Memories in a Glass

Roll out the barrels...

One thing I love about beer is its ability to trigger memories. This turns out to be an important component of tasting, where familiar flavors may come flooding back mid-whiff or mid-sip.

For example, Deschutes Black Butte Porter is a favorite beer of mine. I don't drink it as much as I used to because there are so many others to try, but when I return to it I'm always rewarded. It has that rich, chocolaty taste and killer mouthfeel I adore, but it also takes me on a quick journey to Oregon.

As I drink, I'm reminded of trips to Portland. I can picture the Deschutes taproom, and the Portland State Farmer's Market, remember the little boutique shops and Powell's City of Books, and all the other great breweries in town (including the otherworldly Cascade Brewing pictured above). Memories float in my mind like driftwood along the Willamette River, which aside from being an incredibly forced metaphor is pretty much the way it works for me.

With each sip I think of places my wife and I have visited, experiences we've shared. Blue Star Donuts, Nong's Khao Man Gai, a variety of other eateries (Portland is basically food heaven). Drives out to the coast (Rogue Brewery in Newport, Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City) or inland (Full Sail and Double Mountain Breweries in Hood River, Deschutes headquarters in Bend). It goes on and on, limited only by the time it takes to finish my beer.

And since I'm always drinking with others, the stories never end. I might mention a trip to the Portland Art Museum, and someone else has been there as well. Or maybe they just walked past it on their way to the coolest thing ever. Or maybe they've never been to Portland but always wanted to go. Or maybe they visited another art museum in a different city that was awesome. Or maybe...

Eventually our glasses are empty and someone grabs another bottle out of the fridge. It's Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin, and suddenly we're transported to Paso Robles. And we remember driving along the California coast, or riding on the train. And there's that time we did that thing with those people and then that other thing happened. Oh man, it was wild. You should have been there.

After a while things get fuzzy, which is agreeable as long as they don't get too fuzzy, and we call it a night. And if we did it right we end up with a feeling of well-being, of connectedness with others who may have experienced the same things we have (but in slightly different ways) or introduced us to new things that we now find ourselves yearning to experience. Either way, we are left with something to look forward to the next time we crack open a bottle or three with friends. Where will our memories take us then?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Homebrewing Is Kind of Awesome

Image
Kid Gloves Kölsch (front), Charlie (back) After getting laid off from a lucrative but unfulfilling corporate gig in February 2016 I had a little extra time on my hands, so I decided to give homebrewing a try. I'd been thinking about it for a while, read some books, taken a class. Plus my wife was game, which helped. If nothing else, we would at least gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for the ingredients and effort that went into making our favorite beers. Who knows, we might even like brewing. And if we got halfway decent at it, we might even like the beers we made. The good news is, brewing turns out to be fairly simple if you approach it with the right attitude. First off, understand that you will make mistakes. Probably lots of them. But if you document your process (I'm a writer by trade, so this part comes naturally to me) and figure out where things went wrong, you'll improve. Get your reps in, keep working on making better beer. That's j...
Read more

Great Beer in Hawai'i

Image
The craft beer scene has been slower to pick up in Hawai'i than elsewhere, which makes sense if you think about it. The islands are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from the nearest continental land mass. Hops can't be grown there, and shipping ain't cheap. Tourists want fruity cocktails, while locals go for macrobrews. That being said, in recent years great beers from California and Oregon have surfaced (Breakside and Pelican are two of my favorites that are available in Honolulu but not San Diego). Even better, local breweries are now popping up and embedding themselves in the community. My wife is from Hawai'i and we still have lots of family over there, so we make one or two trips a year. People always ask what we do there, probably hoping for tales of snorkeling, zip-lining, or whatever it is we're expected to do. But usually we just visit folks, eat tasty local food, and hang out at breweries. We stay at my brother-in-law'...
Read more

Get Thee to O'Brien's!

Image
O'Brien's Pub at rest after another festive Friday night I love a great beer bar and am lucky enough to live within walking distance of one of San Diego's finest, the legendary O'Brien's in Kearny Mesa. The selection is always top notch, the atmosphere inviting, and the staff friendly and knowledgeable. It's one of those places where I have no problem asking whoever is behind the bar what their favorite beer currently on tap is and ordering it. I don't usually do that, but it's nice to know I can if the mood strikes me. The food is standard pub faire: sandwiches, burgers, fries. There's nothing fancy, but everything is well executed and pairs well with beer (go figure). A personal favorite is the garlic Parmesan fries. I could eat those morsels of tastiness all day. Pub faire isn't your jam? No problem, there are a ridiculous number of excellent alternatives on Convoy, home to the best Asian cuisine in San Diego. Pick a place at random ...
Read more