On Portland

Great news for Portland beer fans, it's time again for Deschutes Abyss Beer. If you somehow missed this gold medal winning Imperial Stout last year you absolutely do not want to make the same mistake again.

Considered by many to be one of the top Oregon Stouts, The Abyss comes in a wax dripped bottle containing one of the deepest and most satisfying beers of it's kind. At 11% alcohol by volume it's one you'll sip, savor and enjoy!

The Abyss beer is only available in limited quantities and it tends to sell out quickly. Belmont Station (one of my absolute favorite Portland beer stores) is going to be selling The Abyss starting at 5pm Tuesday November 18. They are limiting sales to just 2 bottles per person and they expect to run out fast.  Belmont Station is located at 4500 SE Stark.

The Deschutes Brew Pub (210 NW 11th) also has an extremely limited number of cases of the Abyss (and they expect to sell out of them by the end of today).

Take our advice and simply do not miss The Abyss!  (Read some great coverage on this beer at Brewpublic)

Update: The Abyss is selling for $9.99 at Belmont Station and there was quite a line at 5:00.

Here are some pictures from The Abyss beer release:

Popularity: 2% [?]

Recently there's been a lot of talk about restaurants closing due to a dramatic drop in business (including the sad news that one of my favorite Portland restaurants Kalga Kafe closed).

This week we received news of an entirely different sort:

The Green Dragon, an extremely popular watering hole for Portland's tech set, and the standing location for the ever growing Beer & Blog has been set to be sold to Rogue on Friday November 14th.

Initial response has been overwhelming negative to word of the buy out with some pretty harsh comments posted over the news the popular brewpub may be transformed into a Rogue Taproom.

The Green Dragon has made its name for the ever changing wide variety of brews on tap, regular 'meet the brewer' events and as the destination of choice for many Portland tech events.

To commemorate the slaying of the Green Dragon Beer & Blog will be holding a final sendoff for the beloved brewpub on Friday (reportedly the last day for the dragon).

The sale of The Green Dragon in such a challenging economic environment lends great weight to the view that the area surround The Green Dragon, Grand Central Bowl and Holocene is destined to be Portland's next big hot spot

The Green Dragon will be missed. We hope other beer bars like The Horse Brass, Belmont Station, Bye and Bye will step up to fill the gap created by the sale of the Green Dragon.

Ed note: Read the good follow up piece in Draft Magazine about the Rogue purchase of the Green Dragon

Popularity: 7% [?]

2008 has been an unprecedented year for fresh hop beer. In October I attended the Oregon Brewers Guild The Fresh Hop Beer Tastivals at Hopworks Urban Brewery, there were so many people I had flashbacks to the Portland Summer Beer Fest.

Sadly, with the leaves now more on the ground than in the trees and the rains blanketing Portland, the time for these first fall harvest fresh hop beers is coming to an end. While many of the great fresh hop beers are tapped out, you can still find a few around town.

Your best bet right now is to pick up a few bottles of Deschutes Hop Trip.  I've seen bottles at New Seasons and the Deschutes Bewpub (210 NW 11th Avenue ) still has it on tap and has a few cases to sell.  Of all the fresh hop beers this year the Hop Trip is my absolute favorite. The beer is a beautiful blend of sweet, bitter and smooth, it's magic in a pint glass.

Also on Wednesday, November 19th Belmont Station will be doing a "Last of The Fresh Hops Night" with a keg of Sierra Nevada's Harvest Fresh Hop Ale alongside a cellared keg of Southern Hemishere Fresh Hop Ale. I can't think of a more perfect way to close out the fresh hop season.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Packed! That's the best way to describe the Oregeon Brewer's Fresh Hop Beer Tastival at the Hop Works Urban Brewery this Saturday. Two tents filled with people enjoying the Indian Summer and a bounty of new beers with hops from the recent Oregon Hop Harvest.

$5 got you a nice pint glass and then each 4oz taste was $1. Unfortunately I was only able to taste 3 beers at the fest:

Hopworks Urban Brewery Parsec Pale Ale -I figured I had to give some love to the hosting brewery and that may Pale Ale days would be few and far between as we get into the winter. This Pale Ale is a light and tasty beer that is very clean with only a hint of hops.

Lompoc Brewing Proletariate Red – a sweet and hoppy beer with a nice clean edge,,very drinkable and if I had more time I would have enjoyed a full pint.

Beer Valley Brewing Black Flag Imperial Stout – WOW! They were only giving people 4oz tastes and that's a shame because this is quite a stout. Super Dark, Bold, flavorful and hoppy. This was a beer that really got my attention, and I'd love drink again.

I also had a chance to taste Deschutes Hop Trip before the event, and I have to say it's one of my favorite of the fresh hop bunch. I've also got a bottle of the Bridgeport's Hop Harvest in my fridge which I hope to try soon.

There's no question that Portland supports local brewery events and the excitment around the local brewers sceen is really exceptional.

Popularity: 3% [?]

For dinner the other night I went to the Bye and Bye (1011 NE Alberta St). I did what I always do: I stared at the menu for a long time and ended up ordering the exact same thing I always get – The BBQ platter. Rather than order an IPA to accompany my meal I realized that it was 'Stout Time'.

Stout time comes when the air is crisp in the morning, the clouds migrate back into the sky and it begins to rain again. It's a time when you retire the summer IPA's and wheat beers and pick up the dark stuff.

The Stout I had was Alemeda Brewing's Black Bear XX Stout – an amazing chocolaty, coffee-esque, dark but clean beer that was the the perfect start to autumn and a fantastic accompaniment to my vegan BBQ platter.

Happy Hour runs 4-7 at the Bye and Bye and I plan to be drinking many more of those stouts in the weeks to come.

Popularity: 1% [?]