This is the winter recipe from Mainstreet Homebrew’s newsletter.  They bill it as bigger and bolder than most west coast porters.  It will be interesting to compare it to the west coast porter I brewed earlier this month.
Midwinter’s Porter
8 lbs Amber Malt Extract
12 oz CaraMunich
4 oz 120l Crystal Malt
14 oz Chocolate Malt
6 oz Melanoidin
6 [...]

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I brewed up another batch of my raspberry hefeweizen last week.  Even though it was a “bit” foamy last time, it was a big hit with the extended family.  I’m delivering a bunch as a belated Christmas gift.  I’ve learned a couple of things since last time.  First, I made sure to get a hydrometer [...]

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Last night we had a marvelous dinner at the Red Star Tavern in downtown Portland.  We both had the Chef’s 3 course taster menu.  Each course was paired with a beer by the chef.
1st Course
Organic Butter Lettuce, Baked Fig Vinaigrette, Toasted Almonds, Powdered Goat Cheese
Beer: Roots Organic Brewing Saison
2nd Course
Wood Grilled Kobe Beef, Marinated Treviso, [...]

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I had another great holiday ale tonight - Wreck the Halls from Full Sail Brewing in Hood River.  Wreck the Halls is a very hoppy IPA, but not as in your face as some IPAs.  Great beer!

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My favorite holiday ale so far, and this is by no means an exhaustive search, is Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale.  It is delightfully hoppy and altogether very tasty.  Even better, from my perspective, is that my wife considers it too hoppy and so I don’t have to share it!
I have also enjoyed Deschutes Brewing’s Jubelale [...]

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I had the chance to go down to the 2007 Holiday Ale Festival in Portland this last weekend.  The beers were great, but the experience left a little to be desired.  We got downtown at about 6 on Friday night and the line to get in was long…  Once we got in the place was [...]

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Another recipe from Main Street Homebrew. This is patterned after Deschutes Brewing’s Black Butte Porter.
West Coast Porter
7lbs Amber malt extract
12oz Chocolate malt
8oz 80l Crystal malt
4oz Carafa Black malt
Irish Ale Yeast
1 1/2 oz Cascade hops @ 60 min
1 oz Cascade hops @ 15 min
1 oz Cascade hops @ 5 min
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient @ 5 [...]

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This is a seasonal recipe from the guys at Main Street Homebrew.
Skellington Ale
9lbs light malt extract
10 oz 60l Crystal malt
8oz Victory malt
8oz Aromatic malt
8oz toasted Pale malt (toasted @ home for 12 min. at 350 deg.)
1/2 cup light molasses
2 oz Fuggles @ 60 min.
4 inches fractured cinnamon stick @ 25 min.
1 tblsp dried ginger @ [...]

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