Fort George beer dinner at Venti's Cafe, Salem this Sunday

By John Foyston, The Oregonian

October 15, 2009, 12:55PM

Jack Harris and Chris Nemlowill in front of the Fort George chalk board, the best in the bizz...

Chris Nemlowill says there are still a few tickets left, so give the cafe a call...this menu certainly sounds worth the drive to Salem, and we know the beer will be sublime.

6-9pm October 18th from Venti's Cafe, 325 Court St NE, Salem;$40, call first, 503-399-8733.

Appetizer: Braised tornado of lamb and grilled salmon mousseline, paired with Vortex IPA

Salad: Frisee, radicchio, watercress, & arugula, tomato with salt pork lardons and fresh croutons with a Divinity Ale vinagrette, paired with Divinity Ale

Entree: Duck Fat braised short ribs with a lamb and stout beer demi & celery root puree, paired with Cavatica Stout

Dessert: Chocolate Torte paired with Coffee Girl Espresso Stout.

More information here.

Beer Descriptions:

Vortex IPA

India Pale Ales’s were designed to withstand the long voyage to India. Today, it seems one has to design the IPA strong and hoppy enough to make the trip back as well. Vortex IPA is Fort George’s first foray into this strong beer category. With generous additions of Cascade, Simcoe and Palisade hops throughout the brewing, fermentation and conditioning phases, balanced with heaps of organic pale malt, we designed this to not rip your tastebuds off your tongue, but rather vigorously stimulate them and your palate into a lupulinecstacy of pleasure.

During the cross-country truck trip our brewery made to find it’s home in Astoria it was nearly scattered to the cornfields of Nebraska by a tornado. We try to capture some of nature’s intensity in every pint.

If that doesn’t give you some idea of what this beer is about, here are the numbers.

ABV 7.7% IBU 97

Ingredients:

Cascade Hops

Simcoe Hops

Palisade Hops

Organic Gambrinus Pale Malt

Victory Malt

40L Crystal Malt

NW Ale Yeast

Divinity

Brewers use raspberries in fruit beer because they work so well. Tart and crisp, the essence easily moves into the beer without cloying sweetness. The brewers at Fort George were seeking something unique so delved into the O.S.U. Ag department's archives to discover the Olallieberry - a hybrid of Logan and Youngberry, each of which is a cross between blackberry, raspberry and dewberry. Huge and sweet with blood-red juice, yet fragile and easily bruised, these berries never found a commercial market in their whole form, but as a jam, wine and now for the first time a beer they have found Divinity.

5.2% abv, IBU's = (international berry units) off the scale.

ingredients:

Organic Gambrinus Pale Malt

Organic Gambrinus Malted Wheat

40lbs Olallieberry

Hoegaarden Wit Yeast

Cavatica Stout

An immense, bold, black as night, American stout beauty; Cavatica is no dry Irish anything. Made in the tradition of terminator, except stronger, one sip and you will surely take notice to what you’re drinking.

The name honors this brewer’s affinity with Arachnia. Be forewarned, this beer will stain your clothes.

SG @ 1078

TG @ 1012

ABV 8.8%

Ingredients:

8 Different Malts.

Palisade Hops

Mt. Rainer Hops

Coffee Girl Imperial Stout

Russian Imperial Stout conditioned on ten pounds of freshly roasted then french press ground espresso beans from Coffee Girl Cafe in Astoria, Oregon.

This beer was featured on the cover of the living section in the Oregonian on Valentines day 2008

ABV 9.6%

Ingredients:

9 different Malts.

lots of Oatmeal

Tons of Malasses.

10IBLS CG Espresso