after dinner sneeze

t says:  Right before we left for Oregon, we met up with rch and mh at cm’s Birthday party … only to find that rch and mh were headed to Oregon, too!  We made a deal: we would tell them them about our our Willamette Valley discoveries, and they’d have to let us know how it went.  And we did!  And they did!  And so here it begins – welcome to first-time contributors rch and mh!

rch and mh say:

Our beer, food, and wine tour of Oregon began in Medford, OR, where we spent a few days with family friends. During that time, we tasted our friend’s delicious homebrew beer. His double IPA was outstanding. One night, we dropped their kids off for the evening and drove to Ashland, home of Oregon’s world-renowned Shakespeare Festival. For our purposes, however, what mattered is that Ashland is the home of the Standing Stone Brewing Company. Like many, many of the places we visited over the next week, Standing Stone has a pretty impressive commitment to local ingredients and sustainability, and they just received an award for being one of the most sustainable businesses in the region.

Having four people there gave us the opportunity to sample more of their food and drinks. To start, we had a sampler to try out some beers. Then we ordered beers – and this place offers something a bit unusual; they had pints for $5 but half-pints for $3 each. Since we were there in part to try the beer, a few of us got half-pints. The “I heart Oregon ale” was probably the favorite of the table. It featured a very balanced flavor profile and had all local ingredients. Like many pale ales it was mildly bitter and slightly hoppy. The amber ale was also terrific. It featured a slightly more malty flavor. Note in the picture below how the IPAs were quite dark and hoppy. Also tasty.

While many micro-brews are mostly just about the beer, the food at Standing Stone was also solid. rch and a friend split a chicken, garlic, & cream sauce pizza while mh and a friend both got burgers. The pizza was good, not great, but the burgers were excellent. Great garlic fries, though maybe a touch too garlicky. We also had some excellent sweet potato fries, good Brussels sprouts, and one other appetizer that neither of us can remember.  Great experience and it was not surprising that it was pretty packed throughout the evening when we were there. Only downside, from the perspective of a Celtics fan following Game 5 against the Heat – no TVs.

We then traveled across OR-140E about 80 miles or so to Klamath Falls. While we did not have much time in Klamath Falls, we did get to stop at the The Creamery/KIamath Basin Brewing Company (located on the site of an old creamery – note the sign below).

The Creamery is a relatively new micro-brewer in the heart of Klamath Falls, OR (rch’s hometown). She remembers when it was an actual creamery, complete with giant milk carton standing on the roof next to the cow, but hadn’t been back since they remodeled. We arrived there with very little time to spare – only about 45 minutes between events. It did not disappoint. rch ordered a Crystal Springs IPA. It was tasty – not too hoppy but great flavor, and again made with mostly local ingredients. mh ordered the sampler, which was inexpensive and included eight generous pours of KBBC beers. Great value and delicious beers. The Crater Lake Amber Ale, the “flagship” beer of the KBBC was especially good. The bar also had solid dark beers like the vanilla porter and chocolate-smelling stout. We did not get to sample the food, but we were generally impressed. The bar had several large TVs and advertised that they have NFL Sunday Ticket, a huge plus during the football season. Below is a picture of the “tasting”.