Finding Beer

My weekend began with the sound of a gauntlet hitting the ground. Several friends from the East Coast had made a trip to their local bottle shop and picked up a few items. These items were then photographed and put on Facebook, with a tag for me in the photo to ensure that I saw the haul. The crown jewel of their trip was obvious: Dogfish Head's Bitches Brew.

I had seen the bottle in my last trip to John's, but had not obtained any since I didn't know the limited backstory and had not yet seen reviews. New School dropped their knowledge last Thursday and the beer immediately moved to the front of the line in my purchasing plans. Sadly, the Friday trip to John's had me starting at an empty shelf and the impending mockery from the East Coast crew was looming large.

But this is Portland. Five minutes of on-line work and bottles were located at Belmont Station - which made for a perfect next-day plan. I swung into Southeast on Saturday before the Michigan-Connecticut tilt started and pulled up with excellent timing: they were just finishing up the taps on their Imperial IPA-fest for the weekend! Score! After picking up a few bottles at the store, I had just enough time on the clock to enjoy a glass of Laurelwood's Organic Green Elephant IPA. Wonderful blast of sweet citrus on the nose and a very flavorful bite to a great IPA. Just the sort of Saturday-afternoon beer you'd want to be sipping on.

Belmont is a legend in PDX. So quintessentially "Portland" - you have a bottle shop on one half of the building and a small bar on the other. Knowledgeable staff, friendly consumers, and a quiet location (Saturday at noon, anyway) make for a lovely trip. While not as extensive into the foreign market as John's is, the lineup at Belmont should satisfy damn near anyone that walks in the door. I downed the last of my beer, hefted my purchases, and rolled homeward - snapping off a picture of my own to send back East.

And that's a great thing about Portland - it's always here. Always. Unless there is some distribution blockade (Bell's would make a killing in this area), you're going to find what you're looking for at a dedicated bottle shop, alehouse, taproom, or supermarket. That last option is normally an eye-roller . . . until you're minding your own business at a New Seasons and realize - yes - that IS the 2008 version of The Abyss sitting on the shelf. These are the kinds of things that happen out here and just a part of what makes it so utterly unique.

I have yet to crack open the BB - would expect to do so at some point in the next week or two. In summary - Portland is awesome. Just thought people should know.