TheWeeklyBrew.com – The Ramblings of a Kitchen Chemist

picture taken from McMenamins

So yesterday was about the worst work day I have ever had during the course of my job. It was so bad in fact that I needed an escape. So as soon as that clock said 9:00 and I was off I grabbed my stuff and headed to Boon’s. Those who know me know I don’t go out drinking much. I generally prefer drinking beer at home with friends. But last night I just wanted to spend time at my favorite pub.

When I got to Boon’s I did what I always do upon arriving. I looked at the chalkboard with a list of their beers. The interesting part was the guest tap list. Bet you can’t guess what was on it. It was PBR and Coors Light. Now normaly I’m fairly easygoing on pubs selling commercial beer. After all, they have to pay their bills, and craft beer can’t always do that.

The thing is though it’s not something I’d expect from a McMenamins location. Normally their guest taps are reserved for popular craft beers that other companies make. I’d come to rely on that guest tap when they had nothing else I liked. So how does PBR or Coors end up on it? Ironically I think it has to do with location. Boon’s is located in downtown Salem. Downtown is frequented by mostly young people who view themselves as cultured. They eat at local restaurants, shop at the small boutiques, drink coffee at small local cafes, and drink PBR.

I’ve always found it interesting to sit back and watch the trends in Salem. It amuses me to watch them all flock to a new hotspot for lunch because it’s “local” and “community oriented” yet they pass over Court Street Dairy, a little restaurant that has been a part of Salem since 1929. These people will drink Tricerahops and discuss the greatness of Oregon craft beer, then head over to the space and drink Rainier or PBR over Deschutes.

Anyway, enough about that. Here’s what I drank last night

Golden Jalapeno – this was a smooth beer with some pepper flavor, but no heat. although I wanted heat it was still good and I had a couple

Drunken Monkey Imperial IPA- there wasn’t as much hops to this as I’d thought. It was a dark deep ember color and extremely sweet in a malty way. The hops were there, but without much presence. It was 8.6% ABV and didn’t taste like a big beer. Definitely would drink this again.

Mystery Red- I forgot my other complaint about last night. If you run a pub known for it’s beer either hire servers who know beer, or provide literature for them. I asked the waitress what style of red it was, and she had no clue. She also didn’t know the IBU’s for the beer or the even a basic flavor profile. I ordered it anyway to figure it out myself. It was a good beer, but if you want more then that you’ll have to order one. After all, I had to do it.