Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to try Ninkasi's new Ground Control stout. Yes, this is the beer made with the yeast Ninkasi shot into space, recovered, and propagated. The rather overdesigned website is here.
The finished beer's a boozy imperial stout in the vein of the excellent Imperiale, made with cacao, hazelnuts, and star anise. And perhaps in spite of all these exotic adjuncts, I rather liked it.
Ground Control's got a rich, thick mouthfeel and a strong helping of roasted malt with some alcohol heat. The overall flavor bounces from roast to chocolate to nutty to spicy, sometimes all in one sip. And make no mistake, at 10% ABV and 80 IBUs, this is definitely a beer to respect and take slowly.
I'm pleased the beer's great. What worries me is the gimmick. Space beer, right? Who can resist that?
I've been thinking on all this after reading this excellent piece on Thrillist about how craft brewing is likely about to become far more competitive. I'll have more far-reaching commentary on the article later on this week, but for now, consider the topic of beer differentiation.
In Eugene alone, there's now too many beers for one person to reasonably keep abreast of - probably over 100 locally brewed beers available on tap, with several new releases each week. Now, Eugene's a fairly robust market for its size - only Bend has more breweries per capita in Oregon. But with the increasing competition for local tap handles and beer drinkers' discretionary spending, we're starting to see breweries do weirder and weirder things in a bid to grab attention.
Ninkasi's on the forefront here, obviously. Space beer! But this is a dark kind of path - the kind of gimmick that can quickly steal the focus from the beer itself. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - the stories breweries craft to complement their beer are as important to enjoying them as any slate of ingredients.
It's instructive to think about, though. Without the spacefaring yeast, what would Ground Control be? Just another (admittedly well-made) imperial stout brewed with some mildly adventurous adjunct ingredients. Even in Eugene, there's already plenty of similar beers widely available.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Breweries of Portland: Ex Novo
Last week, I had some business to take care of in Portland, and I happily took the opportunity to visit a couple of breweries I hadn't had the chance to see yet.
I was heading downtown to Fat Head's (which I'll be writing about later this week) when I happened to pass Ex Novo and decided to stop in.
At first glance, it's a very attractively laid out facility - looks to be a former warehouse, with the bar and tables up front and the brewing setup down the middle aisle. There's a small kitchen serving what looked to be rather good upscale pub grub, though definitely on the lighter and pricier side.
Ex Novo's gimmick is that they're a non-profit brewery - they donate all of their net profits to a selection of local charities. A nice idea - drinking beer as a way to help people in need. And the beer prices are pretty reasonable, especially for Portland:
From the list, it's clear that Ex Novo's current focus is on lighter, more sessionable styles - both in terms of alcohol content and overall bitterness.
Here's what I thought of the beer:
How the Helles Are Ya'. Terribly punny name. The beechwood character of the malt really comes through - in fact, I thought this was too smoky for the style.
Saison Lillis. I didn't get the melony/bubblegum flavors mentioned in the notes - for me, this was a very estery, lemony saison with some funky meandering going on.
Eliot IPA. From the hop bill, I thought I'd love this. I was disappointed - it's vegetative and hollow, but there's a nice lingering bitterness the other beers lacked (mostly due to style).
Jacked-up Farmhouse. Easily my favorite of the beers I tried, this saison had a mild tartness with that interesting jackfruit flavor. Just enough alcohol heft, too.
I really like the concept of Ex Novo - the non-profit angle is interesting, and I hope it succeeds. However, the beer I had was pretty average and unmemorable. I know it's early days yet - the brewery just launched last year - and I think the beer'll improve with time.
I was heading downtown to Fat Head's (which I'll be writing about later this week) when I happened to pass Ex Novo and decided to stop in.
At first glance, it's a very attractively laid out facility - looks to be a former warehouse, with the bar and tables up front and the brewing setup down the middle aisle. There's a small kitchen serving what looked to be rather good upscale pub grub, though definitely on the lighter and pricier side.
Ex Novo's gimmick is that they're a non-profit brewery - they donate all of their net profits to a selection of local charities. A nice idea - drinking beer as a way to help people in need. And the beer prices are pretty reasonable, especially for Portland:
 |
| Ex Novo's taplist during my visit. |
From the list, it's clear that Ex Novo's current focus is on lighter, more sessionable styles - both in terms of alcohol content and overall bitterness.
Here's what I thought of the beer:
How the Helles Are Ya'. Terribly punny name. The beechwood character of the malt really comes through - in fact, I thought this was too smoky for the style.
Saison Lillis. I didn't get the melony/bubblegum flavors mentioned in the notes - for me, this was a very estery, lemony saison with some funky meandering going on.
Eliot IPA. From the hop bill, I thought I'd love this. I was disappointed - it's vegetative and hollow, but there's a nice lingering bitterness the other beers lacked (mostly due to style).
Jacked-up Farmhouse. Easily my favorite of the beers I tried, this saison had a mild tartness with that interesting jackfruit flavor. Just enough alcohol heft, too.
I really like the concept of Ex Novo - the non-profit angle is interesting, and I hope it succeeds. However, the beer I had was pretty average and unmemorable. I know it's early days yet - the brewery just launched last year - and I think the beer'll improve with time.
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