Happy Holidays!

This is my very first post from my not so smart, smartphone. I'm in Central New York enjoying a white Christmas with my wonderful family and lovely wife. If you're reading this, Happy Holidays to you and may 2013 treat you well.

Cheers,
Chris

Alcohol's Effect on the Brain (Video)

This video is from asapSCIENCE's YouTube channel which has lots of fun and interesting science short flicks.  This one is about the effects of alcohol on the brain.  I do believe it's almost time for a beer!

My Internal Eternal Battle with Facebook and Twitter

Instagram. I never signed up for it and I never will. I said the same thing about Facebook and Twitter, but I finally lost the battle along with the last bit of integrity I once maintained. I got sucked into social networking. Everyone else was doing it so why not me (very un-punk rock, I know). Recently, and in light of the racket surrounding Instagram’s proposed language that would give the company ownership of any of its users images, I have been brought back to an all too familiar place. Should I delete my Facebook or Twitter account, or both? I’m not overly concerned about privacy policies. I feel not much can be kept secret these days regardless if you’re online or not. However, if someone desires to use my crappy ass, non-professional camera phone images that have most likely been compressed upon upload to their site for financial benefit, the least they could do is show some common courtesy and ask me politely for my permission. Chances are, being the kind human being that I repeatedly convince myself I am, I would say yes. I think it would be cool to see a mediocre picture I snapped used for advertising purposes. I completely understand that these sites need to make money and I appreciate being able to use them for “free”, but steal an image from me and you’ll get a big FU. Probably not even a fully spelled out fuck you, because I’m somewhat too nice. Would you take something that rightfully belonged to someone else without asking? If so, you’re lame. So once again I find myself asking my yin and yang, barley conscious mind, should I keep my social networking accounts. Below are some pros and cons.

Pros:

• See Cons

Cons:

• You can see what your friends are up to, which is great, because more than ½ the people who are your friends are folks you hardly ever or never talk to, or see face to face.
• A few people or businesses you like post way too often.
• You get stupid game/app requests, like Farmville.
• Your personal data could be used by NASA to develop the next Mars Rover.
• You husband, wife, mother, father, significant other, etc. constantly bug you about the amount of time you spend on social networking sites.
• As CEOs go, Facebook’s, Mark Zuckerberg seems like a douche bag.
• You get invited to bunch of events and it makes you feel important.
• You spend a good portion of your day checking people’s status updates on your phone or computer for posts that have no use in life when you could actually be doing something, like creating world peace.
• It makes you feel good when someone likes your post, shares your post or makes a comment. This gives you a Stuart Smalley-like self affirmation. Say it: ‘I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!’
• You can be friends with Food Network star, Paula Deen.

Steal the pic of my 6 Second Abs piece
of exercise equipment and
I'll break your face!

Editor-in-chief: MP

Sex Sells!

Indeed, sex sells! Today I took a look at the number of views of my past posts and the ones that had the words ‘Premature’ and 'Casual Encounter’ in their title had a high number of hits. Cheers to filthy, nasty beer porn!

Have a great weekend all!

Clever Sapporo Beer Commercial (Video)

My friend Matt sent this to me and said “If anyone will appreciate this commercial, you will!” He was indeed correct. I’m not sure if you people out in cyberland have seen this very clever creation from Sapporo, but if not, it’s certainly worth 2.03 minutes of your time to watch. I love the drums too!

Portlandia and Lompoc Brewing's Sidebar

I just read on Oregon Live that Season 3 of Portlandia debuts January 4^th, which brought to memory a sighting of the Portlandia crew filming at Lompoc Brewing’s Sidebar. About a month or so ago the wife and I were headed to the Sidebar to have a late afternoon beer. As we approached the entrance we were greeted by mini-scaffolding draped with black fabric. At first, I thought someone was giving the Sidebar’s outside a secret face lift, but there was a young gentleman close by that said we couldn't go in because Portlandia was filming. Given the news, we headed next door to the Sidebar’s adjacent, bigger brother, The 5^th Quadrant to have a beer. As we sipped away we saw the famed Carrie Brownstein walk through the back alley. We were both wondering what the Portlandia creators were up to featuring one of our standard North Portland beer stops. One thing is for certain, it will poke fun at the way we Portlanders carry on.

 Here's a clip from the all new season of
Portlandia coming to IFC this January:

 

OMSI After Dark - Burgers and Brew

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is always bustling with lots activities that are both fun and educational. As the tabs along the top of their website indicate, there is an OSMI for everyone; adults, teens, kids, educators, and professionals. They have an ongoing series called ‘OMSI After Dark’ which occurs the last Wednesday of every month from 6-10pm. In case you don’t know what OMSI After Dark is, I’ll enlighten you. It’s basically a child-free, fun, science themed event that includes tasty bites from local purveyors and adult beverages from the NW region and beyond.

Dear Blog, I've Missed You.

Dear Blog,

I’ve missed you. Please accept my apology for not adding text and pictures about beer related things to your Post Editor page. I’ve been very busy at my job that actual generates income and with life in general. There’s no question, I love you more than you’ll ever know, but in life there are priorities. Having beer, food and shelter are at the top. I’ll be back though, you can count on that. Also, I did want to let you know that I’ve branched out some and having been writing occasionally for other beer blogs, such as your friends over at Brewpublic and #pdxbeergeeks. Can you believe that other blogs like text and pictures just as much as you! I know, you’re a little jealous, but please don’t be. Jealously requires you to focus energy on the object of your jealousy rather than yourself. Blog, I want you to concentrate on your own goals and live your life to the fullest. Well, it was nice to have a brief visit with you today. See you again soon my friend!

Cheers,
Chris

Dogtoberfest 2012, Lucky Lab Brew Pub

Yesterday our labs, Riley and Tater Tot enjoyed a fun filled day at Dogtoberfest. Dogtoberfest is an annual dog wash fundraiser put on by DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital that takes place appropriately at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub on SE Hawthorne. The day turned out to be perfect; great weather, lots of happy dogs, live music, good food and tasty suds. Our stinky dogs received a thorough bath and a multi-towel dry from volunteers for only $10 each. Riley and Tater Tot felt good knowing that all of the proceeds from the wash went back to the DoveLewis Blood Bank. They also felt much more confident around the ladies knowing that they had fresh smelling fur coats. Our dogs would like to bark out a big thank you to all of the volunteers, sponsors and vendors that helped make Dogtoberfest so enjoyable. Here are a few pictures from the ruff-tastic day:

Friday Fun: Are You a Beer Snob?

My friend Art posted the below image to my Facebook page.  I thought it was pretty entertaining.  I hope you find it amusing as well.  So, are you or aren't you a Beer Snob?

Click Image to Enlarge

The 4th Annual Tacoma Craft Beer Festival, September 1st, 2012

If you have all your papers in order and are ready to get out of town this Labor Day weekend I have one recommendation for you, The 4th Annual Tacoma Craft Beer Festival. Yes, I said Tacoma. It’s right up the road and it's an awesome city. Fortunately, for this weekend only, Washington is allowing Oregonians to travel over the border without any restrictions. We’d be headed up yonder this year, but my ass is getting married in two weeks and we have lots-o-sh*t to do. Seriously though, we’ve traveled up to Tacoma the past two years for the festival and it gets better every time. It started off indoors, which wasn’t bad, but last year they moved it outdoors to 21^st Street Park on the Foss Waterway which proved a much better space. The Tacoma Craft Beer Festival and The City of Tacoma have so much to offer. Do yourself some good and get up there this weekend to support our friendly neighbors to the north. If you run into The Pissed LiBEERrian or Brew Dad give ‘em some love for us.

Here’s our re-cap from 2011 to entice you:
http://eyeluvbeer.blogspot.com/2011/09/tacoma-craft-beer-festival.html


The nitty gritty from TCBF's official website:

Saturday September 1st, 11AM to 8PM
OVER 50 Craft Breweries
At the 21^st Street Park on the Foss Waterway
2101 Dock Street, Tacoma WA 98402
21+ only
www.tacomacraftbeerfest.com
Tickets $25 pre-sale online July 15^th, 2012
$30 at the door
$10 Military discount off the Pre-sale ticket price (Active, Retired, Veteran, Reserves) at the door only with military ID
5.5 oz commemorative taster glass + 10 tasting tokens
Additional 5.5 oz pours: $1.50
Games
Great Food
Live Entertainment
All profits benefit The Tacoma Historical Society

Friday!

I hate this song, but it continues to haunt my head since its release in 2011. Enjoy!

 

Pat's Backcountry Beer Concentrate

I ran across an article a few days ago on a liquid beer concentrate that’s geared towards the outdoor enthusiast. It’s produced by Pat’s Backcountry Beverages. Being a trail trekker myself I was intrigued by the idea. I was hoping to order a sample today for a taste, but it’s not slated to be on the market until January 2013. From reviewing Pat’s website, it appears you need something to carbonate the beer concentrate, so Pat has designed an activating agent and the elegant, water bottle inspired Portable Carbonator.

Here’s what Pat has to say on his website:
(Also, please view the highly entertaining video on the Portable Carbonator at the end of this post)

Breakside Brewery's Woodlawn IPA

Bono from U2 still may not have found what he’s looking for, but I think I did. I stopped by Breakside Brewery on Sunday for a pint; a place I don't frequent often just because it's a little off the radar from the small radius I’ve defined around my house. At Breakside, I ordered one of their fairly new additions, an IPA appropriately named ‘Woodlawn’ for the neighborhood the brewery resides in. My first sip had me. This was the summer session-like IPA that I‘ve been after. It had the perfect balance of hops and a crispness to it that assisted in quenching my thirst on the warm day I was there. I’m no expert at describing beer, so here’s an excerpt I snagged from Breakside’s website:

Woodlawn IPA
A new addition to our full-time lineup, this second IPA showcases four pungent American hops that we don’t use in our regular IPA: Newport, Amarillo, Cascade, and Chinook. It is slightly darker, more full bodied and less bitter than our flagship beer, and at under 6% ABV, it’s a hoppy beer that you can drink all day long.

5.4% ABV
49 IBU

Until we meet again my new, dearest friend, Mr.Woodlawn.

Beer, The Food Scrap Compost Bin and Fruit Flies

Ever since we started using the food scraps compost bin provided by the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (www.portlandcomposts.com) I have noticed an ever increasing presence of fruit flies in our house. Prior, we had hardy an issue. Yes, occasionally one or two of these small, winged flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, would come out of the wood work and make an appearance when a bottle of wine was uncorked. Today, they're now permanent members of our household. I blame the food scrap bin for these additional free loading “fifteen hundred bass drum-lugging bug-eyed monkeys”*. We empty the bin into our green roll cart on a daily basis and wash it frequently, but that hasn’t made a dent. We now have official occupiers living in our house. They enjoy sipping on my beer too and that’s where I draw the line. Let the battle commence. Mayor Sam Adams, what would you do?

Our new, free loading tenants.
(Image: Wikipedia)

*PUSA - Back Porch

Humulus Maximus Festivus 2012

Plew’s Brews, located in the lovely St. John’s neighborhood of Portland has another great event taking place on August 10th and 11th dubbed Humulus Maximus Festivus. If you love your IPAs then this is a must attend event. Plew’s will be serving up 22+ single, double, and imperial IPAs from Oregon and beyond. We’ll be there as well on Saturday manning the Eyeluvbeer Mobile Headquarters. A big thank you goes out to Plew’s for having us back!

Event:	Humulus Maximus Festivus
Venue:	Plew’s Brews
Address:	8409 N. Lombard St., Portland, Oregon 97203
Date:	Friday, August 10th and Saturday, August 11th
Time:	Noon until Midnight

Here are details from the press release provided by Thurston Beervents:

Ninkasi Brewing, Plew’s Brews, and Thurston Beervents present the first annual Humulus Maximus Festivus. A celebration of hops in the most extreme to mild IPA’s!

We present to you over 22 single, double, and imperial IPA’s from across the U.S. and beyond. These range from four local favorites by Ninkasi to Aegir IPA from Denmark, the only keg to come into Oregon this year!

Plew’s Brews is located in the beautiful St. John’s neighborhood. In the cut and on the front lines of the craft beer revolution, Plew’s has defied the status quo at the edge of Portland. Plew’s Brews is at 8409 N. Lombard St., Portland, Oregon 97203.

August 10th and 11th, we’ll get things started at noon and close at midnight. Glasses will be $5 and tickets are $2 a piece for a taster. Some of the more expensive beers will be double-price, but most will be a single ticket.

The lupulin awaits!

IPA Day 2012

Are you ready to get your IPA Day on? It’s happening this Thursday, August 2nd. This will be the 2nd time for this annual calendar event to make an appearance. The famed Beer Wench, who maintains the well written and thoroughly enjoyable blog ‘Drink with The Wench’ along with Ryan Ross of Karl Strauss Brewing Company, established IPA Day. So what’s IPA Day? I'll let the Beer Wench fill you in. Below is an excerpt from her blog:

“IPA Day is not the brainchild of a corporate marketing machine, nor is it meant to serve any particular beer brand. IPA Day is opportunity for all breweries, bloggers, businesses and consumers to connect and share their love of craft beer. It is an opportunity for the entire craft beer culture to combine forces and advocate craft beer through increased education and global awareness.”

IPA is my go to beer as I’m sure it is for many of you. Why then have a special day to celebrate it? I think you should always celebrate what you love. There’s a history behind every beer and IPA has an interesting one. Do some research and see what you find. Here’s a great post I came across on Martyn Cornell’s ‘Zythophile’ site concerning the myths surrounding IPA: http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/four-ipa-myths-that-need-to-be-stamped-out-for-ipaday/

IPA Day will be a regular international occurrence for years to come and certainly something to look forward to. I highly recommend hitting up The Beer Wench’s fabulous site for all of the details on this 1st Thursday of every August event.

Cheers fellow and future IPA lovers!

IKEA Beer?

I might just go to IKEA with my Fiancé if they start serving beer in their US stores. Yeah right, who am I kidding. I highly doubt that would convince my somewhat sane mind to go shopping at the mega-limited directions included-mega store. First off, who even eats at IKEA? I know I haven’t. I’m not saying their food isn’t good. It could possibly be some of the finest culinary cuisine. Tripadvisor gives Portland’s IKEA Café a 4 star rating. I just think it’s a strange concept that’s all. A lot of big box stores serve food, and a majority of it doesn’t look very appetizing. I look at it as filler material. It’s there to give you additional fuel when you feel you just don’t have enough stamina left to conquer their massive store. It also keeps you from leaving. They want you to stay. Hell, why not just move in. I will confess I do love the soft serve ice cream cones from Costco’s snack bar. They alone occasionally lure me in on a hot day. The cone costs about a $1 and tastes amazing. What’s not to love? Perhaps that’s what IKEA is banking on by now offering (2) styles of beer at their UK locations. If they can make a decent, inexpensive “Swedish” beer maybe that’s enough to entice a few of us non-shopaholic hop lovers into their massive blue and yellow buildings. If this idea is successful in the UK I’m sure we’ll see IKEA’s beer in stateside stores soon.

Mississippi Street Fair 2012

We had a great experience working at the Mississippi Street Fair last Saturday. It was our first time participating as a vendor. In previous years we hosted breakfast at our house for friends and then walked 4 blocks over to the main event. I will admit, I did miss meandering the street and checking out the sights, but it sure was nice to be under a canopy somewhat protected from the heat of the sun. However, this year’s weather was rather mild compared to the sizzling temperatures that are typically present. No matter how hot it gets though, people still flock to Mississippi Ave. for this special event. It’s definitely one of the best street fairs in Portland! Of course I’m bias, because I live in the neighborhood. Seriously though, with 275+ local vendors, an amazing food selection, great live music on five different stages and a craft beer garden you certainly can’t go wrong. Speaking of beer, since this supposed to be a blog about it, the craft beer garden was selling 16oz. brews for only $4! I was pleasantly surprised as I’m sure a lot of other people were. I was expecting Rose Garden prices.

$4, 16oz. Double Mountain
Vaporizer pre-crowd.

Our whole day was spent talking to our neighboring vendors and the attendees. Everyone was very nice, including the Mississippi Street Fair staff that would stop by every now and then to ask how things were going. Overall, it looked like it was another successful year of celebrating what the Mississippi Avenue neighborhood has to offer. The best part is that a portion of the event’s proceeds went to Boise-Eliot Elementary and the Boise Business Youth Unity Project.

My buddy Mark volunteered to help me out.  Thank
The Lord , and Mark of course!

The Rainier Beers stopped by to say hello with their owners.

Bowser Beer. A Dog's Best Friend.

My sister emailed me a MSN article on a new beer that made me chuckle. It’s a beer for man’s best friend. Yes, it’s for your dog and it’s called Bowser Beer. Bowser Beer is a non-alcoholic, hop-free malty concoction that comes in beef or chicken flavor. It even contains glucosamine to help keep Fido’s joints in good health. My dog wants nothing to do with our human beer, but I’m really tempted to purchase a six pack to see what his reaction would be to Bowser Beer. As mentioned, this beer is hop-free. Hops can be potentially toxic to dogs. So, if your dog does like beer, you may want to email your furry friend a link to Bowser Beer so they can enjoy their frothy beverage responsibly.

You can even add a custom label!
Add your dog's pic and name the beer!

Full Sail and Double Mountain – An Ode to Summer

Well I can think about 10+ things that I’ve wanted to write about lately, but life has been keeping me busy, which is good. Today, I was browsing through my photos and came across a trip we made to the Columbia Gorge in August 2011. It involved (3) different brewery stops:

1. Everybody's Brewing
2. Full Sail Tasting Room & Pub
3. Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom

At the time, my intention was to make this a three part series, but I only managed to get one part done. I covered our experience at Everybody’s Brewing. If you haven’t read it and would like to, check it out here: http://eyeluvbeer.blogspot.com/2011/12/everybodys-brewing-brew-venture-in.html

Full Sail and Double Mountain never received their due. Of course, by now and many beers later, I don’t recall much from our visit. The photos did remind me of a few things, but I realized that I either need to write a post soon after the experience or start jotting down the main highlights. I was great at taking notes as a scholar, but that knack has long slipped away into the cracks. So instead of trying to create a fictitious story, which might be more interesting than reading some variation of the truth, I thought I would just post the photos with a few brief captions about what remains imprinted in my memory from an excellent summer day.

First Stop: Full Sail Tasting Room & Pub

Thirsty humans.

PDX Beer Week: Humble Brewing's Gonzilla IIPA unleashing at Bridgetown Beerhouse

Last night we headed to Bridgetown Beerhouse for the unleashing of Humble Brewing’s Gonzilla IIPA. This would be the second time that this beast has been seen in North Portland. It originally debuted at Plew’s Brews back in March, and rumor has it that a few days prior the real Godzilla was seen around 3am towering over the St. Johns Bridge. Someone even happened to capture several photos, but unfortunately they were immediately seized by local CIA agents. Did this unconfirmed event really occur? We’re not entirely sure, but Humble Brewing decided it would make an awesome t-shirt and produced a graphic of the alleged sighting.

Awesome graphic for an awesome beer!

2012 Oregon Zoo Brew Review

The Oregon Zoo was invaded by a capacity crowd of beer and cider loving Homo sapiens last Friday for their annual Zoo Brew event. The sold out festivity featured a plethora of breweries and a number of cideries. We participated in the event as Eyeluvbeer and had an outstanding experience. A big thank you goes out to the Zoo’s Event Manager, Beth Smith and Event Coordinator, Lara Busch. They worked hard to get us in there. Beth, Lara and the rest of the Zoo’s staff were very accommodating and great to work with.

Beth Smith, Event Manager, Jennifer Payne, Volunteer
Resources Division Manager, Sandra Sampeer, Event Co-chair
 and Lara Busch, Chair.

Overall, the entire event was a hit. It was the perfect size. I don’t believe the lines for a taste of beer or cider were longer than 10 people deep. While tasting, attendees enjoyed the dead-on cover tunes performed by Cool-Ade. Mother Nature even ensured us with very comfortable weather; despite a few raindrops she gave out, which didn't seem to faze anyone. The overall energy at Zoo Brew was very positive. Everyone was in good spirits. The craft beer and cider we were enjoying went to an earnest cause; to improve our Zoo. Why wouldn't you feel good about that?

Best Beer Event Program EVER!

Beer Blogger Beer Fest?

I’ve had this idea trapped inside my head and I think it’s cool, but I wanted to get some feedback from the beer community, specifically beer bloggers. Since there are so many people in our area that write about beer, I thought it would be fun to bring us all together for our own annual beer event. Initially, I was thinking we could make it a big event, but perhaps it’s better to start small and work our way up to big. If anyone happens to read this post and you’re interested, please feel free to share your ideas here or be in touch. I think it would be cool if we could work on something together and come up with an event that celebrates what we love to do.

Holy Sh*t! Run leads to Ginormous Fermenters!

We participated in The Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll ½ Marathon yesterday. We had a fantastic day for running and a great run. Afterwards, we headed to Widmer to have a few celebratory beers and lunch. When we stepped off the Max at the Albina/Mississippi Station (2) ginormous tanks sitting on semi truck trailers were there to greet us. They were fermentation tanks. I was excited by the sight. I picked up my pace to get a closer look. I asked my fiancée if she would stand next to one to give it scale. She said, “I’m gross”, meaning she was soaking wet from running in the rain, but she kindly posed. I still thought she looked cute as ever standing next to the massive fermenters. The stainless steel tanks, crafted by Paul Mueller Company in Springfield, Mo. were made with love. They were very pleasing to look at, almost flaunting themselves.

Huge fermentation tanks / Tiny marathon medal receipt (aka my lady).
Both sexy as hell.

Mich Ultra at the Finish Line!

We decided to torture ourselves for a good cause and participate in the Rock 'n' Roll Portland ½ Marathon this Sunday. Today, this email arrived in our Inbox:

Enjoy a Post-Race Beer, Compliments of Mich Ultra!
Bring your photo ID!

Michelob Ultra will be giving out one free beer per participant over 21 years old at the Finish Line. Oregon State law requires you to have photo ID to receive your beer.

Plan ahead and have your photo ID to celebrate with a cold beer at the Finish Line.

Rock On!

Do these guys know that we don’t drink that stuff here? This is the Pacific NW! Why didn't they contract with one of the larger Portland players like Widmer or MacTarnahan’s/Pryamid for some decent beer? They’re assuming people that run must drink beer with no carbs, calories or flavor. Wrong. If there's a beer Jesus out there can you please have a nice IPA waiting for us at the finish line? We’re running 13 miles and being rewarded with a Mich Ultra is an insult in these here parts. Of course, we’ll probably suck one down regardless of what we're feeling right now.

We found the Beer Advocate ratings of Mich Ultra amusing: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/3734

Happy Mother's Day in HTML!

I’ve never been very good at mailing greeting cards period. I either totally slack on it or get them sent out after the fact. My sister is very good at reminding me well in advance that I need to send a card when an occasion arises. Just this week I received at least (4) text messages from my wonderful sis reminding me that Mother’s Day was Sunday and that I needed to get a card for my mother and grandmother. Have I done that? Why of course not. “I” did send flowers to both of them, but that was the handy work of my Fiancée. God bless her.

As I sit here and type I wonder what my problem is. I love my mom and grandma more than they’ll ever know. My mother has made a ton of sacrifices to make sure my sister and I were raised properly. We were her #1 priority and still are. I must thank her for all the guidance and support she continues to offer. My grandma, well she’s a hoot. My late Grandpa John re-married a long time friend after his wife (my 1^st grandma) passed. Technically she's my step grandma, but I’ll never think of her that way. She’s smart, witty and can cook you a mean crêpe. She’s almost 90 and still going strong. I don’t necessarily believe in her political views (smile), but hell, that ain’t gonna stop me from loving her.

So, what is the root of this greeting card problem? It’s family genetics, or at least that’s what my amazing Dad and I like to blame it on. My sister, who constantly reminds me to send a card has been known not to mail one on time, but she'll always get one out eventually. There’s clearly something missing in our family DNA. Of course, there are several things missing in my particular make-up.  The only person blessed with the card sending gene in our family of four is my mom.

Without further due, I just want to say in HTML:
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY MOM AND GRANDMA!
I love you, and I don’t need no stinkin’ card to say that.

Would E.T. be drinking Coors today?

The other evening we watched E.T.; a classic Steven Spielberg film that will never lose its luster. I forgot that at one point in the movie E.T. downs a six pack of Coors that he finds in the fridge. I wonder if the movie was re-done (god forbid) or done in 2012 if E.T. would instead be drinking a craft beer from California; the place where the film was shot.

The New Old Lompoc's Last Day

We never frequented the New Old Lompoc on a regular basis, but when we read that it was closing to make way for a mixed-use building we decided it was only right to say goodbye properly. We end up there yesterday afternoon to do just that, which was the final day the doors would be open. It will be returning to the same location in 2013, but I can’t imagine it will have the same eclectic atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re not anywhere near NW 23^rd. The New Old Lompoc has quite the history, which makes you love it even more. John Foyston of the Oregonian’s ‘The Beer Here’ sums up the New Old Lompoc’s past nicely: http://blog.oregonlive.com/thebeerhere/2012/04/last_call_at_the_new_old_lompo.html

I leave you with photos from the New Old Lompoc's final day.

Lompocalypse Double IPA brewed for the final days.

First Sip: Gravity Mountain Release at Concordia Ale House

We went to Concordia Ale House yesterday evening for the much anticipated Gravity Mountain Collaboration IPA release. The beer was a joint effort between brewmaster-minds, Matt Swihart of Double Mountain and Terminal Gravity’s Steve Carper.

When we stepped into Concordia around 7:15 we expected a large crowd. It was bustling, but there was certainly plenty of room to navigate. Our good friends had arrived prior and thankfully snagged a table. They were drinking what we came to try and said it was impressive. We ordered up a pitcher, which lagged a little due to a keg change. My mouth was getting antsy. The pitcher finally came and we immediately filled our pint glasses. Of course I poured our beers with a giant, foamy head. “Good job” I thought to myself as the others made fun of me. Bad Chris!

Dining Out For Life: Do It Tomorrow!

The annual fundraiser, Dining Out For Life comes to Portland tomorrow (04-26-2012). You can help raise money for organizations that provide vital programs and services to thousands of individuals living HIV/AIDS just by eating or drinking. Where’s the ‘Easy Button’ for that?!

So easy a monkey can do it!

Here’s a list of restaurants participating in tomorrow's program: http://www.diningoutforlife.com/portland/restaurants

Eyeluvbeer recommends the following if you enjoy craft beer:

• Saraveza: Donating 100% of beer sales and 20% of food sales. 7am-9pm, Bad Habit Room.
• Laughing Planet: Donating 15% over lunch (surprisingly great tap list).
• MacTarnahan’s Taproom: Donating 20% during lunch and dinner.

Here's our post from last year's event at Saraveza:
http://eyeluvbeer.blogspot.com/2011/04/dinining-out-for-life-blazers-and.html

'Finding Portland' = Amazing!

Well there is nothing about beer in the below video, I thought it was certainly worthy of being added to the annals of the Eyeluvbeer blog. Serious hats off to creators, Ben Canales, John Waller, Steve Engman, Blake Johnson who did an amazing job creating the time lapse photography masterpiece, ‘Finding Portland’

 

Here’s an equally impressive video they created last year called ‘Finding Oregon’

 

Happy 1 Year Anniversary Blog!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary Blog! On April 20^th, 2011 I wrote my first post:
Astoria Part I: Fort George Brewing

I plan on continuing the blog for years to come. It may be sporadic at times, but hey, I’m not getting paid to write. =) A big thank you goes out to the following folks:

• You, if you’re reading this and occasionally browse though my posts.
• Guest Bloggers, Mark and Brenda.
• The amazing PBC (Portland Beer Community).
• The intelligent and witty beer blogtress, The Pissed LiBEERian
• My Fiancée for putting up with my blogging and beer adventures (she enjoys the adventure part though).
• All the folks that have had us at their festivals.
• Of course, anyone else that I forgot to mention.

Cheers,
Chris

Sobriety Checkpoints?

Last weekend I went out with the boys for a few beers. One topic that came up in conversation was the use of sobriety checkpoints. Two of us, including myself came from an area where these were seen on a regular basis, especially on weekends. In case you don’t know what sobriety checkpoints are, our friends at Wikipedia do a nice job describing it:

“Sobriety checkpoints or roadblocks involve law enforcement officials stopping every vehicle (or more typically, every nth vehicle) on a public roadway and investigating the possibility that the driver might be too impaired to drive. They are often set up late at night or in the very early morning hours and on weekends, at which time the proportion of impaired drivers tends to be the highest. Checkpoints are also often set near the exit points of public events, to prevent large numbers of drunk drivers from being released into traffic simultaneously from the event.”

American Badass Beer, Kid Rock and Guy Fieri

Last night I caught an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives featuring Kid Rock. Kid Rock led host Guy Fieri to several places he enjoys in the Detroit area when he’s not out on the road performing. One of which was Michigan Brewing Company where he has his own beer brewed, American Badass. I thought the episode was entertaining, plus it showed another example of Kid Rock giving back to the community by generating more jobs.

Here’s the clip:

Chad’s First Portland Trail Blazers Game!

First off, if you haven’t been introduced to Chad who was originally known as 0101110, then you may want to read this post first:
http://eyeluvbeer.blogspot.com/2012/03/meet-0101110-our-new-friend.html
Thank you Fran Martini for recommending the name Chad. We love it! Fran is also known for her invention, The Serveza! Check it out!

So, back to the story…
We took Chad to his first Trail Blazers game Thursday night. He was super excited to see the sport we introduced to him via TV live at The Rose Garden. Chad knew going in that the Blazers have been struggling this season, but he told us he’d make sure the New Orleans Hornets went home with a loss, and indeed they did just that.

Chad had a great time watching the first half. He loved how the game started with loud music, lights and then proceeded to the introduction of the players. He got into the game too. Chad would swing his laser in the air when the Blazers made some great shots and blocks. I would say this extraterrestrial from planet Bräuzeer was on his way to becoming a true Portlander.

Chad thoroughly enjoying
the game

Interview: BrewCycle's Andrea Lins and Chuck Riegelman

STATS
Name: Andrea Lins
Hometown: Racine, Wisconsin
Website: http://brewcycleportland.com/
First Beer Consumed: Milwaukee's Best...embarassing I know.
Favorite Style of Beer: Porters
Preferred Watering Hole: Bridgeport Brewpub, I live really close which makes it too easy! They have great beer and an excellent late night menu!
Best Place for Pizza: Lucky Lab Beer Hall on NW Quimby.

STATS
Name: Chuck Riegelman
Hometown: Racine, Wisconsin
Website: http://brewcycleportland.com/
First Beer Consumed: Whatever my Dad had in the fridge, probably something cheap.
Favorite Style of Beer: IPAs, hands down.
Preferred Watering Hole: Bridgeport Brewpub. They have the most well-rounded IPA I’ve had since moving to Portland and the staff is great, too.
Best Place for Pizza: Lucky Lab.


I met the BrewCycle gang at the 2011 North American Organic Brewers Festival. I actually had the opportunity to help pedal the fifteen-person, 100% green, party machine from one section of the festival grounds to another. I think I must have snapped at least a dozen pictures of this thing. That’s what one does when they come across a marvel of engineering and design. I wanted to find out more about BrewCycle, the machine and the owner. Andrea and Chuck generously donated their time to answer a few questions.

When did you start BrewCycle?
We officially started July of 2011.

Who built the fifteen-person, 100% green, party machine?
It was built by Crawler Fabrications in Savannah, GA.

Have you added anything to the BrewCycle since you got it?
A BUNCH of signatures, we wanted to make the BrewCycle a little more personal. It’s been fun having riders come back for a second time and be able to point out their signature to the new riders they brought with them!

How often do you take the BrewCycle out?
Whenever we are booked! We run seven days a week starting as early as eleven am. As long as we have enough riders, we will be on the road!

Commuting, Work, The Fremont Bridge and Widmer Brothers Brewing

Commuting from Portland to Hillsboro everyday for work is a real drag, but there are a few things that make it tolerable. Here are (3) of them:

Work:
I enjoy the people I work with. Everyone is down to earth and easy to get along with. We all work well together and help each other out when needed.

Fremont Bridge (I405):
The Fremont Bridge has spectacular views. On a clear, sunny day it’s amazing to see the entire landscape that surrounds Portland. Of course, Mt. Hood catches the eye first, but the overall backdrop is just as beautiful. My favorite time is morning. The sunrise is sublime from the bridge. I wish I could stop and take a picture. On a day like yesterday, when a light dusting of snow covered the hills surrounding Portland, it’s just as pretty.

Widmer Brothers Brewing:
This kind of goes along with the Fremont Bridge as the bridge is what I’m on when I’m treated to the smell of beer being brewed below at Widmer. I love the aroma no matter what time of day it is. It’s an awesome smell and nothing compares. It stirs up memories of when The Henry Weinhard Brewery complex was in downtown Portland. I miss that place.

Henry Weinhard's Brewery, 1997 (photo by Brian Libby)

Just a cool pic I came across of  the Fremont Bridge under
construction.
(City of Portland Archives)

Interview: NoPo 'Beer' Run Club Founder, Dave Cornell

STATS

Name: Dave Cornell
Hometown: Austin, TX/Seattle, WA
Website: http://www.meetup.com/NoPo-Run-Club/
First Beer Consumed: Dos Equis Amber
Favorite Style of Beer: Stout/Porter
Preferred Watering Hole(s): When in Portland: BarBar, Bridgetown Beerhouse, or APEX and when in Austin: The Draught House Pub and Brewery
Best Place for Pizza: Sizzle Pie-Portland, Home Slice-Austin

This past summer I had the pleasure of meeting Dave Cornell at the North American Organic Brewers Festival. Dave is the founding member of the North Portland (or NoPo) Run Club; a ‘Meet Up’ group that puts in a good workout and then enjoys a few pints. I’ve had the pleasure of running with the club in its early stages and had a terrific time. Since then, the group has grown in size, are scheduling more runs and doing several other activities. Dave graciously offered up his time to answer a few questions.

What inspired you to start the NoPo Run Club?
When I was in flight school in Pensacola there was a local pub that had a run group where after a few runs you got a shirt and drank on the cheap, needless to say we thought that was pretty awesome. So after I left the Navy in ’06, I met up with a college buddy back in Austin and we started a similar club. We named it SoCo Run Club after the eclectic South Congress district of Austin that the bar was located in. Then, when I moved to Portland a couple years ago I immediately got to work looking for a bar, pub, or brewery to run out of. As soon as I found the Mississippi district I knew it was the place for the kind of club that doesn’t mind getting their hands (or in our case shoes) a little dirty on their way to a proper pint (or the occasional PBR). We ended choosing Mississippi Studios’ Bar Bar and have loved their outdoor patio, great craft beer, and A-mazing burgers ever since!

When was the first run and how did it go?
The first “official” run was back in May of last year. Funny enough, I was the only runner that day but truthfully, I had posted the “Meet-Up” just days prior so I honestly didn’t expect many, if anyone else, to join me.

Double Mountain’s 5th Anniversary Party

We left home base in Portland around 1pm. Our destination was Hood River for Double Mountain’s 5th Anniversary Party. The weather was actually shaping up nice. It was a little overcast at first, but the further we traveled east in the Columbia Gorge the more the sun was determined to reign the sky. By the time we arrived at the City Center exit for Hood River the sky was pretty much cloudless. It was going to be a great day.

In Hood River, we met up with our friend’s and Eyeluvbeer Senior Travel Correspondents, Mark and Brenda. We planned an overnight stay at the Hood River Hotel, which proved to be a wise choice as it turned out to be a long day of walking, standing and drinking delicious beer. Mark and I ended up heading directly over to Double Mountain to check out the scene and have a pint. The ladies opted to check out a few shops, but it wasn't long before they showed up to join us under the tent.

Meet 0101110, Our New Friend

Hi, I'm 0101110

Greetings Earthlings. I have been deployed from the planet Bräuzeer contained in the UDFj-39546284 Galaxy, which is approximately 13.2 billion light-years from Earth. We are fluent in 10,126 languages, including English. My planet Bräuzeer is interested in a liquid you create called beer. Where I'm from no such thing exists. We used our recently developed Hopdar Sensor Technology (HST) and have found the Pacific Northwest produces some of the best beer in the United States. After careful analysis we have chosen Oregon as our test site; Portland to be exact. Bräuzeer was amazed when they looked at their radar findings and saw 47+ breweries in the metropolitan area. Fascinated by this enormous number they have sent me, 0101110 to explore the love you humanoids have with beer. Oh, and don’t worry, we aren’t going to try to take over your planet like those Hollywood movies want you to believe.

Bräuzeer as seen from your crappy Hubble Space Telescope

Recap: Belmont Station's 15th Anniversary Celebration

On March 15^th, Portland had (2) reasons to celebrate. For one, it was my Birthday, but more importantly it was Belmont Station’s 15^th Year Anniversary. Belmont Station opened its doors in 1997. I don’t know the entire history behind the joint, but it was originally founded by the late, great Don Younger and Joy Campbell. I believe Joy is still involved with the Station, but I’m not entirely sure. I know Carl Signmaster, whose title is CBO (Chief Beer Officer) is entrenched with daily operations and I believe he's an owner. One day, I would love to sit down with Carl and hear how he became part of such a great place.

Belmont’s 15^th Anniversary celebration began at 3pm, but that darn work thing always gets in the way, so we didn’t end up getting there until around 7. Fortunately, there were still lots of great beer to be had. Ted Sobel of Brewers Union Local 180 brought his 4% Wotcha a La Citra Bitter and a special brew for the Station’s big day named 15-15-15, aka The Ides of Belmont Station. I had the 15-15-15; a cask conditioned beer. I’m not a huge Cask fan, but I had to try a beer that incorporates 15 malts and several hops. It turned out to be a winner. It had a nice dark, rich color similar to a stout and was definitely very malty. It went down the pipes easily. The other beer that I really favored from the evening was Barley Brown’s Tank Slapper. This Double IPA kicks Pliny’s ass. ‘Nough said. Shawn Kelso of 10 Barrel (former brewmaster for Barley Brown's) arranged for the Tank Slapper and Speed Wobble to be present on this special day. My cohort and fiancée favored the India Red Ale, Speed Wobble, which I read has never made it west of Baker City.

Ben Edmunds, Breakside's Brewer, Carl Signmaster, CBO of
Belmont Station and Shawn Kelso, 10 Barrel's Brewer

Belmont Station: 15th Anniversary Vintage Beer Sale & Party

An event not to missed tomorrow at Belmont Station!  This update just arrived in my inbox minutes ago:

We begin our 15th Anniversary celebration at 3PM tomorrow (Thursday March 15) with the tapping of 2 Firkins of Brewers Union beers and a fresh keg of Barley Brown's Speed Wobble India Red Ale. Also at 3PM we will sell a limited number of the following vintage beers, culled from our cold storage unit:

Alaskan Barleywine 2008 22oz
Deschutes Abyss 2007 22oz
Deschutes Abyss 2009 22oz
Deschutes Abyss 2010 22oz
Dogfish Head Bitches Brew 2010 750ml
Full Sail Black Gold 2009 22oz
Full Sail Top Sail 2010 & Imperial Porter 2011 2Pack 22 oz
Lompoc Bourbon Barrel LSD 2009 22oz
Oregon Trail Bourbon Porter #6 2011 22oz
Roots Epic Ale 2008 (signed & numbered #2 - #8!)
Russian River Consecration 2009 750ml
Stone Oaked Bastard 2006 12oz
Stone Oaked Bastard 2007 12oz
Stone Old Guardian 2007 22oz
Stone Vertical Epic 2007 22oz
Stone Vertical Epic 2009 22oz
Stone Vertical Epic 2010 22oz

Session #62: What Drives Beer Bloggers?

This is part of an ongoing series called The Session. The Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, is an opportunity once a month for beer bloggers from around the world to get together and write from their own unique perspective on a single topic. This month’s topic was chosen by one of Portland’s most notable craft beer promoters and bloggers, Angelo De leso. What follows is an attempt to give some insight as to what drives me to write my blog.

Eyeluvbeer’s blog roots are rather shallow. The first post was written in April, 2011. Before that, Eyeluvbeer, which began in the spring of 2010, was and still is a company that promotes our beer culture with “cleverly” designed stickers and t-shirts. The blog is an extension of that and was begun because I missed writing. At my day job, writing is limited to business like emails and blurbs that are technical in nature. The blog allows me to be creative. You may or may not be interested in reading everything or anything I write and that’s okay. It’s more of a personal outlet for me that brings inner satisfaction. I think my Fiancée thinks I’m crazy, but she’s very supportive. I could be doing worse things for sure.

The blog itself covers a wide variety of topics. I like writing about events I attend, new places I visit, people in the beer community and sometimes off the wall stuff. I don’t foresee any major changes in the future, except for maybe writing more posts per month, potentially getting into video and hoping someone out there might want to occasionally guest blog. Right now, my buddy Mark and his wife Brenda are my only contributors. The ultimate dream for the blog would be to have an editor (laugh). No matter how many times I look over something I always find mistakes. Fortunately those can be fixed after your post is live. Modern technology does have its advantages.

Cheers Fellow Bloggers,
Chris

Growler Fills at Gas Stations?

I’m not sure how I feel about this. I just read an article that Sunoco started a Craft Beer Exchange program which allows customers to fill growlers with craft beer at the same place they fill up their gas tanks. Currently, the program is only present in New York state with 40 of Sunoco’s APlus convenience stores equipped with beer filling stations. The company plans on expanding in to coastal South Carolina where 13 locations are slated to serve up growler fills. The typical Craft Beer Exchange offers as many as 12 rotating craft beers and the selections would change seasonally. I don’t think we’ll see this on the west coast just yet, as Sunoco operates most of its APlus convenience stores on the east coast. The fact that it could happen and most likely will at some point makes me feel indifferent. Part of me thinks it’s a really neat idea, but the other half thinks it’s bad. It makes me wonder if people will actually start going to the gas station to fill up their growlers and not patronize local breweries, pubs and bottle shops. I can see a larger corporation being very competitive with their growler fill prices and taking away business from the smaller guy. It also makes me wonder if this same concept could expand to say your local box store. I guess it all comes down to personal choices. We all have the right to choose where we shop, how we live, etc. Thoughts?

Typical Growler Filling Station
(Picture obtained from The Foaming Head)

SOURCES:
USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2012-03-04/cnbc-sunoco-beer/53323880/1
Craft Beer Exchange/Sunoco (Link Updated 9/25/2013):
http://www.gosunoco.com/aplus-food-and-beverages/craft-beer-exchange/

Leap Year: Looking Back / Looking Ahead

A leap year typically occurs every 4 years, so I thought I better post a few words out in cyberspace to commemorate this semi-special occasion. I think about the time span most when I hear leap year. Over 4 years a lot shit goes down. Personally, I got engaged, my Uncle passed, my Grandma turned 90, my doctor checked my colon with her finger, I went to Mexico, traveled to Dubai, my dog’s health began deteriorating, I started this Eyeluvbeer thing, struggled like hell through these hard economic times, had a wicked spell of Vertigo, bought a bicycle, sold my motorcycle, did the naked bike ride, fractured my foot, etc. Today, maybe take a moment to think about what has happened to you over the past 4 years and what you can accomplish before our next leap year in 2016.

Cheers,
Chris

Beer O'Clock Radio with The Beer Goddess, Lisa Morrison

Just a quick plug. We were recently featured on Lisa Morrison’s aka The Beer Goddess’s radio show, Beer O’Clock which airs every Saturday from 3-4pm on Portland’s 101 KXL. Attached is a sound clip that Lisa kindly provided from her February 18^th installment.

Link to Lisa's blog post:  http://beergoddess.com/articles/2012/02/20/heard-on-beer-oclock----links-for-21812/

Interview: Humble Brewing's Chad Freitag and Scott Davis

STATS
Name: Chad Freitag
Hometown: Corning, CA
Website: http://humblebrewing.com/
First Beer Consumed: I seem to remember it being a sip of my dad’s Löwenbräu.
Favorite Style of Beer: For the typical ‘go to’ beers, I enjoy a nice cloudy IPA or Saison. Otherwise, it largely depends on the season.
Preferred Watering Hole: Amnesia Brewing is a favorite of mine.
Best Place for Pizza: Atomic Pizza on Killingsworth.

STATS
Name: Scott Davis
Hometown: Portland, OR
Website: http://humblebrewing.com/
First Beer Consumed: Don’t ask! I’m guessing it was probably Keystone Light.
Favorite Style of Beer: It varies by season, but my year-round choice is IPA.
Preferred Watering Hole: Amnesia Brewing on a sunny afternoon.
Best Place for Pizza: Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River.




I met Chad Freitag at the 1^st Annual Winter Beer Festival at Plew’s Brews in December, 2011. Chad told me that Humble Brewing was at the event having their coming out party. Humble debuted a CDA (Cascadian Dark Ale) that evening. It turned out to be one of the most favored beers at the festival. As a matter of fact, the (2) kegs that they brought ended up empty on the second day. Below, Chad and Scott, Humble Brewing’s founders kindly volunteered their time to answer a few questions.

How did you guys meet?
We live on the same block, and beer brings neighbors together.

When did you begin Humble Brewing?
The planning and “research” began in 2010, but we weren’t legal until late 2011.

New Eyeluvbeer Website!

The new Eyeluvbeer website is live.  A big thank you goes out to the many folks that helped make this happen.

• Piet van Zoen:  Portland based Web Developer, Graphic Designer, fellow craft beer lover and all around great guy.  If you need a kick ass website, he's your man.  Check him out here:   http://pietvanzoen.com/


• Kim Nguyen-van Zoen:  Portland based corporate, headshot, wedding, fashion, editorial, photojournalist, food & resturant, portrait & art photographer.  Kim's an expert at capturing the moment and her work is amazing.  Go to her website now:   http://www.photosbykim.com/v6/


• Ian McGuinness and Natalia Laird:  Natian Brewery Owners and Brewers. These guys were generous enough to volunteer their time and good looks for a few pics wearing Eyeluvbeer gear.  If you haven't had their beer, you need to.  I recently had Natian's Vertical Horizon NW Red Ale for the first time the other night and it was delicious, just like the other styles they put out. Visit thier website at:   http://www.natianbrewery.com/


• The Plywerkers:  Kjell and his crew kindly threw some shirts on for a few pics and it it's greatly appreciated.  Plywerk provides a unique, artistic medium for displaying your photos. Plus, they do it eco-consciously.  If that wasn't enough, they were also recently featured in Whole Living Magazine (a Martha Stewart publication).  Place your order now at:  http://www.plywerk.com/


• Wendy:  My fiancee provided valuable input and helped review content.   


• If you've read this far, we would like to thank you for that and for your continued support.  It means the world to us.

Cheers All,

Chris

Pliny The Younger hype. Tell us what you think.

Should you believe all the hype that surrounds Pliny the Younger? You tell us.

Here's a picture outside of APEX from a few days ago.  

(Courtesy of Brewpublic, taken by Dennis Brostuen)

Hoops and Hops at Portland's Rose Garden

The Hoops for the Trailblazer/Wizard game Tuesday night were a disappointment, but the Hops prior to the game were a hit. It all began at Bridgetown Beerhouse around 4pm. We were told that Pliny The Younger was going to be draft and hiding out behind the bar, but from the looks of the place, the secret had spread fast. Mike, one of the owners, was making pour after pour for the thirsty line of Pliny lovers. It wasn’t long before Mike said “that’s it”, meaning the keg was spent. Fortunately, we were able to have one snifter type glass of the famed, rare Younger version of the Elder. It was delightful.

Thirsty for the Pliny

One happy camper

Our next stop was the main event. Hoops and Hops at the Rose Garden. My wonderful sweetheart surprised me this Valentine’s Day with tickets to this pre-game tasting series. I think we were both a little skeptical going in, but that all changed once we saw the variety of beers and breweries being represented. Some of the bigger players were there, like Widmer, Hopworks, Blue Moon and Ninkasi, but the event also featured some of the smaller guys, such as Breakside and Amnesia. Another appealing aspect of Hoops and Hops was seeing several brewer’s, owner’s and beverage representative on hand to answer questions about their product. We had a nice conversation with Blue Moon’s rep about an upcoming small batch series named Vintage Blond Ale that they had on hand. It was certainly interesting. It combined beer and chardonnay wine. We thought it tasted similar to sparkling wine and would pair well with a warm, summer day. Blue Moon is also releasing a red wine version of this unique blend.

The official tasting room

Blue Moon's beer and chardonnay beverage 

There were two other beers at the event that neither of us had tried before. One was a spiced IPA from Widmer’s Rotator series, a beer brewed with malty assam black tea, ginger, cinnamon, clove, star anise, black pepper, and cardamom. It was definitely one of a kind, like Blue Moon’s Vintage Blond Ale. We enjoyed our 4oz. taster. The second beer that was new to us, was Laurelwood’s Espresso Stout; a beer that was collaboration with Portland Roasting Company. This Stout was the ultimate beer coffee, or coffee beer mix. It was rich, full of flavor and smelled amazing. Juan Valdez would certainly give this 5 stars.

7 pm rolled around fast. We still had a few tasting tics left in our pockets that didn’t want to go unused. We traded them in for a pint of Laurelwood Gearhead IPA. After making quick work of the IPAs we headed across the commons to the Rose Garden for some Trailblazer action, which turned out to be inaction. We lost what should’ve been an easy win. Even though Batum had a great game, I read he said that the loss to the Wizards “maybe the worst game we’ve played this year”. Agreed. It was nice to see Batum start though. LA’s ankle roll was unfortunate and I hope he returns as soon as possible, but I think the team could have carried this game without him.

There are still three more Hoops and Hops series left. If you like the two B’s (beers and basketball) then you should definitely attend. You can find more information here:  http://www.nba.com/blazers/tickets/packages.html

Let’s hope our Blazers get back the spunk they had when the season started. I think they can do it!

Some more photos from the evening

Michael De Kalb, Owner of Laurelwood and a silly Blazer fan

Ben Edmunds, Head Brewer at Breakside

2 Craft beer lovers, Amnesia Brewer, Sean Thommen and
another silly Blazer fan

Representing my team and where
I established my roots.
Go 'Cuse!

The view from the tasting quarters

Disappointed fans