The Alchemist (January 2017)

Been to Reservoir and Blackback, enjoyed both places, just different vibe and feel at each. Both have excellent beer lists. Reservoir more open space, even had good playlist going in the back room last time was there. Blackback has smaller area and can be tight when packed at the bar or the outisde patio. Got more personal attention, conversation from barkeeps at Blackback vs Reservoir. Had good food at both.

 

The Blackback owners are great and I do think they consistently have the best tap list. Definitely can get crowded and difficult on busy nights, but if you're sitting at the bar it's good service.

 

I appreciate the insight and I may give it another try. If there was so much to be improved, it's kind of odd that previously Blackback was still considered THE bar to go to.

 

In Lynn & Dave's defense, they were regulars who bought it off Ricky when he moved to Portland and had no experience running a bar. Pretty steep learning curve on distro & service. They lost HF that Rick had curated for years by neglecting sanitation. They earned it back, and more by learning the finer points of beer service, and hiring/equipping a real chef on-premises. They've worked hard to overcome their noobie skill set, and have been rewarded by lots of local support, an excellent variety of sought-after taps, and a general friendly vibe to all. All's well that ends well, and once again I enjoy stopping in.

 

skadoosh?

 

I've only been to Blackback once since the switch (and pretty early in the new run, I think) but it was refreshing as hell to go in there and get a full pour

Excited about this Skadoosh, although it seems it may put my dream of Ouroboros cans on further hold.

 

OK we are confusing owners. My issues are with the bar when Ricky owned it. Anyways.. I'll just shut up since this is an Alchemist thread

 

Great video for Steeler fans, love the Terrible Towel!

 

Per person daily limits are noted below.


FOCAL BANGER
— limit 6 four packs

SKADOOSH
— limit 1 four pack

HEADY TOPPER
— limit 4 four packs

CRUSHER
— limit 4 four packs

...man, wish i was up in VT today - 2-1/2 cases of delicious Alchemist beer you could walk out of there with!

 

Dang, nice line up this week! I wish they would start date stamping cans. Not that i don't think they are wizards at packaging and selling fresh, it's just that I have 3 fridges, and tons of beer and end up mixing old and new. Plus with this new Skadoosh I guess the cans will all look the same.

 

Why don't you just write the date on them yourself with a Sharpie?

 

I guess you could but it would be nice to know actual canned date too. Not a bad idea for fridge confusion. I have been known to add art to blank cans with a sharpie too.

 

Skadoosh is no joke. An absolute hop bomb. Loaded with Mosaic. I'm in love.

 

It seems like it's going to be pretty easy to just look back at their facebook page to recall release date if you forget to sharpie date your cans initially.

It wasn't that busy today grabbing Skadoosh #1. Pretty unique stuff, a tad bitter fresh but so pungent and lots of mosaic flavor.

 

Heading up there tomorrow for first time. Any need to get there before 11? Trying to do as quick of an in and out as possible, but I'm not sure if I should get there before 11 for parking/line etc

 

Not really any need lately to get there too early. Expect maybe a 20 minute wait on a Saturday morning. You'll have a great time.

 

Potentially busy ski weekend in the area due to MLK day on Monday. May influence crowds on Saturday, but other than that it has been smooth sailing recently!

 

Do they typically sell out on Saturdays?

 

They haven't since the summer crowds. I would find it nearly impossible that they would sell out of Focal this weekend, but Heady and Crusher might run out later in the day as people are coming to/from the mountain. Conditions are expected to be really icy and crappy on Saturday, so vacationers might be looking for other activities and stocking up for a the week.