Picks:
- Boundary Bay Double Dry Hopped Pale: Dave's best in show, beautiful layering of hops
- Laughing Dog Anubis Imperial Coffee Porter: Bill's best in show, not boozy, just a creamy melange of coffee, chocolate malt, and vanilla flavors
- Laht Neppur Peach Hefe: light, subtly peachy, wheaty and refreshing
- Upright Offen Weisse: light and refreshing with lots of banana flavor
- Ale Industries Orange Kush: chamomile gives a nice coconutty flavor, with light citrus
- Mt. Emily Wildfire Red: nice red, not too malty
- Caldera Hop Hash: well done, restrained use of concentrated lupulin
- Widmer Foggy Bog Cranberry Ale: nice wheat-beer flavor with a little cranberry tartness and astringency; beautiful to look at
- Amnesia Imperial IPA: nice imperial, well balanced malt/hop
- Hazel Dell Imperial IPA: less balanced, but nice bitterness
- Hop Valley Alpha Centauri: awesome double IPA, perfect balance, smooth and creamy
- Columbia River Brewing Nyctophobia CDA: dark, malty, hoppy, tasty stuff
- Elysian Idiot Sauvin: great use of the Neslson hops, strong citrus flavor
- Firestone Walker Double Jack: a ringer, must try if you have never had it
- Gilgamesh Mint Kölsch: way too minty, like mouthwash
- Dogfish Head Black & Red: another mint failure, plus nasty acetone kick
- Natian CDA: flavors don't combine well, also a little solvent note sticks out
- Riverport Blonde Moment: oddly tart, something's wrong
- 10 Barrel Zitrone Kölsch: too lemony, like a lemon drop candy
- Collaborator Hopfinium: the one guy Dave heard hyping this was an idiot
- Salmon Creek Oatus the Red: okay red, creamy body but not much malt
- Coatlition WU Cream: one dimensional... not creamy
- Fire Mountain Tan Line: eeeewww... had to dump it. nasty bitterness, kinda soapy
One bummer: the one-off Buzz Tent beers went so fast the first two days, that the Buzz Tent is finished. I missed it completely, since my time yesterday was limited.
Some other eyewitness accounts:
The weather seems perfect this year: sunny but not too hot. The crowds are thicker and earlier than usual, but I still love the OBF: its mix of snobs and newbies, the view of the river, the good vibe, and of course 85 beers to try.
Nice write-up, Bill.
ReplyDeleteI guess tastes do vary--I only had two IPAs at my fest, though I did sample from friends' pours. I was aware that I favored three Belgians and a German lager in my review. I'm out of step with my own city!
ReplyDeleteI also thought the Anubis was pretty good. Found myself sampling more of the lighter/summer beers this time around since the weather was completely geared for that category. Had a great time - glad you guys did, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving a comment! I will delete spam and long stupid comments. Comments that are smart or short will survive.
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