It’s time yet again for more blind tasting mayhem at Concordia Alehouse. Wednesday July 28, 2010 was the kickoff of five days and 12 Imperial IPAs. In this side-by-side sampling, a dozen Oregon breweries will duke it out to decide which will serve as captain for February 2011’s Beer Brawl IV between Oregon, Washington, and California.

Who will win the crown as Oregon’s best Imperial IPA brewer? Well, that all depends on which breweries submitted beers to Concordia. We’ll have to find out at the end of the event when the results are divulged on Monday August 2. If you recently attended Saraveza’s IIPA Fest (July 14-18), you have an idea of what some of the best Imperial IPAs are out there. Here’s the breweries we would pick if we were picking a dozen of Oregon’s best IIPA brewers:

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Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, places to drink beer

By Marc Demeule

I like to come to Québec to visit my family, friends and their kids and also for the summer festival.  We had a real good edition with plenty of concerts from artists like Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Rush, Social Distortion, GBH, Jello Biafra and so on.  But what about the beer?  Unfortunately, the festival was sponsored by Molson and the only products available on the site were Molson Dry, Molson M and Aquafina, which is the only bottled water that has an ugly taste because it is bottled from tap water  (thanks Pepsi).  Well, I can understand that only macro breweries have the money to sponsor such a big event, but it is always boring to attend a rock concert without anything good to drink.

Nevertheless, I took the weekend to pubcrawl Québec’s breweries, too.  Here’s where I went:

La Korrigane
The name of La Korrigane comes from an Icelandic codfisher transformed into an exploration ship.  Their expedition in 1934-1936 brings back a collection of 2000 ethnic objects of Polynesia, Indonesia and Egypt.

I have been very lucky and a bit insolent to attempt to the newest brewery in town, La Korrigane.  In fact, the place wasn’t really opened.  It was just a practice for the real opening night and only family and friends were invited to this event where the new staff was experiencing a new location, with new equipment and the first batch of recipes that hasn’t been tested with the water of the city.  So, okay, I promised to the owner to be objective in my comments and I wrote one page for the suggestion box.  The renovations of this huge building present a location easy to access (Corner of St-Joseph and Dorchester) with a terrace and eventually a kitchen (please offer more than burgers).  It will certainly help for the revitalization of St-Roch neighbourhood.

Beers tasted there revealed much potential.  I will surely return to measure the evolution when the installations will be fine tuned.  The only thing I could notice was that the beers had a mouth felt too thin.  I experienced a witbier (Mary Morgan) with good aroma of banana, citrus and a bit of yeast. The blueberry beer (Emiliy Carter) didn’t impress me because I found it too acidic.  The red and the oatmeal stout (Cornik) presented a some acidic taste, too, but where quite interesting.  The blonde (Vila) was my preference with a light touch of flowers and honey.

L’Inox
As I remember, this brewpub is the oldest (1987) that is still opened in Québec.  They recently move to a new location, so the occasion was perfect for a visit.  Only three beers were on tap because the affluence of the summer festival.  Simply called Blanche, Blonde and Rousse (white, blonde and red), I had glasses (no tasters available) of beers that respected the standards.  The white presented touches of citrus and the red some caramel malts.  The best was the blonde, American pale ale that presented a hoppy taste from five different hops.  It was simply great on a sunny terrace.  I shall visit this place when seasonal beers will be available, but on such a touristic street (la Grande Allée), I think this brewpub will now have the happy problem to fill up the mass of tourists instead of the local beer geeks.  Good for the volume, but please don’t forget to brew funky things.

Microbrasserie Le Corsaire
Le Corsaire is located in Lévis, just next to the ferry boat of the St-Lawrence River.  So the best way to access it is to take this ferry which gives an exceptional view of Québec and his Frontenac Castle.  The brewer, Martin Vaillancourt, made some of his classes at the aforementioned L’Inox as well as in England, so this brewing style is strongly and well represented here since 2008.  Here is what I’ve tried:

Tanaka blanche, wheat ale with ginger,  Seeräuber Pilsner,  Galère pale ale,  Bristol ESB, Maya blanche au miel, Corsaire Alt, Davy Jones Stout, Session bitter and Session bitter on cask.  Unfortunately, no IPA was on the board, but I had something very hoppy with the Session Bitter on cask.  What a great beer!  80 IBU and only 3,5 % of alcohol.  I would have took pints and pints of it but had to leave to take the last ferry back to the north shore.

I’ve been lucky (and lonely) because I was the only passenger for this travel on a ferry that can carry close to 40 cars and a bunch of pedestrians.  David Suzuki would have certainly not agreed with this, but there were no other options.   A good thing is that this session bitter will probably be Le Corsaire’s next beer to be canned (no bottles, but cans for this brewery).  At least, this travel didn’t produce five tons of CO2 for nothing…  Sorry Mr. Suzuki and Mrs. Earth.

To conclude, well I have to admit that the Québec City beer scene is away from what we can have in Montréal.  Of course, the quality is improving, but with the exception of the cask bitter, I haven’t tasted a lot of really exceptional beers.  On the other side, all the tasted beers were correctly brewed and did not present any technical defaults.

If you’ve  already come to Québec, you’ve probably taken note that I’ve forget to visit a brewery.  No, I haven’t forgotten.  I visited it but won’t talk much of it.  When you have a tasting tray and three of the beers are totally acidic, it is not normal.  The worst is when you mention it to the staff, they agree but still continue to pour it, because the place is full and people just don’t make the difference.  I don’t like that.  Instead of giving my money for default batches, I would prefer to make a donation for cancer research.

Brewpublican Marc Demeule lives and quaffs craft beer near Montreal, Québec and is an honorary citizen of Beervana. Marc@Brewpublic.com

Posted under beer reviews, places to drink beer

Bailey’s Taproom is unquestionably one of the best craft beer bars we’ve ever set foot inside, and, of course, our standards for beer are pretty high. Proprietor Geoff Phillips and his dedicated crew of beer geeks will be celebrating their third year on Saturday July 31, 2010 with a lineup of specialty barrel-aged brews, to the delight of area beer zealots and those traveling from afar to partake in one of the most anticipated beer events of the year in Portland, Oregon.

In a few recent posts on Bailey’s blog,our friend Geoff divulges some of the rare barrel-aged brews attendees can expect to try. We pulled the following info from Bailey’s site:

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Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, places to drink beer

Hopworks Urban Brewery’s brewers Ben Love and Matt Speckenbach will be funkifying Steve’s Cheese Bar this week as they spin bass-heavy, groove-shaking classics from the ‘70s as DJs Dr. Love and Inspector Speck. In addition to sweet beats, they’ll also be tapping into an exclusive cask-conditioned firkin of the always-smooth Organic Velvet ESB. The funk will be on from 7-10 pm, but the $3 pints last all night! Funky music, funky cheese, firkin funky beer… Check it out! Wednesday July 28,2010.

Steve’s Cheese Bar is located at 6031 SE Belmont Street in Portland, Oregon. For more information, call (503) 222-6014.

Posted under Beer & Music, Oregon beer, beer events, places to drink beer

Roscoe’s Pub will be featuring some great and unique beers from some great Oregon breweries at their July 30 Oregon Craft Beer Summit. According to proprietor Jeremy Lewis, some of the breweries to be represented include Amnesia (Copacetic IPA), Laurelwood (Green Mammoth Imperial IPA), Ft. George (Bourbon Barrel Stout), Cascade, Full Sail (Saison A Pleine Voile), Rogue (Latona Anniversary Ale), Oakshire, Deschutes, Hopworks, Double Mountain (Nitro: Dapper Dan), and many more.

You will also have an opportunity to meet the brewers from MacTarnahan’s. They will be in attendance to present their new Ink Blot Baltic Porter and Discord Cascadian Dark Ale.

Roscoes’s Pub is located at 8105 SE Stark Street in Portland, Oregon. For more information, call (503) 255-0049.

Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, places to drink beer

As you may have already heard from reading John Foyston’s The Beer Here column in the Oregonian, BridgePort Brewing Company’s Brewmaster Karl Ockert has announce that he will be stepping down from his post at the end of the month. While this might be sad new for those who have worked with Ockert since BridgePort’s inception back in 1984, folks should be happy to know that Ockert will continue to be a force in the craft beer community and will still be around Beervana.

Ockert’s decision to leave BridgePort was due to an offer to become the technical director for the Master Brewers Association of the AmericasRay Klimovitz decided to retire after a long tenure in the brewing business dating back to 1970. Klimovitz served in research and development for Stroh’s corporate breweries. Ockert says “(Klimovitz) is a very knowledgeable guy.” At 78 years young, Klimovitz decided to pursue other ventures. Now, Ockert is capitalizing on an opportunity he says he can not pass on. “It isn’t something that comes up everyday,” says Ockert. “I knew that if I passed on this (position with the MBAA) that it would be a decision I would regret for the rest of my life.” (MBAA). Former director

In his new role as technical director with MBAA, Ockert will be putting together classes key in education efforts relating to craft beer at a variety of levels. “We’ll try to reach out to all sectors of the brewing industry” he says. “We try to collaborate under the flag of the more you educate, share, and innovate, the more you learn.”

Beginning in 2011, Ockert plans to help implement a beer certification program designed to educate wholesalers, servers, and others a all levels of the craft beer world. Topical facets of the education will involve proper draft maintenance and the nuances of service and presentation. By providing a more rounded understanding of the complete culture of craft beer, Ockert expects positive results. His background as an educator was not only evident at his post with BridgePort, but also as a classroom teacher at Portland Community College (PCC). At PCC, he taught beer style classes. “The were usually six to seven week courses where I made a lot of friends” he says with a smile. “I was spreading the word of the gospel.” The classes he will be putting together for the MBAA will include beer server certification programs that enable not only the folks in the brewhouse, but those serving the beer to talk intelligently about the beer. “The ultimate goal is to set up a consulting business and to help brewers, smaller brewers, and get back to doing more writing” says Ockert. So what are other requirements of his new position. “Traveling. They want me to learn Spanish because I’ll be in places like South America” he adds. ” I’d love to spend longer periods of time in Europe to learn more of the Belgian, German, and U.K. cultures.” Ockert also notes that his wife is from Northern Ireland. “I like the idea of small upstart breweries like the BrewDogs of the world” he says.

When Ockert departs from his position as brewmaster, BridgePort will be in good hands. Assistant Brewmaster Jeff Edgerton will take the reigns on an interim basis, and it is looking like he’ll make the transition quite smooth. Edgerton worked in quality assurance for Blitz-Weinhard for many years before adding a dozen more years to his resume at BridgePort. “Jeff knows the plant very well” says Ockert. “He’s very dedicated, and we have a great group of people.”

Despite partaking in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the MBAA, Ockert admits he will miss elements of his job at BridgePort. “I will miss working actually making beer” he admits. “Talking with the people at BridgePort everyday who I’ve come to know quite well, I will certainly miss that.”

Ockert started his illustrious brewing career more than 25 years ago when he was hired by Richard and Nancy Ponzi, two winemakers who saw a need for craft brewing. Today, BridgePort still uses the tagline “Oregon’s Oldest Craft Brewery.” Ockert worked for seven years at the old BridgePort before leaving in 1990 to pursue other interests. In 1995 BridgePort was acquired by The Gambrinus Company, owned by Carlos Alvarez. Ockert says he wanted to get back into production brewing after a six year hiatus, and Alvarez’s vision helped make the move even easier. “He wanted to raise the bar” says Ockert of Alvarez. “I heard some good things about Carlos, and with his success running the Corona Importing Company.” Things changed right off the bat in 1996 as BridgePort  expanding its capacity from a 600 barrel a year facility to, in 2001, that of 100,000 barrels. “We replaced the whole brewhouse” Ockert says. “Mill, handling equipment, natural gas instead of steam boilers, fermenters, piping, everything.” Ockert and the crew were working nonstop seemingly around the clock to get the new brewhouse installed. In fact, he says he was involved with 35 different upgrade projects simultaneously. “We added the bottle shop, cellars; it was a fast and frenzied pace.”

Also in 1996, BridgePort developed a new beer that would forever change the face of brewing. BridgePort IPA. The idea is credited to Phil Sexton, and Australian brewer who had been working on the style for some time. “It was a fun thing working on this new style with Phil” says Ockert. “He pointed out that this is the biggest hop growing section in the world, so we should make a big, big hoppy beer. In 1996, 50 BU was huge. (The IPA) had a lot of flavor in addition to aroma. I remember when (John) Foyston came by and said ‘I can smell that from here.’ There wasn’t anyting on the market like it.”

In 2000, BridgePort won a gold medal and grand champion trophy at the London Brewing International for this innovative IPA. It was for certain that this would replace the BridgePort Ale, a mild brown ale, as the brewhouse’s flagship offering.

Since the heyday of BridgePort’s original IPA, Ockert has recognized the evolution of the American craft beer palate when it comes to hops. According to the brewer, in 2009, a judge at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Colorado wrote on a comment sheet that the beer was “Not appropriate to style. Not hoppy enough.” Ockert says that what was once labeled as an IPA is now often recognized as an American Pale Ale. He feels the palate does evolve and that our taste buds “get up to it.” With larger craft breweries such as Stone, Dogfish Head, and Ninkasi continually pushing the hops envelop, BridgePort has recognized this trend and a few years ago came out with Hop Czar, an Imperial IPA at 8% ABV and a big 85 IBUs. Due to popular demand, the Hop Czar moved from being a seasonal 22-ounce release, to a year-round offering, now available in six packs of 12-ounce bottles.

So where will the future of malt and hops take us? No one is quite certain. BridgePort will continue to produce the now classic styles of beer that people in the  might not perceive as innovative, but the world of craft beer has the first wave of craft brewers such as  Phil Sexton and Karl Ockert to thank that they were just that. Karl, you’ll be missed, but we’ll be seeing you around.

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer history, beer news, brewpubs

By Ben Kilduff

When is it ever appropriate to pay $9 for a pint of everyday craft beer? When it is part of a bigger experience – like my first Red Sox game.

Despite the Red Sox loss on Saturday (1-5), the overall game-day festivities were amazing! Seattle traffic is infamous in the Pacific Northwest so the best thing to do is ask a local. And the best local is a bartender at Duck Island Ale House. My girlfriend Katherine and I stopped in at Duck Island for a pre game brew. Adam was our heavily tattooed bartender and he couldn’t have been nicer. The beer list was great! I choose a Pike Double IPA and Katherine choose a Lucifer. I asked about the Lucifer tap tower, as I have never seen one before. Adam said that it is one of only three still around, but after Brouwerij Het Anker bought the name, recipe, and rights to Lucifer from Brouwerij Riva S. A. in 2008, nobody knows were two of the three are. Lucifer is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale. It is surprisingly creamy and a wonderful beer. You would not know that it is 8.5% ABV.

The other thing that I enjoyed about Duck Island was all of the extra tap handles hanging from the ceiling. Very cool place! After getting directions to the ballpark from Adam, we headed out.

We found great parking and started looking for beers in the ballpark. There were the normal selections of Budweiser, and such, but we were looking for craft. We found the likes of Bridgeport, Redhook, Pyramid, and Dick’s. Nine dollars for these was a little steep. Then I thought how many times have I paid for over-priced candy and soda at the movies? A lot. We don’t get to go to a baseball game very often so this was a treat, and despite the high prices we were going to treat ourselves.

After the game we hit Uber Tavern located right down the street for Duck Island. We found this to be a adequate beer bar with bottles to-go. We could not end the night without saying thanks to Adam and had just one more beer.

There were other beer-centric places in Seattle that I would like to visit, but they will have to wait til next time. This trip was definitely worth the $9 beers, and the Mariners deserved to win the game.

Posted under beer events, beer reviews, press releases

Well, one of the biggest beer weekends in Beervana has come and gone and we somehow managed to survive. In fact, this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival (OBF) – four days of craft beer-fueled fun (not to mention the largest all-craft beer festival in the country) – broke its own record for attendance this year, according to a Twitter post from festival organizer Chris Crabb. Crabb and company invest a lot of time and care not only into OBF featuring more and more great beers each year, but in assuring continual growth is still able to comfortably accommodate droves of humans at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. In fact, the organizers are already prepping for next summer’s fest, scheduled to take place July 28-31, 2011 (OBF is always the last full weekend of July). Check out some of our photos from OBF here.

This past Friday, we enjoyed a special open house at the new Hair of the Dog (HOTD) digs located at SE Yamhill at Water Street. This was our second glimpse at brewer-owner Alan Sprints’ spacious new brewery since attending Fred Fest this spring. As he’s generously done each year on the Friday of OBF, Sprints and his staff offered samples of HOTD beers including the no hops gourd brew Greg, Blue Dot Imperial IPA, Fred, Adam, Doggie Claws Barleywine, and a special Cherry Adam in addition to a lovely spread of snacks. It was great to see the work that the brewery has put forth including the installation of many brewhouse components and an attractive bar in the front space. We look forward to enjoying more beers here in the near future.

Later in the day on Friday, which was a very warm day, we ventured over to Belmont Station’s Biercafe for a special event featuring the music of Lagunitas Brewing founder Tony Magee. While folks enjoyed the air conditioned pub space, special Lagunitas brews like Lil Sumpin’ Sumpin’, a wheaten summer IPA, and a delicious Fusion II, described by Magee as a “strong mild ale.” Essentially, it was a 4.5% mild brown ale with a gratuitous helping of West Coast hops.

Also pouring at Belmont Station was a number of specialty brews from Green Flash Brewing of Vista, California. Green Flash brewer Ryan Pearson was in house to greet folks and discuss the featured beers of the night: an Imperial IPA, Barleywine, and two new to Portland brews, a Summer Saison and a Citra Session Pale Ale. The latter was another low ABV beer with a big dose of pungently dank hops.

To make the time at Belmont Station even cooler, 21st Amendment co-founder Nico Freccia was on hand while samples of the San Francisco brewery’s Hell or High Watermelon Wheat ale (a favorite at the OBF), Live Free of Die IPA, Monk’s Blood Belgian Ale, and the new to cans, Back in Black IPA (a Cascadian Dark Ale).

On Saturday, Full Sail’s Riverplace brewpub at McCormick & Schmick’s held its annual gathering while celebrating the birthday of Brewmaster John Harris. Friends of the brewery, including notable Oregon brewers like Full Sail’s Phil Roche, Ninkasi’s Jamie Floyd, Widmer’s Rob Widmer, Rogue’s Brett Joyce, and Hopworks’ Ben Love, beat the heat with newly released Full Sail brews that included the A Pleine Voile Saison and the Sanctuary Belgian-style Dubbel. Folks were kindly offered seasonal IPAs and the Vesuvius Tripel on tap in addition to buckets filled with ice and two kinds of the brewery’s Session ale in signature stubby bottles. Cigars were passed out and Harris was toasted to a happy birthday song and a big cake.

On Saturday evening The BeerMongers and Brewpublic hosted a special meet the brewers event highlighting MacTarnahan’s Brewing. For this night, Mac’s Amber and Summer Grifter IPA poured on tap while bottle samples of the Lipstinger Saison and brand new Ink Blot Baltic Porter were made available for sample in bottles. Brewers Tom Bleigh, Vasilios Gletsos, Eric Wathen, Ryan Pappe, Steve Fraser, and brand manager Mark Carver were in the house for this fun event. Also in attendance were Boneyard Beer brewers Tony Lawrence and Clay Storey. Look for more Boneyard and Mac’s Beer on tap this week at The Mongers.

Sunday marked the conclusion of the OBF as we headed north to Seattle to catch a baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox. As is usually the case when the Red Sox come to Seattle, more Boston fans are in the stands than are Mariners (the M’s being in last place in their division doesn’t help their cause at this point in the season either). Before hitting the game, we visited Elysian Fields near the ballpark. Here we discovered less Elysian brands gracing the taps as in years past. Many guest taps were made available. In fact more guest taps now than Elysian’s own. It was also disheartening to be served beer at a not packed bar in plastic cups. We feel doesn’t appear to exhibit regard for the environment. Still, being offered were the likes of Elysian’s The Wise ESB, Zephyrus Pilsner, Perseus Porter, Dragonstooth Stout, Men’s Room Original Red, Bifrost Winter Ale, Avatar Jasmine IPA, and our option, Immortal IPA on cask.

At Safeco Field, we were excited to discover more craft beer on tap than ever before, most of which was regionally produced. Despite a hefty $8.75 price tag for 20 ounces of brew, it made us happy to be able to decide between more than your typical Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, etc, that you see at many sporting arenas. Luckily things are changing for the better in America’s beer world, and leave it to the Pacific Northwest to lead the charge. Beers of interest that we noticed included Lazy Boy Pilsner and IPA, Alaskan Summer and Pale, MacTarnahan’s Amber, Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen, Sierra Nevada Pale, Hale’s Kolsch, Snoqualmie Grand Slam Amber, Skagit River Skullers IPA, Dick’s Best Bitter, and our pick, Fremont Brewing’s Summer Solstice, a great sessionable pale ale with a big floral hop aroma. A nice thing about Safeco, despite the expected sporting event beer price gouge, is that spectators are permitted to bring their own food into the arena. This helps soften the blow of steep beer prices for those who plan ahead.

After the game ended, and the Mariners took a 4-2 win, we headed back to Portland, Oregon aka Beervana in attempts of surviving the final week of Oregon Craft Beer Month. Cheers!

Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, beer news, beer releases, brewpubs, places to drink beer

Pendleton, Oregon is probably best known for its Round Up Rodeo held each year in mid September. Hundreds, maybe even thousands come out and watch Professional Bull Riding (PBR), pageants and parades. Something will be different at this year’s Round Up. This will be the first year that visitors and locals alike will be able to enjoy beer from the town’s first microbrewery. Prodigal Son Brewing opened its doors about three months ago and has been converting the local Coors drinkers into craft beer drinkers.

An early glimpse of Prodigal Son was provided by fellow blogger Jason Wallace in a post he contributed to Brewpublic back in May 2010 (originally appearing on Jason’s Beer & Music blog). Making the three-hour drive from Portland to Pendleton, we greatly anticipated experiencing the brewpub first hand. Upon entering downtown Pendleton, the first building we see to our left is Prodigal Son. The huge storefront had a great presence on the street. Walking into this spacious restaurant with pub in the back it is hard to image this space use to house a Packard Dealership back in the day. Rustic looking with old murals on a brick wall, thick wooden pillars hold up a vaulted ceiling making the space appear even more imposing. Instantly we knew that this is great spot for families and friends to gather and enjoy a meal and a beer.

Operating on a 10-barrel brew system from a now defunct Bell Tower Brewery of Vancouver, Washington, the system sat unused in storage until it was obtained and revitalized by Prodigal Son. Brewmaster Brian Harder attended Siebel Institute in Chicago before becoming a brewer at Rogue in Newport, Oregon. When approached by childhood friend Tim Guenther and Guenther’s wife Jennifer, Harder knew opening a place of his own would be the right move. The three, along with another long time friend, Matthew Barnes moved forward headlong into this venture. Excited to be apart of history in Pendleton, Barnes accepted the position of Prodigal Son’s chef and kitchen manager.

While Pendleton might not be the first location one might think of when wanting to open a brewpub, it made perfect sense for these four friends who wanted to bring a part of Oregon culture to their hometown. Further, still having family in the area made the move a little easier for each of them. To make matters even better, the City of Pendleton has been continually undergoing considerable urban renewal efforts. According to the city’s website, “Pendleton’s Urban Renewal Plan was created by members of city council, citizens, business leaders, and government officials in 2003 to increase the vitality of downtown and to connect the Urban Renewal District to the Umatilla riverfront. Its focus is to rejuvenate Pendleton as a convention and tourism destination and to develop a range of housing options in order to create a mixed-use downtown.” With the city offering grants and loans to improve the historic downtown area the dream of Pendleton’s first modern day craft brewery was born.

On a recent visit, we sat down with Tim Guenther (Proprietor) Brian Harder (Brewmaster) and Matthew Barnes (Chef & Kitchen Manager) to find out more about this up and coming brewery.

How did Prodigal Son Brewing begin in Pendleton, Oregon?

Tim Guenther: We got started in Pendleton because there are no other breweries or brewpubs here and that was the original motivation for getting started here. My folks live in Pendleton and I was living in Portland at the time. There would be no place really to go when I came to visit. Brian (the Brewmaster) was living in Newport, OR and we started talking to him. There was an urban renewal project happening in Pendleton to renovate some of the old buildings downtown. There seemed like there was great potential for a pub with good atmosphere, somewhere where I wish I could go and drink beer. That was the motivation for getting something started here.

Tim, how do you know Brian and Matthew?

TG: We actually all went to school together. Matthew was in the same class and Brian was friends with my younger brother.

Brian, living in Newport, Oregon, you must have been working at Rogue?

Brian Harder: That is correct. I spent some time brewing down there. It is where I cut my teeth, it is where I learned to brew. I really enjoyed working there, I worked with some of the best people in the business. They have an incredible brew staff and everyone there I learned a lot from.

Tell us about the beers you have on tap at Prodigal Son.

BH: To start off, I am a big fan of Porters. I guess that comes from brewing on the coast too, you get use to having stormy weather nine months out of the year so you really need a dark style beer to get you through the winter time. So that is were I got my affection for Porter from. That and the first really beer I got into was a Porter. Having that first sip you don’t think this is normal beer, like the stuff you drink at parties or the stuff your parents drink. Porter was the gateway beer for me. There is a special spot in my heart for Porters.

Being from Pendleton, we thought it was important to have a wheat beer on tap because this is a big agricultural community. There are a lot of wheat farmers out here so our beer should reflect what is being grown out here as well.

We have an Amber and an IPA. Being from the Northwest you have to have an IPA, there is no excuse.

The Amber was one of our first adventures. We decided to experiment so we decided to use Rye to set it apart from other beers. We ferment really dry. That is my goal as a brewer, I like drier beers, I love hops as well. My purpose as a brewer is to make a drier beer that exenterates the hops but keeps it from being astringent.

Click here to check out more details on the beers of Prodigal Son Brewing.

Matthew, as the head chef, do you try to incorporate the beers into the recipes or offer pairing suggestions with the specials on the dinner menu?

Matthew Barnes: I try to do a little bit of that. Right now we have a Porter marinated flank steak sandwich. Something we have started doing and will continuing doing is a three-course dinner where we pair the beers with each course. There are a lot of great agriculture resources out here. I grew up here and there is a lot more available, a lot of farmer’s markets to go to and it is fun to pair with the beer that we have.

We heard mention of experimental grains that may be made available to you. Tell me more about that.

BH: OSU has an experimental grain program in the area and we hear a lot about it. I was out there a couple of weeks ago talking to some folk and the problem is there is a lot of grain but there is no micro-maltery. So what we need to do is get the micro-patches to a micro-maltery so it can be transformed into something that as a brewer I can turn into microbrew. I have been hearing a lot about a malt called Charles and am excited to use it, once we are able to malt it that is.

You decided to open the brewery out here because you have family here. How has the community been receiving there being a brewery in town.

TG: So far amazingly well. People will come in and have a couple of beers and think “Wouldn’t it be cool to open up our own brewpub.” But so far no one has carried it forward. I think that many people have had the idea to do this here but for whatever reason no one has quite carried it there. So by the time we did there was definitely a backlog of anticipation and interest of having something like this here. I thought we were going to have people come in and want to order a Keystone or Coors light or whatever and think what is this microbeer stuff. Instead they come in try the Porter and the Hefe, the Hefe is probably their favorite and they seem impressed by the taste.

John, a local wheat farmer, enjoying a Hefe w/ grapefruit

MB: It’s neat to see people come in from a wide range of backgrounds, all walks of life and drink the beers. The stereo-typical person you see come in here is usually a Coors light kind of guy but then they order a Porter and talk about how much they love it. It is really neat to see.

BH: I do have to say I was really surprised how much people like Porter out here. I thought I was going to be the only one and I was like “Tim, please let me brew a Porter. I’ll drink it if no one else does.” And as much as the locals like the Hefe, they really like the Porter too. Even out here is Coors light country. We are out of IPA today so they even really like the hoppy beers. The funny thing is people started to order their Hefe with grapefruit. That is the new thing in Pendleton. It has always been popular to put lemon or an orange wedge in your Hefe but now grapefruit. Maybe people are just starting to run out of citrus to put in their beer. It’s not gimmicky but it works, it is actually a good pairing. It’s unique, it’s quirky.

Is there any history to the building you are located in?

TG: It was built in 1915 and was a Packard dealership. They sold Packards and other high end luxury cars until the depression and then, I’m not sure of the exact history but they started selling GMCs and Buicks in the 1940s and then Studebakers until the 1950s. Then they started selling Caterpillars, John Deer and other heavy farmer equipment. After that it was a second hand store and really no one has really loved it since it was built. We kept it pretty rustic. The mural behind us was covered over, painted over and was on the neighbors building. It was for the Albers Brothers Milling Company, which is an actual brand that is still around. There was a bakery next door when the building first went up and the first thing you would see as you drive into town was this mural. Since, it has been preserved indoors for 90 years until we uncovered it when getting our place ready.

Any closing comments that you would like to make about Prodigal Son?

Tim Guenther, Brian Harder & Matthew Barnes (left to right)

TG: I just really wanted to bring good beer to Eastern Oregon besides Terminal Gravity, which is the domination for beer over here.

MB: We are glad to bring it back to our hometown. It is kind of exciting to be a part of something here.

BH: And we never thought we would come home again but here we are. That’s why we are named Prodigal Son.

TG: It is a kind of returning home story. It is the story of our lives.

BH: Thanks for coming all the way out here.

Hey, anything for beer! Cheers guys!!

Prodigal Son Brewery is located at 230 SE Court Avenue in historic downtown Pendleton, OR.

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, brewpubs, places to drink beer

The beer lovers at Belmont Station offer a massive day of tastings and special drafts represented by the people who brew them. Meet a bunch of great Oregon craft brewers, most of whom are not represented at the big Oregon Brewers Festival. All this is happening on Saturday July 24, 2010.

Noon-2PM

* HEATER ALLEN BREWING.  Brewer/founder Rick Allen will pour tastes of his authentic German-style lagers and weizens brewed in McMinnville, OR. Bottles always for sale at Belmont Station. Isarweizen and Pils on draft.

* HOP VALLEY BREWING.  Brewer/owner Trevor Howard will pour tastes of Alphadelic IPA, Natty Imperial Red, and Elias Briggs Cream Ale from bottles (we will also have a limited supply of bottles for sale for the first time in Southeast Portland). Hop Valley Natty Imperial Red and VIP Porter on draft.

2-5PM

* FIRE MOUNTAIN BREWING.  Brewer/founder Henry Gorgas will pour tastes of his Oregon Pale Ale, Bad Henry IPA, and Steam Stout brewed in Carlton, OR. Bad Henry IPA on draft.

3-6PM

* PALE HORSE BREWING.  Brewer Josh Frank and one of the Pale Horse founders will pour tastes of their Amber, Pale, IPA, and Stout brewed in Salem, OR.

Also featured throughout the day:

* GILGAMESH BREWING. Nick and Lani Radtke and likely a few more members of this Turner, OR family brewery will be here with some of their super-creative drafts: Chocolate Mint Stout, Monster IPA, and Mamba beer brewed with tea and no hops.

* BONEYARD BEER. The founder/brewers of this new Bend, OR craft brewery will be here to chat about their beers. Bone-A-Fide Pale Ale and Black 13 on draft.

* BARLEY BROWN’S BREWPUB. Brewer Shawn Kelso’s WFO IPA (cask conditioned) on the beer engine all day. This is one of the best IPAs you may never have tasted and it’s even rarer to have it on cask. From Baker City, OR.

* BREWERS UNION LOCAL 180. Brewer/owner Ted Sobel will be serving two of his authentic British style Cask Conditioned Beers from traditional Beer Engines: “Wotcha” Best Bitter, (4.4%) & “60 Love” Hoppy Amber Liquid Refreshment (5.4%ABV).

Brewed in Oakridge, OR. These real ales will be served Saturday only. If you miss them you have to go to Oakridge (worth the trip when you have the time!)

We spoke with Belmont Station owner Carl Singmaster about this day of Oregon craft beer. Here’s the interview:

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer, beer awards, beers on film, places to drink beer