GoodLife Brewing's "Descender IPA"

GoodLife Brewing's "Descender IPA" Label

I recently discovered GoodLife Brewing's "Descender IPA" at our local supermarket. In the Portland area, you can find it at the Thriftway market in Hillsboro and at the New Seasons Markets. This brew won the "People's Choice" second place award in KLCC radio's Microbrew Festival in Eugene, OR this year, where fifty-five craft brewers served up over 120 brews.

The GoodLife Brewery and Bier Hall are located in beautiful Bend, OR. There is an attached, spacious Beirgarten where you can enjoy a brew outdoors. Brewery tours are held on Fridays and Saturdays.

Right now, this is my favorite IPA. I am no beer tasting expert, so I don't know how to put the taste, the finish, and what-not into technical terms, but I can just say, If you are an IPA fan, try it, I think you'll like it. If you're not an IPA fan, give it a try anyway, you might change your mind.

Captured By Porches Microbrews

I was shopping at our local Orenco Station New Seasons Market a couple of months back, and, as always, made a pass through the beer cooler aisle... A couple of beers in big stoppered bottles caught my eye. Actually, what really got my attention was the brandname: Captured by Porches Brewing Company. "Captured by Porches?" What could that mean? The label had these funky graphics depicting what looked like a starling... is this bird being held in captivity on the brewer's porch, or something? Well, I didn't know, but I thought it was cool and different, so I grabbed a bottle to try it out, and am glad I did.

The Captured by Porches Brewing Company is located in St. Helens, OR, just up the road aways north of Portland on the Columbia River. Or, from Hillsboro, north over Cornelius Pass Road to Hwy. 30.

The first brew I tried was their "Invasive Species" IPA, which you see in the picture here, the bottle with the yellow label with starling, which is, of course, an invasive species.  Back at New Seasons again a week or so later, I bought a bottle of their "Rebecca's Divine Wit" wheat beer. If you look closely at the picture here, you may be able to see that the bird is holding a pair of handcuffs in its beak... some side text on the label says that the beer is "dedicated to our Aunt Becky, who has since been acquitted and released." Sounds like there's more to that story... but anyway, I really enjoyed both brews and will be back as a regular customer.

The company's website tells us that Captured by Porches started out as a for-fun community brewing project that morphed into a company that supports the founders' family now. The website is very good. 

Here's something really cool they do: They've got a "Mobile Public Haus" brew bus, which serves up beer at various venues around Portland, even at the Kruger Farm Market out on the awesomely beautiful Sauvie Island. You can even bring your own bucket or mason jar and get it filled up. Also, note that the stoppered bottles may be returned to the place of purchase for a $1 deposit refund... Captured by Porches washes the bottles and refills them.