Beer, beer and more beer from Oregon

[billvon 3,061]

Amy and I spent last weekend at the Oregon Brewer's Festival in Portland. 55,000 people, four days, and 72 breweries ranging in size from Pyramid Breweries to the Raccoon Lodge and Brewpub. People came from as far away as Japan for this one (see the map picture below.) And you really need four days; we didn't have enough time (or, more accurately, recovery time) to hit all the beers there.

For something of this magnitude you need several things:

1. A hotel nearby
2. Public transportation
3. A large floppy hat, or a ballcap from a brewery if you're cool (we're not)
4. Lots of water and vitamins (so as to not totally hammer your liver and kidneys)

We got there on Friday and hit the closest beers to the entrance. We stayed there a few hours until the beers all started to blend into each other. At a festival like this, it's something of a sin to get drunk; you might as well drink PBR at that point because you're not tasting anything anymore. After a while you actually start looking for low alcohol content beers because you can drink more of them.

On Saturday we arrived with a plan, and hit the beers we really wanted to try. 90% of them were excellent, even the traditional overly-hopped Northwest IPA's. Some suprises were:

Raspberry Wheat by Raccoon Lodge. I usually don't like fruit beers, and this one was actually _pink_! (see picture below.) So it started out with two strikes against it. But it wasn't sweet or heavy; it was very tart and just hoppy enough that it didn't taste like fruit juice. It was a perfect lawnmower beer, easy to drink and low in alcohol.

Chocolate Porter by Siletz. No chocolate in it, but the dark malt they used give it a very heavy mocha flavor without making it really sweet.

French Prairie Blanche from Golden Valley. A really complex beer; much more character than most Belgian wheats.

Then there were the usual suspects, beers like Yellowtail from Ballast Point and Pyramid Hefeweizen, which are always good. There were only a few really bad ones, like Monkshine, a too-hoppy Belgian with no body. The 21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat was an example of two things that should never go together.

On Sunday we got down to the ones we were just sorta interested in. We got through about 50 of the breweries before giving up on the endless IPA's and just getting more of what we liked.

Around 1pm on Sunday Amy had an odd experience. She got a Lillikoi Wheat from Kona Brewing (which we both liked) and took it back to our table. We both tried it and came to the same conclusion - that's not Lillikoi. It tasted like an amber or an IPA.

So Amy headed back over to the table to complain. At first she got the "oh, that's Lillikoi all right, little girl" attitude. They poured her another one; same issue. At that point some of the more experienced servers came over and started looking at it and smelling it. This attracted the attention of the Liquor Board people; servers weren't allowed to drink, and the Lillikoi server really wanted to try it to prove Amy wrong.

"It's really not Lillikoi; it's not even a wheat!" she said. One of the sniffers agreed, but it was definitely coming out of the Lillikoi tap. Finally Amy asked if the right keg had gotten hooked up. Someone went to check and sure enough, they had switched the Lillikoi with an amber. Amy's stock immediately went up several notches with the old guys serving beer at that table, and after that she got the occasional free beer from them.

We have also officially become Beer Snobs. We're using all this snobby terminology now like "late hoppy finish" and "malty but balanced" to describe beers, because we ran out of ways to say "I like this one, but not as much as that one, but more than that other one."

We got back to San Diego late Sunday night, which will give us four whole days to recover before hitting Rantoul. I should just start sleeping now.

[AggieDave 6]

Any Shiner Bock there? If not then it doesn't matter.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[NWFlyer 2]

We need to talk to these people and make sure they don't schedule it at the same time as Prairie next year, because I want to go be a beer snob with the VonNovaks. Damn, sounds like fun (though we missed having you guys at LP!).

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[billvon 3,061]

> Damn, sounds like fun (though we missed having you guys at LP!).

Yep, and we missed the Lang. Did they jump in this year? Or is it closed after the sale?

[Amazon 7]

They did the brewry jump... no problems with the sale.

I took my Fastest Female cup from the ISSA World Cup Speed Skydiving event... and filled it a few times..
Oh and I brought home a few cases... just in case

[Deuce 1]

Ah, Bill and Amy.

Having experienced the hospitality of your refrigerator before, I know about the amazingly eclectic beer experience in your house.

And as you know, I am grateful. From Asahi to some micro Montana-wheat, it's all in there. Such generosity is rarely encountered and I count myself lucky.

OK. That said? What total asses confronted Amy? Holy Cow that's stupid. Never condescend to a woman who appears to be a bitch but can surgically remove your spleen.Really nice ladies like that need to be treated with respect.

People, I have a little knowledge of people. Billvon puts his time, treasure, and talent behind his causes. Above all he is not even remotely hypocrytical.

The man.

-And AI would have paid hard money to see some ass argue breer with Amy.

[Deuce 1]

Cool. I got the rigt sig line.

The V'Novaks know beer. So donbt whine.

[BillyVance 34]

Sounds like a great experience I wish I could have had...
Is Wendy Faulkner still keeping up with the No Cheap Beer club/list and website? It's been years since I got my NCB # 206...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[amy 0]

Quote

Never condescend to a woman who appears to be a bitch but can surgically remove your spleen.

Hey! Who you callin' a bitch?

Bitch!

Amy

[VectorBoy 0]

At a festival like this, it's something of a sin to get drunk; you might as well drink PBR at that point because you're not tasting anything anymore.

[Hipwrddude 0]

There's definitely something euphoric about Beerfests, Octoberfests, beer tasting etc. Thanks for the interesting experience. I went to an Octoberfest in Sharon, PA once, didn't stop drinking until the ground felt like a roller coaster (but still managed a few sips before I had to check my eyelids for holes.) Anyone ever try Lindeman's Frambou (sp?) can't drink much of it but boy it's refreshing!

You're always the starter in your own life!

[billvon 3,061]

>Well isn't that when you need to take bites of something in
>between sips of beer to "cleanse the pallet"?

Pretzels seemed like the common thing for that; some people had them on a string around their necks for instant access. Still, you miss a lot in terms of perception when you're drunk (IMO.) True for more than just beer.

[Clownburner 0]

Quote

Oh and I brought home a few cases... just in case

What are the odds some will make it down to Byron?

7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez
"I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

[RevJim 0]

Quote

Sounds like a great experience I wish I could have had...
Is Wendy Faulkner still keeping up with the No Cheap Beer club/list and website? It's been years since I got my NCB # 206...

#398 checking in...

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[jdobleman 0]

So I finally see you write something here and it's "Bitch", classy. Anyway now we know where you were, I thought you were busy with team practice. Dale, Cliff, Mike, Carolyn, Chad, Rhonda and a whole bunch of others missed you and say "HI".

Billvon, See Bryan Burke at Rantoul, He has a present for you.

madjohn

Main goals in life: Be on the "Jumpers Over Eighty" (JOE) World Record and attend the Lost Prairie Boogie once after I'm gone.