As a native of Milwaukie, Oregon, when I saw that Beer Belly was using #LABW8 for a night of Oregonian beers, it was literally the first thing on my calendar for the week.
And the list was full of rare in L.A. beers. I had my eye on the Session IPA from Breakside and the Banished Barrel-Aged Freakcake from Crux Fermentation. Both of which did not live up to my expectations. Rainbows & Unicorns was really light and just not hoppy at all. Freakcake was sour with a Christmas-y spice profile that finished with a teeny-tiny bourbon barrel push at the end.
Luckily, other beers did live up to the hype. Both Cascade sours were excellent with Figaro getting the nod over Shrieking Violet because it was more complex all around. Buoy Beer’s NW Red Ale seemed more ESB’ish to me but was a good finish to the night.
On nights like these, I wish there was a mega-taster flight. Maybe 3oz pours of each beer. Or I will have to wait for next year, and maybe Beer Belly goes to Oregon, Part 2.
