By Frank James

Here’s the conclusion of the interview with Nick Arzner, the owner/brewer from Block 15 Restaurant and Brewpub in Corvallis. He talks about breaking into the competitive Portland craft beer market, barrel aging beers and of course, he talks about the delicious beers that flow from his tanks. He also extends an invitation to Brewpublic readers to tour his ever-expanding brewpub and sample some of Block 15′s unique and tasty beers, if they ever find themselves in Corvallis. As someone who’s done just that, this writer can attest to the fact that the trip is very much worthwhile.

NA: We’re extremely critical of our beers. So it’s great that in a such short time we’ve gotten a lot…a lot of people have noticed our beers. Maybe our style of brewing, or our styles of brewing, out commitment to quality. So it is a little surprising, at how busy we’ve been in our pub, we never thought we would, everyone says, did you know you’d be this busy. I say, yea, I thought we would be successful and make it…things just kind of aligned up in the right way. We’re very pleased with how people feel about our beers. But we’re not satisfied with where we’re at, we’re gonna keep on rolling. Hopefully when we’re 5 years old, I’ll feel pretty satisfied with that. It’s been fantastic.

Do you have any specific goals as either a brewer or a business owner over the next 5 years or so?

NA: We have a term: we’re growing quality, not quantity. We have some goals so far as where we want to get our beers and maybe kind of find some patterns with some of the really unique beers that we do and expanding what we’re doing to create what we feel is the ultimate brewpub. We don’t have any goals as far as building another Block 15 or building a production brewery or anything like that – short term. We keep all options open long term. But for now its just loving what we’re doing, re-tooling what we’re doing and making…really just brewing world class beers, day in, day out.

How did you break into the Portland market? Was it just a matter of knowing people, people contacting you or did you actually go out and actually solicit the business?

NA: I think the very first person was, the very first establishment was Bailey’s Taproom. I think (owner) Geoff (Phillips) emailed me…that’s his commitment to bringing in different and unique beers. I think he emailed me, I sent him some beers up there and they got some really positive feedback. We’ve never been able to distribute much at all, because our demand is so high here, and we won’t push out beer before it’s ready. It kind of snowballed from there. I’ll get emails from different bar owners in Portland, taprooms that would want our beer on tap. Unfortunately, I’m not able to take it up there too often. But this year I might be able to, every other month, take some kegs up to Portland, type of thing, but never really a big distribution. But that’s kind of how that worked in Portland, it was really Bailey’s reaching out first, then some other taprooms reaching out, then maybe a couple of beer festivals we’ve done up there. Special events like that. We started off, we started brewing we had 6 tanks, and we have 17 now, it gives us hopefully at some point the flexibility to have more, to do double batches and to be able to take a few kegs up to Portland. And we do, we actually take some kegs every once in a while down to the Bier Stein in Eugene. They’re very big supporters of us, also.

That’s a pretty quick expansion: from a 6 to 17 tanks. Did you anticipate that?

NA: Well we reinvested pretty much all of our profits back into our business. That’s what we feel we should do, and that’s what is going to make us a better brewery in the short run. So we just keep reinvesting. In fact, I have more tanks coming within the next month, so we should get up to about 20, and having an open fermenter, a custom open fermenter, Koelschip-type vessel made, so we can start doing more open fermentation for our wild ales. And start playing with some spontaneous fermentation-like stuff. We’re fortunate that people really enjoy what we’re doing and they come here and support us so we feel that we should in turn keep evolving and create more unique and interesting and higher quality beer.

You presented a beer at the Cheers for Belgian Beers fest up at Hopworks this past spring. What beer did you present there?

NA: Ferme de la Demons. It was a…cause we had the farmhouse yeast we had to use, and within the dark (color guideline), we were assigned a high alcohol, about a 6% dark beer. So again, it was just one of those ideas, what would be a flavor combination, in our minds that worked and what are some barrels we have around, so we did a black farmhouse ale, essentially aged in bourbon, pinot noir and Oregon oak barrels. And then we blended it with some cherry.

And it was chosen as the People’s Choice, the best beer that day?

NA: Yea, it was pretty cool

I recall drinking it and it was definitely a very unique beer.

NA: I wasn’t able to make the festival, unfortunately. But what we ended up doing was, we re-barreled, we re-barreled the beer we’ll release it in October because well, we brewed another batch of it, mainly because I didn’t want to release a 9 percent black farmhouse ale in May going into the summer. So, we re-barreled it and the pinot noir barrels we had, had tested for some Brettanomyces from the wine barrel we had in front of it, the flavor hadn’t really developed so we inoculated with a [garbled] pristinamycin, we’ll bring it out in October and it’ll have another layer of flavor to it.

So that particular beer will be here on tap in October?

NA: In October. Originally we were going to bottle a part of it and I wanted to have another beer bottled, the Ferme de la Ville Provisions, which was a different farmhouse ale, part aged in oak barrels for about 12 months before we had blended it back in with a batch of [unintelligible] but labeling has taken a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would…the bureaucratic fun stuff.

Are you doing any bottling at this point?

NA: Well not yet, we’re moving towards that. We’ve done some test bottling. In fact, we’re test bottling some more stuff today. And then the plan, our plan has always been we’re going to start bottling…I almost can promise, mid-November we’ll have a beer called Figgin Pudding that we’re gonna bottle and it’s somewhere between an English olde ale/barley wine aged in brandy barrels with figs and spice. So we’re gonna do…I think in the first year we’re gonna bottle roughly 6 beers and we’re doing all bottle-conditioned beers in 750 milliliter Belgian bottles with cork and wiring finish. So we’re doing all really high end, mainly barrel-aged beers that we’ll pretty much just sell out of here. Maybe a couple of other places if we have enough beer.

Like Bailey’s Taproom or Belmont Station -

NA: Yea…sure…we’re talking about bottling only about 80 cases of each beer so we’re not talking about a whole lot of it. But we’re definitely bottling Pappy’s Dark this year, there’s a strong going in bourbon barrels –

You brought that to the Spring Beer and Wine Fest (in Portland)

NA: That’s right…

That was a definitely a very memorable beer. Very nice.

NA: That was one of the first beers I believe, we brought to Bailey’s that first year and it kind of put us on the map in Portland I think. People were like…wow, this beer is…different! We designed it as a beer really to showcase the bourbon barrels rather than most beers are designed to add a bourbon, maybe that barrel complexity to the beer, we thought let’s do one to showcase the bourbon barrels. We used a bunch of British and Belgian specialty malts and it kept it more like a bourbon color. It’s kind of one of those things you do the first time and you go, holy shit, we did that right the first time, alright! (laughs) That’ll make it into bottles this year. I think the first year we only did four bourbon barrels, last year we did a few batches, we did 12 and this year we’re going to get a couple dozen bourbon barrels. Then we’re gonna…we’ll have a lot more on draft. Its funny, we’ve been saying a lot more, we’re really talking pretty small production. We’ll bottle about 80 to 100 cases of that. That should be available, next February. We always release in February.

What are some of your favorite beers. I know it’s kind of like picking out your favorite child, but if you were to sit at the bar and pick out your favorites, what would they be?

Steve Van Rossem and Nick Arzner

NA: I think, for right now, what we have on tap, the Belgian Blonde. I love that. I love getting off work…I really enjoy that beer right now. Like I’ve said, we’re kind of re-tooling it. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks in Belgium May and there’s a Blonde in every cafe. It’s amazing actually how different a lot of them are. So we really kind of shot for in that range. We changed up our yeast this year and some of our grain sugars. Anyway, I think it’s really refreshing, but also relaxing…this reminds me of sitting in a cafe. So right now, I get off work and that’s what I have: the Blonde. I really enjoy that beer. And I drink our IPA a lot also. I probably drink IPA’s 50% of the time and everything else 50% of the time.

Is that the Alpha IPA?

NA: Yes.

Very tasty also.

NA: So, right now, that’s my favorite. I’m really excited for a couple of beers coming out. Like our Hemp Nut Brown…which just came out. It just came out. I just got back in town and I haven’t had a full pint of it yet. It’s a really nice brown ale. I like a lot of Belgian-style ales. We normally always have one on tap. When we can keep up with that.

This particular Belgian Blonde is a specialty, is that correct?

NA: Right. Every summer we do that.

Anything you’d like to say in parting? Anything about the brewpub or the brewery that you would like folks to know about?

NA: Well, for Brewpublic readers and people in Portland one cool thing is that if they are ever coming down here to make a special trip feel free to email me. If I’m around I love showing people what we’re doing here. Dual cellar…part of our cellar expansion which hopefully will be done in November…and I’ll show you when we do a little tour down here, we’ll have a bunch more barrels and an open fermenter and a little brewer’s lounge area, that’ll make it nice and comfortable, so when I do tours I’ll have some special beers on tap. You can just kind of sample and hang out. I really love, I love what we’re doing here, I think its a…I love showing people what we’re doing. It always blows them away when they see, wow, it’s a little brewpub in Corvallis that’s doing all that stuff. So mainly just that…if you’re coming down to the area, get hold of me, we’ll give you a tour

… Alright, thanks very much for your time, it’s been excellent. **

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

Another jam-packed weekend it was for Brewpublicans here in Beervana.

Belmont Station

On Thursdays July 8, Belmont Station, with one of the most impressive calendars for Oregon Craft Beer Month (OCBM), kicked of their fourth annual sour week, known as Puckerfest, with very special event. Billed as a pre-party for the week wilds, Thursday marked the release of Double Mountain’s 2010 Devil’s Kriek. Brewed with orchard cherries grown in Hood River by brewmaster Matt Swihart, attendees were offered free samples of the brewer’s freshly picked fruits as well. Swihart and founding partner Charlie Devereux were in attendance to meet with friends and fans of the brewery. Deep amber bodied and with a well-rounded Brettanomyces yeast character, patrons had the opportunity to do some comparative sampling of this beer beside last year’s rendition. We are convinced that this is Double Mountain’s best one yet.

Also flowing from the stand-up taps at Belmont Station on this night was the Bruery’s Orchard White, a choice Belgian-style witbier brewed with coriander, citrus peel and lavender. Baker City’s Barley Brown’s Hot Blonde Ale brewed with jalapeno peppers was a light and refreshing summer-appropo golden ale exhibiting a welcomed chili spice snap without being too aggressive on the heat. The Hot Blonde won a gold medal at this year’s 2010 NABA and it was easy to see why. A keg we sampled a few weeks ago at The BeerMongers with brewmaster Shawn Kelso, kicked in less than 24 hours.

On Friday July 9, Puckerfest rocked on without missing a beat, this time with three special kegs from Jolly Pumpkin brewing of Dexter, Michigan. These rare pours included Calabaza Blanca, Oro de Calabaza, and Luciernaga. Blanca is, as the name suggests (translates literally as “White Pumpkin”), a white ale brewed in the classic biere blanche tradition and spiced with orange peel and coriander. Like most of the JP brews, it is distinctively tart and very refreshing. The Oro is a a Belgian-style strong ale aged in oak barrels and is brewed in the Franco-Belgian tradition of special golden ales. In truly JP fashion, Oro is quite peppery and effervescent with a gentle hop bouquet and the beguiling influence of wild yeast. The Luciernaga (meaning “firefly”) is another sort of hybrid brew commercially described as an “artisan pale ale brewed in the Grand Cru tradition.” With a hazy golden and carbonic body and medium hop aroma, Luciernaga is accented by the addition of coriander and grains of paradise. Spicy, tart, sour, hoppy, and somehow smooth, this was many people’s favorite of the three. However, it was impossible for us to decide which one we liked best since all three were top notch brews.

Saturday July 10 brought great weather to Portland. The three-straight 90 degree days were finally in the rearview and we were able to enjoy perfect 75-80 degree sunshine. During the day we hung out with the Daily Pull’s Brady Walen and prepped for our interview with Three Sheets alco-median Zane Lamprey who was in town on the last leg of a 53 city stand up comedy and book release tour. We prepared questions for the jokester during the day amidst picking up some special bottled brews to share with him during our interview. We were a little uncertain of how the interview would go. Since Brewpublic is dedicated to craft beer over fraternity party-esque drunkenness, we formulated an interview plan that would allow for an entertaining yet informative interview. Videographer and documentarianist Alison Grayson would capture the interview.

Before meeting with Lamprey, as mentioned, we stocked up on beer for the entertainer from a number of Oregon breweries that we thought any libation lover, not just a craft beer lover would appreciate. These included bottles of Upright Six, Cascade The Vine, Pelican Heiferweizen, Heater Allen Coastal Common, and a six pack of Caldera IPA . Just prior to our scheduled interview time, we dropped by Bailey’s Taproom to enjoy a glass of MacTarnahan’s Lipstinger. At Bailey’s we ran into our friends Bruce and Dave with BS Brewing. They were also preparing to interview Lamprey, just before we were. By the time the interview was to begin, we were already a bit McKenna’d (this is a term Lamprey uses in reference to his college buddy Steve McKenna synonymous with intoxicated). The interview was brief as we motorboated through questions and beers. Lamprey, surprisingly, wasn’t into drinking much off camera. This was understandable since he had a long night ahead of him and had already been cruising around town knocking back avocado daiquiris and other crazy concoctions for his TV show. Basically he had been on a drinking spree since the end of April when his tour kicked off. Still, he was nice enough to try some of the beers we brought before McKenna was called over to shotgun some Caldera IPAs with us.

After we left to allow Lamprey ample time to prepare for his show, we reluctantly departed our beer stash left in the green room and joined the rest of the three-quarters filled Roseland upstairs.  The show started with the ever-drunken McKenna introducing comedian Marc Ryan. Ryan’s content sought humor in STDs, DUIs, and mostly lewd material that teenage beer-bongin’ fratboys might find appealing.  Early in, we were ready to never see McKenna again. We didn’t even muster a chuckle the entire time he was on stage (and we’d been drinking and were in a good mood). Quickly realizing  that homophobia, womanizing, and drinking for the soul purpose of getting loaded were topics bolstering this show, we were in fact able to tolerate the show as long as we did in part because the other folks in the audience paid $25 to be here and, as a courtesy to our hosts, we were waiting for things to improve.  Sadly, they didn’t. Lamprey’s stand up was more fun loving and less lewd, but his go at standup was a little weak.

It was apparent that this show had a devout audience, but it simply wasn’t our cup of tea and jello shots.

Before the show was over, we had to leave for a prior engagement. It was fairly apparent from our interview and the his stage presence that Zane Lamprey doesn’t really care about the geekier side of craft beer. And, fair enough, not all people do. He projects to is the lowest common denominator, which are people who like to party. Granted this is sometimes funny, because let’s face it,  the notion of being drunk or stupid can be humorous, and travel shows where you get to peak in other cultures is at times rather fascinating. But Lamprey’s disparaging, shock-value, anything-for-attention humor was evident when he Tweeted about doing Fondue shots (dropping a shot of melted cheese into a beer and chugging it) with McKenna at the Widmer Gasthaus) reminded us of being kids and seeing that one kid eat an earthworm for a dollar, or  to make a girl scream and get his buddy to laugh. His success, we feel is partly due to his ability to be spontaneous and at times charismatic.  Despite not really enjoying the stand up show,  it was a treat to actually meet Zane Lamprey and wrap with him. Also, the Three Sheets show is rather entertaining and we are sure a lot of people would have loved to been in our shoes. Lamprey’s PR person, Karen was very cool, so big BIG ups to her!

Sunday morning we enjoyed pints of Boneyard Black 13 and Heater Allen Coastal Common at The BeerMongers while watching the final match of the World Cup.With allegiance to neither Spain nor Holland, we somehow found ourselves pulling for Holland purely based on a better craft beer selection. We weren’t the least bit disheartened when Spain ended up winning it all.

The weekend wrapped up with a great party at the Horse Brass pub to celebrate the birthday of three prevalent area beer personalities. Horse Brass founder Don Younger, accomplished beer scribe Lisa “the Beer Goddess” Morrison, and Point Blank Distributing founder Scott Willis. Together this triumvirate of  craft beer prowess celebrated 162 years of life, many of which they’ve each, in their own way, used to champion breweries in Oregon and beyond. A special tap menu of strong and hoppy brews graced the taps like Steelhead Hopasaurus Rex, Caldera Hopportunity Knocks, and Russian River Blind Pig IPA. There was even a band performing some blues numbers that had the legendary publican shaking it by the dance floor. It was a great time with lots of local beer folks like Full Sail brewmaster John Harris, Belmont Station original founder Joy Campbell, current owners Carl and Amy Singmaster, Charles and Teresa Culp, Northwest Brewing News’ John and Linda Norton, Bailey’s Taproom founder Geoff Phillips, and beer fest organizer Preston Weesner. Even Music Millenium founder Terry Currier was in attendance. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun.

Posted under beer events, beer reviews

In Beervana, the weekend weather may have not felt like a lead-up to summer, but as far as the beer was concerned, we really couldn’t have ask for any better. Though today, Monday the 21st, marks the actual first day of summer, and the longest day of the year, Saturday June 19 marked the day for Cascade Brewing’s Summer Solstice Celebration at the Raccoon Lodge. This family friendly event was a multifaceted affair, featuring all four of the brewery’s revival brews, and was wittily dubbed “The Four Goses of the Apuckerlypse.” On the serene Douglas-fir laden beer garden, the barbecue crackled and many a tasty beer was poured including a special cask of Cascade’s floral Summit and Chinook-hopped Summer Solstice IPA and the latest version of The Vine, a special blend of their Triple, Blonde Quad, and Golden ales that have been re-fermented with the fresh pressed juice of white wine grapes. Spending more than six months of lactic fermentation and aging in small oak barrels, this beer, as some might remember was a hit at this year’s Fred Fest at Hair of the Dog Brewing.

After ordering up a flight of the Four Goses, we joined Brewmaster Ron Gansberg and Curtis Bain for an always welcomed trip into the brewhouse, where we experiences some more specialty treats. These included a new Brettanomyces brew with cherries known as Beckomyces Asscracky, a young incarnation of the latest Vlad the Imp Aler (rumored to soon be making its way into bottles), and perhaps the highlight of the Cascade tasting experience, a special on-hand barrel blend of a forthcoming The Bourbonic Plague, featuring three different barrel-aged dark ales consisting of dark fruits, and Bourbocide, a mind-tingling oaky delight.

After the blending madness commenced, some bottles were enjoyed. We opened a cellared bottle of Ithaca Brewing’s Excelsior! Le Bleu, a blend of 8 different wine barrels of aged sour beers from 2007, 2008 and 2009 each spiked with 50 pounds of fresh, hand-crushed New York blueberries, then inoculated with Drie Fonteinen Brett yeast and conditioned with champagne yeast. This beer that was a gift from our dear friends Joshua and Buck who currently reside in Upstate New York was quite effervescent a crisp, mildly tart, and poured a pretty garnet hue with a long standing white head.

Curtis dug into the cellar and pulled out a treat of his own. From his native state of Utah, he managed to get his hands on a 750ml bottle of Squatters Fifth Element. Brewed December 2007 and laid down to age in oak barrels January 2008. This highly regarded brew poured a straw yellow color with a large toppling white head. It’s commercial description indicates “It has light peach/fruit notes and a beautiful golden hue. High carbonation created during bottle conditioning gives it a champagne like texture on the pallet. It finishes slightly tart and cleansing.” That pretty much sums it up. One of the most refreshing Saisons to pass our palates in some time.

To complete a bottle trilogy, Cascade brewer John Berry, the architect of Cascade’s aforementioned Summer Solstice IPA, went into the coffers and extricated an unmarked champagne bottle filled with last year’s Vlad the Impaler. Named one of Draft Magazine’s top 25 beers of 2009, Vlad also took home a silver medal at last fall’s Great American Beer Festival in the wood and barrel aged beers category (In case you missed the news, the gold medal in this delineation went to none other than the Bourbonic Plague!). Being one of the first souls to experience a side-by-side of the two Vlads was a distinct pleasure.

Wood aged Pale Quadruppel. Imagine a blend of Scaldis and Cantillon Pure Kriek. Forget it, there is nothing like it (yet). Vlad is shocking to your sour beer senses and taste buds, which do not understand that such a balanced delicate sour beer can be so drinkable and appeal to so many people while being extreme. But don’t forget, it will still open a can of 10.2% whoop-ass on your ass after all the pomp & circumstance of what an amazing beer it is subsides.

After all the mayhem amidst the cooperage, the late spring sun made a cameo and Gansberg’s bluegrass-folk band, Black Lodge, hit the stage and knocked out some toe tapping tunes that included a slice of Americana and some beloved rock and folk covers.

Despite the slow start to the warm season, at least this year, the festivities at the Raccoon Lodge didn’t include rain. Last year’s June 22 Solstice celebration saw folks run for cover and pack under the tent when large drops plopped down.  Warmer, shorter days are on their way….

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

While in Rhode Island,we were doing some beer hunting; trying to seek out some dynamic, if not interesting craft brew locations. Here’s a half dozen spots we though were worth inspecting:

Trinity Brewpub, Providence: Recently we made our second visit to Trinity and were back to see if the place  had evolved. Located in downtown Providence, the atmosphere is much like a traditional American pub. A bit dingy and grim inside, the place has shown its age. Signage on the wall tout regional awards from over a decade ago. Unsure whether the dirty brewhouse or the Scituate Reservoir water, but the construction of all of the beers again left a lot to be desired. A sample tray served as a lesson in DMS and diacetyl for some beers, but the hardest aspect to get over was the heavily chlorinated water detected in each taster. Their Rhode Island Pale Ale boasts being named best pale ale at the 1997 and 1998 Great Northeastern Beer Festival, as well as being the “first IPA throughout Rhode Island.”  This hazy orange-bronze colored beer had cooked corn and vegetal notes all over the nose along with a pronounced maltiness. The medium to bold bitterness was not reflected in any sort of luring aromas. Trinity’s Kolsch possessed the most pronounced mineral nose, while its color was a deep copper-amber, much too dark for the style (The menu and even incorrectly described this one as having a “very pale golden color.” Some creamy biscuitiness ran in through a formidable astringency. Overall, this missed nearly every style guideline for the Kolsch style. The Belgian Pale was an identical color as the Kolsch and held a fruity, bubblegum, candied nose. Brewed with Citra and Simcoe aroma hops yet at a mild 20 IBU, this was the most interesting and palatable beer of the lot. The house Cream Ale was a pale copper-straw color with sweet corn and malt flavors. Again, the chlorine and mineral presence in the water hurt the beer most. The Marzen was a diacetyl bomb with butterscotch flavors all over it. In addition to this, the beer missed all the marks stylistically. 35 IBU derived from Saaz hops was a bit aggressive for a Marzen; 3-4% ABV was certainly low. Alas, the Russian Imperial Stout poured black with tinges of amber and carried a medium tan head. Also riddled with off flavors, it was sweet, boozy, phenolic. It basically tasted like a metallic raisin. We were perturbed as to why this beer was $8 a pint. Though it was not pointed out at the pub, we later read in a copy Ale Street News that this was a beer brewed with Brettanomyces. Hrmm. Well, that was it for Trinity and we likely won’t go back anytime soon.

Coastal Extreme Brewing, Newport: We had the privilege of checking out the new 2,500 square-foot brewing facility of Coastal Extreme Brewing (CEB), makers of Newport Storm. Here, on the outskirts of town in Middletown, we met co-founders Brent Ryan and Will Rafferty. The two along with Mark Sinclair and brewer Derek Luke make up a foursome of founders who met while attending Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Since 1999 Coastal Extreme has made it their mission to be one of the best and perhaps the most prolific craft brewery in Rhode Island. The beer is devoid of the diacetyl prone highly attenuating Ringwood yeast that many New England brewers use in their ales. Instead, CEB uses a California ale yeast that lends itself to bright fruity esters and a helps to bring out the hop aromas as well.

For $7 you can taste three beers in a crystal stem glass that you get to keep. And, not only is this place a brewery, it is a distillery, making Thomas Tew’s Rum (three samples of rum for $9). On our visit we sampled their flagship Hurricane Amber Ale, Rhode Island Blueberry Ale, and seasonal Spring Ale. The Amber uses a combination of American and European hops and malts (Malts: Pils, Munic, Crystal. Hops: Tettnanger, Magnum) that put forth a great balance of the two. The Blueberry Ale is a year-round Kolsch-style hybrid utilizing a touch of Magnum bittering and English Pilgrim aroma hops. At front and center is a hefty helping of hand-pressed blueberry juice that gives the golden-colored beer a bold and inviting fruit nose. The Spring Ale is a deep ruby hued Irish Red with a thick whitish head and a bold roasted malt presence. At 5.0% ABV and 31 IBUs, five malts (Maris Otter, Pils, Crystal, Roasted, Cara Pils, Chocolate) and three hops: (Golding, Cascade, Magnum) are used. A self guided tour up stairs and through a back loft area overlooked the spacious warehouse brewery where Derek Luke was at work. Any trip to Rhode Island, especially the Newport area isn’t complete without a visit to Coastal Extreme, a staple of the state’s craft beer identity.

Coddington’s Brewpub, Middletown: We heard about Coddington’s just by searching the Internet for Rhode Island breweries. We didn’t have high expectations, since it wasn’t as nationally known as Coastal Extreme/Newport Storm, however, our first impression, a sample tray, made us great fans of Coddington’s beers. Brewmaster Marshall Righter, a local from Westerly, Rhode Island, we came to discover, has vast experience when it comes to craft brewing. A graduate of Siebel’s Institution of Technology’s brewing program in 1995, Righter cut his teeth at Boston Beerworks’ Fenway brewery. Finally he found himself at home in Middletown where the modest yet cozy and clean brewpub serves an assortment of seafood and American dishes as well as a standard lineup of well-made house beers. We opted for the server tray, as we often do when we first visit a new brewpub. On the tray was a delicious Blueberry Blonde Ale with fresh fruit floating in the head, Golden Ale, Irish Stout, Irish Red, a light Pale Ale, and a balanced yet hop-forward IPA. All of these beers where stylistically on point and highly drinkable. On a later visit to the pub, we received a tour by Marshall Righter, who let us sample a forthcoming Witbier out of the conditioning tank. We asked Righter about his brewing and Coddington’s. Here’s the interview:

Track 84 Pub, Warwick: Our beer advocate buddy Jim recommended we not miss Track 84 in Warwick, Rhode Island. Just outside of Providence, Track 84 Pub is a stone’s throw from T.F. Green International Airport, situated adjacent to the train tracks for which it is named. Featuring 19 constantly rotating taps and more than 50 bottles for sale, Track 84 doesn’t focus on local beer as much as it focuses on choice beer. Offered on tap was the likes of Delerium Tremens, Brooklyn’s Dark Matter Barrel-aged Brown Ale, Ballast Point Big Eye IPA, South Hampton Biere de Mars, Stone Sublimely Self-Rightous, Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Drayman’s Porter, Berkshire, McNeill’s Pullman Porter, Stoudt’s Karnival Kolsch, Victory Yakima Twilight American Strong Ale, Palm Special Belgian Ale, Great Divide Espresso Oak Yeti, Allagash White, Ommegang Hennepin and Heavy Season IPA.The place itself isn’t much to look at…or smell. When we arrived, the room had an odor of rotting trash, but a friendly and knowledgeable bartender who let us behind the bar to take pictures and relaxed unpretentious vibe was rather welcoming. A bottomless barrel of free peanuts of which the shells could be thrown on the floor help win us over. We plan to return next time we’re in town and recommend you do the same if you find yourself near the Providence airport.

Nikki’s Liquors, Providence: We found this place by looking through the pages of Yankee Brew News. Recommended by beer Advocate as well, Nikki’s offers a wide variety of domestic and imported craft beer not available throughout much of the Pacific Northwest. Going overboard (as usual) and buying three cases of beer, we were like kids in a candy store here. Top purchases included Mikkeller 1000 IBU, Cisco Brewer Captain Swain’s Extra Stout, Nogne Dark Hops, and an assortment of Drie Fonteinen lambics in 330ml bottle. After a few folks in line ahead of us opted for malt liquor and cheap spirits, the clerk must have either thought we were utterly crazy, or righteous beer geeks.

Pour Judgement, Newport: Dying to find a solid craft beer bar while in Newport, we were quite pleased to hear about Pour Judgement from Marshall Righter at Coddington’s. Here a variety of Northeastern craft brews graced the taps. On our visit we enjoyed South Hampton Double White Ale, Cisco Indie IPA, and Harpoon Belgian Pale Ale. The food was grubbin’ and the staff was prompt and friendly. The overall vibe of Pour Judgement was quite youthful and hip. It looks like it could have been a Portland pub, but, with great service.

So there you have it, Rhode Island’s best beer offering…or some of them at least. For more, check out The Daily Pull’s recent write-up of some beer spots in Providence. If you find yourself in a part of the state without craft beer, just drive a few miles. After all, Rhode Island is pretty small. Or, you could always settle for a tallboy on Narragansett Premium Lager.

Posted under Uncategorized

While things may be looking grim for the economy, the craft brewing industry, holding just 4% of the American beer market, continues to thrive. One such brewery that has made an impression in the craft beer industry is The Bruery of Placentia in Orange County, California. Deriving its name from the Rue family, namely Patrick Rue, and his wife Rachel, The Bruery, in just its second year in operation, took home two medals at the 2010 World Beer Cup. And not just two medals, two GOLD medals. These were for a 100% Brett Autumn Maple, an exclusively Brettanomyces fermented version of their heralded Autumn Maple  (experimental category) and the Oude Tart, the judges’ top choice amongst Flanders ales.

Having garnered world recognition has lead to higher demand for The Bruery’s 750ml bottles. States the company’s website: “We’ve been inspired by many different breweries and beers, some from Belgium, and some not. As strong as these influences are, we’re mostly driven by experiences of flavor. Sweet potato pie, Thai food, the intense aroma of freshly picked lavender, among many others, are our primary influences. All of our beers are 100% bottle conditioned, unfiltered, and unpasteurized. We create complex flavors from simple ingredients, and commit to producing our beer in the most wholesome of ways.”

On a Fall 2008 adventure through Northern California, we were pleased to discover our first bottles of The Bruery’s brews at the San Francisco City Beer Store. When we left Oregon, the beer was not available for distribution in our state. Upon returning a week later, we found their beers available at most craft beer shops (Glad we drove these beers 1,000 miles home). While the aforementioned gold medal winners are limited to small taproom quantities, you can find a great lineup of The Bruery’s bottles at some of Portland’s top bottle shops like The BeerMongers, The Hop & Vine, and Saraveza.

This past weekend, during the Portland’s Cheers to Belgian Beers (CTBB), The Bruery’s public and media relations guy, Ben Weiss, was in town checking out the Portland beer scene. Weiss, also a former assistant brewer for the brewery, spoke with us about some of The Bruery’s delicious beers. The next day, Saraveza hosted a special tasting featuring five delectable flavors. These included:

Saison de Lente, a spring release, and one of two available Saisons released in bottles to the Oregon market. Saison de Lente is light blonde in color with a fresh hoppiness and a wild and rustic Brettanomyces character. Lighter in color and alcohol than our Saison Rue, yet equally complex in its own way. Aptly described as “Perfect for warmer weather and Spring celebrations.” ABV: 6.5%, IBU: 35, SRM: 4

Trade Winds Triple: Here is the summer seasonal of the lot. Trade Winds  is a Belgian-style Golden Ale with a Southeast Asian twist. “Instead of using candi sugar (typical for such a beer), we use rice in the mash to lighten the body and increase the gravity, and spice with Thai Basil. The result is an aromatic, digestible and complex beer made for a lazy summer evening.” ABV: 8%, IBU: 25, SRM: 5

Autumn Maple: Here’s the original Autumn Maple from The Bruery (no Brett added). We snagged a bottle of this beer on our fall 2008 excursion to Cali, and the brew is now available in Oregon during the autumn months. Brewed with 17 pounds of yams per barrel, this autumn seasonal is a different take on the “pumpkin” beer style. Brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, molasses, and maple syrup, and fermented with our traditional Belgian yeast strain. The Bruery says “This bold and spicy beer is perfect on a cold autumn evening.” ABV: 10%, IBU: 25, SRM: 15

Two Turtle Doves: The first time we tried this was at our friend Lisa “The Beer Goddess” Morrison’s cellar cleaning party late last fall. What an incredible beer!  This brew is the second in the 12 Days/Years of Christmas Series (the first was Partridge in a Pear Tree). The Bruery claims “We decided to take our inspiration from the name and base the beer on the “turtle” candy, brewing it with cocoa nibs, toasted pecans, caramelized sugar and a lot of caramel malts. Somewhere between a Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale and an Imperial Porter, this beer is designed to take the journey through time until 12 Drummers Drumming.” ABV: 12%, IBU: 25, SRM: 30

And the mother of all The Bruery’s beers…

Black Tuesday: Holy cow! This brewery exclusive was a real treat to try. Thanks so much to Ben for sharing with us! The infamous Black Tuesday is an Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels for over a year. Rich caramel, toasted malt, vanilla, burnt wood, anise are just a few of the many flavors of this rich, decadent imperial stout. You may have heard about this beer in beer geek forums. RateBeer.com ranks this the #22 best beer of 2010, and BeerAdvocate ranks it at #16 on the planet.  ABV: 19.5%, IBU: 40, SRM: 100+

Here’s an interview with The Bruery’s Ben Weiss during his recent visit to Portland, Oregon.

Posted under Beer personalities, beer awards, beer releases

While enjoying the stay in New England, Brewpublic had the privilege of visiting Allagash Brewing in Portland, Maine. Here, we discovered a variety of Belgian-inspired beers unlike any others found stateside. At Allagash, we visited with brewmaster Jason Perkins to learn more about the brewery’s success with their mainstay favorites as well as some innovative new brews, including work with spontaneously fermented brews produced in their koelschip (cool ship).

Here is part two of this exclusive interview:

Posted under Beer personalities, beer events, beer news, beers on film

At the eastern edge of the White Mountains National Forest, near the shores of Lake Kezar, rests the quiet town of Lovell, Maine. Here, in a restored farmhouse adjacent to a beautiful golf course surrounded by groves of white pine trees, we came to Ebenezer’s Pub. Named for town founder Ebenezer Kezar, Ebenezer’s, run by Chris and Jen Lively, came highly regarded at the upper echelon of beer stops on the planet.  And, it lived up to the hype, perhaps even exceeded it.

Ebenezer's owner Chris Lively pours a beer

Tap after tap of mindblowing and mouthwatering beers left us baffled as where to begin. Chris, our friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate host recommended two outstanding draught offerings: Pannepot 2007, a dark unfiltered sipper with lots sugary dark fruit richness,  and Cambridge Benevolence, a rich chestnut colored beer mildly tart and quite dry from a Brettanomyces inoculation.

Speaking with Chris was worth the travel alone. His mind was a database of craft beer dating back to the 1930s. Halfway through our Pannepot, Chris opened up a less turbid bottled version for comparison. Other great beers we had the fortune of enjoying included a Dogfish Head and Biggoarlo collaboration brew known as My Antonia, a hazy golden-straw Imperial Pilsner with a world of complexity from a variety of herbs used–honey, anise, clover, and chamomile notes throughout the experience.

After Ebenezer’s small crowd locals began to dissipate, Chris kindly offered us an exclusive tour of his KILLER cellar. Was this brewtopia? It sure felt like it. In the understory of the farmhouse, we bared witness to unfathomable beers while we sipped from a rare Allagash #9.  This special spontaneously fermented Koelschip blend was made with local tart cherries and is regarded by Chris as one of his personal favorites. Glowing hazy orange hued with a wonderful tart and malty fruit melange, the #9 would prove to be a highlight of our New England beer pilgrimage.

As much as we wanted to be reporters while at Chris’s fine establishment, we decided to let ourselves go and soak in this once in a lifetime experience. We anticipate returning in the future, but considering how off the beaten path Ebenezer’s is, we’re not sure when that will be. Fortunately we captured some exclusive video of this rare experience. Even Chris manned the camera and provided us with some lighthearted special footage.

After wrapping things up in the wee hours of morning, we were kindly offered board at a gorgeous lakeside cabin in Lovell. Here, three kind locals unveiled another refuge for craft beer lovers. A kind gentleman named Joe, his brother Jim, and their friend Arnold introduced us to Joe’s delicious homebrews served from his very own wood crafted basement pub. Joe also opened some cellared beers for us as well including a bottle of Flying Dog’s Wild Dog, a tart Doppelbock. All of these experiences with these kind folks and these great beers culminated to surpass our already high expectations of  this evening. Is Ebenezer’s truly the world’s best beer bar? Perhaps. Is Ebenezer’s the most passionate establishment when it comes to craft beer? Undoubtedly.

Coming next: a video tour of Ebenezer’s cellar with Chris Lively.

Posted under Beer personalities, places to drink beer

Oregon Beer Odyssey (OBO) is an independent company dedicated to promoting appreciation and knowledge of great beer through tastings, classes, and private events. Coming up this Saturday at Bailey’s Taproom, OBO will feature a unique opportunity to experience some flavorsome wild ales with sour, tart, and rather uncommon  Says co-founder Ben Edmunds “I’m pretty amped on both of them–we’ve got some really great beers lined up to introduce folks to. Saturday should be a good chance to geek out on some of the finer points of making and tasting sour beers: where else will you get to compare all the major strains of Brettanomyces side by side?”

Wild and Sour Beers (Saturday, 4/3, 2:30-4 PM at Bailey’s)

Here’s the official class description:

Sour is the new hoppy! Few styles have caught the imagination of brewers like sour ales in the last few years. These are labor-intensive beers that take years to make and test a brewer’s artistic and scientific talents. Taste a wide range of beers made through fermentation beyond the control of traditional brewer’s yeast, including styles like gueuze, gose, Berliner weisse, Flanders red, and oud bruin. Find out why so many brewers find these peculiar ales to be the future of beer innovation.

For folks who want to know exactly what we’re going to taste:

The focus of the class is going to be on discussing the flavor profiles of sour and wild beers, more than their production (though there will inevitably be some of that too). We’ll start with gose and Berliner weisse, talking about different methods for getting a light sourness through wort spoiling and mash acidification. From there, we’ll move onto the profiles you get from different types of Brettanomyces by exploring mixed fermentation beers–lambicus vs. bruxellensis vs. claussenii. And then, Flemish sours and the blending of sour flavors. After that, we’ll do a side by side tasting of four gueuzes and talk about the range of ‘funk’ within that style. We’ll finish with one of Ron’s fruit beers, since the class, after all, is about the sour magic.

We’ll also touch on evaluating sour/wild beers. How do you differentiate between world-class and mediocre beers when they all share such unfamiliar flavors?

It’s good for geeks and novices with a sense of adventure. Tasting all these beers side by side outside of a class would cost $100+, so this is a pretty affordable way to explore the style!

Brewed by Monks (Sunday, 4/4, 4:00-5:30 at The Beer Mongers)

Official Class Description:

Belgian Trappist beers are revered around the world for their complex flavors that defy what we typically expect in beer. Taste all of the classic ‘monk-brewed’ styles of beer, including dubbels, tripels, and quadrupels. Beers used in this class include classic Belgian versions as well as the vanguard American craft brews they monks have inspired. Come drink like a monk!

And in more detail…

In honor of Easter, we’re going to compare and contrast dubbels, tripels, and ‘quadrupels’ (or Belgian strong darks, or “Strong Cascadian dark ales without Cascadian hops”) from the real Trappists, the Belgian abbeys that imitate the originals, and the American craft brewers they’ve inspired. Try brews from at least four of the seven Trappist breweries, as well as six non-Trappist interpretations of these classic styles. We’ll discuss differences between tripels and Belgian strong goldens, go through how to pair abbey ales with food (and do a little practice with chocolate), and decide whether the Trappist breweries deserve the hype they have.

Both classes cost $35/person. Sign up and learn more at www.oregonbeerodyssey.com. You can register at the bar too–just as Sean or Craig (Beer Mongers), or Geoff, Michael, or Scott (Bailey’s).

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

Saturday March 20, 2010 marked the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and what better way to celebrate the summation of winter than to get outdoors and enjoy the sun over a number of tasty brews. Brewpublic’s first ever BrewPubliCrawl, also Oregon’s first ever meet-the-brewer pubcrawl, featured droves of thirsty craft beer enthusiasts jaunting about Southeast Division Street, where at four stop, eight brewers and their beers were front and center.

In addition to this festive event that also happened to take place on the first 70 degree day of the year, another pubcrawl would take place on the North Side of town. The Krakow Cafe off North Interstate Avenue put together a public transportation crawl, also doubling as a Bock Fest.

Elsewhere in North America, Brewpublic’s Quebec correspondent Marc Demeule found himself at a crawl of his own on the streets of Montreal.

Mini Pubcrawl in Montréal

I couldn’t take part in the BrewPubliCrawl, but I joined other beer geeks in Montréal for a special brewery tour, managed by Bièropholie. This first event took place at Le Cheval Blanc. For the occasion, two beers were put on cask. We could taste a Nugget IPA, a light amber brew with a prominent presence of herbaceous aroma with a good herbal taste; a Russian Imperial Stout, with a coffee domination. The brewer Éloi Deit opened us the new installations. In fact, the brewery has been moved from the tiny basement to the first floor which is more convenient. It also allows customers to see the brewing process.

Basically, Le Cheval Blanc‘s brewing system has a 1000 liter capacity and the brewery owns five fermenters. There is room left for another one as well. For 2010, the brewer expects close to 90 brewing sessions. 8 taps and 2 casks pour regular beers and a rotation of ± 70 others recipes. Everybody can find his preferred brew here. Some projects do include the use of Brettanomyces yeasts in a saison beer and an India Pale Ale  including Warrior hops. Locally grown hops will be also used in the future. I need the address of that local hops grower, Éloi.

Thanks to the tour manager. We are ready for another one.

marc@brewpublic.com

Stay tuned for more…

Posted under beer events, places to drink beer

Larry Sidor has a huge passion for hops. With the experience and knowledge he gained working at a hop farm in Yakima he takes his hops seriously. To continue with the interview with Larry, we find out about his love for hops, organic and sustainability in the brewhouse and about his hoppy beers.

ML: You obviously have a passion for hops and capturing essences and aromas of hops. What approach to hops have you found yourself using? And how do you incorporate that into your brewing?

LS: Oh wow, it is never ending. It is cutting holes in tanks and finding places to put hops in. Dry hopping techniques, different hop products from the suppliers and I now put about 30% of our whole flower hops in foil bags just so that they don’t age and I can maintain those volatile hop compounds that we like. I keep notes from every year on what kind of hops different growers produce every year. One of the things I have pioneered is the use of Salmon Safe hops. There are two growers Goshie farms is where the discussion started and Sod Busters is the second farm. Salmon Safe hops are not organic, don’t get me wrong there, it is nothing about organic but it is more about growing the hops in a method that is best for the environment. There are set backs as to how close you can have a hop field to a stream or creek and it is about what pesticides or crop protectents they can use. There might be one that is better for the environment but more costly so the Salmon Safe organization recommends that one or maybe the other one is cheaper but has to be applied more often or something such as that. Salmon Safe doesn’t effect the volatizes like we were talking about but it separates out the growers who are the most caring and respectful and observant to the production of hops and that translate to when I rub the hops and smell them that they are the most superior.

ML: How do you see organic and sustainability coming to the brewhouse?

LS: It is a trend and it is going to build. One of my failures at Deschutes was to make Black Butte Porter organically. When I tried to do that, the beer just turned out horrible. That was probably five years ago or so and I have been working on organic beers since then and try to perfect them. I am very proud of our Green Lakes, which is our organic beer. But the thing that has happened, and I will talk about one side first, is that malt has just gone light years ahead. The malt that was available to me organically five years ago was pretty sketchy and today the organic malt available is just pretty nice. That is the malt side of it and I just see the sustainability of it just growing and growing. One thing I am working on right now is Salmon Safe barley. I haven’t quite figured that one out yet but I’m working on that and the way I see it is Salmon Safe barley and hops and then the next step is organic so you kind of just keep working in that direction and pretty soon you are there.

For the organic hops, well, I have pretty much just failed in that area. I brought in organic hops from New Zealand and I have not been able to make a very decent beer with them, I am just not really impressed. I have contracted with a hop grower for one variety of hops grown organically that is kind of the front end of our Green Lakes and the rest of the hops are Salmon Safe but not organic.

The Germans have done a pretty good job of organic hops and I’m going try to bring some in and see if I can start test brewing with them and maybe fit them into the Green Lakes. The way I see it is we will figure it out. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will get figured out. I see us expanding our use of organic malt to what level I don’t know but I would like to see the day when we are 100% organic here. But will I sacrifice our beer’s flavor to get there, no.

ML: The standard IPA for Deschutes moved from Quail Springs (a light IPA) to Inversion (an IPA w/ a more bold hop presence). What brought about the change? How did that transition go? How has that helped move Deschutes into the direction of more innovated beers (Abyss, Dissident, etc..)

LS: Regarding Quail Springs, we listened to our customers. While they appreciated the English malt backbone (Marris Otter winter barley that was floor malted) of Quail Springs and the English Hops, but at the end of the day, they wanted an American IPA. The transition went extremely well, the sales level was nearly double of our expectations. So well in fact I had to buy some hops from our friends Sierra Nevada, Odell, Alaskan, and Elysian because the hop dealers were out of what I needed. Inversion was the second largest volume new release beer that year. It was second only to a release from one of the top two volume brewers and we didn’t make the release until April!

Many of our projects have helped set the stage for beers such as Abyss. I think the defining one was Hop Trip; it began the process of expanding our vision of the beers we develop. We always want to brew beers with a significant “WOW” factor. I believe all our previous beers have this: Mirror Pond, Black Butte, Obsidian, Jubel, but in a British Ale type of way. Hop Trip was really our first beer outside of this area. Our journey to other “WOW” factor beers has just begun.

Quail Springs IPA will become a seasonal beer and should be out at the pub locations soon.

ML: How much creative control do you have in recipe development?

LS: The short answer is a lot. The longer answer is this is a loaded question. The words creative and control are a conflict to me. Yes I have very strict control regarding what ingredients are used and how they are used. I insure that our ingredients are safe for our consumers and they represent the integrity of Deschutes. Once we are over this first hurdle then creativity rules. Creativity is generated by finding and purchasing fantastic ingredients, developing unique processes that can be used as creativity tools, maintaining one of the world’s best beer refrigerators, and constant communication with the owner, brewers, and sales staff. Also, how much creative control do your brewers have? The brewers contribute a huge amount of creativity. We have four brewhouses and three of them are available for creativity. The two at are pubs have the greatest creativity because their inspirations can usually be sold. If a beer doesn’t meet our expectations, there’s always the sewer. There is no shame (actually it’s a celebration) when we have to dump one. It means we have pushed the envelope too far. This doesn’t happen enough to meet my expectations. Who has more? Neither, our customers are driving the boat on this one. We listen intently to feedback from our customers on the creative things we do.

ML: Are there any trends in modern brewing that you’ve noticed? (good or bad) What do you think is the new trend for brewing these days?

LS: When I first began brewing there were 23 brewing companies in the United States. At the time, someone told me in a few years there would be only two or three brewers, similar to the soft drink industry, think Coke and Pepsi. I though they were nuts. In reality their prediction was much too conservative. The consolidation trend began in the US and now is international. It looks like we will have two or three large brewers in the world making mass produced beer and the brewers such as Deschutes filling the needs of the folks who want a better beer drinking experience.

The new trend that I really like is going back to some of the old flavors. Those being the bioflavors obtained from “bugs” and “wild yeast”. The use of flavor producing bacteria and yeast is very exciting for us. Brewing of our Dissident was very rewarding. It has bioflavoring from two different Brettanomyces yeast and a few bugs that were hitchhikers that came from the fresh cherries we added. The whole brewing process took a couple of years, but the result was worth the time.

ML: Are there any things you’d like to do with brewing that you haven’t yet?

LS: Of course, I would like to push the envelope on hops to a greater level. Hop aromas and flavors are one of the most amazing food experiences in life. As brewers, I think we have only scratched the surface. I believe there are all sorts of opportunities we have not been investigated.

ML: Any final/closing comments?

LS:Thanks for drinking our beers that gives us brewers a purpose in life!

This past weekend Deschutes celebrated its 21st Birthday and released the Black Butte XXi, Imperial Coffee Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter.

Posted under Beer personalities, Oregon beer