As part of my ridiculous beer journey, my traveling companions and I stopped into Base Camp Brewing for the first time. I'd had a few of their beers in the past, but didn't remember much about what I tasted.
The bar and tasting area are cozy, with an emphasis on wood and outdoorsy activities. There was a good mix of patrons, young and old. A couple of interesting food carts were parked outside - I don't remember the exact offerings, but definitely some sort of Asian/Latin fusion that sounded quite good.
As always, the beer is paramount, and I'm sad to say that I didn't find Base Camp's offerings to be all that wonderful. There was great variety and some interesting experimentation, but these tended to misfire more often than not. Some highlights:
Camp George DunkelHef. A collaboration with Fort George, this was easily the most interesting and remarkable beer on offer. As the name implies, this is a dunkelweizen - but the catch is, it's hopped in the PNW style. So there's this strange and compelling blend of juicy, piney hops and smoky, wheaty malt.
Hop in the Pool Helles. A cleanly malted helles lager with a really piney hop kick. It's overhopped in true Oregon style, but I enjoyed its lack of subtlety just the same.
S'more Stout. A definite winner for presentation - this beer was served with a toasted marshmallow as garnish, which actually works pretty well with the beer. It's chocolate-heavy, sweet, and malty, with not much going on in the way of hops. In a way, it's unbalanced in the opposite direction as the helles lager.
Base Camp's one of those breweries I respect more than I like. The branding is pretty well done, and I really like their innovative aluminum bottles. I just wish their beer were a little bit better.
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