Beer Friday: Fresh IPA by Fort George Brewery

On most Fridays, I'll share a beer I particularly enjoy, and think you might as well. This series will feature beers from all over the U.S. (and when we're lucky, the world). Cheers! 

Um, apparently I haven't written a Beer Friday post in over a month? I promise, at some point, this will be a regular thing again...

But for today, we're talking about fresh hops (sometimes called "wet hops"). Fresh hops are bold and unblemished hop oils, and they only drop in Oregon once a year - but they go quickly - so I've been trying to get my hands on #allofthebeers before they disappear!

One particular fresh hop beer I've enjoyed so far is Fort George's Fresh IPA (we actually visited the brewery in Astoria a few weeks ago). Here's why it rocks:

What: Fresh IPA by Fort George Brewery

Style: Wet Hop IPA

ABV: 6.4%

Tasting Notes: Super clean, and borderline crushable, this is a fantastic IPA for those of you who might not love the hop bombs. It's also a great transitional IPA from summer to fall - still light and slightly citrus-y, with a bit more malt flavor and floral, grassy notes.

Pairing Suggestion: Although this beer is nicely complex and flavorful, it's still on the lighter side - so I'd pair it with something a little more bold, like spicy Thai (or Indian) food. It can also stand up to the heaviness (read: grease) of a great bar pie...so go ahead and treat yo self.

Where Can I Find It? For my Oregon friends, this beer is widely available in 16-ounce cans and on-tap throughout the state - but only for a limited time! Click here to see where it's available near you.

What have you been drinking lately?

Exploring Astoria, Oregon

Before I had to fly back to Boston (on Labor Day) for work, Z and I took full advantage of our holiday weekend. We kicked things off Friday afternoon, first stopping at de Garde Brewing in Tillamook, and then making the gorgeous sunset ride into Astoria (about 1.5 hours away).

Astoria is a place I've wanted to check out for a while now. Z and I love the Oregon Coast, and Astoria is saturated with history (and the house from The Goonies is there, which is extra cool).

We stayed at an Airbnb Friday night, which was located right in downtown Astoria...AKA only a short walk to the breweries we wanted to visit. Astoria's downtown is located right on the water, so everywhere we went during our short stay had lovely, ship-filled views.

Some of our most noteworthy stops in Astoria included:

The Riverwalk

The Riverwalk in Astoria stretches for over 6 miles, but we enjoyed walking just a short distance of that after our breakfast (see below). The Riverwalk was a nice way to get around the downtown area on a beautiful day - right along the water, with lovely views everywhere you look.

Fort George Brewery

Inside the Taproom.

Fort George was high on our must-visit list. The brewery has two different settings, including their Public House (with an upstairs and downstairs menu) and, right next door, their Lovell Brewery & Taproom. We had dinner upstairs in the Public House Friday night, where mason jars full of beer and delicious pizzas (and a just OK tofu banh mi) hit the spot. On Saturday afternoon, we hit up the taproom, where the beer list was more "special" (i.e., featured several brewery-only beers, which the Public House lacked). Oh, and the bartender at the taproom put fresh hops in my 3-Way IPA sample (pictured above). Winning!

Buoy Beer Company

To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the beer I tried at Buoy (their IPA). However, their taproom floor is open to the water below - where several seals were sleeping! It was really cool to drink a pint and watch the show below us. We checked out Buoy right before it closed Friday night, but I'd be open to going back during the day time to enjoy their views of the river (and more seals, obviously).

Columbian Cafe

It looks incredibly unimpressive from the outside, but this teeny little joint pushes out some incredible breakfast dishes - with plenty of vegetarian options to boot. There are only a few booths, as well as bar stools overlooking the one chef/griddle, which is where we delightfully sat and enjoyed the show. We were lucky to go here on an unusually quiet weekend, but expect some wait time (it's worth it!) if you're not as fortunate as we were.

There are many other places to visit in Astoria, but we made the most of our short trip!

How did you spend the last long weekend of summer?

Beers, Eats, and Views - The Seattle Edition

Seattle. Is. Awesome.

You've already heard a little about our trip to Washington (here and here), but these are the remaining noteworthy stops we visited during our weekend getaway.

Columbia Center - Sky View Observatory

That photo above? That was just one of 10,000 pictures I took at the top of Columbia Center. My cousin told me about it, and I am so glad she did. No lines + affordable entry price + the tallest building in Washington = better experience and better views than the Space Needle. Winning!

The Hangar Cafe

The Hangar Cafe is a small, no-frills spot in the Georgetown area of Seattle, and we lucked out with zero wait time. (An apparent rarity here!). The abundance of sandwiches as well as savory and sweet crepes and waffles on the menu was enticing, and they have several different kinds of mimosas. Oh, and plenty of vegetarian options/substitutions to boot. I went with the Hangar Crepe ($10.75), filled with egg, Swiss, cheddar, slivered red onion, Roma tomatoes, baby spinach, and Field Roast Chipotle Sausage in place of Black Forest ham. The crepe was also drizzled with housemade poblano-basil vinaigrette and creme fraiche. 

On the side: a mason jar glass of the OG mimosa (OJ + champagne).

Pike Place Market

I mean...duh.

Pike Place Market was high on my list - mainly for the "full Seattle tourist experience" - and it was definitely worth the walk-through.

The farm stands and people-watching were fantastic (as expected), but it was also fun to check out the Pike Brewery for a quick pint

Fremont Brewing

Fremont Brewing was high on our must-visit brewery list, and it did not disappoint. Their bustling Urban Beer Garden had great views of the water + boats + sunset across the street - I could have sat out there all night. 

 

At the time of our visit, Fremont also had their Ales for ALS IPA on tap, which was a delicious, borderline juicy IPA (my favorite!). Great beer for a great cause = win-win.

Holy Mountain Brewing Co.

Holy Mountain was also fun to check out, despite the lack of air conditioning in their not-so-breezy taproom. (Heads up: Few places we visited actually had A/C, so plan accordingly if you visit Seattle during the hot summer months!). I really enjoyed the Somnium saison - wonderfully thirst-quenching on such a hot day.

Elliott Bay Brewery & Pub

Elliott Bay has a few locations in and around Seattle, but we stopped into the West Seattle location before heading back to Portland. The beer, in all honesty, isn't anything too special - and the space inside is dark, loud, and overall unimpressive - but I'd go back here 500 times for the sandwich above alone. This here is the Pan-Seared Tofu Sandwich ($10.50), piled HIGH with chile garlic-marinated tofu (cooked to perfection), tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, sliced avocado, and cilantro-garlic sauce, all sandwiched between a fantastic, toasted seed bread. Served on the side were addictive fries and housemade pickles.

For being a no-frills spot, I was really impressed with this sandwich and the thought that went into all of the food overall.

Who's seen "10 Things I Hate About You"?

Other notable breweries/beer bars to visit in Seattle: Reuben's Brews, Cloudburst Brewing, Outlander Brewery & Pub (for weirder beer flavors - like Lavender!), and Toronado.

Have you done any traveling this summer? 

Georgetown Liquor Company | Seattle, WA

A full vegetarian menu in a [sunny] dive bar with plenty of old school video games. Did we find heaven?

Georgetown Liquor Company is situated just a short drive outside of downtown Seattle in the cute - yet no-frills - section of the city called...you guessed it...Georgetown. Our friends who we were staying with highly recommended this spot, and we were so glad they did.

Beers on tap are mostly local, and a Crikey IPA by Reuben's Brews did not disappoint.

The indulgent-sounding, all-vegetarian menu (that could be all-vegan, too, if you ask for no dairy, etc.) made it hard to choose what to order for lunch. (Their motto is "strong enough for a carnivore, made for an herbivore." I love that!). I ended up going with a solid choice: the Captain Nemo sandwich ($10.45) - a toasted whole wheat hoagie piled high with housemade vegan chickpea salad, provolone cheese, Romaine lettuce, and tomato. 

Served with a pickle spear and my choice of side (salad, soup, or tortilla chips and salsa - I went with the chips), this was one filling lunch. We were amazed at how such incredible food can be pushed out of a tiny kitchen. Clearly, the chefs here know what they're doing. We almost came back that night for dinner, but decided we should explore some more of downtown Seattle instead.

After lunch (and some Mario Kart on Super Nintendo), we made the short walk over to Georgetown Brewing.

We were hoping they'd have their Gusto Crema Coffee Ale that we tried at the Oregon Brewers Festival (it legit tasted like iced coffee), but they didn't have it at the brewery that day. The beers were still decent, though, and it was fun to check out the source! (FYI: they only serve samples of their beer on-site here - for free - but have plenty of growlers, etc. to-go).

Overall, we had a fantastic time exploring Georgetown, and I'm still dreaming about that chickpea salad sandwich.......

Three Magnets Brewing Co. | Olympia, Washington

Last weekend, Z and I hopped in the car and headed to Seattle.

Seattle's almost a three-hour drive from Portland, so we made a much-needed pit stop along the way at Three Magnets Brewing in Olympia, Washington.

We've tried several of Three Magnets' beers since we moved to Portland, and we've been big fans of every one of them - so we were excited to finally check out the source.

Three Magnets is setup where you can seat yourself, outside on their medium-sized patio (overlooking apartment building construction - normal stuff in these parts), or inside their bar/lounge area. We opted to stand at the small bar (that had a few stools), as we just drove over an hour and wanted to stretch our legs. The service behind the bar was odd at first - no one could understand why we opted to stand vs. sit, and we waited a solid 10 minutes before anyone even asked us what we wanted to order. Thankfully - and strangely - the service got much better as the night went on (and after we got hungry/a table), but the first impression was not ideal.

Regardless: the beer here is good, and the food was also quite tasty.

For beer, I loved the Little Juice IPA as well as the New Mex Lager - something I would typically never order, but it was delightfully refreshing on a hot night (and paired well with guacamole).

For an appetizer, we got the Nopales and Guacamole ($9), which included lime, cilantro, pickled red onion, tomatillo, queso fresco, and tortilla chips. 

This was some good guac, and all of the toppings worked nicely. The chips were also delightfully sturdy and salty - making them able to stand up to the thick guac and accompaniments.

For my entree, I went with the Grilled Sockeye Salmon Veracruz ($14), which consisted of grape tomatoes, Castelvetrano olives, caperberries, cilantro, lime, aji amarillo crema, and grilled flour tortilla.

The salmon was cooked a fantastic medium-rare, and the accompanying crema and vegetables made this dish really fantastic. The grilled tortilla, however, I found to be an odd choice as a "side." I would have preferred something a little lighter - like rice - to help soak up the sauce.

Overall, we really enjoyed checking out Three Magnets, and the location is a prime pit-stop between Portland and Seattle.

More on our Seattle adventures coming soon!

Summer [So Far]

This is my first summer living anywhere but New England...and as much as I love New England summers, I am relishing in everything the Pacific Northwest has to offer this time of year. The humidity is basically nonexistent; the cool, delightful breezes are abundant; I'm pretty sure mosquitoes don't exist here??; and all that rain we dealt with in the winter? It basically disappears June through October. I've been chasing the sun all summer long so far, and I will continue to do so until those rain clouds rear their ugly (yet necessary) heads again in October.

Here's just a taste of how we've been enjoying our first (and final...more on that later) Oregon summer!

A hike in and around Oneonta Gorge was borderline perfection. The Gorge area is a short drive from Portland (about 45 minutes, give or take), so our sleeping in didn't affect our hiking goals. After the hike, we pulled off at Dalton Point for much-needed beers and sandwiches by the water. 

The Oregon Coast is my happy place, but Bay Ocean Spit might just be the happiest. This hidden gem takes about 10 minutes to walk to once you're parked, but the quiet beach and incredible views are worth every single step.

We've been beyond fortunate to have so many great friends from the East Coast come visit us. Most recently, our friends Steve and Kristen - fellow beer nerds - were in town, and we had a fun afternoon on the patio at Cascade Brewing. 

This past Saturday, we joined friends for yet another hike in the Gorge - this time, Angel's Rest. Although this hike was a bit steeper, it's also a lot shorter than the previously mentioned adventure (it's a little over two miles to the summit).

And what's a Sunday Funday without enjoying beers on your friends' roof deck? Beers, friends, a great view of the Willamette River - it doesn't get much better than that.

I <3 summer.

Breweries to Visit in Bend, Oregon (+ Where to Sleep Them Off)

It seems like our trip to Bend was about...six months ago now. But hey, better late than never to give you guys the inside scoop on where to drink there, right? 

I hope you're thirsty.

Crux Fermentation Project

Crux was right up the street from our B&B (more on that below), so it was an easy (albeit rainy) walk to and from the brewery. We parked at the busy bar and sipped on some incredibly fresh brews while we debated on what appetizer to order. (We had heard great things about Crux's food menu). We finally settled on the Savory Kale Brownie - an odd yet tasty snack where kale and smoked Havarti are baked together into a "brownie" and topped with Sriracha whipped cream and chimichurri. 

Boneyard

Boneyard was also a short walk from our B&B, and it was a must-visit on my list. The tasting room itself is in a garage-type setting, with industrial walls covered in Boneyard and metal paraphernalia. You can't get full pours here, but you can get taster-size portions of any of their current draft beers. (Tip; get the Notorious Triple IPA).

Silver Moon Brewing

Oh, man. What a hidden gem Silver Moon is! We decided to check this spot out after dinner downtown on Saturday evening, and I am so glad we did. We walked in on a busy, energized crowd dancing and drinking to a local punk-rock band who was playing right in the dining room. The space is huge, so we opted to head to the other side of the bar to take in the crowd and [try to] hear each other speak. The best part? Silver Moon's beer is actually really good. We had a blast sipping on their great beer, people-watching, and listening to the live music.

GoodLife Brewing

If the weather had only been a little less rainy (and cold), we would have totally partaken in GoodLife's awesome outdoor beer garden - complete with an outdoor bar and corn hole. But alas, we stayed warm inside their indoor bierhall, where we sipped their made-on-site brews at a communal table. (GoodLife also offers food, cocktails, on-tap local kombucha, ciders, and guest beer taps). 

10 Barrel Brewing Co. 

10 Barrel makes some tasty beers, so I was excited to check out their Bend location. We rolled in here borderline hangry (and thirsty), so we sipped on Apocalypse IPAs and gorged on the Hippy Pie, topped with shredded mozzarella, baby spinach, marinated artichokes, mushrooms, red onion, roasted red peppers, and kalamata olives. 10 Barrel's Bend location was definitely a fun place to hang out, and right up the street - a few short, walkable blocks - was Sunriver Brewing. Sunriver was about to close when we popped in, but they were kind enough to let us have a pint (or two) anyway. Definitely worth checking out!

And, once you've hit all of those breweries, you'll need a nearby place to stay. The Mill Inn - a short walk from Crux and Boneyard, and an easy, barely-10-minute cab ride to downtown - is an adorable option.

Breakfast is included every morning, and each room is themed to a specific city (we had the San Francisco room).

Our only gripe with The Mill Inn is that the walls are paper thin. As in, I could easily hear the woman next door to us whisper - as if she was in the same room. Besides that, though, we loved The Mill Inn's proximity to everything - and the homemade breakfast was pretty fantastic.

Have you done any traveling lately? Or, any trips on the docket for this summer? We're eager to get to Seattle for a weekend soon!

Adventures + Eats in Bend, Oregon

Last weekend, Z and I spent a fun-filled few days in Bend, Oregon - a little over three hours south of Portland. Planning a trip there yourself sometime soon? Here are some great places to eat, plus a fun adventure to help you burn off all those food calories.

Adventure:

Hiking through Tumalo Falls. Easy 3-ish-mile hike (each way) with gorgeous scenery and a breathtaking waterfall.

Food:

Pizza: From 10 Barrel Brewing. (More on all the beers/breweries/bottle shops to visit later). We needed pizza in a bad way on Friday night, and this hit the spot.

Brunch: Chow. It's worth the 1+-hour wait (they even have live music outside, and a separate bar to order drinks from while you wait). I was a bad blogger (read: hangry) and documented nothing - and there online menu is outdated - but get the brunch dish with polenta. It's amazing. And wash it down with the garlic Bloody Mary!

Bagels: Rockin' Daves, fo sho. Pictured above is Dave's Oh Nelly ($7.25), a bagel of your choice piled high with wild salmon lox, cucumber, tomato, red onion, and dill cream cheese. We even got to meet Dave, and he's super nice - so be sure to say hello to him when you visit!

Dinner: Barrio (not pictured) came highly recommended from Dave, and it did not disappoint. Focusing on Latin-inspired tapas, everything we ate here was incredibly delicious - and had us longing for more. I highly recommend the Fried Asparagus ($11) with shaved fennel and Manchego; the Vegetarian Paella ($14 for a small; $26 for a large), which came with an out-of-this-world Caesar salad, complete with vegan (!!) Caesar dressing; and the Potato Gnocchi ($11) with mushroom confit, butternut squash, and kale. (Bonus: Barrio has some solid local beers on tap, too).

More on our Bend beer adventures - and the adorable B&B we stayed in - soon!