|
Editorial  |
|
|
|
How to: Pick a microbrew
About two years ago – before I was of legal age to purchase or drink alcohol – I tried my first microbrew. I remember the night perfectly. We were watching college football bowl games, and a buddy of mine, a month into his second-to-last check-point in life, (turning 21, the last being marriage, or perhaps “death” is the more common term) bought some Black Butte Porter by Deschutes Brewing Co. At the time, I’d never tried anything like it; there were always the sips of Budweiser my grandpa had given me, or a drink of Pabst from my dad, but never something with real flavor. I remember not liking the first bottle much, but it got a little better after each coffee-like quaff.
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Now two years into my journey as a beer connoisseur, I’ve traversed time and space to scour the Earth for some of the best micros available. Alone I traveled to a distant mountaintop – okay, a distant store on Stark Street – to find that Oregon is widely considered the Mecca of craft beers, the microbrew capital of the world, along with the rest of the West Coast.
During my journey, I’ve discovered a multitude of bad beers and overrated brews (mostly from the East Coast) but also a ton of great ones. My tongue isn’t terribly picky nor hard to please and, of course, there are some that will like what I don’t like and vice versa, but this is a great starting point for college students looking to get into the bar scene and begin to enjoy beer as an art, rather than a medium to get drunk.
Figuring out where to start with beer can be quite intimidating, especially in a state with so many great beers, but here are some good general rules:
1. Start with a light ale or lager. Red Hook Brewing Co. has a great light ale out right now called “Slim Chance,” perfect for a summer day. Summer and spring tend to be the best places to start for beer because a great deal of the seasonals are rather light and brisk on the tongue. “Sunrye” is another good summer wheat beer from Red Hook. Full Sail has a lager called LTD No. 2 that has an orange label and is perhaps the best lager I’ve ever tasted. It’s a bit stronger than your average light ale (or cheap beer), but delicious nonetheless. A stronger ale like Stone’s Arrogant Bastard or Rogue’s Double Dead Guy are also immensely tasty, but only worth drinking if you’re a veteran who appreciates gratuitous amounts of hops. Same with most India Pale Ales, where Widmer’s Broken Halo is a good place to start, but Ninkasi’s Double Tricerahops reigns supreme.
2. Don’t give up on dark beer. There are so many dark beers (known as a stout or porter) that are outstanding, it’s hard to imagine that the biggest reason most cheap beer drinkers don’t drink microbrews is because they hate dark beer. Dark beer is the dessert beer, usually chocolaty with lots of malts. Guinness is the most popular, but most beer drinkers new to micros don’t enjoy it. I didn’t enjoy it at first. Try Off-The-Rail’s OTM Stout for a super chocolaty stout, or perhaps Rogue’s Shakespeare Stout if you’re feeling more adventurous. For something not quite as heavy but still dark and delectable, go for Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter, or McMenamins Black Rabbit Porter.
3. Just drink it, baby. Perhaps the most important and understated rule for enjoying microbrews is that it must be drank. A person will not instantly enjoy it overnight, much like a person will not enjoy red wine the first time they drink it. It is an acquired taste, and the more it’s had, the better off you are. Along these lines, just as important is to try beers you haven’t had. I try to enjoy the “old favorites” about half the time, and buy something I’ve never had or always overlooked the other half. How else will your beer repertoire grow?
Great places to check out a wide selection of beers on tap are Henry’s Tavern (on SW 12th and Burnside) and the Horse Brass (on SE 44th and Belmont). And that distant store on Stark Street that I traveled to? It’s known as Belmont Station (on 45th and Stark) and is a center-point for all your microbrew needs.