I’m torn up about this. Really. I think I’m going to take a half day at work, just to ponder (and, of course, drink). What I probably won’t drink though, is Beertown Brown, Bridgeport’s newest brew to hit the streets.
First of all, let me say that this beer is a good representation of the style: Northern English Brown Ale. But it’s the Northern English blandness that’s the problem. You know where you can go to get a Northern English Ale? Northern England. If someone is going to take the time and effort to release a new bottled style in Portland, and use the Beertown moniker, then good god, make it a Northwest version of the style.
Portland has earned the name Beertown, let’s not tiptoe around it. We need to use this as a catalyst to show the outside what we have to offer. I see two ways to go about this. The first way would be to get together and come up with a new style to add to the books: Northwest Ale. What would this be? That’s for the brewers to decide. The second option is to amend the current styles: Northwest Brown Ale, Northwest Pale Ale, etc. Again, what these would be is up to the brewers.
As a regional and world leader in brewing, that’s exactly what we should be doing: leading. We are currently in a position to direct the industry and there are a lot of eyes on us. Without work, we won’t stay on top forever. Now is not the time to be timid.
