Oregon, Spring 2015, Part 8: Culmination Brewing Company

We ended our Zwickelmania day at Culmination Brewing Company. This was the newest brewery in Portland at that time (opened in January 2015), and it was still in a pre-opening mode, with only a few beers and limited business hours.

The tap room (in front) and brew area (in back) are both one large, airy space, divided somewhat by the high bar wall. A long bar, with several high tables scattered about. 

Six taps going, two of their beers (brewed at Brannon's Pub and Brewery in Beaverton), two guest beers, and two guest ciders. Their two beers were competently made and fairly tasty but seemed a bit young.

Culmination 4 & 20 Black IPA (9.2%)     3.2
Named for its four hops and 20 plato. A rather oozy nose, with dark fruits: prunes and raisins. Some chocolate and roast notes, too. Dark roast initial flavor, but it goes thin in mid palate. The alcohol is a decided presence. Medium body, fairly flat. Low on hops, for the style. Okay initially, but it fades out in mid and then there’s not a whole lot else.

Culmination Reynard the Red Fox Belgian IPA (6%)     3.4
A fresh fruity nose, citrus hopping, and small estery notes. A slow starter in flavor. Some maltiness sneaks out and a sort of bitter peach pit hopping develops in mid palate. Nice flavor changes. A bit young and fresh, perhaps. This one shows promise.

Culmination Brewing Company

2117 NE Oregon Ave

Portland, Oregon, USA 97232

503 353-6368

Hours:

Wed - Sat: 6-10 pm

Oregon, Spring 2015, Part 7: Baerlic Brewing Co

Our penultimate stop during Zwickelmania 2014 was at Baerlic Brewing Co., located in the same general area as Apex, Beer Mongers, and The Commons Brewery

The name of this brewery is an Old English word (bærlīċ), meaning “barley-like” or “pertaining to barley.” Open for less than a year (June 2014), they have a respectable list of five year-round beers, six seasonal/experimental ones, and have already retired 21 brews.

The taproom was crowded but a lot of fun. A long line of patrons snaked out the door and down the street, perhaps half of them waiting for the tour. We avoided that group and somehow managed to get a table. Service was surprisingly fast and also friendly. They had 10 taps on, including a few new special brews. An interesting mix of styles, too.

We focused mostly on their seasonals and experimental beers. Here are a few:

Baerlic Cowabunga! (6.2%)     3.6

A smooth chocolaty nose, a bit tangy, with some lactic notes. Dark brown color with a tan head. Mild buzzing sweetish initial, and then mild bittering throughout the palate. Medium body. Sweet but a bit fizzed up, too.

Baerlic Doug E Fresh IPA (6.7%)     3.5

A nice juicy hop nose, quite citrusy and zesty. Moderate malty flavors, with a substantial citrus/pine hop mix. Medium-light body. Very smooth. A lighter sort of IPA, but quite flavorful

Baerlic Invincible IPA (6.8%)     3.5

The only year-round beer we had here. Smooth, fruity nose with a backing of moderate caramel. Muddy amber/orange color. Well balanced from the start, with good lip-smacking hops, and long hop tracks in the finish. Medium body, and actually a bit underdone, really. Middle of the road IPA. Tasty enough

Baerlic Filbert Reynolds Hazelnut Porter (6.8%)     3.4

Sweet, coffee-ish nose. Flavors of coffee, dark roast, sugar, light hazelnuts, and minimal hopping. The hazelnuts add an extra dimension. Well-balanced finish.

Baerlic Wildcat (5.3%)     3.3.

Very fresh citrusy nose, lemon, bit of funk, yeast. Cloudy bright yellow. Small fruity tang in initial, mild bittering, and then goes weak in mid and final. Thin body. Very nice initially, but kind of gives up halfway through.

Baerlic Brewing Co

2235 SE 11th Avenue

Portland, Oregon, USA 97214

503 477-9418

Mon: Closed

Tues-Thu: 4 - 10 pm

Fri: 2 - 11 pm

Sat: 12 - 11 pm

Sun: 12 - 9 pm

Oregon, Spring 2015, Part 6: Portland Brewing Company

After Occidental, we headed around to the Portland Brewing Taproom, located in a rather gritty industrial section of the city.

Portland Brewing, founded in 1984, has been the focus of numerous buy-outs, corporate consolidations, and rebranding schemes. In 2004 it was sold to Pyramid Breweries, and the Portland brewery was renamed MacTarnahan's Brewing Company. In 2008 Pyramid itself was acquired by Magic Hat Brewing Company, which was in turn bought by North American Breweries in 2010. In 2012 Florida Ice & Farm Co. bought the whole group. Then in 2013 the Portland facility regained its original name. Whew! What could be next? 

Currently, the brewery produces beers under three labels: Portland, MacTarnahan’s, and Pyramid.

For Zwickelmania, the staff was conducting a blind tasting quiz. We had to sample four different Pyramid beers and identify each one. We were able to identify .... only two. Quite a humbling experience for three guys who think they know beer.

We had not planned on taking the tour, but they offered a $10 discount on lunch to tour participants and off we went. The tour was a bit long, and the tour guide perhaps overly chatty, but the samples we received at the end were something of a revelation. 

Earlier, the three of us agreed that, when beer shopping, we tend to walk right past bottles of Portland, MacTarnahans’s or Pyramid – and instead search for newer and perhaps more credworthy beers. (I think the last time I had a Pyramid beer was at a Seattle Mariners game several years ago.) But these Portland samples were all fairly tasty brews. Perhaps it was their freshness, or perhaps we were simply thirsty, but it was clear that these beers deserve another chance.

The restaurant/tap room had 16 taps on, including the Pyramid regulars, four seasonals, and two special featured brews. Samplers were available. Since it was rare sunny day, we ate lunch in a pleasant outside space. And talked about how it’s not just the newer guys on the block who can make decent beer.

Portland Brewing Taproom

2730 NW 31st Avenue

Portland, Oregon United States 97210

503 228 5269

Hours:

Mon: 11-9pm

Tu-Thu: 11-10pm

Fri: 11-11pm

Sat: 12-11pm

Sun: 12-9pm

Oregon, Spring 2015, Part 5: Occidental Brewing Co.

During last years’ annual Zwickelmania event, we often had to wait in lines to enter breweries for the free tours and samples. In some cases (Widmer and Cascade), we simply glanced at the crowds and just kept on driving.

For this year’s event, we decided to visit some of the less-popular places, ones that are not so much on the Portland beer geek radar.   

Our first stop of the day was at Occidental Brewing Co. This brewery, which opened in 2011, is one of the few places in Oregon that focuses on traditional German styles. They have a fairly bare-bones tap room next to Cathedral Park, under St. Johns Bridge, an area of Portland that is not overrun with breweries or beer bars.

Eight beers were on tap, including their five regulars (Hefeweizen, Kölsch, Altbier, Dunkel, and Pilsner) and three seasonals.

Occidental Kölsch (4.5%)     3.4 out of 5.0

Fresh and light pale malt nose, tiny grassiness, and gentle hops. Clean medium straw color. Sweet malty initial, mid palate flavor changes with light hopping, finishes soft and fruity. Thin body, light carbonation. Smooth, fresh, and clean. According to the bartender, this is Occidental’s flagship brew.

Occidental Bohemian Pilsner (5.8%)     3.6

Pleasant and lightly grassy nose. Clear medium straw color, creamy white head, and good lace. Grass, grain / mid palate moves to light sweet pale malt / thin hop tracks in finish. Thin body. Clear and clean across the palate. Europeans might describe it as an American-style pils. Pretty good.

Occidental Alt (5.3%)     3.7

Good mild, sweet malt aroma, with some spiciness and slight floral notes. Clear dark amber color, really pretty. Bright sweet cereal initial / smooth rich malt mid palate, reminiscent of Bass Pale Ale / light bitterness and then a balanced finish. Thin body. A pleasant alt, just a touch hoppier than a German alt.

Occidental Brewing Co.

6635 N Baltimore Ave

Portland, Oregon United States 97203

503 719 7102

Hours:

Wed-Thu: 4-8pm

Fri: 3-8pm

Sat: 12-8pm

Sun: 12-6pm

Oregon, Spring 2015, Part 4: Bridgetown Beerhouse

Bridgetown Beerhouse is a pleasant, fairly low-key, bar and bottle shop in N Portland, just off of rising, trendy Mississippi Avenue.

Bar seating for 8-10 people, and tables for maybe 30 or so. It was not very crowded on an early Tuesday afternoon. The décor features old dark brick walls, stone tile floor, and weird shiny red tiles on the ceiling. The bartender/owner, Mychal, was friendly and also quick and efficient with orders.

Eight taps, with a decent variety of styles. 400+ bottles in the long row of coolers along one wall, maybe half from western US, and a very wide selection of Oregon brews. The tap list is frequently updated on their Facebook page.

Bridgetown Beerhouse

915 N. Shaver

Portland, Oregon United States 97227

503 477 8763

Hours:

Mon-Thu: 12-9pm

Fri-Sat: 12-10pm

Sun: 12-6pm

Oregon, Spring 2015, Part 3: Buoy Beer Company

My second stop in Astoria was at Buoy Beer Company, set in a former cannery building along the Columbia River waterfront. A loud, boisterous colony of seals were swimming and barking in the pier area next door.

Open nearly one year, the restaurant/taproom is a large airy space with huge windows for river viewing. Old exposed wooden beams on the ceiling and ancient weathered brewing or cannery equipment as decorations. There is also a TV showing a live satellite map of shipping traffic along the mouth of the river. Near the entrance, a plexiglass floor window allows a view of seals sleeping on the pier planks below. Seats for maybe 50 people in the main area; also a separate bar area, which was closed at the time I was there. Food includes burgers, salads, seafood, and steaks – and the prices were a bit high.

14 beers were on tap, all house brews, and mostly a range of lighter styles. A sampler set of six 5oz. glasses cost $8; 12oz. glasses for $3.50; 20oz. for $5. Beers are okay. Several of them seemed underattentuated – although they were fairly clean, the flavors were not developed well.

Buoy Beer Company was selected as the RateBeer New Brewery of the Year in Oregon for 2014. Last year’s was De Garde Brewing, which makes world-class sour /wild ales .... Anyway, I expect that Buoy will improve over time.

Here are the six beers I sampled:

Buoy Kettle Demon IIPA (9.5%)     2.6 out of 5.0

Caramel and overripe dates in the aroma. Cloudy copper/brown color -- really looks like liquid caramel candies. Large caramel initial flavor, the hopping barely makes a dent. Ripe dates. Overly sweet. Medium-heavy body. Slick, sweet, even cloying. A caramel bomb, but even the caramel seems wrong.

Buoy IPL (6.3%)     2.8

A small grassy nose, with some sea water. Hazy straw color, no head. Thin stream of hops in initial, light grainy malt in mid palate, and a mild sweet finish. Thin-medium body, rather slick. Seems underattenuated for sure.

Buoy Helles (5.3%)     3.1

Mild grassy nose, bread dough, light citrus. Very light yellow straw color, almost greenish in the slanting afternoon sunlight. Sweet pale malts, light bittering, a touch of sourness, and a rusty metal note. Very thin body. Light and bready. Clean and fresh, but....

Buoy Pale Ale (5.2%)     3.2

Citrus and pale malt nose. Medium copper/amber color. Medium fruity initial, smooth and gentle hopping comes with the rising carbonation, a bit of artificial-seeming sweetness in mid palate, and thin hop tracks in final. Thin-medium body. Nice enough, a bit chewy. Maybe a bit too sweet.

Buoy IPA (7.5%)     3.3

A citrus aroma, with a bit of smacking caramel. Cloudy medium dark straw color, thin head, with some lace. Tangy fruit initially, some juicy hopping. A bit warming. Thin-medium body. Tasty, but the flavors don’t really blend or develop. A good bit of aroma hopping. Somewhat thin for the alcohol level.

Buoy Czech Pils (6.2%)    3.3

Grassy, weedy nose. Medium light straw color, thin head, some lace. Light grassy initial, some tang in mid palate, Mild Saaz hop notes. Finishes lightly sweet. Thin body Pleasant enough. Seems a touch overhopped for the style, or maybe the bittering additions or dry hopping didn’t work out right?

Buoy Beer Company

1  8th Street

Astoria, Oregon United States 97103

503 325 4540

Hours:

Monday – Thursday: 11am – 9pm

Friday – Saturday: 11am – 11pm

Sunday: 11am – 9pm