Pub Crawl

We had a wonderful time. I had the honor to join Noelle and Celeste at Bushwhacker after some errands of my own. The crowd was almost frightening, with more crammed in the little garage than I've ever seen. Strange and poignant to think how cavernous the room looked when we came in for our first drink and wondered if they would make it past the first month of operation. The deafening noise of happy and engaged drinkers tells us for certain that that time of uncertainty is over. We sampled an excellent, officially unavailable cider, Burro Loco, with a musty, down-home kind of flavor. This only because we were fortuitously close to Jeff and Erin, the proprietor/operators, when they found a moment to pour themselves a drink.

We escaped to Stone Barn Brandy Works (location on Google maps, website), where the very personable owner showed us their brand-new German still and talked about heads and rye whiskey. Their own is excellent and clear because it does not age in a barrel. Celeste bought a bottle of a very tart and mysterious apricot liquer (bottle, label) and we sampled maybe a half-dozen other offerings. Please visit these people and buy their spirits; it's almost too good to be true that a small distiller and cider maker are this close together and it's our responsibility as thirsty Portlanders to maintain a good consumer-producer relationship with them.

Then it was on to Beermongers on SE 12th (Google maps, site). This place, too, was filled with noisy Saturday-night walla and we were forced into the ghetto behind the main space, near the bathroom. Never mind, they had one of my new favorite beers, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, a dark, heavy beer that tastes like a campfire.

At Apex (map, site) I felt it was important to have more German beer and ordered the Spaten Dunkel. Perhaps not the most adventuresome choice, but steady and calming after the giddiness of the rauchbier.

This concluded our tour, after which it was home and time for one more beverage. I made mine a mug full of the very fine Duché de Longueville Antoinette (available at Bushwhacker and Barbur World Foods; if you visit the latter you will find the ciders in their immense but well-hidden beer cooler. Walk to the back of the store behind the drink coolers and you'll find the door). The hangover in the wee hours was intense, but the next morning I was fine. This proves, to me at any rate, that good beverages have a salutary effect when enjoyed in moderation, and in excess are much less likely to torture the penitent. At any rate, I will certainly have cause to repent some time very soon, hopefully with more of you to join me.