It isn't easy to keep up with all the breweries in the Eugene/Springfield area anymore, now that there're over a dozen of them, but thanks to the fairly recent construction in the Whiteaker neighborhood, it's now possible to visit the three biggest breweries in the area without need of a car.
I made such a trek last week, seeking insight into the current state of Eugene beer. Here's what I discovered:
My first stop was at Ninkasi's tasting room. The oldest and smallest of the spaces, Ninkasi's been pouring beer here since late 2009. There are 10 taps, showcasing the standard lineup plus a couple of specialties. After a bit of sampling, I decided on the Lux Helles lager. It's part of their Prismatic Lager series, and a welcome change from the usually hop-saturated ales for which Ninkasi has become well-known. I enjoyed my pint, but there are better lagers being made in town.
As a company, Ninkasi's philosophy from founding has been to expand as quickly and widely as possible. Just a few weeks ago, they finished construction on a new production brewery just across the street from the current one. Despite opening only 8 years ago, they're now able to brew 295,000 barrels of beer per year, easily putting them in the top 20 craft breweries in the country, at least by that metric. The difference in scale between Ninkasi and the area's other breweries is difficult to overstate. The next two biggest local breweries (Oakshire and Hop Valley) combined can produce around 30,000 barrels per year.
There has been - to my taste buds, at least - a marked decrease in Ninkasi's overall quality over the past few years, perhaps as a result of this aggressive expansion. Too, the caliber and number of new and one-off beers has been quite low; likely a necessary sacrifice to support their entry into a number of new markets every year. My trip here was the first time I'd been to the tasting room in over a year, and though I like the space and the bar staff, I probably won't be returning soon.
From Ninkasi it's just a few short blocks to Hop Valley's new outpost, and that's where I headed next.
Hop Valley got their start in Springfield, opening in early 2009. Until the coming of Plank Town last year, they had the distinction of being Springfield's sole brewery. As a brewery, Hop Valley takes quite a bit more risk. By way of illustration, even at the initial restaurant and pub, they're the only place I've been that consistently serves beer on both cask and nitro. They tend to experiment boldly with style, adjuncts, and other brewing factors. My fondest memory of visiting them in Springfield hearkens back to November 2011, when they released a Spinal Tap-inspired beer where everything was literally 'turned up to 11'. 11 malt types, 11 hop varieties, all coming out at 11% ABV and 111 IBUs. The beer was improbably delicious and remains to date the best beer they've yet produced. But I digress.
The new facility in Eugene, which opened last summer, clearly spared no expense in design and construction. Everything is attractive dark wood and big windows, with a clear view into the adjoining production space. In terms of seating capacity, I wouldn't be surprised if this new 'tasting room' surpasses the original restaurant, especially if the huge patio is taken into consideration. This is a facility built with a big ambition behind it.
Unfortunately, like Ninkasi, I feel the focus on the beer has been lost. It's true that no brewery in Eugene probably releases more single-batch beers than Hop Valley. Every time I go in there's usually a handful of new offerings, but the quality of late hasn't been up to their past standards. I sampled 3 new beers in an attempt to find something worthwhile, settling on a pint of dry-hopped red ale served on cask. It was the correct temperature and the hopping really shone through, but overall it was weaker than most of the standard lineup.
The standard lineup deserves a bit of discussion, as well. It's obvious the brewers have been doing a bit of soul-searching over the past year, as they've made a lot of tweaks to the flagship beers. I don't think they're yet settled on a good balance. Right now, the bottled collection includes 4(!) IPAs, a blonde, a red, a vanilla porter, a lager, and a pilsner. Hop Valley appears to be a brewery in transition. With a bit more focus in the kitchen and a more prudent selection in the brewhouse, they still have potential to be great.
Finally, Oakshire's new public house awaits, a little further east.
Oakshire got its start in 2006, like Ninkasi. But they've embraced a very different path, focusing on slower, more sustainable growth. Initially, the best way to try Oakshire's beers was by driving to the brewery's small tasting space on Saturdays. All that changed when the Public House opened last May in a converted warehouse. The new space is well put-together, but quite a bit smaller than I would have expected. Going there after work is generally an exercise in frustration, standing, and having friends claim seats ahead of time. It reminds me of the old Bier Stein location.
Thankfully, the quality of Oakshire's offerings remains both consistent and high. They've committed to releasing a new beer every Tuesday. Not all of these are unique - the new beer when I visited was a tea-steeped variation on their summer seasonal Line Dry Rye - but they're generally of outstanding quality. I tucked into a pint of Goatshed - a coffee-infused IPA that drinks something like a cross between Watershed and Overcast, managing to retain the best qualities of each. No easy feat.
So what's the takeaway from this crawl? I don't think there are any breezy answers here. I'd rather just enjoy a pint and a good conversation. But it's a testament to the explosive growth of the industry that none of this would have been possible 5 years ago. Even as recently as a year and a half ago, Ninkasi would have been the only option.
Visiting the Whit is never boring, and there's more excitement yet to come. Sam Bond's has started a small brewery, and I've heard talk of a distillery opening soon in the neighborhood. Regardless of preference, there's never been a better time to be a fan of craft beer in Eugene.
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