the unicorn of the sea

I never thought of a narwhal as scary…until I saw this label

I was always fascinated by the narwhal as a kid.  What the hell was it?  Whale?  Some sort of sea unicorn?  It was both cool-looking and goofy, all at the same time.  The narwhal is actually an Arctic whale that feeds under dense ice packs.  It’s “horn” is nothing more than a tooth that grows outward from the mouth in a spiral pattern.  An imperial stout is probably a pretty good proxy for the dark waters found under ice packs, huh?  Kinda neat that a brewery decided to use this interesting creature in the development of a beer.  Sierra Nevada should get some props for the creative name.

Lompoc’s 2013 Holiday Beers

Ahhhh, the holidays

We made our yearly pilgrimage to Lompoc to try their holiday seasonal releases last night.  The actual release party is December 3^rd, but they like to give the “press” an early look to get the word out.  There are benefits to occasionally posting on this blog after all!  Lompoc brews more beers specifically for the holidays (9 specialty beers this year) than any other brewery in Portland.  Jerry Fechter (owner), Brian Keilty, Irena Bierzynski, and Grant Golden are one hardworking crew.  They get after it!  The tasting was held at the Sidebar, the Lompoc tasting room just around the corner from the 5th Quadrant on N. Williams.  The room is ringed by the barrels that constitute their aging program.  There is a picture of Don Younger over the fireplace.  This is a beer lovers place: warm and inviting.

Why should you be interested in Lompoc’s holiday offerings, you ask?  They’re good, that’s why. The following are my notes in real time from last night.  Michael will be posting later in the week with a comparison between this year and last year’s beers.  I highly encourage all of our readers to hit up Lompoc for some of these beers before they’re gone.  Unless you don’t live here.  In which case, get on a plane and get up here.  Now.

fine, I’ll do it

choco-pumpkin nonsense

This thing has just been staring at me every time I open my fridge.  The problem with buying a beer because it amuses you (or pisses you off) is that eventually you’ll have to drink it.  I didn’t even want this beer.  But I feel like I was kinda harsh on it based on my issues with early release of pumpkin beers…and that’s just not fair.  I should drink it and judge it on its merits, right?