Oregon has lots of places to find craft brews. So many, there is often little difference between one or the other. Faced with way too many Indian Pale Ale and seasonal brews …sorry but pumpkin spice is really only palatable in scone form… we are always looking for something different coming out of the tap. This can be a brew style or even how the beer is being delivered to the glass.
The pints poured in your local establishment are likely moved by carbon dioxide, a practice that adds to the effervescence of the pint and sometimes, can be a bit too much. If you’re lucky your local watering spot offers nitro or nitrogen gas-powered lines. Nitro is less bitter and adds smaller bubbles to the drink.
A better way to have your pint without all the bubbles is to use a British style hand pump or beer engine. A traditional British public house tap uses a lever’s energy to move beer from the keg to the glass. This style of beer delivery usually means the final fermentation was in the cask.
Hand pump pours are, in my mind, superior pints leaving just the cast conditioned character of the beer in the glass and a creamy froth on top.
We were really pleased to find Porter Brewing in Redmond, where they only serve cast conditioned beer hand pulled.
The Porter is pleasantly smoky, the stout chocolatey, and my favorite the Extra Special Bitter which was better than the nitro ESB at Red Hook.
In addition to the tap offerings, there is a BBQ food truck adjacent that offers great pub food. We’ll be passing Bend more often to hit this great little english pub on the north end of Redmond.
Chalk this up to cabin fever. Tired of walking neighborhood paths, we headed off to a “year around” trailhead. Rim Rock Springs wildlife area is listed as “open all season.” Because it is pretty much out in the open, there was hope the trail would be somewhat snow clear or at least passable. It wasn’t.
The trailhead is a few miles east of Madras on Highway 26 and the real draw for this mile plus loop trail is an abundance of wildlife. Despite being located in basically a barren landscape, there is a marsh and with it lots of birds and critters in the area. For now, we’ll move it to the ‘a bit later’ spring hiking list.
The road had been plowed, so we did manage to get to the overlook and of course JQ shot a few frames. We had a picnic lunch. Tip chased a ball and sniffed some sagebrush. The only thing we didn’t get in was some hiking mileage. Just have to double up on the neighborhood loop tomorrow.
While my bread making has been inconsistent the last few months, there is an active sourdough culture in our fridge. That means this starter is fed every two to three weeks. It is pulled from the fridge, a portion is removed, and equal amounts of flour and water are added. Then it is allowed to start working before it’s return to the fridge.
The process of feeding a sourdough starter means there is some amount of perfectly good leavening agent that gets washed down the drain, if it’s not used for baking. When there’s no bread to bake, we make waffles. The recipe will work for pancakes if you are so inclined. “A waffle is just a more considerate pancake. It’s like, here, let me hold that syrup for you in these convenient boxes.”
If you are interested in sourdough, there are ways to start from scratch, but it is way easier to either find a baker and ask … they are usually looking for someone to take the cast off. But be ready to feed the beast regularly. That might be motivation to make a loaf of bread, or at least the more considerate breakfast food.
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Tip still gets his outside time and we made it to Sunriver a couple of times these past few weeks. What didn’t happen was any exploring, it’s just too much of a hassle driving.