Feature Articles

• Ode to Summer

  

  Having made it through one of the wettest spring’s on record (are we at all surprised?), it’s finally time to wipe down the patio furniture, fire up the grill, and soak up some sun. Fortunately, Northwest dwellers are used to battling seven months of damp, unpredictable weather in anticipation of a few months of sunny bliss. Everyone loves a good backyard barbecue throw-down, but there are some things-an unbeatable sunset, illuminated patios, or killer mountain views-that are best experienced elsewhere. Check out Beer Northwest's outdoor drinking destinations for 2010.

• A Tale of Two Portlands

  

  Portland, Oregon man be the “City of Roses,” but let’s be honest. Readers of Beer Northwest know it by another identity: perennial shoo-in for Beer Capital of the World. Closer to my home in Denver, Colorado, the title of Beer Capital is a matter of never ending debate: Denver (naturally), Milwaukee, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, even San Diego vie for the honors. But Portland, Oregon always remains a contender for the top spot, and rightfully so.

• The Beer Down Here: New Zealand's Craft Beer Renaissance

  

  In 2004, 20-years-old and fresh off the plane from Massachusetts, I strolled into my first Auckland, New Zealand backpacker pub with one mission: to order my first legal beer, ever. None of the beers on tap looked even vaguely familiar, with names like Tui, Speights, and Monteiths, so I tried to act sophisticated and asked for the darkest beer on tap. It was a Monteith’s Black, a far cry from the Natty Ice and Bud Lite of the college parties I’d just left behind, and it was one of the most delicious beers I’d ever tasted.

• Spanish Siren

  

  About a year ago, my husband and I received a 22-inch steel paella pan as a belated wedding gift, a kind and generous present we hadn’t requested. Too big for the stove, oven, or any cupboard, we stored the flat two-handled pan on top of the fridge. Sometimes the pan would speak to me as I gulped orange juice from the carton. “Use me,” it begged. But paella, a traditional Spanish rice dish that’s best cooked over wood fire or charcoal, had always seemed as time-consuming as roasting a whole pig.