Well, sorta. En route to Canada, I stopped by the Chuckanut Brewery in Bellingham for a sampler! I have a friend who lives there and she’s raved about them, so I felt fortunate to stop by and try the sampler. The following are my notes, arranged from the top left corner of the picture, going across, then down and to the right.
Fest 2013 is quite good, malt forward while being exceptionally light. I liked this beer quite a bit and ended up getting a growler to go.
The pilsner was too drinkable. I literally couldn’t take one sip without taking another. As a warm lazy weekend brew, this would treat and I was hard pressed to stay away from it.
The kolsch was nearly invisible until the finish, which had a gentle roasty quality appear. Nothing too forward though and this beer would go so well with lighter fish dinners. Quite good but as the third lighter beer in a row, it may not have stood out as much as it normally would.
Nearby, four old guys reminisce, one of them commenting that he never watched tv until he got married… except the Olympics when he was in the service in Europe, he just never watched tv until he got married. Then they bought that set…the conversation trails off a little. He doesn’t speak with regrets, more of a “isn’t that interesting?” vibe, as though he is pondering his life without television, the way I sometimes wonder about the impact the internet has had.
Back to the beer: the British IPA is just that: British. I’m unsure that I can tell the difference between a British IPA and a pale ale, anymore. The NW has skewed my palate, I guess. Is it good? Yes. Is it an IPA? I leave that question for more refined tongues than mine. The finish is very clean and I dig.
The Alt I was a bit less fond of. Very crisp finish but the body was thin and I couldn’t get much malt from it.
Finally, the robust porter is a great example of the style. Strong flavors but clean finish and nothing heavy about it.
Eventually I left, went through the border and arrived at Fuz’s place. He had a dark Belgian thing in his fridge that I don’t remember the name of. But it was dark, evoked Satan, and tasted good.
A pint for Dionysus 