Hopworks Urban Brewery, Organic IPA. In the past couple of weeks, Hopworks beer has been popping up on shelves around town. It’s great to have another local beer to support when out at the store, especially the Hopworks releases: Deluxe Organic Ale, IPA, Survival Stout, and Crosstown Pale. So, get out there and get some!
Way to go Hopworks, three beers of the month in a row. How did you do it this time? You collaborated with Eugene area brewers to honor Glen Falconer, AKA “Sasquatch”, using Glen’s own recipe from his days at Wild Duck brewery in Eugene. I did not know Glen or even know of Glen before trying this beer, but I feel I can safely say that HUB honored the man well.
Brewers Description:
Sasquatch has a deep mahogany color and a body that is toasty-sweet. Outrageous quantities of (Willamette, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Saaz) hops give an incredibly rich and complex herbal flavor and crisp bitterness that remind you that this is “beer”.
Sasquatch is an American Strong Ale. What this means is– pretty vague actually. It is supposed to apply basically to any beer with an ABV 7.0 or above. Sasquatch falls short by 0.1 meaning that classification cannot be too strict. It seems to be a classification for beers that cannot be classified any other way so they classify them as “American Strong Ales” and wash their hands of the situation. Who are “they”? What am I talking about? Who knows? So lets forget about classification and get right to taste.
Simply put, it tastes fantastic. Sasquatch has a full body and a smooth finish with slightly bitter aftertaste. There is a sweetness behind this deep brown ale, but by no means it the sweetness overbearing. In fact that sweet malty flavor is balanced very delicately with the “outrageous quantities of (Willamette, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Saaz) hops”. However, using “delicately” just now doesn’t feel right when referring to any aspect of this beer. Either “hearty and crisp” or “rich and crisp” or “hearty, rich and crisp” or “hearty, rich, and crisp yet smooth” are all far more suitable for describing Sasquatch.
The icing on the cake is that Hopworks will contribute 10% of the proceeds from the sales of Sasquatch Strong Ale to the Sasquatch Legacy Project, a non-profit which raises money to send deserving brewers to brewing school. Knowing this, how can you avoid this wonderfully balanced, full, crisp, smooth, round, flavorful, lightly sweet, rich, mahogany bodied, strong ale? I guess you could say it is your civic duty to give it a try.
Oh, it goes great with cheese too.
Well, we’re back. Our Beer of the Month segment has been missing for a few months, but we’re going to get back on track and make sure to keep this section up to date. We’ve got some napkin and coaster notes from past months, so we’ll go back and fill in some earlier missed months as well.
November’s Beer of the Month installment is Hopworks Noggin Floggin’ Barleywine. The official description is
“Gunter glieben glauchen globen. Nuff said. ABV: 9.6% IBU: 90 Plato: 23.5″
While a novel description, it sure doesn’t do this beer justice. In fact, there isn’t enough that can be said about this beer. It is a very warming 9.6% ABV Barleywine that is not excessively sweet, but still has a complex malt bill. One things is for certain, the name is dead on: this beer will whip your brain.
Assertive hopping leans the needle towards overall bitterness rather than sweetness. There are both floral hints in the aroma and a citrus taste from the hops, and while noticable, they are well-tamed by the malt. While beers like this are very complex, it is this complexity that can unravel these beers. Complexity doesn’t mean dumping everything in and crossing you fingers, it is the result of the ingredients playing well with each other. Luckily, everything in this beer plays well with each other.
But my words, while purposeful and poetic, are not the same as sitting down and enjoying this barleywine. So go grab some while it lasts!
Thanks to Christian Ettinger, Ben Love, Jaime Rodriguez, and Mike Price for letting me get in their way to shoot the brewery!
OK, it’s officially beer season! I know, beer season here is year round, but you’ve got to shout it out once in a while. It’s time for the Winter vampires of Portland to finally get some sunshine and visit the outdoors without layers of protective rain gear. One of your first stops should be to Hopworks Urban Brewery to check out their new seasonal Original Red.
Brewer’s description:
“This full bodied NW Red is hopped to the rafters and sanded smooth like mahogany. We are stoked to bring this former full-timer back for a reunion. Look for dry-hops, 5.6% ABV, 55 IBU, and a little attitude.”
Reds were my first stop after my IPA obsession of 2001-2002. Northwest reds are still hoppy, but balanced out with a nice malt backbone. With these beers, the malt tends to desaturate the bitterness, while leaving behind a bit more of the floral and citrus quality of hops. This is much more evident when reds are dry-hopped like this one from the HUB.
I’m not sure how long the seasonals at the HUB last yet, so get out there as soon as you can. If you miss it, you’ll be able to substitute your sadness with another seasonal as the HUB hasn’t been slouching and tends to have 3-4 seasonals on tap.
This just in! Official Hopworks Urban Brewery Announcement:
“Hopworks opens for business on Tuesday, March 25th!Hopworks Urban Brewery is excited to announce that we will be opening our doors on Tuesday, March 25th at 11:00am. Construction is finally complete and the taps are flowing with ten Organic, handcrafted beers.
We look forward to seeing you and your friends at the HUB. Cheers!”
Christian Ettinger was kind enough to give me a tour of his new place, Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB). If you’re thinking that this will just be another place to add to Portland’s already extensive list of breweries, you’re quite a bit off the mark. But I don’t blame you. I thought that as well before getting a glimpse of the future HUB empire.
Let’s start with the owner. Christian Ettinger’s been involved in the Portland beer scene for quite some time. Many of you will recognize his name from the award winning beer coming out of Laurelwood Brewery. As Laurelwood’s Brewmaster, he often came back home from beer competitions with a fistful of medals. His beers have epitomized the bold Northwest style that people equate with Portland. After a few years at Laurelwood, Christian decided to venture out on his own and start his own business.
Well, Christian didn’t just find a building, drag some brewing equipment inside, and fire it up. Though this was an option, he decided to go with the more difficult and time-consuming option so that the HUB would would be an extension of his lifestyle and a contribution to the community. Many businesses blindly take in services and materials based soley on cost. On the other end, waste goes out the same way: out the door and out of the mind of the owner. This narrow mentality has a large effect on the community by ignoring the lack of efficiencies in the process and the environmental impact of cutting corners to save money.
Since it’s inception, the HUB has been an example of a green business, based on sustainability. Rather than demolishing the old Sunset Fuel building to create the new space, the building was carefully deconstructed board by board and nail by nail so that as much of the old building could be used in the new structure. From interior lumber, to cubicle shrapnel, most of the old building found it’s way into the building.
Even old plumbing made it’s way to the bar as a foot rail. But my explanations probably make it sound like refurbished junk yard. Very far from it. All of the old pieces were refinished in various ways to make them all appear brand new and blend seamlessly in with the actual new pieces. As far as food and beer, the all organic brewery is a direct fire system which will use biodeisel for fuel. There are also plans for an organic greenhouse to supply the kitchen with fresh vegetables. The lots surrounding the building were also engineered so that runoff enters into a retention pond on the property to lessen the stress on the city system.
Whew! And that’s not everything. Check out the HUB’s website for details and more information. The grand opening is soon and I can’t wait to support this business by way of enjoying great food and drinking a lot of superb beer!
© 2010 Portlandbeer.org | Brew, Drink, Repeat · Proudly powered by WordPress & Green Park 2 by Cordobo.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional | Valid CSS 3
