Reverend Nat's Cider conquers Portland looks to Seattle

Wedding bells and “highly quaffable” ciders…not likely something many people would pair together, but with Reverend Nat’s hard cider that’s the point.

Eight years ago Nat started making cider in his basement with the help of a friend’s apple tree which at the time produced as much as they needed for their hobby.  Skip ahead to just two and a half years ago and that hobby has found a new production home, success around Portland, OR and now in 2013 Nat hopes to find success with his passion in Seattle.  Using a handshake to obtain his apples from PNW growers Nat has moved to a 3,500 square foot production facility where he can produce 24,000 cases a year of their dry to off-dry ciders.  Additionally as the cidery name might indicate Nat is an ordained minister and will be able to perform weddings in his new facility.

Back in the PNW

*The first of many posts to come from our new BEER contributor! Welcome to Ally!*

Six months have passed in my new adventure back in the northwest and the beers have not disappointed.  After being inundated with San Diego’s ever changing take on the IPA, don’t get me wrong I will always love Stone Levitation, but it’s nice to be back in the PNW where craft beers of all varieties reign supreme.  I am particularly pleased with the variety of amazing ambers/browns, porters and stouts.  Preferring dark beers to their lighter cousins, I find that so far no other region of the country does these quite like the Northwest.  The flavor quality in Rogue’s hazelnut brown is unbeatable and several other breweries have tried, but the toasted flavor of the hazelnut shines in perfect harmony with the malty flavor of this beer.

As for stouts my favorite so far was found on a business trip to Portland, at the Laurelwood Brewing Co.  Their award winning Space Stout lives up to the hype.  It is a dark heady stout with a great pallet of chocolate malt and balanced hop combination.  Not a heavy stout, it would pair well with an afternoon BBQ or a rich dessert. 

Not to be too biased in my love of dark beers, I throw a shout out to my favorite NW pale ale, Mannys, by Georgetown Brewing Co.  This is the beer that reminded me pale ales can carry a great flavor when done right.  As there are so many other great beers to try and what feels like too little time I don’t get this one as often as I would like, but at the end of a long night it’s my go to.

While I’ve certainly had more than just these three beers in the last six months, there are too many to list.  Moving forward I hope to give you the reader a glimpse in to the ambiance of some of the NW’s best breweries and bars and the beers that take center stage in each! 

Sips on the Road: Oregon Unwine'd - Portland, OR

 As I walked into the first ever Oregon Unwine’d event at the Left Bank Annex (@leftbankannex) in Portland, I must have looked like a combination of a kid in a candy store and a deer in the headlights. I had no idea where to even start. My journey in wine has so far kept me very much in Washington (save for a few trips here and there) and Oregon is a region I have not had a chance to really explore. I can honestly say I think I can count on just two hands how many of the 100 wineries in attendance I had tasted before. This created a unique opportunity for me as I set about my tasting: no bias. Since I hadn’t really explored the regions of Oregon wine country at all, I really had no preference when it came to one area over another. I started making the rounds starting first in tasting whites and rosés and quickly realized that Oregon knows a little somethin’ somethin’ about rosé. Rosé of Pinot noir to be more precise. This already light grape transforms beautifully into a crisp, dry, and very appealing rosé. I knew just a few wineries into my tasting what my focus for this event and my post was going to be about. And so, without further ado, the best of rosé at this year’s Unwine’d event (in alphabetical order)!