By Marc Demeule

I recently attempt to the 11th edition of le X de 1000, the biggest homebrewer event in Québec. The managers and volunteers did a great job to plan, set up and execute the event. Attendees even received serigraphy glasses. The annual brewing theme was chosen at the end of the previous year. A sweet chaotic and ethylic brainstorming result that our Senators (René Brasseurs Illimités, Jean Brasseurs & Frères and Nicolas Bedondaine et bedons ronds) decided that every style brewed in a previous edition (porter, tripel Belge, IPA, Scotch ale, barley wine, stout, saison, brown and mild ale, trappiste & 10%+) would be considered as an imposed style style imposé for the 11th edition.

Every other beer could be presented as freestyle (style libre) for this very friendly competition. The winner has the privilege to tell everybody that he wins this edition and is allowed to hoist the trophy  for a year. It is also appreciated if he pays to engrave his nameplate on the trophy… Read More…

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

Oregon Trail Brewery and Old World Deli in Corvallis, OR

Last weekend on our action packed travel to Corvallis, we learned that the college town was about more than just Oregon State Beavers and their prosperous Division 1 sports programs. The seat of Benton County, Corvallis is home to over 50,000 people as well as a thriving craft beer community.

Orange and black lights up the streets where the Beaver faithful seem to never waiver from cheering on their favorite school. In fact Oregon State University offers a Fermentation Science option that is approved by the Institute of Food Technologists program. In recent news, Indie Hops, an Oregon  supplier of aroma hops, donated $807,000 toward a new program for aroma hop research at the university in the College of Agricultural Sciences. In total, the hops merchant has provided over $1 million toward hops breeding and chemistry research. This is not only good news for OSU and Oregon, but it’s great news for much of the North American craft beer community.

Besides being a major player in the Willamette Valley’s beer ingredient realm, Corvallis is home to three commercial breweries (soon to be four) and a homebrewing supply and bottle shop.

Oregon Trail Brewery is the city’s oldest craft brewery. Originally founded in 1987 by homebrewer Jerry Shadomy behind the same space that today still houses the Old World Deli in a spacious old hotel building erected in 1910. With the help of building owner Ted Cox, who also ran a homebrewing supply shop in the space, Shadomy was successful in getting the first incarnation of Oregon Trail up and running. This was at a time when the only other commercial breweries in Oregon were BridgePort and Widmer in Portland. In 1989, Oregon Trail’s Brown Ale was awarded a Beer of the Year award by Fred Eckhardt, who was the Oregonian’s beer columnist at the time.

In an interesting setting where three tiers of gravity-drawn brewing aided in the production of local beer. The 7-barrel brew system was obtained from Hart Brewing of Kalama, WA (later to become Pyramid Brewing).   In 1991, current owner Dave Wills, a supplier of hops for the brewery from his company Freshops, bought out Shadomy though he had little hand in the initial brewing process. Shortly after expanding from around 300 barrels to over 1000 annually, a series of personal problems for Shadomy and some unwanted bacterial infections in the beer led to the brewery’s closure in 1992.

In 1993, Wills took the reigns for Oregon Trail, and with the help of Jerry Bockmore, a founder of the now defunct Yamhill Brewing Company (where today resides the Green Dragon Pub and Bistro), a talented area brewer, found the money and energy to rebuild the great brewhouse. Their revitalized Oregon Witbier with orange peel and coriander spice was quite popular in a world of wheat and fruit beer. At the time, the beers were available in 22 ounce bottles, and in 1994 and 1995, Oregon Trail’s brown ale scored a silver medal at the GABF (Great American Beer Festival) in the heyday of Pete’s Wicked.

Today, Wills continues his entrepreneurial spirit by running multiple businesses including his Freshops company that he’s been at since 1982, and a Christmas tree farm. The current production of the brewhouse is about 500 barrels a year, about 90% of this being on draft, and a small percentage being the Wit in 22′s.

During our visit to the garret, we met Don Pfeifer, a retired microbiologist who is serving as Oregon Trail’s lab tech. Pfeifer was taking plate counts and continuing assurance that the brewery doesn’t fall victim to the contamination issues of the past.

Before leaving brewery the jovial and spirited Wills provided samples of his flagship Wit as well as a chewy and robust  Brown Ale, a distinctly flavorsome Ginseng Porter, and a particularly less assertive, light IPA. We were also able to talk him into a pour of the Bourbon Porter, a rich, boozy, bourbon-forward highly sought after beer.

Old World Deli, in the same building as Oregon Trail Brewery

Thanks to Dave Wills, Don Pfeifer, and Lillian MacNamara for taking time to show us a piece of Oregon brewing history. We hope to see the brewery continue to grow and perhaps once again find themselves on the stage of the GABF.

Thanks also to  Melinda Stewart the kind folks at Visit Corvallis who arranged our meeting with Wills and aided in our trip to Corvallis.

For more on the history of the Oregon Trail Brewery, visit: http://www.oregontrailbrewery.com/index.php?s=history

Here is a video from Oregon Trail we found on their website:

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

Zwickelmania weekend was awesome! Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to visit every spot that we wanted to. Still, we did hit up some favorites. Here’s what went down:

Heater-Allen at Bailey’s Taproom

Our weekend began on Thursday at downtown PDX’s best beer bar, Bailey’s Taproom, where a special meet the brewer event was underway. McMinnville, Oregon’s Heater Allen Brewery owned three taps on this night. Arguably the finest lager producing brewer in the Pacific Northwest, Heater Allen’s Rick Allen was on hand for the release of his brewery’s Hugo Bock. In addition, Allen’s Bavarian-inspired Schwarzbier and Pilsner were also pouring. Allen told us that his Smoked Bob, a rauch version of his esteemed Bobtoberfest Marzen was to debut at the brewery during Zwickelmania weekend. The brew will make its Portland debut at a meet the brewer event at Belmont Station on March 10.

Cascade Brewery at the Raccoon Lodge

We made an early Friday visit to the Raccoon Lodge to try some delicious new beers. Highlights: Spring Gose that featured chamomile and two different kinds of lavendar from Sequim, Washington; the lastest Apricot Ale on tap in at the bar; a piquant saison; and a special Noyeau blend put together by brewmaster and friend Ron Gansberg. The esteemed Curtis Bain was also on hand, as was brewer Ben Edmunds of start-up Breakside Brewery. We have yet to visit Cascade Brewing without having one hell of a good time.

Full Sail River Place

This was our favorite from 2009′s Zwickel-fest. This year’s tasting was solid, but unlike the previous one, there was no ten year old bourbon-aged Old Boardhead Barleywine. Still, there was a great brown ale, the latest in their Brewers Share Series called Collin’s Dark Secret.. The chocolaty robust ale was designed by Full Sail packaging manager Collin Godkin and paired excellently with shaved Belgian chocolate that was offered. Seasoned brewer Phil Roche was on hand to talk beer. Free pint glasses were given out as well. Good times!

Rock Bottom Brewery

Speaking of seasoned brewers, there’s none quite like Rock Bottom’s Van Havig who was on hand pouring four grubbin’ beers off the RB zwickel. Havig, one of Beervana’s finest, offered up two IPAs, featuring Cascade and Centennial hop varietals. RB’s Blitzen Tripel and a new Baltic Porter also flowed in the upstairs brewhouse. Rock Bottom is the kind of place where many beer geeks might not visit due to the preppy clientele, but for the real heads who appreciate superbly crafted beers that span a variety of styles,  it’s  a must visit.

Deschutes Portland Pub

Forget about it! This place emphasized on the “mania” in Zwickelmania. Insanely long lines warded us off from joining the queue for free samples. Last year we enjoyed getting a close-up peak at Deschutes’  beautiful Bavarian-style copper brew kettles. Instead, we linked up with uber-geeks Charles and Theresa Culp and Marc Martin over a snifter of the Jubel 2010 and a pint of their new Hop in the Dark Cascadian Dark Ale (actually labeled as such instead of a Black IPA, yeah!). We also ran into The Daily Pull crew who joined us for our last stop on the Zwickel tour. If you haven’t check out Brady Walen’s new beer blog, you need to. It’s a wonderful resource for those in search of Pacific Northwest craft beer insight.

NW Quimby Lucky Lab

We biked over to one of Portland’s best brewpubs to visit Ben “Grandmaster Flerch” Flerching who was giving thirsting beer tourists a glimpse into the 15-barrel brewhouse of Quimby’s Lucky Lab. Samples of the Single Hop Galena IPA and the Pavlov Imperial Stout. Spectacular! Also got a taste of a special new quadruple IPA called Son of Gold Yeller that was a pleasant accident aka double Super Dog . Look for it at the Barleywine & Big Beer Fest coming to the brewpub in March!

Brewpublic and Saraveza’s My Beery Valentine

Serving as a Zwickelmania after party, the My Beery Valentine event welcomed a healthy gathering of beer geeks to a benefit to raise money for Mercy Corps Haitian Relief. The Saturday and Sunday event was a huge success thanks to the friendly, knowledgeable, and hardworking staff at Saraveza. Northwest Brewing News’ Bartender of the Year Jonathan Carmean and the lauded Tyler “the Elder” Vickers were amongst the celebrity servers on hand at this event. Brewpublic curated an assortment of Valentine’s Day appropriate beers from top Oregon Breweries for this one-of-a-kind menu. Highlights included Upright Four Play tart cherry Saison, Cascade sour Noyeau blend, New Old Lompoc bourbon barrel fermented Cherry Stout, Vertigo Razz Wheat, Oakshire Two-Wheeler Red IPA, Widmer W’10 Cascadian Dark Ale, Fort George Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale, and the buzz  beer of the event, a delectable Black Raspberry and Chocolate Stout from Block-15 Brewpub known as Love Potion #9. Thanks to owner Sarah Pederson and her lovely staff for a wonderful weekend! A portion of the beer sales and a variety of generously donated desserts from Sugar Pimp and organic chocolate from Equal Exchange helped raise a nice chunk of change for Mercy Corps Haiti Relief Fund. Thanks to all who supported!

Posted under Oregon beer, beer events, beer reviews

There’s a lot going on at Cascade Brewing these days. Their Raccoon Lodge was recently named as one of the world’s top 50 brewpubs in the world by RateBeer.com (See other breweries’ Northwest’s RateBeer accolades on a post here by Geoff Kaiser of Seattle Beer News). Further, nationally circulated Draft Magazine named Cascade’s Vlad the Impaler as one of the best 25 beers of 2009. Cascade’s Apricot Ale made Draft’s 2008 best of list as well.  On top of all this, the Cascade crew are working vigorously to get a new spacious barrel room and pub open at SE Belmont and 9th. They hope to be open some time this spring. We can’t wait!

Cascade brewmaster Ron Gansberg peruses through Draft Magazine

Vlad the Imp Aler named as one of the best 25 beers of 2009 by Draft Magazine

Bain de Brugge

We paid Gansberg a visit at the Raccoon Lodge this week to get our fix of his ennobling liquid artistry. New beers at the brewery include an Imperial Brown Ale dubbed “Busta,”  a non-soured Belgian Dark Ale known as “Bain de Brugge,” and the fourth in a highly anticipated seasonal series of German-style Gosebiers simply referred to as the “Spring Gose.” This salted beer has evolved from the more traditional summer rendition into a seemingly quixotic yet captivating cast of ingredients. This mildly tart and saliferous mild ale now features two varieties of lavender from Sequim, Washington. With a juicy, sunny hazed bodied, this beer is still in need of a bit more conditioning, but the complexities are already quite evident.

Cascade's Spring Gose

Also gracing the taps of the Raccoon Lodge was the red-letter sour just tapped, Sang Rouge. Soon to be sold in bottles, this blend of barrel-aged sour red ales is a leading candidate for Brewpublic’s best beer of 2010. This is a “desert island” beer; one that I’d opt for at the end of eternity.

Cascade Brewmaster Ron Gansberg

As can be expected, a group of beer geeks usually congregate around the brewery to get their taste buds close to the wonderfully imaginative recipes of Gansberg. Also on hand for some of these delectable brews was Chris Althouse from Oakshire, Tyffany DeGray from Deschutes, and Jaime Rodriguez from Hopworks. Thanks to Ron Gansberg for his hospitality and the “tee-hee”s.

Posted under Oregon beer, beer awards, beer releases

It’s nice to see a mild ale being released amidst all of the gargantuan brews of late. Enter: Redhook Mudslinger Spring Ale… a soft highly sessionable nut brown ale from the Craft Brewers Alliance. Sure, uber extreme beer geeks fresh off a Beer Advocate tasting might scoff at such a beer, but I say kudos to such an approachable offering that I can sink my teeth into and not be belly up after three glasses. Redhook brewmaster Greg Deuh puts it plainly “Mudslinger is one of my favorite beers.”

The American Brown Ale is far from a shocker and that is why it is so good. Traditional notes of caramel and sweet malts, the overall impression is not far off from most browns your father has grown to love. Amidst the up-flexing of other large brewers to accommodate an seemingly ceilingless growth in big hops and world of American bigness, here rests a beer that is just a beer and designed with the utmost precision.  5.8% ABV, 30 IBU, perfect. Don’t get me wrong…I love boldly hopped, high octane, and sour beers, but those are the now beers; the chic fads. We are witnessing more dynamic breweries scrapping their brown ales but thankfully, the real heads still know what’s up. A brew like this is one that you could pour yourself over and over and be impressed with not only the drinkability but the subtle complexities Yeah, I know it sounds pretty cliche…but what can I say…I am a brown noser.

Feel free to sling mud at me anytime…

Posted under beer releases, beer reviews

Americans have always been ahead of the pack when it comes to extremism, excess, and imagination. Our craft beers are no exception and our passion for those who strive to develop new and innovative brewing techniques and recipes goes unmatched. Here is a look at some beers with the spirit of ingenuity and fearless adventurousness that might not appeal to all, but will intrigue those,like us, who have an appreciation for creativity.

New Belgium Tart Lychee: Hats off to the work this Fort Collins brewery has done with their Lips of Faith series, a line-up wild yeast beers. Unfortunately, many folks think of Fat Tire from the mainstream brands of this brewery when they

think of New Belgium, but what some folks might not know is that NB uses some eccentric ingredients in many of their beers. Ingredients like goji berries, shisandra berries, wormword, and Chinese herbs bedeck some of their finer recipes. With the Tart Lychee beer, three year wild (oak barrel acidified with souring bacteria and Brettanomyces yeast) beer is blended with lychee and Ceylon cinnamon. Lychee, sometimes also known as laichi or lichu, is a unique tropical and subtropical fruit tree. It is predominately found in China, India, Madagascar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Southern Africa and Mexico. It is a brightly flavored fruit with a sweet taste. The play of this quenching Lychee works well with the stingingly tart wild yeast to give an amazing pucking effect. The bright headless orange colored brew with hints of ruby and gold look more like a juice than a typical beer. Ceylon cinnamon, or “true cinnamon” is a widely used spice with origins in Sri Lanka and its presence can be quite potent. Of cinnamon’s many uses ranging from antioxidant to insect repellent, its use in flavor preservation and flavor enhancement are most notable in the Tart Lychee and help to liven the tannin oaken notes while balancing the lemony, vinegary overwhelming tartness. For fans of sour beers, this is must try.

Mendocino Matéveza Organic Golden Ale: Here’s another love it or leave it beer. We love it. Not only does it feature a great certified organic base beer, but its infusion with yerba maté makes it a one of a kind caffeinated treat.  Yerba maté is a species of holly native to subtropical South America in northeastern Argentina, eastern Paraguay and southern Brazil. Though recently becoming popularized in the Northern Hemisphere amongst Westerners, maté is a social drink in Argentina and Uraguay, much the same as coffee is in America. Sharing maté from a hollowed gourd (also called “maté”) is ritualistic in these South American regions and is an ingrained portion of everyday culture.

The Matéveza is worlds away from the cultural origins that meld to form this Northern Californian brewed beer, but the spirit of harmony and ecological consciousness appears to be at its core. As for flavor, Matéveza is a grassy, herbal, with earthy, almost smoky flavors that compliment the beer’s crisp, citrusy character provided by cascade hops. The effects of yerba maté are quite different that that of coffee despite both possessing similar levels of caffeine. Love it or hate it, Matéveza is a beer you must experience if you like innovation. Also, Brewpublic found a terrific blend of 50% Matéveza and 50% Boulder Hazed and Infused known as MatéHaza. Belmont Station will be hosting a special catered three course brunch paired with Matéveza and other beers on January 16, 2010. For more details visit www.belmont-station.com.

Hair of the Dog Greg: This is the beer that will squash all others. This is because it is actually brewed with several varieties of squash instead of hops. A special beer concocted by Alan Sprints of Portland, Oregon, Greg is named for Greg Higgins of Higgins Restaurant in downtown Southwest Portland. This one of a kind brew makes use of kambocha, a green pumpkin squash, for about one-third of the total sugars fermented. This imparts a distinctly gourd-eous taste. This beer is readily available on draft at Higgins, at the HOTD brewery, and occasionally elsewhere in the Portland area. It is a golden-copper hazy-bodied beer with a thick white head. The carbonation is quite low on this beer. The flavor is also enhanced with candied sugar and brown sugar-coated butternut squash. It’s relatively low alcohol level (about 4.5% ABV) makes it quite easy to drink. Like the previously mentioned beers, this type of beer is not one everyone will like, but again, you gotta give it up for pushing the envelope.

Upright Flora Rustica: Here’s a brewer who is unabashedly daring when it comes to producing off-the-wall beers. Alex Ganum is a good friend of Brewpublic and we never mind waxing his ego. In fact, his personality much reflects the kind of beers he ventures making. Whether it’s a sour beer made with chili (Turkey on Rye), a beer brewed with eucalyptus (Holy Herb), a hopless herbal gruit (Reggae Junkie Gruit), or a Brett and Lactic beer made with sour cherries (Four Play), Ganum produces zany brew recipes and makes them work. The Flora Rustica is perhaps the best example of a specific beer you’d likely think of as a one-off style, but the inertia of its beautiful flavor profile has kept it as a mainstay in Upright’s repertoire. Like most of Ganum’s beers, the Rustica is a Northwest-style saison. This particular farmhouse ale employs yarrow and calendula flowers along with a handful of Oregon grown hops to produce “a strongly aromatic beer.” Ganum adds “It’s very sparkling and dry and makes an excellent aperitif as well as as an interesting companion for certain foods like herbaceous and bitter salads or strong and fatty fish like mackerel.”

Yarrow is a North American grown flower known by many names such as carpenter’s weed, arrowroot, nosebleed plant, old man’s pepper, devil’s nettle, soldier’s woundwort, thousand-leaf, and more. Quite herbaceous, a little yarrow goes a long way, so Upright uses it sparingly in the Rustica. Yarrow has many medical, homeopathic, and seasoning functions ranging from astringent to tonic, stimulant to diaphoretic. It’s unique flavor imparts an almost cheese-like, flowery odor that pairs excellently with its counterpart in this beer, calendula flower.

Calendula flower is from the second largest species of flowering plant,Asteraceae, within which yarrow is classified. Also like yarrow, calendula has many homeopathic purposes ranging from anti-viral to anti-inflamatory, and helping to treat cramps and constipation. Most varieties, such as that used in Floral Rustica also impart a distinct herbacous character. Though not quite as potent as yarrow, a small amount really goes far. This is why Upright uses these wonderful seasonings sparingly, and a bold, rich flavor does a great job in aiding in one of the most imaginative beers available.

Laughing Buddha Trade Route Pandan Brown Ale: Much like Upright, Trade Route of Seattle, Washington doesn’t rest with anything conventional or drab. Their Pandan Brown as stated on the label “represents a major advancement in Asian style beers.” A fusion of an American brown ale with Southeastern Asian flair, the brew uses palm sugar and pandan, a nutty and fragrant leaf, when withered provides a distinct sugary vanilla-esque flavor. Pandan is commonly used through areas of Thailand and Vietnam to flavor rice dishes and cakes. The brewers say “Pandan Ale is a dark, full-bodied beer that will complement spicy Thai and Indian curries, as well as savory Filipino and Indonesian stews.” The malt bill featuring crystal, chocolate, and honey malts develop a moderate (6% ABV) bodied beer with a clean, not overly sweet presence. Aside from being one of the most unusual brown ales ever made, it is also one of the most delicious ones as well. Spicy, nutty, clean, and complex…everything a beer of such imagination should be…

Well this concludes this installment of Beers with Imagination. I look forward to sharing others I’ve enjoyed in the near future.  –Angelo

Posted under beer reviews

Brown ales are not always the go-to beers of uber beer geeks, but that could very well be changing. On a recent trip through the Columbia Gorge, we visited one of Oregon’s best breweries, Double Mountain, and were both surprised and pleased to discover four different browns pouring.

Dapper Dan: A wonderful English mild, this one is “a true session ale.” Named for brewer Matt Swihart’s good friend who is said to have inspired the brewer’s his interest in beer. Well, if this is the case, we’ll tip one back for Dan as well. Brewer Kyle Larsen says this is a brew he reaches for after a long day in the brewhouse. Could this be Hood River’s best session beer? 3.5% ABV, 31 BU

Dapper Dan on nitro: A cascading creamy version of the aforementioned treat, this luxurious and lush light incarnation is arguably dapperer than its fellow tapmate.

Abbey Hoffman: A deceptively drinkable quaffer served in a 12 ounce goblet, the name for this beer was stolen from a particular Delaware brewpub. Landing stylistically somewhere between a Belgian Abbey Single and Abbey Dubbel. Estery, spicy, nutty and mild on the palate, but with a bold ABV, Abbey Hoffman is one of DM’s best brews yet.  “Dangerously tasty.” 7.5% ABV, 10 BU

Terrible Two: We’re so glad this beer exists. Not only for its bourbon forward presence, but for the simple fact it denotes the brewery’s two years on the map. Released initially back in March of 2009, Terrible Two has picked up some oxidation, but the Heaven Hill barrels gave DM’s Uber Brown a shot in the arm. The brewery calls this one “A whisky lover’s fantasy ale.” That’s hard to argue with.  10+% ABV, 30 BU

Next time you’re in the Hood, stop by Double Mountain and see what exclusive brews are pouring. You won’t be disappointed. We have never been.

Posted under beer reviews