It's called the red-eye for a reason

Our plane landed this morning at 5:45am and our eyes are indeed red.  My wife still managed to actually get ready and go in to work whereas I worked from home where it wouldn't matter how I looked.  However, it was worth it as taking the red-eye flight back from Portland allowed us one more full day along the coast of Oregon (and squeeze in a few more local beers).

Once I've managed to get some rest and collect all my notes, I'll write up a post about all the great beer that was experience during our trip.

Map of the GABF is now available

Although I'm still up in Portland, I noticed that the map of the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) convention floor is now available on the GABF website. The brewery tasting booths are arranged by region of the country and the attending breweries from Texas are in the Southwest section.  As I said in a previous post, if you have any specific breweries and beers that are a "must try", I strongly suggest you print the map and mark the location of those booths. It can be overwhelming and chaotic in the convention center and you will definitely miss out on some great beers if you just wander up and down the rows.

AllGoodBeer in Seattle

We've had a great time in Seattle and I think we've done a pretty good job of both sightseeing and trying new beers. The beer and house-made sausage platter at Collins Pub was awesome. Its great place just a block off Pioneer Square where we took the Underground Tour.

After having sushi for dinner, we stopped off at Tap House Grill which has 160+ beer on tap. Our server appeared to be quite knowledgeable about the beer they carried and did a good job of providing details and helping with selection. When faced with that may different beers in one placed that I wanted to try, I was glad they have a build-your-own sample tray option. Although, even then it was hard to narrow it down.



Today was more sightseeing which included a stop at one of the Elysian Brewpubs. They've always been one of my favourite brewpubs and bombers of their beer to-go were only $3 (I could barely keep myself from filling the trunk of the rental car). Tonight is our last night in Seattle before heading down to Portland and even more great beer.

Beers tried in Seattle:

• Rogue Brutal Bitter
• Breakaway IPA
• Ninkasi Tricerahops Double IPA
• Deschutes Green Lakes Organic Ale
• Manny's IPA
• Hales Cream Ale
• Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout
• Southern Tier Mocha Porter
• Firestone DBA
• Ommegang Rouge
• Maritime IPA
• Elysian Cask ESB
• Elysian Citrus-hop Belgian-Style Pale Ale
• Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA (bomber)

AllGoodBeer in Seattle and Portland

My wife and I are off to the Pacific Northwest for a week to experience all that Seattle and Portland (and everything in between) has to offer.  And, undoubtedly, that will include sampling as many of the fine beers brewed in the region as I can (or allowed).  We're also looking forward to leaving the hottest summer on record and experiencing some much cooler weather (although, it was actually pretty nice here this morning).  I've been to Seattle a few times before, but Portland will be completely new to both of us.  Portland is certainly one of the best beer cities in the country and I'm really hoping to get around to the Horse Brass Pub, Henry's Tavern and Hopworks to name but a few of the amazing beer places there.

I'll attempt to update my blog with any beer related adventures and samplings as we go, but that will depend on how busy we are.  In any case, the twitter feed will probably be a good indication of what beer things we're up to.  It's also linked to the Twitter Map application on the Beer Mapping Project website which will create a map of the beer places we've been to as we visit them.

Petrol Station Coffeehouse

After a few lazy pints at the Taps House of Beer on Saturday, I made my way over to the Petrol Station Coffeehouse, a former gas station turned coffeehouse / bar hidden away in the Garden Oaks / Oak Forest neighbourhood.  Its not very large inside, only 6 or 7 tables and an L shaped bar.  But, like a lot of places like this, it has very large patios in front and back.  There's also a small room off to one side that has a couple of dart boards on the wall and an old pinball machine.  The beer selection appears to have been carefully chosen.  Fourteen draft taps and two cask with no Bud/Miller/Coors in sight.  Instead, there are beers such as Stone 13th, Avery Kaiser, Victory Prima Pils and Real Ale Lost Gold IPA on cask.  They do serve actual food here (something the Ginger Man has always been lacking) with various handmade sandwiches and burgers on the menu.  I really enjoyed the curry chicken salad sandwich on fresh sourdough bread but the burgers looked pretty good too.  Its nowhere near my neighbourhood, so I don't know how often I'll make it back over.