You love the blog, so subscribe to the Beervana Podcast on iTunes or Soundcloud today!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Hodgepodge

1.
As I tweeted last night, I stumbled across Eastburn's amazing Tuesday beer prices last night. (Like Columbus', my "discovery" was not exactly the first.*) Two bucks! Sally and I ordered a six-dollar plate of fries (13 pounds, 6,291 calories) and three beers and were delivered a check for $12. Holy moly.

2.
Eastburn is currently pouring that New Belgium Dandelion Ale I mentioned awhile ago. Go have some. The brewery calls it a "strong blond ale," but to me it tends more toward saison. The unusual botanicals (dandelion greens and grains of paradise) add a fresh, herbal note, but an understated one. It's crisp and dry--very nice.

3.
Full Sail is planning to launch Session Black tonight at the Taproom in Hood River. The brewery's description--"With just a hint of roasty chocolate character, Session Black is short, dark and totally drinkable"--illuminates little. A throwback beer ala Henry's dark? A schwarzbier (light or otherwise)? We will have to wait and see.

4.
Stan Hieronymus muses about Oregon and the state of craft brewing generally. (Shorter Stan: Oregon is still out in front, but the rest of the country's gaining on us.)

5.
(Bonus item.) Abe Goldman-Armstrong is on a personal journey to popularize a style of beer that's a half step to one side of the Beervana-blog-maligned Black IPA. He styles the style Cascadian Dark Ale. Abe has (literallly) alerted the press with the following news of a beer he had a hand in making for the NAOBF:
Secession is brewed in the emerging Cascadian Dark Ale style, often mistakenly called Black IPA. Pioneered by brewers in Newport, Oregon and Victoria, BC the style has been gaining traction across Cascadia and further afield. NAOBF organizers Abram Goldman-Armstrong, a homebrewer since 1995, and Izaak Butler who has helped him brew many 10-gallon batches of CDA, teamed up with Hopworks Brewmaster Christian Ettinger and Assistant Brewmaster Ben Love to brew 20 barrels of Secession on Hopworks’ biodiesel-fueled brewkettle. Secession is a classic example of this truly indigenous Cascadian beer style, bountifully hopped with Nugget, Magnum, Centennial, Atahnum, Simcoe, and Amarillo hops from first wort to the fermentor. Its 70 units of bitterness, are offset by a roasty character from organic chocolate and Carafa malts, with a hint of caramel lurking in the forest of hop flavors.


_________
*Special note to Bill: I read your blog every day, but come on, that was February. I'm an old man. I can't remember everything I read on the damn blogs.

6 comments:

  1. I understand your memory lapse all too well. No worries.

    Session Black: I believe they had this briefly at the Pilsner Room a few months ago, called "Winter Dark" or some such. After I enjoyed it, the bartender told me it was the Session recipe with dark malts. Certainly seemed nicer than Session, maybe because it was on tap?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Session Dark.... Henry's Dark? Hmmm...Be interested in a taste!

    Images of Beck's and Becks' Dark swim past my brain.... Have we come full circle?

    -----

    Stan is too kind. Can't believe the author of "Brew like a Monk" didn't comment on Cascade Brewings selection. Hmmm.. Oversight or on purpose?

    ----

    Six dollar plate of fries? Testing all those culinary dreams, eh? What's next Jeff? The $12 veggie burger review! ;-}

    ---

    Black IPA... again! Lets jump on the bandwagon! AN IPA.... That's..uh...Black! Ooooo! Stand back! we're hitting hyperspace now....

    Did that say "Pioneered by brewers in Newport"? That's funny, I had 3-4 four Black IPA's in California back in the mid 90's! Moonlight's 'Black Christmas' crosses my mind. Maybe someone needs to share this into with Brain Hunt of Moonlight Brewing!

    Maybe since honest Abe has only been brewing since 1995 he missed the first coming....

    Dark Ale... Dark IPA...Black IPA.. Whatever you want to call it, it's been done before and now making a resurgence....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Had the dark session recently from the bottle. It tasted maltier and only the faintest hint of roast. Poured an amber color. It was 'aight.

    I think Angelo has blogged the $2 tuesdays atleast twice. And I twitter it atleast every week.
    This seems a good time to plug myself www.twitter.com/samuraiartist

    Strange about the Dandelion, I had it there awhile ago and I thought it tasted like a much too sweet Saison.

    ReplyDelete
  4. per New Belgian Brewing web site



    The newest offering in New Belgium's Lips of Faith Program, Dandelion Ale, was inspired by the great hop shortage of 2008. Dandelion greens have a natural bittering effect much like hops. Reveling in the freedom of the Belgian brewing tradition, we thought this ubiquitous weed would make an interesting addition to a traditionally hopped beer. The result is a "strong blond ale" brewed with toasted pilsener malt, flavored with fresh picked dandelion greens and grains of paradise. Dandelion Ale is hazy and light gold in color with peachy aroma and a Belgian yeast strain. It has a unique bitterness, subtle maltiness and a creamy mouthfeel.

    Alcohol is 7.8% by volume.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bill, are they really the same beer? I remember the Winter Dark being another roasty IPA? Way to much hops for session, maybe I'm confusing two beers at the Pislner room.

    ReplyDelete
  6. They did have a dark Session on tap briefly, but I could well be wrong about the name.

    ReplyDelete