The 2009 Barleywine Festeroon is coming to the Lucky Lab this weekend and will showcase Barleywines from 30+ local and national brewers.  What is Barleywine?  According to the Beer Judge Certification Program, Barleywine falls under the beer category of Old Ale.  There is a specific subcategory for American Barleywine because we’re special.  A Barleywine usually has a higher alcohol content – 8%+ and will exhibit a strong intense malt flavor.  I usually think of them as IPAs on steroids.  If you don’t watch out, they will sneak up behind you, clobber you on the head, stuff you in the trunk and leave you in a cemetery in Mexico if you’re not careful.

This weekend at Lucky Lab in NW, brewers such as Widmer, Sierra Nevada, Astoria, Bridgeport, Dick’s, Hopworks, Ft. George and others will present and taste Barleywines with names like Old Knucklehead, Dogfather, Horn of the Beer, Old Foghorn, Train Wreck, Old Ruffian and others.  Just the names make you want to try it right?  Bareleywines are special and should be enjoyed.  To have the opportunity to taste numerous interpretations of the style is awesome.  You may never see some of these brews at your local bar or the store.

A full list of Barleywines being presented can be had over at PortlandBeer.org.

2009 Barleywine Festeroon
March 6-7;   noon to 10pm
Admission is free; 4oz tastes are $1.75
Lucky Lab Brewery, 1945 NW Quimby

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• September 16, 2009 -- Le Tour de Chien 2009 (0)
• April 14, 2009 -- Oregon places 5 breweries in top 50 for the country (1)
• February 18, 2009 -- Say No! to the new beer tax (2)
• November 12, 2008 -- Men’s Fitness mag. hates good beer! (3)

I got an email yesterday pointing me to this article in Men’s Fitness naming “America’s five best bars for beer lovers.”  Holy Fuck.  Kennedy School?  Jeebuz people, did the writer just get off the plane, ask some middleaged soccer mom from Gresham where to get beer and went to the first place she suggested?  While I give McMenamins kudos for their properties and do love what they do with them, their beer is something else.  Further, they only sell their beer at their pubs, leading to a very limited selection. Also, have you eaten there lately?

If the writer came to Portland, I would personally show them at least 3 different locales that “turn beer drinking into a true art form.”  Green Dragon in SE – you know the place.  Usually they have 15 different beers on tap, good food and a great atmosphere.  Bailey’s Taproom in SW downtown – again, a locale with at least 15 micros on tap (usually hard to find items.)  Bailey’s is also just a hop, skip and a jump from 3 highly rated taphouses – Deschuttes, Rogue and Bridgeport.  Lastly, to get a neighborhood feel, I would take them to the Horse Brass.  Portland’s premiere beer joint.  The early pioneers of Portland’s microbrew credit the Horsebrass for giving them taps to showcase their first beers.

I wish when national publications want to do lists like this, they would do some research or just drop me an email.  Too bad the article doesn’t have a byline or I would give the writer an earful.  They even point out at the end of the article that Deschuttes and Rogue are some of the best microbrews in the country, and yet they pick Kennedy School as the beer drinkers mecca.  Sheesh

Related Posts

• October 29, 2008 -- A Blogger’s craft brew crawl – Saturday (6)
• April 14, 2009 -- Oregon places 5 breweries in top 50 for the country (1)
• March 6, 2009 -- How ’bout a pint of Bitter Bitch (0)
• July 17, 2008 -- Beer lovers- look at the list! (4)
• June 23, 2008 -- A good beer question – Who is number one? (1)

Amnesia Brewing, Portland

Originally uploaded by dieselboi

As you know, we have a ton of craft breweries here in Portland. At last count, there were 15 within the downtown and close-in eastside area. As you know, I am a beer guy and love to talk about beer. Last spring, I had the wonderful opportunity to show a fellow blogger some of Portland’s best and then we both took in Vancouver BC craft brew scene. Well, Wayan of WeloveDC is coming back this weekend and wants a brew tour and believes I’m the man to do it. So I’ll try….maybe with your help.

We’re gonna do a brew tour Saturday and would love to invite you along for the journey. We’ll hit up breweries in NE, SE, NW and North – probably in that order. Hopworks, Laurelwood, Roots, Bridgeport, Lucky Lab, Rogue, Deschuttes, New Old Lompoc, Widmer and Amnesia to name a few.

Want to join us? if so, here’s the scoop. We’ll be starting out on Saturday afternoon around 3 or so @ Hopworks. From there, we’ll hit some SE breweries and then hit NW. We’ll finish out the night in North. I can’t predict where we’ll be at any given time, but I will be updating my Twitter (dieselboi) with locations throughout the day. I may even post here.

Come along and have a brew or two at some of Portland’s finest craft breweries.

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• November 12, 2008 -- Men’s Fitness mag. hates good beer! (3)
• March 6, 2009 -- How ’bout a pint of Bitter Bitch (0)
• September 16, 2009 -- Le Tour de Chien 2009 (0)
• May 15, 2009 -- Burgerville + Beer + Twitter = Excellent (4)

If you’re an Oregonian, you know we lurve our beer.  We have 92 microbreweries alone in this fine state.  How many have you visited?  Well, let’s take it a little further.  Over on beerandscifi (thank you btw,) there is a list of 125 places you need to drink beer before you die.  Initially, I would think the list would be brewhouses and pubs and breweries, but the first one on the list is a festival – The Great American Beer festival in Colorado.  OK, now I understand the logic.  Here are the top ten:

1. Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO
2. Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium
3. U Fleku, Prague, Czech Republic
4. Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court, London, England
5. Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
6. Augustiner Keller, Munich, Germany
7. Abbaye de Notre-Dame d’Orval, Orval, Belgium
8. The Gravity Bar, Guinness St. James Gate Brewery, Dublin, Ireland
9. Monk’s Café, Philadelphia, PA
10. The Great Canadian Beer Festival, Vancouver, BC

You may ask yourself, why are three of those bolded?  Well, my friend, I went through the entire list and bolded out the locations I had been to – 14.  Granted, my visits to Germany were in 1989, but I still drank beer there!  Oregon made the list @ #23 with Henry’s Tavern in the former Henry Weinhard’s Brewery.  Too bad one of our microbrews didn’t get higher.  Rogue Brewing in Newport is #32 and McMennamin’s Kennedy School is #36.  Honestly I feel Edgefield is more of a destination spot, but that’s me.

You can check out the full list beyond the fold.

How many have you been to?  Leave it in the comments.

1. Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO
2. Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium
3. U Fleku, Prague, Czech Republic
4. Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court, London, England
5. Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
6. Augustiner Keller, Munich, Germany
7. Abbaye de Notre-Dame d’Orval, Orval, Belgium
8. The Gravity Bar, Guinness St. James Gate Brewery, Dublin, Ireland
9. Monk’s Café, Philadelphia, PA
10. The Great Canadian Beer Festival, Vancouver, BC
11. Hofbrauhaus, Munich, Germany
12. The Brickskeller, Washington, DC
13. Rick’s Café, Negril, Jamaica
14. The Market Porter, Stoney Street, London, England
15. Cat’s Eye Pub, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD
16. Seats on top of the Green Monster in Fenway Park, Boston, MA
17. Mondial de la Bière, Montreal, Quebec
18. Horizon’s Café, CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario
19. Clubhouse box seats at the Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, NY
20. Beer Club Popeye, Tokyo, Japan
21. The Publick House, Brookline, MA
22. Infield at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
23. Henry’s 12th Street Tavern, Portland, OR
24. The Hopleaf, Chicago, IL
25. World Beer Festival, Durham/Raleigh, NC
26. French Quarter during Mardi Gras, New Orleans, LA
27. Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy
28. Zum Uerige, Dusseldorf, Germany
29. Toronado, San Francisco, CA
30. The Olde Mitre Tavern, Ely Court, Hatton Garden, London, England
31. Turn 4 Suites at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, IN
32. Rogue Brewery, Newport, OR
33. The Wynkoop Brewery, Denver, CO
34. Spuyten Duyvil, Brooklyn, NY
35. Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, OH
36. McMenamins Kennedy School Hotel, Portland, OR
37. Atelier am Dom, Cologne, Germany
38. Anchor Brewing Tasting Room, San Francisco, CA
39.The Flying Saucer, NC, SC, TN, AR and TX
40. Arend’s Nest, Amsterdam, Holland
41. Blues Bar, Stone Town, Zanzibar
42. SandLot Brewery, Coors Field, Denver, CO
43. Clark Street Ale House, Chicago, IL
44. Tailgating at a Southeastern Conference Football Game
45. Selin’s Grove Brewing, Selinsgrove, PA
46. The Great Lost Bear, Portland, ME
47. The Map Room, Chicago, IL
48. The Blue Tusk, Syracuse, NY
49. Woolwich Arms, Guelph, ON
50. Beach Bar at the Atlantis Hotel, Paradise Island, Bahamas
51. The White Horse Pub, Parsons Green, London, England
52. Redbones Restaurant, Somerville, MA
53. Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, Sydney, Australia
54. Falling Rock Tap House, Denver, CO
55. Sleeping Lady Brewery/Snow Goose Restaurant, Anchorage, AK
56. In de Wildeman, Amsterdam, Holland
57. Andechs Monastery, Andechs, Germany
58. Charlie’s Bar, Copenhagen, Denmark
59. PINT Bokbierfestival, Amsterdam, Holland
60. Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico, CA
61. Kr?ma, Ceske Krumlov, Czech Republic
62. Sapporo Beer Garden, Higashi-ku, Japan
63. Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, MI
64. Sail and Anchor Brewpub, Fremantle, Australia
65. F.X. Matt Brewery Tasting Room, Utica, NY
66. Delerium Café, Brussels, Belgium
67. Birreria l’Orso Eletricco, Rome, Italy
68. Gösser Bierklinik, Vienna, Austria
69. Bariloche Ski Resort, Rio Negro, Argentina
70. d.b.a., New York, NY
71. Brewer’s Art, Baltimore, MD
72. Au General Lafayette, Paris, France
73. Schlenkerla Brewery Tavern, Bamberg, Germany
74. De Hopduvel, Antwerp, Belgium
75. Mr. Sancho’s Beach, Cozumel, Mexico
76. City Tavern, Philadelphia, PA
77. Die Weisse, Salzburg, Austria
78. Halve Maan Brewery, Bruges, Belgium
79. Tinkoff, Moscow, Russia
80. Le Bier Circus, Brussels, Belgium
81. TY Harbor Brewery, Tokyo, Japan
82. Irseer Klosterbrauerei, Irsee, Germany
83. Stockholm Beer & Whiskey Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
84. Goose Island Brewing, Chicago, IL
85. Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
86. Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
87. Deschutes Brewery & Publick House, Bend, OR
88. Baumgartner’s Cheese Store & Tavern, Monroe, WI
89. Icebergs Bar, Sydney, Australia
90. Cantillon Brewery and Gueuze Museum, Belgium
91. Dogfish Head Ale House, Rehoboth Beach, DE
92. Belgo Central, London, England
93. Bruxellensis Festival of Characterful Beers, Brussels, Belgium
94. Felix in The Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong
95. Brasserie Federal, Bahnhof Zurich, Switzerland
96. Heineken Brewery, Amsterdam, Holland
97. Clark’s Ale House, Syracuse, NY
98. The Shakespeare, Aukland, New Zealand
99. Mahar’s, Albany, NY
100. Steamworks Brewing, Vancouver, BC
101. Cooter Brown’s, New Orleans, LA
102. McSorley’s Ale House, New York, NY
103. Kelly’s Caribbean Bar, Grill & Brewery, Key West, FL
104. Rose & Crown Pub, Epcot Center, Orlando, FL
105. The Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh, PA
106. Brick Store Pub, Decatur, GA
107. Sunset Grille & Tap, Boston, MA
108. The Ghost Bar at the Palms Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
109. Norwich Inn/Jasper Murdock’s Brewery, Norwich, VT
110. The Gingerman, Austin, TX
111. Library Ale House, Santa Monica, CA
112. t’Bruges Biertja, Bruges, Belgium
113. beerbistro, Toronto, Canada
114. The Dubliner, Washington, DC
115. John Barleycorn, Chicago, IL
116. Anchor Bar, Buffalo, NY
117. Gritty McDuff’s, Portland, ME
118. Top of the Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Chapel Hill, NC
119. The Bell, Aldworth, Berkshire, England
120. The Golf Tavern, Edinburgh, Scotland
121. Old Ebbitt Grill, Washington, DC
122. 5 Seasons Brewing, Atlanta, GA
123. Tim Schafer’s at Lake Norman, Sherrills Ford, NC
124. Stumbling Monk, Seattle. WA
125. The Happy Gnome, St. Paul, MN

Related Posts

• March 6, 2009 -- How ’bout a pint of Bitter Bitch (0)
• November 12, 2008 -- Men’s Fitness mag. hates good beer! (3)
• October 29, 2008 -- A Blogger’s craft brew crawl – Saturday (6)
• June 23, 2008 -- A good beer question – Who is number one? (1)
• September 16, 2009 -- Le Tour de Chien 2009 (0)

Amnesia Brewing, Portland

Originally uploaded by dieselboi

Over on one of my favorite blogs – Beervana, Jeff posed the question – “Who’s Number One?” I have always knew we were a focal point for microbreweries and were at the head of the class when it came to innovation and creativity. Heck, we now have 2 major organic breweries and now everyone is jumping on that bandwagon. As I drove across America and back in May, I tasted a number of microbrews. It seemed that the further we got east, the more Belgians we tasted and the less hops they used. The only saving grace is that Philadelphia has Victory Brewing with their Hopdevil IPA. But I digress….

Beervana has some metrics- based on population, Oregon has the second most microbreweries per capita in the nation. I can’t believe Vermont beat us with 14 breweries. Then again, there are only 12 people in Vermont right? I couldn’t believe Oregon has 90 microbreweries. Wow! And California has 293? Holy shit!

It proved it to me though that we can be proud and boastful of our microbrews here. While they are everywhere in the nation (except for like North Dakota (1) and Mississippi (1)) we have many to choose from. Just in Portland city center I can count 12 and I think I’m missing something.

So, raise your glass to the Widmer Brothers, the Ponzi family (Bridgeport), the McMenamins and Art Larrance (formerly of Portland Brewing) who went to Salem oh so many years ago and changed the laws. Without them, we wouldn’t have Roots or Hopworks or TG or Laurelwood. Here’s to you!

Related Posts

• March 6, 2009 -- How ’bout a pint of Bitter Bitch (0)
• November 12, 2008 -- Men’s Fitness mag. hates good beer! (3)
• October 29, 2008 -- A Blogger’s craft brew crawl – Saturday (6)
• July 17, 2008 -- Beer lovers- look at the list! (4)
• February 21, 2010 -- 30 Years of Loving Portland (3)