Trip logs for Outside the PNW

and i hope SN and NB are ignoring the starvation minimum and paying their servers full state minimum..
Is there a way to find this out?

 

I know they were preaching livable wages when they were both building their plants (yes, they are more like plants lol) Not sure about rates but I know SN gives all employees health, 401(k), well being benefits, beer bucks, etc. I'd be surprised if they were paying the servers minimum wage. Both great companies that go above and beyond to pay/treat their employees right.

Definitely reaped the benefit of having a friend working at SN by getting a half barrel of pale ale for $65, so cheap and so fresh.

 

Thirsty Monk is solid. Barleys and Mellow Mushroom arent really beer bars, but tons of taps. Tasty Beverage has great taps.

Sure, Twin Leaf and Catawba blow but Pisgah and Zebulon dont, nor does Highland. You hit Sierra, which is quite lovely, snd there is also Oskar Blues and New Belgium.

They might not have great 'imported' taps, and thats partially intentional. I agree that Bruisin Ales is great, but most say thats the third best shop behind App Vintner and Tasty.

The scene there gets crazier every year, which is why i'd say it has passed Bend and isnt looking back. Its a tiny place though - certainly not meeting my definition of a city. Clearly its downfalls are too many hippies and too many floridians

 

I can assure you nobody from Asheville is making that comparison. Idiot tourists from the SE probably are. Its so incredibly infested with tourists that living there seems pretty awful. Its a very comparable vibe to Portland (for better or worse?), but much much smaller. Its way cooler than Grand Rapids, which is usually the comparison i hear.

 

Trying to put down my GABF impressions while they're still fresh. I attended the Thursday, Friday, and a little of the Saturday day sessions, as well as the award ceremony. I also made some day excursions to Boulder and Fort Collins for tours/industry events thanks to some extremely generous and friendly people in the Bend brewing community.

Avery hosted a party at their new facility and I tasted an amazing Cucumber Hibiscus sour that was a beautiful love child of Cucumber Crush and Ching Ching. They had a tap trailer in the parking lot with 16 barrel aged taps, all different from the respectable tap list in the tasting room.

The tour at NB allowed me to go deep in the foeder forest at New Belgium, tasting pre-soured Oscar side-by-side with Le Terroir, and pull a Fat Tire off the bottling line, Laverne and Shirley style.

Odell is within walking distance, pretty amazing to have two breweries of their size so close. Had a flight and grabbed some bottles.

I visited Station 26 to see what Juicy Banger was all about, only to find out they had a FH version I didn't know about. I snapped a pic of the medal on the wall they won at my competition in January.

Also got to visit Crooked Stave, Great Divide, Euclid Hall, Falling Rock,

I have read a lot of other peoples impressions of the festival, tried to recognize insider tips for attending, stalked the Mountain forum for local recommendations. It all flew out the window within 15 minutes of entering the hall. Total sensory overload. Which breweries/beers did I want to visit first? Shit, who cares? Grab a pour of the brewery you've heard somebody brag about in another part of the country. What are all the fresh hop beers I won't see at home? Somebody I trust says this beer is a must try, so let's stop at that booth right now! Frenetic and exciting initially, I eventually get fatigue from the over-stimulation. 1oz pours mean I've always got a trace of the last beer on my palate as I'm tasting the next beer, even with water in between. It's fun, but it's not how I want to drink beer.

The landscape for packaged product is independent liquor stores, and I was impressed with the mix at each. I know some of it was due to GABF, but it was clear each was curated pretty well. Growler and crowler fills seemed readily available. It's a little different than my experience in WA and OR, but close enough.

It was too short and too much GABF-spectacle to really get a feel for the normal beer culture, but I get why Denver has it's top-tier reputation. Already making a list for next year.

 

Couple notes about a recent trip to Napa, CA. While I still think the region is best enjoyed enjoying wine, Napa seems to have had an uptick in good beer. Stopped into Oxbow Market, where apparently Fieldwork Brewing has an outpost. The beer list was vast, with NE IPAs and fruited sours featured front and center. Thought everything I tasted was great: Galaxy Juice (juiiiiiccceeee), Hazy Train, Citraweisse, and Shelter Rat.

I also snagged two bottles of Pliny at the market. You still have to know the delivery day and who to ask. I felt dirty AF.

 

I can't speak for the city of Chicago, but for the burbs' - the early bird definitely gets the worm. Seems like many BA beers released are gone within a few days if not soon, sometimes within even 30 minutes for varients I've experienced.

 

I posted a similar post in the general thread, but since the PNW thread is offering excellent help for my trip to PDX/SEA late next summer, here are my experiences:

Chicagoland- I'm still trying to narrow down my list of ~50-100 breweries
Great breweries in west & southwest burbs, many within half an hour of each other. A lot of the breweries are smaller taprooms in industrial parks, however definitely some amazing beer. that should not go unnoticed Some local favorites i've been to include Noon Whistle, Miskatonic Brewing, Solumn Oath, Penrose, Alter Brewing, Church Street, Myths and Legends. A few a little out of the way include 3 Floyds, Lake Effect, 5 Rabbits (only had from beers and cans), Wild Onion. Of course the city has Pipeworks and some others.

Boston
Took a trip to Boston this past year, and while i didn't get to hit a lot of breweries, still tasted some great beers at a couple bars and a micro brewery fest.
Trillium - Only tried 2 of their beers, a double dry hopped pale ale & a IIPA. Both were good, wished I picked up more or asked if they had tasters available.
Night Shift Brewing - great beers, had an American Hefe that rocked my socks. Also tried another one i forget.
Cambridge Brewing - delicious Flanders Red.
Jack's Abbey - Good berliner weisse i had at Bukowski Tavern, mentioned before, which is a small hole in wall bar that serves great selections.

Wisconsin
Have gotten quite a few kinds of New Glarus before, also went to Potosi Brewery outside Dubuque which had some good beers and also good root beer. I visited Green Bay and took home some cans/bottles of Hinterland Berliner weisse which was great, Badger State brewing (excellent brown ale and russion chocolate imperial stout), and Titletown Brewing.

Iowa
While in IA, I stopped at a liquor store and got some Toppling Golieth, which is excellent. Pseudo Sue was great, as was Pompeii and Sol Hunter. I forget which was which, but one was one of the best beers i've ever bad! (think it was Pompeii).