BREW

In fairly recent months I came across a new IPA:  Hop Valley Brewing Co.'s Alphadelic IPA (Springfield/Eugene, OR)  Ever since that first bottle I've fallen in love with this beer.  The hop profile is strong - both on the nose and palate - but still brilliantly balanced on the malt end without straying from what a big Northwest IPA should be.

I had heard/read about these guys having an Imperial IPA out but had yet to come across it...until today.  The Alpha Centauri Imperial IPA is a great bigger brother to the Alphadelic.  Just a phenomenal ale that is clean and crisp and never shows the punch of 9% ABV on the tongue.  

A lot of respect for this brewery so far and can't wait to try more of their craft as production and distribution increases -- especially when you can get me that excited right off the bat with a couple of really high quality IPAs.

Cheers!

2011 - My Year In Wine

My wine consumption in 2011 was greater than any other year to date.  It was an exciting one, too, with some real gems opened, and some nice surprises.  Looking back I thought I drank a lot more Syrah this year than anything else, but that may not be the case.  Syrahs were definitely up, however.  I really started to drink more and more of it in 2010, and fell in love with it.  I was sure I drank a lot less Pinot Noir last year, but as I comprised my list of bottles consumed, I did pretty well with that grape.  And actually, the first major bottle opened for the year was a 2006 Archery Summit Pinot Noir - Arcus Estate.  It was the bottle Cate and I popped when she was ready to drink again after giving birth.  Boy, did we make a nice choice!

Then, of course, there's Cabernet.  Always there when you need it.  Mostly from California, but I've recently begun to explore Washington (for Syrahs, too)  For Christmas eve dinner, we opened five bottles, four of which were WA wines.  The WA cabs really have their own flavor.  I am excited to drink a lot more from there and hope to get up north and visit some of the wine regions soon.

Following is a list of wines I drank in 2011.  I'm sure to leave a few out.  I'll start with my Top 5, then everything else:

(1)  2005 Clarendon Hills Syrah Moritz  (96 pts)
      - Had three bottles of this throughout the year, and have two more left in the cellar.  Really didn't know what to expect when I originally purchased just a single bottle the first time back in April.  It blew me away over two nights.  Then in October when my brother visited, we opened another one and somehow it was better.  An incredible, huge wine that I need more of in the cellar because the two sleeping in there are taunting me.

(2)  2006 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Arcus Estate  (96 pts)
      - Like I said above, this was our first big bottle opened after the baby was born.  When I poured this into the decanter in the kitchen, the aromas filled the house.  Probably the most aromatic wine I've ever smelled.  When it hit its peak I was sure it was the greatest wine I'd tasted to date, and confirmed my love for Pinot.  And this particular vineyard has always been my favorite.  Sadly, I only have one bottle left.

(3)  2001 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Franc  (94 pts)
       - This was actually a friend's bottle that he was very generous in opening with us.  It was a complete surprise.  I had never drank a straight Cab Franc before this.  Consumed with some great homemade burgers, the two really complimented each other.  This, too, was a real treat to sniff.  Because of this bottle I want to seek out some more Cab Francs.

(4)  2007 Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon  (94 pts)
       - I had been eyeing this one on the store shelves for a while, so when it went on sale and came down $20 or so, I had to jump on one.  Planned on laying it down for a couple years, but a special occasion arose and I decided this would fit.  Glad I did.  Like most '07 Napa Cabs I've had, this was ready to drink.  Simply put, this was a beautiful bottle of wine.  Received another one as a gift, but no promises as to how long it will last.

(5)  2006 Col Solare  (94 pts)
       -  A bordeaux blend from Washington state, made from over 70% Cab Sauv.  Really well made and interesting and delicious.  We opened during my brother's visit in October.  I really need to get more of this.


Well, that's my Top 5, now everything else. (in no particular order):

2000 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Bella Oaks (CA)
2005 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon (CA)
2007 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon (CA)
2006 Silverado Zinfandel (CA)
2007 Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon (CA)
2007 Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon (CA)
2007 Montes Alpha Syrah (Chile)
2006 William James Cellars Syrah Hampton Family Vineyard (CA)
2007 Abacela Garnacha (OR)
2006 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Arcus Estate (OR)
2006 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Archery Summit Estate (OR)
2006 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Looney Vineyard (OR)
2007 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Premier Cuvee (OR)
2008 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Premier Cuvee (OR)
2007 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (WA)
2009 Owen Roe Syrah Ex Umbris (WA)
2007 Dunham Cellars Trutina (WA)
2007 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Estate Grown (OR)
2008 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (CA)
2008 Frog's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon (CA)
2007 John Duval Wines Plexus (AU)
2008 Evening Land Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard "La Source" (OR)
2010 Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling Cold Creek Vineyard (WA)
2007 DeLille Cellars Doyenne Aix (WA)
2009 A to Z Wineworks Pinot Noir (OR)
2009 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier (CA)
2010 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier  (CA)
2008 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon H3 (WA)
2009 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon H3 (WA)
2008 Columbia Crest Merlot H3 (WA)
2007 Efeste Final-Final (WA)
2007 Spangler Petite Sirah "The Terraces" (OR)
2004 Clarendon Hills Syrah Liandra (AU)
2004 Shingleback Shiraz Show Reserve (AU)
2007 La Bastide Saint-Dominique Chateauneuf-du-Pape (FR)
2007 Domaine La Roquette Chateauneuf-du-Pape (FR)

The D

The Lower Deschutes River has, for years, frustrated me.  From the first day I fished it I felt like I had no idea what I was doing, even when I was always targeting trout, and in the last couple years - Steelhead. It's a big river that can be intimidating.

Yet, over the past two or three years I've slowly begun to figure it out. SLOWLY.  I hooked and lost my first steelhead on the first day of a two day float in October '09.  On a few days in 2010, I had some amazing trout action. And later that year landed my first Deschutes steelhead on a cold December day.  In 2011, I didn't fish it as much as I had planned.  But on a day float on October 2nd, standing in the same spot where I hooked that first fish two years earlier, I hooked a really hot steelhead - so hot, in fact, that I thought it might be a chinook.  With the help of a friend that was just along for the ride in the boat, I landed the 30.5" hatchery hen.

Salmonfly

Now that another season has come and gone, I very much look forward to the upcoming year on this amazing river.  Including trout from April until the start of the steelhead run.  And the Salmonfly/Golden Stonefly hatch in May, dodging crowds trying to hook big trout on these big dry flies.  Unfortunately, I was not able to fish this famous hatch in 2011, but I fished it for the first time in 2010 and had maybe the best day of fishing in my life.




So I say goodnight to "The D" for a few months, as I spend some time at the fly-tying bench getting ready for a wonderful new year on a world-class river right in my backyard that people travel from around the world to fish and float.

Swinging a fly through "Luelling"

Two-A-Days

So, since I've been totally slacking in the fly tying department this year, I've made a commitment:  two flies every night I'm home.  Trout, Steelhead, anything.  Last night was Night 1:

BLUE HOLE

Every year, on the fourth Saturday in May -- which falls on the 28th this year -- the headwaters of the Deschutes River become open to fishing.  I've always referred to this section as "Blue Hole", although the actual Blue Hole is really only one part of it.  This year is the first year that I missed the opener since we found this wonderful piece of river.

Josh and I first discovered this amazing place through our friend T.J. who heard about it while eavesdropping at a local fly shop.  Can't thank T.J. enough for that move!  We found it pretty easily, and found the big honey hole of Brook Trout after a hike downstream through a trail of downed lodgepole pine.  We were awed at  how many fish were stacked-up in there.  Before even making a cast, it seemed we would just be able to throw a fly in the water and one of these fish would hammer it every time.  We quickly realized this was not the case.  Not even close, in fact.  

I barely remember those first couple visits there.  I know I didn't catch fish at first, and I also remember the mosquitoes could be horrendous.  Since then, I've caught loads of fish - not only in that Brookie hole, but upstream in the Blue Hole as well.  

A monster lives there.

The Blue Hole is more lake-like;  better fished from a float tube or boat.  It gets pretty deep in spots.  I would have to estimate 20-25' at its deepest, but that is a complete guess.  The techniques used here are many:  woolly buggers or other streamers cast as far as you can throw and stripped in;  nymphs on a sinking line or on a floating line under a strike indicator (both close to the banks and out in the depths);  and dry flies.  When the timing is right and all the stars line up and you hit a good hatch, it can be the absolute best fishing I've ever come across.  A few years ago, we took a friend up there who had never even so much as held a fly rod before.  The Blue-Winged Olive hatch that day was that of dreams!  Our friend hooked a few fish and even landed a couple.  I landed at least a dozen big Rainbows that day and missed or lost at least that many more.

As I said, I don't really remember the first trips up there.  However, I remember just about every other one like it was yesterday... I remember Josh hooking a monster of a Rainbow in the Brookie hole, and when I tried to land it, the fish swam in towards the bank, the leader crossed my chest and broke off.  I felt so bad I went back to the truck to sleep.  While I was gone, Josh hooked that same fish again and this time landed it with the help of a couple friendly fly fishermen...

I remember taking my float tube into the "lagoon" just upstream of the Brookie hole and catching a very solid, strong Brookie on a white woolly bugger.  It was a great fight!  After releasing this fish I got out of my float tube and ran downstream to tell Troy what happened.  I gave him my set-up and he jumped into that float tube -- first cast (I believe) hooked a torpedo that ran hard.  And then ... gone.  Would have loved to see that fish.

When I cast a big olive Woolley as far as I could throw, and hooked and landed a 24" rainbow from my boat.  What a fish that was!

The time Drew and I were in my little drift boat and lost an oar that slipped out of its locks during a frantic beginning to a classic BWO hatch.  I had to row around for the entire next day with a single oar.

So many good times up there....

Fish camp '08

'08 - Had to dig my way in for opening weekend.

Last fish of 2010 - 09/26/10

It's a truly special place.  And one that is the venue of a lot of my fishing memories.  I can't wait to fish it again!

Bullied

Today ended my longest drought between fishing days in recent memory.  My last time out was late December, I think the 28th.  Drew and I headed out to the Metolius River around 6:30 a.m.  I'll immediately spare the suspense - I caught nothing.  And Drew, well close to nothing.  I attribute the skunking to the lack of an "Inducer" (sausage & egg McMuffin) on the way out.  And the fact that we didn't get beer.  Fishing and no beer.  What the hell kind of fishing trip is this??

I did get to swing with my spey rod in one of my favorite pieces of water ever - the Dolly Hole.  We were chucking huge, 5-6" whitefish imitations, certain that we'd land some monster Bull Trout.  Just as we started talking about moving on to the next spot, Drew hooked up.  And it was big!

At some point during the fight, we think, this fish had spit the barbless hook and got re-hooked on the side near its dorsal fin.  Drew then had to literally drag the fish in the rest of the way.  The fly popped out  just as I was rolling up my sleeves to land it.  I'm glad I didn't have to stick my arms in the frigid water.

We barely got another sniff the rest of the day.  Even up at Allingham bridge where a whitefish hook-up is almost required.  The water at Allingham has changed since our last visit here in October.  I believe there was a blow-out in the river in early January that pushed the tip of the "New Snag" downstream.

The large Ponderosa in the river used to be almost perpendicular with the far bank.

Also, one of my other favorite holes is still changing.  An alder that had fallen straight into the middle of the sweet spot has slowly started to uproot more and will soon be swept downstream:

Overall, it was a slow, but beautiful day on The Metolius, as most days are here.  I got out and that's about all I can ask for these days.  Some more photos:

Drew working the bridge hole

The fly we used to target the Bull Trout

An important but underused part of my quiver: Winston Vapor #8

Looking upstream at Allingham Bridge

Oregon's Imperial (IPA) Empire

Hops.  Give me hops.  And then give me more.  Drown me in hops.  Well, there's probably a limit somewhere but I love my hops.  I used to be a porter and stout guy and it's probably been the 10+ years of living in the northwest that has turned me into a hop-head.  If you make an IPA and I haven't tried it yet, I'm gonna get it sooner rather than later.  My first pint of Bend Brewing Co.'s Elk Lake IPA more than a decade ago grabbed me.  What a beautiful beer.  And for years it, to me, was the perfect beer - and definitely sits somewhere in my top-five favorite ales.

Then, BBC came out with their HopHead Imperial IPA.  It was a game-changer.  Every chance I got, like many many other hop-heads in Bend, I found myself at the bar down on Brooks St. either drinking the stuff or asking when the next batch was coming out with a fist-full of regular old Elk Lake like a bunch of spoiled children.  Poor us.  And if they were pouring HopHead, it was (is) best to limit yourself to two, maybe three and only if you were having dinner there and either had a ride home or a bike.  Today I try to stop myself at one of these 9% ABV beasts.  It's better for everyone.

HopHead ruled my taste buds forever, with it's floral, citrusy, hoppy, 100 IBU ... gloriousness...

In the last few years, there's been some new dogs in town.  In particular, Ninkasi, which is actually out of Eugene.  They make, among others:  Oatis, an incredible Oatmeal Stout;  Total Domination IPA, a very good NW IPA;  and Tricerahops Double IPA, like HopHead, a 100 IBU monster.  Tricerahops blew me away when I first tried it.  I immediately thought that this was my new love.  It's very different from Hophead - not nearly the hoppy, bitter flavor that HopHead brings.  But well rounded, smooth, and not as strong tasting as the 8.8% ABV might suggest.  One of these days I have to get over to Eugene and try one of these on draught.  As far as I know the only way to enjoy this in Bend is in 22 oz. bottles.

It's been a little while since I've had a pint of HopHead at the pub, but lucky for us fans, they now sell 22s of it.  I bought one the other day, came home and popped it.  Oh yeah, it's still king.  It's just that much better than Tricerahops, and it's actually not even close.  As far as I'm concerned this is the IPA to which all others are compared.  And Elk Lake after that.  Which is to say a lot because there are some really great IPAs around.  Bridgeport's Hop Czar Imperial IPA (as well as their original IPA), Deschutes' Red Chair NWPA, Lagunitas Maximus, just to name a few.

It's good to be a hop-head! Cheers!

SLOW and LOW

Most recently - inspired by my brother, mother, and memories of my grandfather - I've been making a lot of chicken stock.  It's nice having it around and in the freezer.  It can be used in so much.  One of my favorites that in the past I've done with store bought broth, is slow-cooking a pork shoulder roast in the stock.  Very simple, and also with this, there is a ton you can do.  And now looking through my photos I realize I deleted the ones of the roast going into the oven .... oh well, here are some others:

The latest batch

Spicy Pork tacos w/ onion, lime, & cilantro
 

L: White bean & Pork chili   R: White bean & Chicken

White bean & Pork chili

Killin' Time

This is a little video I made back in late November while getting ready for some December steelheading on the Deschutes.  I actually touched a few fish with this guy, and landed one.

Spring Hope

March is upon us.  The first day of Spring in less than three weeks away.  Here in Central Oregon this doesn't mean much as far as weather is concerned.  We could still see a lot of winter in the next few months.  You just never know.  Yet I feel hopeful.  While my winter steelhead season ended before it even began, I still have my sights set on some fisheries closer to home:  The Metolius, for instance, a river in which I haven't wet a line for months and months.  And the lower Deschutes trout season at the end of April.  My annual trip to the upper Deschutes at the end of May.

Mott Bridge, North Umpqua River

Oregon is known, at least in the fishing world, for having an endless season.  One could essentially catch a steelhead somewhere in this state in every month of the year.  Winter used to be "my" season.  Now I just look forward to it being over.  I guess as the years go by, standing in 30-something degree water in leaky waders loses its appeal.  As if it really ever had any.  The appeal, perhaps, was having the river to myself.  There aren't that many more knuckleheads out there - or not enough to crowd a river in a driving cold rain.   And if you're camping - UGH!  Not only are you thinking about the skunking you're likely to suffer, but your mind keeps going back to camp and hoping that there isn't two inches of water sitting in your tent.  Or if the firewood stayed dry.  Just because it's covered doesn't mean much.

Oh, but Spring ... The days getting longer.  A little more sun on the water, well, if it's not still raining!  Beer tastes better, and isn't so freaking cold in your hand anymore.  Overall, there just seems to be more hope.  Is there?  Depends on where you are and what you're after.  Spring has a light at the end of its tunnel.  There's the actual possibility of it being warm out.  Sure, you felt "hardcore" during those harsh days of winter.  But "stupid" probably explains it more closely.

                                                            ____________________

It's also time to start thinking about the garden.  My veggie garden didn't do so well last year.  One tomato plant survived a late-June frost and actually produced some great fruit.  It left me impressed with the Oregon Spring Bush variety, which are great for shorter growing seasons.  With some better planning and preparation this coming season, I'm hoping for a huge yield.  While you're not going to enjoy the fruits of your Spring labor for quite some time, the thoughts of a big vat of fresh tomato sauce or fresh garden salad give you a lot to look forward to.

Lessons learned from last year:  Keep an eye on the weather report and no matter how hopped up you are on vicodin, you MUST get out and cover the garden when the overnight low is going to be 28º;  you probably don't need 40 leeks;  you probably don't need 40 onions;  keep the dog and cat out of the thing;  cover the garden when it's gonna be 28º!


                                                            _____________________

One thing we started to do last spring/summer before we found out my wife was pregnant, was make more trips to the Oregon coast so she can get some surfing in.  Part of the beauty of this idea is to hit wine country on the way.  This year if we decide to try this again, I'm definitely going to do more crabbing.  I always say I could eat dungeness crab only for the rest of my life and be very happy (who wouldn't!).  Pair this with some nice Oregon Pinot Noir and I'm in heaven.  This is why I love Oregon -- a trip to the coast in a weekend can bring fishing, wine tasting, surfing, crabbing, camping ... and well yes, rain.

Yep, Spring is in the air and Summer is just around the bend - even if there's still a foot of snow on the ground.  Technically, it is one of the four seasons.  But it really feels like a fight between Winter and Summer.  I'm rooting hard for Summer to win in the early rounds.