July 25, 1999 -- Under once again sunny skies, Day Three began with bottom fermentation. And while I suppose that it could have been at least in part a reaction to the ale dominance of the Pacific Northwest, the first few lagers tasted scored very well indeed.

The Longboard Lager from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii's Kona Brewing Company impressed with a very fresh, lightly hoppy-floral nose and a clean, well-structured body. Interestingly, the program notes for this beer say that it is brewed with wheat.

Also and equally of interest was the Brew 69 from the Old Lompoc Brewery of Portland. A Munich dunkel, it had a very roasty nose, a light sweetness on the front of the palate and a fairly complex character with notes of chocolate, charcoal, and malt sitting in harmony before a dry, chocolaty finish. Going a little darker, the Bayern Schwartzbier from Missoula, Montana's Bayern Brewing was less successful, with light notes of roast and butterscotch in the aroma preceding a very light and thin body.

Completing the lager portion of the day was the Paulina Pils from Deschutes Brewing of Bend, Oregon. Tasting this beer immediately cast my memory back to the best of the northern German pilsners; fresh, crisp as a starched white shirt, refreshing. (Celebrator Beer News publisher Tom Daldorf explained that the name of this beer should soon be changing in response to legal pressure exerted by the Paulaner Brewing Company of Germany, so keep that in mind when you go searching for it.)

I thought that I would ease slowly into the ales with a Highland Meadow Blonde Ale from Mt. Hood Brewing of Government Camp, Oregon, but actually ended up regressing bit. This blonde was quite the airhead, with a sweet, grainy aroma and seriously thin body. I have had what I consider to be quite good beers from this brewery, but this was decidedly not among them.

Bert Grant's Summer Ale from the Yakima Brewing & Malting Company of Yakima, Washington, helped me recover, with its vanilla-y nose and softly fruity, refreshing character, and the Garten Brau Summerfest from the Capital Brewery of Middleton, Wisconsin, took me the rest of the way with its wonderfully developed Oktoberfest marzen character. Okay, it meant backsliding into bottom-fermentation instead of plunging further into the ales, but it was well worth it.

Top-fermentation was the order of the rest of the day, though, as I sampled my way through beers like the Terrapin Ale from the Eugene, Oregon edition of Steelhead Brewing (balanced fruity and hop nose; well-developed and ever-so-slightly spicy body; dry, faintly tannic finish), Drunken Squirrel from Casey's Restaurant and Brewery of Post Falls, Idaho (aged with oak to its benefit; vanilla-spice nose; fruity, lightly bourbon-y body; beautifully constructed), Cardinal Ale from Ohio Brewing of Niles, Ohio (billed as an "American red/amber ale;" lightly malty and woody; off-dry finish), and the ever-popular Boulder Porter from Rockies Brewing of Boulder, Colorado (wonderfully complex nose with roast, chocolate, licorice and coffee notes; a roasty, raisiny, coffee-ish body that lives up to the aroma).

There were other beers tasted---by my count, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the total number available---but for better or worse, these are the ones that I have chosen as the highlights and lowlights of the fest. To get broader coverage, I suggest that you start making plans to be in Oregon for the last full weekend of July, 2000. Be warned, hotel rooms fill up quickly!

For more OBF tasting notes, please see:

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