community
Another Round: More Words of Wisdom About Beer
By Scott Laird
“I’d take three things
to a desert island:
my wife, some barley
seeds, and lots of hop
resins.”
-- Fred Scheer - Frankenmuth Brewery
How about a Red Ale?--As a beer
drinker I often find myself thinking of
the change of seasons, not as winter to
summer, but as dark beer to lighter beer.
Winter is the time to drink the heavy
malted beers—the stouts and porters.
Summer is the time to drink those light
lagers and hoppy IPA’s. But what to do
in the spring and fall in between those
two seasons?
Well I stumbled upon one
solution for spring the other day--Red
Ales. The beer style known as Red Ale
seems to be a sort of a catch all for any
beer that falls between an Amber Ale
and those darker beers. Red Ales are
sort of a Pale Ale with generally more
malts and caramel flavoring. They are
based on the traditional Irish Red Ale,
which some experts really consider just
a variation of an English Bitter.
There are many varieties of Red
Ales now being brewed. Recently I found
something new by Pelican Brewing,
their Riptide Red Ale, a seasonal brew
they call an “Irish style Red Ale.” The
Riptide was a nice
medium copper color
with a thick cream
colored head.
It
gave off a slightly
caramel aroma and
had a malty and well
balanced flavor with
an extremely smooth
finish. I really enjoyed
this 22 oz. bottle
while relaxing on a chilled
spring evening.
Lompoc Brewing
has also released a 22
oz. bottle of Proletariat
Northwest Red Ale. Much
hoppier than the Riptide,
Lompac’s Red Ale is also
a medium copper color
with a less thick head. The
Proletariat was full bodied
and hoppy, although unlike
most of its northwest
brethren, this brew is not
overly hopped. At 6% ABV
this was very drinkable and
seems to be that perfect
spring crossover to take
you from those dark malts
to the summer IPA’s.
“I like lager beer, but the
beer does not like me.
april24
2012
11
Fifteen years ago
I could drink fifty
glasses of beer in
one day and never
get intoxicated and
have no headache
the next morning.
But it seems the
beer is changed.
If I drink eight
glasses of beer
of an evening my
head is ready to burst the next day....A
friend of mine told me he drank beer
freely at a picnic, and he was paralyzed
for three days....There is no other drink
I like better than lager beer, but the way
they make it is a humbug. In former
times they had a brewer to make beer,
but now they have a chemist.”
-- Letter to the Editor, New York Sun,
1882
On The Shelves: “Community Reads” Events Were A Success
The Vernonia Library recently
hosted two author events through the
“Vernonia Community Reads” program.
Both events were well attended and well
received by the audiences.
On April 10, Addie Boswell
read from her book The Rain Stomper,
with young readers. Ms. Boswell talked
about being a writer and led a drawing
exercise with a very attentive group.
On April 14 Craig Lesley vis-
ited Vernonia and discussed his writing
career, read a passage from his book
The Sky Fisherman, answered questions
from the audience, and signed his books.
Lesley, a three time winner of
the Pacific Northwest Booksellers As-
RE-ELECT
sociation Award, grew up in Madras,
OR. Two of his novels, The Sky Fish-
erman and Storm Riders were nomi-
nated for the Pulitzer Prize. He has
written four novels and one autobio-
graphical account of his relationship
with his father. His novels feature Or-
egon locales and history prominently
in his plot lines and many of the char-
acters in his stories are based on peo-
ple he has known in Oregon. He says
he is currently working on his fifth
novel, a mystery that revives his main
protagonist from his first two novels,
Addie Boswell, author of the children’s book, The Native American rodeo rider, Danny
Rain Stomper, took part in the “Everybody Reads” Kachiah.
program at the Vernonia Public Library.
In late March, as part of the
“Community Reads” program, Verno-
nia High School students met and dis-
cussed the book, The Hunger Games.
Many students created art work around
the story and discussion, which are cur-
rently on display at the Vernonia Library.
Above: Author Craig Lesley read from
his book, The Sky Fisherman at the
Vernonia Library.
Left: School students created art
inspired by the book The Hunger
Games which is on display at the
Vernonia Library
“Working Together To Get Things Done”
still isn’t just a campaign slogan to me
Working alongside my fellow county commissioners and the public,
my focus continues to be on what we can do as a team to improve the
quality of life for residents of our county.
Serving as a Columbia County Commissioner during these tough economic times can be
challenging, but I can also proudly point to key accomplishments:
• Worked with the Port of St. Helens and others, attracting businesses to our county such
as ORPET bottle recycling plant project, and PGE as they move to build a new power
plant at Port Westward.
• Worked with responsible parties, seamlessly transitioning our public health services
to a new foundation so residents didn’t have interruption of services.
• After three years of deliberations, the Courthouse Museum is again open for the public.
• Worked with the state on US-30 Highway safety corridor.
• Started education subcommittee getting driver safety
programs into our schools.
Working together, we can continue to make our
future brighter not just for us, but also for
future generations.
I’m asking for your vote and your support to continue
serving as your Columbia County Commissioner.
Paid for and authorized by the Committee to Elect Earl Fisher.
www.ElectEarlFisher.com
Vernonia’s Voice is
published twice each
month on the 2nd
and 4th Tuesday.
Look for our next
issue May 8th.