Super Bowl XLVI, Fun Beer Facts

Super Bowl 46 will be touching down this Sunday, February 5^th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The Patriots and Giants will give us a good battle to watch, and certainly the commercials and half-time show will keep us glued to our boob tubes.  If you’re consuming beer on game day, you may not be aware that you're contributing to some notable statistics.  The cleverly designed poster by Save On Brew breaks it all down for us.

Genesee Beer: Never Forget Your Roots

I will never forget my roots.  I moved to Portland in 1996 from Central New York.  Syracuse to be exact. Syracuse was a great place to grow up and it was where I had my first beer.  I couldn’t have been more than 13 or 14 when my friend Dave, who was a few years older than me, introduced me to his father’s stash of Genesee beer.  His dad kept the cans cold in the garage fridge, making it easy for us to snag a few and sneak out the back door.  Our regular beer swilling spot became the State Park up the street. We’d typically frequent the park at night after it was closed.  Cans in hand, we roamed the grounds aimlessly for hours under the light of the stars.  At the time, I recall not liking the taste of beer, but it felt cool to be doing something that we were not supposed to partake in. I felt that way during most of my teenage years and to this day, I still find myself having those moments.

The beer that started it all.

Many beers were consumed here.

Drinking Genny’s became a regular weekend activity for us.  I’m not sure how Dave’s dad never noticed the beers missing from the fridge.  We never took a lot, so maybe that was key, or maybe his father was just letting us be boys.

Since then, many other beers have journeyed into my belly. The 3+ past decades have been quite the barley, water, hops and yeast adventure. Things have certainly changed since the early ‘80s.  Microbreweries have popped up all over the United States and we have a plethora of brands and styles of beer to chose from.  I heart my craft beer, but the beer names that I can easily associate past memories with seem to be the ones that were with me prior to micros; Genesee, Molson, Moosehead, Piels and Rolling Rock.

Keg Theft

Apparently, beer kegs are a hot commodity.  I came across this article in the Publican’s Morning Advertiser where police seized 1,000 aluminum beer kegs worth over $153,000 in north London.  There is also an organization called Kegwatch that works on behalf of the brewery industry to try and stop the theft of kegs, casks and dispense gas cylinders. With metal prices at an all time high, I wonder if this has become prevalent in the States.

Read the article here: 1,000 Beer Kegs Worth £100k Seized in Raid

2nd Annual Buckman-Kerns Brewfest at EastBurn

Do you have plans for this Sunday?  Do you like beer?  If you answered NO to the first question and YES to the second question, then you should scurry your butt over to EastBurn for the ‘2ND Annual Buckman-Kerns Brewfest’. The festival is taking place this Sunday, January 15 from 12pm until 8pm and celebrates the breweries that are contained within the Buckman and Kern neighborhoods in Portland, OR.  See the map I made below using my mad GIS skills.  It shows the neighborhoods, breweries and where EastBurn is located. Enjoy if you attend this beerepic event!

Click me to enlarge.

Beer Buzz 01: Widmer, The World Famous Kenton Club and The End of The World

We hope your 2012 is off to a great start. Since the end of the world is scheduled for December 21^st, we thought we better get out as many blog posts as possible. Yeah right.  We do have a few updates to share with ya though.  My friend, and fellow guest blogger, Mark turned me on to an article last July that said Widmer was going to build an outdoor beer garden (see our original post: 'Widmer Brothers to Build Beer Garden').  The rumor was true at the time, but on a recent, pre-Blazer game visit to their Gasthaus Pub I was informed that it was put on hold for at least a couple of years.  I also inquired about a remodel to Widmer’s innards.  That I was told may happen within the next year or so. Regardless, Widmer is always great, and will continue to be my go-to spot before a Rose Garden/Coliseum events.  I heart their Pitch Black IPA!

The second round of news came by word of mouth.  Angelo, from The World Famous Brewpublic told me that he saw on OLCC’s website that The World Famous Kenton Club applied for a brewing license.  It looks like it has been in the works for a while judging from some old articles I came across, including this one in The Willamette Week: 'Drink 2011: The World Famous Kenton Club'.  Hopefully it happens.  I love the Kenton Club.  As a matter of fact, we’re playing there this Saturday!  Check it: http://kentonclub.com/event/428/.  Sorry, I couldn't resist throwing in a personal plug.

Enjoy the rest of the year, and remember to book your Escape Earth 2012 Tickets. I highly recommend the Superluminal Package!

The Beer Offerings of Victoria, British Columbia

By Eye Luv Beer Senior Canadian Travel Correspondents Mark and Brenda

Over our holiday break, we took a short trip to Victoria, B.C. After a ride from Seattle on the Clipper, we checked into a great boutique hotel, Magnolia Hotel that would serve as headquarters for the next two days. It proved an excellent choice given the hot chocolate with mint whipped cream available in the lobby, gas fireplace in our room, and nightly reception stocked with Canadian craft beers! We had to research what this Canadian craft beer was all “aboot”, eh?

Our first stop was Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub. Spinnakers crafts beer, bread, chocolate and cheese, some of the best things in life in these bloggers’ humble opinions. We started with a Scottish style ale and a festive saison (brewed with coriander and Cointreau) and then moved on to the Cascadia Dark Ale. All the standard ales were served in imperial pints, that’s 20 full ounces of beery goodness for those of you that aren’t glassware geeks. The beers were all outstanding! Spinnakers was made all the more appealing through the friendly service and the excellent meal we enjoyed – including a “Pub pie” with squash in a puff pastry over root veggies. We ended our meal with beer and truffle pairings! You may be asking yourself – how did they muster the strength to leave this place?


Our next beery stop on our tour was at Buckerfield’s Brewery located in Swans Hotel. We took refuge at this brewery after taking a soggy tour of the beautiful light display at Butchart Gardens. Buckerfield’s offered solid beer and food in a central downtown Victoria location. The beer offerings that we tasted were the IPA (very good and hoppy), an oatmeal stout and we finished with another Scottish ale.


While we didn’t actually stop by Phillips Brewing, we enjoyed two of their beers at Irish Times Pub. We had a “Service 1904”, a sweeter ale, and the chocolate porter which was like the beer version of chocolate milk – smooth, rich, and delicious.

Our last sudsy stop on our tour of Victoria was Canoe Brewpub. As you might suspect, Canoe has a nautical theme and is located near the water (we can imagine this spot on a warm summery night). Their seasonal, Winter’s Gale Strong Ale was very good – dark, warming, and lots of spices. The Beaver Brown Ale was pretty dark with tastes of chocolate and coffee. The salmon dinner we had was absolutely phenomenal - delicately grilled salmon over a bed of farro risotto.

Oh Canada! Thank you for your friendliness, delicious food, and of course, plethora of excellent craft beers.

Best Barbies on Bikes in B.C.

One of your bloggers outside of Spinnakers

One of your bloggers inside of Spinnakers

Beer and truffle pairings