Portland Prepares to Crown its Best Brewer

Every year, StarChefs Culinary Magazine gives out awards celebrating Portland's rising star chefs. This year, they've decided to also include craft beverage makers. And wouldn't you know it, for the first time ever, there's a brewer category. Here are the nominees:

Alex Ganum of Upright Brewing
Alan Sprints of Hair of the Dog
Ben Love of Hopworks Urban Brewery
Bryan Keilty of Lompoc
Ron Gansberg of Cascade Brewery

The winner will be announced on December 5th at Portland's Nines Hotel. You can purchase tickets here for the award ceremony/tasting event.

Initial thoughts? My main issue is with the nomination of people vs. breweries. Why Gansberg when he's probably not brewing as much as others there, vs. Keilty who's doing an awful lot of brewing for the Lompoc organization but does not have the figurehead old-school status of a Fechter or Fleming? Why Love and not Ettinger, especially when Love is jumping ship? Alan Sprints has been cranking out some interesting new flavors, but they're mostly barrel variants on pre-existing beers. My money is on Gansberg, based solely on the variety of beers that Cascade has been cranking out (oh, and the Asimov thing). What do you think?

Harvester Officially Begins Brewing

By MLola

Harvester first came to the attention of the Portland beer community back in November 2009 when a private tasting was held showcasing the gluten-free beers. Almost two years later Harvester Brewing is about to open a commercial brewery. I recently visited with James Neumeister, one of the owners of Harvester, to find out what the process of opening a brewery has been like over the last two years from being a dream to becoming reality.

James Neumeister:  It has, of course, moved much slower than I would have liked, but in talking with other breweries it seems that our path is very typical.  I grew up in a family business so I am familiar with business ownership to some degree but I'm learning more every day. 

ML: Who is involved with Harvester Brewing and what are their roles?

JN: Harvester Brewing is really a two-man operation with a few supporters.  I work at the brewery with John Dugan and we like to say we assist each other in everything.  We also get a lot of support and help from our friends and families.

ML: What will the beer line up of Harvester Brewing consist of?

JN: We hope to ramp up to 3 styles quickly.  We will start with a Pale closely followed by an Amber and our Dark.

ML: Tell us about the brewing system and location of Harvester Brewing. Will there be a tasting room, etc.? 

JN: We are located just off 7th on SE Lincoln, near several breweries and distilleries and all kinds of manufacturing.  The neighborhood is great, we love being surrounded by so much industry. We do not have any plans for a tasting room.  We have talked to other dedicated gluten-free businesses in the area about holding tasting events at their location once we are up and running.

ML: Harvester Brewing is planning on only bottling the beer it brews. What made Harvester take this route on getting its beer to the market? 

JN: There are many reasons.  Our product is for people who have sensitivities to certain foods and in many cases these sensitivities are severe, by bottling our product we are far more protected from contamination that could occur between our facility and the customers glass.  By being in bottles we can ask a retailer to carry our product without asking them to commit to a large volume (like in a keg).  We can be available in grocery stores. Another advantage is the portability a bottle offers.

ML: Where should folks plan to look for your beer?

JN: When our beer is released it will be available at Belmont Station right away. We are talking with several other locations around Portland so that very quickly it will be a short trip to find our beer anywhere in the city.

ML: With Portland having a boom of breweries opening the last two years. How do you see this affecting Harvester and their place in craft beer in Portland? 

JN: I think it is great for everybody.  I believe that more people are embracing craft beer at the same time that more people are discovering their intolerance for gluten and I would like to see all of these people enjoying delicious craft beer together.

ML: Closing statement? 

JN: John and I have backgrounds in product development, design, and engineering (thankfully John actually is an engineer) and we plan to continue developing better gluten-free beers.  The fact that we haven't tried brewing with hundreds of possible ingredients yet is very exciting for both of us.  We encourage our customers to give us feedback and suggestions, let us know what you would like your gluten-free beer to be and we will work hard to make it for you.


Upon stopping in on Harvester on Monday, November 21, 2011 the guys were brewing their first batch of beer. This is a test batch so to find out when their beers will be ready for market visit the web site at http://www.harvesterbrewing.com/home

Are You Kidding Me? Vol. 39

The price for this beer never ceases to amaze me:

Rainier Kriek Sour Ale ~ Double Mountain, Hood River, OR
This sour is made with Rainier cherries giving it a tart and fruity taste that finishes light and dry. Lemony aroma and taste mingle with pronounced sourness that hides the high alcohol content; Very enjoyable.
9% ABV Sold by the Glass Only–$11.50

from the Horse Brass website

Lompoc Holiday Beers for 2011

Every year Lompoc tries to outdo themselves by releasing one more holiday beer than they did in the previous year. In 2011, with the inclusion of 8 Malty Nights, they'll be up to 10 beers. Portland Beer and Music was lucky enough to sample these 10 ales, and they landed all over the quality spectrum. I encourage you to hit up Lompoc and make your own decisions when they make these available to the general public. Here are some opinions:



Blitzen: This was described as a spiced golden ale. It possessed an intense cinnamon aroma and aftertaste which lived somewhere between mouthwash and big red. I like my spices bold, but beer needs body or balance to backup heavyhandedness of that nature. D

Cherry Christmas: This is a blend of various barrel-aged (Port, Merlot) beers of varying styles and colors, with the inclusion of cherries. This beer subscribes to the classic lambic blending ideas; 4 year old beer was blended with younger beers to create a friendly flavor. The beer has potential and needs time. The cherries are very bright (good) but the dominance of old wood and lactic acid begs for some zesty brett notes or a more distinct carbonation. C+ with A- potential

Brewdolph: This is a beefy belgian red with Ardennes yeast. If you like the spicy, black pepper notes that the particular yeast brings, you will enjoy this beer. It's definitely the first one here that feels wintery. Well made and solid with a nice boozy kicker. B

Holiday Cheer: I like the idea of a vanilla porter, but they're always too extracty. This beer is not, however, they said they're going to leave it sitting on the beans a little while longer. Portland Beer and Music says: DON'T. This beer is a B+ and will only go down with more vanilla.

Jolly Bock: Way too sweet for a bock. Would be difficult to get through a pint of this. D+

C-Sons Greetings: This beer is always good. 2011 is no exception. Bright and green with grassy notes, drinkable yet warming. Finishes slightly fruity with an apricot tinge. Darker than usual for an IPA, but that's winter for ya. It's definitely an Oregon DIPA, if that means anything to you. A

Bourbon C-Sons: Nice try but the barrels are too old. Like the Cherry Christmas, you're getting a lot of old, acrid wood. The desirable bourbon flavor is flat in this beer, and the hops are subdued by the barrel. What you end up with isn't terrible, but it's a muted mess of two great elements. C-



Old Tavern Rat: This beer just keeps getting better. The depth of burnt sugar, cherry, and raisin flavors that Lompoc achieves with this beer are extraordinary. Fresh it's good, and aged it's great. This is the ultimate winter beverage; it's sippable and warming, rich and festive. Drink this all winter. A

Bourbon Old Tavern Rat: I prefer the regular rat, but this beer brought the bourbon, unlike the C-Sons. There will be no complaints on the incorporation of the charred spirit in this hefty brew. Reminds me of the Bourbon Ace of Spades in the way that the barrel overwhelmed the nuances of the beer. Still enjoyable, practically no criticisms here. A-

8 Malty Nights: It's fine, but wasn't ready. Probably not appropriate to review. Seems like it will be good. Future B?

Did we make you thirsty? Hit Sidebar on 11/29 for the first 9, and then 8 Malty Nights will be released on 12/14 (they'll also have a keg of Shmaltz Jewbilation for your pre-Hanukkah imbibing).

Hair of the Dog Clusterf**k from the Wood 2011

After three days of reflection, can we finally ask the question, "What the hell happened?"



I wasn't there. I got the vibe a couple weeks prior that there would be 'issues' and 'frustration,' so I opted for the Hellshire II release in Eugene. When I returned to Portland, it was nothing but sour grapes, complaints, and 90+ reply strong threads on those beer websites. After reading through the commentary and speaking to some Portland beer geeks, I understand the Hair of the Dog Dock Sale went something like this:

People lined up early. Some came from out of state.
The beer was sold at 9am with 1 case limit on Adam FTW, no limit on Bourbon Fred.
The line was split into cash & credit.
The credit line moved faster.
There were line cutters.
There were many proxies.
Many people did not get beer.

Sounds pretty run-of-the-mill to me for most of these release things. Let's go to the website and figure out why people were upset:

"Pretty lame overall. Showed up at 7:30 didn't land a single bottle of Adam From the Wood either. Would have been great if someone from HOTD had mentioned it to the people standing outside as well because we had no idea they had run out. Do breweries ever lower the bottle limit as they notice they're running out? There were still over 100 people in line when I left." -BeerlyAwake on BeerAdvocate

Your problem: Didn't get up early enough

"I don't understand why there wasn't a 6 bottle limit. With less than 70 cases and 200+ people, a lot of people walked out without [Adam from the Wood]. Plus it would have been nice if tickets or some numbering system was used. The line ballooned in size ahead of us during the two hours we waited." -oregonskibum on BeerAdvocate

Answer: Because there was a 1 case limit. Again, get up earlier next time.

"What did everyone expect out of this? [Cherry Adam from the Wood] is very limited and sells out every year in less than an hour...a YEARLY limited release. [Adam from the Wood] takes years to craft and it's not like HOTD has the barrel capacity of [Firestone Walker], The Bruery, etc. Alan has limited capacity for this with all the barreled beers he makes. If you wanted the beer then you should've got there at 5 to make sure noone was ahead of you. Everyone must magically be "entitled" to tell Alan how he allocates his beer. I understand the cash vs credit problem as that sounds a little weird...hopefully he won't do that again." -waltersrj on BeerAdvocate

Portland Beer and Music APPROVED! Nice move, Walt.

I'm still trying to figure out what the issue was. I understand people are upset, but the setup was laid out way before the sale and there should have been enough foresight on the part of a knowledgeable beer geek to get up at the asscrack of dawn to ensure bottle procurement. There is one X-Factor though, something mentioned below:

"Line jumping" -bolts13 on BeerAdvocate

If this was indeed true, where was the mob justice? If someone got either in front of or behind me who didn't belong, I wouldn't have hesitated to make a stink. In hindsight, I'm sure many of the passive cutees who didn't get bottles and didn't say anything to the offenders would have retroactively opted for physical violence against these subhuman beer predators.

Can we blame Alan? Of course not. The dude wants money and as little hassle as possible. Did you see the video he made for Entrepreneur Magazine? Doesn't exactly leave you thinking that this is a man of the people. And why should he be? He's a business owner with a family to feed. For Alan, every bottle of Adam from the Wood is fifteen little dollar signs fleeing from your wallet in to his.

I will leave you with a quote directly from Alan, from a John Foyston Oregonian interview from 2008:

"Usually, the people who get in line earliest buy up all the rare stuff"

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Caption Contest Winners

We showed you these crazy illustrations from the terrible new Ommegang beer labels and asked you to come up with some fun captions to go along with them. Here are the winning entries! Each winner will be receiving a signed copy of "The Best of The New School", a set of silicone pint glasses, and a patent-pending Bailey's brand digital tap list for their home kegerators.


"Introducing the James Bond and Charlie's Angels Collaboration Ale, Sexy Spy Stout!" -John Brisson (Tacoma, WA)


"I know we had too much to drink at the Hood River Fresh Hop festival, but there must be a better way to get home" -Matt Westfall (Hillsboro, OR)


"Looks like the Cantillon guy finally came out of the closet!" -Jon Stack (Portland, OR)

What was Ommegang thinking with these new labels? As a friend of mine noted, the old labels were classy, iconic standouts. As a resident of the home of Three Philosophers, I'm particularly irritated by the first label. I often explored Ommegang's offerings back east as affordable, complex, and esoteric learning materials in my early quest for beer knowledge. Perhaps part of it is a mourning of the old guard and part is a disdain for the need to make everything extreme and exciting to the eye. Have you ever seen a bottle of Westvleteren 12? No fanciful nonsense required.

Feel free to add any additional captions or thoughts down below.