Deschutes News

Last night, tuning into KGW to get the wrap-up on the All Star game (Brandon acquitted himself nicely), I saw a piece on two new Deschutes beers, brewed for the sesquicentennial. I posed a question earlier this year about what kind of beer would be appropriate for the milestone; well, here's what a couple brewers from Deschutes came up with.

Maiden Oregon Ale, brewed at our Portland Brew Pub by Cam O’Connor, is a Belgian amber ale that was brewed using Crystal hops from the Willamette valley, organic 2-row barley from Klamath Falls, water from Mt. Hood, Oregon beet sugar from Nyssa, and yeast from Wyeast labs in Hood River. At 8.0% alcohol by volume, this one will be best enjoyed sipped out of a snifter glass.

Oregon 150 Ale was brewed at our Bend Brew Pub by Paul Arney. This beer has a very unique color and flavor that makes it hard to categorize. Brewed with barley malt grown in the Klamath Falls basin (malted in Portland), blackberry honey from Yamhill County, Oregon marionberries and Crystal hops from the Willamette Valley we have created a beer like you’ve never tasted before. Our mash conversion took place at, you guessed it, 150 degrees!

My grandparents lived in Nyssa, and my aunt and uncle farm nearby in Vale (though they no longer grow sugar beets). It was a hallmark of my youth to see the White Satin plant as I drove across the border from Idaho to visit them. So it will be a delight to see if I can taste the Nyssa influence.

Incidentally, you may have seen the words "Experimental IPA" on the new Hop Henge. (I did last night, as I picked up a bottle, along with a new Widmer '09. Reviews to come.) Gary Fish and Larry Sidor explain the "experimental" at their blog. You should read the whole piece for its information/entertainment value, but here's a taste:

We have been experimenting with different hops and hop addition techniques. Some new, some old and some quite unique. Through all of this, our quest has been to produce a teeth staining, mouth numbing, tongue scraping IPA that would impress the most iron-lipped hop head. We have come a long way and, judging by the reviews I’ve read on BeerAdvocate.com many of you also think we’re doing pretty well with that.

I welcome this move by breweries to start blogging (you'll notice links in my blogroll to brewing bloggers). It's really fascinating to see the thought processes behind the beers. Keep it up, men!

Happy Birthday, Oregon

On this day in 1859, President James Buchanan signed the bill that gave territorial Oregon statehood. In terms of antiquity, 150 years doesn't much rate--even by US standards. We're recent-vintage history--there are probably people alive today who knew elderly kin who were alive during territorial days. That puts us within the range of living history. People in places like Jerusalem, Cairo, Varanasi, and Beijing would smile wryly at our little accomplishment.

In terms of changes, though--Oregon's seen a lot. When we became a state, slavery was still legal. The British Empire stretched across the globe. Steam power was state of the art (and fire lit and warmed our homes). Football hadn't been invented, and baseball was just two years old. Names like Siam, Persia, and the Austrian Empire. In other words, things have changed a fair amount for the average Oregonian.

In one respect, however, things haven't changed: we still enjoy a good beer. When Buchanan penned us into officialdom, Oregon already had three breweries: the Eagle Brewery in Jacksonville, a short-lived place in Oregon City run by the brewer Louis Behren, and of course Henry Saxer's Liberty Brewery in Portland--the one Henry Weinhard would buy a century later. In fact, for the entire history of the state--except when it wasn't legal to brew beer anywhere--beer has been brewed here locally. The thread grew thin indeed after the 1940s, when it was only Henry's brewery that kept the tradition alive, but it never broke completely.

In 1859, when Oregon celebrated its statehood, we might imagine shaggy-bearded roughnecks gathered around fireplaces in pubs lit dimly by oil lamps. They had no Blazers to discuss, no stereos to play music, no cars to carry themselves to parties. But they did have beer, fresh and chilled by the February cold, and no doubt they raised bottles in salute to this new piece of America. We can do the same today.

Happy Birthday, Oregon.

Big Words: Sesquicentennial and Zwickelmania

Tomorrow the state of Oregon turns 150. The Oregon Historical Society is hosting the biggest party, devoting the weekend to free admission and scads of events. Weathermen say it will be a sunny day, and I expect the joint to be hoppin'.

Breweries are throwing their own fetes as a part of the Guild-organized "Zwickelmania." The event is similar to the open houses held by Oregon wineries over Memorial Day and Thanksgiving weekends--apparently the inspiration (?) Thirty-five breweries from around the state will be offering free tours and tastings. I won't post the entire list of participating breweries and their events, but you can find it here.

I'd like to add a historical slash beer note. Breweries are closely linked with the history of this state. In the years between 1856 and 1900, pioneers founded scores of breweries across the state. The pattern was similar in most cases: Early settlers had put up a few buildings and started working (or mining or fishing off the coast of) the land. Within months or at most a few years, an immigrant--in nearly every case one of the wave of Germans of that era--had set up a small brewery. It was the time before refrigeration, and the only way to get fresh beer was to brew it. Some of those breweries lasted just a few years, others until prohibition shut them down. But they all played some role in the founding of the state--in some cases, a large and important role.

I've got a wonderful book called Brewed in the Pacific Northwest by historians Gary and Gloria Meier. They sifted through town records across the region, unearthing fascinating stories of some of our pioneering brewers. Over the next few days or weeks, I'll celebrate our sesquicentennial by relaying some of these. So look for that.

Sesquicentennial Beer?

A while ago, I mentioned that Rogue has somehow been designated the quasi-official beer of the Oregon Sesquicentennial. At the time, I said it seemed a little inappropriate for there to be an official beer, and Jon points out that other breweries apparently think so, too. From their twitter feed, he picked up this necessarily brief comment:

Brewing 2 beers this week with 100% Oregon ingredients to celebrate Oregon's 150th birthday on Feb 14th.

Good for them. I hope ever brewery brews a birthday beer. It's too enticing an opportunity. If they do, it will be a fascinating study of the way in which breweries approached the beer. Something traditionally Oregonian? Something that would have been brewed in 1859? Something crazy over-the-top?

A hundred and fifty years ago, beer was wholly local. It was the pre-refrigeration era, so you had to get your beer fresh. Oregon already had a number of tiny breweries, and the number would jump to the dozens around the time of statehood. Mostly they were run by German immigrants who had come West with the pioneers to make their fortune. And of course, most of them are lost to the mists of time. Early Oregon beer would have mainly been German lagers--though not entirely. A few breweries produced English-style ales, too.

So anyway, consider this my effort to lobby Oregon breweries to brew a special beer for the Sesquicentennial. It would make for great fun, and after all, no one can lay claim to being the "official beer." It's our state, we can honor it how we wish.