Anheuser-Busch bought by InBev

Wow, I would never have seen this coming. Anheuser-Bush is such a American institution (for better or worse) that I’m blown away by the news that InBev is buying A&B. InBev is the Belgian company that makes Stella Artois and Becks. Unsurprisingly, I don’t like either of those beers, so I guess InBev is in keeping with their gross-to-me beer manufacturing plans.

I really wonder how the “heartland” will respond to the biggest beer company in the US being owned by a foreign country most people probably couldn’t find on a world map. Will there be a “buy American” backlash? Will Coors and Miller see significant sales increases?

Or, will Pabst rise from the ashes to once agan reign supreme amongst American beers? A girl can dream!

Hawthorne Bridgeport Ale House

Kathy and I went to the Hawthorne Bridgeport Ale House last night for some celebratory beers and dinner, and were extremely pleased to see that their amazing onion soup is back on the menu! I don’t know why they ever took it off the menu, but its return makes us 100 times more likely to consider Bridgeport as a dining option. I mean, the beer is pretty good, but this onion soup is amazing! And their other food is consistently quite tasty, making it a great impromptu dinner outing destination.

Oh yeah, and have a beer while you’re there!

Beer orchestra

What happens when a beer company gets an orchestra to do their commercial? This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8OxuUEBN9c

Kudos to Victoria Bitter and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a great concept! Beer really is the most versatile drink in the world.

Hopworks is opening on March 25!

They’ve taken their sweet time getting to this point, so it’s really exciting that Hopworks is actually opening for business on Tuesday, March 25. I’ve had their IPA while schmoozing with fellow designers at Holocene, the ESB at Meridian and Cava, and the lager at Fire on the Mountain. Predictably, the IPA was way too hoppy for me, but I kinda knew that when I ordered it. The ESB is an easy drinker and a solid beer, and their lager sure was tasty with hot wings.

I’m just excited to see worthwhile, stripper-free, quality beer-oriented establishments move in on SE Powell.

Green’s Quest Tripel Blonde Beer

It’s time for the finale in my three-part Green’s gluten-free beer review series. I’m kind of wishing all six other styles were imported to the states so I’d have a few more gluten-free beer choices, since this puts me at the end of the line for what I’ve been able to find so far.

On opening the bottle, a lovely malty aroma wafted out and nearly fooled my nose into thinking I was going to have a regular beer. The Quest pours nicely, with finer carbonation and a decent (but not truly Belgian Tripel-quality) head — not nearly as airy and, well, huge as what I’m used to seeing. In under a minute it went from a 1″ head to a .25″ head, as you can see in my photo. But the color is a nice honey gold/red and very clear, though probably not what I’d describe as a “blonde.”

As with the Endeavour dubbel, this beer needs to warm a bit to taste good. My first sip was tart and a bit off-tasting. Not tart and weirdly fruity/grapey, more tart like a dry cider but without the apple taste. Not even lambic or geuze tart, which still has a fruitiness to it. Gone, though, is the up front acrid sorghum bitterness and metallic flavor in my mouth.

Once Quest warms up, it tastes moderately like a traditional tripel — definite spicey aroma, warm feeling in the mouth, honey tones to the sweetness. But there’s a slight bitterness to the finish, just a little bite that’s not quite right.

So far, this is the most convincing “Belgian” style gluten-free beer I’ve tried. I don’t think it’s an every day drinker like the New Grist ale could be, but for the price it’s worth the occasional splurge. And again, if I hadn’t had regular beer within fairly recent memory, this would probably be sweet ambrosia on my lips!