My Northwest Experience

One person's view of the northwest's great landscapes, great food, and great drinks.

[mynwx]

Brunch at Broder Soder in southwest Portland. The fika pastry board, legendary aeblskivers with lingonberry jam and lemon curd, and a potato pancake. It was packed on a Sunday and we got the last open seats, sharing a table, at 9:15am. We ordered almost immediately and didn't get food until almost 10. The service was almost okay, kitchen was slow, and, sadly, the aeblskivers and the Danish cinnamon roll on the fika board were underdone and doughy. The flavors of everything were excellent and that potato pancake was divine. Maybe they were just too busy? Not sure, but it left us a little wanting. I'm getting old - service is starting to matter to me and in this city good service is really hard to find.

[mynwx]

Yum! I'd add a description, but it's right there. Balanced heat with a dose of sweet vinegar. Messy and delicious.

[mynwx]

Pelican Brewery's (Pacific City, OR) 2011 Mother of All Storms, an English barleywine aged in bourbon barrels, 13.5%, 22oz, $20 from the brewery. I bought a case of this when it was released and this was my last bottle; I will gladly pay the $20-25 price to get a bottle of this every year. The barrel flavors are perfectly balanced with malt and hops, bring up caramel, molasses and vanilla. I can't rave about this beer enough!

[mynwx]

Machine House Brewery's (Seattle, WA) Dark Mild, an English-style session pub ale, 3.6%, 500ml, $6.58 from Belmont Station in southeast Portland. This is the lowest (non-sour) beer I've had in a long, long time, but it's packed full of roast and smoke - two of my favorite things. I look forward to trying more from Machine House because apparently I really like English-style ales.

[mynwx]

Deschutes Brewery's Black Butte XXVI, a barrel-aged porter, 10.8%, 22oz, $17 from the Portland pub. Rich with cocoa, a touch of smoke, some dark fruits, and a dry finish. Quite tasty.

[mynwx]

Selkirk Abbey's (Post Falls, ID) Guilt, porter made with Belgian yeast and Doma coffee, 8.3%, 22oz, $6.99 from Total Wine in Vancouver, WA. The fruitiness of the yeast really pulls similar flavors out from the coffee, but it's fantastically well balanced with the base porter. Seek this out!

[mynwx]

de Garde Brewing's Framiscus, wild ale aged in wine barrels with raspberries and hibiscus, 6.4%, 750ml, $10 from the brewery. Best raspberry beer ever. There is no discussion to be had on this. So delicious!

[mynwx]

Deschutes Brewery's (Bend, OR) Black Butte XXV, a barrel aged version of Black Butte porter, 11.3%, 22oz, $17 from the Portland pub. So. Effing. Tasty. This annual birthday release never disappoints.

[mynwx]

Spicy fried chicken sandwich from the Neue Southern PDX food cart down near the Willamette River in southwest Portland. Cooked perfectly, but not spicy; that doesn't bother me but it might bother some. Not pictured is the stellar fried Brussels sprouts with cider vinegar. Highly recommend this cart.

[mynwx]

pFriem Family Brewer's Mosaic Single Hop Pale, 6.3%, 500ml, $3.99 from New Seasons in southwest Portland. Yep, those are definitely mosaic hops. Crisp and clear with a ton of flavor. pFriem is fantastic.

[mynwx]

Two Beers (Seattle, WA)Jive Espresso Stout, a coffee oatmeal milk stout, 7.5%, 22oz, $5.99 from Total Wine in Vancouver, WA. Tons of coffee and definitely a milk stout with decent residual sweetness, but it's thinner that I'd expect from the oatmeal part. Did I mention tons of coffee?

[mynwx]

Last December Lardo West hosted a tap takeover for Block 15 (Corvallis, OR), so while picking up food I tried their Figgy Pudding, a barrel aged strong ale spiced with awesome. So. Damn. Good. Feeling lucky I found a bottle at John's Marketplace the next week - looking forward to opening that.

[mynwx]

de Garde Brewing's Black Raz Bu, a Berliner-weisse aged with black raspberries, 4.4%, 750ml, $9 from the brewery. Love the jamminess of the fruit. Five months have given it a touch of vinous flavor. So good.

[mynwx]

Hilliard's Brewing's (Seattle, WA) Murdered Out Stout, an Irish dry stout, 5.1%, 16oz, $2.99 from Total Wine in Vancouver, WA. Dry cocoa with a tiny touch of cherry, dry finish, very smooth. I had to use Urban Dictionary to figure out what "murdered out" meant because I'm old, but it fits the can design well so I had to make the pic black and white.

[mynwx]

Deschutes Brewing's (Bend, OR) Not the Stoic, a Belgian-styled quadruppel, 12%, 22oz, $17 from the northwest Portland pub. Lots of raisin, fig and caramel, but drinks a bit thin for a quad. Quite enjoyable.

[mynwx]

Julian Hard Cider's (Julian, CA), 6.99%, 22oz, $7.91 from Whole Foods in northwest Portland. Perhaps one of the best flavored ciders I've had, Cherry Bomb has a bold cherry tartness balanced very well with the sweetness of the apple (yes, it's sweet). And that color! So, so red.

[mynwx]

Crux Fetmentation Project’s (Bend, OR) Freakcake, an oud bruin style aged with the dried fruits and spices of a fruitcake, 10.5%, 375ml, $10.39 from Whole Foods in southwest Portland. The oud bruin part is mild - only a light tartness - but Crux nailed the fruitcake flavors. I enjoyed it, but once was enough.