Drank: Imperial Pray for Snow (10 Barrel Brewing)

Bend's 10 Barrel Brewing is locked and loaded, with the busiest of the many brewpubs at the foot of Mount Bachelor and plans to open a sister spot in Boise manned with talent poached from other Oregon operations. Sadly, the bombers that find their way over the Cascades to Portland are a disappointment. The standard IPA and the S1NIST0R Black Ale you'll see around town aren't anything special. Turns out they're holding the good stuff back, pouring it only around the brewpub's big stone fire pit. Take the Imperial Pray for Snow. How do you bring a winter warmer with 8 percent alcohol and 75 bitterness units into perfect balance? By using a base made of eight different malts of barley and giving it four months in brandy barrels, apparently. There's a subdued sweetness of vanilla and candied fruit matched splendidly with earthy wood flavors. This beer is worth the haul—maybe even to Idaho. Recommended.

WWeek 2015

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