Logistically, this year's OBF was as good as the early years. Lines were short all around, table space was adequate, and although I did not attend on Sunday, the beer seemed plentiful. Personally, I've scheduled in a series of side-trips and functions into the festival weekend, so I spend less actual time at the festival these days than I did back in the early 90's. Hence, the following notes are cribbed from the roughly 20 random beers that I sampled in my six hours spent at the festival on Friday and Saturday. While the beer selection was more often a function of what my companions brought to the table, I make a point of seeking out beers that I have not tried in the past.
For those of you not familiar with my methodology, I use objective criteria, when appropriate, in reaching my numerical rating.
Brewer: Breckenridge Brewery; Denver, CO
Beer: IPA
Style: IPA
Notes: Funky, possibly fusel aroma, slightly astringent finish led to a
dryish malt base where a thicker base would have been preferable.
Rating: **1/2
Brewer: Deschutes Brewery, Inc.; Bend, OR
Beer: Paulina Pils
Style: German Pilsner
Notes: OK, but not very interesting. Maltiness fairly dry and
unsophisticated, hoppiness rather restrained.
Rating: ***
Brewer: Desert Edge Brewing Company; Salt Lake City, UT
Beer: Desert Edge Klar Gold
Style: Kolsch
Notes: Light malty aroma, slight winy note present as well. Flavor
lightly malty, dryish, with a bit of yeast breadiness at the end.
All in all a nice kolsch save for the bready flavor, and it ranked as
one of my festival favorites.
Rating: ****
Brewer: Falls Brewing Company; Post Falls, ID
Beer: Procrastinator
Style: Bock
Notes: Not to be confused with Snoqualmie Falls (home of Falls Ales).
Malty aroma with hints of crystal/caramel. Flavor rather thin and
empty with hints of chocolate malt in the middle with a slightly bitter
and resiny finish. The brewery says the beer is lagered for 46 days
but also that they use roasted barley and columbus hops in this
unusual interpretation of Bock. I would suspect that the Columbus
addition result in the resiny finish. I am intrigued that the
brewery will be producing a Raspberry Barleywine in late January.
Rating: **
Brewer: Gentle Ben's Brewing Company; Tucson, AZ
Beer: Gentle Ben's IPA
Style: IPA
Notes: And a gentle one indeed. Not hoppy enough, and oddly with an
OG of 1.066 not malty enough either. The yeast must be a strong attenuator.
I visited the brewpub in March of 1997, and I was not too impressed. The
brewpub is located a block or so from the University of Arizona. The beers
and general ambiance reflect a rational decision to cater to the college
crowd. Indeed, my companion at the time noted that this was the first time
that he had seen me visit a brewpub for the first time without buying a
shirt.
Rating: **
Brewer: Hawks Brewing Co.; Roseburg, OR
Beer: Super Natural Porter
Style: A Non-Artificial Porter
Notes: Organic. Nice aroma with hoppy and chocolatey notes blending
together. A strong astringent finish detracts from the beer, however.
Rating: **1/2
Brewer: Mt. Hood Brewing Co.; Government Camp, OR
Beer: Pittlock Wee Heavy
Style: Scotch Ale
Notes: Excellent malty aroma, deep, sweet, with chocolate and smoky
hints. The flavor is surprisingly thin in body but the maltiness is
still present. A rather strong beer with an OG of 1.085.
Rating: ***
Brewer: Smuttynose Brewing Co.; Portsmouth, NH
Beer: Shaols Pale Ale
Style: Pale Ale
Notes: Balanced in flavor with a nice nutty/caramel note. Bitterness is
limited as expected from an east coast pale ale; some hop aroma is evident.
This beer is nice, but it should really be cask conditioned. This is the sort
of beer that we need to cask condition more of in the States.
Rating: ***
(although I would speculate the rating could climb as high as
**** if matured and served as a Real Ale).
Brewer: Summit Brewing Co.; St. Paul, MN
Beer: Summit Hefe Weizen
Style: Bavarian Weizen
Notes: Banana and a hint of clove in the aroma. Flavor slightly malty
with perhaps too much of a bitter finish. Some banana in flavor, but little
clove. Nice attempt, but I would like more of a Bavarian character to this beer.
Later that day several of us were at the Alameda Brewhouse. The Alameda has
Paulaner on tap, and the contrast between the Paulaner and my notes on the
Summit are striking.
Rating: ***
Brewer: Terminal Gravity Brewing; Enterprise, OR
Beer: Terminal Gravity IPA
Style: IPA
Notes: Nope. Could use more alphas.
Rating: **1/2
Brewer: Whitefish Brewing Co.; Whitefish, MT
Beer: Montana Nut Brown
Style: Brown Ale
Notes: Yup. Sure is.
Rating: ***1/2
Brewer: Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.; Portland, OR
Beer: Bourbon Bock
Style: Bock
Notes: To my knowledge, Widmer still does not have lagering capability.
Their reticence to offer the OBF any information on this beer doesn't help
matter much, but Widmer is known for their mysterious ways. While they
did say that the beer is "indescribable", I like to think that no beer is
beyond description. Vanilla notes dominate the nose of this beer, with
a hint of charcoal in the background. I've had some very nicely done
beers in the past that have been aged in Bourbon casks (as I'm assuming this
beer has) but this beer came up short.
Rating: **
Brewer: Wild River Brewing; Grants Pass, OR
Beer: Harbor Lights
Style: Kolsch
Notes: Drier and winier than the Desert Edge Kolsch, but
less nuanced.
Rating: ***1/2
Copyright 1998 by David Brockington, all rights reserved.
Seattle, USA
Comments? Fire off some email:
dbrock@u.washington.edu
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