Walking (Man) in the Gorge

   The Columbia River Gorge is one of those spectacular landscapes that a string of dams, grain barges, railroads, and I-84 can't put a serious dent in.  Stevenson, WA is right in the heart of the gorge; about fifty miles from Portland.  That's the only downside for its excellent Walking Man Brewery: the big Portland brewers keep picking off its talented brewers. (A stand-along website isn't coming up, but google will bring up rave reviews on a number of review sites.)
    They make the beer in the basement of a house (not sure what is going on upstairs):

   They have garnered a good deal of rep with their Homo Erectus Imperial IPA (9% abv).  As I was driving the twisty WA 14 on to Hood River, I passed on that and tried a pint of Fresh Hop Strider Pale (5.5% with a lot of hops for a pale).  On a mild Friday afternoon, about an hour before sunset, this was a primo experience.  The gleaming copper apparatus signals that purity is prized here:

(Visited 9/15/12)