Dave Knows Portland

Subscribe to Dave Knows Portland by Email

Archives for November 2009

December 2-6: Holiday Ale Festival 2009

by Leave a Comment

HAFbelgiansPioneer Courthouse Square hosts the Holiday Ale Festival once again, from Wednesday, December 2 through Sunday, December 6.

Stay warm and dry and claustrophobic under the big tent. Take the Max home after you enjoy too many beers with too high an alcohol content and too much cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

Actually, there are lots of other choices besides spiced winter ales, as you can see on the official 2009 Holiday Ale Festival Beer List, but be careful: almost everything is strong.

And in addition, there are special beer tappings on Wednesday and Thursday (Friday and Saturday Limited Release Beers will be announced on Twitter / Facebook) and for the Brewers Brunch Sunday morning.

You have to buy an initial $20 tasting package, which includes a mug (bah humbug – previous years’ mugs not permitted), 10 beer tickets and a wristband that you can use to get in “free” for the whole 5 days of the festival. Additional tasting tickets are a $1 each. No kids at this festival, must be over 21 to enter the tent. (More info on the Fest Facts page). And It’s Pub Night has a bunch of great suggestions too: Holiday Ale Fest Advice

Here are the beers at the top of the Dave Knows tasting list:

  • Bear Republic Brewing Company‘s Barrel-Aged Old Baba Yaga – a Russian Imperial Stout, aged in French Oak Cabernet barrels, hold coffee, licorice and bittersweet chocolate flavor. My, that sounds delicious.
  • BridgePort Brewing Company‘s BourbonEzer – Ebenezer Ale aged for a year in oak bourbon barrels!
  • Firestone Walker Brewing Company‘s Velvet Merkin – Only because of its name.
  • Hopworks Urban Brewery‘s Kronan the Barbarian – Baltic Porter that greets you with a frothy tan head and rich malty aroma with notes of chocolate, caramel, dark fruit and toasted marshmallow.
  • Kona Brewing Company‘s Black Sand Porter – I enjoy almost all Kona’s beers; wondering how this will be different from Pipeline Porter . . .
  • Laurelwood Public House & Brewery‘s Polska Porter – Are you beginning to realize I really dig porters? Baltic Porters in particular? Black Boss is one of my favorite beers, and I’m curious to taste Laurelwood’s version . . .
  • New Belgium Brewing Company‘s Lips of Faith Series – A bunch of different beers on tap throughout the festival, LOF is a series of beers made for the faithful, ranging from sour beers to saisons. I can’t stand New Belgium’s Fat Tire (tastes like unhopped, watery wort), but I love their Belgians!
  • Upright Brewing Company‘s Holy Herb – a malty farmhouse winter beer, spiced with hyssop, aged with eucalyptus wood staves and bark, and fermented with Belgian yeast. Just tried my first Upright beer recently, the saison called Four, and despite the pretentious naming scheme, loved it.
  • Widmer Brothers Brewing Company‘s Cherry Oak Doppel bock – A stronger version of Widmer’s Doppel Bock, fermented with dark sweet and red tart cherries, aged with oak. Oh yeah.

Portland Timbers roundup (11/27/09)

by Leave a Comment

Portland Timbers!Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Crazier By Kip Kesgard at Oregonlive.com

Last we left things, the TOA had applied to use the name North American Soccer Leagues and they had applied to the United States Soccer Federation for accreditation. Nothing has been decided on their application at this point, but apparently the discussions started on Saturday, November 21st while USSF officials were in Seattle for the MLS Cup. At this point, nothing official from the USSF has been announced, and there has only been speculation as to what happens now. [More]

MLS Cup: Robbie Findley, Josh Saunders excel on soccer’s big stage by Geoffrey C. Arnold at OregonLive.com

Saunders, who played for the Portland Timbers, entered the MLS Cup as a substitute goalkeeper for the Galaxy. Saunders came on after Donovan Ricketts suffered a hand injury in the second half.

“I had to come in and be prepared. That’s something I’ve been prepared for because that’s my job,” said Saunders, who played for the Timbers from 2003-06. “I felt like I could come in and make a contribution to the team.” [More]

Timbers President Merritt Paulson earns USL honors at PortlandTimbers.com

PORTLAND, Ore. – United Soccer Leagues announced Friday that Portland Timbers President Merritt Paulson was named the 2009 USL First Division Sprinturf Executive of the Year at the USL Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner as part of its Annual General Meeting in Tampa, Fla. [More]

Things to do in Portland on Thanksgiving Day (2009)

by Leave a Comment

Update: Things to do in Portland on Thanksgiving Day (2012)

pdxfmThanksgivingPDX.FM will be broadcasting on Thanksgiving Day.

Robert Wagner and Sabrina Miller will be doing a Turkey Day Portland Sucks podcast, starting at 8am. In Sabrina’s twitter words, we’ll go probably until we get bored or until no one is listening anymore.

Robert promises that PDX.FM will half ass pretend to be a real radio station on Thursday, even going so far as to put a couple Fisher Price turntables to good use!

littleredbikecafe100In North Portland the Little Red Bike Cafe (4823 N Lombard) will be open on Turkey Day (8am-2pm), for a good cause. Bring in winter clothes for donation, buy a cup of coffee or something off the special Thanksgiving (TBA) menu.

There’s more coffee and good causes at Coffeehouse Northwest (1951 W Burnside). According to Portland Octopus, A nice warm cup of free!:

For the third year in a row, this local coffee shop will be brewing, baking, and giving to it’s customers and community. From 8:00am – 12:00pm, this Thursday, November 26th, Coffeehouse Northwest will be giving out coffee, fresh pastries, and homemade eggnog – all on the house. This equals free Stumptown Coffee!

There will be a tip jar available, with all proceeds donated to the charity(ies) of the baristas choice. Previous charities have included theater groups and Sisters of the Road.

The Portland Coffeehouse Journal is maintaining a list of local coffeehouses open on the holiday, and their special hours.

Powell's BooksDown the street a few blocks, avoid the holiday crowds at Powell’s Books (1005 W Burnside location) by visiting on Thanksgiving day. The store is open from 10am to 6pm.

rialto200After your visit to Powell’s, wander around downtown. Though seemingly deserted, many hotel restaurants and bars are open on Turkey Day too.

Also downtown, the Rialto (529 SW 4th) stays open 365 days a year. Play some pinball or pool while enjoying your beer. Watch football on the ginormous TVs.

The Cheerful Tortoise (1939 SW 6th) is also open, with a FREE Turkey Dinner from 11:00am to 5:00pm.

prost100Prost! Portland opens at 6pm on Turkey Day. From the Facebook page:

For those of you that won’t get enough turkey during the day, I bought over 25lbs of bird, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry chutney, green bean casserole, and ample amounts of cold bier to warm your bellies. One keg of Spaten Bock left and then it i…s on to Hacker Pschorr Munich Alt Dunkel. Prost!

BarflyBlog has a fairly comprehensive list of bars open in Portland on Thanksgiving Day.

Other neighborhood pubs and taverns that cater to real drinkers have a better than average chance of being open too. Take a walk through your neighborhood business district; you might be pleasantly surprised.

Many bowling alleys and movie theaters are open too.

It’s probably too late to make reservations at most restaurants serving up Thanksgiving Day feasts, but if you’re still looking, try your luck with the list at Portland Food and Drink: Thanksgiving Dinner Roundup 2009

OregonZooThe Oregon Zoo is open on Thanksgiving day, with special Beast Feasts for the animals.

On Thanksgiving weekend, come watch your favorite zoo residents dive into “dinner.” Animals receive a cornucopia of enrichment treats Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 26-29, at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Great photo opportunities — bring your camera!

TriMet buses and Max will run on Sunday schedules, the streetcar on it’s own special holiday schedule.

November 29: Grey Cup 2009

by 2 Comments

Update: 2010 Grey Cup Viewing in Portland

2009_Grey_Cup-200The 97th Grey Cup takes place this Sunday, November 29th.  There’s no better time to whip up a batch of homemade poutine!

For those not suffering from Canadaphilia, the Grey Cup is the Canadian Football League’s championship game; think of it as the Canadian Super Bowl.

Canadian Football and American Football share a pedigree, and mostly follow the same rules. Some of the difference:

  • The field in Canadian football is 110 yards long and 65 yards wide, not the 100 yards by 53⅓ yards used in American football.
  • Canadian football plays 3 downs, not 4.
  • In Canadian football all offensive backfield players, except the quarterback, can be in motion when the ball is snapped.

There are other differences too, but these are some of the most obvious to American football fans. As a casual observer (I grew up watching American football but have only watched maybe half a dozen Canadian football games in my entire life) my take is that the Canadian football game is faster paced and higher scoring and there is more passing of the ball and less running. Compared to the NFL, CFL football players are smaller and faster. I don’t care much for gridiron football, but if I had to choose between NFL and CFL I’d go Canadian every time.

Two years ago I searched, nearly in vain, for a place to watch the game in Portland. We finally tracked down a cable channel broadcast, and several fellow Canadaphiles and I joined a group of Canadian ex-pats at the McMenamins on NE Broadway to watch the game. Last year a Canadian friend invited us over to her place. The homemade poutine and copious amounts of Canadian beer soothed the pain of watching the Stampeders defeat our beloved Alouettes.

But Montreal is back! This year’s finals is between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Montreal Alouettes. The game takes place in Calgary, and will be broadcast in Portland on CSN, Comcast Cable channel 37 at 3:30pm.

Where to watch the 2009 Grey Cup in Portland, Oregon: