Brew Q

2009 SPRING BREW Q — PORTLAND’S QUARTERLY BEER MAGAZINE

PORTLAND’S QUARTERLY BEER MAGAZINE

XI QUESTIONS with Christian Ettinger of H.U.B. Northeast’s polar opposite A-Team: ALAMEDA and AMNESIA 50 things you should know about HOPS!

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XI QUESTIONS

BREW Q

Cover Story:

Christian Ettinger of Hopworks Urban Brewery

3 Northeast Portland’s opposites:

AMNESIA BREWPUB

fine dining on Fremont

grilling outside on Mississippi

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Beer Geek tells you:

50 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HOPS!

19 Editorials:

table of contents

ALAMEDA BREWHOUSE

Credits Publisher: William Lund Editor in Chief: William Lund III Photographer: Will Lund

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Portland Pub Map:

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Glossary of Beer Terminology:

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XI QUESTIONS Christian Ettinger Owner and Brewmaster Hopworks Urban Brewery Interview by William Lund III

“ 12%, 6%, 8% alcohol, I don’t really care so long as it’s well executed. Some of my favorite beers are less than 10 I.B.U.s.”

BREW Q XI questions x questions photo by Will Lund

1

What’s your favorite beer that isn’t brewed anymore?

CE: Wow. What’s out of date?

My affinity is for the original Blue Heron from Bridgeport before it was diluted by whatever overtook their brewing methodology ten years ago.

That beer is but a faint dilution of what it formerly was. That

was the first microbrew I really enjoyed. It was… It was great.

WL: Where did you try that?

CE: My mom used to host German exchange teachers.

They’d bring maybe two dozen teachers over. She’d be in charge of showing them around the state and organizing different events for them. The

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conclusion to their stay was having a party at our house. I was in High School and my mom would always get a pony keg of Blue Heron and she’d let my friends and I finish it. We’d get to hang out with the Germans; see I was taking German in High School so I’d talk to them.

We’d hang out with the teachers and then when the party was over my friends and I would sit out on the porch and sip off the keg. I just remember that beer being deliciously complex, chewy, and mysterious. It was beyond my palate at that point, but I loved it.

2 Is there a style you’ve always wanted to make, but haven’t?

CE: I’ve got a cool thing going now. We’re starting to sour our Belgian Abbey. We’re trying to do something sort of like Duchesse.

A Flemish sour brown. It’s one of my top ten favorite beers. We’re kind of in the middle of that.

There’s about four months worth of souring. We’ve got a couple fruit barrels going and one of those girls has sour cherries. I look forward to seeing what happens.

3 Is there a style you wish

people would drink more of?

CE: Well, I guess I could use here [Hopworks] as a pretty good

barometer for beer drinkers. I think German Hefeweizen.

WL: Really?

“I’m sick of Imperial IPA. Overdoing something is never substitute for crafting something.”

CE: Oh hell yeah. That’s one of my desert island beers. That style is so… truly amazing and so underappreciated. Every time we make one… Every time I make one it just sits and sits. We make a pretty good example of it, but it sits. People want their hefeweizen to taste like Widmer, unfortunately. What Widmer represents is the malty function of that beer. The really interesting and delicious part comes from the spiciness and the banana esters you get from true Bavarian yeast.

I love Bavarian Hefeweizen. That’s something I wish more people would grasp.

4 Is there a style that’s overdone?

CE: Imperial IPA. WL: Imperial IPA? CE: I’m sick of Imperial IPA. Overdoing something is never substitute for crafting something.

I think some people cloak some

5 What beer was most recently in your fridge?

XI questions

CE: We went up to Seattle two weeks ago for my brotherin-law’s son’s birth. My first

nephew. They were in the hospital and the baby was…

They were alright, but she wasn’t really going into labor.

It was to the point where we didn’t really need to be there.

So, we dismissed ourselves to go the Elysian Brewery. Had a great dinner and beers and grabbed a case – a mixed case. We gave a six-pack to the parents-to-be and brought the rest down here. We’re still working on a couple of those.

So that was most recently.

We also went to Portland Brewing to check it out. Bought a six-pack of Slingshot to see

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of their brewing weaknesses in novelty.

WL: And using too many ingredients?

CE: Yeah, but it’s not really about those. For me, it’s about quality and experience. 12 percent, 6 percent, 8 percent alcohol, I don’t really care so long as it’s well executed.

Some of my favorite beers are less than 10 IBUs.

photo by Will Lund

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how that is. Pretty smooth finish.

They’re practically giving it away down there at $6.50 a six-pack.

WL: Was that at a dock sale?

CE: No, it was in the dock sale area when you go into the restaurant.

That beer is pretty solid.

“It’s no longer cute to me.

It’s quality beer.”

WL: Any of them surprise you?

CE: Nothing besides the Slingshot.

What I’m amazed by is how much my palate’s changed in the last five years. All the beers that I really worshiped - as far as microbrew beers – five or ten years ago, I don’t see them the same way. Now that I dissect them on a technical level, I think that some of them have some

technical flaws that I have trouble getting around. I wasn’t really bothered so much back then, but now I have trouble. We really strive so hard for that technical brewing quality that I have trouble dismissing those flaws. It’s no longer cute to me. It’s quality beer.

6 How do you feel about beer on cask? And what beer most surprised you?

CE: I love cask beer. I don’t drink it enough, probably because there’s not enough of it around Portland.

To serve it in true Camaro style, there are not enough beer drinkers around to keep the beer fresh.

We have a sort of fresh way of dispensing here, and consequently we have to turn people onto cask versus off the cask because all

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Gatherer Calzone Hopworks Urban Brewery

back when Glen [Hay Falconer, deceased 2002] was there and I was brewing at Eugene City.

I had a ton of Sasquatch back in the day. I’d never seen the recipe before. That recipe is kind of counter-intuitive to what I would have come up with, but I really like it. I like being surprised by that. It’s something you wouldn’t have thought of, but it’s actually really good.

I miss Glen. Actually, his girlfriend who was with him when he passed away just gave us four beer mugs that she had in her closet. So, we’re going to put them on display here with our stein display. It’ll be Glen’s little corner. But Sasquatch…

I’m really happy with how it

XI questions

it takes is one set to oxidize or sour to send someone the other way.

I’m trying to remember the last one I had… Oh, I remember. Over at Horse Brass about three weeks ago I had a cask Mongoose from Hales. It was amazing.

WL: They have, like, six casks over there…

CE: Yeah. So then they get an amazing draw there for their beer. Their turnover’s pretty high. It’s always fresh. It’s well done.

WL: I had your Sasquatch on cask. Were you surprised how that turned out?

CE: Oh, Yeah. My wife worked for the Wild Duck [Wild Duck Brewing. Eugene, OR. Closed]

photo by Will Lund

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“We’d take off.

Down to Bavaria, to Frankfurt, to Belgium, the Netherlands, wherever. It was a Mecca of flexibility.”

7 Are there any beers that

bring back specific memories?

XI questions

CE: Absolutely. I lived in Cologne in college for a term in ’93. That’s where kolsh originates. I have a very fond memory of the Altstadt Breweries. There were about four brewpubs in Altstadt on my way home from school on the U-bahn. We’d basically come south along the Rhine, then we’d change trains underneath the dome. You could come out by the cathedral and go to three different Kolsh brewpubs right there, right within blocks.

So, we’d go hit that a couple times a week. I was always dragging my friends around trying beers. I was 19 when I lived over there so that left an indelible mark. Döm, Früe, Goffel, and Reiseldorf. My host

father liked Reiseldorf quite a bit, so he always had a case of that in the cellar. So yeah, the memories of Cologne and drinking TONS of kolsh and traveling all around Germany with my backpack and my buddies from school. It was every weekend. Three months at school, a month of traveling, and after that independently, but that three months we were only home one weekend. We’d take off. Down to Bavaria, to Frankfurt, to Belgium, the Netherlands, wherever. It was a Mecca of flexibility. Where we lived in Cologne was the rail hub of western Germany.

We could go anywhere. So, I have fond memories of kolsh for sure.

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turned out. Also, just for the legacy and to honor Glen by producing a version of it.

8 Does your taste for beer change seasonally?

CE: You know… No. Seasonality never really affected my taste for beer. As Brewmaster, your role is to make sure everything tastes great all the time. So I’m always rotating. I never have two pints in succession of the same thing. It’s my job to drink everything on draft every week. It’s a horrible task.

WL: You poor thing.

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CE: I really have to be very objective and make sure we taste everything every week so that we’re executing our plan.

WL: And it’s a consistency thing?

CE: Yeah. Seasonality… No. I just go week by week. I love stout and porters in the middle of summer. I don’t go by the superficiality of it.

I love the summer though, because it gives us a chance to make Bavarian Hefeweizen. [He laughs] And watch it sit there.

WL: More for you to drink?

CE: Yeah. The Bavarian is a good example of that.

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Which of your beers would you pour a pint of for the President?

CE: Hmmm… I would pour him a pint of IPA just to show him really the “terr wor” the local area supports. This wonderful brewing ingredient showcases the adventuresome spirit of the northwest. It defines Portland.

It defines my favorite beer style.

Why not give him something that exemplifies what we believe in — and grow — in the Northwest and Portland specifically.

10 Do you think your tap handle is a good representation of your business?

CE: You mean slapped together

from Home Depot parts? [He laughs] Scraps? In a way, it started out with scrap plywood. Its ¾ inch plywood pucks from the scrap pile from the building and about three dollars in hardware from Home Depot. I always kinda considered tap handles to be the property of the pub. Once they leave the building you know you’ll never see them again. You shouldn’t spend a fortune on them because they’re gonna disappear. You should be able to produce them yourself because you never know when you’re gonna run out and the lead time you want to have hanging on you shoulder. They need to be unique and easily identifiable.

“Tap handles are really tough, though. It has to be cost effective and it has to define what you’re all about.”

I designed and built the handles at Laurelwood. It had a copper pipe, some standard fittings, standard placards. The cost structure was always – labor all in – I had to make it for under ten bucks. And that’s what we do here; I think we’re like eight or ten bucks. So the puck and basically cast parts from Home Depot. There’s 4 three

photo by Will Lund

XI questions

CE: I think that the found aspect of the plywood is.

We ran out of plywood [from the building]. From Brown’s Lumber we can get 130 pucks out of one $40 sheet of plywood.

WL: Wow. CE: Yeah. So we’re excited about that. I think it’s a pretty good use of material. It’s made of wood so it’s a real resource.

Unfortunately the steel is all imported, but I don’t know anyone in the states making hardware. It was creative and cost effective. I think it sends a pretty good message out that we’re using a scrap of plywood.

I think it loosely defines what we’re about. We’re going to make some new stuff with aluminum and waterjet cutting.

It’ll define us more with the

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inch washers, 3/8 by 6 inch I-bolt, two 3/8 nuts and one 3/8 coupler. That’s it. For each one.

WL: You sound like you can make one in your sleep.

CE: And two stickers. And they’re the same stickers we tag our kegs with, that we give out at festivals, we put in our check wallets. It’s universal.

You can get the same I-bolts at Brown’s Lumber, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. You don’t have to get acrylic handles from China or wherever the hell you find them. It’s very cost effective.

You’re not breaking the bank.

You know they’re not coming back. You’re always sending your little kids off to college and they’re never coming back.

WL: And do you think they’re a good symbol of who you are?

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WL: And it doesn’t have a hop on it?

CE: No hop.

WL: Nice.

BREW Q

11 If you could have one

brewer – living or dead – come into your place and make a batch with you, who would it be?

CE: Living or dead? ... I think I’d bring in someone from Germany. I want to say it’s either Conrad Settlemeier or the owner of Ayinger brewery [Franz Inselkammer]. I’m not sure if he’s the Brewmaster.

I would love the Brewmaster of Ayinger to come here and brew a batch of Bavarian Hefeweizen with me. Because that is a difficult style to nail.

I think that would be so cool: sit around in lederhosen, eat weisswurst, and drink Bavarian Hefeweizen with the Brewmaster of Ayinger. That would be a real treat.

WL: Do you think you’d learn something?

CE: Oh, hell yeah.

XI questions

bicycle element. It’ll be a cog cut out of an aluminum sheet.

I’ve got a friend with a machine shop in Clackamas, but we need to find a good source for the aluminum.

Tap handles are really tough, though. It has to be cost effective and it has to define what you’re all about. In beer, you only have about two opportunities to sway people visually: one is the tap handle and the other is the bottle label. People are still guarded when it comes to trying new beers when it comes to $4.99 for a 22oz or a four dollar pint of beer. A lot of times you just default to what you know.

WL: Do you have the bottle label design?

CE: Yeah. I’m really proud of it. It’s very simple, bold, and screen-printed so it’s a little more collectible. I think it’s really sharp. Three bottles when they’re facing, you can see it from the end of the isle.

It’s got a bike chain on it, so it shows what we’re all about.

And I’m proud to say that there are no local landmarks on it.

WL: [Laughs] CE: There’s no mountains, streams, or trees on our label.

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photo by Will Lund

ALAMEDA BREW HOUSE About This brewpub has been in business for nearly a decade, and already it’s crafting some of the better beers in Portland. It’s competing for, and winning, awards that the bigger guys like Widmer and Bridgeport dream of getting. Brewmaster John Eaton has put together a tight selection of brews that are sure to cater to anyone you bring in. They always have one of four fantastic seasonals on tap, along with a hand-pump cask ale and a nitro.

Environment The brewhouse isn’t too far from the beaten path on Fremont in NE Portland, surrounded by neighborhoods and cafes. And

it fits in perfectly. At first, you might think the décor would be more suited for a pretentious Pearl district restaurant, but give it a few minutes and you’ll find yourself sinking into your chair or booth and finding the charm of a place that does everything it creates very well.

Bring your folks. Bring a date. Take the kids, but don’t let them ruin the mellow vibe.

The Food It’s pretty impressive when we can’t decide which is better; the beer or the food. Alameda claims their menu is traditional northwest fare. That’s true, if you narrow the northwest down to Portland.

They have a well selected menu

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ABV

Black Bear XX Stout

6.8

El Torero IPA

7.1

Klickitat Pale Ale

5.3

Siskiyou Golden Ale

3.9

Irvington Juniper Porter

5.1

Wilshire Wheat Ale

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SEASONALS Brickhouse Brown Ale

4.4

East Village Amber

5.2

Papa Noel’s Olde Ale

7.2

Beaumont Bock Lager

6.3

Prices range High. Most dishes over $12

Standouts Large portions. Patio for nice days outside. Full bar.

Alameda Brew House

of delicious and locally produced items; including what we enjoyed: Artichoke Mushroom Linguini, piled so high with sautéed vegetables you have to fight through it to get to the noodles, as well as a daily special enchilada packed full of chicken that falls apart on the fork. But don’t forget the deserts!

They’re all made in house.

Especially try one of their amazing and affordable milkshakes. Just $3.75.

6 photo by Will Lund

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photo by Will Lund

AMNESIA BREW PUB About Amnesia is a brewpub that’s very comfortable with who they are.

They make great beer and they make it hoppy. They have great seasonals, but they rarely repeat them. They don’t advertise; they let their beers speak for themselves. At the moment this is being written, they don’t even have a website.

Word-of-mouth is working for them.

Get out there and experience the patio on a sunny day and see what Portland brewpubs were started for.

Environment They brew out of a warehouse on N Mississippi and have for a few years. To construct their brewpub, they literally freed up about 20’

by 50’ of their warehouse brewery, threw in a 25’ bar, and put in some picnic benches. Loading dock doors are your windows, cold concrete is your floor. This is as far from Bridgeport and the Pearl district mentality as you can get.

It’s far from pretentious and not quite hipster.

The Food This is not a traditional restaurant.

There are no menus. No one will seat you. I don’t even think there are coasters. What they do have is a chalkboard with four or five food options, but that’s being liberal.

There is no kitchen; everything is grilled on the front patio on a noticeably un-industrial barbeque.

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ABV

Dusty Trail Pale

5.2

The ESB

5.5

Slow Train Porter

5.3

Desolation IPA

6.2

Copacetic IPA

5.8

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You have the choice of burger or hotdog, with a few variations of each one. Both have a vegetarian alternative, be that a veggie burger or a tofu brat. There is no way this description can do justice to what they do, because regardless of how minimal their operation is, everything they make is delicious and makes you come back for more.

SEASONALS N/A

Prices range

Precious Pils

5.4

On the low side. Have a burger and chips for $9 and under. Sausages for $6 and under.

Frostys Revenge

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Standouts Monday specials: $3 pints, $10 pitchers.

Amnesia Brew Pub

Red Handed

33 photo by Will Lund

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