Tag: Oregon

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Traveling to Oregon

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What happens when a Portland native works the beer industry in SoCal and then moves back to Portland?

Well, in the case of Robby Roda, who spent time at both Monkish Brewing and Beachwood BBQ and Brewing, you open up a distribution company in Portland to bring select beers from L.A. to the NW.
And to make the L.A. connection tighter, name it after the El Segundo Brewing special Day One IPA releases. Day One Distribution has scheduled to get El Segundo Brewing onto Portland taps already with Monkish Brewing, Smog City Brewing and Phantom Carriage planned to roll out too.

Day One will begin weighted to California but will add other breweries in a slow and small fashion. In a move that seems counterintuitive to traditional distribution the amount of beer will be kept purposefully small and will make the effort to sell out within thirty days of delivery.

That is a market that could work if kept small and tightly controlled. Might even be a template for what future distribution can be.

You can read more about the new distributor at The New School. I hope to hear how our beers are received up north.

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McMenaCan’s

With the addition of their bottle shop on 23rd in NW Portland, came crowlers for McMenamin’s beers which was a big jump for a chain where most people filled the beer into mason jars. (including me on a couple of occasions). Now the crowlers have begat Ruby Ale and Hammerhead into 160z cans.
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I doubt that the line-up of cans will grow exponentially past 2 or 4 at tops but now you have a few more options if you have a family member in California who is addicted to Ruby Ale and just can’t believe it isn’t available everywhere.

Both will be available to go at all of McMenamins’ 54 locations across Oregon and Washington as singles ($2.75 each) or in 4-packs ($10).

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N10

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Anniversary beers tend to be big and the cumulative vision of the previous years. Ninkasi certainly follows that blueprint with the release N10, a “commemorative Imperial Blended Ale”.

N10 is crafted of 50% Imperial Stout, 10% Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout, 12.5% Imperial Total Domination IPA, 12.5% Imperial Maiden the Shade IPA, and 15% Critical Hit Barleywine.

But then again, having two IPA’s in the mix isn’t the usual template and since IPA is 25% of the mix, this may be a rare beer that you don’t cellar that long.

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Featured Review – Imperial Pelican from Pelican Brewing

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This is no IPA, style wise. Although acronym wise it is. The Imperial Pelican Ale from the Pelican Brewery on the coast of Oregon pours a dark orange color. Has some serious strength behind it. The 2015 bottling celebrates the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The gold/black label showcases 50 plants and animals (+ a QR Code) that can be found in the Ridgefield, Washington refuge on the banks of the mighty Columbia River. Since this beer was initially released in 2015 the caramel aroma and Barley wine characteristics make sense though even at the advanced age it still holds quite a bit of dank bitterness.

If I had been smart, I would have gotten a newer bottling to compare/contrast.
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Ordnance

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More math here. Sorry in advance. Where I currently live, Glendale, CA. has around 191K in population and growing if all the condos on Central Ave. ever fill up and we technically have one brewery in Brewyard. Eagle Rock is in LA as is the ABInBev plant in the blue building on San Fernando.

The city of Boardman in the Eastern-ish part of Oregon has under 3,500 people and also has one brewery. You tell me how that works.

Ordnance Brewing gets its name from the massive war buildup that created whole communities. Communities that are now decaying ghost towns since the weapons (ie ordnance) manufacturing left. And they already have a lengthy list of beers brewed, starting with their regulars:

Old Craig
An old style ale brewed with the addition of brown sugar which gives it a nice candy-like flavor, as well as the ability to warm your belly. A light hop character combines well with natural fruity notes to make this beer a special treat.

FMJ
Western Europe meets West Coast in the quaffable Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) IPA. A fusion of new world hops are held up with a malty backbone reminiscent of a maltier English Style pale. This is a beer of the highest caliber.

Kolsch
An ale in lager clothing, this is our take on an old German style. Of course we revamped the droll style with a little northwestern malt backbone. If you’re looking for an easy drinking anytime beer, this one goes down smooth.

Rye Extra Pale Ale
Pouring a light straw color, this ale gets its spicy flavor from a healthy dose of rye malt. The rye spice combines nicely with a Citra and Mosaic nose to bring you a beer that is just what the doctor ordered.

Other seasonals and specials that caught my eye include:

Batch 100 – Cherryfisk Cherry Imperial Stout
LIMITED RELEASE!!! To mix things up around the brewery we decided to take 160# of sweet dark cherries and infuse them in to our favorite dark beer. This gave our imperial stout a lovely cherry nose and a sweet but smooth flavor that evolves into a light roasty cherry aftertaste.

Cherry Snapper Barrel-Aged Sour Ale
LIMITED RELEASE!!! We brewed this amber ale in April 2015 and then hid it away in red wine barrels with a healthy supply of dark, sweet cherries and brettanomyces. We pulled the beer out of barrels the last day of November to find a pleasant brett tartness co-mingling with cherries and oak.

Little House Brown English Brown Ale
A malt dominant session beer that is reminiscent of an English mild. Lighter on the hop and alcohol spectrum, but still has a malty presence on your pallet. Go ahead, have another, I know I am.

Of Chimpanzees Coffee Porter
This porter showcases locally roasted coffee from Home Town Coffee Roasters. The beer was specifically brewed to accentuate the darker roasted flavors of coffee. True story- Of Chimpanzee was named from a quote from our brewer’s childhood. Every morning before school Logan’s mom would replace “breakfast of Champions” with “breakfast of Chimpanzees” a tribute to growing up and those early childhood memories in our own family kitchen.

Pallas Pilsner
Best Heidelberg Malt and Glacier hops team up to bring you this Single Malt And Single Hop (S.M.A.S.H) classic American pilsner. It starts with a surprisingly full-bodied malt flavor that leads in a refreshingly crisp finish.

(Thanks to Nathan for the heads-up about this and many other breweries in Eastern Oregon)

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NW Cidery # 2 – Portland Cider Co.

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During my last Portland visit, I was finally able to sneak in some time at a cider tap room. In this case the satellite for Portland Cider Co. on Hawthorne. They lead with their own ciders including ciders with fresh hops (First Crop), cider with a Hawaiian twist (Maui Cruiser) and a cider aged in used gin barrels (London Dry). They also have ciders from other producers on tap as well so you can easily compare and contrast styles and apples.

I suggest going for the weirder ones but you could also start with their mainline offerings:

Kinda Dry
“Traditional English cider is dry, lightly carbonated, has very subtle apple flavors, and a lingering fresh finish. It is in the spirit of this traditional cider that we blend our Kinda Dry. We use fresh pressed juice from a blend of NW grown culinary apples such as Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Gala, Golden and Red Delicious, carefully ferment them with a yeast that preserves their subtle characteristics, give the cider time to develop to its full potential, then bottle or keg at just the right time. Just off dry, light, clean, refreshing, with a pleasant finish, Kinda Dry is the cider to always have on hand.”

Sorta Sweet
“If we had to describe this cider in a word it would be YUM! Blended with similar varieties of apples as our Kinda Dry, Sorta Sweet will hit you with apple flavor right from the start. Balancing the higher levels of residual sugars with just the right amount of tartness gives Sorta Sweet a fresh flavor that tastes like biting into your favorite apple. A nice long finish follows that makes sipping a pint something not to be rushed. We ferment it with the same care and give it the same attention to detail as our other ciders. Also lightly carbonated, pair a glass of Sorta Sweet with your favorite curry or any spicy dish and you cannot go wrong.”

Pearfect Perry
“Made from nothing but a blend of Bartlett and D’Anjou pear juice. This light perry is medium sweet and bursting with pear notes. Like all our ciders it is balanced and refreshing. Available on draft and in 22oz bottles, ask for it at your favorite growler station or pub.”

Hop’rageous
“Take a balanced dry cider, infuse it with the fragrant Citra variety of hops, then double down on the citrus notes of those hops by throwing in some bitter orange peel, and the result is an outrageously refreshing hopped cider that can only be described as Hop’rageous! With equal notes of bitter hop and tangy citrus, this unexpected combination pairs well with anything coming off the grill.”

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Do Not Be Deceived

Between Portland and McMinville lies a few wineries. Probably enough to last even the most ardent wine drinker for months. One small town en route, Dundee, is filled to the brim in its few short blocks. But this drive, I noticed that a brewery had sprouted up roadside as well.

Going by the name of Deception Brewing, it is a cozy little spot with parking out back. Two TV’s dominate the room which is plain and simple with a windowed view to one of the brewing tanks.
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The tap list had a few winter warmer stragglers since it was still wintry outside. I always have to remember the weather dictates what gets brewed and seeing a spiced holiday ale in LA in February would cause concern but shouldn’t in the wilds of western Oregon.

I went straight to a taster tray to see how the beers fared. The Apricot Wheat was quite pleasant. Both the grain and fruit were equal partners and it had a nice little fizz to it. I also enjoyed the Red Hills Pale, it too had a lovely balance and bitter zing to it. The Menage a Hop felt a bit muddy to me. One of those blends of hops where nothing really shines and all it is about is IBU’s. I also had their 80 Shilling Scottish Ale which was well done too.
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The other standout was the Rose Hip Saison which was another tag-team that worked as the Belgian influence didn’t overwhelm the rose hips and vice versa.

Not all out-of-the-blue stops work as well as this little brewery. I felt lucky that this one surpassed my unknown expectations.

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Both R&D

LA has been getting a nice steady stream of Ninkasi beers (still have to try Hop Cooler) and now two more rare beers might be on the way from the R&D (Rare & Delicious) series…
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# 1 – “Velocihoptor Double IPA is the first Rare & Delicious Series beer to be released. Created by Ninkasi brewer Jacob Schisel, the recipe for Velocihoptor was developed as a tribute to a dear hop-loving friend. Brewed with Meridian, Centennial, Simcoe, Columbus, Bravo, and Sterling hops, this beer has a larger-than-life hop profile. Resinous and citrusy, Velocihoptor captures the most loved characteristics of the Double IPA style.”

# 2 – “Next in line is a Tart & Soul Blackberry Sour releasing to shelves and draft late March. For the past three months, members of Ninkasi’s brewing team have tinkered with a variety of fruit sours and landed on a blend of blackberry and marionberry for this springtime release. Paired with a dry tartness imparted by the lactobacillus souring process, the subtle blackberry sweetness shines through, creating a sour beer that is both bright and tart.”

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Crux in L.A.

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I would have thought that, by now, if a Bend, Oregon brewery was appearing on shelves here in Los Angeles, that it would be 10 Barrel. What with their mad money from St. Louis via Belgium and Brazil.

But no, it is Crux Fermentation with their beautiful designed labels and intriguing Belgian/American beers that has shown up first. There are a few breweries in Oregon that I feel that I NEED to visit but are located in a part of the state that takes some traveling to get to. Ale Apothecary, Terminal Gravity and first on the list is Crux, so this distribution news makes me very happy indeed.

(I found a couple choices at Select Beer in Redondo Beach but bottles can be had at finer shoppes like Sunset Beer and Southland Beer too.)

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Portland Brewery # 3 – Culmination Brewing

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For aspiring Portland breweries, the wait time isn’t usually all that long but in the case of Culmination Brewing it was a much longer (2 year) period before opening, which they finally did this year.

But the wait will be worth it, especially for those who love live music because that is a focus of this brewery with a dedicated space for their Concert in the Brewery Series.
Before I get to my picks for my initial taster tray, Culmination also has guest taps as well and have done many collaborations while in process of building their own space so you will probably find something to taste, if not more than one.

Reynard Belgium Style IPA – “Our Belgium Style IPA (made in collaboration with Brannon’s Brewery) is a hop-forward ale brewed with a Belgium yeast strain offering additional levels of complexities and a citrus nuance that plays well with the northwest hops.”

4 & 20 Imperial Black IPA – “Our signature 4 & 20 Imperial Black IPA (made in collaboration with Lucky Labrador) represents the smooth complexities of our upcoming line of fine beers. The name, 4 & 20, derives from our infusion of four hops and twenty plato.”

To round out my tasters I would add the Brett IPA, Saison II and their Black Saison.