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Wayfinder Beer, 304 Southeast 2nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon
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Hopworks Brewery, Powell Mothership, 2944 Southeast Powell Boulevard, Portland, Oregon
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Hawthorne Asylum Food Cart Pod, Southeast 10th Avenue and 1080 Southeast Madison Street, Portland, Oregon
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Cheerful Tortoise, 1935 Southwest Sixth Avenue, Portland, Oregon
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To explain the long list of Portland pubs above, I’ve been pretty busy travelling this year, which of course always results in the discovery of new beer venues. As a result I’ve ended up with so many pubs, taps, and breweries to write about, both in the US, in the North of England, and even in Italy. So this month I decided to cover my nine remaining venues in Portland, Oregon from my visit a few months ago. And amazingly, over the course of two visits in a decade to this impressively rich beer city by me and my Bay Area friend Mistah Rick, there are still many more breweries and taps left to discover on future visits to the city. Okay, enough explanation: here goes my Portland marathon.
I live in a cold rainy climate and I love heights, so I definitely wanted to visit two rooftop breweries that I had read about. So when Rick and I returned to Portland from an overnight trip to Seaside and checked into our hotel, our first stop for a pint was Migration Brewing Rooftop. This great outdoor beer garden is located way up on the ninth floor rooftop of the Canvas Building. There’s even an indoor area if it happens to be raining, but on this occasion it fortunately wasn’t. This is one of the brewery’s pop-up taps, so they had only four beers on. It was going to be a busy night for beer tasting, so I started easy with a pint of Patio Pale (5.8% ABV, Migration Brewing, Portland, Oregon). An American pale with 55 IBUs of bitterness and hopped with Simcoe and Citra hops, this was just clean and hoppy, a nice palate cleanser from the fruity and hazy beers I’d been having. Rick ordered the more interesting sounding Straight Outta Portland (7.3% ABV, Migration), a somewhat punchier West Coast IPA with 69 IBUs and hopped with an exciting mixture of Strata, Mosaic, Meridian, and Idaho 7 hops. After my Patio Pale palate cleanser, this tasted especially enjoyable.
We took our pints out to the rooftop where we had a nearly 360-degree view of the skyline of Portland and the surrounding pine-covered hills. It was pretty magnificent, and as I do tend to jump up and down and twirl around when I’m seeing something magnificent, I used caution in this case so I wouldn’t fling myself off.
Migration Brewing Company was started back in 2010 by four partners, the initial venue being on Glisan Street. By 2018 they had opened their second venue, a 20,000-square-foot brewery on Northeast Wilkes in Gresham, and they also have a full-kitchen brewpub on North Williams Avenue, as well as two other pop-up venues besides the Rooftop. So their beer has definitely made a migration around the city. The Rooftop is open during the summer season on Thursday to Sunday, and besides the beer it also offers a choice of wines and some canned cocktails. And, of course, a really great view.
Later that evening after dinner, we had yet another altitudinous round of pints, but not nearly as high up. Located in Portland’s Pearl District, 10 Barrel Brewing Company’s beer garden is located on the rooftop of the brewpub. Fortunately by the time we stopped in, it wasn’t too cold for sitting outside, as the inner covered portion of the small rooftop was pretty crowded.
I went for a pint of Sights of Science (6.2% ABV, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon). Hopped with Mosaic, Citra, and Nugget hops and with 50 IBUs, this American IPA was a really decent beer! It was clear and cryo-hoppy, and just what I needed. Rick’s pint was Birds of Paradise (6.2% ABV, 10 Barrel). Again with 50 IBUs, this was also clear and bright, but there was something quite sensual about it, perhaps best described as paradisiacal. Rick and I decided it was like a Yakima Chief rose festival on our palates.
The head brewer at 10 Barrel is Brandon Whalen, who was the R&D brewer at Breakside Brewing in Stumptown, and before that a brewery in upstate New York. So he’s got a lot of experience making interesting brews.
10 Barrel offers food as well, with the menu featuring shared plates, burgers, pulled pork, savoury pies (with suspiciously pizza-sounding fillings), and salads. There is a downstairs room as well, but we were on a rooftop theme this evening. So there we were, sitting outside, wishing upon a star and sipping high above the street below.
On our first full day in Portland, Rick and I travelled across the river to meet for a couple of pints with a second cousin of mine whom I had yet to meet. At this point Jesse was relatively new to Portland, and of course Rick and I were just visiting, so somehow Wayfinder Beer sounded like an appropriately-named pub at which to meet.
As it was another pleasantly temperate evening we sat outside at a large table in the front beer garden. Because Jesse had lived for a few years in Munich, he ordered a German-style pretzel, with beer cheese and two different mustards, for us all to share. We all went for Wayfinder’s own beers, so Jesse opted for a pint of Kellerhell (4.7% ABV), which was a helles style lager. The pint I chose was Winged Creatures West Coast IPA (7.1% ABV). Brewed with Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops, this was slightly tropical with just a hint of dank. Rick went for a pint of Flower In The Kettle Hazy IPA (7.0% ABV), a New England hazy with Mosaic, Amarillo, and Simcoe hops--in fact the same beer he’d had the day before at Treebeerd’s downtown. Again, it was very good.
Wayfinder seems to be mostly lager-centric, using old and new brewing techniques. Their beers mix ancient brewing methods with Narziss-style German precision and American craft methods. So they offer different styles of lager including Helles, rice lager, Vienna style lager, Czech pilsner, and Bavarian style lager--and of course IPAs.
For dinner Rick and I ordered a second round of the same beers and shared a cauliflower Bahn Mi sandwich, while Jesse went for the sausage sandwich. As we were all leaving, I went inside to use the toilet and listened for a bit to a pretty good bluegrass band called Thunder Ridge. Apparently it was the twice-monthly Wild West Wednesday, so we just happened to time our visit right. Other special events at Wayfinder have featured a Mussels from Brussels tasting competition and, of course, the inevitable Sunday trivia quiz.
Before we met up with Jesse, Rick and I stopped at a place not far from Wayfinder, Living Häus Beer Company, to share a couple of swift halfs. This brewpub is in a large room with brick walls, with one of those magnificently massive ceiling fans spinning just above our heads. The music that was playing while we were there was pretty cool as well. The space reminded me a bit of Drake’s Dealership in Oakland or the original Elysian Brewing in Seattle, which were both formerly car showrooms, making me wonder about the history of the building itself.
All of the beers brewed by Living Häus are named after people, which is kind of nice. Our first half was Ozzy (6.8% ABV). Brewed with Nelson and Amarillo hops, this West Coast IPA is a collaboration with Hatty Alice, Great Notion, Ruse, and Belmont Station. And ooh, yes! It started with that swoon-inducing Oomph! wave across the palate that I so love. The other half was Nancy (6.5% ABV), an IPA double dry hopped with Mosaic and also hopped with Citra Cryo, Citra Incognito, Mosaic Incognito, Mosaic Pellets, and Strata Pellets. It was nicely bitingly hoppy! Zip, zoop, ZING! We were happy to have such a zippy start to the evening.
On our last afternoon in Portland, we headed back over to the southeast quadrant where our first stop for a couple of half pints was the Little Beast Brewing Company Beer Garden. The front garden out on the pavement was fairly busy, so we headed back to the side section where partners Lawless Barbecue were busy cooking and preparing Kansas City style food. The strong smell of barbecued meat--which was surprisingly pleasant even to a non-meat-eating pescatarian like myself--filled the air. As today was a little bit nippy, it felt good to sit under the patio heater.
My half pint was Pinetop West Coast IPA (6.4% ABV). Although it’s brewed with fresh Centennial, Mosaic, and Chinook hops, with a name that suggests pine resin, I found it had a bit of a sweet edge. But perhaps it was like a thick pine forest accented with a subtle waft of blooming sage blossom blowing up from the desert, which was a smell I recalled from my childhood camping trips. Rick’s half was A Thousand Flowers (6.6% ABV), which was another West Coast IPA. Hopped with Simcoe and Centennial and then dry hopped with Citra Cryo, this was quite decent, and that’s all I could really think to say about it. As we sipped our halfs we took some photos of my Sasquatch earrings leaning against my Little Beast Brewery glass.
While we walked all around the Southeast side of Portland, we decided to check out an interesting-sounding brewery, Hopworks. But as we were on the north side of Powell Street, otherwise known as Highway 26, and the brewery was on the south side, it looked as though there was no way for us to get across the extremely busy freeway of a boulevard without getting broadsided by fast-moving traffic. Since neither of us felt like risking our lives just for a pint, we ended up walking about a half mile out of our way just to get to a pedestrian crossing.
When we finally walked into the brewery, we found ourselves in a huge modern warehouse of a place. This was our second beer stop of the day, and as we had plans to meet up with an old friend of mine later on, we decided the best thing to do was to share a flight of five 5.75-ounce tasters. Once we were served our flight, we carried it over to one of the tall tables near the window.
Our first taster was Ferocious Citrus IPA (6.2% ABV). With 50 IBUs, this hazy tangerine IPA was very, very smooth. It definitely tasted of tangerine, in a pale ale sort of way. We both agreed it was, well, okay. Next was the interestingly named Pink Boots Cold IPA (6.6% ABV), also with 50 IBUs. Sales of this beer support the Pink Boots Society, whose mission is to help women and non-binary individuals in the fermented/alcoholic beverage industry to advance their careers. With a hint of mango and melon balanced with malt, this was probably the best of our five choices, although it was also extremely smooth and pale. Our third choice was Patagonia Organic Kernza IPA (6.2% ABV, 50 IBUs). This had been brewed with kernza, which is a deep-rooted perennial grain that requires little water. It tasted very mildly of tangerine with a possible suggestion of pine hiding in there somewhere. Once again this was okay but, um, just not interesting to either of us. Fourth on our flight was Earth to Beer Organic IPA (6.2% ABV, again 55 IBUs). Described as having suggestions of “citrus, pine, and tropical candy”, this was again pretty boring to each of our palates. Sales of this beer benefit Oregon Wildlife which advocates and cares for wildlife, waterways, and wilderness.
At this point we were looking forward to our fifth choice, the definitely-not-pale Motherland Russian Imperial Stout (9.4% ABV, with 45 IBUs). Described as tasting like chocolate, dried cherries, and dark caramel, this was unfortunately just too sweet to drink.
At this point we were both getting so bored with our tasters that we finished up the most interesting one, Pink Boots, and left the rest of our flight behind, because in an exciting brewery city like Portland, we just felt that not one of the other tasters was worth bothering about. We were both pretty disappointed, and it’s possible we just made the wrong choices, and perhaps we were just tired. But considering not one of five different beers excited us in the least, I just don’t think Hopworks is our particular cup of tea (or, more properly, beer).
There’s also a Hopworks in Vancouver, Washington, and one at Portland International Airport, which could be quite handy if you're passing through and want to try it.
Sadly, in the midst of being disappointed by our flight, my friend texted to say he sadly had to cancel driving down to Portland later. So Rick and I decided to forge on with our beer quest, once again fording the mighty Powell Boulevard and working our way over into an odd little residential and light-industrial mixture of an area, with several breweries and taprooms placed here and there.
The one we decided to try was the Baerlic Beer Company. This place really appealed to me in a minimalist sort of way. Inside the brewery is a record shop out of which punk and noise music emanated, and in front was a covered garden area directly across a narrow street from somebody’s house. And on the walls over each booth were graphics of popular hops varieties.
By this point it was quite windy outside, so we ordered our pints at the bar and sat at a window table. I had a pint of Punk Rock Time (6.0% ABV), described as a woodworker gin barrel aged IPA and containing Brett yeast. The barman told us it was the brewery’s flagship beer, and it definitely had that Portland character, but with touches of leather and citrus zest. Rick had a pint of Sun Break (6.8% ABV), a West Coast IPA with Nelson Sauvin, Cascade, and Strata hops. This was an easy-drinking IPA with a hint of that Wow! factor. It must have been from the Nelson Sauvin.
Baerlic has two other venues in Portland, one on Northeast Halsey Street and one on Northeast Alberta Street. By this time of the late afternoon we were both feeling quite tired, but these fine pints, which we knew we would definitely finish, would happily propel us to our next destination, hopefully to find something to eat.
Coincidentally, our next stop was when we accidentally stumbled onto an expansive food truck park, the Hawthorne Asylum Food Cart Pod, where inside one building was a very interesting-looking beer tap. We went in and stood at the bar, where we had tastes of several beers. The first one, Hophoria IPA (6.1% ABV, Evasion Brewing, McMinnville, Oregon), was brewed with Citra and Mosaic hops and offered a good fruity hops character. But it also seemed to possess more of the haziness we were starting to tire of at this point. Another taste was of the Pallet Jack IPA (7.0% ABV, Barley Brown’s Brewery, Baker City, Oregon), which was pretty good, citric with a touch of pine. But we finally decided to split a pint of Sherman IPA (6.5% ABV, Fort George Brewing Company, Astoria, Oregon), simply because we’ve both been thoroughly delighted with Fort George’s beers. And the Sherman was perfectly acceptable for an IPA, which was what we needed while we sat outside on a bench and decided where to have dinner.
There were plenty of options around us. But we were a bit overwhelmed by all of the different food trucks, and as it was creeping up into Saturday night the crowds of people were rapidly expanding. I finally suggested we should find some pizza, either nearby or back near our hotel. Hey, at least I made a decision. And our pizza restaurant choice turned out to be excellent.
One last venue to mention was just around the corner from our first B&B accommodation. At the end of the evening spent having beer and food with my second cousin Jesse, before retiring for the night Rick and I decided to check out the Cheerful Tortoise. It felt very lively and a bit chaotic when we entered, with a really earthy semi-punky streetwise crowd and TVs around the walls that were blasting all sorts of things. We decided to share two pints. The first was RPM IPA (6.5% ABV, Boneyard Beer Company, Bend, Oregon), a hoppy bitter, dry hopped with six Northwest hops, with a bit of dank, and the other was Escape Artist (6.6% ABV, Everybody’s Brewing, White Salmon, Washington), which had almost an El Dorado-style sweaty exotic aura, a bit tropical and citrus. When I looked it up online, I found that the hops used were Centennial, Citra, and El Dorado. So I was correct in my assessment. And the names of both pints seemed quite appropriate for the environment. While we were there, everybody and everything did seem quite cheerful, although it was a shame that there were no giant tortoises present.
It will probably be a few more years before we meet again back in Portland, but it’s definitely a city well worth visiting for beer.
Related Links
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PUB UPDATES:
- HALLAMSHIRE HOUSE, SHEFFIELD: Back in September I stopped in and had a pint of Spot On Session IPA (4.3% ABV, Little Critters Brewing Company, Sheffield, South Yorkshire), which was quite drinkable. This beer had just won SIBA's National Silver Award for the year. Described as having UK and US hops with added Crystal malt, it was a gentle, easy-to-take hoppy pint.
On an afternoon when I was coming back in the evening to see a band, I was happy to find a low-ABV beer by a decent brewery. And my pint of Bramble Hook Blackberry Sour (3.3%, Round Corner Brewing, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire)) wasn't too black or too sour, so it was quite nice. It had been a really hectic few days, so I was craving something unique. Before I left I had a taste of a beer Doug had just put on one of the handpumps: Secret Beach Cali Pale (5.5% ABV, Neptune Brewing Company, Liverpool, Merseyside). And it made me swoon! This is a wildly memorable elixir of Citra, Amarillo, and Ekuanot hops. And ohmygod, it was heavenly! Sadly, as I would probably be drinking three pints later on over the course of the night, I certainly didn’t want to risk that ABV. So I could only hope that it was still on the next afternoon, because I would definitely come back for one leisurely pint of this.
When I returned later for the band, I started with a pint of Ezili (4.0% ABV, Neptune Brewing) which, as barmaid Saskia told me, was pretty uninteresting. Oh well, it would probably do for the first pint. I knew I needed to up the flavour stakes a bit for my next pint (which I did with Green Mountain on cask). Sadly the “blues” band turned out to be really boring, playing every song in the same key with only a slight variation on each guitar intro, and the lead singer was patronising to the audience and really monotonous as well. But hey, my music critic days are well behind me, so I'll shut up about it.
For my next visit I first had a taste of Zesty (3.4% ABV, Thornbridge), which is a Satsuma pale. It was very pale, fresh, and very easy to drink, a bit like a gentle sea splash. But I went for a pint of Wooden Ships (4.7% ABV, Neptune Brewing, Liverpool, Merseyside). The jury was out on this, as far as Mel and Ash were concerned. It was quite amber in colour, but crispy clear, and it was interesting indeed. It was described as an American pale, but I would perhaps describe it as an Oregon-inspired amber single-hopped honey-coloured velvet beer.
On an early October weekend before I took a six-day trip to Italy, I stopped in and immediately went for a very nice lower-ABV hoppy pale, Riverside Blues (3.4% ABV, Thornbridge), which is a collaboration with Black Iris Brewing of New Basford in Nottinghamshire. The black and white pump clip featured Day of the Dead skeletons in hats playing Instruments. This is a surprisingly crisp cask pale, and I could easily (and safely) drink three pints of this at a music night or some other event.
The day after I got back from Italy, I had a pint of Citra Mosaic Pale Ale (4.2% Hobsons Brewer, Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire), which is a pleasant enough pint. A few days later after work, I stopped in and had an especially good pint of Coltrane American Hopped Brown Ale (5% ABV, Thornbridge), which seemed to be in the same ballpark as Thornbridge’s excellent Sequoia. Doug and I both agreed that it was more amber than brown, with a rich bitter-hoppy punch. I also had a taste of Hubble (5.2%, Thornbridge). The only hops mentioned was Mosaic, but the aroma of this beer definitely suggested sweaty cannabis. And following the rich amber hops of the Coltrane, it was perfect. These two would be great choices in a flight of beers.
On my next two visits, I went for an excellent brew: Drovers Hazy Session IPA (4.3% ABV, Round Corner Brewing, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire). This is really nice and drinkable, and as an American I keep getting visions of cowboys droving herds of longhorn cattle, with Rowdy Yates slugging back a few pints of this in a slightly insalubrious saloon after a dusty day on the trail. Hopped with Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe, and then generously dry-hopped, this beer was a recent award winner, so no wonder it was so drinkable. Yee-hah! Git along, little dogies!
More recently I had a surprisingly interesting pint of Nouveau (4.5% ABV, Thornbridge collab with BRLO Brwhouse of Berlin, Germany). This beer is brewed with cutting-edge Hop Burst and Hop Grain FLOE, which elevate the flavours of Nelson Sauvin and Outback hops. When I messaged Mistah Rick about this beer, he researched this new process, and it involves adding a thick dark syrup of hops to the mix. And the video Rick sent me looked a bit like someone adding motor oil to the kettle. So naturally Rick wondered if one was to add a few drops of that hop oil to a schmear of marmite on toast, could they come up with something like an amuse-bouche of elevated beer? Sounds like a good idea to me.
In late October, on a somewhat depressing day--even though the sun was out and it was mild, but the knife-edge US election loomed in the very near future--I stopped and first had a quick taste of the cask Hop Series Solero Pale Ale (3.4,% ABV, Attic Brew Co, Stirchley, EMidlands). Solero is quite an interesting hop, but I felt I needed something with more of a Wowie! punch. So I went for a pint of Sonar (4.6% ABV, Distortion Brewery, Battersea, Greater London). A NE Pale Ale. Described on the brewery’s website as a hazy New England style Pale Ale with Nelson Sauvin, Mosaic and Citra hops and being refreshingly smooth with a juicy tropical finish, it was exactly what I needed.
- TWO SHEDS, SHEFFIELD: On a lovely Tap Takeover afternoon featuring Atom Beers, I first had a taste of Droste Effect Hazy Pale (4.% ABV, Atom Beers, Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire), double dry hopped with liquid Nelson, Citra, Rakau, and Motueka hops and fermented with Vermont yeast, which was quite smooth and fruity. But I went for a pretty gorgeous pint of Cosmology Zappa Pale Ale (3.9% ABV, Atom). Considering that low ABV, I was really surprised at how dreamily gorgeous this was. Brewed with Zappa hops, their tasting notes suggest mint, stone fruits, pine, and lemon zest, so no wonder I liked it so much. If it also suggested a pinch of catpiss and a dash of cannabis, with perhaps a soupçon of coconut and tobacco, I would probably never turn back.
On my next visit I had a pint of Hazy Pale (4.8% ABV, Vocation & Friends, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, collaborating with Boundary Brewing of Belfast). Brewed with Eclipse and Mosaic hops, this was very crisp, and surprisingly not hazy at all despite the name. In fact, this was a gorgeously clear golden cask ale. The weather outside, on the other hand, was a bit hazy--mizzly is probably a bit more descriptive. In fact, it was so mizzly that I was driven to use my Bordeaux-purchased umbrella to walk up the hill to Two Sheds simply so I wouldn’t arrive too soggy. But considering this beer, it was really worth having risked the mizzle.
A few days later, before having another pizza meal with a friend at nearby Paesani, I showed up here at what I’d thought was an hour before our reservation. Once I got here and got into my pint of Belfry Cascade Pale (4.5% ABV, Abbeydale Brewing Company, Sheffield, South Yorkshire), I realised that I’d misread the time and was here two hours early. So as we’d be having wine with our pizza, I slowly nursed this pint of Belfry, hoping that I didn’t disturb the sleeping bats. And then, realising I still had nearly an hour left, I went for a half of Mojito Cocktail Sour (4.5%, Vocation Brewing, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire). This was actually pretty amazing, with definite hints of mint and vanilla, if one can imagine such a thing.
After kind of an exhausting afternoon trying to get from my work in town back to Crookes, I was surprised to find this place absolutely rammed at 5:45 on a Wednesday afternoon. So no wonder Ken always seems to be smiling whenever I see him these days. It was Halloween Eve (Halloweeneen?), so I first voted on the best jack-o-lantern on the counter. And then I tasted a very interesting beer that Charlotte thought was 5%, because the name wasn't yet on the board. Since I didn't know anything about it, I went instead for a pint of Hop Sessions 012 NEIPA (4.2% ABV, Brew York) with Cascade, Centennial, and Simcoe hops. It was very quite drinkable, with those most familiar but always welcome Pacific Northwest hops. And then I found out more about the first one I tasted. It was Juice Grobbelaar Hazy IPA (4.8% ABV, Northdown Brewery, Margate, Kent), with the most interesting hops combo of Citra, Simcoe, and Mandarina Bavaria hops, and also with Chit malt, which I've never heard of. If it was still on the next time I came in, I would definitely give it a try. Sadly it wasn’t, so I’ll have to watch for it in the future.
- WALKLEY BEER COMPANY, SHEFFIELD: On a visit where I was meeting my doctor friend Ali, I had a couple of pints of Snuble Juice Session IPA (4.5% ABV, To ØL City, Svinninge, Denmark). Dry hopped with El Dorado, Mosaic and Simcoe hops, this was everything that those three hops promised. It was interestingly complicated in a pale ale sort of way. And since it was a Danish brew, when Ali arrived she also went for it. According to the brewery, “snuble” means “stumble juice", but I suppose that’s more a prediction of what happens if you make a long session out of it. But it was definitely a good, interesting pint for an after-work pre-dinner catch-up session.
On a cold October Sunday, a week after my trip to Italy, I stopped in and first had a taste of a nice cask, Fantail Fogtail Ale 4.3% ABV, Burnt Mill Brewing Company, Ipswich, Suffolk). It was brewed with Citra and Talus, which was appealing, because I do love Talus. But I ended up going for a keg beer, Tuned Hazy Pale (4.1% ABV, Hammerton Brewery, London), which grabbed me a bit more. Sadly neither me nor Jay could find out what hops it was brewed with, so it remained a very nice sessionable Mystery Hops Pale. Perhaps I should have tried to drink it blindfolded.
- OLD SHOE, SHEFFIELD: During a brief afternoon stop after my nearby eye test, I sat out front in the beer garden and enjoyed a half of Existence as a Radical Act Pale (5.0% ABV, Queer Brewing, London). Brewed with Citra and Simcoe hops as well as Kveik yeast, this pretty much hit the spot, with the shoe definitely fitting as I always seem to find at this place. As I sipped I thought about the fact that my eyes turned out to be in great health, and my eyesight was still extremely good. So my radical existence was really paying off.
BOTTLED/CANNED BEER UPDATE:
- Silicon (6.0% ABV, Atom Beers, Hull, East Yorkshire). This is a West Coast IPA named after the chemical element SI, with Atomic number 14. It’s brewed with Extra Pale Malt and wheat, hopped with Citra and Centennial, and then dry hopped with Citra Cryo, Simcoe Cryo, and Chinook. With that wonderful suggestion of resin and citrus, this suggests a light metal glistening of dry magic. It’s not too overboard, a bit like a lovely resined tabletop, and I do like resined tabletops. Today’s weather featured a very strong, icy wind, but hey, it was late September in Yorkshire, so I figured I’d better get out the snow gear soon. The city was packed full of students and my thighs kept getting wet and freezing in the sleety wind, but this beer was soothing like a pleasant jacuzzi, which I could have really used just then.
- Enchantment IPA (5.5% ABV, Vocation Brewing Company, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire). This can was described as tropical orange and coconut, and brewed with Sabro and Amarillo hops. Apparently Sabro hops originated from wild hops in the mountains of New Mexico, and it was created by the Hop Breeding Company as an experimental hops called HBC 438. Hence this beer was named after the Land of Enchantment. I do love these two hops on their own, and this was the first time I had them in partnership. I may have to get some more of this.
- Mosaic IPA (5.7% ABV, Ceres Brewery, Arhus, Denmark). When I was in Italy last month I had a bottle of this on my balcony in Bari Vecchia, on the final afternoon of my Italian visit. I’ve found that the beer in Puglia is a bit disappointing in general for a hops lover like me, and this bottle, although it was Danish, was not really bad at all. It must have been the Mosaic hops. The Ceres brewery operated in Arhus, Denmark until 2008, when its beers began to be brewed elsewhere. I must say that this Mosaic IPA was quite nice, probably the most satisfying beer I had on my trip. I mean, obviously Bari, and Puglia in general, is not really an IPA-exciting part of the world, brewing more German-style beers. So fair enough.
- Laguna Beach IPA (6.5% ABV, Birrasalento, Leverano, Province of Lecce, Italy). This is another one I had in Bari. I mean, with a name like that, this native Southern Californian simply had to try it. I enjoyed it at Martini Fish O'Clock with my sea bream panini, where I sat at a table outside on the pathway while scores of tourists paraded by, staring at my meal as they passed. The label on the bottle described this beer as an American IPA with a golden colour, with “a malty entrance and a sensory explosion of citrus and exotic fruit”, rounded with a strong bitterness and a medium body. It was a hoppy, velvety experience on the sleepy warm evening, after I’d spent the afternoon on a boat cruise up and down the coast. So I didn’t mind the tourist stares at all.
- Hubble American Pale Ale (6.2% ABV, Thornbridge Brewing Company, Bakewell, Derbyshire). As this was too strong to consider drinking a pint of it at the Hallamshire, I bought a can for taking away and drinking in the safety of my own home. And mmm, yes! Brewed with Mosaic hops, this is a great richly hoppy beer! Disappointingly it wasn’t named after the telescope, but after a sports climb in Millers Dale in the Peak District. Hubble was the first ever consensus 8C+ route, which is a milestone in climbing history, and the name was suggested by Thornbridge Brewery’s own clusters of climbers. With further research, I learned that the French numerical guide for free climbing uses “a”, “b”, and “c” as well as the “+” symbol to give additional refinement between the letters. So there.
- Pop Culture Wizard DDH Pale (5.2% ABV, Shiny Brewing Company, Derby, Derbyshire). This is just a really nice hopmonster that I sipped at a currently unemployed friend's late tagine lunch gathering a few days before Halloween. I was being highly distracted by a friend's detailed account of his recent two-month campervan trip across Eastern Europe, but as I recall in brief moments of focusing on my taste buds, this was quite refreshingly enjoyable. The can features a wizard on a dark night, which obviously fits in with the holiday season. Citra Azacca, and Galaxy, so no wonder.
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