Saturday, October 10, 2009

Saturday Night Dinner

We picked up some soup from La Bottega in downtown Vancouver! It is a cheese and ale soup made with Laurelwood Amber Ale, chicken stock, mozzarella, fontina, parmesan, potatoes, and spices. The soup was amazing! Since the soup used beer from Laurelwood, I decided I would drink a Laurelwood beer with the meal! I picked up Prevale, an IPA brewed on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This beer was amazing! I don't know how Laurelwood does it. Their IPAs are so incredibly fresh and then they refresh! Amazing! We also bought a baguette, and sliced up some radishes, Shay's new favorite vegetable! We enjoyed our dinner while watching a classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Rope. One of my favorites. I don't think Shay liked it as much. Now I'm blogging while listening to Jazz! This is what Saturday nights are like after marriage. I love it!












Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Dinner and beers at Widmer

Shay and I went to the Widmer brewery on Friday night for dinner and some beers. We took some cool photos to document the evening!













I really respect what the Widmer Bros. have been able to accomplish in the field of brewing. They have been around for 25 years and are going strong. But I'm sorry to say that their beer is sub par to many other breweries in the Portland area. Don't get me wrong, on a national level they are probably still ahead of the curve, but it is tough to keep up here in Beervana. Although their beer set a benchmark for many other breweries I feel like they have gotten too big to consistently put out a good product. The other night I had their Oktoberfest beer and a specialty IPA they brewed. I was underwhelmed with both. And while their brewery configuration is amazing and their location is prime, the atmosphere of the pub is lacking. It just feels like I am in a Red Robin.

Their food on the other hand is very good. Shay and I had a delicious fondue appetizer and they also serve a mean steak salad. But I am afraid the food is not reason enough to make the trip. Despite the somewhat negative comments I will continue to enjoy a select few of their brews. Their Hef is a great summer beer. Broken Halo IPA is no slouch. And their winter warmer Brrr was quite enjoyable. I really don't mean to dog on Widmer. I recognize their importance in the microbrewing scene of Portland. They just don't stand out anymore.

Fall has officiall arrived!

How do I know Fall is here? Because I am drinking Pumking from Southern Tier Brewing Company! This is one of my favorite beers of all time! It is an imperial pumpkin ale that sits at a ghastly 9.0% abv. This ale is quite literally a dessert in a glass. The beer has an exquisite "biscuity" character to it that reminds me of pie crust! It finishes off with delicious pumpkin pie spice flavors! The beer has a sweet, thick aromatic quality to it. Makes you think the beer is much thicker than it really is.