Category: Bigfoot Beverage

What’s Brewing in 2017: Southern Willamette Valley

1/9/2017

Alesong is opening a rural tasting room in 2017 about 20 miles southwest of downtown Eugene. Pictured here are two of the three co-founders: Matt Van Wyk (left) and Brian Coombs. Oregon Beer Growler file photo

By Anthony St. Clair
For the Oregon Beer Growler

It’s the start of a new year, so time to brace yourself and get up to speed on some of the upcoming developments in the craft beer scene from Eugene to Roseburg to McMinnville.

Eugene/Springfield
Alesong Tasting Room and Beer Club
Currently the newest brewery in the Eugene/Springfield area, Alesong Brewing & Blending starts 2017 with additional developments: the opening of a rural tasting room and inclusion in a beer club.

Located on 4.5 acres bordering a winery about 20 miles southwest of downtown Eugene, the 3,500-square-foot facility will house a barrel room, production facility and tasting room. Co-founder Matt Van Wyk expects a spring opening.

Meanwhile, Alesong beers will be among the offerings in the Rare Beer Club, one of the memberships offered by monthlyclubs.com. “We were so happy to have connected with Alesong,” says Kris Calef, monthlyclubs.com president. “I can honestly say that I haven’t been as excited about working with a brewery as I was after tasting Gin Hop Farm. Outstanding beers.”

Eugene’s Mancave has established an alternating proprietorship arrangement with Elk Horn. To mark the brewery’s new chapter, founder Brandon Woodruff has renamed the business to Manifest Beer Company. He’s seen here delivering beer by bike. Oregon Beer Growler file photo

New Name for Mancave
After a year of ups and downs, including the loss of its brewery space, Mancave Brewing Company has established an alternating proprietorship arrangement with Elk Horn Brewery. To further mark the brewery’s new chapter, founder Brandon Woodruff has also renamed the business. With limited production of less than 25 barrels per month, Manifest Beer Company plans to release a beer per month, with limited keg distribution in the Eugene and Portland areas. The first release will be Exalted IPA.

“We wanted to give up more often than not, so many things piled against us at once,” said Woodruff on the brewery’s Facebook page. “Only two things kept us going: an insatiable search for beers unlike any other, and our family of followers.”

Oakshire Takes It Back to the Brewery
While visitors to Oakshire Brewing now come to its Public House in the Whiteaker area, the 10-year-old establishment wanted to take things back to its roots. The public will once again be welcomed into its production brewery, complete with a small tasting room — a tradition that had been abandoned for some time.

During the summer of 2017, Oakshire plans to resume Friday tastings “that were once a staple of the Oakshire beer experience,” says co-founder Jeff Althouse. “Beer, brewery tours, music and food carts will showcase the roots of our small company and allow our old and new friends to enjoy a beer at the location where it all happens.” More details will be announced in spring.

Oakshire will also bump up its CORE seasonal line: Sun Made Raspberry Berliner Weisse, with real raspberries, will be released in February 2017, followed by the original Sun Made Cucumber Berliner Weisse in May. Oakshire has added dedicated equipment for kettle souring and plans to release more sour beers.

Ninkasi’s Three Bs
Ninkasi goes into 2017 with a new distribution partnership with Bigfoot Beverages, a new director of brewing process development and a return of their popular Believer Double Red Ale.

Beginning this month, Eugene-based Bigfoot will distribute bottled Ninkasi beers to off-premise accounts in Eugene. This change will allow Ninkasi’s local distribution team to focus on sales to area bars and restaurants.

While completing his doctorate in Brewing Science at Oregon State University, Daniel Sharp interned at Ninkasi. Now with his completed Ph.D., Sharp returns to Ninkasi — but as the brewery’s new director of brewing process development. Drawing on his research on hop utilization and impacts to flavor and aroma in brewing, Sharp will focus on improving Ninkasi’s brewing capabilities as well as leading educational and research efforts.

And did you believe that Believer could come back? Originally released as a winter seasonal in 2006, the popular double red ale returns through April as part of Ninkasi’s Seasonal Release Series. A portion of all Believer sales will be contributed to three national nonprofits.

Lookingglass, located outside of Roseburg, aims to expand its brew system as well as the taproom, which is pictured here. Photo courtesy of Lookingglass Brewing

Roseburg
Lookingglass Looks Ahead
Lookingglass Brewing, located outside of Roseburg, aims to expand its brew system and Winston-based taproom, as well as add a bottling line, says founder Mark Nunnelee. “Ideally, we would like to expand to a 7-barrel system and increase the number of our sales accounts,” explains Nunnelee. “The number of accounts we can have currently is limited due to the size of our brew system.” Nunnelee is also exploring a partnership with Winston Donuts Cafe to bring food into the Lookingglass tasting room.

Backside Bottling
Backside Brewing Co. in Roseburg recently began bottling and self-distributing its popular flagship Axeman Red. Backside’s 22-ounce bottles initially will be available at the tasting room and in select locations in Southern Oregon.

“We’re really excited for bottles,” says owner K.C. Mckillip. “Getting beer on draft is great, but you only have one tap handle. The bottle gets our logo and image on the shelf. Axeman is one of our top-sellers, and there are so many more potential places for us to see beer now.”

Mckillip plans to extend distribution gradually, with the hope to have four packaged beers by summer.

Roseburg’s Latin-inspired Salud is expanding. The brewery will move to an off-site facility and Chad Northcraft has been named as the new brewmaster. Photo courtesy of Salud Restaurant & Brewery

Expansion/New Brewmaster for Salud
Roseburg’s Latin-inspired Salud Restaurant & Brewery is expanding. After naming a new brewmaster, Chad Northcraft, owner Manny Anaya has announced that Salud will be moving their brewery to an off-site facility. The new brewery will be walking distance from the restaurant, allowing more dedicated space for brewing, conditioning, packaging and distribution.

McMinnville
New Brewery Planned
A gluten-free brewery in McMinnville is in the works. Doppelganger Brewing applied for Oregon Liquor Control Commission licensure in October 2016. Its current address is on Northeast Riverside Drive in an industrial part of town.

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On the Old Highway of High Quality

7/16/2016

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Old 99 Brewing in Roseburg, which was licensed in 2013, is now focused on slow growth. They began limited distribution through Bigfoot Beverage earlier this year. Photo by AJ McGarry

By Anthony St. Clair
For the Oregon Beer Growler

Longtime friends AJ Tuter, Matt Hill and Bryan Ireland had been homebrewing together in Roseburg for years, and members of their informal beer club kept telling them they should go pro. When they decided to make the leap, their search for a brewery name turned out to be down the street. Tuter’s home — and site of their garage homebrewery — was near Main Street, or “Old 99,” a north-south highway that runs the length of the West Coast. After getting licensed in 2013, Old 99 Brewing Co. has been at the vanguard of Roseburg’s growing craft beer scene, and a receptive public leaves Yelp reviews such as “hidden gem” and “small, friendly and has a whole bunch of passion and character.”
“We’re not on Old 99, but it’s perpendicular to it,” explains Tuter. “We thought Old 99 would be a good way to associate the Northwest for us. It’s been fun, it’s been a good brand to build. People like our shirts, our logo, that story.”

Today Old 99 is keeping a focus on slow growth, good beer and fun times. All three owners share brewery duties while holding other full-time positions: Tuter as a firefighter and paramedic who works in Eugene but lives in Roseburg; Hill as a network engineer in Roseburg; and Ireland, who works in Portland as a replenishment specialist and commutes to Roseburg.

Tuter describes Old 99 as being about “community, gathering, connections and above all, dedication to craft beer.” That focus is paying off. Starting with a 1-barrel system, Old 99 quickly moved to a 3.5-barrel system, on which they would double-batch into 7-barrel fermenters. “We did that for a while. It was hard duty,” says Tuter. “Every time you brewed you had to double-batch, and it made for a long brew day.” Since late 2014, Old 99 has brewed on a 7-barrel system from Portland Kettle Works. Along with a 15-barrel tank, the brewers have made other improvements to streamline the brewing process. While still double-batching, now Old 99 has been doubling capacity during the last seven months and is on pace to increase annual production from 300 barrels a year to, for 2016, an estimated 600-700 barrels.

While the partners share tasks, they also specialize in particular areas while also making sure everyone is communicating about what’s happening in different parts of the business. “It’s all collaborative,” says Tuter. “We all have different jobs, and everybody comes together and gets it done.”

Along with the partners, their wives help with different parts of the business. Old 99 also has four other employees, two in the tasting room and two doing cellar work in the 6,800-square-foot space. Currently Old 99 is sticking to its limited hours, but the partners are looking at expanding hours and adding staff in the future.

Sunday is typically a brew day, with additional brew days during the week as needed. By Thursday, all hands are on deck to prep for Friday and Saturday. Old 99 also recently started opening to the public on Thursdays. “It’s a challenge to balance working in the brewery, getting those tasks done and then doing the tasting room thing,” says Tuter. “But we like being in the brewery, with the equipment, where people can ask questions. The person who served the beer is more than likely the person who made it. That’s what I like about how we did it.”

The beers pouring today are similar to the beers that first poured when Old 99 opened three years ago. For The Win IPA, usually just referred to as FTW, came out of a 10-beer experiment to become their most popular beer. Another flagship, Billy Bad Ass Double IPA, has such a local following that “people refer to that beer almost like a person that they know,” says Tuter, prompting the partners to work up a graphic of what Billy might look like.

Infrared Northwest Red Ale can also be found on a few other taps in Douglas County. Old 99’s Pale Ale has undergone some changes over the years though. The inaugural Yard Sale Pale Ale has since been replaced by Tioga Pale Ale. Named after a section of the North Umpqua Trail, Tioga uses piney hops to make it “feel like a walk in the woods.” Keeping it simple on the dark side of things, year-round Fogline Stout got its start in the homebrew kettle and today remains a four-ingredient stout. “It’s just a Northwest stout, super smooth, a fan favorite.”

Lastly, Infidel Cascadian Dark Ale/Black IPA is a “beer geek beer,” says Tuter, but one that also won Best of Show at a brew fest in Klamath Falls last year. “A lot of people think they don’t like dark beer, but when they try this they’re impressed. They almost think they’re drinking a Guinness-type beer, but the hops are in your face with tropical and citrus notes, and it’s unexpected to have those coming out of a dark beer.”

Earlier this year Old 99 began limited distribution through Bigfoot Beverage, but Old 99’s focus remains “making sure Douglas County is taken care of first.” Tuter expects distribution to continue gradually expanding. In advance of that, Old 99 is starting to appear at more Oregon beer events, such as Lane County brew festivals and the Bend Brewfest in August. Old 99 also has added a crowler machine for filling and sealing 32-oz cans in the tasting room, similar to filling growlers. In August the brewery will celebrate its anniversary.

“We plan on growing, but we want to grow healthy,” says Tuter. “We’re going to do well with what we have, and not have to sacrifice beer quality. It’s beer first, grow later.”

Old 99 Brewing Co.
(a) 3750 Hooker Road, Suite A, Roseburg
(p) 541-670-9260
(w) old99brewing.com

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Art is at the Heart of Ninkasi

6/1/2016

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With Ninkasi's 10-year anniversary coming up, the brewery's design team and co-founder Jamie Floyd decided it was time to refresh Ninkasi's branding. The company has brought multiple artists into the fold over the years. Photo courtesy of Ninkasi Brewing Company

By Anthony St. Clair
For the Oregon Beer Growler

Breweries use and support the arts in different ways. For Eugene-based Ninkasi Brewing Company, support of the arts and collaboration with artists has been key to the 10-year-old brewery’s brand and growth.

“The forward-thinking use of artwork in our creative has been a significant factor in the success of our brand,” explains Jon Rogers, Ninkasi’s chief marketing officer.

In 2015 Ninkasi launched an Artist in Residence (AIR) Program, which celebrates its first anniversary this month. In addition to his work for bands such as The Black Keys and Dave Matthews Band, Eugene artist Neal Williams created art for Ground Control, an imperial stout fermented with yeast that survived a trip to space and back. He’s now been working with Ninkasi for a year as their current AIR, but plans are for him to continue working with the brewery’s in-house design and marketing teams.

“When I came to Ninkasi, I got the chance to see the brewing process and learn more about the care and attention to detail that goes into the beer,” says Williams. “It's all about taking the time to produce something of quality. I feel exactly the same way about my illustration work.”

With the 10-year anniversary coming up, Williams, Ninkasi’s design teams and co-founder Jamie Floyd all decided it was time to refresh Ninkasi’s beer branding.

“Neal did our Dawn of the Red rebrand,” explains Floyd, “but the full rebrand is a team effort, including Neal. They worked together to create those new looks. The beers have character, and they have personalities. It’s good for us to be able to give some personalities to things and have it look right. The rest of our brand has shifted to more of a graphic style, and have more stories that make it look like a brand suite, that gives it all continuity.”

Ninkasi recently released the new looks as part of their first full rebrand. Part of the success of the new look, says Floyd, is that Ninkasi’s in-house design and marketing teams can work alongside brewing and sales teams. Through meetings with brewers, marketing and sales, designers and artists gain a better understanding of the stories and journeys that each beer has gone through, from development to customer feedback.

“Our art team has made some incredible strides,” says Floyd. “Having so many skills in-house is amazing, and it helps a lot to have it in-house. We can see things all the way through, and have creative ideas that are not borrowed. The brewing team shares research beers they’re doing and [they] get a chance to talk about the beers and why they’re doing them. If those beers become beers we produce commercially, then the marketing team knows what the brewers thought, and that really gets their creative juices going.”

Ninkasi’s interest in the arts also leads to some arts that you might not normally think of — such as running. Running is a large part of Ninkasi’s company culture, including an end-of-run pint (a Wednesday employee running club finishes at the tasting room). “We thought that a lot of times breweries tried to make beers for runners, it didn’t work,” says Floyd. “We are runners, and we know that when we’re done we don’t want a light lager — we want an IPA. And we just ran, so we don’t worry about the extra calories. ”

Creating the beer went beyond usual test brews and pilot batches. During March and April, initial batches were produced and distributed to runners at 25 Beer Run Test Batch events, held nationwide in partnership with local running communities. “It was great to get the input of what runners wanted and do test batches with them,” says Floyd. “Running clubs liked it too because they were involved, and felt involved. It was a lot of fun, and it worked.

Ninkasi is now partnering with local wholesale partner Bigfoot Beverages and TrackTown USA, the local organizing committee for the Olympic Trials, to bring Beer Run to the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field during the July 1–10 competition. Beer Run IPA will be on tap at four locations during the Trials, which are expected to attract over 172,000 fans.

For Floyd and Rogers, the arts are at the heart of Ninkasi. “We bring multiple artists with varied skills into our brewery,” states Rogers. “Our goal is to continue to enhance our brand, our workplace and the greater Ninkasi community.”

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Intriguing Beers: Five Years for 16 Tons

5/7/2015

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16 Tons founder and owner Mike Coplin, who is marking the Taphouse and Bottle Shop's fifth anniversary this year, is seen with several of his employees. He says he started the business at a good time — right when Eugene’s brewing scene was taking off. Photos by AJ McGarry

By Anthony St. Clair
For the Oregon Beer Growler

When 16 Tons Taphouse and Bottle Shop made its first sale on April 22, 2010, the Eugene craft beer scene was quite different from what it would be five years later. Home to only a handful of breweries and brewpubs, most of the area’s craft beer was coming from Portland, Bend or farther afield.

How things have changed.

“We definitely started our business at a good time,” says founder and owner Mike Coplin, “and have been very fortunate to be a hub for the growth of the beer industry in Eugene.”

Coplin recognized that craft beer would only grow. Eugene/Springfield area breweries such as Ninkasi, Oakshire and Hop Valley were making leaps in distribution and offerings, and momentum was gaining locally for more breweries to fire up the brew pot. But what Eugene needed was a neighborhood hub where people could experience the best that craft beer had to offer, whether from a brewery across town or around the world.

When 16 Tons first opened its taphouse doors at East 13th Avenue and High Street in downtown Eugene, its 900-square-foot space was packed with beer, wine, sake and more. Beers from Oregon, California, New England, Germany, Belgium and beyond gleamed on shelves or waited in stacked cases on the floor.

By October the taphouse was selling draft beer, but Coplin knew more was needed. “Customers had told us that additional food options and outdoor seating were high priorities.”

In July 2011, Coplin added a second location, rebranding the former Supreme Bean Coffee Company in south Eugene’s Woodfield Station shopping area as 16 Tons Cafe. That move allowed Coplin to provide extensive outdoor seasonal seating plus a coffee and food menu. Today 16 Tons offers 31 rotating taps and approximately 700 bottles of beer, wine and cider. Each year both locations tap more than 500 different beers and stock 1,500 bottles, with a special focus on limited and seasonal releases.

“We frequently stock beers, ciders and wines that are scarcely available anywhere else,” says Coplin. “We always have barrel-aged sour ales and stouts on tap. Our cider selection is one of the largest in Oregon. We've been very fortunate over the last five years to be embraced by Eugene's beer community, and that has allowed us to build great relationships.”

Coplin also focused on the serving experience. “As far as I know, we were the first non-brewery in Eugene to make growlers popular,” Coplin says. 16 Tons also began serving all its drinks in measured glassware, “ensuring a proper pour.”

Additionally, 16 Tons has been strongly involved in the greater community. In-store events such as Cheese Wars (a beer/wine pair-off), the annual Week of Wild, and the Eugene Winter & Strong Ale Fest help the public approach esoteric beers and discover new ways to appreciate beer. Coplin also established Eugene Beer Week, a now annual celebration that brings together pubs, breweries and other craft beer destinations throughout the local area.

Today, 16 Tons offers about 700 bottles of beer, wine and cider and 31 rotating taps. Both locations tap more than 500 different beers and stock 1,500 bottles.

16 Tons continues to be involved in Eugene Beer Week, 2nd Saturday South Willamette Art Walk and other community fundraisers and events. In 2014, 16 Tons also expanded its brewery collaborations. “Each year we make a wild ale for our anniversary,” Coplin says. “In 2014, we also produced two versions of 16 Tons IPA with Vertigo Brewing and Upright Brewing.” Logsdon Farmhouse Ales is brewing this year’s anniversary beer, Sech 'n Brett, a saison fermented with Brettanomyces yeast and lightly infused with peppercorns.

The overall craft beer scene has changed too and 16 Tons is evolving with it, curating its selection as new breweries and beers become available. “We frequently buy beer, wine and cider from very small producers who do not have a distributor,” he explains. “Several new distributors in Oregon — including Bigfoot Beverage, Running Man and Alebriated — have increased the beers available. Many beers that we work hard to stock are extremely limited, so we are only able to source a few cases each year.”

As 16 Tons enters its next five years, Coplin expects craft beer to continue growing and gaining market share and for the Eugene/Springfield area to potentially double its number of breweries. But he will keep focused on what’s guided 16 Tons so far. “We love our customers and try our best to deliver what they want,” says Coplin. “We’ll continue to work toward having the most intriguing selection of beer anywhere.”

16 Tons
[w] sixteentons.biz

Taphouse & Bottle Shop
[a] 265 E. 13th Ave., Eugene

Cafe
[a] 2864 Willamette St. #500 (in Woodfield Station), Eugene

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What’s Brewing in 2017: Southern Willamette Valley

On the Old Highway of High Quality

Art is at the Heart of Ninkasi

Intriguing Beers: Five Years for 16 Tons

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