I give this fest high marks, more than 50 breweries and 110 beers, a homebrew competition, vendors selling classic vinyl records, live music and a People’s Choice Award (won by Hop Valley’s Alpha Centauri). The lines and crowd were very manageable, hardly waited more than 30 seconds for a fill and it’s a pretty standard $1 ticket per taste and your $12 admission gets you an actual glass taster. Proceeds benefit the listener-supported station.

Definitely the most interesting aspect of the festival was the inclusion of a collaboration brew, where participating brewers each developed their take on a (get this…) Belgian Style Cascadian Dark Rye Ale. In the description of the beer below they used the phrase “Because we can,” perhaps because some said “Oh no, you didn’t?” Overall, I think each of the beers suffered from being a bit of an over-engineered concept, any two of the three (Cascadian Dark, rye malt, Belgian yeast) would have been fine, but all three together created some odd flavors regardless of the skill of the brewer making the beer. A good thing to remember is just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Dave in his quest to drink 999 different beers over 999 days reviewed Ninkasi’s entry here.

Aside from the collaboration brew, there were handful of seasonals but most brought beers that are available in some form here in Portland. That didn’t crush our enthusiasm for seeking out old favorites like Maui Brewing’s IPA and breweries we’ve never tried such as Wakonda Brewing’s Imperial Pilsner.

As our Twitter post summed it up that night, it’s like a mini-GABF but instead of beer geeks there are college girls and old hippies. I would definitely recommend checking the festival out in future years, either on its own if you’re in the area or as a part of of a beer weekend to check out the all great breweries in the area.

More on our Zwickelmania trips later…

Last week, I performed a simple taste test to compare a flavor of cold beer in a cold glass to the flavor of beer in a glass that approached the ambient temperature. I used Total Domination IPA (6.7% alc./vol. 65 ibus.) from Ninkasi Brewing Company in Eugene, Oregon in both tastings. My results are as follows; I encourage you to try a similar test and confirm my results.

Ninkasi Total Domination IPA

Cold Glass + Cold Beer

I used a freezer mug for this test. This mug had been inside the freezer overnight and the fluid inside the mug kept the beer frosty cold.

• First, the beer tasted cold (obviously, but I need to state this for completeness, right?)
• I could tell it was a carbonated fluid, but not much more.
• There was little, if any, flavor on the sip.
• The beer raced through my mouth, not much time to savor.
• I tasted bitterness upon swallowing; when back of tongue reaches the roof of my mouth.
• It also exhibited a bitter aftertaste.
• This reminded me of the macro-brews consumed during my college years. The point was to drink this one and then move on to the next one. Not much thought was put into enjoying the experience.

Ambient Glass + Near Ambient Beer

Now that I write this, I wish I would have taken a temperature measurement with Dave’s sweet laser thermometer. I didn’t think about it, so maybe I’ll have to re-do the test. Ha!

• This warmer beer was thick, with a full body which bloomed into a slight citrus taste after a few sips and more time in my glass.
• This beer was more savory and definitely more chewy than the cold glass I had earlier. I could chew on the bubbles that make up the head.
• The beer exhibited a more malty finish too.
• I could tell the bitterness was more of an after-thought than the primary flavor present in the cold glass.
• I could sense a slight pine flavor; other beers like Pliny the Elder (the beer, not the ancient Roman nobleman) have a bold pine flavor, but this was more subtle.
• I stuck my nose in the glass and smelled a real craft beer.

Based on my results, I experienced a much broader flavor when the temperature of the beer neared the ambient temperature of the room. I wasn’t missing nearly as much as I did with the ultra cold beer. Even after burning a fair amount of my taste sensation on the cold, bitter beer, I could still enjoy the flavors present in the warmer beer.

You might be asking yourself why some beers actually highlight the coldness of the beer and/or the can. That’s a good question. My guess is that (1) you were watching a commercial for mass markets and (2) the beer advertised was not a craft beer.

I don’t have anything against big market beer with less flavor, it has a time and a place too. And I’ll still get a lot of enjoyment out of my Blazer mug with embedded super-freeze technology. I’ll just put the right beer inside it and enjoy the day. Its a close analogy to mixing Seagrams 7 in a glass of Coca-Cola and pouring Woodford Reserve in a tumbler with a little water to open up the flavor. I enjoy both beverages, but there’s a time and place for each. When you select one, make sure you’re getting all the flavor available to you.

Before I get to the beers though, a warning: most of these beers are strong. Some of them are very strong. Please make responsible transportation arrangements (it shouldn’t be hard, given the fest’s location at the confluence of all four MAX lines) and go easy. Also, drink at least a pint of water when you get home. My head is none to happy with me this morning, but these are the things I do for you, our loyal readers. On to the beers…

Jim ‘07 – Hair of the Dog For those who don’t know, Jim is an annual collaboration between HotD brewer Alan Sprints and Ale Fest organizer/host Preston Weesner. It is a blend of several HotD beers (Adam, Fred, Doggie Claws, and Blue Dot) as well as a few others. The ‘07 variety featured Adam (an “old ale”) prominently but you can also easily taste the sweet spiciness of the Doggie Claws and the floral hoppiness of the Blue Dot, all perfectly balanced. This is my favorite of the Jims, and one of my favorite beers ever. If you’ve never had this beer, you really must try it. What? It’s all gone? ALL of it? In the whole world?!?! Oh, well, nevermind then.

Jim ‘09 – HotD Sorry about the ‘07 tease. On the upside, there should be plenty of Jim ‘09. While Adam was in the forefront in ‘07, ‘09 is all about the Blue Dot and Doggie Claws. Well, not ALL about those two. Much as those added key flavors to Jim 07, now Adam and Fred provide the hints of chocolate, toffee and other notes that make this year’s Jim equally well-rounded, if totally different. Getting to see what treat Alan and Preston have concocted each year has come to be a highlight of the Holiday Ale Fest.

Barrel-aged Baba Yaga – Bear Republic Don’t let the 110 IBUs fool you, this is actually not an especially bitter or hoppy beer. The sweetness and alcohol combine to balance out the bitterness and you’re left with a smooth, sweet, smoky, maltiness that lingers nicely in your mouth.

Wassail Holiday Blend – Full Sail Usually Wassail is not one of my favorites of the local winter ales, but here they’ve combined it 65/35 with some of their bourbon barrel aged porter. To taste it, you’d think that ratio is reversed. The malt and bourbon flavors of porter actually end up coming through strongest, and the hoppy notes of the Wassail end up as pleasant accents. It does end up a bit thinner than many of the beers here, but that can actually be a bit refreshing, given how full-bodied and heavy things can get.

North III – Fort George I’m normally not a big tripel drinker either, but this was a very different tripel. They’ve added a ton of maple syrup and sugar plums to give the beer a great sweet maply flavor. It’s possible that if you ARE a big tripel fan, you’ll find this a horrible bastardization, but I loved the way the fruit and spiciness balance out the hops. This was one of my favorite beers.

Sang Noir – Cascade If you like sour beers, you’re going to love Sang Noir. If you don’t, stay far away because this is one of the sourest sours I’ve had. It’s also fairly dark and has some nice oaky notes from the barrel-aging. It reminded me in some ways of Russian River’s Consecration (those who know me will know that this comparison is one of the highest compliments I can pay a beer), though most of the flavors are a little more in-your-face. Another really great beer.

Spiced Baltic Porter – Eel River The name really says most of what you need to know about this beer. It’s really just what you’d expect, a rich, full-bodied porter (though definitely a bit less coffee-tasting than many) with some hefty flavors of cinnamon and vanilla. Not too much though. This was also one of the better beers I tried.

Oaked St. Nick – Block 15 I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t actually familiar with Block 15 before several folks recommended this beer (there, I gave them a little linky to make up for the oversight). Anyway, apparently they’re doing some really nice things down there in Corvallis because this is a really solid beer. It has a great dried-fruit flavor with plenty of spiciness, and also just a touch of floral hoppiness. A really nicely balanced beer.

If it sounds like I was really impressed with the vast majority of beers I tried, that’s no accident. There were way more triples and home runs this year than I remember in the past (a baseball metaphor for Dave). Not to say I didn’t find a couple strikeouts. I didn’t care for the chocolate huckleberry stout from Laughing Dog. Some of you are probably shaking your head, wondering why I even thought that would be a good idea. Well, I do believe it could be done, and be good, but this wasn’t it. There was just a bit too much bitter coffee-ness that didn’t mesh with the berry sweetness. Or, at least it didn’t work for me. YMMV. I also wasn’t a big fan of the Son of Santa from Southern Oregon. It had some nice spiciness, but overall I found it a bit thin and not especially well-balanced.

I’ll also throw in a word or two about two beers that were only available yesterday, but unlike the incomparable Jim ‘07 (yes, I’m still an asshole) you might be able to find them elsewhere. Braggot from New Old Lompoc is, well, a braggot, which is to say it’s beer mead. Or mead beer. Or something like that. Anyway, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from such a strange beast, though I guess I should’ve known. It tasted like mead mixed with beer. Duh. It also worked a lot better than I expected. Give it a try if you happen to see it around, just for the uniqueness if nothing else. Also, I got to try some Scaldis Noel ‘07 which had aged REALLY nicely; a very complex mix of fruity flavors, spiciness, malts and floral notes. It really made me wish there were a few more beers that had been given a few years to mellow and mature.

Well, that brings us to the end of my Holiday Ale Fest wrap-up. One last note for those who made it all the way to the end, do try and warm the beers up a bit with your hands before you drink them. Preston says he turned the coolers up to 44 degrees (from the OBF standard 34), but it’s still damn chilly out, particularly at night, so hold that beer close and warm it a bit to get it to ideal sipping temperature for beers like these (which, contrary to what the American macro-beer industry tells you, is not actually a tenth of a degree above freezing).

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not promote the wonderful little book that allowed me to take notes on these beers to share with all of you. Yes, I tried out the 33 Beers beer sketchbook, and I must say it pretty much rocked. I took much better notes than I ever have at previous beerfests. So, go order some online at 33beers.com or pick them up wherever fine beer is sold (well, at least a few places in Portland where fine beer is sold, specifically Saraveza, Bailey’s Taproom, and Belmont Station).

I thought I would smell like bacon.

I’ve been using Bacon Soap for a week, and really, I smell a bit savory, but I don’t smell anything like bacon. No more than any other person that’s been cooking pounds and pounds of bacon in a short period of time, anyway. Not smoky, not salty, not … bacony.

It does smell a little bacony when you use it, though. Actually, it smells a little like other fake bacon products do when you use it. Having sampled a wide variety of bacon-inspired products in a short period of time, I am now highly attuned to that unique blend of industrial dyes and spices that some companies use to mimic the smell of my favorite salty meat. Bacon soap smells like bacon gumballs. Bacon soap smells like bacon mints. Bacon soap smells like bacon air freshener. Bacon soap smells like trying too hard. And it kind of stings my eyes.

Sometimes you want a baguette, and sometimes you want sliced bread. But in the bread family, at least, most American supermarkets give you that choice: sliced or unsliced. Not so with bacon. “You’ll buy sliced bacon, and you’ll like it, bub. Because we know how thick you want it.”

I beg to differ, and thanks to the fine folks at Broadbent Hams, you don’t have to take it anymore, either. Bacn.com offers many of their fine bacons in slab format, so you can cut it how you want it. I like my bacon sliced thick for breakfast slices, but for cooking, it’s especially nice to have bacon cut to order. The French call thick chunks of bacon for cooking “lardons” and they’re a nice addition to any cook’s cupboard. I say cupboard, because Broadbent’s bacon is shelf-stable, at least until you open the package. Sliced into 1/4″ cubes, the outside gets nice and crispy, while the interior stays somewhat soft, providing two nice textures in one morsel.

As a confirmed meatatarian, I’m usually not a big fan of vegetables, but with the addition of bacon, I become exponentially more interested. Wife Sarah’s perfected the art of cooking greens (swiss chard in this example). Here’s her recipe:

1. Cook 1/4 pound of cubed bacon on medium-low heat in a dutch oven (we LOVE our Le Creuset), cooking until it’s brown on the outside. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
2. Pour off all but enough bacon grease to coat the bottom of the pan.
3. Saute the greens in the bacon grease for a few minutes, until the leaves wilt, about 5 minutes.
4. Add about 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (to taste) and stir.
5. Add in a teaspoon or two of brown sugar (to taste) and stir to combine.
6. Put the bacon bits back in and stir some more. If you like really crispy bacon, add it after simmering the greens on their own for awhile.
7. Simmer, covered, until stems soften. About 20-25 minutes of simmering results in a texture we generally like, but some people prefer a softer stem still.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Greens go especially well with barbecue ribs, pulled pork or fried chicken (shown above), but they’re a nice complement to almost any southern-inspired and/or porky meal. Warm, homemade biscuits optional, but highly recommended.



]]> http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-swiss-chard-with-bacon-lardons/feed/ 3 http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-bacon-maple-lollipops/ http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-bacon-maple-lollipops/#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:56:08 +0000 Dave Selden http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/?p=1225

Editor’s Note: There sure is a lot of bacon-related stuff out there. Every day, it seems, I find something new. And yet, there are only so many days in a Bacon Week. “Seven,” you’re thinking. Nope. Going to go with nine this year. It’s just too little time, and I have a few more things I need to share with the world (and my slow-learning co-workers). Bacon Week 2 ends Monday evening.

After the bacon-flavored sunflower seeds and last year’s bacon mint debaucle, I thought it was time to bring something tasty to work. The mad scientists over at Lollyphile began with just a couple of flavors: absinthe and … you guessed it. Bacon. Maple-bacon, to be exact. Made with real Vermont maple syrup and an un-named organic bacon. Real ingredients, assembled with care. I felt sure this would be the reputation redemption I was looking for. Unfortunately, the treats got a little too much heat after being left in my car, malforming the lollipops quite a bit. Sorry, guys.



Scott: First of all, it was incredibly sticky and difficult to open, and once you got it open, it wasn’t attached to the stick very well, so it came off after a few licks. Secondly, though mine had a liberal amount of bacon bits sprinkled through the maple-flavored candy, they didn’t actually add any flavor at all, unless you got one out and bit into it, and even then, it was overwhelmed by the maple. The maple candy wasn’t bad at all, but since I was expecting more bacon flavor, I was disappointed.



Rodrigo: I think the experience would’ve probably started off better if the lollipop didn’t stick all over my hands. Nonetheless, the super sweet maple flavor is definitely prominent at first… not too much bacon at all. As the lollipop dissolves, rather sticks all over your teeth, I started to feel a subtle bacon flavor here and there. The savory-sweet balance happened maybe about at the half way point—which was still sort of pleasant. After that, bacon bits were being released in high quantity, and the whole thing just kind of got a little gross. The end point just seriously tastes like old bacon from the fridge with a dollop of maple syrup.  The overall experience: it was a rollercoaster of weirdness in my mouth!



Libby: My first reaction, after I managed after 5 minutes get the sucker open, was that it tasted like a sweet potato. The maple flavor was good, although mine seemed to only sport small shreds of bacon which didn’t give it much bacon flavor. That said, listening to cohorts who had larger pieces of bacon in theirs that behaved “like shards of glass”, I was thankful. Overall, it tasted like maple. And perhaps it was due to the heat treatment it received in Dave’s car, but: it behaved more like a hard caramel than a sucker, and I had to manually reattach it to the stick before I even sampled it. While innocuous, when compared to the Bacon Lip Balm, it failed to prove to me that bacon is a worthwhile sucker flavor, as it didn’t seem to have any bacon flavor.



]]> http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-bacon-maple-lollipops/feed/ 0 http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-bacon-flavored-sunflower-seeds/ http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-bacon-flavored-sunflower-seeds/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:58:50 +0000 Dave Selden http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/?p=1220

The guys over at Bacon Salt have a simple premise that guides their company’s product development team: “Everything Should Taste Like Bacon.” To a large extent, I agree with that statement. Most foods DO taste better with actual bacon as an ingredient. I’ve had maple-flavored ice cream sprinkled with still-warm bacon bits. Most excellent. Burgers with bacon are incredible. Duh.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I agree with the Bacon Salt guys, at least as long as we’re talking about things tasting better with bacon, as long as actual bacon is used to generate that flavor. It’s when people start trying to create that signature bacon flavor WITHOUT using bacon that problems occur. This is the case with BIGS Bacon-Salt Flavored Sunflower Seeds, as you can see from my unwitting co-workers’ reactions, below.



]]> http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-bacon-flavored-sunflower-seeds/feed/ 2 http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-the-bbbbblt/ http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/2009/09/bacon-week-2-the-bbbbblt/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:28:08 +0000 Dave Selden http://www.bsbrewing.com/blog/?p=1209

“Because it’s there.” That’s the answer George Mallory gave when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest. That’s why I knew I had to try the BBBBLT when inspiration struck. Once it occurred to me, I knew I had to make it. And once I made it, I had to eat it. Because it was there.

Let me break it down for you.



Starting from top left, clockwise:

1. Bacon Beer Bread. Based on this recipe for beer bread, but substituting Hickory Bacon Salt for the salt … salt. I used Hempler’s bacon, chopped into little bits, distributed throughout the dough, about three slices worth. This counts for two of the B’s: Bacon Bread.
2. Bacon Skillet Jam. Sarah got me some from a famous Seattle food cart, and it’s a nice sweet tangy bacony spread. Makes all sandwiches better.
3. Baconnaise. From the people that brought you Bacon Salt, it’s bacon-flavored (still vegetarian) mayonnaise. It’s got the tang of Miracle Whip, with the aftertaste of bacon salt.
4. Lettuce. From the garden. That’s the “L.”
5. Tomato. Ditto. That’s your “T.”
6. And last but not least, actual bacon bacon. Again, went with Hempler’s bacon. They make a nice meaty bacon, uncured, and very similar to British-style bacon. It’s sweetish, subtle, and not too salty. And very easy to overcook, so keep an eye on it. And thus, for the cardiologists counting along at home, your fifth and final “B.”

I sliced myself two thick slices of bacon bread, and set phasers to “assemble.”



On the left side, I slathered the bread with Baconnaise. Cool color. On the right, Bacon Jam. Weird color. I didn’t test this theory, but I suspect if you attempted to push the pieces of bread together at this stage, it would be like trying to mate two polarly-opposed magnets together, or like mating polar bears and penguins.



Almost done. My hands were shaking as I applied the lettuce to the mayo side, then topped it with tomatoes, as I’m sure Mallory’s were as he gripped that last rock on the way to the top. His were probably shaking from the cold, though. Mine were shaking from excitement. The right side got the actual bacon. Bon Appetit, if you’re reading this, I will license this photo.



Now. Time to meld these two halve together, forming something undoubtedly greater than the sum of its parts, like if South Dakota and North Dakota reunited. And booked the original Guns and Roses for the reunification celebration. Something like that.



It was like eating a bacon tornado. If you recall the scene in Twister, where some debris flies by, swept up in the tornado’s vortex? More debris, followed by a boat, followed by a cow?

That’s what this tasted like. The first hit was the sweetness of the beer bread, punctuated by odd bits of bacon. Once that had passed my palate, a brief crunch of lettuce was followed quickly by a sharp, but sweet Baconnaise tang. More bread, then WHAM! BAM! Bacon Jam! A rich, almost fruity foundation that merged slowly into acidic garden-fresh tomato, quickly followed by Actual Bacon™ texture. It was wild.

I climbed that mountain of a bacon sandwich. Because it was there.



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