The Bailey's Taproom Annibrew Cubed event was what I had hoped it would be- full of good beers and conversations with other beer enthusiasts, it wasn't crowded or hot and there were no obnoxious people that I could tell, which is good enough. We were there when they opened their doors to ensure we would get to taste everything, and sure enough a few hours in our top favorite, the Cascade Bailey's Quadratic Formula in beautiful beer geekiness of ax^2 + bx + c = 4 where a= 1 bubonic Plague(Heaven's Hills) b= 1 Spiced Quad (Maker's Mark) and c=2 Big Red(Maker's Mark) all equating into a wonderful swirl of complex flavor, was out. As we left, our second place winner in our eyes, the Firestone Parabola with a bold bourbon and tobacco initial punch followed by dark chocolate and smoke as it bloomed on the palate, also tapped out.
During our 5 hour stay (which also included a cheerful passing by of pirates outside from Plunderthon which many along the windows raised their glass and waved to but still everyone withstrained from any shouts or screams even after a couple hours of drinking, inner woo hoos only!), we chose to get a few repeat token taste. The beers that made this cut included the Russian River Consecration (Belgian style aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels with Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Saccharomyces and Pediococcus and currants added to make one sour beer) and Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood (a bourbon nose with a very dark cherry profile and only a hint of tartness Pilsner malt aged with black cherries in bourbon casks). We were at a draw whether the Hopworks For Those About to Bock had vanilla tones or yeast tones in it or not- even 20 minutes after we had left and were on the way home the debate continued.
And we will never forget the barnyard nose, our first experience of barnyard in beer, on the Block 15 #181- despite its aroma the yeasty ferment did even out on the tongue. The biggest disappointment was the Allagash 08 Curieux, a Belgian Tripel aged in Jim Beam for 8 weeks that didn't have much to show for its age. The New Holland Dragon's Milk was a soft caramel nice beer, but not as deep as hoped either. And no, there are no pictures from this event because hey, I was tasting 20 barrel aged beers. The veggie sandwich I had right before and the chorizo burrito from Santeria afterward were still not enough to combat the heavenly effects of the alcohol content ingested at this Bailey's third anniversary. Still my favorite beer event of all July.
So no beverage photos… though I do have a token photo of the best happy hour menu in Beaverton that I know of, Decarli's. The pizzettas are enough for two, and their best one is the portobello mushroom, gorgonzola, sweet onion, and walnut-sage pizza. The best option is still the polenta fries with gorgonzola butter, but if you want to share, go with this pizzetta.
Next weekend is Bite of Oregon, including 120 items from restaurants, food carts, and a dessert pavilion to taste. I'll also be switching gears from tasting beer to tasting wine. On Monday, there is a Groupon special where you can purchase 2 admissions for the price of 1!
We'll be stopping by on Saturday afternoon, after a class I'm very excited about, a cheese making class with Hip Cooks where we'll be making and sampling Ricotta, Goat Cheese, Mozzarella, Mascarpone and Fromage Fort in a menu that includes
- Roasted tomatoes filled with fresh ricotta
- Goat Cheese and Fromage Fort with french bread
- Pizza bianca with fresh Mozzarella
- Poached apricots stuffed with Mascarpone, rolled in pistachio
Isn't my countdown to this coming weekend worth it?
