On Mt Hood here in Oregon you can ski nearly year round. Sure, the skiing isn’t great in the summer, but you can do it if you want to. On the other hand, the winter skiing is quite good. When you’re coming off the slopes (and not driving all the way home!) it’s often time for a little warmth. Luckily just below the town of Government Camp is the Mt Hood brewery. It’s Oregon, after all. One of the greats on tap at Mt Hood is the Pittock Wee Heavy, named for Henry Pittock, an avid outdoorsman and the man who built the Oregonian newspaper into a dominant force. His stately home is still operated as a museum by the city of Portland. But back to the beer.

This one is in the Scotch style: heavy, malty and mildly hopped.  Alcohol content is quite high, but like all good beers with high alcohol content, you can’t tell immediately from the taste.  The brewery holds a portion of each batch to be aged and then blended back into a future batch.

Here in Oregon there are other pubs around the state that serve this gem of a beer, so if you’re not in Portland no fear, you may be able to find it locally. The brewery states that none of their beer is sold outside of the State of Oregon, much to the loss of the rest of the planet.  But if you’re in Oregon, and anywhere near Mt Hood, it’s worth the stop for the Pittock Wee Heavy if not the scenery alone.