One of my favorite brewpubs in town (up there with the Lab) is the Laurelwood Public House and Brewery. I've had my dad take me there a few times, just last night in fact, and he thinks it is great as well. Christian Ettinger makes some damn fine beers, the food is outstanding, and it is consistently voted one of the most family friendly restaurants in town. Now if only I can figure out how to get a job there....
Okay, so just because I haven't posted for a little while doesn't mean i have been too drunk to type - though perhaps that wouldn't be a bad thing. I would just like to say that the money has been spent, the equipment has been utilized, and now there is a fridge in the basement with kegged beer free for the drinking. Quite satisfying. However, there are still questions about how this whole crazy world of draft homebrew works, so here are some links. Living in that house just gets better and better. Now that everyone has agreed to kick down $10 a month for ingredients, all i will need to buy is equipment upgrades.
Only a few more days until the almighty Oregon Brewer's Festival hits the town. It is a HUGE beer event, tons of drunk Portlander's and visitors wandering around Waterfront Park in the hot sun. Nate and I are volunteering Friday evening, and will be sampling the goods on Sunday. Be there or be sober.
Every Monday you can find me at the Lucky Lab enjoying the splendours of Miser Monday. 20 oz pints are $2.25, or a 60 oz pitcher is $6.75. I generally drink a pitcher, whether I need it or not. I heartily recommend the tomato bisque soup, which goes down well with beer and half a sandwich. If you want to meet me there, just show up around 7:30 on Monday nights and you will probably find me ordering some beer and food.
You might wonder why I would have a beerblog. If you don't know who the hell I am, you might not wonder all that much, but here goes anyway. I have been brewing beer in my basement for the last 2 1/2 years. So far so good. I've made some damn good beer, I've made some beer that is definitely drinkable, and a couple of unpleasant brews. About a year ago I switched from extract brewing to all-grain, and I certainly have no plans to go back. I love making great beer for about 50 cents/ 12 oz bottle. My housemates don't mind so much, either. I buy my ingredients and incidental equipment from Steinbart's, just up the street from my house. I currently brew using a 5 gal converted cooler mash tun setup I bought from Beer, Beer and More Beer. And that is where I am at, until a few hours from now when I buy a homebrew kegging setup at Steinbart's on my way home from work.
Welcome, one and all, including myself, to this amazing new world of BeerBlog goodness. At this particular juncure, I'm not exactly certain what sort of things I will be doing with this page, but I'm sure I will be able to come up with something. So thanks for joining me on this little adventure.
-Ryan