Great Leap Banana Wheat, Porter, Stout and Pale

Never had a banana beer? This is a serious treat, a banana wheat. Sweet, strong banana flavor and a masterful balance. Yes, fruity beer is sacrilegious but in this case all is forgiven. It tastes like candy and love. Rock on!!

The porter has an excellent balance and full roasted malt character, while the pale is a robust interpretation of the type.

The beers are priced on a sliding scale based on how much they cost to produce, which also tends to arrange them in a good order for tasting. Starting with the lowest priced beers will preserve more sobriety and taste buds for the flavor onslaught provided by the excellent stout. For a beer lover in Beijing, visiting Great Leap is a must.

Everybody's Brewing

After a fun time rafting with the Wet Planet crew on the White Salmon river today, we stopped by Everybody's Brewing for lunch. This place is simply fantastic.

Out of ten beers, all were very good. Every brew showed character and incredible balance. I do enjoy audacious beers, and would love to see an Imperial IPA from EB. Until then, ten awesome brews on tap is impressive. Well worth the trip!

Roots

Dropped in at Roots' brewpub today for an excellent salami sandwich and a taster tray.

Calypso is a fruity summer brew, with a very spicy feel. Light and easy drinking, the heat is a wise departure in a summer brew. As anyone who has sampled world cuisine knows, spicy hot food is popular in hot regions - probably because the sweating that follows enhances the natural evaporative cooling of the body.

Kolsch follows in good form, with a very mellow and soothing mouthfeel after the Calypso. There was a unique odor that I could not identify, and unfortunately it wasn't to my liking. Overall a decent beer.

Burghead Heather Ale comes third, using Heather flowers in place of hops. A very striking and unique brew yet extremely pleasant. A beer that proves even hop free brews can succeed, and a good demonstration of ancient techniques. Extremely tasty for a beer without any hops.

Roots' Island Red is a pleasantly hearty beer lover's dream, based on oats and English hops. It's essentially a dark red stout, and tasty as heck. Recommended.

Woody IPA is yellow-orange and bursting with hops. Mellowed with a little citrus note, this dry-hopped ale is assertive in a good way. Highly recommended.

Crannog Stout rounds out the selections today as dessert, and restored my faith in the ultimate goodness of existence. Caramel and coffee help form a dream of a closer brew. No bitter aftertaste, just a well executed stout that leaves me smiling. Hard to go wrong here.