Author Archives: Brian Yaeger

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About Brian Yaeger

Author of beer books "Red, White, & Brew" & "Oregon Breweries" and, soon, "American Doughnut."

Class of 2013: Ecliptic

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BeerAdvcoate, the online forum turned magazine, doesn’t republish the print zine’s content online, but if you have #84, there’s a story on some of the best of the Class of 2013 for which I contributed the following blurb on Ecliptic (Portland) and De Garde (Tillamook):

Ecliptic Brewing

825 N. Cook St., Portland, OR 97227; EclipticBrewing.com

Oregon brewing legend John Harris got his professional start at McMenamins, the first brewpub in Oregon, in 1985. Then a brewpub in Bend opened called Deschutes, where Harris created Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale in 1988. Up next: Full Sail in Hood River where he became a co-owner. His stellar (or interstellar) new creation is Ecliptic, a 15-barrel brewpub named for our astral and perhaps his occupational journey around the sun. “No other brewery’s name is based on astronomy,” said amateur astronomer Harris, who didn’t stop there. “We will be naming beers after stars, nebula, galaxies, and other astronomical themes.” Arcturus is an orange giant some 36.7 light years away but it’s also Ecliptic’s first IPA exploding like a supernova of C-hops (Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, and Columbus). It’s a given that the celestial sphere and earthly beer are both heavenly, but for this veteran brewmaster, they hold much in common. “Creating a new beer is a cosmic thing, really” said Harris. “(You’re) combining ingredients and bringing it to life.”

 De Garde Brewing

1909 2nd St., Tillamook, OR 97141; twitter.com/DeGardeBrewing

Brewer Trevor Rogers is keenly aware that the fan base for his beers is primarily Portland beer geeks, not locals in coastal Tillamook…yet. De Garde is making waves with their Belgianesque beers starting with the infinitely sessionable Bu Weisse. (The name is both a nod to the Morrocan word for “my” and owner Linsey Hamacher’s cat, although Rogers successfully proposed to Hamacher at De Garde’s debut so Bu is their cat). It’s a 2.1% tart ale akin to a Berliner Weisse. From there, Rogers goes in every direction including Chanin Blanc Regards, a Double IPA with wild yeast, wine grapes, and finished in gin barrels. But while this wine-loving brewer makes ample use of fruit, ultimately Trevor said, “I just try to get out of the way of the yeast. I wanna let wild ale be wild.”

Beer Traveler: Regional Sandwiches

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When I took over AAB’s Beer Traveler column, themes and ideas were easy to think of. Ski resorts, rivers for rafting, beach cities. I admit, finding an idea and unifying theme with actual places that have decent beer cultures to match can get tricky. (Remember the dinosaurs one?) Fortuitously, I was inspired by a favorite hunt of mine: off-the-wall sandwiches found in one place only, or primarily, which is how I landed not just on regional sandwiches but pairing ones from Des Moines (IA), Indianapolis (IN), and Portland (ME), as well as other notable local beers with regional sandwiches.

Death Rides a Pale Horse Brewing

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In the span of traversing the state of Oregon researching veteran as well as rookie breweries, it stands to reason some soldiers will fall on the battlefield. But are they squeezed out of the marketplace or does their ticker simply stop…ticking? I found myself in Salem anyway, so I took the time to pop across the street from one that was still under construction to visit the not-young owner of one that was in the midst of selling off parts. Here’s that story for The New School on Pale Horse Brewing and the intriguing discussion about what leads a brewery to fail in the comments section.

Caldera Big Island Red Sea

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The Big Island Brewhaus, tucked into previously-existing Tako Taco Taqueria, has a lineup of beers that’s amazing, and I was surprised to discover a beer called Red Sea — brewed in collaboration with none other than Caldera Brewing from Ashland in Southern Oregon.

On top of a delectable imperial red ale — think hoppy IPA but with red-hued caramel malts for added body — chocolate, molasses, pink peppercorns and Himalayan pink salt were added for richness and spice. The end flavor is not unlike a sweet-and-savory molé

Rye Revolution

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For nearly 500 years, Germans mandated that beer be made from only water, hops, and barley. More recently, however, Northwest brewers began embracing virtues of rye. This segment of Portland Monthly’s feature, “Wallet Guide,” explored five rye-fueled brews that embrace the flavor-packed grain.

 

95% Asshole Free

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I don’t recall the specific conversation that inspired this post for The New school, but that’s probably the point–that it wasn’t one straw that broke this camel’s back.

It used to be said that the craft beer industry was “asshole free.” Then someone made that figure a bit more realistic and many now refer to it as “99% asshole free.” For years, that was entirely true. Now? I begrudgingly consider it 95% asshole free. That’s still amazingly better than you’re apt to find in any other industry, social scene, or grouping of any sort. Look at the people in the last classroom you were in. In the last office job you have/had. In your family, even. The fact is, whether you’re a brewer, a beertender, an avid beer fan, or in some way connected to the craft beer milieu, odds are you’re a pretty great guy or gal. I look forward to our next or first beer together. (Unless you think I fit into the 5% of jerkwads, in which case go eff yourself.)

For a long time, there was a sense that it was one-for-all and all-for-one among the band of brewers, at least all the little guys versus the few big guys. That’s changing. Not on the whole or in giant leaps, but I’ve noticed some disparaging comments here, or there some snide remarks pointed at a new or neighboring brewery. Obviously those utterances don’t make the utterer an asshole in any overall sense—there’s a big difference between being an asshole and just acting like one—but brewers are saying some assholish things about their colleagues.

Hillsboro Hops Beer: BridgePort Long Ball Ale

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When the new Short Season A baseball team announced it was coming to the Portland suburb of Hillsboro, there was a modicum of excitement. Who needs an MLB team when we’ve got MLS and even MLU teams? However, when the hardball team from Hillsboro announced they were going to be called  the Hops, well now, stand back. (Though confoundingly, the hop cone team mascot’s name is Barley…) Stepping up to the plate to sponsor the Hillsboro Hops and create an exclusive beer is Oregon’s longest running craft brewery, BridgePort. Long Ball Ale was brewed to honor beer’s MVP ingredient as well as the sports team named after it. The beer is a light-bodied, summery golden ale.

Flashback: 10 Barrel and Magic Mushroom in the Oregon Beer News

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I’m not re-posting every single story I did for Willy Week’s blog in the Oregon Beer News column, but this one, in hindsight, is something of a gem. It talks about a PDX Beer Week event, “Billed as “Meet the new faces of 10 Barrel Brewing,” Apex hosts Bend’s 10 Barrel and all five of its brewers: Jimmy Seifrit, Tonya Cornett, Shawn Kelso, Bobby Jackson and Ben Shirley.” Then goes on to mention that, “Mellow Mushroom, the pizzeria chain headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, “officially” opened in the Pearl last week, although it has actually been operating for eight months. The Portland franchise has 51 taps—mostly brewed in the PacNW.”

The retroactive irony is that 10 Barrel Brewing would go onto make big “OBN” when it sold to AB-InBev (Bud) and that its once-long-awaited-now-meh impending Portland outcrop is going into the now-vacated Mellow Mushroom!

http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-28715-oregon_beer_news_roll_out_the_10_barrels.html

KISS: Rock Icons Partner with Restaurant Chain

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The two new members of the Brian Yaeger Army.

When I posted this photo on my Facebook, the main people asked was, “WHAT?” What was a guy who writes about beer for a living doing hanging with with two of the most legendary figures in rock’n’roll, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley? It had nothing to do with one of my prior “careers,” writing about music. So here’s the answer. My inbox fills up with press releases, most of them only slightly tangentially connected to anything I’d ever write about. I know some of my beer writing colleagues and friends received the same release. But I responded.

My favorite beer-related quote in AAB (vol. 34, iss. 4, 2013) by Simmons, a notorious teetotaler?

“I like to be in control of myself,” he says from behind a pair of sunglasses (and black jacket and pants to match). “If I was high or drunk—and I’ve never been either—there’s no way that I’d be witty. I would not make any sense, and I may wind up throwing up on your shoes. [A buzz] doesn’t make my schmeckle bigger.”