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Wednesday Night

Wednesday night, we went to the Toronado to say hi to Ian and have a quick beer. Of course, with us one beer turns into two which turns into four. So, our initial plan of bring there for a half of an hour was scrapped, and it we didn’t get home until after 11pm, two hours after we left.

Wednesday nights are quickly becoming my favorite nights at the bar. First off, it’s quiet. Also, you can usually count on most of the regulars being there (this week it was Tad, Todd and Crab)… and since the new beers seem to come on tap on Tuesday afternoons, there’s usually a surplus of fresh beer on too.

Janet is still on her Guinness kick, and she polished off two imperial pints before the night was over. I started off with a nice Lagunator Doppelbock, then moved onto a Fred followed by a pint of

Untouchable and then concluded the night with a Boont Amber.

I know you’re thinking, “What the heck are you talking about… a beer named Fred?” Yep. Hair of the Dog brewing of Portland makes three beers: Adam, Fred and Golden Rose. Fred is a strong beer served in 13 oz tulip glasses. Fred is a very malty beer that is reminiscent of a barleywine. Regardless of what exact type of beer it is, it’s damn tasty.

There are two types of craft beer manufacturers out there. One type makes very classic-style beers. Breweries like Sierra Nevada, Deschutes and even (ugh) Gordon Biersch makes beers that follow the classic recipes. Their pilsners taste like Pilsner Urquell, the Marzens taste like Spaten Oktoberfest, and the stouts try to taste like Guinness. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t great breweries (with the exception of Gordon Biersch)… just that they aren’t very creative.

Then you have the breweries like Speakeasy, Lagunitas and Hair of the Dog. They start off with the basic idea (I want to make a Marzen style beer…) and then take that and make it into something unique. Breweries like this come up with hoppy doppelbocks (which are usually sweet) like Lagunator and extremely malty Marzens like Untouchable.

The unfortunate thing is that most beer festivals judge against the “classic style.” Based on this, an Anderson Valley  Hop Ottin IPA will always win over a Speakeasy Prohibition and a Guinness will always win over a Lagunitas Imperial Porter. I thought about this while drinking my Lagunator wednesday night. Though it may never win an award, it’s still one of the best beers out there… no matter what type it is.

Posted in The Barfly Chronicles.


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