Breweries of Eugene: Claim 52

Friday afternoon I had the luxury of finishing work early. I decided to fully leverage this time by driving out to West Eugene and stopping in to Claim 52's tasting space.

Founded in 2012, Claim 52 remains one of Eugene's smallest breweries. They're only open on Friday afternoons, but are well worth the stop - especially if you have business at the nearby post office or DMV.

I hadn't visited in several months, and quite a lot has changed. Most prominently, there's now a proper bar with about a dozen taps, as well as seating for 40-50. There's also a food truck here every Friday - the selection on my visit was a Vietnamese fusion of some sort.

But all of that is window dressing - how is the beer?

The tasting tray. Clockwise from top: Imp. Stout, Amber, IPA, Kolsch

There were seven beers on tap. A flight of 4 4oz pours runs $5 - a pretty good deal. Here are my notes:

Kolsch: The standout of the bunch. This is on tap everywhere in town, it seems, and with good reason. It's crisp and slightly citrus in aroma, with an excellent mouthfeel and a clean finish. A perfect summer beer.

Fine Line Amber: Heavy caramel/roasted malt/smoke character. Almost more like a brown in profile.

Insta-IPA: A very resinous, juicy, mouth-coating hop experience. Flavors of citrus dominate.

Lil' Angus Stout: Imperial, aged slightly in bourbon barrels, with added chocolate. By far the most ambitious of Claim 52's beers, this stout is, by the assistant brewer's own admission, still young and a bit hot. But it has much to recommend giving it a try - a wonderful chocolate flavor/aroma, a slight hint of woodiness, and a good bit of roast. It finishes quite light for such a beer.

Joe, the assistant brewer, chatted with me a bit, and directed my attention to the four barrels in the corner of the tasting room. That's where the rest of the stout is aging, sans chocolate. This might be something to watch for, several months down the road. My only worry is that the beer won't have the alcohol heft to support all the whiskey/wood flavors that'll come with time - it finished under 9%.

For the sake of completeness, the other brews on offer are their red, an apricot pale, and a wheat beer. I also counted a tap of Atlas cider (a ciderhouse getting quite a bit of buzz at the moment) and a tap of red wine.

Claim 52 makes good beer. The one thing I don't quite understand is what they're focusing on. The name and image evoke pioneer settlements of decades past, but it's not reflected in the style or branding of the beers. But for a brewery that's been around just a couple of years, they're making pretty impressive inroads locally. I look forward to seeing what they come up with in the months and years ahead.