In the den of a mad scientist

Well maybe not “den” exactly.  Backyard of a mad scientist?  Dammit, let me start over.  I’m at the Green Dragon and the mad scientist in question is Ron Gansberg, brewer at Cascade Brewing here in Portland (technically Hillsdale I suppose) who has something of a reputation for…shall we say, experimentation.  Sure, he brews an IPA and a pale and a wheat and a stout, but I’ve always gotten the impression that his brewery is like a mafia front or a speakeasy–the outside is just for show, but say the passphrase and you go in the back where all the good stuff is.  For example, right now I’m drinking a sour double Belgian ale fermented with cherries.  In he past he’s brewed watermellon ales, apricot krieks, sour Flanders-style reds, and pretty much every combination therein.  He loves fruit, and his specialty ales are certainly worth the effort he puts in.  I’m sure if he could get by only brewing the specialty stuff he would, but you have to occasionally cater to the masses.  Hanne’s been on a sour beer kick lately and she’s pretty disappointed she can’t be here tonight.  I told her to ditch class, but since she did that last night, I think she decided not to become a complete truant her last term of law school.

Perhaps a trip to Raccoon Lodge, home of Cascade Brewing, is in short order.  We’ll bus it there.  Or get a ride.  Either way, no way either Hanne or I will be driving that evening if his tap selection is decent.

I decided that it was all right to treat myself to a couple of beers tonight since I went for a run after work, but then again, days I don’t run certainly don’t really stop me from having a beer or two.  I was fully aware that it had been a few weeks since my last run, too, and I have a feeling I’ll be stiff tomorrow.  It’s not that I’m out of shape (which I kind of am), but those muscles tend to lose something if you don’t use them frequently enough–faster than other muscles, it feels like.  I was also very aware of muscles in my back that I didn’t know I had.

The weather’s been so gorgeous here for the last few days that it’s almost made me forget the snowy winter and rainy last few weeks.  A couple of days of sun tend to do that.  On Saturday, Hanne and I went up to the Portland Farmer’s Market and walked away with some herbs and a few veggies in our possession.  I took the opportunity to buy a boneless leg of lamb and some fresh rosemary, and I made a nice roast for dinner that night along with some roasted veggies.  On Sunday we went over to my Dad’s house and had a good visit with my ailing grandmother and drank some beer with the family in the, but since Hanne had some work to do that night we had to beg out of dinner and head home early.  No worries–we went to Lucky Lab for some beer, chips and salsa and then picked up a Thai curry to enjoy for dinner.  Absolutely wonderful weather helped us along the way.  I have a feeling this summer is going to be a lot of fun now that we better know how to use our grill and make good use of our backyard space.

As a finale for the weekend’s lovely weather (although technically not weekend anymore, I’ll accept Monday’s weather as a weekend extension), yesterday Hanne blew off her evening class so that we might sit outside and have sandwiches and beer, but I convinced her we should fire up the BBQ and grill some dinner instead–which we did very successfully, as a matter of fact.  A grilled veggie and cheddar sandwich for her, a lamb burger on an olive ciabatta roll with hummus, red pepper, onion and feta for me.  Grilled asparagus on the side.  And beer of course, but what did you expect?

Hmmm.  Half a mug gone, perhaps I should look into pairing it with some food.