(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Did you know that next week is American Craft Beer Week? Neither did we, and it's hard to keep track of all of these special days/weeks/whatever when we celebrate various forms of beer.

Anyway! Things are happening in celebration of it:

First, No-Li is truly hitting it hard, putting up a pairing menu, which you can read right at CraftBeer.com. Some highlights include Silent Treatment mac & cheese, and a Jet Star shrimp cocktail. (We don't see many shrimp cocktails anymore, do we? It's time for it to make a comeback!)

Wednesday they have homebrew night at 5pm, and… Well, just read their site for the whole week's schedule. It's pretty big.

12 String will start revealing their special Craft Beer Week offerings today. Their Facebook page will have it all.

Saranac will feature ten breweries from the Inland Northwest Ale Trail on Tuesday.

Inlander brings word that Manito will be debuting the launch of Ramblin' Road's Belgian quad on May 15th, 6pm. Perry St's double IPA will be on tap on the 14th, same time.

And that's all we got. Send us a tweet if you know of anything else!

Oh, and the Perry Street Thursday Market starts up today. Go check them out.

Deschutes's name for its Stoic follow-up is an odd one. Not the Stoic? Is this an evolution of the previous Stoic, or is it part of «clever» marketing? Frankly, after having tried a pint at the Bend brewpub, I'm still uncertain. 

The main technical difference, from what I can see at Deschutes's website, is that the barrel aging used to be done in 16.5% pinot and whiskey barrells. Now, it's down to 15%. The ABV has also increased with 1%.

(I'm sure there is more to it, but that's what I could find during my three minute research.)

I haven't had the Stoic in a while, but I do recall it being good, though not awesome, when released. After a few years it aged very well, but, from what I have been told, it went downhill mere months later.

Who knows if that'll be the case with Not the Stoic, but here, in the present, it once again is good. Just not awesome.

It pours a very deep amber, with about a finger worth of head, looking very much like the quad it is. Sniff, and the expected fruitiness of a wine barrel aged beer hits you hard. Pomegranate molasses was also used during brewing, so yeah… It comes off pretty dang sweet, with just a bit of a booziness to hold it all in check.

Flavorwise, the balance remains. Fruity, sweet, yet with a bit of a kick to it. It's not super exciting, though certainly a good quad. A good quad, but also undoubtedly a quad.

Going by memory, it does seem a bit more barrel-y than the original Stoic. The wine seems a bit more present. And is it possibly somewhat smoother?

In that sense, I have great expectations as far as aging it will go.

I mean, really, buy bottles as soon as you see them. A taste of Not the Stoic today, and further ones over the years that come, is something you should treat yourself to. Just don't expect greatness at first sip.

Saranac's #Spiceawar Burger will forever be one of my personal favorite burgers. Not only because it was named after our illustrious spicy food contest, but man, the flavor punch it packed. Awesome.

Now, the regular Saranac burger is nothing to scoff at either: Esteemed panelist Patrick O'Halloran (you know him from the aforementioned #Spicewar) described it as an upscale backyard barbecue burger, and I think that's appropriate. There is nothing insanely fancy here, and we are just fine with that. Cheddar, bacon, mayo, and greens? Nice and simple.

The bacon in particular added a good kick to the palate. Not only was it flavorful; it also had that proper bite to it. Not too chewy, not too crispy.

Tillamook Cheddar is always a good choice, and here they used just the proper amount of it. Some places go too heavy on the cheese, but Saranac made it the supporting character actor it was born to play.

The lettuce might have been a bit wilted, but not in a slimy manner. We didn't need to pull it off, so it passed by an inch.

One point of debate for the panel was the patties themselves. They were perfectly cooked to order -- two medium-rares, one medium -- but were they flavorful enough? Our photographer found his patty lacking proper seasoning, something I cannot entirely agree with. Maybe he's just too sensitive of an artist? Either way, try and judge for yourself.

Finally, the bun stood the Franz's Comparison Test, no problem. Both flavorful and holdable (hey, that's important!), it clocked in at a higher standard than most we've seen in this great chase.

In the end, I think we're seeing sort of a divide in our little informal chart of the burgers…

1. Manito Tap House
2. Wisconsinburger
3. Saranac
4. Waddell’s
5. Churchill’s
6. Post St Ale House

… with the top three standing a good step above the rest. Technically Saranac's burger is in the middle of the list, but as the burgers keep coming in, it will be hard to knock it down much further. It's a great burger.

Photo courtesy of the Great Burger Chase’s official photography studio, Erick Doxey Photography.

So, here we have one that a lot of people have been waiting for. The Growler Guys is (as some would say) finally opening a Spokane location! The address will be 9329 N Newport, and we can only assume they will try to mooch off Total Wine's traffic. (Hey, it only makes sense.)

For those not familiar with the Growler Guys, they do pretty much what you'd expect: fill growlers. They tend to have a lot of taps -- as many as 40+ -- often of high quality. Check out their Richland location for examples.

Somewhat related: If you're interested in a beer club that's not really a beer club, we recommend Tavour.

The way it work is simple: there is no fee involved, simply sign up, and you will receive daily emails with beer-offers. Should you want to buy the wares, you add them to a cart of sort, and your combined order will be shipped at the end of the month. Shipping fee is flat.

It all works pretty smoothly, so give it a shot. It's not like it'll cost you anything.