There are 81 beers on tap at this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival, running now through Sunday at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Over the course of four hours yesterday afternoon, I tried about 30 of them.
I say “about” because things get a bit fuzzy towards the end—the point when, after you’ve tried everything from a 100 IBU Green Flash Imperial IPA to a 9 percent alcohol Widmer KGB Russian imperial stout, you just can’t taste anything anymore. That’s when you hit up the coconut beer, hurting yourself just so you can feel something, anything.
But I digress. For the thousands of you who will attend the Festival this weekend, here are my top picks to sample and to avoid.
Lagers
TASTE: Wheatfish Wheat Lager by Great Northern Brewing. A nice, light quaffing beer. Very crisp. Refreshing. It’s in trailer 8.
AVOID: Trumer Pils. What the hell is this over-hyped beer even doing in the Festival?
IPAs
TASTE: Mountain High IPA by Mt. Shasta Brewing. My notes read only “great IPA!” It is a very nicely balanced, totally unsubtle, delicious beer.
TASTE: Titan IPA by Great Divide Brewing. A nice robust, malty beer. Very drinkable.
AVOID: Green Flash Imperial IPA by Green Flash Brewing. Tastes of garlic.
AVOID: Eat a Barrel of Hops IPA by Rock Bottom Brewery. There’s some aggressive hops up front, and then nothing. After the first sip you’ll taste only water.
Belgian stuff
TASTE: The Trip by New Belgium Brewing and Elysian Brewing. Brewed with the crazy Citra strain of hops and lemongrass (!), this one smells like apricots and tastes of grapefruit. And not in a bad way.
TASTE: Saison Christophe by Collaborator. A nice sour saison by Portland home brewers Bill Schneller and Chris Johnson, working with Widmer. Good stuff.
TASTE: Crazy Ivan by Bear Republic. A weird hybrid of American and Belgian, with a sharp hop flavor fading to a great fruity finish. This is the ideal beer to accompany a grilled bratwurst. Delicious.
AVOID: Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale by Boulevard Brewing. Inoffensive, but boring. The least interesting beer I’ve tried from Boulevard, an outstanding brewery.
Fruit beer
TASTE: Razz Wheat from Vertigo Brewing. A crew of Intel engineers has been brewing single barrel batches of this remarkable raspberry beer since May. It’s crisp and incredibly fruity. This is the beer you would put in your kid’s lunchbox, if you were to do such a thing.
AVOID: Festina Peche from Dogfish Head. A neo-Berliner Weiss that tastes like peach vinegar.
AVOID: Bluebeery Ale by Marin Brewing. One of the worst things I’ve ever tasted.
AVOID: Organic Açai Berry Wheat by Eel River Brewing. Tastes like Fruit Loops.
AVOID: Sweet Jesus, any of these damn things.
ESBs
TASTE: Bitch Creek ESB from Grand Teton Brewing. This is a goddamn great beer. Just try it.
Brown ales
TASTE: Festivale by Terminal Gravity Brewing. An 8.3 percent old British Ale. Nice and chewy, with a creamy head and complex enough flavors to keep you tasting for hours.
AVOID: Coco Loco by Kona Brewing. Kona deserves props for getting this much coconut flavor into their beer, but you don’t want to drink this one. It’s like eating a Mounds bar dipped in Newcastle. An impressive feat, but not one that should ever be replicated.
Stouts
TASTE: Overcast Espresso Stout by Oakshire Brewing. A little watery, maybe, but a good espresso stout. Save this one for last.
TASTE: KGB Russian Imperial Stout. Oh, man this is good. Thick, black, syrupy, 9 percent ABV. You can get this one at the Widmer Gasthaus. I may head over there this evening. Yum!
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Tags: Beer, drinky crow, oregon brewers festival
Ben, why is that man dressed like a pineapple?!
He’s a hop head. Get it?
Remember when local beer was cheap, and not highly corporatized? $10 for 2 1/2 small beers? $1 for a couple of ounces?
Awesome.
It may not be cheap, but I think only a dozen of the breweries present at the festival are what you might call “highly corporatized,” if by that you mean big enough to be sold nationally. “Expensive,” which many of these beers are, is not synonymous with “corporate.” Ranier is corporate. Pabst is corporate. But not, say, Ninkasi. Those guys are tiny. They make an excellent product. It isn’t cheap.
But if you’re not willing to shell out for good beer, stick with Full Sail. I know of no other company that combines responsible business practices, employee ownership, fine quality and low price the way they do. And they sell their beer for a buck a bottle.
Of course, the OBF isn’t really about drinking. It’s about discovering new beers and, for the brewers, marketing their product. If you just want to get drunk with a bunch of other paunchy white dudes, head to Oktoberfest.
In just about every European country, I can get excellent, locally brewed beer–for a fraction of the artificially high price it commands in Portland. And what’s even better? in Europe, there are about 90% less “gimmick” beers like “habanero peppers”, etc.
and some of them have been around for 300-400 years, going strong. when Portland’s got one one going for a fraction of that (that’s still local), let me know.
The OBF’s about discovering new beers? Tell me–how many beers there cannot be bought at a store or distributor, for a lower price? because looking at the list, I see most everything’s on my local store’s shelf.
and your description of Oktoberfest says all I need to know about what you think is “beer” and what s not.
Yo, Portland’s No Longer Wierd, I don’t think you’ve been to Europe. You aren’t going to get a good beer there any cheaper than you get one here. They might not have gimmick beers, but nor do most breweries here. Meanwhile, many Europeans fall for the trend of drinking crap like Bud. How different from drinking Pabst that isn’t brewed in Milwaukee?
That said, this year’s brew fest drew a big crowd, but the beers, at least outside the buzz tent, were good but not great. This is probably the most disappointing fest in years, and I suspect that the “buzz tent” had something to do with that.
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You’re nuts. Kona’s coconut brown ale was amazing. The second time I went back, the line was incredibly long. I daydream about that shit.
I do agree about the Festina Peche.. I was so excited to try it, and so disappointed that I did.
Hey! That’s me!!!! I’m [almost] famous! Okay, I do kinda look like a hop with the yellow Brewers Brunch Shirt and my hop hat. I make the pilgrimage every year to OBF. I was disappointed with the selection. Most beers were available in stores, and many in Sacramento, CA, where I live. Ah well. I’ll be there next year
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Correction in my second sentence: I do kinda look like a -pineapple-…
Why are you people filled with such anger? Become one with the body and know the peace & happiness of LANDRU…