Beer Fest

Hi all,

I ate pretty much everything on the planet in April and I haven't posted anything! I also went to two beer festivals in Portland: the Spring Beer & Wine Fest and Portland's Cheers to Belgian Beers. I highly recommend going to any beer fest that's not on the

waterfront or in the Convention Center. The Belgian beer tasting was in a metal craft warehouse where they make the vats for breweries for fermenting beer. Genius! 40 beers on tap! Each tasting bringing you closer to forgetting what beer you're drinking! I went with a new friend of mine and I made him take photos. This first beer on the left here is Block 15 Brewing Co.'s St. Macarius. 5.9% ABV Belgian-style dark chocolate. I voted it the best, very bright, no aftertaste, not too syrupy, easily you could use it as a dessert beer and pair with berry pie.

The next beer we loved (see upper right) is Buckman Village Brewery's La Petite Mort (or at least I think so... my sun-fried brain only scribbled one illegible clue for photo #2) 5.0% ABV dark saison. Does it look like teriyaki to you? You can distinctly taste ginger, brown sugar and soy sauce- all elements of teriyaki. WILD! It didn't taste out of place even, it was very drinkable... easily paired with Asian food... which we did at the Koi Fusion cart- overrated Korean taco-cart fusion. It's not my favorite because it's greasy and expensive for cart food. We had a bulgolgi bbq beef burrito with kimchi and salsa verde- not impressive until I got to the butt of the burrito- maybe that's where all the kimchi and sauces shimmied down.

Alright, here's the final two beers we tried. I can't say for sure what they are because these were the final tastings when we were already drunk but I'll do my best. I think the one on the left is Old Market Pub & Brewery's Trappist Le Blonde Inlenet- 8.2% ABV Belgian-style golden. I gave it a minus sign. The one on the right is Philadelphia's Flemish Amber- 4.7% ABV... it has a plus sign. When you go beer tasting I recommend using a more sophisticated beer rating system.

I don't know when the next beer festival is but I hope it's not for a long time!