impressions are from memory.

Fuzzy Line Beer Co.

This homebrew collective was one of the standout groups at the festival, and I can’t even tell you where they’re from. I assumed (incorrectly) that I would be able to track down information about them posted SOMEWHERE online, but literally the only reference I could find was a writer at The Chicagoist mentioning their appearance at this same festival. So I think it’s probably safe to assume they’re from the “Chicago area.”

With that said, they brought a really great, varied lineup of beers, from an IPA to a French saison, a spiced saison, a berliner weisse with lemon syrup and an imperial mild (which I still think is a silly way to describe a beer). The one that really stood out as unusual though, is that they brought along their own homebrew sour, made without the benefit of barrels or anything of that nature. I asked someone behind their table how they managed to pull off a sour at home, and he said they simply let crushed grain steep in water for several days before the brewing process. Crushed grain, ironically, is one of the favorite foodstuffs of certain bacteria and wild yeast, which is what these homebrewers then used to innoculate their wort.

The sour was particularly interesting in that it wasn’t “flavored” in any real way, nor did it really have any malt besides base malt. Instead of the intense sweetness or fruitiness that many have to counteract the sour, it was more like a moderately soured German helles than anything. Really the effect was just a blank canvas to show you exactly what lactobacillus does when you put it in beer, and I very much appreciated the chance to see it in action.

Scene of the festival: Essentially, it was held in a big loading dock. There were a lot of people crammed in there, but it never seemed too crowded. The weather was great.

Virtue Cider

Former Goose Island brewmaster Greg Hall’s Virtue Cider was on-hand, and I had a chance to try their long-awaited English draft cider Redstreak. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it–it was very refreshing, pretty dry and just bursting with fresh apple flavor. I often feel like ciders have a certain “artificial” aspect to their flavors, but this tasted like nothing so much as alcoholic, fresh-squeezed apple juice–and that’s pretty much what I figure a hard cider should taste like! Contrary to my past tastes, I could imagine myself sitting in an outdoor beer garden on a hot summer night, tilting back a Redstreak.

Firestone Walker

They had an 8.3% abv ”American black ale” called “Wookey Jack” on that I hadn’t heard before. The hops did not disappoint. I also got to try their bourbon barrel-aged oatmeal stout, Velvet Merlin, earlier in the afternoon at Maria’s. Merlin was a beer I’d been hearing about for a while and I was very excited to catch it there. It is part of an interesting new trend in brewing, which is the barrel-aging of non-imperial-strength brews. Think of it! All the flavor of bourbon without having to be drinking a 10% abv imperial stout.

Dogfish Head

This was actually the first chance I’ve ever had to try World Wide Stout. It didn’t particularly stand out from any of the other imperial stouts I’ve had, but my taste buds may very well have been deadened by this point.

A brass band performed, because apparently that’s what happens at these festivals. Last year at the Revolution Brewing closing party, the same thing happened. COINCIDENCE???

CHAOS Brewpub

CHAOS is another Chicago-area homebrewing club, and quite well organized in comparison to something like Fuzzy Line. It makes me scratch my head when I think about such things–if a group like CHAOS can figure out how to create a website and a Facebook page, why can’t a homebrew group like Fuzzy Line? The reason they’re there is to increase their exposure and visibility in the area. Wouldn’t it be good for someone who enjoyed their product to be able to look up more information about the group online? CHAOS appears to agree with me.

I tasted a number of things from these creative”alchemists of sud.” Notable were their kombucha tea-infused sour, the imperial dark wheat and their homebrewed cherry sour. I must say, as a general word of advice–if you ever go to beer festivals, do not pass by the homebrewer club tables. Chances are, if they’re well-organized enough to be a club, they’re probably making fantastic beer. Homebrewers are also not afraid to try things that are very off the wall, or beers that would be nearly impossible in a full-scale manufacturing environment. You can’t help but realize what a beautiful process this really is when you consider that a homebrewer working on his home stove can make a beer just as good as a multimillion dollar corporation.

18th Street Brewery

These guys are from Gary, Indiana but fancy themselves a Chicago-area homebrew collective/small-scale contract brewer. They actually own office space in the city, which I don’t particularly understand, because as far as I can tell they have little to no income or reason to have an office. I can’t really imagine what the space is used for, because the brewing doesn’t appear to happen in Chicago. I asked why they had it and the person behind the booth stared at me blankly and then said it was “to do work at.” Oh, why didn’t I think of that? In conclusion: I don’t know.

As far as beer goes, I was only able to try a Belgian IPA, but it compared favorably to popular offerings in Chicago, such as products from Haymarket Pub & Brewing.

Three Floyds

The only beer I was able to try from Three Floyds was a doozy. It’s called Hell’s Black Intelligencer, and it’s a 6% abv. oatmeal coffee stout. This is delicious, ultra-tasty stuff that for the life of me tasted like alcoholic, sweetened iced coffee. If you ever get a chance to sample this one, you’ve got to make it happen. This was probably my favorite thing of the day.

Pipeworks Brewing

Beejay and Gerrit from Pipeworks were on-hand as they always seem to be as these sorts of events, and I had a chance to try several new, solid beers that I’d yet to taste. To date, the only completed product from Pipeworks I had was the palate-crippling Ninja vs. Unicorn DIPA,  and these two beers were decidedly on the other end of the spectrum. On-hand were an unnamed Belgian saison and their 20% smoked porter, which can be found at a few places in the city. As usual, quality is top-notch around the board. And by the way, when I mentioned something earlier about rare beers you could find at Maria’s, these are the guys I’m talking about.

Powell Brew House

They had a black IPA. It was good, I think? To be honest I don’t really remember. WHOOPS!

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And there you have it. There are probably a few things I missed, but as I said, this is the product of jotting down notes on a scrap of paper.

It was undeniably a good time, but I was troubled by some of the apparent omissions. The website and Chicago Craft Beer Week event page before the event list a number of beers that were supposed to be there that I never saw poured, among them, selections from Great Lakes, Founders, Unita and Lagunitas. I did not see a single beer from any of these breweries poured throughout, and I was there the entire time.

Adding to my confusion is this wrap-up post from The Chicagoist, in which the author describes Great Lakes as having been there, and the tasting of a Founders beer. I emailed the site to ask about when and where he got that beer, and if I was somehow incorrect, but got no response.

I can say for sure that I know I’m not entirely wrong, in any case. I know this because I literally saw kegs of untapped Lagunitas beer sitting with ice on them throughout the entire event. Apparently, nobody ever just arrived to tap and dispense them. So the unopened kegs of Gnarlywine and Waldo’s Special Ale (which was one of the things I really wanted to try) just sat there throughout the entire event. I know they didn’t get opened because I stayed until closing time of the festival.

In my eyes, that kind of thing is not acceptable. When you advertise having certain beers on-hand, you should make sure you have them. Of course, event coordinators can’t control whether a brewery actually gets beer to them, so the occasional missing brew is inevitable. But the fact that they actually had beer on hand that just didn’t get served, well that’s a serious omission. I didn’t complain about this during the fest itself, by the way, because I asked an organizer in the beginning if everything listed on the website would be there and he assured me that they would cycle in throughout the day. It wasn’t until I was preparing to leave that I realized how many things were missing.

As I’ve already said before, though, these things were certainly not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the festival. The joy of Chicago Craft Beer Week is infectious and irresistable. It’s best not to fight it.

What should you take away from this? If nothing else, it should be that Maria’s is awesome. If you’re in Chicago, and you’ve visited the other beer bars, and you don’t mind hanging out on the south side for a little while, you need to get out there.

But even the most rabid homer knows that one city towers above all others when it comes to craft beer. One city has made craft beer such an integral part of its culture that it has added “Beervana” as one of its many official nicknames. That city? Portland, Oregon.

There are over 60 breweries in the Portland metro area (and well over 100 in the state). Oregon is the 2nd largest producer of craft beer in the US (behind only far-more-populous California). Around every corner, in every neighborhood, there’s a brewpub. Seemingly every restaurant, bakery, and coffee shop in Portland offers at least one or two local craft options on tap. Wherever you turn, wherever you go, craft beer abounds. It’s heaven for Aleheads.

I was recently tapped to attend a conference in Portland and, of course, leaped at the chance. Fellow Alehead and old friend Beerford had just settled into town and Wifey and the kids had never been to the Rose City (to be fair, our youngest is 4 months old…she hasn’t been to very many places). So we decided to turn my work trip into a family vacation. And while family vacations aren’t the ideal scenarios for beer exploration, long-suffering Wifey gave me ample opportunity to take in the beer sites…just so long as I wasn’t too hungover to wake up with the little ones in the morning (she’s tough, but fair).

I tried too many beers to count while out and about and purchased even more for at-home consumption (and a few that Beerford shipped back to me). So I won’t even attempt to write Tasting Notes for the huge variety of tasty local beers I had in Portland. Rather, I’d like to talk about a few of my favorite beer spots from the trip. This isn’t every place I hit, but these are definitely the highlights:

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1. Deschutes: To no one’s surprise, Deschutes was the first place we stopped after landing in Portland. It was just two blocks from where we were staying in the Pearl District (and very close to a Whole Foods with a very respectable walk-in beer fridge…I stocked up there almost daily). The Portland brewpub pales in comparison to the Bend flagship, but when the beer is from Deschutes, who really cares? The food is good, the service is better than average*, and the Hop in the Dark, Black Butte and Obsidian Stout are flowing freely. What more could you want?

*Here’s where I’ll make my one, obligatory, negative comment about Portland…the service industry is horrific there. It’s not that the waiters or cashiers are rude or surly…they just clearly don’t care. The problem, which becomes obvious the longer you’re in the city, is that the majority of service industry jobs are held by hipsters. I have nothing against hipsters (other than their inexplicable love for PBR), but they make terrible waiters and waitresses. You see, hipsters are stuck in that tricky liminal mindset where they believe that true 9-to-5 (or beyond) jobs are “selling out” while service industry jobs are beneath them. They have no desire to put on a tie or cover up their tattoos, so they’re forced to work registers and wait tables. But they hold those kinds of jobs in contempt and their lack of interest in performing them well just oozes from every pierced orifice. This is actually a pretty major problem with most members of my generation…we’ve been raised to believe service industry jobs are beneath our pricey college educations so when we’re left with no other option, we take those jobs and perform our work in the most desultory way imaginable. End rant.

We actually went back to Deschutes a second time with Beerford and the Captain and sampled some cool one-offs like the Mos Eisley (a wonderful sour, balanced with candy apple-like sweetness) and Chainbreaker White IPA. The brewpub feels a little “touristy”, but hey, we were tourists…and the beer was delicious. It’s probably not a true haunt for locals, but I would highly recommend it for folks like me who are just in town for a few days. For me, at least, Deschutes can do no wrong.

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Glorious!

2. Bailey’s Taproom: This was probably my favorite stop in Portland. It’s essentially the perfect beer bar. It happened to be about halfway between where we were staying and where my conference took place so when I walked by it one morning on my way to work, I took a peek inside, decided I should stop by after my day wrapped up, and kept that promise. What makes Bailey’s so ideal?

A. 20 Taps: This just seems like the right amount of handles for a small beer bar. Less than that and there’s not enough variety…but much more and you’re worrying about dirty tap lines or you start to have three or four very similar offerings available. But 20? That’s just right. They also have a cask once a week and a beer engine which is occasionally used for firkins.

B. No food: OK, this could actually be seen as a drawback, but I like a bar that focuses exclusively on the beer. It allows the staff to specialize in the suds and you don’t have to worry about being treated as a second-class citizen if you’re not eating as well (a pet peeve of all Aleheads). If you’re starving, the taqueria next door will deliver food to your bar stool.

C. One-offs and Rarities: The Bailey’s tap-list is a wonder. Everything is local (from Oregon, Washington or California) and everything is at least somewhat rare. They try not to have more than one offering from any particular brewery (the most I saw was two from one place) and they never have the most obvious beers. I didn’t see Upright’s fairly common Saison series on tap (the Four, Five, etc.), but they did have their Monk and Mingus, a delicious Belgian Coffee Stout. And Bend Brewing’s easy-to-find Outback X was MIA, but their Ching Ching (a hibiscus-infused, tart Berliner Weiss) was available.  If you’re looking to try something different, Bailey’s will have it. And if the tap-list doesn’t tempt you (which it will, I promise), they’ve got a great bottle selection as well.

D. Taplist TV: Bailey’s absolutely nails their taplist presentation. It’s located on a huge, flat-screen TV right behind the bar. It lists all the beers, their styles, their ABVs, who brews them, AND how much beer is left in each keg (with a little graphic showing green for full, yellow for half or less, and red for nearly empty…it even has a little “Just Tapped” logo for the freshest brews). The TV also shows which kegs are coming on next and which to look for in the future. It even has a little Twitter feed up top (which I had fun with while drinking). Loved this feature.

E. Reasonable Prices: $4.50 for a 20-ouncer, $2.50 for a 10, and $7.50 for five, 5-ounce tasters. Considering the quality of the suds, you can’t beat those prices with a stick.

F. Knowledgeable Staff: The guys behind the bar knew their stuff and were clearly passionate about beer. They had tried everything on the menu, made some great recommendations, and weren’t stingy with the sample glasses.

G. Intimate Size: I like a nice, cozy bar and Bailey’s was compact and comfortable. This was no cavernous beer hall or sprawling brewpub. Just a cool, local hangout with funky, beer-related decor and no nonsense.

Thanks to the reasonable flights, the Captain and I were able to try every beer on tap and still have room left for a couple great bottles. On my next jaunt to Portland, Bailey’s will be my first stop.

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3. Hair of the Dog: This Portland stalwart has been an Aleheads’ fave for nearly two decades. During my years in DC, a few of the Hair of the Dog beers were readily available at the Brickskeller and I fell in love with their high-octane brews. The brewery taproom is fairly spartan. A small, but solid-looking menu (we didn’t eat there, so I can’t vouch for it) and a half-dozen or so HotD offerings on tap. This is clearly a production facility first and a taproom second, but that doesn’t take away from how tasty their products are.

The Captain, Beerford and I were able to sample some Greg (a winter-squash brew), Ruth (a light-bodied, well-hopped pale ale), Blue Dot (a great, uber-bitter DIPA), Doggie Claws (their big barleywine) and a wood-aged Adam (a dark, strong ale that was absolutely amazing). Hair of the Dog really is a spot-on brewery. Just be careful…a number of their offerings top 10% ABV.

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My mouth is puckering just thinking about it.

4. Cascade Brewing: This was #1 on my list of “must-visit” stops and it did not disappoint. In fact, it completely exceeded expectations. The taproom had a nice, neighborhood feel with a great bar and an open-air seating area. We grabbed a table and picked up some flights. Cascade had two tasty barrel-aged brews available and 16 other draft offerings. Those offerings were divided in half (kind of like Russian River) with 8 “standard” beers (like an IPA, Stout, etc.) and 8 sours (the beers for which Cascade is rightly famous).

I sampled their Vintage Beckberry, Sang Noir, Nightfall, Saison Minuit and their glorious, incredible Kriek (probably their flagship and one of the tastiest beers on Earth). If you love sour beers as much as I do, you owe yourself a trip to Cascade. They’re on par with Russian River for making tart, complex, drinkable sours.

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5. Green Dragon Tavern: Things were getting a little fuzzy when the boys hit up the Green Dragon (just a stone’s throw from Cascade). This renowned, slightly divey beer bar has over 60 taps with lots of eclectic stuff available. I tried the Elysian Peste (a fiery chocolate-chili beer) and Ninkasi Believer (a rock-solid Imperial Red). The Green Dragon is fairly sprawling and has plenty of character and just a touch of dank. It was surprisingly empty for a Friday night, but maybe the locals just knew a bunch of drunk, jackass Aleheads were in town so they split for the weekend.

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6. Belmont Station: The king of the Portland bottle shops, Belmont Station has by far the best selection in town. Located in a quiet, residential neighborhood, the unassuming facade opens to reveal all manner of delectable brews inside (including the only bottles of Pliny the Elder I saw in Portland). Beerford chauffeured me to Belmont Station so I could stock up on some local treats that he graciously offered to ship back to me. I spent entirely too much money, but the prices were quite reasonable and the managers were very helpful.

Belmont Station also houses a great little biercafe with a mouth-watering taplist. I was able to sample some Ninkasi Babylon (an “English-style” Double IPA…very interesting) and a cask-conditioned Double Mountain Imperial Red Ale (also excellent…which seems to be a running theme for the beers I tried in Portland).

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7. Horse Brass Pub: After Belmont Station, we drove four blocks to the Horse Brass Pub for one beer. This was mostly a “say we were there” visit rather than a true bar-hopping experience. The Horse Brass Pub doesn’t have the variety of a Green Dragon or the exciting offerings of a Bailey’s, but what it does have is a wonderful, warm English pub feel. Plenty of wood and brass and UK-style eats like Scotch eggs give the bar an incredible atmosphere. Add to that an excellent rotating guest tap list (I sampled an IPA from Amnesia) and you’ve got yourself a phenomenal watering hole. This is the kind of place I could easily become a regular in…

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“I’m a spoke. On a wheel.”

8. Hopworks: After hitting up Belmont and the Horse Brass, Beerford and I trekked over to Hopworks. I was worried we wouldn’t have time to get to this gem, but since it was on the way back to the Pearl from the Horse Brass, it was an easy place to stop. We ordered up a flight of 10 brews which come served in a circular tray that looks like a dart board. It’s actually supposed to resemble spokes since the leitmotif at Hopworks is bicycles and wheels.

Our flight came with the HUB Lager, Crosstown Pale Ale, IPA, Velvet ESB, Single Hop IPA (with Amarillo), Survival Stout, Galactic, Deluxe Organic Ale, Canadian Tuxedo (a Belgian Dark Ale) and Rise Up Red. The Galactic and Stout were the winners for me, though the IPA and ESB were outstanding as well. I was also able to snag a bomber of Secession CDA before we left.

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There were so many more beer highlights from the trip as well. I enjoyed offerings from Lompoc, Heater Allen, Bridgeport (we stopped by their brewpub on our last night there), Alameda, Coalition, Laurelwood, Lucky Lab, Migration, Upright and on and on. The beer never stops flowing in Portland…and an Alehead in Beervana never stops smiling.

What I’ve noticed in the last year and a half (at least) is that Chicago breweries cannot seemingly create enough beer in their current facilities to meet demand. So they’re buying up property all over the city’s industrial areas. I predict the “Brewing District” becoming a reality in the future.

Revolution Brewing, as Kid Carboy Jr. pointed out, is opening a brand new location on Chicago’s northwest-ish side at 3340 N. Kedzie Avenue. Tickets to the grand opening event, May 25, are sold out. If you were lucky enough to snag one, you only paid $15 for admission, but you will also need cash for beer tickets ($4 each). Basically, you’ll spend a lot, but you’ll have a good time.

As part of Chicago Craft Beer Week, if participants collect at least two stickers from venues in six neighborhoods and already have a ticket to the grand opening party, they become VIP guests and get to enter the event an hour early at 4 p.m.

According to the Revolution website, there will be 28 brews available, including: Anti-Hero IPA, Baracus Imperial Stout, Black Power Oatmeal Stout, Bottom Up Wit, Coup d’Etat Saison, Cross of Gold Ale, Dos Osos West Coast IPA, Eugene Porter, Foursome Quadruppel, Hugene Imperial Porter, Institutionalized Barleywine, Iron Fist Pale Ale, Paddy Wagon irish Stout, Poetic Justice Special Bitter, Threesome Belgian Trippel, Workingwoman Brown, B.A. Baracus, Barrel Aged Black Power Oatmeal Stout, Barrel Aged Repo Man Rye Stout, Barrel Aged Skara Brae Scottish Ale, Barrel Aged Sodom Imperial Stout (FFF Collabo), Barrel Aged The General Molasses Porter, Cherry Black Power (Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout with Cherries), Gravedigger Billy (Bourbon Barrel Aged Wee Heavy), Pablo Picasso (Cabernet Aged Dark Belgian Ale), Straight Jacket (Jack Daniels Barrel Aged Institutionalized), The Marquis (Cabernet Barrel Aged Trippel), and Very Mad Cow (barrel Aged Milk Stout).

When you get hungry, you can purchase food from the food trucks that are scheduled to stop at the event. The website said there will be six of them, but didn’t give details. I hope that pink cupcake one shows up for you all — it’s delicious.

If you are fortunate enough to have a ticket to the grand opening, take pictures and track your brews on Untappd for me.

Let’s just say I’m a bit jealous.

“The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true”

It has been trending for at least two years — craft breweries are not just bottling, but canning their most popular brews. There are can-fans (even canned craft beer festivals) and of course, opposers. Beer’s fruity cousin, cider, is no exception.

Though Woodchuck Cider doesn’t quite fit into the “craft” category, it does have a nearly cult-following. Woodchuck President and CEO, Bret Williams, announced May 1 that their amber hard cider would now be available in cans.

The can craze has been met with mixed reviews by consumers across the alcoholic-beverage board. This particular topic has been bouncing around Chicago in particular as our local breweries expand to meet demand. There was quite the uproar after Goose Island started canning their 312 Urban Wheat Ale in March and now Two Brothers is canning their Outlaw IPA. Chicago Craft Beer Week is bringing this particular battle to light as both bottled and canned beverages are highlighted throughout the city.

It doesn’t matter where you stand on the bottle/can debate: we all know that a can makes for an entirely different drinking experience than a bottle. I suggest pouring it into a glass regardless of the vessel it comes in.

All Aleheads might not be ciderheads, but I think Woodchuck’s amber cider is really quite good. It’s nice in warm weather, especially when you don’t want something too heavy. It’s especially useful in social situations: for example, if you have friends who “don’t like beer” or, my personal favorite, “can’t drink beer,” cider of any kind is a great alternative so they won’t feel left out at your beer-nerd events (though, why do we invite them in the first place?). It’s also gluten-free for those people who unfortunately can’t digest gluten, or are just into that whole trend.

The idea for the Woodchuck cans apparently came from fan suggestions. Proof that they really do read your suggestions; or at least that they notice when hundreds of people suggest the same thing. According to the website, 12oz cans are available in 12 packs for $14.99 (SRP).

The announcement came in one of their “Woodchuck Hard Cider’s Cider Maker’s Corner” overly-produced promotional Youtube videos — #5 to be exact, which was uploaded and linked in a Tweet by the company on ‘May Day.’  Also according to the site, the can production process included installing a “Cask Canning Line System” and a “custom made 4,650 gallon Feldmeier Bright Beer Tank” in the Middlebury Cidery.

While the cans are the newest addition to the Woodchuck line, the bottles aren’t going anywhere, but they have changed. You might have noticed that brown bottles have replaced the green ones. Ironically, the brown bottles are “greener” than the green.

If you’ve never seen Woodchuck’s CEO, he’s exactly the kind of guy you would imagine having such a passion for cider. It’s worth watching the video just to see him sitting at his desk, flannel shirt, baseball cap and all, cracking open a can and taking a sip before exclaiming “Wow, that tastes good.”

So, is it better in the bottle or the can?
I’ll let you be the judges.

For once, sanity prevails.

During my recent trip to Portland (more on that in the coming weeks), something amazing happened in Alabama. I would be remiss in my duties as an Alabama Alehead if I didn’t let our readers know about the situation.

The day before I left for Oregon, the Gourmet Bottle Bill was on the Special Order Calendar in the Alabama House. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Free the Hops, the grassroots organization that is the heart and soul of the Alabama craft beer movement, the Gourmet Bottle Bill had passed the Alabama Senate and the House’s Economic Development and Tourism Committee. To get to the Governor’s desk, it just had to pass the House.

Of course, all Alabama craft beer fans know that “just passing the House” is far easier said than done. Just like their Federal counterparts, the Alabama House is a lot messier, more combative, and more batshit insane than the Senate. The folks who make up the Alabama House are “colorful” to say the least. Listening to a House session is the surest and easiest way to lose  your faith in democracy and/or your sanity. With that in mind, I knew it was going to be a bumpy ride. Still…I wasn’t prepared for what happened.

All along, the Free the Hops brain trust felt “fairly” confident that the bill, which didn’t even come up for a vote last year, would pass in 2012. They had good support, strong sponsors, and a track record of passing bills with no deleterious effects (the Gourmet Beer Bill in 2009 and the Brewery Modernization Act in 2011). But as soon as the Gourmet Bottle Bill  came up for a vote, things quickly fell apart.

The bill was presented by Rep. Mike Ball who noted that it was a fairly straightforward bill that simply raised the size of allowable beer containers from 16 ounces to 25.4 ounces…something that was already legal in close to a third of the counties in Alabama. After Ball spoke, all reason and common sense went out the window.

In past years, the irascible Alvin Holmes has been the bugaboo of Free the Hops, but this year, that honor fell to DuWayne Bridges. Here are Bridges’ totally logical arguments against the Bill:

1. Sometimes when people get pulled over, they argue that they’ve only had one beer. But now that “one beer” could be a really big beer!
2. People often feel obligated to finish their bottle of beer. That’s no big deal if it’s a 12-ounce bottle, but what if it’s a 22-ounce bottle and you still have 10 ounces left that you absolutely have to drink!
3. Buying a 22-ounce bottle of beer somehow means the purchaser will have bought more total beer than if they bought a six-pack of 12-ounce beers (math is not big in Alabama).
4. DuWayne Bridges made some mistakes as a young man involving alcohol and would like to prevent other folks from repeating said mistakes.
5. Since his trouble-filled younger days, DuWayne Bridges has found Jesus. And since beer is essentially the anti-Christ (Jesus turned water into wine after all, not barleywine), it is only moral for DuWayne Bridges to vote against any beer-promoting bill.

Sadly, Bridges arguments weren’t even quite as cogent as I’m making them out to be. But despite the fact that he sounded like an almost cartoonishly incompetent, nonsensical buffoon, it appeared on the surface as if he had swayed at least a few people. While the Bill received a majority of votes, it fell well short of the 3/5ths needed and failed. And that was the end of the 2012 Gourmet Bottle Bill…

…or was it?

After much teeth-gnashing and garment-rending (and angry Tweets from yours truly and other pro-craft Alabama Aleheads), the Free the Hops wunderkinds got back on the wagon. While noting that chances were very slim, they explained that it would be possible for the bill to get back on the docket the next day if they pulled the right strings. It seems that the Gourmet Bottle Bill had been caught up in some “political crossfire” (their words, not mine). This happens often in Alabama. If Legislator A angers Legislator B by voting against Legislator B’s bill, a situation arises whereby Legislator B and his or her supporters/cronies get “revenge” by voting en masse against Legislator A’s bill. It’s what politicians call “gamesmanship” and what normal human beings call “childish lunacy”.

Nevertheless, Free the Hops sincerely believed that the bill was killed over some backroom shenanigans…not because of the content of the bill itself. So they pushed, coaxed, and cajoled…and the bill popped up 10th on the next morning’s docket. That might sound great, but getting through 9 bills in the Alabama House takes approximately 17 months. There were meaningless, irrelevant speeches. There was endless housekeeping. There were amendments…after amendments…after amendments. And, oh, the filibusters. A housing bill forced a two-hour filibuster which stretched on and on and on. Finally, after a seemingly eternal discussion about veto overrides, the Gourmet Bottle Bill was back on the table. It was discussed for mere moments…and then quickly and easily passed.

After a few days of hemming and hawing, the Governor signed the bill on Wednesday, May 16th making the Gourmet Bottle Bill the law of the land. Alabama now joins the other 49 states in allowing the sale of 22-ounce and 750-ml beer bottles. Never have I sighed with such relief over the repeal of such a ridiculous restriction. It’s amazing being so ecstatic about being given the right to do something that I would be allowed to do if I lived ANYWHERE else in the country. Ah well, when you live in Alabama…you live in Alabama.

So hats off to Free the Hops for once again rising to the challenge and making the impossible possible. I can’t wait to legally purchase my first bomber in Birmingham (as soon as I get through the 20 or so “insurance” bombers I bought in Oregon). In 24 hours, Alabama’s Aleheads went from dejection to elation thanks to the good folks at FtH.

Before I wrap up, I’d like to remind everyone to purchase your tickets to this year’s Magic City Brewfest (June 1st and 2nd at Sloss Furnaces). It’s the best beer event in Birmingham and there will be a ton of great brews, bands and food. Look for Brother Barley there…I’ll be the guy wearing a shirt, pants and shoes (and possibly a watch).

Enjoy your big beers everyone! They’ll be on the shelves starting August 1st. Just make sure if you get pulled over that you remind the officer you only had one beer.

In the end, I often find myself looking at a beer I don’t fully understand, noting how much more expensive it is than the American-style brew from a brewery I know, and then putting it back on the shelf and buying the “better deal.”

So it was with heightened interest that I actually purchased and tried De Dolle Special Extra Export Stout the other day. Why did I do it? Well, the guy at the package store said “You should try this,” and then graciously allowed me to buy a single bottle, that’s why. And I don’t say no to that sort of thing. It’s part of my “accepting things from strangers” rules–if the thing is beer, then you always say “yes, yes, a thousand times yes.”

What do I expect? I have no idea. “Belgian stout” is such a nebulous pseudo-style that seems like it can taste anywhere from “stout” to “quadrupel” at will. And I am afraid of all the extra descriptors–were “extra” and “export” really needed after “special”? Anyway, on to the tasting.

De Dolle Special Extra Export Stout

NOTES: 330 ml bottle (METRIC SYSTEM RAAAAAGGGHHHH) poured into a tulip glass.

ABV: 9%, Belgian foreign export stout

APPEARANCE: Explosive carbonation fills the whole glass and then takes ages to dissipate. Extremely carbonated. Not sure if this is somehow my fault, but it takes a half hour to really pour the whole thing.

AROMA: Sour cherries and intense, vinous, sweet fruit aromas. Grape? Some archetypal Belgian funkiness on the back end, but mostly a fruit bomb. Smells kind of like a quad.

TASTE: After smelling it, I was afraid that this was going to be all fruit, but here it’s clear that this actually is a “stout.” There’s helpings of roast, and fruit and a low level of sour tang. There’s enough roastiness to keep it from being totally out-there, which I appreciate. There’s some booze, but it definitely doesn’t taste like 9% abv beer. These elements all work together in good harmony. Think like, chocolate-covered cherries.

MOUTHFEEL: Prickly carbonation. I don’t know what was going on with this bottle, carb-wise. I’ve experienced this with a few beers from Belgium. In this case though, it makes the mouthfeel lighter than a 9% beer would normally be, which is okay with me.

DRINKABILITY: Really quite high, for something so strong and with a good amount of residual sugar.

OVERALL: I am pleasantly surprised. It’s a very satisfying balance, especially as it warms. You’ve got equal elements of sour, roast and fruit working in harmony. It’s got it all. It’s almost like they just took a quadrupel (which I often find too sweet and cloying) and added a roasted element to dry it out just a tad. I give it a praise-worthy 3.5 hops.

I find cooking with beer to be one of the most morally vexing issues of our time. Sure, food is good; some may argue a necessity. Food that tastes good is better still… and adding beer makes everything better. Right?

And yet, I was raised to never waste beer- and I’m talking cheap swill of the sort you wouldn’t order for your worst enemy. Beers like Genny Cream and Milwaukee’s Best. During my formative years beer was regarded as a sacred beverage, and you always had to finish your beer. God forbid if you accidentally spilled a beer, you were duty-bound to drink an equal volume of the same in tribute. All-in-all, I think this outlook is good and worthwhile- we live in a wasteful society, and I despise the notion of drainpours… those beers brewed in such a way that they are rated to be not worthy of your consumption. Get over yourself, people. It’s just beer.

That’s why it’s so hard for me to dump a perfectly good beer into food I’m preparing. I like to cook- nothing fancy mind you. I like to grill meat. I like to cook breakfast. By far the favorite culinary weapon in my admittedly limited arsenal is the crockpot. It’s hard to mess things up; most recipes throw out suggested figures like “cook on low 4-6 hours” (I appreciate a large margin for error when cooking). You can throw a bunch of ingredients in the slowcooker before you leave for the day and come back to a home wafting delicious aromas, with no danger of burning your domicile to the ground. The meal can be kept fresh and hot for the whole family, despite staggered schedules and varying supper times.

That’s why I was excited to stumble across a crockpot recipe that is cheap, easy, hearty, and greatly improved by beer. Does my shriveled Alehead heart feel a pang when I added the fermented ingredient? Sure, a little, but it grows three sizes when I sample the final product.

What You’ll Need

3-Lbs Polish-style Kielbasa or preferred smoked meatish product, cut in 3″ pieces

6-pack of lightly-colored, hop-forward, economically-priced ale (Any Pale Ale or IPA  worthy of your fridge will do)

30-ounces canned or bagged sauerkraut

1 cup spicy mustard

What To Do

Put all the meat, sauerkraut, and mustard in the crockpot. Open and dump one of the beers into the crockpot. Turn to low, and cook for roughly 5 hours. Drink 1 beer every hour, as needed.

What You Get

A hearty, hoppy Bavarian concoction that works for family dinners, pot-luck parties, or tail-gate get-togethers. A plus- the leftovers kick ass.

Pro Tip

With the last couple leftover servings, chop up the meat and fry it with the remaining kraut in a pan with a little butter or bacon grease until brown. It looks like this:

Final Thought

So is this worthy of an Aleheads post? Not really, but I’m suffering from writers block and we haven’t put up any new content in about a week, and Brother Barley is sending the whole crew email composed solely of text-based emoticons with judgmental expressions.

So, I pose to you, Alehead Nation: do you like to cook with beer? What’s your favorite recipe? Easy, cheap, and meat-based preferred.