When the very rich go to parties, their arrival is hailed by the announcement of their name (anyway, that's how it happened in class-conscious movies of the 1980s, where I gathered most of my information). So it was with with a brewery from Hood River, which has for months been just a name tantalizing for two of its three nouns: Logsdon Farmhouse Ales. Ales, okay, leave that aside. Farmhouse? I recently asked a famous beer writer what his five favorite styles were and he said "saison." A man after my own heart, and it seems, a brewery as well. And Logsdon? Well.
David Logsdon is perhaps the most important figure in Oregon brewing you never heard of. He's one of the first gen brewers, and a founder of Full Sail. This solidifies him as one of the pioneers, and, once we get a Oregon Brewing Museum, will earn him a bust alongside Dick Ponzi, Fred Bowman, Kurt Widmer, and Brian McMenamin. But more importantly, he founded
Wyeast--notably, two years before Full Sail. The importance of Wyeast is somewhat lost in the great tradition of northwest brewing, but it goes to show how steeped in beer we actually are. It is at the center of American brewing, so much so that when you ask a brewer which yeast he uses, he's likely to give you the Wyeast four-digit code. The range of beers now produced in America is made possible in no small part because Logsdon went out and wrangled up authentic strains from classic beers around the world.
All of which makes it very good news that the name is about to
arrive as a full-time, operating brewery:
Working with brewing partner Charles Porter, Logsdon has been pulling together the permits and equipment to produce about 3,000 barrels a year at the family farm off upper Neal Creek Road....
They are commonly referred to as “saison” beers, and Logsdon Farmhouse Ales will share that name in its branding. Logsdon plans to release two beers in late April or early May — a Seizoen (a traditional malty beer, with a lighter, hoppy profile that will finish dry and crisp), and a Seizoen Bretta, which features additional yeast that adds fruity notes and more acidity, plus a “farmyard” flavor — woody, earthy.
(Let's see, "Bretta," I wonder which variety of additional yeast that may be.) The piece I quoted from, in the Hood River Biz Blog, is full of cool info, like:
- “'We got label approval this week, and seven tanks of beer have been filled,' Logsdon told me on Saturday out side the barn that houses his brewing equipment and bottling line. Bottles will feature a crowned cap covered in local beeswax... 'We’re probably the only brewery in the United States that’s a farmhouse making farmhouse ales,” Logsdon says.'”
- “The operation has been set up as a cooperative, so other brewers can use the equipment to create their own brands, and share proceeds. Porter, with experience at four other brewers, hopes to create his own beers under his own label at some future date.“
- The brewery will be organic (certified by Oregon Tilth) and will go the extra mile and use organic hops.
Finally, there's this amazing detail, from the
extremely elusive company website:
We also are starting our nursery of sharbeekse kreik (cherry) trees brought over from the small Bam's orchard located in East Flanders. This is an arduous task of strict government quarantine, inspections and regulatory compliance. We intend to harvest our own fruit for our upcoming lambic style and tart red beers.
(Their
facebook page seems a little livelier--go give them a little sugar.) So far, 2011 is shaping up to be a very good year.
Charlie Devereux, regarding cherries that will go in a Double Mountain robust porter. (This isn't brewer Matt Swihart's orchard.)
Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, outside of Hood River. Note actual farmhouse (that's the mash tun, lower left.)
If you're standing next to the mash tun looking out, this is your view. That's Mount Hood, for those outside Oregon.
Dave Logsdon, the man behind both Logsdon Farmhouse Ales and Wyeast Yeast Labs, went to enormous energy to import a cherry tree from Belgium back to the US. This is that tree. In five years, its descendants will be producing cherries for his ales.
This is Double Mountain brewer Matt Swihart's land. Cherries from his orchards go in his annual kriek. (The latest vintage, brewed with last year's cherries, was just released in Hood River.) His crop is about ten days from maturity.
A view from the highest point of Swihart's orchard, looking north(ish). Mt Adams, one of the Double Mountains (Hood is the other) is hiding behind the clouds.
