Field Trip: Fort George Brewing Company (Astoria, Oregon)

The name "Fort George" may be familiar to some of you who have read my blog. Over the past few years, my brother has sent me a handful of beers by Fort George, some of which I have reviewed on this blog: "Java the Hop" IPA and "Quick Wit" witbier. On my vacation, after spending a few days hiking the rainforest and glacier valleys of the Olympic Peninsula, we drove 200 miles south to Astoria to check out Fort George. They have a huge building situated a few blocks south of the waterfront in Astoria.

The inside is divided into a few different areas, with the main bar downstairs, a bakery sharing the other half of the footprint, and upstairs their restaurant portion. Off to the right of this picture there's a small outbuilding, which houses their specialty taproom and a place for lawn games.

The view from the first floor bar.

Here's the downstairs bar menu. I've tried quite a few of the presented offerings in cans, but nothing on draft.

Fortunately, one of the bartenders poured us some samples:

Here we had four of their most popular beers - the "Beta 9.0" (4.5% ABV IPA), the "Plazm" (a 6.5% ABV farmhouse ale), the "Divinity" (5.1% ABV fruit ale) and the "Nut Red" (5.1% ABV red ale.) I wasn't looking to review them individually, just to enjoy the spread. Although I did learn that the adjacent taproom had a wider variety of beers on tap, including a few that looked really interesting,  so we ducked in to see what they had. I saw on their menu they had a stout made with truffles; so naturally I had to try that. The bartender came over and asked us what we wanted - he kindly poured us a row of 8 oz schooners:

From left to right, they are:

• "Truffle Shuffle Stout" - a 7.3% ABV stout made with truffle mushrooms. It was tasty, but I couldn't necessarily taste the truffles. But then again, truffle is a delicate flavor, and expensive, so there probably wasn't a huge bunch of truffles tossed in. Anyways - smooth, tasty, with notes of chicory.
• "Anne, Are You Oak Aged?" - I think this was the one that did me in for the night. It's probably the most unusual beer I've ever tried, and it was amazing! It's a 9.7% ABV scotch ale / wee heavy aged in bourbon barrels. It tastes more like a cross between an ale and a pinot noir, to be honest. It's very strong, sweet, and has a syrupy mouthfeel. Very warming and heavy, and definitely high gravity. 
• "Spruce Budd" - a 4.9% ABV ale made with absolutely no hops, only 2-row malt and spruce tips. Kinda reminds me of the Yards' "Tavern Spruce" but lighter and less herbal. Still tasty, would be interested in getting it in cans someday. It's like a Christmas soda - clearer than expected.
• "Eat a Peach" - 6.8% ABV kettle soured peach beer. Powerfully fruity, only a little sour, and good, because it's light. Like a sparkling white wine in terms of sugarey-ness. Great for a summer's day.

I think that was enough for one day! I had a great time at the brewery and the bar staff were all super nice. I can't speak highly enough of the atmosphere. Everyone who works there was very welcoming, happy to pour samples, and were attentive enough without being annoying. They have really good people at Fort George and I'll be sure to come back next time I'm in Astoria. I also grabbed a few bombers of their specialty, brewery-only beer - more to come on that later!