Not a surprise to anyone who is a regular reader... I LOVE HOTD! Why not? A highly Internationally renowned brewery that loves to create beers outside of the box. It has Doc Wort written all over it! We now have a HOTD brewery and tasting room. That's the understatement of the year!
The Doc made an unannounced visit to the brewery. Alan Sprints, The most talented jack-of-all-trades (Master of many!) brewer and chef in Oregon, period. This cannot be argued, although, some may try! The first Brewery in the Northwest to get 5 Stars from Michael Jackson. Who can argue with that? Brewer extraordinaire and CHEF! YES! I said CHEF! Few know that Alan is a trained Chef. Food and beer go together like Words to Music. A rarely noted combination in Oregon. Home to the Burger and Beer.... and host of other painfully overdone Pub SCRUB (I meant to say SCRUB) and beer. Rarely do we see a brewery that marries quality food with quality beer. Alan is Pioneering again! Pioneering a new Oregon Concept... Brewery Food that pairs Quality beer with quality Food. Yea, I know, it's happening else where out there in Portland, but here's a brewer who's taking a unique stand. Alan's brewing the beer and cooking the food! HOTD is making a statement... Quality Beer deserves quality good.
The Doc has read many people out there whining about the prices. All I have to say is, "You get what you pay for!" It's time for Portland's to take a walk on the Wild Side and come into the 21st Century! Combining and enjoying their quality beer with quality well appointed food. Beer has long been a Pizza and Burger partner! Get over it! Move on! That was your dads beer/food combo.... and it sucked ass!
Food. No Nachos, No Burger, No CRAP... No Shit!
Charcuterie and Cheese plate
Wonderfully Top Notch! Meats from Salumi and Framini. Salumi is owned by Mario Batali's family in Seattle. All three meats were absolutely amazing in quality and taste; Salami (Framini), Hot Coppa and Finocchia Salami (Salumi).
Cheese were all quality and interesting from Washington and other American craft Creameries. No run of the Mill grocery store Tillamook or Safeway Salami here.
Pickled, Cured veggies and olives were also excellent.
My Custom Taster
No BUDmilloors here! NO frickin trendy PBR for the moron masses!
Want something light.... HOTD has a Guest German Pils and it is clean, fresh and tasty. Can't remember the German brewery.
My taster consisted of Little Dog, Adam, Doggie Claws and Peach Fred.
Bourbon Peach Fred : Conditioned in Bourbon Barrels. Fred is married with local Peaches. My first critique was FLOATERS! The beer came with some peach pith floaters. I'm not sure if that was the intention, but there they are. the beer is is well rounded and fairly dry. Hints of malty Fred blends lightly with moderate hints of peach, Bourbon and some oak. Kind of reminded me of Southern Comfort light. A nice beer. Not very bold, but had some nice subtleties.
Doggie Claws 2010: I usually have a preview taste of the annual Doggie Claws. rarely do I or would I ever drink this beer fresh. This is a personal preference. Drinkable when fresh; This beer carries a load of sweetness and a combo of complex malts, hops and honey. For me, it just needs to age before it can be drunk. I prefer a mellower, more matured Doggie Claws. When the malts round out and hops subside into the meld of malt to become a wonderful musical dance. 2010 is great beer. Loaded with all the favorite characters. Big complex malts, Honey and some nice spicy hops.
Little Dog: I was quite surprised with this beer. It was extremely tasty! Toted as made form the Second Runnings of Doggie Claws, this beer has a firm and complex maltiness. Caramels, toast and deep fruit. The beer is well hopped but not obnoxious. Spicy hops loom above the mirage of maltiness. A beautiful little(?) beer.
The Vintage Bottle list cover all the basics: Matt, Fred from the Wood, Cherry Adam and the like. While I hear some of you out there complain about the prices, these are mostly small batch beers and are of extremely great quality. All created and bottled for aging. I chose a bottle of 2009 Michael. ($12) It was well worth the money!
Michael: Named for our late beloved "Beer Hunter" Michael Jackson. A Belgian Red style aged in Oak barrels. Wonderful complex Strong Pungent Cheese, Wood and Vinous notes. Heavenly complex nose (oh! Sorry aroma!). I could have sat there and enjoyed the aroma for an hour, but had to delve into drinking. Amber/Reddish in color and fairly clear. Nice tight lace head. Body on the thinner side. Flavor packs a nice sour punch with deep oak wood, backed up by some fruity malts. Vinous in flavor and body with some acidic notes on tongue. A little acetic acid? unlike another local brewery that buried it's beer in pure Acetic acid (Vinegar) and acetone (fingernail polish); Michael is a beautiful marriage of many wild yeasts and a hint of lactto. You can taste the barrel wood and the malty fruitiness marries well. The finish is like aroma.... Wild Yeasts, sour, some slick oily malt, puckery fruit and some acid. It's a nice beer. I have to credit as being one of only two local Flanders Reds that hold a candle to the Belgian originals. Roots Flanders Red hold the other listing.
This beer would go nice with some complex rich cheeses and a beef dish.
The PLACE
The Doc made an unannounced visit to the brewery. Alan Sprints, The most talented jack-of-all-trades (Master of many!) brewer and chef in Oregon, period. This cannot be argued, although, some may try! The first Brewery in the Northwest to get 5 Stars from Michael Jackson. Who can argue with that? Brewer extraordinaire and CHEF! YES! I said CHEF! Few know that Alan is a trained Chef. Food and beer go together like Words to Music. A rarely noted combination in Oregon. Home to the Burger and Beer.... and host of other painfully overdone Pub SCRUB (I meant to say SCRUB) and beer. Rarely do we see a brewery that marries quality food with quality beer. Alan is Pioneering again! Pioneering a new Oregon Concept... Brewery Food that pairs Quality beer with quality Food. Yea, I know, it's happening else where out there in Portland, but here's a brewer who's taking a unique stand. Alan's brewing the beer and cooking the food! HOTD is making a statement... Quality Beer deserves quality good.
The Doc has read many people out there whining about the prices. All I have to say is, "You get what you pay for!" It's time for Portland's to take a walk on the Wild Side and come into the 21st Century! Combining and enjoying their quality beer with quality well appointed food. Beer has long been a Pizza and Burger partner! Get over it! Move on! That was your dads beer/food combo.... and it sucked ass!
Food. No Nachos, No Burger, No CRAP... No Shit!
Charcuterie and Cheese plate
Wonderfully Top Notch! Meats from Salumi and Framini. Salumi is owned by Mario Batali's family in Seattle. All three meats were absolutely amazing in quality and taste; Salami (Framini), Hot Coppa and Finocchia Salami (Salumi).
Cheese were all quality and interesting from Washington and other American craft Creameries. No run of the Mill grocery store Tillamook or Safeway Salami here.
Pickled, Cured veggies and olives were also excellent.
My Custom Taster
No BUDmilloors here! NO frickin trendy PBR for the moron masses!
Want something light.... HOTD has a Guest German Pils and it is clean, fresh and tasty. Can't remember the German brewery.
My taster consisted of Little Dog, Adam, Doggie Claws and Peach Fred.
Bourbon Peach Fred : Conditioned in Bourbon Barrels. Fred is married with local Peaches. My first critique was FLOATERS! The beer came with some peach pith floaters. I'm not sure if that was the intention, but there they are. the beer is is well rounded and fairly dry. Hints of malty Fred blends lightly with moderate hints of peach, Bourbon and some oak. Kind of reminded me of Southern Comfort light. A nice beer. Not very bold, but had some nice subtleties.
Doggie Claws 2010: I usually have a preview taste of the annual Doggie Claws. rarely do I or would I ever drink this beer fresh. This is a personal preference. Drinkable when fresh; This beer carries a load of sweetness and a combo of complex malts, hops and honey. For me, it just needs to age before it can be drunk. I prefer a mellower, more matured Doggie Claws. When the malts round out and hops subside into the meld of malt to become a wonderful musical dance. 2010 is great beer. Loaded with all the favorite characters. Big complex malts, Honey and some nice spicy hops.
Little Dog: I was quite surprised with this beer. It was extremely tasty! Toted as made form the Second Runnings of Doggie Claws, this beer has a firm and complex maltiness. Caramels, toast and deep fruit. The beer is well hopped but not obnoxious. Spicy hops loom above the mirage of maltiness. A beautiful little(?) beer.
The Vintage Bottle list cover all the basics: Matt, Fred from the Wood, Cherry Adam and the like. While I hear some of you out there complain about the prices, these are mostly small batch beers and are of extremely great quality. All created and bottled for aging. I chose a bottle of 2009 Michael. ($12) It was well worth the money!
Michael: Named for our late beloved "Beer Hunter" Michael Jackson. A Belgian Red style aged in Oak barrels. Wonderful complex Strong Pungent Cheese, Wood and Vinous notes. Heavenly complex nose (oh! Sorry aroma!). I could have sat there and enjoyed the aroma for an hour, but had to delve into drinking. Amber/Reddish in color and fairly clear. Nice tight lace head. Body on the thinner side. Flavor packs a nice sour punch with deep oak wood, backed up by some fruity malts. Vinous in flavor and body with some acidic notes on tongue. A little acetic acid? unlike another local brewery that buried it's beer in pure Acetic acid (Vinegar) and acetone (fingernail polish); Michael is a beautiful marriage of many wild yeasts and a hint of lactto. You can taste the barrel wood and the malty fruitiness marries well. The finish is like aroma.... Wild Yeasts, sour, some slick oily malt, puckery fruit and some acid. It's a nice beer. I have to credit as being one of only two local Flanders Reds that hold a candle to the Belgian originals. Roots Flanders Red hold the other listing.
This beer would go nice with some complex rich cheeses and a beef dish.
Brewery
With the exception of a new Conditioning tank the brewery i the same with the classic Campbell's Soup Bowl Kettle sitting in the center of the brew house. Albeit, the brewery looks more well organized and less Rube Goldberg like the older location. The rest of the brewery space is huge an expansive with plenty of room for warehouse and shipping space. Rooms for expansion? Absolutely!
Tasting room
Large with high warehouse ceilings and big wood beams. Bright colors and home spun lighting fixtures made by Alan himself. The bar and some table are made from the left over renovation timber form the warehouse. So, all you GREEN freaks will be happy with that! Plenty of space for congregating, eating and socializing. The bar is a large U-shaped recycled timber bar. Bright, airy and comfortable.
Bathrooms!
Oh yes! For those of your who remember the old upstairs bathroom at the Old Brewery.... The new bathrooms are 150% CLASS! Black Granite counters. Beautiful tiling and a grand lavatory experience. ;-) Has the feel of a quality restaurant. Where's the man to hand me a towel!
A wonderful new space with some great food and always great beer! Thank You Alan!
6 comments:
Was at HotD 3 times so far this week.
The little dog that's on right now is the small beer made from the second runnings of Matt.
Little Matt.... Little Adam... Little Fred.... Bring back ROSE!!!! It's time!
Jeff,
I tried the Matt little dog as well, quite good, great smoked flavor. So far it was my favorite of the little dogs I've had (Fred & Doggie Claws)
Doc,
You didn't pick up any ethyl acetate in the Peach Fred? When I had it a few weeks back it was all acetic acid and acetate.
@DA
No. I didn't get anything acidic. All the flavors were very mild. Even hard to detect the hops in the Fred. Everything was very well rounded... Almost underwhelming.
Derek: It was the Apricot Fred that was a vinegary mess. The Peach Fred was not a home run, but wasn't the disaster that the apricot was.
I hope I can make it over there for the Little Dog Matt. That sounds nice.
@Bill
Yea. I wouldn't say the Peach was a home run either, but it had no major problems. Did see any Apricot. Maybe a bad barrel? Barrel conditioning has it's risks.
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