flaskey

Originally our plan was to travel to Mt. St. Helens to see how the drive was and if her parents would enjoy the trip. We decided not to go this weekend because the weather there was pretty cloudy from looking at the Volcano Live Camera (unfortunately the HD version is always down). It also turned out after more research that the Johnston Ridge Observatory which is the highest observatory wasn’t going to open until May 1st. I was there once before about 10 or 11 years ago, but it was relatively cloudy and didn’t see much.

Since the Mount Saint Helens plan fell through we decided to go to the Oregon Garden which is in Silverton, Oregon. Although the garden would be nice to see, the real reason we were going was for the Oregon Garden Brewfest. As with most of the brewfests in Oregon there were mostly IPAs to taste, but there were a few unique brews as well.

We sampled the following while there:

Block 15 – Nebula, Naked Oat Stout
Calapooia Brewing Co. – Chili Beer (P’s favorite)
Calapooia Brewing Co. – Riparian IPA
Deschutes – Red Chair IPA
Full Sail – LTD02
Full Sail – Keelhauler Scottish Ale
Eel River – Organic Porter
Golden Valley – Red Thistle Red
Laughing Dog – Dogzilla Black IPA
Lost Coast – Tangerine Ale
Oakshire Brewing – Overcast Espresso Stout
Seven Brides – Oatmeal Ellie (my favorite)
Stone Brewery – Black IPA
Rogue – Under Cover Ale
Young’s – Double Chocolate Stout

After a few drinks we decided to wander around the garden, but unfortunately most of the plants were not flowering or had not been set up yet. It might be a nice place to check out in the summer time if we decide to pay a visit to the Silver Falls State Park which is located close to Salem, OR.

Below are a few pictures of the Oregon Garden:

As part of my birthday gift, P agreed to take me to the Portland Spring Beer & Wine Fest which was happening at the Portland Convention Center. You can view their site to see a listing of the various beer, wine, food and liquor vendors.

We wanted to get there before 2:00 PM because the entry fee was waived and we thought it would probably be less crowded. We arrived at 1:30 PM and the line was HUGE. It easily stretched around the majority of the convention center and up 3 flights of stairs by the time we got to the end of it. Luckily I think the staff understimated the number of people that would show up and started to walk down the line handing out free tickets to everyone which wasn’t needed, but very appreciated.

Once in we both decided we were hungry and headed over to the Canby Asparagus Farm booth which has probably the best tasting tamales I’ve had. We had both enjoyed their food at another beer festival the previous year.

Once our stomachs were full we went out to try the plethora of beer along with some chocolates, cheese and other various food tastings thrown in here and there.

The beer that we both tried (in no particular order or ranking) that night are:

10 Barrel Brewing – Sinister Black Ale
Astoria Brewing Company – Kickass Stout
Ft George Brewery -Vortex IPA
Hopworks Urban Brewery -Organic Survival “7-Grain” Stout (my personal favorite)
Laughing Dog Brewery – Dogzilla
Laughing Dog Brewery – Alpha Dog
Laurelwood Brewing Company – Green Mammoth Imperial IPA
Lazy Boy Brewing Company – IPA
Lost Coast Brewery – Old Ale
Mad River Brewing Company – Steelhead Double IPA
Oakshire Brewery – Overcast Espresso Stout
Oakshire Brewery – Watershed IPA
Panty Dropper Ale – IPA
Rogue Brewery – Shakespear Stout
Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom – Hop Knob
Southern Oregon Brewing – Porter
Southern Oregon Brewing – Woodshed Red
Walking Man Brewing – Big Black Homo (that’s right)
Widmer Brothers Brewing Compamy – Hefeweizen

Unfortunately not all of the beers show up on the website for some reason and the fact that we were there for like 6 – 7 hours or so means I won’t be remembering them without seeing them listed. Looking at the list now I know we had more than that, but I’m not even sure that a few I listed are what we actually had. For future reference I need to write them all down.

One more thing, so I can remember it later on is a chocolate company which specializes in vegan truffles. At first we both tried it because we were skeptical of how good they would taste, but were very surprised at the amount of flavor they had. The company that makes them is Missionary Chocolates which is located on Oak St. in Portland. P and I are actually thinking about buying some for the wedding to give out.