Hair of the Dog's Place in History

Alan Sprints (L) with Bill Night and John Foyston at FredFest

Nearly every year now there's an important anniversary.  Deschutes is concluding their 25th and BridgePort is gearing up for their 30th, with Widmer Brothers to follow.  These are all great opportunities to think about a brewery's past, and I enjoy seeing old photos of young and rakish mustachioed brewers standing around old warehouses full of salvaged dairy equipment.  This Saturday Alan Sprints will host a bash at his newish digs in the Fruit District to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hair of the Dog.  But in this case, we may think less about the brewery's own history than its place in history.  In many ways, Hair of the Dog was the first modern brewery, a 2013 brewery back in 1993 and an emanation of the future to come.

You have to shake yourself out of your 2013 mindset and go back to a different time.  Kurt Cobain had less than six months left to live; Bill Clinton was in the first year of his presidency and none of us knew the name Monica Lewinsky.  Frazier was just debuting on TV and Sleepless in Seattle was a big hit on the big screen (Seattle was having its Portlandia moment).  In the beer world, things were very different.  Although craft brewing already had 15 years under its belt, the beer landscape was still in its beta stage, one it would soon leave permanently behind.  In the mid-1990s, there were almost no IPAs on the market (even as late as 1997, only about 4% of the beers were IPAs).  If you pull out old guidebooks to the craft breweries of the day, the overwhelming majority had the same slate of English-derived styles--pale, amber/red, porter, stout--plus a few wheats and goldens for good measure.  (On the East Coast, a few breweries specialized in lagers, but these were the anomalies.) There wasn't a lot of diversity yet, and an extreme beer was a 7% winter warmer.

Alan Sprints and his then-partner Doug Henderson opened the doors to what was then an unprecedented business model based on obscure, strong styles of beer.  They began with Adam, inspired by a long-extinct style from Dortmund, Germany.  Whether or not it is much like the old adambiers (it's probably not--those were brett-soured--but it's closer than Alan is generally given credit for), it was, for 1994, almost inconceivable to most beer drinkers.  Barley wines existed then, so 10% beers were not unheard of, but this was unlike anything we'd encountered--smoky and dark, more tawny port than beer.  It was followed by Golden Rose, a Belgian strong ale in a time when no one knew anything about Belgium.  And these two were followed by Fred, of course, another titan and a direct precursor to the super hop imperial IPAs that people would only begin to make a decade later.

Source: Hair of the Dog

This unorthodox approach is now common now, even typical.  You can build a brewery on niche products.  In 1993-94, it was a whole lot harder.  There was a loyal (if small) cadre of homebrewers who loved what Alan was doing, but the market was focused on beers like Widmer Hefeweizen.  A weird, smoky strong ale was well outside people's expectations.  Distributors didn't understand it and didn't work hard to sell it to the retailers who also didn't understand it--and besides, you couldn't keep wheat and fruit beers on the shelves.  It didn't help that these were bottle-conditioned products offered to a town that at that time was all about draft beer.

It is often the fate of the pioneer to struggle to lay the trail for others to follow to greater success.  Other breweries have built empires, but they are in many ways following the mold Sprints and Henderson created two decades ago.  Almost immediately, Hair of the Dog started barrel-aging, acquiring a couple bourbon barrels in 1994.  Although I think it was always off the books, freeze-distilled Dave was a secret legend among friends of the brewery who would sometimes be offered a nip of the 20-something percent beer.  The most important landmark was Fred, which was a watershed beer in American brewing.  Released in 1997, it sounds like a typical 2013 beer: another 10% giant made with rye malts and ten varieties of hops.  Even though Hair of the Dog wasn't selling a lot of beer, it was getting quite a bit of press, and Fred was one of the most discussed beer at its release--not just in Oregon but nationwide. 

There is tons of debate on the point, but I think Hair of the Dog was the brewery that convinced America to go big.  Alan's beers were so unorthodox, so different from anything else happening in the US that they recalibrated expectations--particularly among other brewers.  In 1995, Malt Advocate (now Whisky Advocate) named Adam its beer of the year, precipitating all kinds of interest in the activities happening in that old warehouse by the train tracks in Southeast Portland.  National newspapers and magazines began writing about it, Michael Jackson became an advocate, and it achieved a status something akin to a Dupont or Cantillon (tiny, hard to find, but superlative) among beer geeks.  Alan has never sold a lot of beer, but his influence has been unmistakable.  He's like the Velvet Underground of the brewing world--only 30,000 people tasted his beer in those early years, but they all went on to found their own breweries.  (With apologies to Brian Eno.)

Beyond its place in history, Hair of the Dog rightly gets credit for making some of the world's best beers.  I know a lot of Fred devotees, but my favorite is Adam.  It's a pretty astounding fact that this is Alan's first release.  If I were forced to draw up a list of the world's 20 best beers, I'd quickly add Adam.  The last two autumns, when I traveled to Europe to do research for the book, I packed away bottles to pass out when I arrived.  I chose them for some combination of excellence and American particularity, and again, Adams were among the first to get the nod.  Doggie Claws and Blue Dot are not far out of that top 20.

If you live in Portland and haven't been to the brewery recently, go have a glass of beer.  If you live outside of Portland, make sure to put Hair of the Dog on your itinerary if you manage to come see us.  It's now two decades old, but it's one of the most contemporary breweries in the country.  

Brewery News: Proef, Hair of the Dog, and Samuel Smith's

Fascinating developments. First, Yeager with the good news:

For the last five years, much-decorated Belgian brewmaster Dirk Naudts, who develops beer recipes for brewers throughout Holland and Belgium, brings an American brewer over to his village, Lochristi, to collaborate. The chance to work with Naudts at his Na De Proef Brouwerij is much sought.... This year the honor goes to a Portlander, Alan Sprints from Hair of the Dog.

Now to Daily Mail (hat tip BeerNews) for the bad:

A pub landlord and landlady face losing their jobs and their home after brewery bosses accused them of serving too much beer in their pints.

Pete and Debbie Gibson say they were forced to close the Junction Inn pub, on New Year's Eve, following a surprise visit by millionaire Humphrey Smith, owner of brewing firm Samuel Smith, who in front of shocked customers said he was shutting it.

The couple, who have run the pub, in Royton, near Oldham, Greater-Manchester for 12 years, have now been told they owe the company £10,733 in lost stock for topping up people's pints.

Of course, the extremely secretive brewery refused to comment. Having been a close follower and sometimes blogger of politics over the past decade, I have learned to identify coverup spin when I hear it, and there are a few things in this story that just don't add up.

First, while Samuel Smith's has a reputation of treating tenants and employees poorly, they are extremely solicitous to punters. They proudly serve their pints at rock-bottom prices--like, 1970s prices. It seems odd that they'd slam a pub for topping up; that is, after all, a nice service to the punters.

Second, Humphrey Smith is so reclusive I didn't even know his name. During my visit, the brewery would only mention "the family" (la cosa nostra resonances abounding). So why does he show up, on New Year's no less, to shut down the brewery himself? This looks like a case of using the proverbial tank to kill a fly.

My guess--and perhaps the lads across the sea can comment--is that the Gibsons committed some other crime, one so severe it warranted not only sacking, but a public hanging (in the commercial sense) as well. Of course, we'll never know.

I should also add that this is all pure speculation and in the absence of real data, we have to take the case at face value. Maybe the Gibsons had regularly flouted instructions not to top-off the pints (an obscure dictate, but not inconceivable) and the sacking was richly deserved. Another caveat: I have written about the old Victorian brewery and the beer it turns out, which I admire enormously, but that doesn't mean it is exempt from public scrutiny.

Early Look At Hair of the Dog's New Tasting Room

Hair of the Dog Tasting Room
61 SE Yamhill | Map
503-232-6585
Wed - Sun, 2pm-8pm (check here for updates)

Hair of the Dog's move into new digs along Water Avenue (technically 61 SE Yamhill) is officially complete. I stopped in on Monday to have a beer and a gander, and below are some of the photos I took. Those of you who don't live in Portland, take note: Hair of the Dog should be a top-three attraction on your beer itinerary when visiting. The new space is great, but the imperative is beer, not ambiance. You just won't find this kind and quality of beer anywhere in the city--or the state, or the country, for that matter.

At the moment, there's no kitchen, so I'll wait to do a full review. What there is is good beer and lots of it. All draft pours come in 12-ounce goblets and are a relative value at $4.50 (keep in mind that none of the beers is below 6% and most are 10% and above). A pour of Cherry Adam (13.5%) is six bucks--still an amazing value. Alan has also laid in a stock of vintage bottles, and these ain't cheap. I spent $12 on Michael, Hair of the Dog's Flanders Red, an homage to the late Michael Jackson. You won't be buying a lot of these, but think of them like the rare ports or Scotches that easily go for double digits in bars and restaurants. I was actually happy to be able to finally taste Michael at any price.

Okay, to the photos.

The space is large and and well-lit, an old warehouse with soaring ceilings. Two banks of south- and west-facing windows will draw on all available light to keep the space cheery in the long, gray months. Two sky lights add yet more light. Those fir tables you see were made from beams reclaimed during the remodel.



When we visited, Greg, Fred, Adam, Blue Dot, Doggie Claws, and Cherry Adam were all on tap.



The pub looks out toward downtown Portland; the Morrison Bridge is a block north--or to the right as you look westward.



Follow the bar to this photo's background and you see the kitchen area. Food should be available in a couple weeks.



That's the Morrison Bridge you see in the upper left-hand corner.



Alan described Michael this way: "I have been brewing this beer once a year since 2007; it is made with organic pilsner, Munich and Vienna malts. It is around 6% abv and fermented with the Wyeast Roselare blend. This bottling is a blend of American oak and sherry-cask aged beer from the 2007 brewing. It will be released every year in November. Next year's bottling will be mostly French oak-aged. I hope people compare it with Rodenbach; it is still to early to tell."

The brettanomyces are really expressing themselves in the beer now. It's very dry, and has that characteristic citrus rind sour-bitter. I'd like to try it next to a bottle of Rodenbach, particularly one of the same vintage (Michael is made with the Rodenbach yeast). I don't recall the brett being this assertive--Rodenbach of my memory was sharply lactic--but this may be a function of age. Oh, that's Greg, by the way, trying to crowd into the picture with Michael.

Alan's Big Move

In a stealth campaign, Alan Sprints has noted that Hair of the Dog is on the move.

Hair of the Dog Brewing company is moving. I will be open this May and will have a tasting room with a small food menu and regular hours. The new space is very close to downtown Portland and will provide Beer lovers with a chance to taste Beers still in the experimental stage. For regular updates, check out the Hair of the Dog Brewing facebook page.

Based on activity on the Facebook page, everyone but me knew about this. There's even a video!



Other interesting facts. FredFest, a May event, is slated for the new place. Also, no Earth Day sale this year. Hat tip to the indispensable Beer News.


Update: Wily Elijah has identified the location of location of the new place: 61 SE Yamhill. Below is a screencap from Google Maps.


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One More

Okay, this is something else. Seattle's Brouwer's Cafe had a groovy barrel-aged festival called "Big Wood," wherein all the beers had been aged in wood. (Hey, what did you think?) It was a pretty incredible list, including six from Cantillon, Allagash, Firestone Walker, plus lots from the locals (list here). They hold an audience award, and the winners were announced today. Behold:

1. Hair of the Dog, Bourbon Fred from the Wood

2. (Tie) Hair of the Dog Matt & Port Brewing Older Viscosity

3. Hair of the Dog Bob

This, incidentally, is Bob:

This Beer is named in memory of Robert Farrell Jr. November 1946 - July 2008, gone but not forgotten. It was aged for over three years in an old American oak barrel, originally use for Fred from the Wood. He has matured with Apricots, Cherries and Raspberries for 15 months.

Nice job, Mr. Sprints!

Hair of the Dog Michael

A post by Angelo over at Brewpublic reminded me of an important release: Hair of the Dog's Michael. Here's Angelo's backgrounder:

Hair of the Dog brewer and founder Alan Sprints has concocted a special barrel-aged and bottle conditioned Flemish Red Ale simply named “Michael” to pay tribute to the man who Sprints calls “the most influential beer writer and critic who ever lived.” We must admit, those are hard words with which to argue.

I saw the announcement for Michael on Alan's Facebook page, and so I asked him about it.

"I have been brewing this beer once a year since 2007; it is made with organic pilsner, Munich and Vienna malts. It is around 6% abv and fermented with the Wyeast Roselare blend. This bottling is a blend of American oak and sherry-cask aged beer from the 2007 brewing. It will be released every year in November. Next year's bottling will be mostly French oak-aged. I hope people compare it with Rodenbach; it is still to early to tell."

Rodenbach is one of the finest beers on the planet, and if it does compare well, I will be beside myself. This new wave of Flemish reds and browns makes me a happy man. Love me them hops, but still, a little sour here and there is required for balance. (Random question: how long do you think Alan spent thinking about whether it would be appropriate to call it "Mike?")


Hair of the Dog Dock Sale
Saturday, Nov 14, 10 am
Hair of the Dog Brewery | Directions

You can get Michael this Saturday at Hair of the Dog's annual dock sale. Also available: Cherry Adam from the Wood, Fred from the Wood, Doggie Claws, Matt (bourbon and apple brandy barrel-aged sour).

Hair of the Dog Adam

This blog has its downsides. One of the biggest is that I feel duty-bound to try new beers, which, since I don't actually drink a lot of beer, means I don't drink old beers as often as I'd like. However, prompted by my post on the forthcoming cherry Adam, I decided to eschew Raven Mad, Full Sail's new doppel, and the new batch of winter seasonals and instead grabbed an Adam. It's been a year or more since my last; far too long.

Adam is HotD's first beer. When it came off the line in August, 1994, they made their first buck by selling it to Fred Eckhardt. It was inspired by a now-defunct beer style of Dortmund that Eckhardt had spoken about. What the brewery produced is an impressionistic rendering of the style (adambier), but it's pure Hair of the Dog: very strong, hoppy, and richly-layered.

Hops are used to offset malt sweetness, but in Adam's case, a pronounced smokiness in the nose and palate aid the cause. Sally commented on the hop intensity, but I found it more serene--a burnishing of the plummy malt. I don't recall the smoke being this strong. In my memory, it's more plums and chocolate with just an undercurrent of smoke. HotD now uses all-organic malt, and this may be part of the explanation. The nature of the beer is unchanged, but the emphasis has shifted.

I have only recently put a few of these in the cellar, and I regret I didn't do it years ago. This is a beer with nearly infinite aging capacity. It's only getting more expensive, so maybe I'll go buy a few more bottles for future enjoyment.

Update. Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention. When you brew espresso, it produces a skiff of foam known as "crema" (or should, if it's brewed properly). It is a very dense foam, and beguiling to the eye of this caffeine addict. As I got further and further down my glass of Adam, I noticed that a dense foam clung to it, too, looking very much like the crema of brewed espresso. Remarkable durability, given the strength of the beer.

Actual Hair of the Dog News

Via Brewpublic, we're reminded that this is on the horizon:

The 15th Anniversary Sale will feature the release of a new batch of Fred from the Wood, 2008 Doggie Claws and a small amount of Cherry Adam from the Wood. Come join me and my family to celebrate another year. I will have shirts, hats, and some vintage Beers available as well.

There's not a lot of mystery about that last one--though this is the first I've heard of it. For my money, Adam is both the best of the HotD beers, and also the most overlooked. For all of Fred's strength (you could make the argument that it launched Oregon down the big-beer road) and Blue Dot's hoppy succulence, Adam remains a unique gem in the American beer world. An addition of cherry seems like a great choice, and if I weren't old and lazy, I'd make plans to get in line early to try to score some of that fine beer. But perhaps you're young and spry and should put it on your calendar.

Anniversary Dock Sale, 10a - 4p
Hair of the Dog Brewery
4509 SE 23rd Avenue
503-232-6585

Hair of the Dog Blue Diamond

I got a tip that Hair of the Dog has a new beer coming out called "Blue Diamond." A double IPA, soon to hit shelves, apparently.

That's all I know...

[Okay, I've confirmed it's Blue Dot. Sorry all to fans of HotD who were thinking something new was in the offing. But eliciting the news about that Flanders Red in comments--no matter how long it takes--was worth my embarrassment.]

The Brewers Speak - Jim II and Bad Santa

Continuing on with my brewers reports, we go next to Jim II from Hair of the Dog and Bad Santa from Pelican.

"Jim," Hair of the Dog
Jim, last year's must-have beer, was brewed by Alan Sprints in honor of the life of Jim Kennedy. This year's version is a little different, as Alan describes:

This year's Jim is a blend of Adam, Fred and Doggie Claws, all barrel aged for 6 weeks. Along with the base Beers I have added about 10% of a German Pilsner, a 9 liter bottle of Val Du Trippel, 1989 Thomas Hardy's--the year I met Jim--a 1991 Rodenbach Alexander that I bought from Jim, and a 1994 Maredsous 10 that Jim enjoyed drinking. I am drinking a glass now, I smell Plums, Almonds and Oak, the Beer is a deep copper color and the lace sticks to the sides of my glass. The beer has a strong hop backbone with notes of chocolate, wood and crusty bread, a firm mouth feel and a complex finish that continues to evolve after the Beer is gone. I am guessing it is 8% abv. I made 16 kegs for the festival this year, only four last year.

For anyone who was at the fest, you recall what happens when you mix the limited supply of just four kegs of a beer with the demand of an entire tent-full of people who have all turned up to taste that beer. Madness. Will four times the quantity match the demand? Time will tell (though I wouldn't bet on it).

Pelican Bad Santa
This is a hybrid beer the Fest describes as a "black IPA." Brewer Jason Schoneman gives more detail:

"[Head brewer] Darron [Welch] asked me to come up with a fall/winter seasonal beer so while designing the recipe I wanted to incorporate some elements of the Holiday season. The rich flavors and wonderful aromas that the foods of the holidays have were my inspiration for this beer. One of my favorite events of the fall season is the hop harvest so I wanted to make sure the beer incorporated plenty of hops. We used 100 pounds of whole leaf Ahtanum hops, 44 in the boil and 56 lbs in our mash-tun that we converted into a hop back. I also wanted the beer to have a complex malt character so we used melanoidin and dark malts to bring out the richness of the beer. When people ask me to describe this beer I call it a cross between an IPA and a Porter. It is dark and rich but with a pronounced bitterness and hop character. "

Stats on Bad Santa:

Malts: Pale, melanoidin, de-husked black malt
Hops: Magnum, Ahtanum
Original Gravity: 17.3º Plato
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 80

The last installment comes from Raccoon Lodge and Caldera. But first, I'm off to a tasting they're offering tonight (for us special "media" types), so I'll have some actual impressions to share, too.

Ode to Blue Dot

It might be an interesting experiment: the metaphor beers. Take an abstraction and brew the beer to suit it. For example, Earth Day. Lesser innovators might offer a uninspired metaphor, digging through existing styles for one that is most (pick one: green, earthy, natural). Thus might you end up with an organic lambic, say (spontaneously fermented from natural, wild yeasts!).

Hair of the Dog did far better. The brewery's take on Earth Day is Blue Dot, so named for the wee speck of azure floating in Alpha Centauri's sky. But HotD pretty much exists in the realm of stylistic abstraction (contasted to German precision), unable to brew a beer to style if their lives depended on it, so this was perhaps not the most challenging task.

Blue Dot, of which I managed to taste about four ounces before all extant bottles vanished from the face of the earth, debuted last year to the usual commercial pandemonium. This year, brewer Alan Sprints offered up more of the precious liquid bullion at a dock sail, and I think he was getting six hundred dollars a case. (Kidding.) I managed to score a few precious bottles from Belmont Station, though I have no confidence they have any left. You could stop by and have a look--who knows? It might be interesting just to see what they would charge you.

I cracked my first bottle last night (the other two will remain, probably forever, since I lack the will to crack aged beer, in the larder) and was stunned by what poured out. It was not a beer so much as a liquid paean to life, saturated with glorious, resinous flavor, metaphor for wild vitality. I can't review it, so I'll do the next best thing. If you chance upon a bottle, buy it and damn the price.

Ode
Blue Dot is a tincture of hop, an alcohol solution of mild acidity saturated with the essence of green. It is vita, it is sustenence; distillate of joy. Soil terroir, root seed leaf, fresh stream water. Balance harmony cycle.

Drink, ye who love the jade wolf, and be restored.

Blue Dot and Woody Fred

This just in from Hair of the Dog maestro Alan Sprints:

This Saturday is my Earth Day sale at the Brewery from 10:00 till
4:00. I will have a new 12oz Bottling of Fred from the Wood and 22oz
bottles of Blue Dot.

Come early if you want the Wood, even though I am limiting it to one
case per person they will go fast. Hope to see you here, Alan.

Hair of the Dog
4509 SE 23 Avenue
Directions (if you haven't been to the brewery before, you'll need 'em).

Two Doggone Good Events to Note

Two things to put on your calendar.

First, this weekend, the Lucky Lab is hosting its 8th annual Barleywine tasting. Thirty beers from 24 mostly regional, breweries (which means--yes, vertical tastings!). Relevant facts:

Barleywine Tasting
Noon-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, $1.50 per 4-ounce taster.
Lucky Lab - 915 S.E. Hawthorne

Also, Hair of the Dog brewmaster Alan Sprints is hosting a beer dinner at Jake's on March 11th. Sprints is planning a four-course meal to go along with five beers. You have to call ahead and reserve a place, and they run your credit card when you call, so have it handy. Relevant facts:

Brewmaster Dinner, Sunday, March 11, 6:30 pm
$39.95, includes gratuity
Jake's Famous - 401 SW 12th Ave
(503) 226-1419

Cheers--

Holiday Ale Festival - The Scrum for Jim

I intend to put up a fuller report on the HAF later today or tomorrow, including video. However, as I'm feeling a little remiss in not getting something up sooner, here is an interim anecdote.

As with many brewfests, the HAF has only a limited number of kegs. The summer OBF handles this by allotting a certain number of kegs to each day, but HAF refined this system and divided kegs up into two batches, afternoon and evening. So, moments after getting my first beer at 1:30, the Fest slapped up a sign on Hair of the Dog's Jim saying that it would be pouring again at 5. I decided to hang around until then and zip back in for a last nip before heading home, and so at about a quarter til, I (and two friends) made our way through the extremely packed crowd.

(Sidebar: It was easily the most packed I've ever seen the Holiday Ale Fest, and perhaps more crowded than even the OBF on Friday night. The crowd was shoulder-to-shoulder and there were literally times when an entire knot of bodies had to time their move to make way for passing drinkers. The crowd was racous and jovial and everyone seemed to take this in stride. Sally, off at the St. Feuillien tap late in the day, spoke to a bug-eyed Minnesota dad who was visiting with his daughter. Remarked he: "I've never seen anything like this. People really take their beer seriously here.")

So we started back into the scrum. Inelegantly, a group of tables had been placed at the center of the main tent, and these tended to gum up the movement even more. Opposite them was, somewhere in the throng, a line to the not-yet-on-tap Jim. When we finally made it to the right side of the tent, we discovered that most of the people were also waiting for Jim and ushering others through to get different beers. So as five crept slowly toward us, the crowd became more and more densely packed with Jim-waiters. Eventually the chants for "Jim, Jim, Jim" began and it looked like the crowd might rush the tap (in one slow, many-legged push).

The wait endured past five and the crowd grew more spirited. By about eight after, a guy came out and, with theatrical flourish, removed the "back at 5 pm" sign. A cheer went up. We pressed closer, mug-ended arms forward. One by one, we got our elixir and began making our way back into the crowd. By 5:22, all the Jim was gone.

Was it any good? Stay tuned--

Beers of Summer - Saison Dupont

It's not really appropriate to call saison an "endangered species," among Belgian styles as Michael Jackson did in Great Beers of Belgium ten years ago. (Actually, his description is probably largely responsible for engendering the international interest that revived it.) There was a rennaissance in Belgium of traditional styles, and a minor one here with mostly less than traditional styles. The exception is Hennepin from New York's Ommegang, the only American I've tasted that comes close to the Belgian originals.

But among all saisons, the classic example is Dupont. Others exist--from Silly, Pipaix, Lefebvre, and Fantome, but these are harder to get. Saison Dupont is available at many supermarkets (though, as always, you're better off to get it at a retailer that takes care of its beer).

As a style, saisons are a collection of typically artisinal ales, typical of an earlier era when it was difficult to brew in the summer (the yeast gets funky at high temperatures). Thus it was brewed in the spring ("la saison de mars"--the season of march) to be laid down for a few months until summer. They ranged from very low alcohol beers (according to Jackson, "children's strength") to robust versions of 8% or more. Their palate is crisp, mildly tart, and hoppy. For people who enjoy IPAs (ie, almost all denizens of Beervana), I think saisons would be a wonderful beer to try.

Tasting Notes
It pours out a hazy, sunny gold--a chill haze that dissipates as the beer warms--with a very vigorous bead. It is so bright in the glass that it makes me want to go into a purple metaphor about capturing sunlight--but I'll desist. It features one of the richest, fluffiest, almost architectural heads of any beer--a head that stays through the final sip.

When I poke my nose into a beer, I conduct a forensic sweep, beginning with the yeast. I was initially struck by a cellary quality of Saison Dupont; in this case, it's not musty, but more of a mineral quality. As a minor note, there are a bit of hops, but Dupont has an alchemical depth in its aroma that comes from the yeast.

Crispness and a dryness are the hallmarks of the saison style, making it closer to a chardonnay than bock. It has a tartness characteristic of Belgian beers, but in a minor key; it's balanced by a mineral dry (partly, perhaps, from hard water) accentuated by Kent Goldings hops--lots of 'em. (The Belgians make classic regional beers, but they are far from parochial: borrowing a classic English hop to produce this classic Belgian ale is in keeping with Belgian virtuosity, and, I like to think, a tip of the hat to the kinds of beers like IPAs that may have helped inspire Dupont.) This is one of the hoppiest Beligian styles, and to my mind why it is tailor made for the Northwest palate. Finally, sometime after the initial, alcoholic first note and subsequent notes of tart and dry, but before the long, hoppy finish, the malts have their moment, offering a surprising amount of sweet fruit.

I will confess that if I were confined to a desert island with only five beers to drink the rest of my life, Saison Dupont would be one. So for that reason, you'll have to forgive me for the effusive review.

Stats
Malts: Pale malts.
Hops: Kent Goldings (maybe also Styrian and Hallertau)
Alcohol by volume: 6.5%
Original Gravity: 1.054.
Bitterness Units: Unavailable.
Available: Grocery stores with decent beer selections, Belmont Station.

Rating
A classic.

Beers of Summer - Sam Adams Boston Lager

For Independence Day, I can think of no better beer to review than Sam Adams Boston Lager*. What says independence more than a beer with a brewer, patriot on the label?

To begin, let's clarify something: there is no such style as a "Boston lager," This is part of Sam Adams' genius. By minting their own style, Boston Lager has now become its own thing. Perhaps this is how Newcastle Brown started. In any case, I guess you could call it accurate: the beer in question is brewed in Boston (or was, originally) and it's a lager. Perhaps due to its enigmatic designation, it has grown to be one of the best-selling craft beers on the market, and deservedly so.

Tasting Notes
In the glass, Boston Lager looks quite a lot like a scotch. Not so much when you pour it out--then it's a rich amber with a vigorous bead. But if you, as I did, accidentally leave an inch in your glass until the head and fizz have passed and the beer has become still, you could easily mistake it for Cragganmore. (Or is it Oban I'm thinking of? Nevermind.)

The beer is crisp and dry to my palate. The hops--classic German noble varieties--are present but not forward, as in a pilsner. But, neither do they hang back as in a helles. The malting is clean and smooth, with just a hint of biscuit. Throughout a single sip, I find the beer dry--from the first notes, through the clean malt middle, and to the aromatic hoppy finish. It is the rare beer that pleases on a hot summer day as well as a cool autumn day (in fact, I think the style in which it has the most in common is Octoberfest), but Boston Lager does.

I rarely choose to buy a lager when any kind of ale is available, but Sam is an exception.

Statistics
Hops: Mittelfruh and Tettnang.
Malts: Two-row pale and caramel
Alcohol by Volume: 4.9%
Original Gravity: 13 degrees Plato
Bitterness Units: unkown.
Available: Everywhere.

Rating
A classic.
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*Yes, it is true that I write this on the 6th of July, but I intended to write it on the fourth.

Beers of Summer - Eugene City Honey Orange

Before beginning this review, several disclaimers:

1. The actual, full name of this review is Eugene City Brewery Honey Orange Wheat Ale, which for the purposes of titling has been cut down to size.

2. Eugene City is actually Rogue, which bought the brewery in 2004, and was formerly West Brothers, but was not actually formerly the brewery established in 1866, as the label claims.

3. This is not the same beer brewed under previous ownership, which was a wild, thick, cakey ride that actually had orange in it. It was totally unique and unprecedented in the annals of brewing (or anyway, those with which I was acquainted).

4. Honey Orange Wheat Ale is actually a modified Wit.

Tasting Notes
What is the quintessential summer beer? Belgian White Beers have a reasonable claim. Their name derives from the very pale, cloudy color (white is stretching it), but they might more properly be called orange, after the predominant flavor element. Traditionally, whites are made with coriander and orange peels from curacao oranges, as well as unmalted wheat (which contributes the cloudiness). Ironically, the orange flavor comes from the coriander and tart punch of the yeast; in the absence of hop flavor, the orange peels provide some balance.

Rogue's variant is sweet--overly so. Whites balance the innate sweetness of wheat malt and coriander with a tartness derived from the yeast and a bitterness from the orange rind. The balance is key, and Rogue's version doesn't get the bitter or tart right. It's almost like an alcopop, and I imagine few 17-year-old girls would turn one down. The coriander provides most of the character, but unbalanced coriander tends to turn syrupy--anyway it does here.

The style is hard to mess up, and I enjoyed this beer as far as it went, but compared to some of the world standards--Hoegaarden, Celis--Eugene City falls short. I'd love to see Rogue go back to the original.

Stats
Hops: Unknown
Malts: Unknown
Alcohol By Volume: Unknown
Original Gravity: Unknown
BUs: Unknown
Available: The pub is located at 844 Olive Street, in Eugene. Bottles (22 oz.) are available at the Rogue Brewery in Newport. Via Rick: it's also available at the Rogue Public House (formerly Portland Brewing Flanders Brewery) on NW 14th and Flanders in Portland.

Rating
Average.

Post updated July 2, 2006.