Oregon summer series: beer #4

it all started with such promise…

My entire experience with beer and salt can be summed up in one word: Tecate.  Now, that’s not a bad word necessarily.  I like me some Tecate.  I like that I can drink 9 of them on a hot day and not feel like I am going to pass out or nurse a wicked hangover the next day.  But beyond that salted rim on the can, I was not fully aware that salt was a main ingredient in a style of beer.  It was only this summer that I first heard of the style known as Gose.

Reader’s Choice

Brian’s recent summer beer posts, combined with a recent lack of inspiration for what to write about, have led me to consider a theme or series for some of my posts. Call me a copycat. That’s fine. I like cats. Have two in fact. Hmmm…maybe if I can get one of them to drink beer I could write about it from their perspective. I’m pretty sure Gus would have some witty, curmudgeony, maybe even flippant things to say. Something like, “yeah, it tastes like beer. What else do you need to know?” I guess that’s not that exciting for our followers. So I started thinking about what you might want to read about and that led me to….drumroll please…a Reader’s Choice series.

This is how it works:

Oregon summer series: beer #3 and a taste of home

I love Summer

Having just returned from a brief sojourn home, I have had New Mexican food on the brain.  Specifically green chile.  I have always been able to find green chile here in Portland, but it has rarely been good enough to spend any time talking about.  Although the chile tastes right, the heat levels are extremely mild…probably a product of the climate and soils that exist in the NW.  Last year there were Hatch green chiles at our local Fred Meyer, as well as chile roasting services at local Whole Foods, which was pretty awesome to see.  For those who are not in the know, Hatch is as small town, 30 minutes north of Las Cruces, known as the Chile Capital of the World.  The valley between Hatch and Las Cruces is teeming with chile farms, and some of the best chiles grown anywhere come from that area.

I tried the Hatch chiles last year and was left feeling let down, as the chiles just weren’t all that good.  My first thought was that they must send the mild stuff up here to the gringos, and keep all the hot chiles for the locals.  Consequently, I was not actively seeking out green chiles this year, as I assumed they would be similar to those from last summer.  You know what they say about making assumptions, don’t you?  After last night, I can tell you that my local draught regarding chiles may be over. 

Clusterfuck

Clusterf#%k. On the menu at Double Mountain. How could the name not catch your attention? Not possible. A single hop IPA using Clusters. How could I not order it? Not possible. Pretty sure this was their intent, and it was genius. Luckily, there was no disarray, mess, or disaster here however. This was an excellent beer.

Nose: holy shit wonderful. I think of Cluster as a spicy hop, but this, this is all kinds of tropical fruit, especially pineapple. There was a slight sweetness as well, fitting as this is a double IPA.

Flavor: holy shit times two, batman. This is the best Double Mountain beer period. Strong hop, with a nice bitterness. Again, not as peppery as expected, but it did seem to come through more as the beer warmed. Still, it was subtle. The beer finished dry making it easy to put back a pint or two…or three or four, very quickly.

Maybe this is where the name comes from. After a few of these (at 6.6% ABV), you might find yourself in a clusterfuck.

Oregon summer series: beer #2

Who says “no” to free beer? Not this guy.

A couple of days ago, I lent a co-worker my La Caha China roasting box for his annual Meatapalooza party (good article about them here).  During the return of the box, as a thank you, he brought over some Ninkasi Radiant Ale for us to drink.  After sharing one in the garage and shooting the shit, he left and I had four beers in need of consumption.  What a perfect opportunity to add to my Oregon Summer Series, I thought.