Playing Catchup - Summary Summery Brewery Encounters

Still playing catch-up with some point-form highlights of this summer's brewery visits...

Bend Ale Trail and Deschutes

• Bend, Oregon is a must-visit for any who loves good beer and great outdoor activities.  It's sunny, a true outdoors mecca in the eastern foothills of the Cascades, and has at least a dozen craft breweries within city limits - though the population is only 80,000!  Very highly recommended - you can stand-up paddle board or float on a tube down the lovely Deschutes river through the middle of town, parks and walking trails on both sides, and be in a craft beer pub seconds later.
• Mrs. Hoplog and I completed the Bend Ale Trail - a list of 10 craft breweries in Bend (one is in nearby Sisters), which is a great way to visit the beer highlights in the area.  All are walkable from downtown (except for Three Creeks Brewing in Sisters, which is well worth the drive for their excellent beer and great food).
• Deschutes Brewing, the fifth-largest craft brewer in the United States, is located in Bend (just across the river and up the hill from REI).  It has the best brewery tour I've yet been on: an hour long, decently in-depth without being overwhelming, knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides, free samples, and a wonderful, laid-back, inclusive feel while viewing the gleaming, bright new facilities.  Oh, and the beer is fantastic, as is their large brewpub in downtown Bend.  Deschutes is a large craft brewer that has it 100% together in my book.

Tasters at Deschutes' pub in downtown Bend

Huge bales of whole leaf hops at Deschutes.  They ship something like 3 million bottles of beer per week, yet quality remains excellent

• Bendistillery, a well-recognized craft distiller, is midway between Bend and Sisters.  It's worth a stop. The smell of fresh habaneros and bell peppers steeping in vodka is certainly unique.
• Trailerable meat smokers are a big thing in town.  This one is parked (somewhat permanently) outside 10 Barrel Brewing:

• Bend is also home of mobile, pedal-powered craft beer bars.

Rogue: Brewery and Farm

• First, Rogue makes some excellent beer, and good on them for being craft beer pioneers.
• Having said that, after visiting Rogue, I came away with a worse impression than before I visited.  Why?  Many little things, but I think it can be summed up as "attitude." 
• Rogue cultivates an image of being independent and going their own way.  Unfortunately, that seems to extend to customers - if you're not happy to receive mediocre service and pay a significant premium at their brewery or Newport brewpub, you can take a hike, because Rogue is independent and you're either with that or against it.  I guess I'm supposed to feel privileged to give them my money?
• The attitude also seems to permeate employees, who seem less helpful and more unhappy than at most craft breweries I've visited.
• If, after visiting the Newport headquarters, you give them the benefit of the doubt and take the time and expense to go all the way to Rogue's farm (where they grow many types of hops, among other crops - good for them!), you'd better hope you know what their very limited guest hours are, otherwise the employees will let you wander the grounds and avoid even waving hello, let alone offers of directions or any sort of communication or welcome.  It's a working farm, and was not well set up for drop-in guests, despite what the marketing literature suggests.
• In my opinion, if you want to skip a major brewer in Oregon, Rogue is a good candidate.  It's way off the beaten path, you'll pay much more for samples (yes, they charge for all samples) and pints than nearly anywhere else, and why risk spoiling your impression of them if you already like them?

Rogue Brewery main entrance

Rogue Hops!

Portland Highlights

• Recommendations from this visit:
• Upright Brewing as usual - their Levinator (barrel aged bock) was astounding, and the Flora Rustica a fantastic summer drink.
• Grain & Gristle is possibly one of the best-value meals in Portland, and that's saying a lot.  My meal was further improved with a totally amazing Commons Brewing "Fleur De Ferme".

  

  Commons Fleur De Ferme - possibly the best beer I had all summer

  
  

  

  Merguez sausage; looks good, tastes even better

• If you're a dog lover, or if you just appreciate extremely drinkable beer and tasty, reasonably-priced food, the Lucky Labrador brewpub is for you.  Our very kind server even gave us our first pint free because it was our first visit.  Go there!

One of the many four-legged patrons on the patio

• If you can navigate the hipsterish bikers lining the benches, and the potentially long lineups for beer, Apex has one hell of a beer nerd tap list, and is worth a shot.

Crannog

Though Crannog is near to my hometown, I had never dropped by until this summer.  It has a classic Shuswap-hippie vibe, a commune-farm feel which is very relaxed.  Brian has some Irish roots, and did all of the Gaelic art on-site.  There were event photos from Belfast in the tasting room.

The brew house

I love Crannog's organic production, and their zero-waste, all-from-the-farm mission.  If they can grow it on-site, they do.  Their hops, potatoes and fruit all make it into their beer.  Brewing leftovers get composted or used as feed.  Very self-sufficient and homey.

Crannog hop vines

Black pigs, fed by among other things, spent grains from the brewery

Our tour guide and Crannog's wee mash tun.  No wonder Crannog only sells kegs and growlers - they'd have to build a new brewhouse building if they expanded production. 

Barley Station

No photos - but if you're travelling through Salmon Arm and have a hankering for an incredibly tasty pilsener, you're in luck.

Playing Catchup - NHC

It has been a long time since I've updated the blog - mostly because I've been lucky enough to spend most of summer 2012 in campsites and other fun places around the Pacific Northwest that do not have internet access.  I've had some fun beer adventures, but I'm far enough behind now that I have to post abbreviated highlights in order to catch up.  Here goes.

2012 National Homebrewers Conference (NHC) - Bellevue, Washington

NHC is the annual conference of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA).  The AHA is incredibly well-organized and sophisticated, and has (I believe) around 30,000 members in the USA.  In addition to offering beer information and discussion forums on the web, pub discounts across America and a very good homebrewing magazine (Zymurgy), they also assist states in lobbying for/crafting legislation to legalize or liberalize homebrewing.  (Yes, there are still a few states where homebrewing is still outlawed.)  We are sorely lacking an equivalent organization in Canada.

The AHA also runs NHC, which is held in a different host city each year.  It is a massive effort, and is a true convention along the lines of other professional or industry conventions.  3 days and 1800 attendees this year (next year will probably be about 2400), seminars all day long by experts in various aspects of brewing and beer, an exhibitors hall, reception rooms hosted by local homebrewing clubs that provide beer during breaks and after evening events, and the evening events themselves.  Night one is Pro Brewers Night, where the main ballroom essentially turns into a beer festival where commercial breweries pour their beer for attendees.  Night two is Club Night, the highlight of the festival; 52 homebrew clubs from around the US (and now Canada, since this year VanBrewers was the first Canadian club to host a booth at NHC) set up outlandish, themed booths, dress in costumes, and serve their club's beer.  The third and final night is the Grand Banquet, where a multi-course beer-paired dinner is served, and the results of the National Homebrewers Competition are announced.

Oh yes, one of the main events of NHC is the judging of the final round of the biggest beer competition in the world.  The National Homebrewers Competition "qualifying rounds" consist of 10 major homebrew competitions across the US and one in Canada (the Saskatchewan ALES competition).  Anyone who places 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any beer category in any of these competitions may submit a beer in the same category to the final round, which is judged at NHC by senior BJCP beer judges.

This year, about 7800 entries were judged at the 11 qualifying competitions, and about 880 beers were entered in the final round at NHC.  Every one of those 880 beers were judged in one day at NHC, and each received a full page of scoring/feedback from three different judges.  I was lucky enough (along with two other VanBrewers) to judge at this year's competition.

So other than the fact that free, interesting beer is available all day long and is an intergral part of the program, and that people aren't wearing collared shirts, it could be any other convention but is much, much more fun.  

It all went by in a jet-lagged blur, but highlights for me included:

• BJCP judges reception and lunch, including presentations on the Alt beer style (with an incredibly Brettanomyces-infected keg of Zum Uerige, ugh) and the burgeoning Cascadian Dark Ale style (mistakenly identified as "Black IPA" east of the Rockies).
• Huge beer cellar list during dinner at Brouwer's in Seattle
• Judging the final round of the National Homebrew Competition with one of my brewing role models - author John Palmer, as well as beer author Stan Hieronymus.  It was also a confidence-booster, since my evaluations were nicely in line with the other (senior) judges.  Every final round beer was very good, so judging was difficult and often came down to intangibles and being very picky about the beers and styles.

VanBrewers. L-R: Danny Seeton, Aaron Peterson, Ari Giligson and yours truly. All except Aaron judged the NHC final round. [Photo credit to a VanBrewer, let me know if you know who took it]

• Club Night, a beer festival consisting entirely of home brewers.  Unbelievable.

Some of the kegs for just ONE of the 52 club night booths.  This one (shown mid-setup) has a rock theme, plasma screens showing the tap list, video screens showing Seattle music performances, and a "backstage" area with special brews.

And the tuning pegs on the big guitar are tap handles!

A club from Arizona had an "Occupy NHC" theme, which was both topical and funny.  Here there are "protesting" at the VanBrewers booth until we give them beer.

The VanBrewers crew with the first-ever Canadian booth at an NHC Club Night.  [Photo credit to one of the VanBrewers; let me know if you know who took the photo]

• Great seminars on all manner of beer-related topics, from the biggest names in homebrewing.

Homebrewing stars: Authors Ray Daniels, Jamil Zainasheff, Gordon Strong, Randy Mosher, John Palmer.

•  Grand Banquet and awards ceremony featuring a beer-paired dinner by Sean Paxton, The Homebrew Chef.

VanBrewer table at the Grand Banquet

If you have any interest in homebrewing, you owe it to yourself to make a trip to NHC at least once.  It's the most brewing-nerd fun possible, a truly great time.  The 2013 conference is in Philadelphia - mark your calendars and get ready to pounce on tickets, as they sell out almost instantly.

Epic Return to North America

Mrs. Hoplog and I decided to travel apart for a couple of weeks during our multi-month world tour. She would meet her mother in Paris and eat lovely food, shop at lovely stores, see lovely people and generally hobnob with the rich and soon-to-be-famous. During which I would make the supreme sacrifice and return to North America for the 2012 National Homebrewers Conference - the greatest beer geek event in the world.

This year's NHC was held in Seattle (Bellevue, actually) - likely the closest it will get to Vancouver in the foreseeable future, so many VanBrewers attended, including myself. The Bellevue Hyatt Hotel and Conference Center was a bit smaller venue than usual (1800 attendees), so the event sold out in less than 2 days.

But how to get from Paris to NHC; without a car, or really anything except an overnight bag?

Start by waking up in Paris, buying a loaf of bread for Vancouverite friends, and hitting the subway to the airport by 7:45am. An aside: Paris really won me over on this trip, and the final factor was finding this inside the gate area while waiting for my flight:

First opportunity to play piano in a long time.  Thanks, Charles De Gaulle airport!

Then on to Heathrow and a very tight connection (made all the tighter by a family who was - quite literally - hiding three complete home theatre systems and a cosmetics counter in their carry-on luggage, which only one family member took steps to unload one tiny piece at a time, and only after much coaching from the security officials), followed by a flight to Vancouver.  Then straight on to the Canada Line to Waterfront, a quick dash next door, and this:

Ahh, a proper North American craft beer at long last - Steamworks' Copper Roof Bitter and a view of the North Shore Mountains.  It's green, cool, and comfortable.  Aaaaand only about 2:30pm...

Less than an hour later I packed into Matt's truck along with Tak (assistant brewer at Steamworks) and dropped by my North Vancouver storage locker to pick up beer judging materials, followed by a 2 hour drive to Agassiz to pick up Dan.  Then a quick U-turn and we drove back down highway 1 to the Sumas border crossing.  The border guards were surprisingly OK with a truck full of kegs of homebrew, CO2 tanks and assorted tools crossing the border.  But Dan's lack of passport and previously-uncancelled US entry permit caused some turmoil and resulted in some tax being charged on our non-taxable goods.  (US Customs, in my experience, is nothing if not inconsistent.)

Having sorted out our immigration issues, we grabbed a room at the Rodeway Inn in Bellingham, followed by a cab to Chuckanut Brewing where it was Kolsch Night!

Ah Chuckanut, a Bellingham gem - great German-style beers and decent food.  Plus, Tuesdays are Kolsch Night and proper 200 mL glasses of the light, soft, sublime ale (with a Pacific Northwest twist) are on special.  All four of us beer geeks went for some Kolsches, shared a pizza, and then shared a taster of all Chuckanut's beers.  The Viennna Lager was great, so we all went for another pizza and - gads - a 1 litre stein of the Vienna Lager.  At this point I had been up for over 24 hours, so it was tough slogging.

At one point Matt mentioned something about my recent trip to Turkey within earshot of our server.  The server said, "Turkey?  Our brewmaster was working with some people in Tukey not long ago, helping them set up a brewery/brewpub."  Really?  Where?  "Oh, in Istanbul.  I think it was the first brewpub in Turkey."  Wow, that's weird, I was just at a Turkish brewpub a few days ago, and I thought it was about the only one in the country.  "Well, have a look at that plaque over there, it says which brewpub it was."

Whoa, my mind is officially blown!  I visited Taps in Turkey only a few days ago, and my first day back in North America I randomly drop in at the brewery that provided them with guidance!  Weird.  I guess I was correct in my assessment of Taps - clearly someone with expertise had set up their operation, though Taps was executing rather poorly (I assume because the experts at Chuckanut are now out of the picture).

Just down the street from Chuckanut is Boundary Bay Brewing Company - a Bellingham institution and a big part of the community, as well as brewing brilliant beer and serving excellent food.  It's possibly my favourite brewpub - especially at happy hour.  (Don't get me started on the fact that BC still outlaws happy hours, like our 19+-year-old citizens are a bunch of 3-year-olds who can't be trusted with the keys to the liquor cabinet...)

Some of our group hadn't visited Boundary Bay Brewing yet, so we walked a few minutes up the hill and arrived in time to share another complete sampler of their beers.  The 1L steins (and lack of sleep) made it a bit of a foggy visit for me, but we closed the place down and I finally got to play a few tunes on the Boundary Bay barroom piano, which I've been wanting to do for a while.

Then it was in the cab back to the Rodeway Inn, and a surprisingly snore-free sleep (for a roomful of four beer-drinking guys) - well-deserved after my 28-hour triumphant return to the Pacific.

However, this was only the beginning of the great 2012 NHC beer odyssey...

The "Original" Turkish Brewpub

[Being without the blogging computer for some time, I'm now doing some blog catch-up work on previous beer adventures.]

Having already been to one of Turkey's two purported brewpubs, we thought we should give the other a try; we were back in Istanbul, where two of the five locations of "Taps" are found.

We hopped a tram and a bus north to Bebek, a quiet and picturesque (and probably expensive) part of Istanbul. Bebek is home to the nicest Starbucks I've ever seen - two stories overlooking the Bosphorous.

And of course, being upscale and a tourist hub, how can it not have fleets of fast food delivery scooters?

I can't imagine the contents of those boxes are worth a delivery charge...

Plus lovely & big yachts moored strait-side.

And much more successful fishermen than down at Sultanamet, often pulling out wee fish on every one of the 10 or so tiny hooks on their lines.

This little fellas end up cooked whole in a hot skillet

But I digress.  Taps Bebek is right across the street from the nice boats and fishermen, and looks very much like you'd expect a brewpub to look, complete with a strong logo and nice views.

Even street level has a decent view

Hmm, the at-your-table taps are a bit gimmicky, but this is set up for tourists rather than locals, so understandable.

Wow, look at this beer list.  It's huge!  Incredible variety.  This look promising.  If only we weren't the only people here... and the only employee appears to be mopping something out back & ignoring us; I wonder where the servers are.

Still, check out the different types of drinks available!  You can get a tourist-friendly brewtender, several different sizes and types of beer, there are happy hour specials - and you can even get a sampler, perfect.  How could this be anything but great?  As long as you avoid the Bud, etc.

Oh there's our server - also the guy with the mop.  He's pointing at the chalkboard.  What's that, you only have what's on the chalkboard?  And no samplers or other sizes, just mugs?  Hmm, well, that's disappointing.  But 3 'real' beers on tap is still excellent for Turkey.  Then again, the list of non-house-made beers is rather worrisome - and EXPENSIVE!  $8.70 Canadian for Bud, Amstel, Heineken, Corona?  Come to think of it, the menu is very western but similarly astronomical in price.  Oh well, we came for the beer, not for a facsimile of north american pub food.

Hmm, my mistake.  So you only have 'light' and 'dark' on tap, despite the chalkboard.  Funny, that's exactly what the Red Tower had on tap.  Gulp.  Well, let's try one of each then.

Yep, looks like beer, smells somewhat like beer.  Tastes...

Well, yeah, that's beer.  The 'light' is passable if not noticeably tasty - but what would normally be a disappointing beer back home is a huge win in Turkey!  Here is a small brewer producing beer that doesn't entirely suck, and that's a great thing, especially in a country not know for beer or brewing culture.  The dark, well, it's a bit watery and isn't the best recipe, similar to Red Tower's dark.  But hey, baby steps.

So, Taps, while you have all the trappings of a brewpub, and are much, MUCH closer than the Red Tower Brewpub was to achieving a good craft beer experience, you still have some work before you're a worthwhile visit.  Start with the beer - I know tourists don't usually taste the drinks they knock back, but it's not that difficult to be a flavour champion when your competition is Efes.  Clearly someone with brewpub/beer knowledge set this place up, you just need to find some employees that know how to brew and set them loose on some professionally-penned recipes.  It's a tough slog when the short path to riches involves dumping cocktails and international-label beer on tourists, especially when it's probably impossible to find someone in the country with a real passion for craft beer - or even someone who has tasted a craft beer or been to a proper brewpub.  But keep at it - you don't appear to have any real competitors, so you've got a leg up!

Turkish "Brewpub"

Some casual web searching revealed that, in addition to one small chain of Istanbul-based brewpubs, there was another brewpub in Turkey - in the city of Alanya.  And I was going to spend a night there!  The website even seemed to hit all the usual notes for a brewpub: www.redtowerbrewing.com

Unfortunately, the day before my intended visit to the brewery was spent enduring acute traveller's diarrhea during a baking hot seven-hour bus ride along an insanely windy coastal road while people all around me vomited from motion sickness.  (When they hand out barf bags before a bus trip, steel yourself.)  The fact I was able to trudge out to the pub at all is testament to my dedication to craft beer.

Red Tower Brewing is located along the Vegas-like main strip in Alanya, an overpriced and overdeveloped holiday haven for Euros.  But if you like urban beach holidays, I suppose it's what the doctor ordered.

Why yes, I DO need a lunch cruise aboard a three-storey plastic ship-of-the-line featuring a giant, glowing-blue-eyed viking head on the stern...

Strangely, Red Tower is supposed to be one of those huge multi-level clubs with a different theme per floor.  As it turns out, only the rooftop lounge (great views) and the faux-fancy patio restaurant they own across the street are open - the remaining levels are essentially empty.

Fingers crossed - I'm sending out good vibes to you, Red Tower

It has the fake tanks behind the bar, that's a start

Hmm, four levels of empty - at least this floor had chairs

Mrs. Hoplog and the rooftop lounge

Nice view down the Alanya strip

Equally nice view the other way to the iconic Red Tower itself

Despite the stomach bug, I needed at least a bit of nutrition, and at least a sample of Turkish craft beer, so we decided to hit Red Tower's patio restaurant despite the alarming prices (our first day back on the tourist route).

They didn't serve a lot of Turkish food, mostly "international" dishes like spaghetti bolognese and schnitzel.  (A poor showing given Turkey's fantastic food options, but I guess the tourists get what they demand.)  My bad stomach required something plain, so I tried the spaghetti napolitan - both the most expensive and the worst meal I had had in 3 weeks of Turkish travel (i.e. salt and noodles).  The decor and trappings suggested a decent dining experience, but this place was clearly a tourist cash grab.

But there was still hope for the beer, right?

Contrary to the website's claims there were only two beers on offer: "light" (pilsener), and "dark".  Everyone at the restaurant was drinking wine.

We were able to get a sample of each before buying.

Dark on the left, pilsener on the right.  No, that's not a hefeweizen, it's a really CLOUDY pilsener.

Ah, I'm afraid you have some work to do, Red Tower.  Your pilsener is opaque, and I can feel the suspended yeast souring my tongue as I drink it.  The dark is not much better - not a terrible beer, but a poor recipe that suggests chocolate and caramel before quickly fading into a watery mess.  Better recipes and  better processes are needed - it's really just mediocre homebrew right now, and I think I'd prefer an Efes.

Sigh.

Now I know Turkey is not a brewing nation.  They're a Mediterranean nation, so they should be making wine.  Beer is not really a traditional Turkish product, despite the modern-day mass consumption of Efes in Turkey.  So I really appreciate anyone's efforts to brew a non-pale-international-lager beer in Turkey.  It must be an uphill battle.

However, I think there's more to it at Red Tower.  My guess is that a restaurant magnate needed a hook or a twist to attract people to a new restaurant/bar.  Seeing the success of brewpubs in North America, I imagine this person decided to duplicate the look and feel and features of a brewpub, even down to website design.  Wham, bam, a license to print money in brewpub-free Turkey, right?  Unfortunately, the number one thing a brewpub needs is OK beer, and I don't think Red Tower has it yet.  Perhaps understandable, since brewing requires some specialized skills.  However, producing OK food is NOT rocket science, and in my experience Red Tower isn't even doing that, despite its mid-level price bracket.  So it seems to me the "brewpub" name/scheme is just a differentiating label, and there seems to be little interest in providing a good eating or beer drinking experience at Red Tower.

So with a heavy heart, I turn my thumbs down for Red Tower.  Not recommended.

Sympathy beer that Mrs. Hoplog and I took a couple of disappointed sips from.  It looks lovely, but unfortunately looks are deceiving

Unbelievably, I think it's possible to do worse in the food department in Alanya:

Do they serve all those things mixed together in a bowl?

If you're looking for good food in Turkey, I say get acclimatized to the culture in the well-travelled western parts, then take a (very cheap) internal flight to Gaziantep.  It's the pistachio and baklava captial of the world, and their food has a long history, crazy variety, and is both unbelievably good and very inexpensive.  The only price is that English speakers are rare, and you might get some looks if you aren't wearing pants.  (Well, I suppose that's true anywhere, but in this case I was wearing shorts.)  You still won't find great beer, but you'll be so happy gorging on cheap, fresh, wonderful food that you won't notice.

Holding Pattern

You might have noticed the blog has gone a bit quieter of late, if you've been bored enough to check.  Well, I've been in Turkey.

Turkey is fantastic.  I really can't say enough about it.  Modern enough to offer great transportation & infrastructure, different enough to be interesting, and full of history.  The food is natural, wholesome, oh-so-satisfying and cheap.  And the people are friendly and helpful.  Having a great time here.

Then there's the beer situation.

You have the usual international options - primarily Tuborg, along with Heineken, Becks & other identical beers, along with a couple of different big names wherever Germans vacation (Leffe, etc.).  But if you were hoping for some local Turkish beer, you basically have one option:

Efes has completely cornered the domestic beer market - it is EVERYWHERE.  For 99.999% of visitors, it's the only Turkish beer they'll see.  It's a standard American/International pale lager, though it says "Pilsen" on the bottle.  (It is not a pilsener.)  No flavour to speak of, apart from a pronounced tendency to go quite stale within minutes of opening/pouring - which is why I've been drinking it from the can when I drink it at all (less opportunity for the beer to mix with oxygen than pouring into a glass).

For my return to Istanbul, I might make use of this handy guide to beer and pubs in Istanbul, though options are slim at best.  However, an attempt to visit perhaps (one of) the only craft brewpub(s) in the country might be in order.  Until then, I'll try to focus on more promising local drinking options, such as strong sweet tea, and this: