All stories have a beginning. For all intents and purposes, this blog began in Arizona, but it really started in the state of Oregon. I went to school at the University of Oregon and I quickly hooked up with a group of self-described beer snobs. Up until then my view of beer was similar to that of most Americans, beer was a fizzy yellow beverage designed to be drunk in massive quanities. It was there that I was introduced to the world of microbrewing. This is no accident, the beer culture in Oregon is something that I can't quite describe in words. It's something that has to be experienced first hand. And the center of that culture... Portland.
Basically what I am saying, if you like beer and you have not been to Portland, get off your ass.
You could create an entire blog around Portland brewing alone, and a few people have. I had but a weekend to spend, so I just picked one. I picked this one using the highly scientific method of typing the word, 'Brewery' into my phone and going to the dot closest to my position. So we are off to Colombia River Brewing.
In the city of Portland where brewing is a cultural phenominon all its own, this is a fairly new brewery. It opened in 2010 in the site of the Laurelwood Brewing Company in the Hollywood district.
Rose City Raspberry Wheat: It has a sour fruit aroma. The flavor is very sweet off the top that hits hard and fast leaving a slightly dry finish with a light malty finish.
Stumbles Stout: Chocolate coffee aroma. The flavor is similar with a leathery taste added. Finishes with herbal hops that really linger for an oatmeal stout. Pretty good, but lacks the body of most oatmeal stouts.
Double Vision Belgian Double: This one had a very light aroma; I picked up just a hint of lemongrass, but the flavor was something else. It was very surprising, but I was an instant fan. There was a lot of pineapple, and citrus and white wine flavors and finished just slightly dry. This one became quickly became a favorite of mine, for about a minute before...
Wee Heavy: Scotch style ale. I ended up ordering a pint of this beer after I finished the tasting flight and they brought it out in the rose glass as picture on the left. The glassware is almost enough of a reason to order this beer, but the beer itself is a thing of beauty. I has a very light, sweet, fruity aroma that made me think of strawberry. The flavor starts with this light fruit sweetness and moves to a woody oak flavor. The high alcohol content of this beast makes itself known adding just a hint of fusil flavor. This massive combination of flavor hits and then is gone leaving almost no aftertaste. Brown Ale: This one starts with a slightly sweet, fruity aroma. It has a creamy mouthfeel and a very light flavor profile. There is some berry and light fruit sweetness combined with a woody flavor and something else that I could never really identify.
ESB: Slight citrus aroma with a even lighter initial flavor. Northwest citrus hops kind of creep up on you and leave an aftertaste that makes me think of an English IPA.
CRB Pale Ale: Slightly cloudy in appearance. Hoppy aroma with a bit of citrus. This one is just about a perfect balance of malt and citrus and grapefruit hops.
Hop Heaven: This is Columbia River's IPA offering. As expected the aroma is filled with Northwest citrus hops. The flavor is slightly sweet off the top and is only there for a split second before the hops really hit. I noted some floral notes as the flavor moved through the palate and the profile ends with more herbal hop bitterness.
War Elephant: As I understand it, this is a limited time offering from the brewery, and that is a bit of a shame when considering the unique nature of this beer. I could never get this confirmed but I think the beer was named after the very nature of it's flavor profile. It starts off with a lot of sweet malt flavor with a warming sensation from the alcohol and a lot of English herbal hops in the back of the throat. As the flavor continued I could almost feel the bitter hops moving from the back of the throat across the tongue. An interesting beer for this fact alone.
That's all from Portland for now. Next dispatch comes from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment