The beauty of an India Session Ale? The brew retains the hop-powered IBUs (international bitterness units) of an IPA while you retain more of your wits with lower ABV. In time for summer in the May, 2013 issue of Portland Monthly, I delved into five ISAs for the “Wallet Guide.”
Edit: This story was awarded 2nd place in the “Brewspaper” category at the inaugural North American Guild of Beer Writers (NAGBW) awards in October 2013)
When Willy Week resurrected the Beer Guide, I was tasked with writing the oral history, as it were, of one of this city’s most seminal beer offerings: Widmer Brothers’ Hefeweizen. It has protagonists, controversy, some romance, and pretty much everything needed for a Hollywood blockbuster save for a rando choreographed fight or homecoming dance scene. Oh, this story also netted me a 2nd place finish in the inaugural award ceremony of the North American Guild of Beer Writers!
Image courtesy Widmer Bros.
One of the very first breweries in Portland was the eponymous Portland Brewing Co., founded in 1986. Based on the popularity of its MacTarnahan’s Amber Ale, released in 1992, the company name was changed to MacTarnahan’s Brewing Co. From there it gets even more confusing, with ownership tied to Pyramid Brewing, Vermont’s Magic Hat, and New York’s North American Breweries. But the brewery itself never left Portland, and its brand new name reflects that. In 2013, it’s back to Portland Brewing once more! While Mac’s Amber isn’t going anywhere, to commemorate all this old newness, Portland Brewing will be releasing new beers, starting with Rose Hip Gold.
The leaves were losing their fiery colors, replaced by brown in only slightly varying shades. Nights arrived an hour earlier, giving up a minute of sunshine with each passing day. But before we grabbed our saws to chop down our Christmas trees, we paused to give thanks. Oddly, no one’s cornered the Thanksgiving beer market. Well pilgrim, Coalition Brewing has just the thing.
Brewery co-founder Kiley Hoyt is a Vermont native, so it makes sense Coalition offers a porter brewed with maple syrup. Loving Cup Maple Porter is available year-round at the brewpub, but was being bottled as a seasonal offering for the first time. The British-style porter is on the dry side, offering desirable chocolatiness without being thick or sweet.
Enter the maple syrup.
A pungent ode to the most wonderful, lupulin time of the year: fresh hop beers. For this month’s Drink Portland review, that’s Laurelwood’s only-in-September version of Workhorse IPA, also available at the Fresh Hop Fest in Hood River.
AAB has a fun running feature, “Pull Up a Stool” where the reader gets to figuratively sit down at a bar with some awesome brewer or person in the beer industry and just chew the fat. The first one I wrote was on Breakside Brewing’s esteemed Ben Edmunds. He’s made beers using duck carcasses, whole pies, and, y’know, fresh hops. That’s what led to this quiet exchange:
So you maintain a classical approach without sticking to the classics?
I always like to point out that we make a lot of “normal” beers, too.
Back in mid 2012, Portland had just cracked the 50 breweries mark, so to commemorate the milestone, I blurbed the newest kids on the beer block for Portland Monthly. All these moons later, Stickmen, Base Camp, Ground Breaker (nee Harvester), Sasquatch, Humble and Pints are still brewing strong.
The first of my monthly local beer reviews for Drink Portland. Because it’s fun to get paid a little bit to sit down and reflect on the beer in hand. In the summer of 2012, that beer was BridgePort’s seasonal ode to another of Beervana’s nicknames, Stumptown Tart, which I tied into both OBFs (Oregon Brewers Fest AND Oregon Berry Fest. Oh yeah.)
Gluten Free is Big Business. That’s due partly because there are a lot of glutards and partly because some people just think being gluten free is, like, healthy and stuff. But for the folks who really are gluten intolerant, it’s serious stuff. When Widmer Bros. unveiled their gluten-free beer, Omission, it was both hailed and vilified by different camps within the GF community. (Author’s note: I like it. I’m not glutarded. It tastes like beer. My one friend who I know to be legitimately gluten-intolerant loves this stuff.) But here’s the rub:
According to the TTB, wine, beer or distilled spirits “made from ingredients that contain gluten (cannot) be labeled as ‘gluten-free.’” This could spell trouble for Widmer, which has invested significant time and money in a new gluten-free beer.
Being the investigative journalist that I am, I tracked down the TTB’s spokesman to quote on this matter. TTB’s Tom Hogue said that the FDA continues to look into issues surrounding gluten-free labeling and that the 20 ppm of gluten standard is “proposed but not final.” The TTB’s ruling affecting Omission’s gluten-free labeling only pertains to interstate commerce, so beer labeled gluten-free in Oregon could be just “handcrafted” in California, Washington, and everywhere else it will show up.
I don’t often get to write about mead. Maybe “get” isn’t the right word. We know beer. We know wine. We’re learning about cider. And if you don’t make one of these beverages at home, you can bet your home-roasted coffee beans your neighbor or friend does. But there’s so little awareness of mead. Our friends at Kookoolan Farms are busily, buzzily changing that. Besides, what a fun word. Koo koo lan.
Brian Yaeger: Beer Writer 