Photo: BridgePort Brewing Co.
Sadly, I must break her latte-loving heart. Stumptown, I explain, is Portland's old nickname, so-called because the stumps of the trees felled to create roads lingered behind. She nods, crestfallen. "Don't be bummed," I say, pointing to the beer's label featuring a swimsuit-clad pin-up model surrounded by raspberries, "this is even better."
Released this month, Stumptown Tart is BridgePort's category-busting fruit beer. Don't be frightened by the fruit. Stumptown results from the skillful blending of two batches of Belgian-style Tripels. One batch rested in French-oak chardonnay and pinot noir barrels for a year, while another unaged batch was brewed with Oregon-grown raspberries. "The beer's tartness comes from the fruit," says head brewer Karl Ockert, "not from lactobacillus or acidophilus" -- yeasts that create super-sour flavors.

If you purchase beer on a regular basis, you've probably noticed an uptick in the number of fruity beers (and I'm not talking about Schmitts Gay). Fruit flavors such as lime, blueberry and strawberry have been invading the suds on our shelves at an alarming rate, and even the big boys are getting in on the action: this summer America's #1 selling beer, Bud Light, introduced Bud Light Lime and Warsteinner (who takes great pride in brewing according to the German Purity of Law of 1516) introduced "Premium Mixes" consisting of 60% beer and a 40% mixture flavored as Orange, Lemon or... achem... Cola.







