Friday Odds and Ends

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After the last sunny break until February (see photo evidence above), the skies have turned liquid and Portland is about to be locked down by weather and gubernatorial decree. 2020 keeps delivering the hits! Meanwhile, I have a few odds and ends I’ve been meaning to post somewhere. Each is a wonderful amuse-bouche in anticipation of a weekend entree. Enjoy.

Website Refresh
If you’ve been visiting the front page of this site recently, you’ll have noticed its refreshed look. I will continue to tune the content up, but the style and structure are fixed and complete. Those of you who demanded your Mt. Hood have carried the day—and I have to admit, it gives me a sense of wonder each time I see it. You were right. Please note:

  • I’ve tried to streamline the categories so you can find cool material you may have missed. Please look around. Many of the posts from the past 2-3 years feature stories that don’t become dated. I don’t mean to toot my horn, but this site is a great resource.

  • You’ll notice there’s a “Community” item in the menu, with a cryptic note about a forthcoming feature. It’s all true! More on that next week.

  • I’m adding another sponsor, and I hope two. The language shift to “partner” isn’t just spin, either. As this site develops, I’m figuring out ways to work with partners that go beyond banner ads. I will of course tell you all about it when the ink is dry and so on.


GABF Medals by Region
I meant to post my quick-and-dirty analysis of the GABF medals following the podcast we did on the topic. In it, I looked to see where different states and regions did especially well by looking at the medals by group. The aren’t precisely discrete (lagers and German styles overlap, for example), but they’re pretty intriguing.

California (63 medals). Hoppy ales 21%, specialty beers 16%, lagers, 14%.
Colorado (26 medals). Traditional US styles 27%, hoppy ales 19%, German styles 15%.
Oregon (22 medals). Sour and wild 32%, barrel-aged 27%, Trad US 18%.
Washington (16 medals). Hoppy ales 44%, lagers 31%.
New England + NY (15 medals). German and sour and wild: 27% each.
Midwest (45 medals). Lagers 24%, specialty 22%, German styles 16%.

And in terms of hoppy styles, there were 12 categories and 36 medals. The west, my friends, remains the best here. I know New England gets all the attention, but look who wins the awards:

West Coast: 64%
West Coast + Colorado: 78%
California: 36%
Washington: 19%
Colorado: 14%
Oregon: 8%
Rest of US: 22%


Pumpkin Ales
As a final note, I tasted three (3) (tres) pumpkin ales this year, all given to me after a comment made on Twitter. Moral: I need to pine for particular beer styles on social media more often. This has been a terrible &#%@! year, and I was craving something sweet, familiar, and maybe just a little hokey. What fits the autumnal bill better than a pumpkin ale, I ask you? (Nothing!) Notes:

  • Laurelwood Pumpkin Ale (7.5%). Great freakin’ Scott—this thing is as strong as a doppelbock! An impressive deep orange color redolent of Aunt Darlene’s Thanksgiving pie, it was a real warmer. The spices were a bit subdued, which after half a pint turned out to be an excellent thing, for they tend to collect on the palate. A good example, though a potent one.

  • Stormbreaker Pumpkin Pedaler (7.3%). What the….? When did these things get so damn strong? A bit sweeter than Laurelwood, with a stronger blast of spice. Fantastic out of the gate, but hoo-boy, that’s a lot of spice by the end.

  • Spencer Monkster Mash (5.2%). Ah, finally, a beer that doesn’t immediately put an old man to bed! The jack-o-lantern can and the punny title are a bit misleading—this is a fairly sophisticated pumpkin ale. The yeast esters suggest a Belgian strain, perfect for the spices, with their characteristically American associations. Even pumpkin ale haters might begrudgingly admit this is pretty good—unless you also hate Belgian ales.

Thanks for comforting me this autumn, folks. I needed it.

Jeff Alworth