MacTarnahan's Amber Ale

7/24 at Huber's. I am the proud owner of a pint of MacTarnahan's Amber Ale on tap.

It is super phucking Hot. Ok, back to the beer. This beer is just kind of here. But I suppose I am spoiled on non-ambers. Ok, this is an amber ale. Amber Amber Amber. Everyone knows what an amber tastes like, right? Right. This tastes like an amber. I guess that is good. There are so many ambers on the market now. Hmmm.

Ok, good body, smooth, (yes, yes, I am talking about a beer! Jee whiz, get your mind out of the gutter!) nice finish. Quite pleasant, really. Repeat drinkability is high.

WDTB? Portlanders. Amber drinkers. People lacking imagination. People easily swayed by uninspired radio spots.

WSDTB? Anyone who loves ambers. Anyone who wants to drink lots of a reasonably good beer.

More people will soon have the opportunity to try MacTarnahan's beer, as they were bought by someone fairly big. Pyramid, it turns out. That is good, I think, as this is a pretty good brewery that didn't quite make it, and now more people can drink their beer. Give it a whirl, they do some good innovative stuff.

Rating: 7.9/10

Bridgeport IPA 2nd try

7/24, still at Huber's. No, not since then, I went home for a while.

Ok, time to conquer this particular bugaboo. I'm gonna rock this Bridgeport IPA.

Mmm. Still good. Ok, less drunk this time. This is a very hoppy beer, but not overhopped. I am a total hophead myself, so this is far from too much. It has a slight hint of sourness and a nice amount of bitterness. You certainly never forget you are drinking an IPA. There is a slight mustiness in the nose, which seems to be a consistent part of Bridgeport's beers. The finish is pleasantly hoppy, and the beer is well balanced overall.

Is this unfiltered? I don't know. Looks like it. Maybe. I know the bottles are bottle conditioned. NE how.

WDTB? Hopheads, Portlanders, Portland pride people. (Not necessarily these Portland Pride people, but there certainly could be overlap.)

WSDTB? IPA fans. Anyone who can get it. It wins awards for a reason. Anyone who needs their beer to win awards to validate their drinking of them.

8.7/10

Bridgeport IPA try 1

7/2 I'm at Huber's. Cue They Might Be Giants "Drinking and Driving". Who me? Anyhow...

Time out. So the people in my party ordered iced Spanish coffees. So this dude in a waistcoat comes out with a tray full of liquor and starts gyrating with burning alcoholic drinks, but in a good, non threatening way, totally in control. Many tips were involved.

Ok, back to the beer. I hang my head in shame. I have yet to review the ubiquitous and award wining IPA, Bridgeport's IPA. So I thought it would be a good plan to get me a pint. Unfortunately I'm rather drunk, totally stuffed up, and rather drunk. Ok, back to the beer. It is very hoppy and has won lots of awards. Damn, I finished the beer before I could review it properly. Ok, I'll get it next time.

Bridgeport Ropewalk Amber Ale

Okey Dokey, gonna do this one real time.   I just poured it from a bottle, and in the sickly light of the monitor it looks delicious.  Nice rich head, with a pleasant floral aroma with a little coppery note to it.  Course anything cold and in my glass is going to look excellent, it hit 100 today.  So I'm at the computer in stifling heat, just dying for this beer and as a service to you, the good reader, I am writing all this down.  The first taste is a little disappointing, the mouth feel is a little thin, but the taste is pleasant enough.  This beer is pretty well balanced, but could use maybe a little more maltyness to it.  Maybe.  Like all Bridgeport beers it is easy to drink, not too challenging, but it has enough character and surprise to it to make for good repeat drinking.  This particular one is named "Ropewalk" because the brewery is located in an old rope factory.  And has excellent pizza.  That has nothing to do with this review, but it does remind me I should go eat pizza and drink beer there soon.

I'm not tasting the Ropewalk too well right now, as I am a little stuffed up from drinking too much on my friend's island.  I actually drank enough that I thought it would be a good idea to spend the night in the diesel fume infested rear cabin of an old coast guard surplus crew ship.  Now that is too much drinking.

As an aside, I carefully cleaned my nose as best I could so as to be able to taste this beer better.  Most tasting actually occurs in the nose.  So if your date ever orders a beer, then immediately says "I need to go clean my nose." and leaves for the bathroom, know that they are not coke addicts, and they are not bizarrely obsessed with snot removal, they simply want to taste the beer to the best of their abilities.

OK, back to the beer.  It has a pleasant warmth to it, and the flavor sticks around for a pleasant amount of time without ever becoming cloying.  It is smooth, and goes down nicely.

WDTB?  Portlanders.  This beer is fairly ubiquitously available, and reasonably priced as well.  Plus we Portlanders have good local pride, and drink accordingly.

WSDTB?  Amber fans.  This is a nice, complex, yet not difficult in the least amber.  Drink it if you dig ambers, as many people seem to.

Rating:  8.1/10

Lambic Framboise

6/20, at the Shanghai Tunnel.

I procured meself a glass of Lindeman's Framboise Lambic, a Belgian raspberry beer. Lindeman's has a bizarre website, poorly translated and hard to find, here. Info on the Framboise is here. The beer is a Lambic, perhaps the most interesting type of beer brewed in the world, very time intensive. Some people are extremely devoted to Belgian beer. It is quite expensive, but usually worth it once or twice.

This Framboise is very unique, the raspberry flavor is very strong. Apparently Lindeman's grows their own raspberries. The nose is pretty clean, and the beer is quite sweet, with the dominant flavor definitely the raspberries. The finish is a little odd, perhaps the best way to describe it is foamy in your mouth, without actually having any foam. It sticks around, kind of cloying your tongue. This is a very good novelty beer, and would be excellent as a dessert accompaniment. Overall I would be much more interested in the Lambic itself, without all the raspberries, but I think I am in the minority here.

WDTB? Chicks. People who like fruity cocktails. People obsessed with Belgian beer.

WSDTB? You. Pair it with things to impress dinner guests at swanky parties. Act Cultured.

Rating: 8.8/10

Paulaner Salvator

6/20 Still at Shanghai tunnel, which is not the best place to taste beer, as it is pretty smokey. Anyhow I have a pint of Paulaner Salvator, a doppelbock.

This beer is sweet, malty, and quite nice. It is probably too sweet for most, though. It has a good round mouthfeel, and is probably fairly strong based on the sweeness. (Web research backs that up, 7.9% by volume) The malt flavor is most pronounced at the finish. It is amber in color, but more clear and a little lighter than you would expect. I would classify this as a connoisseur's beer.

It took me a while to get used to it. It grows on you. Yup, I was right, pretty strong. The finish is a little to thin.

WDTB? Germans. CBCs. People trying to get drunk on good beer while spending as little money as possible.

WSDTB? Macho beer guys. "I like my beer strong! I like it Heavy! Bring It On!"

Rating: 8.5/10

Glossary

WDTB? = Who Drinks This Beer?

WSDTB? = Who Should Drink This Beer?

WSYDTB? = Why Should You Drink This Beer?

CBC = Crazy Beer Connoisseurs

Chris = Dude who is allergic to wheat, so can't even drink beer anymore.

Saren = webmaster, brains behind

Kenji = beer drinker, no brains at all

Rachel = Portland Taiko drummer, awesome

Tree Brewing Company Hophead IPA

One of the other beers recommended by my internet friend was the Hophead by Tree Brewing Company. As they are shockingly free of website, I will try to be extra thorough.

This is a very hoppy beer, especially in the nose. It is slightly sweet in the middle, which is a refreshing change, and then it mellows to a nice finish. It has good balance and complexity, as well as a nice full mouth feel, especially for an IPA. Overall this is a very well crafted beer. The nose is slightly malty as well, in a good way.

WDTB? Our friends north of the border! Tree huggers. (I'd hug a keg!)

WSDTB? If you can get this beer you should drink it. However if you can get this beer and you pay attention to beers you should already know about this one.

Rating: 8.5/10

Pinochle Pale Ale by Old Market Brew Pub

6/18/04 Saren, the webmaster of this site, Yoshika, his wife, and I are at the Old Market Brew Pub. I got myself a Pinochle Pale Ale on tap.

Its fairly dark for a pale ale, and the flavor grows on you. Which is to say it isn't particularly pleasant when you start drinking it. It is slightly thin at the finish.

OK, no for the fun part.

Saren says it tastes "Twiggy." I have no idea what that means.

It is slightly malty. Perhaps, maybe it is a little minty at the finish, but I think that is my toothpaste.



This is an unremarkable beer. Notice how I have been doing little remarking.

WDTB? Boring people.

WSDTB? People who nobody likes. Boring is better than despised. I think. Although ?love, the drummer for the Roots said (and I paraphrase) it is much more interesting to make a bad album than a mediocre one. This is a mediocre beer. Seriously, though, if you love pale ales give this a spin. But only if you love them and have had almost all others.

Rating: 6.1/10

Citrus Lager

Still at Old Market. (My brother insists on referring to this place as Comella's, which closed around 10 years ago.) Saren got the Citrus Lager, their seasonal. I tried some. I hope the season changes soon. Saren says it tastes like sucking on an air freshener.

I made something like this once with Chris. Out of pure orange juice. Ours was better. This is overpoweringly citrusy. I almost didn't get it to my mouth. That might have been a good thing. The lager itself might be ok, but I really couldn't tell. Points for trying, I suppose.

WDTB? Good question!

WSDTB? Do you have no taste buds? Are you addicted to citrus? Both? This is the beer for you.

*Saren changes his answer to "restroom disinfectant."

Rating: 1.3/10

Pacific Porter

Still at Comella's. I have a Pacific Porter, on tap.

Hey! This one's good! Smokey, rich, nice and dark, but not too heavy. I'm not particularly fond of porters, but if I wanted to drink gallons of porter, I'd drink lots of this.

OK, I kind of ran out of things to say here. Dum de dum.

Maybe this beer is only good in comparison to the other beers. This beer is way better than anything else we had here. (not saying much.)

WDTB? After discussion with the way more attractive than the clientele waitress (again, not saying much), I found that this is not one of the more popular beers. In fact is down near the bottom. Strange. So, I guess just me. (drinking it, that is)

WSDTB? Everyone at Comella's. This is a good beer. Hmmm, never trust your average beer drinker.

Rating: 7.8/10

Old Granny Smith (apple-gold)

Still at Comella's (for the shuffleboard, not the beer, and certainly not for the people watching.)

Saren decided it was a good idea to get the apple flavored beer. I will now try some.

WTF!!!!! Bizarre, but in a strangely good way.

Saren says "Its a lunchbox beer. It tastes just like boxed apple juice." Ok. Fair enough. Just way more expensive. I prefer to keep my beer and my boxed picnic juice separate. I suppose this beer is instructive in theoretical exercise sort of way, but once you have proved your point ("See, I can make beer taste just like cardboard and institutional apple juice.") why would you continue to make it?

WDTB? 2nd graders.

WSDTB? People who miss trading sandwiches during lunch period. Maybe if you have a big group of people, and you all are like "ewwww, let's drink something really bizarre!" then you should get half a pint to share amongst you. But maybe not.

So we think this is High Life with a Jolly Rancher dropped in. Waste of High Life and a Jolly Rancher.

Rating: 3/10