Rogue Ales -- Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale

Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale by Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon.  Mmmm bacon.  I have to admit that at first I was a little scared just based on the Pepto-Bismol pink bottle with the scary looking dude on the front. 

Our friends Dale and Stefanie were up in Portland when Rogue was selling this beer by the case.  They said they had to go to a loading dock to get it.  Sounds a little strange, but this is a strange beer.  We had some people over one night, and Dale and Stefanie generously brought three bottles with them to share with everyone, so that's how I stumbled into the voodoo world.  Thanks, Dale and Stephanie!

Rogue has been around since 1988 and is well know for its high quality craft beers.  Voodoo Doughnut is a Portland, Oregon establishment that makes a wide array of doughnuts, including the Bacon Maple Bar.  Rogue collaborated with Voodoo to create Bacon Maple Ale.  Since they were working with a bakery, of course, they had to have a baker's dozen for ingredients.  Of the 13 ingredients, there are various malts (including a couple smoked ones), applewood-smoked bacon, and pure maple flavoring.  The alcohol content is neither on the bottle, nor the website.

The taste?  At first, it was sweet like maple, but then I noticed more of the bacon flavor, and then it was smokey on the end.  Looking at the taste as a whole, I would say that first this is a pretty smokey and malty beer, and second, its a little sweet.  The pours toward the end of the bottle have some tiny black grains that sink to the bottom, which I presume are from the bacon.  We put it in the freezer for a little while at my house before opening them.  Dale said it tasted better super cold than just regular refrigerator temperature.  He said that it tastes smokier when its not as cold.  I had the third bottle the other day and I have to agree that it does taste smokier when its not as cold.

I had some left over in an open bottle so I put it in the fridge and then had the rest for breakfast.  I have to say, it makes a good breakfast beer since it tastes like maple syrup and bacon.

In sum, this one was like the Snakes on a Plane of beers -- you know what you're going to get based on the title.  Its worth the adventure and the curiosity for the brave who want to try a beer that is truly unique.

Kennebunkport Brewing Co. -- Pumpkin Ale

Since its fall its time for Kennebunkport Brewing Company's Pumpkin Ale.  Kennebunkport Brewing is actually is a seven barrel brewery located beneath Federal Jack's Brewpub in Kennebunkport, Maine.  Since its such a small brewery, they contract out to Pugsley Brewing LLC in Portland, Maine to do the brewing for the Pumpkin Ale.  Kiki loves pumpkin beer and picked up this six pack at our local Trader Joe's for $5.99.

Pumpkin Ale  by KBC is one the spiciest beers out there.  Its full of nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove flavors which pair well with the malty-toffee flavor of this beer.  All of that goes well with the pumpkin flavor.  Its a very light beer but there is plenty of flavor and a nice after taste.  I give this beer two thumbs up as a great beer to enjoy on cool fall nights.

Squatter's Pubs and Beers -- Salt Lake City, UT

Finally, my last post of our epic road trip.  After visiting Red Rock Brewing we walked through downtown Salt Lake City to Squatter's Pubs and Beers at 147 West Broadway 300 South.

Yep, that's a ski they serve the beer on.

Once again I ordered a sampler so I could get an overview of what they have going for them:

Cream Ale -- Creamy, a little bitter, light straw color, just ok.  The first one was supposed to be Hefe, but apparently that's really popular and they were out so I got Cream Ale instead.

Chasing Tail Golden Ale -- Almost like Coors light, but a little more bitter.  I'm extremely biased in favor of anything involving golden retrievers so at least this one has the name going for it.

Provo Girl Pilsner -- BYU is in Provo, Utah so its Provo Girl instead of Polly Girl.  Get it?  Provo Girl is light straw color, not much flavor, and crisp.  This beer was like water so I did not like it but Kiki did.  Bravarian styles usually aren't my thing.

Organic Amber Ale -- Hoppy for an amber, copper color.  Nothing really that memorable.  This one was supposed to be the Vienna Style Lager, but they were also out of that one.

Full Suspension Pale Ale -- This one was an American Pale Ale (APA).  It bills itself as "citrus pine hop aroma flavor."  I thought the pine flavor was cool, and it made it unique.

Captain Bastard Oatmeal Stout -- This beer is brewed with roasted barley.  I thought it was creamy, but had coffee at the same time.

My buddy Kyle ordered the Nitro Coco Porter which he let me try a little of.  It was really bitter, but very light.  The color looks like black coffee but the body was light. 

 Squatters was a cool place with a chill vibe.  Another good place to stop if you're ever in downtown SLC.  Its more hipster than Red Rock Brewing which is more yuppie.  But, the beers at Squatters are ok so I don't think you'll go wrong.

Red Rock Brewing Co -- Salt Lake City, UT

On the way back from our epic road trip we stopped to spend the night in Salt Lake City.  While there, we checked out Red Rock Brewing Co, 254 South 200 West, Salt Lake City, Utah.  I can tell they're trying to be like Rock Bottom Brewery in Colorado.

$7.50 for a sampler of six.  They had eight beers on tap, but in Utah you can only get six 4 oz samples at once thanks to their goofy alcohol laws that are still recovering from prohibition. 

Here's what I tried:

Hefeweizen -- lemon slice, lemon yellow color, light taste, fruity, short linger, refreshing taste

IPA Junior -- very light for an IPA, light hop taste, good for someone like Kiki who doesn't like most IPA's

Amber Ale -- copper color, creamy, malty

Bitter Ale -- also copper color, lots of body, not really that bitter

Munich Dunkel -- Kiki likes (coffee like bitterness without the coffee flavor); dark copper color

Oatmeal Stout -- creamy on the front, bitter on the back


Red Rock's website tells me that its Nut Brown won the silver medal at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival so now I wish I would have tried it.

All in all I would say Red Rock's beer was so so.  Nothing to brag about, but not horrible either.  Salt Lake City has a surprisingly cool downtown, and if you're in the area you might as well stop by.

Harvest Moon Brewing -- Beltian White

As our epic poast-bar-exam road trip continued we made our way up to Kalispell, Montana to spend the night before a full day exploring Glacier National Park.  A popular chain in Montana is MacKenzie River Pizza. Co., and we had been to the one in Helena, so we knew it was a safe bet for a good dinner (FYI, the MacKenzie river is actually in Northwest Territory, Canada even though the pizza chain is a Montana chain with locations also in Washington, Idaho, and Indiana (random)).  They had Harvest Moon Brewing Company's Beltian White on tap so I had to order one having fallen in love with it two years ago.  It comes served with a slice of orange.  Kiki loves Beltian White.  She says it tastes like beer with fruit.  In short its light, crisp, fruity, has a brief linger, and is smooth and easy drinking.

MacKenzie River Pizza: Hot Hawaiian Pizza with Half Jalapenos = AMAZING

What I like about this beer is that it can fit so many different occasions.  The spiciness makes it great for holidays, or the fall, or the winter.  Its fruityness makes it perfect for the spring or summer.  Its refreshing after a long day.

What's up with the name "Beltian?"  Harvest Moon Brewing Company is in the town of Belt, Montana which is about 15 minutes outside the megaopolis of Great Falls, Montana (well, at 58,000 people Great Falls seems like a megaopolis comparied to Belt's 633 residents).  Beltian White is a Belgian-style wheat beer so its a play on words (thanks James I already figured that out).  Its made with malted barley and wheat, and Czechoslovakian and Saaz hops from the Pacific northwest.  The spiciness comes from coriander, and the frutiness is from orange peel.  Plus if you add a slice or orange, its like a flavor explosion.

Harvest Moon Brewing Company was started in 1996 by Stan Guedesse, a former homebrew supply store owner, and John Ballantyne, a former geologist and avid homebrewer.  Harvest Moon takes advantage its location which gets water from the Madison aquifer.  That's important because 90% of beer is water so you want good quality water.  Madison aquifer water is good because its the same water that gets bottled up and sold across the state.  Besides being centrally located in the state, Belt is in a high plains farming area and barley is grown only a few miles away.  Similar to Sierra Nevada Brewing, since its near farms, Harvest Moon Brewing recycles its mash by giving it to a local farmer to feed his hogs. 

Harvest Moon is still small enough that owners Stan and John can still be involved with every step of the process.  Despite the brewery's small size it's able to can its beer.  As I mentioned before, canning helps Montanans be able to recycle since they only have glass recycling twice a year.  Plus, cans keep the light out, they don't have to be stored vertically, you don't have to worry about the cap getting rusty, they're easier for the brewer to store and ship, you're not going to get broken glass if it breaks, and if you're enjoying the great outdoors you can crush it when you're done.

That said, we made sure to buy a couple 12-packs to take back with us to California.  Kiki suggested three cases, but I was concerned about space in our little two door car.  As usual, she was right and I wish I had more Beltian.

If this were sold in California I would drink this all the time, and I'm not normally a wheat beer person.

All in all, Beltian White is one of my favorite beers of all time.  Harvest Moon is smart to focus on its most popular beer for state-wide distribution.  I hope that Harvest Moon can grow enough to get its beer into other states.

Big Sky Brewing -- Limited Montana Release (Mexican Dark Lager)

Unfortunately, on our road trip we didn't have time to stop and take a tour or visit Big Sky Brewing, but by the time we got to Missoula, Montana on our way from Helena to Kalispell to go to Glacier National Park, it was lunch time and we were mighty hungry.  We didn't have any set plans in Missoula so we just drove around downtown, which is conveniently located right next to the University of Montana.  We decided that The Iron Horse Brew Pub looked promising.

The Iron Horse has a pretty good selection of beers, one of which was Big Sky Brewing's "Limited Montana Release."  After inquiring, I was informed that this beer was a Mexican dark lager.  I decided to try it and pair it with a buffalo chicken salad.

Mexican dark lager?  As you see above, its a copper color and served with a lime.  It's like a cross between an amber ale, a Corona, and a Bud, but overall it's more on the amber side.  I can't say that I would order it again, but at least it was an interesting beer.

Side note: Big Sky Brewing has so far been absent from my blog only because I enjoy their beer so much that I've been waiting to write an entry that covers all the beer in the Montana Mixer pack and do them justice.

 Missoula's famous Mount Sentinel 

Lewis and Clark Brewing Co. -- Helena, MT

Beautiful Helena, Montana with Mount Helena

I've been sidetracked with watching Mad Men and Lost -- catching up from what I missed during law school -- so its about time I finish up entries from our epic post-bar exam road trip.  My last entry was kind of depressing because Blackfoot Brewing's beers all need some improvement.  Helena, Montana's other brewery is Lewis and Clark Brewing Company (L&C) and their beers are much more impressive.  Unfortunately, we were there right between them moving out of their old location and moving to a new facility.

I've been following L&C on their facebook page and their new facility is really awesome.  They took an old paint factory (also formerly a jail and miscellaneous other things) and gutted it, made space for new brewing tanks, added equipment to allow them to can their beer (canning is good because it keeps the beer in darkness, in Montana glass recycling is virtually nonexistent, and its easier to store and ship).  Their new place also has a large tap room with enough space that they can have live music.

The L&C background: Helena had a brewery called "Sleeping Giant Brewing Company" and it was part of the Brewhouse Pub & Grill where the brewery was in the basement and the restaurant was upstairs looking down onto the brewery.  I'm not exactly sure what happened to Sleeping Giant, but they are no more.  L&C was founded in 1995, and moved into the Brewhouse where Sleeping Giant used to be about 10 years ago.  L&C has been gaining popularity over the years and outgrew the Brewhouse, hence the new facility.  If you're from Montana or familiar with its history the name "Lewis and Clark" is a no brainer, but for those that don't know, the name comes from the fact that explorers Lewis and Clark spent most of their journey in Montana and explored the Missouri River just outside of present-day Helena.

Even though we missed L&C's new tap room we made it to the Brewhouse and got L&C's sampler.  So here they are:

Yellowstone Beer -- 5.1% ABV -- L&C's lightest beer; very floral smelling; light golden straw color; light body but lots of taste which is because its top fermented

Miner's Gold Hefeweizen -- 5.2% ABV -- served with a lemon; L&C's most popular beer is brewed unfiled in an American wheat style; won a Gold Medal at the North American Brewers Association Brew Fest; fruity; like the Lemon Heights Hef at Tustin Brewing Company; Kiki gives it two thumbs up

Prickly Pear Pale Ale -- 5.9% ABV -- hoppy, but light for a pale ale; not much flavor at first but then it lingers

Lewis and Clark Amber Ale --5.7% ABV -- copper color; creamy and malty


Tumbleweed IPA --6.4% ABV -- This beer beat 98 other IPAs and won a gold medal winner at the Great American Beer Festival; recently voted the best IPA in Montana; hopped three times with Centennial and Cascade hops makes this one REALLY hoppy and floral; unique linger

Back Country Scottish Ale -- 5.9% ABV -- roasted black barley gives this beer a dark color; the barley is Montana grown; sweet; a little chocolate, a little roasted flavor; smooth

Overall, Lewis and Clark Brewing makes really good beer and I don't think any of them disappoint.  I think the Tumbleweed IPA and the Miner's Gold Hef were my favorites.  Next time I'm in Helena I will be sure to make it to L&C's new taproom!
 

 For anyone wondering where a name like "Sleeping Giant Brewing" comes from its because this mountain, which caps off the north end of the Helena valley, is called the "Sleeping Giant."