Oregon Brew Crew Winner Brews With Laurelwood

Oregon Brew Crew member and avid homebrewer Mark Easton won best in show at last year’s Fall Classic Homebrew Competition with his Stratus Pale Ale. So, to honor the talented brewer, a commercial-sized batch of the beer was produced in conjunction with Laurelwood Brewmaster Chad Kennedy. The 12 OG Plato, 40+ IBU beer features high alpha Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo hops and promises a citrus, tropical fruit big hop character.

“I really enjoyed this beer during the competition and thought it would translate well on our system” said Kennedy. ” More importantly, I thought (Laurelwood) fans would love it.” Anyone who has enjoyed boldly hopped Laurelwood brews like Workhorse IPA understands that their brewmaster knows a righteous hoppy brew when he tastes it. “There’s no way Mark could have made enough of this great beer on his own so everyone could try it. That’s where I stepped in.”

Easton said his mission was to brew a pale that wasn’t “over bitter- like a lot of beers can be these days” and added “I still wanted hop flavor so I looked at interesting hop varieties that would create unique hop characters.”

Look for the release of this fine beer at Laurelwood during Oregon Craft Beer Month in July.