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Laurelwood Brewery (Portland, Oregon) - Organic Free Range Red
I got this bottle right when I heard that they just started bottling their Red. I’ve had it on tap numerous times and boy, it sure tastes great out of a bottle too! Nice work Laurelwood, you’ve never ever let me down! The beer is a red color, not as dark and mahogany as many of the reds I’ve recently had. The flavor is like toasted bread and caramels. There is an initial wonderful taste and it just continues to warm up; it just gets better and better as you sit there. I appreciate this beer because it has a lot of characteristics of a good IPA, but it’s much earthier and warmer. It seems to be a good beer for fall, winter, and early spring.

Russian River Brewing Company (Santa Rosa, California) - Pliny The Elder IPA
Pliny The Elder is well-known among Oregonian beer lovers. It’s definitely a beer that we are jealous that California brews it and we don’t. Some consider this one of the best beers ever brewed. I agree…one of the best, but maybe not the best (Ever tried the Double Mountain IRA???) It has all the makings of a great IPA: the pine needle aroma and taste, a great hop burst, some citrusy flavors including grapefruit, and a warm ride, and an aftertaste that keeps going. It’s a lot of fun to taste this one. Unfortunately, if you are not in certain parts of California it may be hard to find. For Portland, It occasionally comes to New Seasons and Belmont Station. I’ve had it on tap at Henry’s and I’m sure Horse Brass gets it occasionally. I picked up a few of them when I heard it was in town.

Bridgeport Brewery (Portland, Oregon) - Hop Harvest Ale
This is a triple hopped beer. Enough said right? So you are expecting to be completely blown away. Unless you know your Bridgeport beers, you will be expecting to be blown away. However, Bridgeport has a more refined taste. Their Imperial Hop Czar was way crazier than this beer. This one is nowhere near as piney and doesn’t burst with outrageously intense bitterness. But it’s not called the Hop Czar is it? No, it’s the Hop Harvest. The taste is actually closer to the normal, lovely IPA they produce but with extra strength from the hops and an extra freshness, and at imperial levels. I don’t think it’s meant to be a “Skull Splitter,” “Hop Monster,” or “Tricerahops.” Not that any of those beers are wrong, they are all good. I call this an excellent beer; this beer is very well crafted and unexpectedly maintains the classic IPA that Oregonians have come to love. It comes with a nice green foil too. Thank you Bridgeport.

This post was originally posted on beerandscifi.com

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Just about everyone is familiar with the concept of a wine cellar: a cool, dark place where wine is stored as it ages. But have you ever heard of a beer cellar? Cellaring or aging beer is not a something that the average craft beer drinker, much less the average beer drinker, has thought about.

There are several reasons why aging beer is a foreign concept to most. First, most beer does not age well. In fact, most beer begins to spoil within a year or so which is why many brewers have freshness or “born on” dates on their bottles or cans. Hops break down over time and can make a perfectly good beer taste like monkey butt.

The secret to keeping a beer for a long time is to start with a high-alcohol beer (8% minimum) that is on the malty/sweet side. The higher alcohol and lower hops content makes these beers less susceptible to the curse of the monkey butt. Another thing that helps elude the curse is storing the beer at the proper temperature.

Which brings to another reason why beer aging is not commonplace. You to keep the beer in the dark at constant cellar temperatures, 50° - 60° F. Vacillating temperatures invite premature spoilage, as does exposure to light, which breaks down a chemical in the hops into a chemical found in skunk spray. If you’ve ever had “skunky” beer, chances are it was exposed to light for too long or “lightstruck.” If you have a cellar or basement that maintains a fairly constant temperature, you’ve got it made. Otherwise, you’ll need to invest in a cellaring refrigerator or convert a fridge to operate at cellar temperatures.

Perhaps the biggest reason you’ve never thought about aging beer has to do with culture. While wine is seen as a valuable commodity that can serve as an investment, the culture of beer has traditionally been barbecue, football, and frat parties. The large beer conglomerates have perpetuated this image to market inexpensive, tasteless beverages to those looking for a cheap buzz. The craft beer movement is slowly but surely changing this and increasing numbers of of the drinking public are waking up to the fact that beer can be more than a delivery vehicle for alcohol.

So where do you find beers suitable for aging? Skip the corner liquor store and head to a store that specializes in carrying a large variety of beers. You can also go directly to the source. Many small breweries make big, malty beers that can handle long-term storage. They are often sold as limited edition or short run brews. They typically come in larger bottles and often use corks instead of caps. You can expect to pay from $10 up to over $100 per bottle.

When you find a good candidate for aging, you should buy several; open one immediately and make a detailed note of the flavor profile. Open another in a year or so and compare the taste. If it seems to be getting funkier with age, you may want to reconsider that beer as a viable candidate for aging. Otherwise, wait another year or two to open another. Because beer aging is realtively new and the beers are often not produced more than once, you aren’t likely to find a guide for how long the beer can be stored. Anywhere from one to three years is a good guess though some could potentially last 10 years or more. Look at it as an long, slow adventure. After all, a really good beer is worth waiting for.

Update: The Brew Basement has a long list of cellared beers with tasting notes. It’s a great resource for anyone wanting to take the plunge into beer aging. (Thanks Chipper Dave!)

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Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Oregon) - Jubelale 2008 (Winter Seasonal)
One of my all time favorite beers, the Jubelale is back for the fall and winter season. Yes! This strong ale is a dark mahogany color with a beautiful dark fruits (apple resin) and spices (cinnamon, coffee) aroma. It avoids the burst of evergreen pine that many IPA’s have, it is subtler and yet more stable and even more mature tasting (An IPA tastes experimental compared). The taste is very full but not overly complex and it actually does taste like the holiday season; I don’t know how they do it, but I immediately think of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the snow. This beer gives you the comfort of a porter or stout but without the heaviness, and with some extra hoppy kick that is classic for the Pacific Northwest. Don’t pass this one by.

Hale’s Ales (Seattle, Washington) - Kölsch
I should have reviewed this one earlier in the year because I just found out that this Kölsch is only supposed to run through August. I can still find it at Whole Foods, and probably New Seasons, Belmont Station, etc. (in Portland). If you live outside Portland, you need to call your best beer store. The bottle says “German Style Ale” and I don’t know what makes it that. Some reviews I’ve read say that it is not a “real” Kölsch. Whatever it is, or isn’t, it IS a really great tasting beer. I enjoy the simplicity of it, and it’s earthy quality. It has a roasted nut and toasted bread taste to it while remaining a bit thin. The warmer, toastier, taste sort of swells a little after you swallow and then it rounds out. There are some hops added that give it just a tad more kick than I would expect from a German beer. Try to pick this one up before it disappears, it may come back every year too, but I don’t know that for sure…

Bridgeport Brewery (Portland, Oregon) - Hop Czar
Another beer that may be leaving stores soon. Pick it up ASAP at Belmont Station, Whole Foods, or New Seasons… maybe call them first. Brideport’s Hop Czar is an IPA that I consider to be the classic beer for the Pacific NW (the Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale is another classic). IPA’s have since become testing grounds for ultra hoppy and bitter qualities that you would find in say a Ninkasi Tricerahops Double IPA or Double Mountains Hop Lava. The Hop Czar from Bridgeport could be considered, by some, to have the same classic feeling as the normal IPA, but an instant classic for all these new Imperial and Double IPA’s. I don’t know if I would go that far; it’s good, but it’s new and one of the characteristics of the newer imperials/doubles is their wild quality. Bridgeport is usually more reserved. The Hop Czar is an Imperial IPA, with 8% alcohol. It has an extremely potent and noticeably sharp hop smell, like the hops were just put in the bottle or something. Consistent with Bridgeport, the drink is nicely balanced, not pulling you one way or another, and leaving you feeling great about what you just drank. Lots of citrus flavor that reminds me of lime, grapefruit, or others and has a nice lasting aftertaste. A 22oz was a bit much so I split it with friends. That’s always a good way to taste beer.

Originally posted on beerandscifi.com here.

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Ninkasi (Eugene, Oregon)- Believer Double Red Ale
Coming into this beer I was not sure if I would dig it because I thought the Tricerahops Double IPA was a bit over the top and not well balanced. This one was a better beer in my opinion but still seemed to be lacking something. What I enjoy about it is it’s dark flavor, mild sweetness and that it seems down to earth with a great crisp finish.

Roots (Portland, Oregon)- Woody Organic IPA
You will see a lot of people who aren’t sure about organic beers, but I think after trying Roots, Hopworks, and Laurelwood brews you can begin to have more confidence in them. This is a very tasty IPA that is easy to drink. The bitter taste sticks around a while afterward without any over the top citrus tastes. While it didn’t blow me away, I enjoyed it and would probably buy it again.

Siletz Brewery (Siletz, Oregon)- Spruce Ale
I bought this because I just had to try a spruce beer, plus I had never had anything from Siletz Brewery. Now I have had three beers from there and each of them have a similar weird sour-bitter taste that some say is a some bad vinegar. I don’t know, but it’s not good. It’s not sour in a good way, that’s for sure. I thought it was just the spruce, but it shows up in all three beers I’ve had, including the IPA. The spruce is the best one I’ve had of the three though. If you get it, drink it’s while it’s cold and it will be drinkable; while it’s cold it has a somewhat piney and fresh feel. Although, really, I would not recommend it.

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PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (BUD.N) agreed to be acquired by Belgium-based InBev NV (INTB.BR) for $70 per share, a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday. Full story here

So an American Icon will soon be gone. Will this be good for beer lovers? Good for America? Or does anyone care at all?

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I ran across an interesting article that explains how drinking beer was essential in the development of modern, urban society. And through natural selection, those with a genetic advantage which allowed them consume alcohol without getting sick or falling over were the ones that ended up building civilization as we know it.

As people migrated to the cities, finding clean drinking water became a difficult proposition.

“The search for unpolluted drinking water is as old as civilization itself. As soon as there were mass human settlements, waterborne diseases like dysentery became a crucial population bottleneck. For much of human history, the solution to this chronic public-health issue was not purifying the water supply. The solution was to drink alcohol.”

Once again, beer saves the day. But not everyone was able to drink alcohol and were doomed to an early death from water-borne pathogens.

To avoid dangerous water, people had to drink large quantities of, say, beer. But to digest that beer, individuals needed a genetic advantage that not everyone had — what Johnson describes as the body’s ability to respond to the intake of alcohol by increasing the production of particular enzymes called alcohol dehydrogenases. This ability is controlled by certain genes on chromosome four in human DNA, genes not evenly distributed to everyone. Those who lacked this trait could not, as the saying is, “hold their liquor.” So, many died early and childless, either of alcohol’s toxicity or from waterborne diseases.

Another article shows how beer is responsible for technology.

…beer is the basis of modern static civ­ilization. Before beer, humanity wandered around and followed goats. Then they realized that this grain [barley] could be grown and sprouted and made into a bread and crumbled and converted into a liquid which gave a nice, warm, cozy feeling.

So there you have it. We’re here because our ancestors drank beer. If it weren’t for beer, we’d either be dead or goat herders. Maybe that’s why bock beer labels always have goats on them.

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As of July 1, two of the country’s biggest beer companies, SABMiller and Molson Coors have now officially merged into one company called MillerCoors. They are expected to save $500 million annually through consolidated operations. Apparently they want to start saving money right away and therefore decided not to spend any money to come up with a creative name or logo. That’s a glass of beer as seen from above, in case you were wondering.

The new company has not decided where its base of operations will be but it will not be in Miller’s hometown of Milwaukee or Golden, Colorado, which is the current home of Coors. The company’s website is MillerCoors.com.

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