Nederland, Colorado

The sky was gorgeous with moody clouds mixed in the late day sunshine.

Nederland is a tiny town south of Rocky Mountain National Park. It's easy to miss but well worth a stop. This out-of-the-way place has great beer, friendly people, happy dogs, the Frozen Dead Guy Festival - yes, you heard me correctly!(http://www.nederlandchamber.org/FrozenDeadGuyDays/)and mountains close by ... what else can you ask for?

Wild Mountain Smokehouse and Brewery (http://www.wildmountainsb.com/)

Wild Mountain is tucked in amongst the thirty or so modest buildings that make up town of Nederland. We did not expect to find a brew pub here. We stopped at the town's information centre to get some advice on the hiking & camping in the area so this discovery was a bit of a surprise. The draught pints are $4 and only $3.50 at their 5 pm happy hour. They also have a solid selection of import bottles at more than fair prices.


Bier Guide chose the Hopdiggity IPA. At 7.4% it had a floral, citrus aroma and a nice deep gold colour. This IPA was juicy and smooth with a citrus flavour. It had a medium finish. It was not oily in the mouth. I had the Otis Pale Ale (6.6%). With a light smell and crisp, light hop taste, it was easy to drink. The finish was short with lemony tones.


A reminder of Prohibition times makes me more appreciative of the beverages we enjoyed that lovely July afternoon.



The local liquor store houses an impressive collection of American and import beers. They have a clear payment policy delivered with a sense of humour.


I'm guessing that this structure is a prop for the Frozen Dead Guy Festival. Held in March for the last six years, it features all kinds of family friendly events including a casket race!

Rogue in Portland

Rogue Pub in Portland, OR (1339 NW Flanders, Portland 97209)

My love affair with Rogue started a couple of years ago when the LCBO got some of their products as seasonal features. From what I understand, Rogue will not be shipping to us in Ontario due to the mound of paperwork and labling required by the LCBO. Sad, but it does not surprise me. Who would want to deal with so much work for such a small market? The whole state of California has the same population as all of Canada. Rogue is in no short supply of clients so why would they want to jump through hoops for us? I don't really blame them. This means that I will have to make the occasional trip to Buffalo to get my Rogues.

This was the second Rogue Pub I've had the pleasure of visiting. (See previous posting on February 3, 2007 for the visit to Rogue in San Francisco.) But for Bier Guide, it was the first. We walked into a quiet bar during the after lunch but before dinner time of day. We had made the side trip to Portland for the specific purpose of visiting Rogue. The air was thick with anticipation. Okay, that's just our thirst talking.

The taps - aren't they beautiful?!! (Click on the photo for details of the draught list.)

Here, take a closer look.


My tasting tray.

It's a real treat to have so many of the Rogue as draughts. The Hazelnut Nectar truely shined. I've had it in bottles but the draught with it's freshness and subtle nutty, port-like, smokey flavours really cannot be put into words. A new one for me that day was the Honey Orange Wheat. I didn't expect much from it but it proved to be well executed. Plus, I hate missing an opportunity to try something new. As the afternoon worn on, I also tried a shot of their Spruce Gin. Rogue is also distilling three rums: Hazelnut Spice Rum, Dark Rum and White Rum. (http://www.roguespirits.com/spirits.html)

Delicious nibblies to compliment the beers. It doesn't hurt to have a bit to eat so I don't get too drunk, too fast.

The flags of Rogue Nation.

Seattle, Washington

A view of Seattle from Kerry Park with Mount Rainier in the background.

The vacataion started with a drive to Buffalo, NY. where we had a "sleep, park & fly" hotel booked for the night before our flight. The car overheated in Niagara Falls - great, just what we needed at the beginning of two weeks vacation and on a Saturday afternoon when everything would be closed in 45 minutes. Anyways, we got into Buffalo okay in the end. We flew early the next morning to St. Paul, MI changed planes for Seattle, WA. I have always loved being near the ocean. Puget Sound glimmered in the setting sun. Fresh seafood, great coffee and famous west coast beers here we come! I was so tired but also very excited to finally have arrived.

We stayed at The Moore Hotel (www.moorehotel.com). It is in the heart of Seattle. Not only is it an economical place to stay, it is within walking distance of so much to do & see. The old building has character, friendly front desk staff and it's conveniently located near the Seattle Art Museum, Pike Market, and loads of shops & restaurants. Parking is very expensive in Seattle so it's a good idea to park the car in one spot and then take alternative modes of transportation while in the city. Public transit is free in the downtown core.

Our indoor picnic.

Next to our hotel the Moore Theatre had a marquee advertising that Feist would be performing that evening. Yes, in hind sight I should have gone but I was wiped. Call me old but I couldn't muster the energy to even go out for dinner. Instead, we picked up some stuff at the Pike Market and had a wonderful pinic dinner in our room. Some old cheese, pickled beets, French stick, salad and of course beer.












Pike Market is packed with vendors of all kinds. Fresh fish,cut flowers and produce,bakeries, imports from exotic places and my favourite was a great comic book shop in the basement. Wandering around has it's rewards.


Seattle has pigs the way Toronto has moose. I think I photographed twenty or so all over the city. This golden pig is right in front of the most popular fish vendor. If you hang around long enough you can watch as they call out an order. The fish mongers will skillfully throw a huge salmon into the air for another guy to catch in some brown paper for shipping. They advised that they can ship anywhere in the continental US for next day delivery by UPS.

Lowell's inside the market's main building where you can dine with a view of Puget Sound.
Dungeness Crab Omlette...so good we went twice!

Experience Music Project is an interactive music museum featuring the history of modern American music with a special focus on Jimmy Henrix. Because your admission gets you into the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame as well, planning your day with enough time to take in both will let you get lots of bang for your buck. (http://www.emplive.org/visit/index.asp?categoryID=160) I found that even getting through EMP was a lot to get through. They have a bar with a descent selection of draft for those that need a break from information overload.

Hopvine Bar & Bistro was recommended to us by the young man at the front desk. Unfortunately, he gave us the approximate location and we ended up wandering around for over an hour. I was hungry and tired and we were going to miss happy hour. I was very unhappy at this point. By the time we got there I was very unpleasant company and I think I scared away our first server. Thank goodness the place had excellent beers. I started with the Point Defiance IPA. It had enough hops to wipe out my foul mood - delicious and thirst quenching. I then had the Rogue Shakespear Stout which to my surprise, I didn't enjoy as much. Their nachos with homemade salsa was very good. I would recommend Hopvine to any who are looking for a good selection of American draft with a focus on locally made brews. (507 Fifteenth Avenue East at the north end of Seattle.)

On the walk back to the hotel, we passed the other place we were looking for but missed completely, the Stumbling Monk (1635 East Olive at Belmont Avenue East). It is very poorly marked with a small, dark wooden sign above the entrance door. It specializes in Trappist-style Belgium beers. We didn't stay for a drink but checked their chalkboard. They have excellent prices for these kind of imports. They open late in the day (after 8 pm?) and it is a very understated - no fancy decor, more like a friend's basement.

This was written on the sidewalk outside Hopvine. Kinda reflects the laid back attitude of the hippy culture that is the underlining pulse of Seattle.

Seattle Art Museum located a stone's throw from Pike Market. It houses a good collection of contemporary art as well as some execellent historical pieces. I really enjoyed how the curator choose to display pieces from different disiplines and eras together. Rather than showing pieces grouped by time period, it is apparent that their focus was to show relationships and connections of the pieces themselves. It was a fresh way to present a whole new approach to looking at art.

Pike Pub & Brewery is opposite the Seattle Art Museum. It is big and slick and I was not expecting too much from it but it was a convenient place for lunch so we stopped in. Both Bier Guide and I had the tasting tray.
He correctly ordered the pulled pork sandwich. I incorrectly ordered the hummus veggie sandwich. Many of the beers were competent but nothing to write home about. Don't get me wrong, it's always good to try local and never write off anything until you've given it a try but would I go back? Likely not. (http://www.pikebrewing.com/)

Mondial de la Biere, Day 3

Bier Goddess Hilary shakes her fists.

It was Sunday and we would be heading home soon but not before we had a last brunch to commemorate our first Mondial. We headed to Santropol as it was recommended. Apparently they have the best sandwiches in Montreal. Now anyone who knows Montreal's reputation would think that a statement like that is up for debate. But since it's was spoken so highly about, we decided it was fine to trust this suggestion. So off we went and in a hurry since Bier Goddess Hilary had to be at the train station in a couple of hours. Alas, it was closed. Hopes of varifying if they really had the best sandwiches in Montreal came to a terrible end.


Graffitti on our walk to find an alternate brunch place. Urban Art, nice.

We decided that time was short so we better start looking for some other place that was open. We passed a few places but we were set on breakfast-like brunch now. Hmmm...why did this street seem so familiar? Oh, we were here last night when we walked back to the hotel. St. Laurent is a main street running from the south end of Montreal right up into the northern suburbs. It seemed different in the daylight.


We decided on this place - Le Vieux St. Laurent.

Trying to get a group concensus on where to eat is sometimes tough but we were running out of time. So this place had a variety of menu items - something for everyone. It was lucky that we ended up here because look what we got!!


Bier Goddess Hilary's crepe.


My strawberry encrusted french toast.

There was not a lot of beer-related activities that day except that we did stop another SAQ on the way back to the hotel. Each location can have different products in stock. We got a few more goodies to bring home. That's one of my favourite parts of travelling - having beer for home that you would otherwise not have had access to. Maybe I should rename myself Bier Mule.

Mondial de la Biere, Day 2

Bier God Sean H. contemplates his beer. Mediation and careful consideration of each beautiful offering. Something that each of us can do to pay the necessary respect to the artists that lovingly made these beers.



Day 2, Tasting 1 was Stone's Levitation which had the taste of bitter citrus rind and a malty finish. Next was New Holland's Black Tulip. It was honey sweet up front. It had low carbonation and the finish was hoppy with a light sweetness. Then I had Dieu De Ciel's Rose de Hibiscus. Wow, it looked just like pink grapefruit juice except it was a bit more pink. It had a citrus, floral, tart aroma...really beautiful, like fresh cut fruit (ie melon). Flavour-wise, it was floral, tart and clean tasting. It left my palate "scrubbed" and fresh. Then I had Stone's Ruination...no notes unfortunately...I must have put my pen down and didn't get back to it...I will have to make notes with my bottle at home.


Dieu du Ciel's taps are pouring samples. Oh, happy day...


Pouring at the Petit Pub.

I left the festival to see a bit of Montreal beyond the beer tents. First a record shop called Cheap Thrills. It is on the second floor up a very old building. A mish-mash of used and new cd's, vinyls and books. This was a picture they had posted by the entrance:


Then to Montreal's version of St. Lawrence Market, the Atwater Market. We went on their subway called the Metro. It is very quick, clean and cheap. The market was just about to close so we were quick to find the Fromagerie Du Marche Atwater. A small section is designated just for beer. A good selection of Quebec micros and some imports. Across the street from the flower market, there is a SAQ (liquor store) that also had a few selections worth toting home to Toronto.



We had to hurry back to the hotel to drop off our purchases and meet the rest of our party to go to the Bar-B-Barn for dinner. They are not fancy but famous for ribs. Really good however, go hungry or there is no point. There's nothing else to say but look at how gorgeous the ribs were:



After dinner there was a trip to the north part of city to the Dieu du Ciel's brewpub. It was a busy Saturday night in the pub and it was quite crowded. Service was terrible and they were out of the cheese plate that I was looking forward to but at least I could get a pint of that beautiful Hibiscus beer I sampled earlier at the festival. Look how pretty it is:



After the gang took a leisurely walk back to the hotel. We stopped at Fairmount Bagels. At 11 pm there was a line up out of the small bagel shop. They were so good, we ate a few out of the paperbag without any butter or cream cheese. Delicious, warm and moist.

Mondial de la Biere, Day 1

Official Website, http://www.festivalmondialbiere.qc.ca/

We finally got all seven of us in two cars and on our way to Montreal. The morning was early but it was well worth it. We arrived to La Belle Provence to find the Montreal beer festival well underway. This year it ran from Wednesday May 29th to Sunday June 3rd. I had been to the beer festival in Toronto a couple of times but this really blew that out of the water. I would guess that there were three or four times the beer represented in Montreal. Of course there were many Quebec microbreweries, some international representation and a very decent amount of American micros available to sample. We quickly found out that the place to position yourself was in front of one tent called "Le Petite Pub". This tent held the not so pedestrian beers. Most samples cost 2~5 coupons. Many of us got the show's glass to get a more generous pour than you would get in a plastic cup. We found out later that some vendors were selling their own glassware at a cheaper price. Well, live and learn...now on with the drinking.


Yes, notes were necessary. I am not one to remember fine details even when I'm sobber. The Titan IPA by Great Divide was hoppy, dry and crisp. (Go to http://www.greatdivide.com/index.php) A good start, but then there was Allagash's Curieux bourbon barrel-aged ale which was sweet, it had a carbonated tongue, a heavy taste of liquor and a long finish. (http://www.allagash.com/curieux.htm) Third was Brasserie Caulier Bon-Secours Brune. With beige rocky head, it appeared dark, opaque brown. It had a light raisin/date smell. It had effervescent bubbles and a long, BIG, raisiny dry after taste.


A view of the crowds in the one building which also housed exhibitors & the washrooms. Yes, very important to find them early.


A night cap at Unibroue's pub, Fourquet Fourchette. I was not going to bed early just because I was drunk and tired - that would not do for our first ever Mondial, so being as it was on the way back to our hotel, I suggested we stop for one more. I ordered a lovely pint of Chamblay Noir. Like Blanche de Chambly but dark. It was similar to Kostrister but more carbonated. Hey, look they have bottles so we can take some to go.


http://www.unibroue.com/index_eng.html