A Northwest Holiday

I'm a day late, but that's only because I went RUNNING out yesterday to get me some frosty delicious goodness. That's right, yesterday Deschutes Brewery tapped the first kegs of Jubelale. ("Tapped" is obviously a bit of a misnomer as I was able to buy some the same day at Fred Meyer, but hey, I've exaggerated a time or two).

A few years ago, I had no idea what Jubelale was. I was working in the beer business and having a "meeting" with one of my co-workers in town from Nebraska when he got a text message that made him jump out of his chair, grab his keys and all but shout, "DUDE, let's go, they just tapped the Jubel," and run out the door. Seriously.

So the point is, it's good. Really good. And I've got to say that this year's blows last years out of the water. I recommend you grab six and grub and settle in to watch USC beat the sad, sad piss out of OSU tomorrow (while somehow wishing both teams could lose/settle in for a nice 10 year span of irrelevancy a la UW).

On a side note, I am glad the Jubelale is good. I had a bit of a falling out with the folks at Deschutes the week before. My GF recently brought over a couple bottles of this year's reserve, "the dissident." Although I don't want to get into a big beer snob love note for this beer, I must say, it is a treat. It's a Flanders style brown brewed with wild yeast and then aged separately for 18 months. It's some serious fancypants shit but boy oh boy does it come out well.

So, I ran not walked down to Deschutes to grab more just a couple days later only to find they had COMPLETELY SOLD OUT. I was disappointed to say the least, until I walked into Thriftway the next day to find an ample supply sitting untouched on their shelves. Anyway, do yourself a favor, if you can, get your hands on a bottle of this before it's gone. It's not like anything you've had before and is 100% worth it. Get it at Thriftway on Olson and Garden Home in SW Portland.