Firestone Walker’s XVI Anniversary Ale

For my 39th birthday, almost one year ago, I received a 22 of  Firestone Walker’s 16th anniversary ale.  As part of my mission to drink the beer that is now stored in the “food” fridge, I selected this one.  I think I should have read the bottle before cracking the cap, as this big boy clocks in at 13% ABV.  Not really a school night beer.  Who I am kidding, it is going to be summer-like outside and I am going to spend most of the day wishing I wasn’t inside. So being a bit slow in the morning will matter very little.

Bust A Bucket

I almost exclusively write posts from the comfort of my home, where I have time to think about the beer and write. Or I am visiting a brewery with the purpose of reviewing their brews. Most nights when I am out, I am out. I drink to drink and enjoy and that’s it. But here I am waiting for the Blazers game to start…(we interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to say, oh my god! Did you see those first two games against the Rockets? Lamarcus Aldridge is a beast! I mean, I’ve had a crush on him for years, but seriously, those back-to-back 40+ games are just ridiculous. And talk about excitement. Blazer mania is in full force. Rip City baby).… I am at Tin Bucket with a Korean Pork Belly and Kimchi sandwich from Lardo in one hand and a Crux Banished Doublecross in the other and it’s like I died and went to heaven.

feeling salty

There are a few things in life that are good in just about any form. Coffee and chocolate are two that I can think of…a cup of coffee, coffee candy, coffee ice cream, coffee beer…you get the picture. One of my other loves is salted caramel. The salted caramel macaroons from Pix, salted caramel candy bars, salted caramel ice cream…in fact, I just finished a bag of chocolate covered salted caramel eggs. So when Michael saw Breakside Brewery’s Salted Caramel Stout he immediately thought of me and brought it home. Especially since it was brewed in collaboration with Salt n Straw, who just so happens to make my favorite salted caramel ice cream: sea salt with caramel ribbon.

Rudolph’s Imperial Red Ale

Once again I am tardy posting my latest beer review.  This past Wednesday day I sat down with a bomber of Rudolph’s Imperial Red Ale from Three Creeks Brewing when the ghost of my beer fridge started to haunt my basement.  A bottle of our coffee porter “mysteriously” blew up.  It had to be a ghost and not because I left a bottle of home brew at room temperature with am already distended cap.  Well, I had to set by review aside and clean up the mess.  Every home brewer has a good exploding bottle story and now I have mine.  It is a classic story of beer on the ceiling, glass strangely far from where the beer was, and because the bottle was in a box staked on another case, dozens of sticky bottles to clean.

My Quest to Dragon’s Gate

This past weekend I visited a new brewery while I was in the thriving metropolis of Milton-Freewater. What?! You’ve never heard of it? Well, it’s a town of about 7,000 located in the northeast corner of the state. This being Oregon, of course it has it’s own brewery (well it’s no surprise at least). The town is literally a stones throw across the stateline from Walla Walla, WA, where I met up with my college besties for wine tasting and a weekend away. If you’ve never been out that far into Oregon / Washington, go! The scenery is reason enough. The rest is just gravy.

After driving for miles with nothing but fields for as far as the eye can see, and then winding through farmland along country roads, some without names, you’ll find a gravel drive that leads you to Dragon’s Gate Brewery. Unless of course you come from the Walla Walla wine trail in which case you are just a few turns and a couple vineyards down the road.  Either way you might feel like you are a little lost, I did, until I saw the cute little shed, an a-frame sign, and a dozen or so red adirondack chairs just waiting for the sunset.