Was at New Seasons this past week and spied this on the shelf – Deschutes Brewery’s new bottle of Hop in the Dark, Cascadian Dark Ale. Of course, I had to buy it. The mister and I had had this at the brewery before but they just started bottling it this summer. There’s been quite a few “dark” ales coming out lately. It’s a fun trend.
We both loved it! It has a lovely color and aroma — light on the nose but with a very pleasant, kind of carmelized scent. It has undertones of coffee and that’s how I like them. Coffee beers are kind of entertaining but I personally can’t drink a pint of one. I love me some coffee with a fierce passion but I don’t really need it in my beer.
I’m kind of wishing we had tried this beer last night with the Alsea Feta I bought to pair with Rogue’s Hazelnut Nector for a miniature beer/cheese tasting I had with friends. We couldn’t find the Nector on the shelves so we substituted another nut brown that didn’t work as well. I have not generally paired Deschutes beers with cheese (with the exception of the standout pairing of Mirror Pond and Pondhopper – those two go together like peas in a pod) but this one really has pairing potential.
But, what I really want to say in this review is that I think Deschutes Brewery is amazing. And I absolutely do not want to diminish the wonderful product coming out of the many innovative and exceptional breweries here in Oregon but Deschutes is tops for reaching two markets: your craft-beer newbie and your aficionado. They take risks but they know just how far to go to make a beer that is absolutely appealing, drinkable, giftable and memorable. So, well done again, Deschutes! Stay classy; we’ll never take you for granted!
Steve Jones of Cheese Bar and Adam Berger of 10-01 Restaurant want to kill you with cheese. Not just one cheese, though. No. 101 cheeses. In one night.
Ruminate on the last big cheese plate you put together. Like a REALLY big plate. You used what? Like six cheeses because you wanted to splurge. And you probably thought to yourself, “this is going to be the greatest cheese plate ever.”
Yeah, this is 101 cheeses. One hundred and one cheeses. There’s “expanding your cheese horizons,” as Amanda just suggested I include in this article, and then there’s drinking from a firehose of cheese knowledge.
No seriously, is the guy from Man v. Food coming back to Portland? The Great Balls of Fire at Salvador Molly’s and the Mancakes at Stepping Stone Cafe weren’t enough?
Oh My God, Sign Me Up Already!
The event will be this upcoming Monday, June 21, at Ten 01 Restaurant, which is at 1001 NW Couch Street in the Pearl.
The nice folks at Hopworks Urban Brewery invited our entire blogging team to their newest bottle release: Rise Up Red. So we both went — I took the video camera, thus causing Amanda to roll her eyes as I asked her to do silly things for b-roll: walk through doors, chat with owner and head brewer Christian Ettinger, sip her beer, etc. Did I use any of those things? No. No, I did not.
But enough about the silly technical stuff: The Rise Up Red is a hoppy little red, very sessionable. It’s an incredible example of a northwest ale, fully of caramel notes. But don’t take my word for it; watch the video below.
This kind of flavorful Northwest ale pairs with nearly anything — I’d look for a fresh, grassy chevre for a warm summer afternoon. Or maybe even serve it alongside my decadent new favorite, burrata, for those typically cool evenings we get up here in Oregon. I think it’s hoppy enough to fight off a blue, and has barely enough sweetness to work well with something salty.
And wow, just imagining the possibilities reminds me: I shouldn’t write these reviews when I’m hungry.
This screenshot from fixedgear blows my mind. Every state had their own laws regarding beer, wine and alcohol sales with their own method of oversight. Typically, these methods date back to the good old fashioned days of prohibition, rum runners and bathtub gin. Mmmm… sweet, soapy gin…. I want to learn more about this arcana and what is the proper course of action to take in these modern times so that I can do silly things like send my brothers awesome beer from Oregon without a directory of state laws by my side.
Well, the word is out! Steve Jones, the proprietor of Steve’s Cheese here in Portland, is starting a new venture this year. He’ll be moving his cheeses out to Southeast Portland and opening a larger shop where you can buy and sample cheeses, enjoy a small plate, have lunch or dinner and stay into the later hours pairing beer and wine with your favorites. Be still my heart!!
“It was time, we needed room to do more,” says Jones, whose clients include many top Portland restaurants as well as adventurous cheese shoppers. Jones says the spirit of the Cheese Bar is inspired by France’s tabac shops. “Every corner has one,” he says. “All the old men drinking espresso or grappa or having croissant. A tabac is for the neighborhood — they’re social yet convenient locations.”
Was at New Seasons this past week and spied this on the shelf – Deschutes Brewery’s new bottle of Hop in the Dark, Cascadian Dark Ale. Of course, I had to buy it. The mister and I had had this at the brewery before but they just started bottling it this summer. There’s been quite a few “dark” ales coming out lately. It’s a fun trend.
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