More Beer = Holiday Ale Fest

Shortly after the trip to Tuscon, where many delicious beers were consumed, I was off to Portland for the Holiday Ale Fest. I was introduced to this notion by my serious beer friends R&J. They've made the pilgrimage from ABQ every year for about 8 years. I was very excited, because ever since I had my first Harpoon Winter Warmer as a teen in Connecticut, I've been a sucker for the winter/holiday beers.
I was also looking forward to seeing a big group of college friends from the Seattle/Portland area. What better than a beer fest with the Iowa peeps!
The trip was over a long weekend, so maximizing beer time was essential. After our late arrival Thursday night, Friday morning we got right down to business when the 'fest opened. It was a lovely day of sampling delicious beers. There weren't many people at the fest on a work day, so we enjoyed the beers lots and lots of beers.

After the beers, there was lots of silliness.

More beer at the Widmer Gasthaus. A long cold walk under the highway invoking David Byrne and the Cathedrals of our modern age, then more beer with Albuquerque friends at Amnesia Brewing, directly next door to where we were staying.
Saturday was the day of the 'fest. We kicked things off recovering at the Country Cat with a serious bloody mary... yes, that's a beef jerky garnish.

Back to the fest for day 2, which was mostly drunkeness and catching up with the Iowa peeps. Even my tasting notes reflect a serious beer-tasting burnout, which ended up with me being physically removed from the ill-tempered gnome tent. Of course I was only removed to go to Deschutes Brewery for more fish and chips and MORE BEER.

Sunday was our last day in Portland.

We woke up early to explore (make a bee line for the waffle sandwich cart!)
YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We wandered around North Portland on foot eating more! After some post-breakfast coffee at the darling Patisserie Pix (no photo's because I was too engaged in my latte with HOMEMADE CARAMEL) killing time until the new-old-fifth quandrant Lompoc opened at 11 am so we could get our taste on.

Lompoc was the perfect sleepy sunday morning beer tasting spot. Even though our belly's were full, we found some room for delicious beer cheese dip and savored the yummiest beers of the trip.

Although our taste buds were weary, on Sunday afternoon we rallied and went to the Brass Horse pub, which I had been obsessing about the entire trip. The Brass Horse is a serious pub. There was a man in the corner that looked like the Old Man and the Sea, fer reals! The beer list was exhaustive. There were so many good, local beers, that despite the Ale fest, and the 4 other breweries we had already visited, that we had not tasted. After much deliberation over the extensive tap list, I went with a Walking Man Cherry Stout. It was so good. It sounds gross, but the cherry was sublime, and the stout heavy and chocolate-y. It may have been my favorite beer of the trip. Thanks again to our awesome hosts! We will be back... hold on to your hats... did someone say barleywine festival...
Cheers!