Burnside Stock Ale

ESB
Burnside Brewing, Portland.
22oz bottle, 5.8%abv.

I got all three of these Burnside beers from my mother-in-law for my birthday last Friday. They came as part of a great case from various breweries, some of which I'lbe aging for a while. Thanks Jan!

Pours cloudy gold amber with a thick fluffy head. So far two of the three beers has poured ok. Make of that what you will. Like all the others, this one exhibits considerable chill haze.

Aroma is very mild with little to no hops and a hint of fruitiness. There's a bit of weird green apple aroma in there that is somewhat off putting.

Flavor is also mild, with good balance. Unfortunately there is also something off in the flavor too - kind of a combination of vegetables and plastic. It's not overpowering, but it's noticeable.

Finish is clean and crisp, but like the other beers there is a sharp bitterness that comes out strongly and lingers.

Overall I think all of these have been the kinds of beers I'd expect from a halfway decent homebrewer, but they are not up to par for a pro.

That's unfortunate.

Burnside Oatmeal Pale Ale

Burnside Brewing Co., Portland.
Pale ale with rolled oats
22oz bottle, 5.6%abv

First, I'm happy to report that this beer is actually pourable, unlike their IPA from last night.

Color is golden amber, with some cloudiness from chill haze.

Aroma is mildly hoppy with a hint of maltiness.

Flavor is mild all around but nicely balanced. A nice smoothness and hint of sweetness are probably attributable to the oats, but it could be some crystal malt as well.

Like the IPA though, the finish is a bit overly bitter with a hint of harshness.  Not bad -- I do love hops after all -- but seems overpowering for the style.

Nice beer though, and way better than the weird IPA.

Burnside IPA

Burnside Brewing, Portland.
22oz bottle, 6.6% abv.

Pours ridiculously foamy. That was a gentle pour in the photo.

After the foam settles it's a cloudy gold color.

Aroma is hoppy and floral but not over the top.

Flavor is surprisingly mild, with a nice hop and malt balance, but then a big wallop of hop bitterness comes on strong and lingers forever.

Not sure* what my overall impression is, it is definitely an interesting beer. It's pretty annoying that I can't actually pour a proper pint no matter how gently I try though.

* Update: My overall impression is "meh" -- the foam never got better so it took forever to drink the beer. That meant it warmed up quite a bit, and once that happened some pretty harsh piney notes appeared. I like a hint of piney hops but this became a bit much taking on a floor-cleaner-esque "Pine Sol" aroma. When combined with the strong lingering harsh bitterness and stupid foam just made it not worth the trouble. The one positive is the initially pleasant hop/malt balance -- I like noticeable malt in my IPAs and this made me hopeful, unfortunately the rest of it is just too unbalanced.

More sunset

We get great sunsets here this time of year.

Reflection

Of the sunset of storm clouds in our front window.

Annie

Five+ months after Rogue's death, we are finally ready to welcome a new dog into the house. 

This is Annie.  She's just over two years old, and whoever gave her up to the rescue shelter are complete idiots. She's smart and sweet and adorable and well behaved and is fitting in with her new home perfectly.

Welcome home, Annie!

Dad's little helper

Black IPA
Rogue brewing, Newport, Oregon
22 oz bottle, abv unspecified

This is a nice sharp cascadian brew with lots of assertive hop presence, a balanced malt profile and a crisp strongly bitter finish.

If you want a dark beer on a warm summer day, this is a good choice.

Thanks Trace!

Eclipse Tasting

2011 flight of four rare beers from Fifty/Fifty Brewing in Truckee, CA.

Funny

My nephew made this great video to document the family's experience flying back from Florida yesterday:

Back home

Got home safely to a beautiful day in the Willamette valley. Stopped by the visitors center in Bend before we left and got our special commemorative Silipint beer "glasses" to prove we did the whole Ale Trail.

Other than getting sick, this was about the perfect vacation.  Damn good times, I'm sorry its almost time to go back to the real world.

Bend ale trail final stop: Brew Wërks

Great little tap room with a nice selection of their own beers and great guest taps.

Bend Freedom Ride

We accidentally stopped in downtown Bend right before this started on Wednesday.

Bend ale trail stop 9: Cascade Lakes brewing.

Bingo night here on Thursdays.  It's been a long day and we only missed one brewery -- damn good especially considering we walked the whole time.  Great fun, and a highly recommended activity next time you visit Bend.

Bend ale trail stop 8: Good Life brewing.

I didn't manage to take a picture at stop seven - 10 Barrel - because it was such a zoo. This place is much mellower, and the beer is tasty too. A bit hard to find, but worth it.

Bend ale trail stop 6: McMenamins St. Francis School

Nice set of tasters of some beers we hadn't seen from these folks at their Corvallis locations.

Bend ale trail stop 5: Bend Brewing

This should have been stop four, but we hit both the Deschutes locations.  Oops. A nice Belgian dubbel and doppelbock here.

Bend ale trail stop 4: Deschutes, downtown pub.

Quite a few different beers brewed down here at their original location.

Bend ale trail stop 3: Silver Moon

Bartender has a bit of a 'tude. Oh well.

Bend ale trail stop 2: Boneyard

Cool little spot. Nice folks.

Bend ale trail stop 1: Deschutes

Yum.

New Kicks

Stopped in Bend for a couple of nights on the way back to Corvallis, and had to drop by one of our favorite running stores: Footzone.  Got these sweet new racing flats -- New Balance RC1600.  They're a bit flashy looking, but they feel great.

Fabulous new look

Too bad it's not Halloween, I'd have a head start on a good zombie costume.

I'm very ready for this to go away, it HURTS.