August 2009 Archives

We drank this too fast to get a picture...

92/1000: HUB Cascadian Dark

JB: I love this! And our fries just came!
MM: It's very hoppy.
JB: Is it?
MM: Isn't it?
JB: It is hoppy, but no way would I say very hoppy. Hoppy for a dark beer, too. But that's what makes it work well, that it's not a bitter, thin, beer. It's mild and round for being hoppy.
MM: It has that stickiness that a hoppy beer has.
JB: I think we usually call it resiny. I don't want to obsess about whether it's hoppy. I think it has so many other great things going on that I'd rather talk about.
MM: What's a dark beer that's like this?
JB: I've been drinking light-colored beers all summer. I don't even remember.
MM: I think if I blind-tasted this, I would assume it was a much brighter color.
JB: I'm going to close my eyes and drink it. [drinks] I might think red.
MM: Oh, yeah. There's that iron flavor in there. Have you been over there, to HUB?
JB: Yeah, I kind of hate it.
MM: Bad bike parking, huh?
JB: It was a while ago, maybe they fixed that. But they have that big "bike art" thing over the bar, and then shitty bike parking? And they're on Powell?
MM: Don't hype it as bikey?
JB: And they have bad pizza.
MM: I was surprised they weren't more like Green Dragon, from what I'd read about them being hard core beer nerds.
JB: Despite having nearly no bike parking, this place feels very bike-friendly. All that aside...
MM: They make good beer.
JB: I haven't been 100% blown away, but a few have been rock star. This among them.
MM: But I think we should have done these in the opposite order.

93/1000: Oskar Blues Scottish

MM: This is sweet. Especially after the HUB. It's nothing like that beer, except in color.
JB: I think of this as late fall.
MM: I was thinking winter beer, but you want it at this not-too-cold temperature...
JB: Winter is heavier for me. This is a middleweight. Sweet is right, though.
MM: It has an oiliness, like a porter.
JB: Fades against my Caesar salad, though. I can hardly taste it. I'm not sure I'd return to this. I'm trying to picture when I'd serve it. Maybe for a lady? On a cold fall day?
MM: That's the picture that I'm getting. You're inside, and it's nice, and it's cold and miserable outside. And you don't want tea or a hot chocolate.
JB: I don't mean to bring the sexism here, but broadly based on my experience with taste, beer, and gender...
MM: Have we done an Oskar Blues before?
JB: They do cans. We've had Dale's Pale. Oh, and we had Gordon, and we kind of hated it. Gold medal, 2008 World Beer Championships.
MM: I'd be surprised if this won any awards. Not that it's bad! But I think those competitions reward very remarkable beers. This beer seems like one that will quickly fade from our memories.

90/1000: Terminal Gravity ESG

JB: Mike, we've been drinking this all summer.
MM: We were going to call it the "official beer of the summer."
JB: Can we even do that any more? It's too late.
MM: Steve has been calling it that.
Jona: Our summer is going to run into October.
JB: So, let's do it. Beer of the summer.
Jona: I haven't had it all summer, but I've had it before.
JB: I don't want to claim that I "discovered" this beer, but I discovered this beer when I went out to Wallowa County in June. Everyone has it on tap out there.
Jona: I tend to buy beer based on its graphic design.
MM: Would this one pass?
Jona: No, it looks like a baseball team.
MM: It should be called "ASG" for "Awesome Summer Golden." Then it wouldn't get confused with ESB.
JB: Why do you like this beer?
MM: I like that you can drink a lot of it. It doesn't come on too strong, it's not bitter, but it still has a distinct and good flavor.
JB: That's the whole story. It's really drinkable, but it's not thin. Instead, it's delicious.

91/1000: Full Sail Session Black

MM: It's a premium dark lager.
JB: Like Negra Modelo? I don't even know what that is.
MM: It tastes like barbecue.
JB: Like barbecue sauce.
Jona: I just ate some barbecue sauce, so I couldn't really tell.
JB: You know how barbecue sauces have chocolate or coffee in them? This has that same vibe.
MM: Wasn't the original Session supposed to be a limited-time thing?
JB: Yeah, but it was really popular, and they kept doing it. So, do you think this is a "Session"?
MM: No, not really. It's not thick and chewy like a porter, even though it's dark.
JB: I wouldn't want to drink, like four of these.
MM: That seems like a problem, since it's called Session. Good, but not great.
JB: I won't get this instead of a 12 of Sessions. Those are so perfect.

--

MM: Can we do a little aside?
JB: ...
MM: I'm sorry about all the wine I've been drinking. I sometimes feel that it's better than beer.
Jona: It's better.
JB: Mike, why are you drinking wine?
MM: I don't think one should have to defend one's love of a fine beverage.

--

92/1000: Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer

JB: I hate a lot about this before we start drinking it.
MM: It's from the Twenty-first Amendment Brewery.
JB: Watermelon? Is it supposed to taste like watermelon?
MM: "Wheat beer, fermented with watermelon, with added watermelon juice."
Jona: That sounds good.
JB: I ...
Jona: You're grossed out by it.
JB: Mike, why did you give me such a big one?
MM: You're really going to like it.
JB: The watermelon isn't overpowering. It's way back there, it's the watermelon flavor of Jolly Rancher, but none of the sweetness.
MM: It's a true watermelon taste, not artificial.
JB: Really?
MM: But I see what you mean by Jolly Rancher. But really none of the sweetness.
JB: It's mostly aftertaste. It's normal until it's out of your mouth.
MM: I really like this.
Jona: Me too!
MM: It's a weird beer that tastes good.
JB: So, you'd get it again?
MM: Yeah! I bought this six-pack and was excited to share it with you.
JB: What's it for? I don't understand!
MM: Mike, the guy at the beer store, said he likes it, but just one at a time.
JB: As I continue to drink this, the aftertaste seems to ramp up, and get more badder.
Jona: It's like sangria or something.
Mike: If you had to Netflix-star rate this, what would you give it?
JB: One or two. I haven't decided.
Jona: "Hate it"?
Mike: It's still beer.
JB: Yeah, but remember that Pandan beer? That was bad. You know, it's not even just the flavor. It's a lack of comprehension. I don't understand why.