Portland, Part 3

Our third day in Portland was unfortunately our last day to try some beers before we became busy with wedding events.  Following some wedding set-up in the morning, we picked up Sarah's mother, Karen, at the airport, before heading back downtown to continue our beer adventure.  Our first stop consisted of lunch and some beers at the Rogue Distillery and Public House (http://www.rogue.com/index.php).

While enjoying an absolutely delicious Rogue Dip sandwich, served on fantastic Hazelnut Ale bread, we sampled the following beers:
         Brutal IPA--An Imperial bitter with exotic traditional floor malts, citrusy, hoppy flavor, stupendous hop aroma.  Brutal combines Oregon hops with English malts.  6%
         Dead Guy Ale--A German-style Maibock, deep honey in color with a malty aroma, rich hearty flavor, and a well-balanced finish.  6.6%
         Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red--Reddish copper in color, a roasty malt flavor with a hoppy sprucy finish.  5.2%

         Mocha Porter--Ruddy brown in color, a bittersweet balance of malt and hops with a light cream finish.  5.1%

My samples

Following our lunch, we explored the Rogue Garage Sale, where they were having fantastic sales on merchandise.  I ended up with a Dead Guy Ale hoodie and t-shirt, while Sarah got a sweatshirt.  After our shopping, we headed over to Widmer Brothers Brewing Company (http://www.widmer.com/default.aspx), where we toured the facility and sampled some of their brews.

Sarah and I at Widmer Brothers

By the restaurant at the Brewery

The brewing kettles

The fermentation tanks

Due to the excessive heat, in the 100s again, the tour was cut short, which was OK with us.  We watched a video about the company and then sampled four Widmer brews before taking a quick stroll through the facility and receiving our pint glasses and key chains.  The beers we sampled were:
         Widmer Hefeweizen--The flagship beer, America's original Hefeweizen.  A golden unfiltered wheat beer that is truly cloudy and clearly superb.  4.9%
         Broken Halo IPA--This beer is produced in the spirit of traditional IPA products shipped from the UK to India in the late 1800s.  The almost excessive amounts of Cascade and Columbus hops used in Broken Halo give it notable citrus and grapefruit aromas and flavors.  The beer bitterness measures high but tastes smooth due to the full-bodied, Caramel malt sweetness.  The finish is juicy, clean, and short lived.  6.0%
        Drop Top Amber Ale--A rich, flavorful Amber that's smooth and easy to drink.  This beer is fermented with by an American Ale yeast to produce beer with a clean flavor and fruity aroma.  The velvet texture is from using Honey malt and a touch of milk sugar.  5.0%
         Drifter Pale Ale--This beer has a unique citrus character, smooth drinkability, and distinctive hop character.  Brewed with generous amounts of Summit hops, a variety known for their intense citrus flavors and aromas, Drifter has a taste unique to the Pale Ale category.  True to style, the bittering hops are perceptible enough to give the beer a crisp, clean, quenching finish, yet also soft enough to keep the beer smooth and balanced.  5.7%  

The brewery

Honoring America's original Hefeweizen

Great sign

Following our visit to Widmer Brothers, the rest of our time in Portland was spent with wedding festivities.  All in all, we had a great time trying new beers and touring around the city.  We can't wait to visit again and visit the other breweries Portland has to offer.