Weekend Best Bets

[Update. You should never try to slap together a post when your mind is elsewhere. Stan Hieronymus points out that Citras are not low-alpha. I conflated them with Teamaker in my mind. Citras are of course the hop used in Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. At least I was right about one thing--they have garned a bunch of love. Well anyway, have a good weekend.]

My dear mother is in town this weekend (first time in two years--a terrible oversight!), and so I'm cutting right to the chase. Here are my picks for the most interesting pours happening around town. Perhaps you'll see me at one of these places having a beer with Mom.

• Bend Brewing's Rocksy Stein Lager, a stone beer, is was pouring at Bailey's. [Whoops; apparently it blew. Now you must trek to Bend.] It's one of the rarest styles going, and I am seriously hankering to try it. Also at Bailey's, the rarely-seen-on-tap Poseidon Imperial Stout by Fish.

• The Horse Brass has a nice line-up, including Beer Valley's Leafer Madness, Hacker-Schoor Dunkel Weisse, and pouring this weekend Trip II Citra Hop Belgian Ale, a combo-brewed beer from Elysian and New Belgium. Citras are those new, super-low-alpha hops that have garnered quite a bit of love in recent beers.

• The Green Dragon's patio is now open, so that's not a bad destination. None of their beers screams must-try, but their's is the most diverse list. You can stop by knowing something will tickle your fancy, whether it's a mead, Belgian, or double IPA.

• Other great places for outdoor seating: Amnesia, EastBurn, Hedge House and Fifth Quadrant, Hopworks, Laurelwood, the various Lucky Labs, and the Mash Tun.

Have a good one--