Spokane Food Blog

In the constant search for the perfect winter ale comes a strong local entry from Northern Lights, a brewery that should be celebrated more around this part, as they often deliver excellent products.

And their Winter Ale is good. Definitely up there with Jubelale, and a worthy opponent for my current ‘09/10 winter favorite from Nøgne Ø.

The ale pours a dark amber color with a good couple of fingers of thick head. Give it a whiff and it smells like what I’d imagine Santa’s cologne would smell like: lightly pine-y with hints of citrus. Yes. I am saying this winter ale smells like Christmas, and I am OK with that,

Heck, it even tastes like Christmas. Nicely hopped, and gives a gentle kick in the teeth. You’re not going to loose the teeth, but rather enjoy the strength of the kick. You know what I mean. It’s hoppy, yet not too hoppy. The citrus carries over to the flavor, with some nice hints of caramel, and a slightly dry finish. For whatever reason I imagine this one going well with a clementine.

So hey, if you really are the locavore you claim to be, then check out Northern Lights’ Winter Ale. It’s a really nice one.

Awesome entry from Northern Lights.

If you missed out on the Deschutes tasting at Bottles last night, then, well, you certainly missed out.

(Never mind that we gave you the wrong time… It was 5-7pm, not 6-8pm. We maintain we were given the wrong time. Or that we were given the time after a few too many sips at their wine tasting. Either way.)

Anyway! The beers sampled should be familiar to most, but for a quick walkthrough…

• Jubelale! A good, but not great entry into the Jubelale line of seasonals. They also handed out some really cool (and well produced) Jubelale posters.
• Mirror Mirror! The barleywine based on Mirror Pond. Always a fun one.
• Black Butte XXI! My personal favorite is the Black Butte Porter on Crack. (Its official name.)
• The Abyss! The legendary Deschutes reserve.

Bottles probably still have some bottles left, so run pick some up. And remember, each bottle has a “Best After” print on them. In other words, store them like you’d store a wine.

When we added some of our favorite spots to buy beer around town to Only Eat Here, the consensus from the commenters was that we had criminally left Bottles on 3319 N Argonne out. And fair enough, after a visit we agree, and will definitely list Bottles soon.

For now, though, we should point out that Bottles is having a Deschutes tasting tomorrow. For free. And that’s awesome, as diligent readers of this blog — there must be at least five — will know that we kinda have a love affair with Deschutes.

So. Tomorrow, Thursday the 9th. 6pm to (we believe) 8pm. Deschutes tasting. At Bottles. 3319 N Argonne. Check it out.

Run, don’t walk to Huckleberry’s to pick up a bottle of Nøgne Ø’s latest winter offering. In fact, running is too slow. Jump in your car, it’s OK, they won’t mind. Even a Natural Light man like James Paul will want to try at least a bottle of what is marketed as “Winter Ale” in the US. (Originally it was called “God Jul,” or “Merry Christmas.”)

Winter Ale is a porter, and an excellent one at that. It is a dark, thick, malty beer, with heavy flavors of chocolate and anise, and an undercurrent of mild hops. The creamy texture and light carbonation hit the tongue like Bing Crosby’s method of discipline, and the 8.5% ABV is nicely masked by the depth of the flavors. I mean, really, in short: It is very very good.

A bit of a funny apropos here: A few days ago I asked Jim’s Home Brew if they planned on stocking Nøgne Ø. After giving me an odd look, I told them it was a Norwegian brewery, the man behind the counter said, “Oh, we have a Swedish beer, it’s the same thing.” Wow. Jim’s is awesome in many ways, but really, their service leaves a bit to be desired.

But I digress. Nøgne Ø Winter Ale is the best thing to come out of Norway since me, and should be sampled by any beer aficionado as soon as possible.

Really quite awesome.

You’ve shouted, cried, and screamed, and now, finally, we have a new update to Only Eat Here. Today’s theme: The best stores to buy good beer. The star of the selection is JB’s Food on Alberta and Rowan. This was recommended to us by the bartender at Blue Spark during our Abyss tasting, so a shout out to him seems appropriate here.

The full list:

• Huckleberry’s
• JB’s Food
• Jim’s Home Brew
• Yoke’s on Argonne

And of course, already added a few weeks back: Rocket Market.

Are we missing any? Let us know!

For whatever reason I sometimes forget about the Blue Spark. It might be because the place is chock full on the weekend to the point where it’s too crowded for my liking. Or possibly some other reason.

Regardless, on a Wednesday evening the place is well worth checking out for their tap selection. “No crap on tap” is definitely a fitting tagline. That Blue Spark now, for a limited time, has Deschutes’ the Abyss on tap is something that should have any beer geek salivating.

For those not familiar with the Abyss, it is part of Deschutes’ “Reserve Series,” and is by many considered one of the best beers in the world. (It is currently ranked #4 on BeerAdvocate.)

Finding it on bottle is a challenge in itself, but this is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time we’ve had it on tap in Spokane. (Update: I have been informed it has been on tap 3 or 4 times  before.)

And it is good. So so good. It’s a punch in the face with it’s 11% ABV, and just looking into its deep dark… well… abyss is enough to get you a little bit tipsy. Give it a sniff, and it’s like smelling into some other wonderful dimension made of chocolate, coffee, and bourbon. Who wouldn’t want to live there?

Give it a sip, and the beer tastes exactly like you would expect it to. The balance is nothing short of perfect — it’s powerful, definitely, but none of the flavors overpower the others. “A symphony of taste” comes to mind, with all the aforementioned flavors playing hopscotch on the tongue.

Even better is the price. Blue Spark charges their regular pint price for it: $5, and $3.50 during happy hour. Now that’s some cheap fun.

Run out and show Blue Spark some love for stocking one of the best beers out there.

A piece of art. Seriously.

I stand by my original comment — Widmer has always seemed like the poor man’s Redhook to me. But when Dancing Andrew suggested that Widmer’s “Brrr” might be worth a look, who am I to question him?

And fair is fair: Brrr is actually better than Redhooks’ Winterhook. In fact, it’s a worthy competitor to Deschutes Jubeale. Like the Jubelale it’s not perfect, but it’s solid, and has the slightly hoppier taste I was missing from Deschutes’ offering. On top of that there is also a mild malty sweetness, proving that you can, in fact, have a nice balance of flavors without sacrificing hops, something Deschutes seems to have forgotten about with the Jubelale.

The color has a nice amber red to it, giving the beer not just a taste of winter, but also a look of Christmas.

Credit where credit is due — Dancing Andrew made a good pick with this one. It’s a nice ale, and it’ll be interesting to see how some of the local offerings will stack up against it. But that’s for another post.

A very good seasonal.

Let’s face it, my Redhook allegiance might not entirely be a result of the quality of their brew as of habit, particularly when looking at the winter seasonals. Deschutes, meanwhile, kind of has me excited every year. The brewery might not always hit home runs, but then again, none of their beers have ever been close to tasting like urine either. And that’s, at least to me, a good thing. (You can roll how you like.)

Their Jubelale is definitely their seasonal highlight, and last year’s edition might just have been their best in some time. And while the ‘09/10 edition is similar to the previous year, I can’t help but feel it’s just a bit more dull this time around. Just a wee bit.

Not that it doesn’t look and smell great — it does. The color is a deep, dark red with a lightly sweet smell of chocolate and raisins. Hitting the tongue, the first impression carries over: The Jubelale is fairly thick, though not insanely so, and there is a light sweet flavor to it paired with a mild hoppiness.

If this all sounds like a well balanced ale, then yes, that is exactly what it is. In fact, it might be just a little bit too well balanced? Last year’s edition had a heavier hop kick to it which, to me, made it a whole lot more interesting to drink. It’s not that the ‘09/10 edition is dull, it’s just a bit duller.

I don’t want to sound too negative, as I really do enjoy the Jubelale. Maybe I’ve just been too spoiled by Mirror Mirror? Either way, Jubelale is good, just not quite like it was last year.

Very good, just not superbly good.

And here we are again, the season with too much snow, too much cold weather, and just the right amount of winter seasonals. And as we do every season here at the SFB, we kick it off with Redhook’s offering.

And as we do too often with Red Hook’s seasonals, we feel mildly let down.

Winterhook is not awful, and this year it probably tastes just a wee bit better than last years offering. There are hints of chocolate and a bit of sweetness to the flavor when it hits your tongue, and that flavor isn’t entirely unpleasant.

Problem is, any and all flavors to be found are washed away by a rather dull watered down aftertaste. Now say what you want about previous Winterhooks — and honestly there are many things that can be said — but they have rarely had any issues with being watered down. In that sense, the ‘09/10 Winterhook kind of reminds me of Slim Chance. A light ale. That is not something a dark winter ale should stride for.

A disappointment from Redhook then. Luckily the always pleasing Jubelale stands just next to it in the grocery store, so we will see how that fares at a later date.

Cry a tear for Winterhook.

A porter you should find at Post Street Ale House — but alas, you don’t — is Black Butte XXI, the teeth-kicking “special reserve” edition of the Black Butte Porter. Clocking in at a hefty 11% ABV, this is probably not the type of beer you’d want to use to introduce your Bud Light Grapefruit (or whatever it’s called) drinking friends to the better stuff. It is, however, delicious if you, like me, are a porter type of person.

The XXI hits your tongue with a fairly intense smokiness, with more than a hint of chocolate. The latter is explained by the addition of a generous amount of Theo Chocolate to the mix. Furthermore, it is dry-hopped with 100 lbs of coffee, which adds its own signature to the flavor. Coffee, chocolate, and smokiness… Yes, this isn’t necessarily too subtle — although there is more to it than what initially meats the tongue — but also extremely tasty.

With its high alcohol content and flavor-fest, the XXI isn’t a beer to wash down a slice of pizza or anything either. This is the type of beer you take your time with, and sip slowly. Think of it as the hoppy brother of a good cognac. Or a whiskey, seeing that portions of the XII has been aged in whiskey barrels.

The Black Butte XXI can still be found around town. Run and pick one up while you still have the chance.

Awe to the some.