Bourbon County Stout

Goose Island's Bourbon County lineup is widely feted as exceptional barrel-aged beer. This year, there's been increased scrutiny of the brand, especially here in the Northwest - AB Inbev's acquisition of 10 Barrel has reminded folks of the continuing trend of small, independent breweries (including Goose Island) being snapped up by macro-heavy conglomerates. Many friends, acquaintances, and fellow bloggers have worried that Goose Island's quality will inevitably slip under AB Inbev's stewardship.

I was thinking about this today as I visited the Bier Stein, who hosted a Bourbon County event featuring rare kegs of the Bourbon County Stout and Coffee Stout, as well as one of Goose Island's non-barrel aged imperial stouts.

As it turns out, Bourbon County is still fantastic.

The Coffee Stout, in particular, is a masterclass in how to create a coffee-based beer. It's the beer I didn't know I really wanted at the Coffee Stout Fest earlier this month - decadently rich, smooth, and - something I thought I'd never say about a 13.5% beer - mellow. Its coffee flavor is decidedly creamy, with none of the harsh acidity that marred several of the coffee stouts I had at that fest, and the gentle alcohol warmth and caramel-sweet bourbon embrace the coffee from first sip to last.

Not that the "standard" Bourbon County Stout is any less worthy - its agenda is simple: creating the ideal caramel-bourbon flavor with a perfect amount of warming alcohol heat and malt sweetness. It's actually a touch stronger, at 13.8%, but there's no alcohol punch - this weight is instead realized more in the thick, almost syrupy mouthfeel.

I also had the chance to try the Muddy, a non-barrel aged imperial stout with licorice and candi sugar, but made the mistake of tasting it after the Bourbon County stouts. Muddy's got an assertive licorice spiciness, but tasted thin and hollow by compare (even at 9%!).

My recommendation: do everything in your power to secure some Bourbon County. It's the benchmark for bourbon-aged imperial stouts for very good reason.

First Impressions: Wildcraft Cider Works

Recently, I heard that WildCraft, a new cidery, opened in town. I decided to check it out this week.

The space is all dark wood - set in the middle of a very old brick building. A lot of care has gone into the decor, which feels neither too spare nor too busy. It's comfortable and intimate. My one concern is that there's little to no acoustic dampening - with a large crowd in here, having a non-shouted conversation would be impossible. Also, the space itself is set up a little strangely - upon entry, the bar and taps are immediately on the right, with some bar seating straight ahead. To the left and around the corner there's bigger tables, ending in a garage-style door which'll be lovely come better weather.

The bar seating, glassed off, looks into what appears to be a (for now) empty warehouse/staging area, with the small kitchen in one corner and some of the cider-making equipment in the other. Access to the bathroom is through this space.

But of course, none of this matters more than the cider on offer. According to the website, WildCraft's ciders are all-natural, with no added artificial flavors or sulfides. And I'm pleased to report that this commitment to quality has paid off.  Here's what I thought:

Hard Cider: This is the flagship cider. At 6.9%, it's not a drink to take lightly - though it's certainly very light in the mouth and very dry, with a sweet apple nose and a bit of acidity.

Plum Cider: While still quite dry and acidic, this cider has some wonderfully bright fruit flavor and a welcoming sweet finish that darkens as it lingers.

Pioneer Perry: Perry is what one calls cider made entirely with pears. This particular batch was entirely wild-fermented, with no added yeast. The result is a much more tannic, cereal-ish flavor (somewhat surprising, as i generally consider pears to be milder than apples). Despite these added tannins, the perry itself is sweeter than either of the ciders, especially on the finish. Each sip of this one was interesting, as new aspects of the yeast or pear would surface every time.

WildCraft is making lively, fresh, interesting ciders and perries that are definitely worth checking out. Be aware, though - the prices here are quite high. A pint of most of the ciders runs $6, with $5 for 8oz pours of some of the perries. 4oz flights are available, but also very expensive - you can get 3/$7, 5/$11, or all 10/$22(!). There's also some food available - it's focused on small plates and sandwiches, and is also on the pricier side. What I saw come out of the kitchen looked good, though.

Black Butte Vertical

Thanks to the Bier Stein, last week I had the opportunity to try 4 years of Deschutes' Black Butte Anniversary beers, all on tap. Here are my thoughts:

23 (2011): Made with chocolate nibs, orange zest, and Pasilla Negra chilies, this imperial porter features the chocolate most strongly, with just a hint of citrus and a bit of pepper heat, somewhat amplified by the alcohol spiciness of the beer. Smooth and rich.

24 (2012): This one features chocolate nibs, figs, and dates. It's got a great dark fruit/chocolate blend going on and a heavy, creamy mouthfeel. The chocolate is further forward in the flavor profile, and the alcohol heat less pronounced.

25 (2013): Like the 24, this features dates, figs, and chocolate, but also black currants. It feels much lighter in the mouth, and has a lighter flavor profile overall. There's more of a roast/smoke combination than any of the other beers - the malt definitely comes through much more strongly.

26 (2014): Bourbon-aged, with molasses and cranberries, this version is quite a departure from the past years - it's got a dark, earthy, caramel-heavy flavor. The cranberries add quite a bit of acidity. I'm hoping this one will mellow with age, as it's not tasting very good at the moment.

As always, it's instructive to try several versions of the same base beer at once. 23 and 24 were the best by far - though I remember 24 tasting very good when it was first released, so that's not terribly surprising. Mostly, I just wish I'd cellared a couple bottles of 24 back when it was available for sale.

Those among you who might have bottles of these beers, my advice is to drink 23 and 24 now, but hold onto 25 and 26 for another year or two.

16 Tons Coffee Stout Fest

Today's 16 Tons Coffee Stout Fest is one of the highlights of the beginning of the rainy season here in Eugene. 25 coffee-based stouts of varying provenance were available for dark beer lovers of all stripes to sample.

The great thing about most style-based mini-fests is that it gives insight into the reasoning behind these beers. What makes them tick? Why are they brewed? What flavor profiles are being used?

In the case of this particular fest, the taplist was almost entirely based out of the Pacific Northwest, with the outliers being from European breweries well-known for their experimental nature, so the sampling was deep but not especially broad.

Here's what I tried:

Stone Coffee Milk Stout: A mild, creamy, slightly roasty milk stout that nevertheless weighs in at over 8% ABV, this is a dangerously drinkable beer.

No-Li Rise and Grind: An about-face, this lighter, thinner stout focuses on the added coffee's acidity, to a nigh-spicy degree. The spicy, acidic coffee lingers.

Ballast Point Victory At Sea: A strong Baltic porter with coffee and vanilla, coming in far sweeter than the previous beers. The combination of higher alcohol, sweeter roasted coffee, and a sweeter base beer cause the flavors to constantly mutate. Even to the last sip I couldn't quite seem to get a handle on it. Interesting, for sure.

Midnight Sun Brewtality: Refreshingly, this was the first of the beers that actually tasted, first and foremost, like a beer - with heavy roasted malting and some balanced alcohol heat. Sure, there's some welcome latent coffee flavor, but it's mild and sweet.

Alesmith Speedway Stout: Very sweet, in the same vein as the Ballast Point, but with a far more balanced and pronounced coffee roastiness, along with a big alcohol kick.

Stone Stochasticity Project Master of Disguise: Mouthful of a name. This beer's interesting almost solely because it's very light in color - almost pilsner-esque. Flavor-wise, it's a callback to No-Li's strong acidity. Thankfully, it's got a much milder, cleaner finish.

Epic Big Bad Baptist: This is the beer I didn't know I needed. Bourbon-aged, with a mellow caramel/molasses sweetness that blends well with the added coffee and cocoa, this finishes with a bit of alcohol bite to let you know it's not messing around. At around 12%, it commands respect and slow sipping.

There were plenty of beers I wasn't able to sample - a lot of them were from local breweries, and I expect to see them around town over the next couple of weeks. Plank Town, Oakshire, Claim 52, and Agrarian all had entries that I hope to try very soon.

The fascinating aspect of this fest, to me, was coming to a deeper understanding of the various flavors that coffee can add to a beer. Sometimes it's sweet and mellow, sometimes acidic and harshly roasty. And the base beer can either complement it or simply act as a vehicle for the coffee. As a result, I'm now able to specify the type of coffee flavor I prefer in my stouts - milder, sweeter, and complimenting the base beer rather than vying for supremacy.

Beer of the Moment: Bourbon Aged Patriot Porter

Being as it's Tuesday, I headed to Oakshire tonight, as I often do, to catch their weekly new beer release. It's a great feeling - never quite knowing what to expect. This week's happened to be astonishing.

You see, tonight Oakshire released a Knob Creek-aged version of their Patriot Porter. The unadulterated porter came out early this year. It was an acidic, rough-hewn take on the style that I found, at the time, unremarkable. As it turns out, barrel-aging is exactly what it needed.

As a bourbon barrel-aged beer, it's now got a fantastic molasses/caramel sweetness contrasting with the wooden notes of the barrel, which blends very well with the acidic malt profile - now mellowed with age.

It weighs in around 7%, but tastes and feels quite a bit stronger. The difference is in the finish. Most bourbon-aged dark beers tend to be north of 10% - and this is felt in the alcohol heat, which often lingers some seconds after the sip. This Patriot, however, has a quick, nigh-clean finish that invites further exploration.

Although the also-worthy Very Ill-Tempered Gnome is also on offer, I feel that this aged Patriot is the superior beer for the cold, rainy weather we've recently been having. I'm not sure how long it'll last, but it's well worth the visit to Oakshire to check it out. It's $6 for a 13oz pour.

Elk Horn's Initial Beer Release

Friday afternoon, Elk Horn released their first 3 house-brewed beers. I was on hand to sample them. Here's how it went:

Ducks Blue Ribbon: Clearly a nod to Pabst, this is a blonde ale made to taste like a pilsner. It's crisp, sweet, and bready, and way tastier than the beer it's named after. The name grates a bit, though - isn't one of the major aims of craft brewing to get away from macro associations?

Sweet Potato Pie & Coffee: A bold, strong winter beer with heavy-handed use of pumpkin spice, to an almost perfume-like degree. There's some nice coffee flavor on the finish, but the spices are overwhelming.

Northwest Bitter: Styled as an ESB - with earthy hop presence and around 30 IBUs - this ale nevertheless has the body and alcohol content of a much stronger beer. At 7.3%, it's alternately malty and boozy, with the mild hopping not being enough to balance out.

Since launching in August, I've been looking forward to seeing what Elk Horn came up with - as its name is Elk Horn Brewery, the beer should be front and center. Bearing this in mind, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed in these launch beers. The clear winner is the Ducks Blue Ribbon - as a light blonde ale it ticks all the right boxes - but it doesn't have an identity of its own, and multiple better blondes already exist in town. The other two are misfires, but at least they're interesting ones. I'm hopeful that the creativity on display here will be refined into more consistent beer over the coming months.

I also had the chance to try some of the food. Elk Horn is now doing full table service, and the menu's been greatly expanded since opening, but there're still kinks to be worked out of the process. On a Friday afternoon, the kitchen was already out of multiple dishes. The Buffalo chicken I had was flavorful and spicy without being too hot. Prices are still on the high side for the quality, and the beer especially is expensive. Pints start at $4.50 for house beers, and move up to $5-6 for guest pours and the house ciders.

Thanksgiving

A quick note for today, as I've been enjoying the holiday.

I'm thankful to live in Eugene -  the weather is lovely, the scenery is fantastic, the people are laid-back, and the beer is world-class. May it continue to be so for years to come.

Wine may be the traditional drink of the holidays, but I suggest something different - have a sweet, malty amber ale with your meal. It pairs well with most savory food. And for dessert, try an oatmeal stout with some vanilla ice cream, or an IPA with carrot cake.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Breweries of Corvallis: Block 15

For a city with a fairly well-known fermentation science program (at OSU), Corvallis has surprisingly few breweries. Until 2008, McMenamins was the only game in town. That's when Block 15 opened, followed by Flat Tail in 2010, Sky High in 2013 and Mazama earlier this year.

Fortunately for Corvallis students and locals, each of these newer breweries has worked hard to make up for lost time.

Block 15 is the elder statesman, as it were. They tend to focus on Belgian styles, and experiment quite a bit with barrel-aging.

During my visit, I sampled five beers. Here's what I thought:

Gozer the Gozerian - a proper lambic-based gueuze. Light and cerealy, gently tart, and very clean finishing. Up there with the best American gueuzes available.

Figgy Pudding - a brandy-aged holiday ale. At 11.5%, this is a meal in a glass. It's rich - decadently so - with fine notes of oak, brandy, and holiday spices. Each sip reveals something new.

Giving Thanks - a strong, wild-aged Thanksgiving beer, this is funky, alcohol-spicy, and has a strong oaky tobacco note. It finishes extremely dry.

24 Carat - A light-colored, bracingly hoppy NW-style IPA. Listed at 70 IBU, this comes off far hoppier, with intense pine, citrus, and dank flavors and aromas.

Black Framboise - pouring a beautiful deep purple that appears almost black, this raspberry lambic also tastes darker. The raspberries are fairly muted, and the prominent flavor is that of acidity and funk.

Block 15 is easily the best brewpub in the Willamette Valley - no other brewery in this part of the state comes close to providing the same consistently high quality of food. And their beer rivals the best in Eugene for inventiveness and quality. About the only negative thing I can think to say about it is that it's not in Eugene so I can be there all the time!

If you're taking a trip north up I-5, there are few breweries more worthy of a stop.

Bastard Day

Yesterday, the Bier Stein hosted Stone's Bastard Day, a celebration of Arrogant Bastard and its many derivatives. I had the chance to check it out.

I'd forgotten how crowded the Stein becomes on weekend nights - by the time I arrived around 5:30, there was nary a table to be had. Thankfully some friends had come earlier and saved a seat!

There were 6 Bastards on tap:

- Arrogant Bastard. The original. I vividly remember the first time I tried this beer - a few years back at a nice beer bar in Houston with a friend. I couldn't believe how bitter it was, or that beer could be so flavorful. And it still holds up - Arrogant Bastard is malty and quite hoppy, with a long, slow bitter finish.

- Double Bastard. My favorite of the night. At 11%+, it's a boozy, malt-forward sipper probably best classified as an especially hoppy barleywine. Unlike many high-strength beers, the alcohol isn't overwhelming.

- Lukcy Basartd. A blend of Single, Double, and Oaked Bastard, Lukcy comes across as a slightly stronger Bastard with a definite oak note. Very interesting.

- Bourbon Aged Bastard. Smooth, with prominent caramel/floral whiskey notes. Bastard lends itself surprisingly well to the mellowness of oak and whiskey.

- Crime.
- Punishment. I'll take these two together. Simply put, these are the most intensely spicy beers I've ever tried. Crime is based on Single, Punishment on Double. Both were made with several varieties of peppers. Punishment, especially, leaves a lingering, whole-head burn that lasts far longer than it should. Neither are enjoyable to drink as beers; the real fun here comes from coaxing unsuspecting friends into having a sip, and watching their faces.

After the Crime & Punishment, I needed some relief. Fortunately, Erin, the local Stone rep, delivered in a big way: she had a 3L bottle of the 12.12.12 Vertical Epic on hand and was freely passing out samples. I remember 12.12.12 initially being way too winter-spicy. I'm pleased to report that a couple of years of aging has mellowed out the spices and brought the creamy roast of the malt further forward. For those who may have a bottle waiting, I can assure you it'd be a great idea to crack it soon.

It was great to be able to try (nearly) all of the Arrogant Bastard series at once. Stone's commitment to quality and experimentation have continued unabated since the first Bastard came out in 1997. Here's hoping that spirit continues to drive them.

The Best Beer City - Yours

After reading Jeff Alworth's post at Beervana today, I did some thinking about what a 'best beer city' might mean. Jeff thinks that the distinction would be meaningless because it's entirely subjective.

He's probably right. Portland could make a strong case, but Denver does some excellent work, too.
Size isn't necessarily important, either - some of the best beer I've ever had was at Lone Pint, in a tiny town near Houston.

All this is to say that I'd like to extend his point and simply proclaim that the 'best beer city' is the one you're living in. Craft beer is becoming so ubiquitous (albeit on a small scale in some states) that pretty much every major city in the country's got one worth visiting.

So take this opportunity to appreciate the craft of your local beer. Get to know the brewers and employees. Talk them up to friends and acquaintances. If we really want a national 'craft revolution' - a place where craft beer is truly mainstream and not the province of condescending hipsters - it starts with us.

Brewery Expansion and Locality

Late last week, Stone finally confirmed its plans to expand to the East Coast - it looks as though they'll be putting down roots in Richmond, VA.

With this expansion it's pretty clear Stone's going to be able to provide fresh beer all over the country without having the delay of shipping to worry about. And they're not the first California-based brewery to add a facility on the other coast - earlier this year Sierra Nevada opened a new brewery in North Carolina, and Lagunitas did the same in Chicago later in the year.

 

All this makes me wonder - when will the definition of a craft brewery as a 'local' enterprise become meaningless? Sure, Stone, Sierra Nevada, and the like aren't ceasing operations at their original locations, but the very act of opening a second (and in Stone's case, a third - with their planned expansion to Berlin) brewery sort of undermines the very idea of 'local'.

Perhaps this is just a necessary sacrifice to be made as craft brands other than Sam Adams expand to become national enterprises. I just hope something intangible and vital isn't lost in the transition. 

Time will tell.

Bigfoot Dock Sales

A while ago, I found out that Bigfoot, one of the major beer distributors in Oregon, has weekly dock sales. After having some decent experiences there, I think it's worth sharing and checking out, if you live in the Eugene area. (I'm told this also applies to Bigfoot's warehouses elsewhere in the state - check here for more details).

Here's how it works. Friday, starting at 11am, you go to the Bigfoot warehouse/distribution center off of the freeway, a couple exits south of town. Drive around back, and there's a loading dock with tons of cases of beer for sale. The beer's all remaindered stuff or things that haven't sold well - sometimes undeservedly so. Beer is sold in cases of 12 bombers or 24 longnecks, and there's a minimum purchase of 3 cases to participate. 

Last time I went, I picked up a case of Southern Tier's Robust Porter, a case of Eel River's Amber, and a case of Southern Tier's Compass (a strong, hoppy pale made with rose hips). Cases were $12 each, so I paid basically $0.50 per bottle and $1 per bomber, and I'm pretty happy with the beer, especially for the price.

There are a couple of downsides here - first, since the beer's remaindered or returned, it's often old. The cases I got were several months old, and the porter especially suffered a bit, flavor-wise. Stronger, maltier styles are more likely to have survived mostly intact. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the available beer changes from week to week, and there's no guarantee Bigfoot'll be offering anything in particular. So come prepared to walk away if nothing strikes your fancy.

It really feels like hitting a thrift store, essentially. You might not find the style or size you're looking for, but the prices are guaranteed to be unbeatable. It's a great opportunity for those looking to stock up on decent/good craft beer for a ridiculous price - especially now that the temperature's dropping and staying indoors is seeming like a better idea with the passing of each day.

Beer and Value

Today, I'd like to raise a quick point about the value we assign to craft brands. I've been thinking a lot about this while reading all the commentary on the 10 Barrel/Budweiser deal.

So I'm wondering - why do we value certain beers and brands over others?

The immediate reaction is, of course, quality. We, as beer drinkers, appreciate beer that is higher quality - coming from superior ingredients, made using traditional or time consuming processes, and resulting in an excellent product.

But clearly this isn't the sole reason for a brewery's perceived status. There's also the marketing - pricing, locality, and PR (especially via social media), among others.

The most important driver of perceived quality, by my estimation, is scarcity. Tell a beer fan there's a barrel aged stout on offer, and he may or may not bite. But add the fact that it's super limited and one-time only, and more often than not, that'll make the sale.

Relative monetary value is also worthy of consideration - it's why I think Pyramid's Outburst DIPA is a quality beer, and why I tend to avoid Rogue's.

Of course, people have many reasons for drinking craft beer - love for a superior product, desire to support local business, and many others. And I'm not one to judge one reason as more valid than another.

All this is to say that when we value a beer or a brewery, it's worth thinking about why. Some beers are obvious - Pliny is valuable because it's great for the money, and it's relatively scarce. But others defy easy categorization. So, consider these thoughts next time you're super excited about the prospect of trying a specific beer.

Eleven

 In 2011, Hop Valley brewed a ridiculous beer in homage to This Is Spinal Tap - they took the conceit of the famous amp scene from the film and truly ran with it. The beer was made with 11 malts and 11 hops, and came out to 11% ABV at 111 IBUs. It was released, appropriately enough, on 11/11/2011 at 11:11pm, while a screening of the movie played.

Back then, Eleven was an extreme beer in every sense of the word - thick, dark, roasty, bracingly bitter, and vividly hoppy, with a pronounced alcohol kick. Since the debut, Hop Valley held a number of kegs and has been slowly releasing them over the past couple of years.

The most recent of these kegs appeared today, at the Bier Stein. I had the opportunity to try a glass - here's what I thought.

Essentially, Eleven has become an inscrutable beer. Unsurprising, perhaps, owing to the wide variety of ingredients used in its creation. Every sip yielded a different combination of flavors and aromas. First it was alcohol-spicy and roasty, then it was sweet and smoky. Sometimes it tasted very bitter (though never hoppy - the hops have become quite muted during the aging process). Occasionally there was a hint of oxidation, but the beer otherwise holds up surprisingly well.

Stylistically, I thought the initially-released Eleven was a very extreme Black IPA. Now, it tastes more like a roasty, smoky barleywine - a malt-forward, alcohol-powered sipper that never leaves any doubt as to its origins or potency.

If you're in the area, it's well worth a try. It's not often one gets to sample a keg-aged beer of this complexity. The price is $4 for a .25L pour - well worth the experience, in my opinion.

Amsterdam: A Study in Contrast

As part of my trip to Europe this fall, I spent a couple of days in Amsterdam.

I wasn't sure how it would fit into my beer-centric trip, coming between Cologne and Brussels. The only Dutch beer I was familiar with before visiting was Heineken - and I didn't know much more than that.

On our second day, in the afternoon, we visited the enormous Heineken outpost downtown, by the Rijksmueseum. There we paid 18 EUR for a trip through the 'Heineken Experience' - a super-slick, no-expense-spared trip through the history of the brand. There was - no kidding - a motion ride through the brewing process, featuring hot lights and a buckling platform. Various rooms were dedicated to Heineken's involvement with soccer teams, musicians, artists, and other cultural icons, all featuring gimmicky things like 'shoot-your-own-music-video'. Finally, at the end of the tour, we got 2 33cl glasses each of Heineken as well as a small commemorative glass.

The whole experience was fascinating to me, because the entire focus of the tour was on things other than the beer itself. It was more an introduction to Heineken's brand, with an incidental glass of beer provided. It was 'corporate' in a way no other brewery visit has been. It really makes me appreciate how beer-focused most of the micro/craft breweries here in the States are.

Immediately afterwards, we decided to try to find some local craft beer, because the Heineken - while fresh and quite good - wasn't what we were looking for. After a few tram stops, we ended up at IJ Brewery, featuring a small tasting room and a handful of more interesting beers.

IJ had a wit, a pilsner, a porter-like dubbel, an ISA, a strong beer, and a blonde. Of these, the ISA was the most surprising - it was extremely bright and citrusy, with just enough malt backbone to support the heavy hopping. It tasted so thoroughly American to me that I doubt I could pick it out of a lineup of other ISAs. On reflection, though, perhaps it was so good owing to stark contrast with the other beers I'd had since arriving in Europe (my beer diet up to that point had been rich in pilsners, kolsches, and hefeweizens). All of the other beers were excellent, as well - even the traditional styles had a certain unique flair I've not experienced before or since.

The contrast in Amsterdam's beer felt a lot like beer in the US. Their big macro beer, like ours, is driven by branding and marketing and not quality. And if IJ is any indication, their micro scene, like ours, also values the beer they produce more highly than any other aspect of the business, and it shows.

10 Barrel & AB Inbev

So, the big beer news this week (perhaps the biggest story this year) is 10 Barrel's pending sale to Anheuser-Busch Inbev. Everyone's got a lot to say about the issue, and I want to weigh in, myself.

First, I suggest you read Jeff Alworth's posts at All About Beer and a followup on Beervana.

Details of the new ownership structure are forthcoming, but from all accounts, AB Inbev is going to keep the current brewing and management staff and allow 10 Barrel to have most of the same creative control. So it appears that the only visible, practical change on the horizon is that 10 Barrel's beer will soon have a national reach through AB's unmatched distribution network. But really, this isn't the heart of the issue.

Many friends and acquaintances of mine have stated that they're no longer going to buy from 10 Barrel purely as a result of this ownership change. I understand. One of the first things I noticed about Eugene upon moving here was that chain restaurants and major appliance stores were in healthy competition with local businesses that often did a better job. In Texas, where I used to live, chains and conglomerates were the norm, and you'd have to go out of your way, at (often) significantly greater expense, to support a local place.

With that in mind, it's not surprising that my initial feeling, upon hearing the news, was one of betrayal. Why would a brewery as excellent and fast-growing as 10 Barrel sell to AB Inbev? Was this the beginning of the end of craft beer as we know it?

After the immediate emotional response, I reconsidered. After all, my allegiance is solely to excellent beer - I've said in the past that 'craft' is a meaningless distinction. I'll happily buy from AB or Coors if the beer they're making is worthy. And AB's already proven they can continue making great beer after an acquisition - just look at Goose Island's fantastic Bourbon County series, for instance. If (as some critics charge) 10 Barrel's quality drops as a result of the change in ownership, I suspect many people will vote with their wallets and stop supporting their beer. We've certainly got no shortage of other great breweries in the PNW.

Personally, nothing's going to change for me as a result of the sale. Sometimes I buy 10 Barrel's beer, sometimes I don't. I expect that I'll continue to have the occasional hankering for an Apocalypse or ISA, and I'll have no qualms about buying it, as long as the quality stays the same.

First Impressions: Hard Knocks Brewing

Lane County's wealth of beer continues to grow, with new breweries starting to sprout up in the smaller outlying towns. Veneta's got Plough Monday, and now Cottage Grove has its own brewpub in Hard Knocks.

Located on Main St in the historic downtown area, Hard Knocks lives up to its name. The building itself looks industry-hewn - beige, made of sheet metal, with a gravel parking lot.

The interior is mostly wood, with concrete floors, tons of open space, and high-beamed ceilings. The brewing equipment is near the kitchens, behind a chain-link fence.

The food is unpretentious, featuring standard pub fare: sandwiches, salads, fried sides, and pizza. Hard Knocks distinguishes itself by preparing almost everything in-house. What I've tasted has been better than average, and usually more inventive. There's a weekday happy hour running from 3-6, with $3.50 pints and $3 vodka wells, along with several small plates.

Nate Sampson, formerly with Rogue's Eugene City Brewery, heads the brewing operation here, which is still getting underway. During my visit, only one house beer was on tap - Riveter, an imperial red ale.

Of course, as a brewpub, the only real question that matters is: how's the beer? Being Cottage Grove's only brewery, Hard Knocks probably doesn't have to make great (or even good) beer to be successful, but the Riveter was excellent - sweet, malty, and strong, with a good dose of hops to balance out. For a 9% ale, the alcohol is well-hidden, and the beer is extremely drinkable, almost dangerously so.

If Nate and the Hard Knocks crew can keep making beer as good as the Riveter, and keep the food standards up to match, I have no doubt they'll be wildly successful. Hard Knocks is already worth a drive to see. I recommend checking them out soon!

A Visit to Cantillon - Part 2

Last time, I discussed Cantillon's beer from a process/historical perspective, and what about those make them different from most of the other breweries I've visited. Today, I want to delve more into the experience of touring the brewery.

Unlike most production breweries, the tour of Cantillon is entirely self-guided. The staff provide a detailed pamphlet which contains all the information a beer-obsessed visitor could possibly want to know - both about the brewery itself, and the various pieces of equipment that comprise it. Fair warning, this post will be quite picture-heavy!

The mash tun.

Cantillon's brewhouse is vertical, spanning three levels. The ground floor contains the mash tun, a hop filter, an a couple of intermediary vats used when wort is being pumped between various places.

The grain crusher.

A close look at the mechanism powering the grain crusher.

The second level houses the grain crushing machine and the 2 kettles, as well as the hot liquor tank.

Temporary barrel storage.

The third level is the granary - where the wheat and barley used in the brewing process are stored. During the offseason, it is instead used to store extra barrels.

The beautiful copper coolship.

Half a level up from the granary is the coolship. Wort is pumped here to cool after the boil. This thing is massive, entirely riveted, and beautiful. The large surface area helps cool the wort down and allows for contact with naturally-occurring wild yeasts and bacteria.

The fermentation vat.

Back down the half-stairs, the cooled wort is pumped into this stainless steel vat for study and measurement. It is then transferred into oak barrels to begin fermentation.

Row upon row of barrels filled with aging/fermenting lambic.

The warehouse above the tasting room and reception contains hundreds of barrels of aging lambic. Since the secondary fermentation process for Cantillon's lambic takes about 3 years, this warehouse is almost always filled to capacity with sealed oak barrels.

The very modern bottling machine.

Cantillon's one major concession to the modern brewing movement is its use of this automatic bottling machine. Cantillon's bottles are an oddity amongst beer - they're both corked and crown-capped. Once bottled, the beer is stored on its side for several months to allow for refermentation of the new beer added during the blending process. I forgot to grab a picture, but right behind this machine is a wall lined with laid-down bottles, stacked several feet high.

Prices and availability.

Probably the biggest surprise about visiting the brewery was learning how reasonably priced the final product is! A 75 cl (wine-format) bottle of the gueuze can be had for just 5.50 EUR (~$7 US). I opted for a sampler pack of 3 37.5 cl bottles, which was something like 12 EUR. A beer of this craft and quality would probably go for double the price in the US, at minimum.

The tasting.

Also included in the 7 EUR tour price is a very interesting tasting experience. You're allotted two pours: one is your choice of whatever bottle they've opened (generally the gueuze, kriek, and framboise are available). The second is a taste of some unblended lambic. This was thin, dry, woody, and very cereal-malty, with only a small amount of sourness.

The famous sign.

What more can be said about Cantillon? It's a fabulous piece of history - not just in terms of the venerable building, the traditional equipment and processes, or even the beer. Rather, the brewery proper feels very much set against a lot of the trends of modern microbrewing - in its slow, deliberate pace of craftsmanship and the subtlely wrought by years of aging. It functions at once as a museum, a brewery, and a window into both beer's past and its possible future.

Brussels is a fine city to visit as a tourist, with much to recommend it, but the experience of touring Cantillon was my favorite part of the entire trip. I hope it's clear why at this point.

A Visit to Cantillon - Part 1

Last month, I had the great fortune to take a trip to Europe, spending time in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. Although all were worthy destinations, my very favorite part of the trip was visiting Cantillon's brewery in Brussels. Since this is topic I've got quite a bit to say about, I'll be splitting it into two posts. Today I want to give an overview of Cantillon and what makes them so special.

As I've previously mentioned, Cantillon enjoys a great reputation among craft beer geeks here in the US, for many reasons. The real mystique involves their process of brewing and fermentation - very rare among production breweries of any kind, both due to the mechanics of that process and the amount of labor that it requires.

Cantillon makes beer primarily through the process of spontaneous fermentation. Unlike yeast-inoculated ales and lagers, spontaneously fermented beers pick up natural yeast and other microorganisms through open-air exposure following the brewing process.

Fermentation begins naturally, as well - the yeast-infected wort is allowed to naturally cool overnight, meaning Cantillon can only make beer when the evening weather is cool enough to allow for proper fermentation temperatures. I was told the typical brewing season lasts from October until April. For the homebrewers out there, this'd be something like brewing a beer, putting the finished batch in a big tub, and letting it sit outside overnight to cool (without adding any yeast).

Further, this beer is allowed to further ferment and age in wood barrels, generally for three(!) years at a stretch. It's then blended with one and two-year aged beer, bottled, and allowed to condition in the bottle for several more months. The result, if you're drinking their flagship Gueuze, is a beer that's taken between 3-4 years to produce. Compare this to 3-4 weeks for a standard medium-gravity ale, and it's easy to see why there aren't many breweries using Cantillon's process anymore.

Cantillon is also limited in their yearly production to something like 1700 hectolitres (roughly 1450 US barrels) per year, both due to lack of further storage space and inability to produce more beer during their brewing season. All this adds up to a sophisticated, long-production beer that can be very hard to come by outside of Brussels. Effectively, this means finding bottles of Cantillon to try in the US is nigh-impossible (and very expensive - individual 375ml bottles can easily sell for $30+).

This combination of rarity, expense, tradition, and foreign-ness make Cantillon's beers extremely highly sought-after.

On Saturday I'll go into more detail about the brewery and its tour, quite unlike any other I've visited anywhere in the world.

Pre-Beer Experimentation

Just a quick one for y'all today -

Over the weekend I was at a bar, and had an interesting experience I wanted to share.

Before I got to the bar, I was chewing mint-flavored gum. I got a pint of Overcast, swallowed the gum, and took a hearty sip.

I was amazed! The malt came through clearly, with a definite cocoa/chocolate flavor, and the coffee and roast were relegated to a minor role as a result. For the entire pint, I was savoring an aspect of the Overcast presentation I'd never before been able to appreciate properly.

So now I'm curious - are there other foods or drinks that highlight specific components of other beers? Or did I happen to luck out with mint and coffee stout? I'll do some research and find out.

Cantillon Tasting

Last night, I had the privilege to share 3 bottles of Cantillon with some good friends. It was a great experience, paired with excellent apertifs.

The first bottle we tried was the gueuze - the flagship of the brewery, and the model for pretty much every other gueuze in current production. It's an extremely acidic, tart, and funky beer, with minimal carbonation (produced entirely by refermentation in the bottle) that begs to be paired with fine cheeses, olives, and nuts - all thankfully on hand. Like all of Cantillon's lambic-based beers, it clocks in at a light 5% ABV.

Next, we moved to the Rose de Gambrinus - the brewery's take on a framboise. Like the gueuze (which is the base beer), it's still quite acidic and tart, but less funky, with a soft fruit sweetness imparted by the raspberries. We agreed it was an excellent dessert beer that would pair with a wide variety of sweet foods.

Our final beer was the Kriek - the gueuze made with cherries. This was a swing back into the extremely tart - the cherry flavor is bright and forward, with a bit of sweetness to balance out the sour acidity of the gueuze. Some of our party declared it their favorite of the three, and it's easy to see why - after trying other, lesser krieks, it's a revelatory experience to see it done properly.

The big question I'd like to raise now is perhaps a bit controversial, given Cantillon's wide acclaim among beer geeks - is it the best beer made in its style/category?

I'm not sure. While the beer is excellent, I find their story and their old-school method of production far more interesting than the product. As I'll soon detail, visiting Cantillon and taking its tour is an experience unique among breweries.

Beer and Karaoke

To those of my readers who know me personally, it should come as no surprise that you might find me at a few different spots in town doing karaoke every now and again.

The effects of alcohol (and good beer especially) on a successful karaoke performance cannot be overstated. That may sound ridiculous. I'll put it in starker terms still: Beer is my karaoke fuel.

Why?

Beer makes the perfect karaoke fuel because it's poured in (more or less) strictly enforced quantities. Whereas with a mixed drink you might receive a strong pour or a weak pour, with beer you know exactly what you're getting, which is vital to managing both expectations and a proper level of inebriation.

Being both shy and introverted (a subtle but important distinction, discussed rather more cogently here), getting up to sing for a barful of people isn't exactly the most appealing pastime. But with a beer or two, it starts to seem like a good idea. The social lubrication removes just enough of the nervousness to provide the impetus to grab the mic, but not so much that there's not still the rush of adrenaline and fear that makes for the best possible performance under the circumstances.

I've found, through many nights of dedicated experimentation, that IPAs work best for karaoke. I'd posit that there's something about the alpha acids that cuts through stage fright. Really, it's probably just a good idea to have something bitter to swallow after crushing (or being crushed by) a song.

Cheers to my fellow sometime-singers.

Beer of the Moment: Overcast Espresso Stout

Fall has officially begun here in Eugene - the forecast calls for pretty much nothing but rain for the next two weeks. And there are many worthy traditions to take part in as the weather cools and the skies darken - but for me, few of these top the pleasure of sipping on a well-constructed stout on a rainy night.

Oakshire's aptly-named Overcast is, to me, the ideal embodiment of this tradition. It walks the fine line between 'stout with coffee' and 'coffee that tastes like stout' with aplomb, coming across as a smooth, rich beer with a sweet, heavily coffee-tinged finish that tapers into just enough hopping to balance out.

Why? Well, I happen to think that the big secret is the oatmeal included in the grain bill. Oatmeal, added judiciously, results in a medium, silky smooth mouthfeel that really defines a great stout. (It's also what I think Guinness is lacking - I expect a smooth, rich beer, but every time I have one, I'm surprised by how thin and harsh it is)

Unsurprisingly, Overcast pairs exceedingly well with desserts of all stripes - berry-based pies and tarts, cakes, and pretty much anything made with chocolate or vanilla. I'd also suggest giving it a shot with savory food - especially things on the spicier side.

I know I'll be picking up quite a few cases of Overcast to help me through the long winter here. I hope you'll consider doing the same, especially since it's available in cans for easy transport and maximum flexibility.

An Informal Local Brewery Ranking

By the reviews I've posted, it's probably pretty clear what breweries I enjoy in Eugene. But just for fun, I decided to break down the 12 currently-open local places into 4 tiers.

Tier I

Oakshire

Plank Town

Ninkasi

This is, for my money, the highest-quality and most exciting beer being made in Eugene. It's inventive, interesting, and almost always well worth trying.

Tier II

Hop Valley

Agrarian

Claim 52

These are breweries that are pretty consistently good, sometimes great.

Tier III

McMenamins (High St)

Viking

Rogue

These breweries misfire more often than not, but sometimes make great beer.

Tier IV

Steelhead

Sam Bond's

Falling Sky

I know some folks enjoy these guys quite a bit, but I've never really found anything they've made to be worthwhile.

I'd be interested to hear other local folks' opinions!

Tap & Growler's Fresh Hop Blind Tasting

Last week, the Tap & Growler hosted a blind tasting with a twist - all the beers were local and fresh-hopped. I went with a couple friends to check it out.

Here's how it worked: you paid $12 for 4oz pours of 9 beers, and were provided a slip to take notes and rate the top 3 beers. It wasn't a truly blind tasting, however - a promotional flyer at the bar revealed the breweries and beers participating in the event. The price also included a free pint of any of the 9 beers on the day the winners were announced.

Even with these limitations, the tasting was a lot of fun! Beers made with fresh hops are the only true seasonals - their characteristic bright, grassy flavor and aroma start to degrade much faster than beers made with dried hops. And it's always interesting to experience different brewers' takes on their best use.

Unsurprisingly, the beers ranged widely in quality. The best were excellent, the worst nigh undrinkable. Here were my top 3:

Falling Sky's So Fresh, So Green: This one really surprised me, as I'm not usually a fan of Falling Sky's beers. It was clean, bright, and eminently drinkable. I may have to stop by their pub for another pint of this!

Hop Valley's Citra Self Down: Hop Valley loves their Citra hops, and this beer was immediately recognizable for this facet alone. Fresh Citra really shines - it's bright, lemony, and grassy. This beer was the highest-rated among all participants.

Claim 52's Fresh Hop Insta IPA: Hop-saturated, especially in the nose, with a very smooth, clean finish. Another surprise for me. Claim 52 usually makes good, if unexceptional beer. I've had the non-fresh Insta several times in the past without it making much impression. Again, I may have to watch them more closely in the future!

Having run a blind tasting in the past, I appreciate all the hard work it takes to put one together, and I hope there are more in the future! There's nothing more rewarding than testing your palate without knowing exactly what you're tasting.

The Beer of Cologne

My recent trip to Europe was eye-opening in many ways, but my favorite part of the trip was having the opportunity to experience European beer fresh, from the pubs, taverns and bars, among the locals.

I'd like to start unpacking that experience by discussing the first stop on my trip: Cologne.

It's a beautiful city, with a striking mix of old architecture (especially the Dom Cathedral and the still-under-excavation Roman ruins) and ultra-modern design.

One thing that hasn't changed much is the beer - it's still made in largely the same way as 100 years ago, when it became a distinct style.

Kölsch served in the traditional Stange glasses.

I had the chance to try a number of Kölsch ales during my stay in Cologne, and they were uniformly crisp, clean, and moderately hopped with traditional Noble hops. I was surprised to find out that beer bars of the sort I've become accustomed to in Oregon are hard to find in Germany. Most pubs, restaurants, and taverns are sponsored by a single brewery, and will serve its Kölsch and maybe a seasonal beer (generally, this meant a Weissbier or pilsner of some sort). After some searching, my companions and I were able to locate a small beer bar, but it served only German beer - just a wider variety.

Weissbier in half-liter glasses.

The style of serving is also quite different. If you're at a bar in Cologne, drinking Kölsch, and your glass begins to run low, another will be brought for you without having to ask! This continues until you tell the server you're done or put your coaster over the top of your glass. The server marks your coaster every time you get a new glass, and those marks are tallied when your bill is prepared. Elsewhere this'd be a recipe for expensive, drunken nights, but the key innovation in Kölsch service is the small cylindrical glassware known locally as Stange (meaning pole). These measure 200ml, or about half an American pint. When with a larger party, these will be brought to your table in giant serving trays called Kranz (meaning wreath), each holding anywhere from 10-16 beers at a time.

Bars, cafes, and biergartens are omnipresent in the central city. They're much more numerous than coffee shops and restaurants - it's hard to walk more than a block without seeing the familiar Gaffel or Reissdorf signage. And people of all ages and nationalities can be found at these bars at every hour of the day. Despite this culture of drinking, public drunkenness wasn't a big problem, as far as I could see. I'd wager that the wide availability and low strength of Kölsch prevents most of this.

Overall, Cologne is a lovely city with friendly, tourist-tolerant people, and its signature beer is delicious and nigh-endlessly drinkable. It's definitely worth a stop on any beer-centered European vacation.

A Visit to Brewers Union Local 180

I had some unexpected free time today, so I decided to take a trip to Oakridge and spend some time at Ted Sobel's lovely public house. The website, though a bit old, has as clear a statement of purpose as I've seen in the industry, and the Local delivers on it.

There are plenty of places in Eugene that call themselves pubs. Oakshire even calls its pour house a 'public house'. But Brewers Union is operating on an entirely different level. I think the secret to their success is that the emphasis is on the atmosphere and providing a comfortable, casual pub experience.  The place feels a lot more like a big house than a bar. Lots of little things contribute to this feeling - the varied seating (plenty of comfy chairs and endtables in addition to stools and standard tables), lots of books and newspapers on hand, a guitar and piano open to patrons, free billiards, and most of all, the unhurried and kind service.

Some of this arises from being based in Oakridge, a sleepy little mountain town frequented mostly by cyclists, hikers, and general outdoors enthusiasts. But I think the true source is the contrarian nature of the brewery and the beer.

That's because Brewers Union's major claim to fame is being one of the few breweries in the States that makes CAMRA-style real ale, served from gravity-fed casks at proper temperature using old-style beer engines. The beer tastes fresh, mild, and lively, and it pairs very well with the mostly-traditional English pub fare on offer (also quite good). I had two pints - a fresh-hopped pale ale, and an oak-aged strong ale.

After my visit, I was left wondering - could a place like Brewers Union work well in Eugene? Why don't we have something like it already? I'd like to think so - and if there was, I'd be there all the time. The closest parallel we have at the moment is probably Falling Sky, but they're going for a very different atmosphere and brand, and they're not up to the quality mark Brewers Union ably sets.

Radio Silence

Loyal Readers,

I'm about to embark on a two-week trip to Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. I'll likely have limited internet access and time for blogging, but a post or two may appear if there's enough downtime.

When I return, expect the next several weeks to involve me unpacking my experiences there (through the lens of beer, of course). It should be an exciting and interesting trip!

Stay curious.

Cheers,

Brian

Beer of the Moment: Saison Dupont Cuvee Dry Hopping

Earlier this week I was visiting the Bier Stein with my parents and pondering, as usual, which beer to try. It being a mellow, bright late summer's day, I decided on a saison, and saw two promising options:

Petite Classique from Commons

and

Saison Dupont Cuvee Dry Hopping

Tasting these beers side-by-side is a crash course in the subtle differences between an excellent beer and a world-class one.

Petite Classique comes from The Commons, a Portland brewery well-versed in the art of subtle farmhouse beers. Their Urban Farmhouse is my standard for PNW saisons, and Petite Classique is another riff on the same style. It's light, slightly funky, and peppery, with a pronounced citrus character and a clean, dry finish. I'd happily recommend it to any Belgian or saison enthusiast.

However.

Dupont's offering is a joy from nose to palate, from first sip to last. It's got a bit more alcohol heft and a denser mouthfeel, and has wonderful hop flavor and aroma that expertly pairs with the malt and saison yeast to create a little worldscape all its own - a fresh, vital beer that simply and quietly demands your attention and respect.

Sadly, the keg went very quickly, and it's no longer on tap, but I'm told it can be found in bottles (along with, of course, Dupont's standard - and also revelatory - saison). Seek this beer wherever you can. It's worth it.

End of Summer

There's been a noticeable turn in the weather over the past couple of weeks. The sun is bright but mild, the average temperature is dropping, and the nights are chilly and humid.

With this turn in weather comes a change in perspective. The citrusy summer IPAs that seemed so inviting just weeks ago are being replaced with nutty, caramel-centric browns, and pumpkin-spiced beer is looming on the horizon.

I'm looking forward to this next month for many reasons, but primary among them is my impending visit to Germany for Oktoberfest and being able to try many classic German styles fresh from the source. Others who've been have told me to expect a revelatory experience - a sort of master class in the art of subtle hopping and complex malting. In particular, I'm eagerly awaiting the opportunity to try many breweries' take on Marzen beer.

Meanwhile, Eugene appears to have at least a couple new breweries set to launch in the next few months, and the established breweries continue to expand and experiment.

This is also a good opportunity to mention that sometime this past month I realized I've been blogging for 3 months. Here's to many more!

Cheers!

First Impressions: Elk Horn Brewery

Wednesday I had the opportunity to check out Elk Horn, Eugene's newest brewery, on their first day of service.

Elk Horn is run by the same folks behind Delacata, the popular Southern-style food cart you've likely seen around town. The owners' Southern influence shows in all aspects of the presentation, food, and experience.

The most surprising thing I discovered, upon placing my order, is that Elk Horn isn't brewing their own beer yet! I was told that'd be ready in October. In the meantime, Elk Horn has another claim to fame ready to go - they're the only business in Eugene producing hard cider. It's the cider I focused on - there were 5 on tap, ready to be sampled. The rest of the tap handles are rounded out by a good, but not spectacular, selection of local and regional beers easily found elsewhere in town.

Elk Horn's ciders - Dry, Apple, Peach, Blackberry, and Black Currant

I'll be the first to admit that my experience with cider pales in comparison to that of beer. That being said, Elk Horn seems to know what they're doing in this regard. Compared to macro-scale cider, Elk Horn's are milder and drier, with lots of subtle flavors that meld well together. From the acidic and mild Dry to the sweet, rich, and full Blackberry, these are all worth trying. I didn't much care for the Black Currant - it had a harsh and bitter vegetative note - but the rest are winners.

Another mark in Elk Horn's favor is the food. The owners have put their time with Delacata to good use, producing a menu full of Southern goodness - including gumbo, fried catfish, and what I assume to be their signature offering, an imposing elk burger.Over the past few days, they've also added BBQ, including chicken and tri-tip, as well as a couple of good-looking desserts. The food's a bit on the pricier side, but portions seemed generous and everything I saw coming out of the kitchen looked well put-together.

Speaking of a well put-together experience, the decor is top-notch. Elk Horn's owners have transformed the already-interesting multilevel Carl's Jr into a comfortable and relaxing place to be. Bluegrass and Americana waft from the speakers, the walls are covered in reclaimed wood (made from pallets, as I'm told) and the upstairs windows are now garage-style, which I'm sure will be great when the weather cools off a bit. There's also a good outdoor patio that was a very popular choice. Parking is a bit limited - the lot was full while the restaurant was not, and there's not a lot of street availability. My other concern here is that the open kitchen is quite noisy, but I bet that it'll be quieter once the staff gets into a good rhythm.

Overall, Elk Horn's well worth a visit, especially for fans of good Southern cooking with a PNW twist. They're located at Franklin and Hilyard.

Beer of the Moment - Sir Orange A Lot

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I try a lot of different beers. Happily, blogging regularly is enabling me to put this tendency to good use.

Sometimes, I happen upon a beer that's so perfect for the season or such a well-executed example of a style that I can't help but pass it on.

This week, that beer is Hop Valley's Sir Orange A Lot. As the name implies, it's heavy on the citrus, both from the hops and from the added orange peel. The peel also adds some nice vegetative bitterness that compensates for the low IBUs (20, in this case). At 5.9%, it's a bit too strong to be sessionable, but for the style, it's right in the sweet spot, having just enough body to achieve a medium mouthfeel.

Beyond the standard characteristics, this beer just tastes like summer to me. When the mercury climbs to 90 and higher, citrus is such a refreshing flavor, and I've rarely had a better citrus-infused experience. If you're in the area, make sure to stop by and grab a pint while it lasts.

(For those who prefer lemon to orange, Hop Valley's also got a very good wheat beer on tap at the moment with a pronounced lemon flavor, called Wheat Doctrine #1. It's also tasty, but I feel Sir Orange A Lot embodies the ideal summer beer more closely. Your mileage may vary.)

Marketing New Beers

My decision to try a lot of new beers last week led me down a worthy line of thinking:

How do Eugene's breweries get the word out about new beer releases?

After some research, it turns out the answer is that often, they don't.

I looked at each Eugene brewery's website, Twitter, and Facebook page, trying to get a feel for what sort of information they're trying to present. Almost without exception, social media is used to promote local events or events at the brewery. Taking things a step further - at the breweries I visited this week, I asked the managers how new beers are promoted. The answers I got were variations on 'sometimes we'll post about it, but usually we just put it on and let people find out when they visit.' I was told to either come in or call to get the most up-to-date information.

I'll admit that I'm a bit confused by this. Beer is a brewery's raison d'etre - why wouldn't a brewery spend a little bit of time to get the word out about new beers? Why should I be the one having to do the work to learn what a brewery's up to? I find it especially vexing because this'd be such an easy thing to fix - just pour a pint, take a picture, and make a quick Twitter or Facebook post including the description.

I ask this as someone who's well-known as a novelty drinker - tell me a brewery's got an interesting new beer to try, and I'm there. That's not to say that I don't appreciate standards - I think Oakshire's Watershed is a fantastic IPA, for instance. But I would almost never visit Oakshire and get a Watershed - why would I? It's in every beer store and supermarket and tons of other bars in town. When I visit a brewery, I want to try something new, something I can't easily find elsewhere.

So it's a bit disheartening to find that the local breweries aren't marketing their new beers to people like me. Sure, Ninkasi'll have announcements for new beer lines on occasion, and Oakshire's been pretty reliable about releasing a new beer every week on Tuesday. But everyone else I talked to and looked at doesn't market their new beers effectively.

This Week in Eugene Beer: 8/10-17

Howdy, folks.

This is the debut of a new semi-regular feature on the blog. I'm going to try to stay on top of interesting new beers being released here in Eugene, to help direct the thirsty novelty-seeking beer enthusiast to worthy watering holes.

Without further ado, here's this week's report:

Oakshire
This week, Oakshire featured Reunification, a Berliner Weisse. It's got a crisp, slightly sour bite that mellows into smoothy, bready malt that lingers a bit. This is a great introduction to the Berliner Weisse style - it's not too sour and doesn't linger, and at 4.5%, it's sessionable. Perfect for escaping the heat.

Hop Valley
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Hop Valley's got an excellent milk stout on tap called Galactose. It's possessed of a rich, caramelized/roasted malt flavor tempered somewhat by creamy lactose. It's also very sessionable at 4.8%, and definitely worth seeking out for those stout-lovers among us.

McKenzie
Moving into stronger territory, Steelhead's got a new IPA out perfect for the late summer - it's called Guavalicious. It's everything the name implies - heavy on guava flavor blended with tropical hops, clocking in around 7%. Word of warning, though: it's got quite a bitter finish, especially for having such mellow initial flavors.

Plank Town
Back on the lighter side, Plank Town's featuring a very good pilsner called Blue Pool. It's definitely rooted in the style's Germanic origins - traditionally floor-malted barley and Noble hops combine to produce a light, refreshing, and flavorful beer that's eminently sessionable at 4.3%.

Rogue
Eugene's Rogue outpost is undergoing some substantial changes, with ex-brewer Sam Scoggin working to get soon-to-open Elk Horn Brewing off the ground. I've heard Rogue just recently hired a new brewer to make its Eugene-based Track Town beers. Which is to say that new Track Town beer will be hard to come by for a little while longer. The only remaining draft at present is Pentathlon - a Belgian pale ale made with rye. It's got an interesting blend of rye spice and typical Belgian yeast esters. Worth a try if you find yourself downtown soon.

I hope y'all check these beers out soon!

Breweries of Eugene - McMenamins High Street

McMenamins is a venerable chain of brewpubs dating back to the mid-80s. Elsewhere in Oregon they're well-known for their interesting properties and attractions, such as the Old St. Francis School in Bend (with meeting space, hotel rooms, and a small movie theater) and the Crystal Ballroom (a popular concert venue in Portland). Here in Eugene they're the proprietors of three pubs - the East 19th St Cafe near the UO campus, the North Bank restaurant right by the river, and the High Street pub, which brews a lot of local beer.

My focus being on the beer, I decided to visit the High Street location this afternoon after running some errands in the area.

The pub is a cozy, inviting, warm space. Memorabilia from concerts and newspapers from years past dot the walls, indie/folk/country plays on the radio, and the large dual patios are a comfortable place to take a load off when the weather's fine.

As always, though, the atmosphere's a secondary consideration. I want to find excellent beer. So how does McMenamins stack up with its local pub brews?

The sampler flight.

From my tasting notes:

Purple Haze: A fruit beer made with boysenberries. Light, clean, bready, with an almost-sour finish.

Ruby: A celebrated gateway beer, saturated with raspberry flavor. But it's watery and thin.

Hammerhead Pale: Bugspray hops abound!

Copper Moon: An English-style pale ale. Much richer and more varied hop presence. Good.

Halcyon Dreams IPA: Earthy, almost minty hops dominate, well-balanced by malt. Very nice.

Terminator Stout: Sweet and buttery, with a distinctive roasted note.


Terminator, Ruby, and Hammerhead are the chain-wide beers, and they were all markedly less interesting than the other three, all locally-made. I could see myself definitely enjoying a pint of the IPA and the Copper Moon. I understand that pretty much every McMenamins brewpub operates under this same principle - they all serve the pub standards, but have some freedom to experiment on beers of their own design.

Overall, High Street makes pretty decent beer. They have a great happy hour menu and friendly, homey service. While they're not usually a high priority for me, I'm pleased with the local pub beer I had today. I'll try to keep up with them more regularly in the future.

Market Saturation

I've been thinking a lot recently about the astonishingly fast growth of the craft beer industry over the last decade, especially after coming across this article from last year's Draft Magazine. Whether the growth is sustainable into the future is anyone's guess (and a topic I'd like to explore in more detail soon), but today I'll focus on a wrinkle in that picture - market saturation.

Now, I'll preface this with a standard disclaimer: I'm not a businessman and don't have any formal business education. I'm simply an interested layperson who likes the big picture and not the wonky details.

Market saturation describes a situation wherein a product or service has become so diffused through a population that further growth is possible only through increased population or taking market share away from a competitor.

Are we experiencing market saturation in craft beer?

First, let's get some statistics to work with. Oregon Craft Beer, run by the Oregon Brewers' Guild, has some good basic information on breweries and the state. Now we have to decide how to practically measure brewery saturation. I think people per brewery is a reasonable place to start. According to recent census data, Eugene's got a population of around of around 160,000. This excludes Springfield and the outlying towns, but let's continue. OCB says there're 12 breweries in Eugene, giving us about 13,333 people per brewery (herein abbreviated PPB).

Now let's compare that with Bend and Portland, two cities both often said to be highly brewery-saturated. Bend's PPB, using the same data, comes out to about 3,809. Portland's, using just the city proper, is around 10,700. Bend should therefore be the benchmark for our discussion, being three times as brewery-dense as Portland.

Has Bend become saturated? I can't find any evidence - I looked for peaking/declining sales and brewery closures. By contrast, new breweries are continuing to open, and sales across the city (and state) continue to rise.

Tuesday, I'll look further into the topic and the related idea of sustainability.

Blind Tasting Results

Saturday was my long-awaited blind IPA tasting. Here's how it happened.

15 Oregon IPAs were procured. I chose to stick with Oregon beer to keep things stylistically similar.

I had about 10 folks attending, some of which hadn't really tasted beer critically in the past, and I was glad for the opportunity to preach the craft gospel.

The beers we served were as follows:

Oakshire Watershed IPA
Ninkasi Total Domination IPA
Hop Valley Alphadelic IPA
10 Barrel IPA
Rogue Brutal IPA
Breakside IPA
Burnside IPA
Flat Tail Rough Cut IPA
Mazama Hop Eruption IPA
Wild Ride Copperhead IPA
Laurelwood Workhorse IPA
McKenzie Twisted Meniscus IPA
Deschutes Inversion IPA
Hopworks IPA
Caldera Hop Hash IPA

The hosts and I devised a plan: flights of 4 samples each, picked and poured randomly by a tireless volunteer. At the end of each flight, after evaluating the beers, we were told which breweries were in the flight, and guessed which beer matched up with the tasting notes we'd written.

My tasting notes are quite revealing. I ranked each beer within its flight, best to worst.
So, my top beers from each flight: Hopworks, Rogue, Laurelwood, Burnside.
My bottom 4: Wild Ride, Breakside, Flat Tail, Deschutes.

Laurelwood being on the top doesn't surprise me; it's a wonderful IPA and I remember it tasting very hoppy even amidst all the other bitterness. Likewise Hopworks, I've enjoyed their IPA many times in the past. Burnside is surprising. I've been to their brewpub a few times, and my tasting notes from then don't seem to indicate their IPA as being especially good. Maybe my palate has changed or their recipe's improved. Rogue was also interesting to see on here; I don't visit them very often, but maybe I should be keeping closer tabs on their production.

The bottom 4 were also interesting to see. Wild Ride was a gamble; no one at the tasting had tried their IPA before, and it turned out to be lackluster. Breakside's surprising; I recall quite liking their IPA when I visited them a couple years ago. Flat Tail's in line with what I remember trying previously, and Deschutes is more of a malty, East-coast style IPA.

Here are a few things I learned for the next event:

- 15 beers is way too many to be able to meaningfully and critically evaluate. Palate fatigue was a real problem after the first couple flights. 8 would have been much easier.

- 15 beers also take a long time to taste through, when you're pouring flights for 10 people at once. It was nearly 3 hours, start to finish, moving at a fairly decent clip.

- Once you sample a few hoppy beers in a row, a lot of the hoppiness and bitterness get muted due to palate fatigue. This has the interesting and unexpected side effect of allowing the malting to really shine through, and also illustrates relative hoppiness - a couple of the IPAs tasted hoppy/bitter even after trying many of the others.

- There needs to be plentiful foods available to help freshen the palate and slow down alcohol processing. Insightful critical evaluation of beer is really hard when you're buzzed.

Overall, I was very pleased with the results. I'm hoping to put together more such tastings in the future, either centered around styles or geography. If y'all haven't been to a blind tasting before, I highly recommend it!

Growler Fill Stations

I'm about to get my weekend started, but wanted to offer some quick thoughts on a recent phenomenon that's been very surprising to see.

I'm referring to the recent explosion of growler fill stations and bars in Eugene. A quick search turns up more than half a dozen dedicated growler-filling establishments - among them Growler Guys, Growler Nation, Steel Pail, Growler University, and The Filling Station. I've also heard of some local markets, restaurants, and gas stations getting in on this concept. Doubtless there are even more planned in the coming year or two.

What's remarkable about this to me is that all of the growler-filling establishments have opened in the last year - Growler Nation was the first, in late June 2013. I've had the chance to visit most of these locations, and they're all busy and popular. So now I'm wondering why.

Let's face it - growlers are a cumbersome, awkward way to get beer. It's true that they reduce packaging and allow customers to get fresh beer that's not available in cans or bottles. They're also a good deal compared to drinking draft pints - most places have fills of great beer for $10 or less. But there's a lot of drawbacks, too. They're not airtight, for the most part, and once opened, they oxidize and go flat within a day or two, necessitating quick drinking for optimal flavor. They also require substantial cleaning between fills - not an easy feat, considering the small neck. And for home drinking, they're still not a great deal compared to most prepackaged beer.

But clearly there's something a lot of people really like about the idea of taking half-gallons of beer to go. Though the growler idea doesn't greatly appeal to me, these establishments are also providing an excellent side benefit - the continued expansion of Eugene's available draft beer, wine, and cider. Most of these places have more than 20 taps, so it's a fair bet that between all of them and our great beer bars, there's something on tap in town for just about anyone's taste.

I'm just not sure if growlers are a solid basis for a business model. I certainly don't wish failure on any fill station - the folks behind them are good people who work hard. But I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of these guys go under in the next year or two, because these places are designed to primarily fill growlers. There's not much seating or food to speak of, and so it'd never occur to me to stop in for a pint unless there was something absolutely stunning on tap.

I think Tap & Growler is doing it the best way. By having tons of wine on tap, a pleasant ambiance, lots of seating, and decent food on offer, they've established themselves as more than just a fill station for beer. And even if the growler trend cools off significantly, they'll be in a good position to soldier on as a bar.

Virtues of Blind Tasting

This weekend, I'm planning a blind IPA tasting with some friends. I'll write more about the specifics after the fact, but I wanted to dig into why I find blind beer tasting such a tantalizing prospect.

For me, I suppose, the strongest draw is the ability to separate brand from the experience, albeit temporarily. I often wonder how much a beer's brand influences my perception of it - I know, for instance, that a beer from Hopworks or Santiam is going to be pretty good on average, and I'm less enthused at the prospect of a new beer from Falling Sky or Steelhead. But critically, I'm not sure I could reliably tell them apart without foreknowledge of what I was drinking. I suspect much of my thinking about a brewery is staked on those expectations.

The last blind tasting I participated in was several years ago, at the old Bier Stein, where they had 6 local IPAs on tap, with prizes on offer for anyone who could correctly identify all the beers. To my great shame, I got every single one wrong - and I'd probably had a pint of each within the month of the tasting. My pride was somewhat assuaged when I learned that no one had managed to identify all six beers - out of probably a couple hundred participants.

For this tasting, I chose Oregon IPAs - mostly for the fact that pretty much every major brewery in Oregon makes at least one. Instinctively, I know the ones I'm selecting are all quite different in their hop profile, malting, bitterness, and booziness, but we'll see whether that's still the case after the fact.

Eugene's Missing Beer

Eugene's been blessed with a lot of very good breweries, and more seem to appear every year. But there's something I've been thinking about a lot, recently. What sort of beer is Eugene missing?

At first glance, not much. We've got our resident West-coast super-hoppy brewery in Ninkasi. There's Viking, our braggot producer. McKenzie's our 90s throwback. Falling Sky, Hop Valley, and Oakshire experiment endlessly. Plank Town's got British-style beers dialed in. Agrarian makes good farmhouse ales, Rogue/Tracktown and McMenamins are the elder statesmen. Brewers Union, out in Oakridge, makes great British real ale. And the up-and-comers - Claim 52, Sam Bond's, Mancave, Elk Horn, and Hughes Brothers are all trying to get off the ground and differentiate themselves.

Even with this wealth of beer, there's still some things I wish Eugene had. In no particular order:

- A brewery that focuses on Belgian-style beers, hopefully including sours, lambics, and barrel-aged ales. No brewery I'm aware of in town produces any beers like this, except as occasional one-offs.

- A brewery with a strong focus on German-style beer. Ninkasi's Prismatic Lager series is the closest thing we've got at the moment. Not to knock Ninkasi - the lagers are pretty good - but it would be lovely to see a brewery really step up and focus on German beer, as Occidental does in Portland, for instance.

- A great brewpub. Eugene's got Falling Sky, McMenamins, and Steelhead, but their beer has been pretty lackluster, and the food's hit-or-miss. Brewers Union does a good job on both counts, but they're an hour away from town. It would be lovely to go somewhere local not just for the beer or the food, but both.

- A boldly experimental brewery, eager to try making beer with extreme adjuncts. Some breweries here make single beers like this, but infrequently at best. I kind of have a weakness for crazy beer, so I'm not sure how many others this'd appeal to.

I'm predicting that most of these niches will be filled in the coming year or two. It's easily conceivable that Eugene/Springfield could have 20+ breweries in the near future. But these are the recommendations I'd make to brewers thinking of starting a new brewery right now.

Breweries of Salem: Gilgamesh

As part of my trip to Salem a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Gilgamesh's beautiful new brewing campus (as they term it) and checked out their brewpub. The last time I'd been to Salem, they had recently opened their downtown lounge location, which was mediocre at best (though the beer then was quite good).

The new digs are visually pleasing - lots of light wood, high ceilings, a large patio with plenty of outdoor seating, plenty of big bay windows, and a fireplace built to resemble their arrow logo. It's obvious that the owners put a lot of thought into designing the place.

Given that it was afternoon on a weekday, service was prompt. I think we were the only ones there at the time we arrived.

The bar has a huge mirror behind it, and the taplist was written on the mirror, making it very hard to read from a distance. A minor quibble, but annoying nonetheless.

Flights are $6 for 6 4oz samples. I opted for a 7th, to be able to try all the single-batch beers they had on offer.

Here are my tasting notes:

Mega Mamba - An imperial version of their hopless beer. Boozy and spicy, with pronounced mango.

Blueberry Sour - Acidic, sour, with good blueberry flavor and a cereal malt finish.

Fun Guy Bock - Apparently made with mushrooms. Woody and maple-like.

O'Doyle Rules - A very forgettable and average amber.

Oedipus IPA - Harsh, vegetative hops.

Chai Oatmeal Stout - Tea and spices dominate, a creamy, milk-like finish.

Bandit Porter - Smoke, vinegary sourness, some roast.

Gilgamesh makes beers that are interesting. Following up on my last post, generally they go for Point 3 beers - adding ingredients without really seeming to build beers around them, which is necessary, especially if you're working with very potent adjuncts like tea and blueberries. I enjoyed the Mamba and the sour, but the rest all suffered from mistakes a little bit more experimentation and planning would have fixed.

I'm always up for trying more of Gilgamesh's beer, if only because I know that whatever they're offering, it won't be boring. If their consistency and quality tick up a little bit, they'll be in very good shape.

Extreme Adjuncts

Recently, a friend in Texas pointed out to me that some breweries in his area are starting to experiment widely and wildly with their beers - aging them in barrels, adding peppers, spices, and other oddities.

Upon hearing this, my thinking is twofold. Is this a trend that has long-term national viability?

And perhaps more importantly: what drives brewers to add strange things to beer?

I think the answers to these questions are related.

It's pretty clear by this point, at least to someone living in the Pacific Northwest, that certain adjuncts have become so frequently used as to be considered standard. Here I'm thinking of stouts in particular - it's common to find coffee, chocolate, cacao, oatmeal, and vanilla added to these beers at various points. By contrast, there are plenty of adjuncts used that tend to define a beer - strong spices, peppers, animal parts, intense fruits, and others. So here's my general term for these non-standard, often eye-catching ingredients in beer: extreme adjuncts.

Back to the questions. Broadly speaking, it can sometimes be hard to discern a brewer's intent on producing a specific beer, but for the sake of understanding, I'll divide the reasoning behind the use of extreme adjuncts into three categories:

1. The desire to tweak or riff on an existing recipe.

2. The desire to make a better beer than would otherwise be possible.

3. The sheer novelty.

Point 1 is deeply embedded in brewing philosophy: iteration begets quality. Small changes in the ingredients and brewing environment can create very different beers. And once you're working with a solid, easily-reproduced recipe, you can begin to tweak it to attempt to improve it further. It's easy to see how 'Hey, let's use a little less of this bittering hop and a little more to dry hop' can progress to 'And hey, we've got these fresh spruce tips, let's throw some of those in, too'.

When using non-traditional adjuncts, it can be very difficult to determine the appropriate amount to add to create the desired effect, or even if the selected adjunct will do what the brewer expects. As a result, beers created under point 1 will tend to taste like inferior versions of their base beer, with occasional exceptions. A great local example is Oakshire's Goatshed IPA, made using Wandering Goat coffee - it's got all the hopping of the base beer Watershed, but the coffee is also prominent, and the piney and citrusy hops mesh well with the rich, sweet coffee.

Point 2 is, I believe, the most important development of the three, and reflects a maturing beer market. Brewers who make beers using Point 2's philosophy understand that while beer is often just barley, hops, yeast, and water, these ingredients are not what defines beer. There are far fewer Point 2 beers, because deconstructing a beer recipe, rebuilding it around an extreme ingredient, and coming up with something great on the other end is a challenging feat. A great local example of this type of thinking is Allies Win The War, a collaboration between Ninkasi and 21st Amendment. It's a strong ale made with dates where the date sweetness is the backbone of the beer.

And.. Point 3. This is beer made for the hell of it. It's rarely balanced, and often a trainwreck, but sometimes it's that kinda trainwreck where you can't help but stare. At best, you get something like Wynkoop's Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout - a foreign-style stout made with roasted bull testicles which is actually quite excellent. At worst, it's something like Rogue's Voodoo Bacon Maple beer - which does indeed taste like smoke, salt, and maple sugar. Or from Deschutes, The Stoic - a Belgian-style quad that's a blend of several different types of barrel-aged beer, and which reminded me, not-so-fondly, of the fountain 'suicide drink' made of a little bit of every type of fountain soda available at a restaurant.

Getting back to my initial question - will extreme adjuncts be a viable long-term trend in the industry? I think we'll just have to wait and see. However, I'm willing to go on the record saying that Point 1 and Point 3 beers will come and go, but there will always be plenty of room in the market for excellent Point 2-inspired craft beer.