The Big Smoke

It's been a week now since I returned from a two week trip to England. Now that I've settled back in to the doldrums of the shoulder season, I should have a bit of time to catch up on the paperwork, brew some beer, and post a few observations of my wonderings and wanderings abroad. However, that's not what this post is about, in spite of the suggestiveness of title of the post being one of London's nicknames.

Instead, I'm enjoying a pint of a smoked porter residing in one of the pumps at the bar. I'm not much of one to head for the darker stuff, especially if it's smoky. Give me a pale pint of Ordinary or Best with a hearty malt base and a balanced hop blend, but this is not too bad. Its history began this spring when I was talking to the brewer at McMenamin's High Street Cafe in Eugene, my local when I'm "down in the ditch". He had a leftover partial sack of smoked malt sitting around, and we got talking about what to do with it. The plan became one of collaborating on a smoked porter up here at the brewery, to be shared between us. In October the plan finally came to fruition, and a very very smoky porter was born. Perhaps we shouldn't have chucked in the whole 45 lbs. of smoked malt, but it makes it mighty tasty with a side of bacon. I believe this to be the first ever collaboration between a McMenamins brewery and an outsider. See you at the pub for a pint, or at High Street once we do some replumbing in the beer storage room.

OK, Right Then, Time to Get Back Live

August 12. Last post. It's been a nice break, from writing, that is. I believe I've mentioned here that I don't consider myself a writer. I don't experience that mild compulsion to put my thoughts into a more permanent form like I imagine the real writers do. But - it's time to get busy. It wasn't that there were no thoughts, mind you; just that I had too many things going on and sitting down at the computer wasn't one of them.

I'm now up near Seattle, attending the regional MBAA meeting. The topic for the meeting is cask-conditioned ale. Right up my alley. Some folks from OSU discovered our little pub and brewery this Spring and, as a result, I've had the honor to be invited to give a talk on cellarmanship. This should be interesting, as I've never given a "talk" before. But, what could go wrong? There's also some tasting forum, or panel, or some such thing, in which I think I get to sample some cask ales and talk about them. Simple. Easy. Then, this evening, there will be a cask feast where the shoulder rubbing and schmoozing should occur in abundance. I've delivered a cask of Jaws of Borrowdale, a sessionable Dark Mild, to the Elliott Bay Brewing Company for the event, and supposedly there will be around 20 offerings. More to come as I have time. It's morning now and I have to head over there to swing a mallet and change the ice quilts. And find a spot of breakfast.

Superannuation

Tomorrow this community public house and brewery will have survived three years. I'm not sure I have, but the building is still intact, the walls, doors and windows function as designed, and none of the kitchen and brewery equipment is broken at the moment. Coincidentally, tomorrow is also the 3rd Annual Oakridge Keg and Cask Festival. The street in front of the pub will be closed, and there will be food, beverages and entertainment from 2:00 to 8:00. After the festival we will bring the music inside and continue the merriment. I brewed a special beer for our birthday: "3rd Superannuation Ale" is an English Strong Ale, weighing in at 6.1%. Also, the first cask of some small beer, "Little Sir John", will spring up its head. It's an Ordinary Bitter at 3.4% featuring five hops and five grains. I haven't had either of these yet; they were just tapped and vented this morning. But what could go wrong? See you at the pub.

NO WAY!!

Pardon the caps and exclamation points, if you will, but this lowly pub and brewery that doesn't even care about winning awards has won an award. In a foreign country, no less. For an ordinary three grain and two hop Best Bitter. Well, that just goes to show ... something. I'll have to mull it over.

Eugene History Moment

It may seem like a small thing. Indeed it is, depending on your perspective, but as a proponent of real ale it is significant. For Oregon Craft Beer Month I was invited to bring four casks of real ale to 16 Tons in Eugene. So far it's going well. There are now FOUR beer engines in place, in a makeshift setup, and four casks in a state of repose in a couple of coolers from which the kegs have been banished. Two of the pumps are mine, part of my portable pub setup, but thanks to Nate at Eugene Rogue and a fellow what goes by the name of Mr. P. we have a complete lineup. For Thursday and Friday expect to find (while they last, of course):

• Cumbrian Moor, English Porter, ABV 5.0%


• Above Average, I.P.A., ABV 5.2%, 10% rye malt


• Wotcha A La Chinook, Best Bitter, ABV 4.4%, a cask of which is also on it's way to the GBBF


• Baba O'Rye'ly, E.S.B. ABV 5.3%, 10% rye malt

Later tonight I'll head over and do the tapping and venting. We will also see what temperature the lowest setting on the cooler is designed to achieve. I'm hoping for around 50 of those archaic but well-known Fahrenheit degrees (that's 10 of the trendy but aloof Celsius degrees). After a fine breakfast of a single strip of bacon, a double experso (as we call it) and a ginger cookie I'll be back down in Eugene to hook up the lines and ascertain the state of the swill, as you will.

Following on the heels of this fine event is the Oregon Brewers Fringe Fest at Belmont Station in Portland. I much prefer being part of festivals in which brewers and/or owners are present, and am delighted to once again have been invited.

Half Pint Grammar

We serve proper pints and half pints here at the pub, the latter being referred to as a "half". What is the plural of this, as when someone orders two halfs? Or is that halves? Or half's?

Back

The impetus to write just hasn't been there lately. I don't consider myself a writer, and I'm still puzzled by the notion that I even bother to blog about our little community public house. But, tonights's the night. Woohoo.

It's been really grim up here the last two months. Rain and cold. Rain and cold. Sometimes heavy rain and cold. Sometimes really cold with a light drizzle. I think we've had five days of sun since the beginning of April. I vividly recall the incident of this occurring on a Sunday. Our little collection of local service sector businesses are eager to see Summer come and the return of positive cash flow. Some ponder closing, selling or moving. So do we. But, for now, we wait it out and send flowers to our creditors. And I, for one, get to make beer.

The days of "Frost on the Bumpkin", our Winter Stout, are over. I've steered the kettle (and associated bits of stainless pipes and whatnots) towards a warmer weather porter called "Cumbrian Moor". At 5% it's a little above the sessionable range, so I recommend having three instead of four. The second cask of an IPA called "B.R.O.W. Brew" is also pouring. This contains Barley, Rye, golden naked Oats and torrefied Wheat, hence the name, and is very pale. Since my brewery is so small, I was able to hop (get it?) down to one of the local homebrew stores in Eugene and secure three pounds of Falconer's Flight to chuck into the boil, a proprietary blend of aromatic and flavorful hops that showcase the West Coast way of thinking. This ale flagrantly violates the West Coast law that IPA's have to be strong, since it weighs in at 5.3% and doesn't make a fuss.

As a participant in the underground cask-swapping fraternity, I have secured a couple rare casks from our friends at Block 15 in Corvallis. "River Mudd" was on. Yep, I said "was". A bunch of people drank it already. Right now I am enjoying the other'n, the "Ctrl-ALT-Del", which shines in cask form. I take a certain amount of enjoyment out of knowing that our pub is the only one IN THE WORLD that has this outside of Block 15. I suggest that, since camping is rather miserable this holiday weekend, you should come down to the pub and play Hearts or Scrabble all day long over a selection of six wonderful handpulls.

When the cask swap offerings run out, I'm bringing out the first cask of our 100th batch of ale. It's modeled on an English stock ale, aged with oak chips soaked in Laphroaig. I will be tapping a cask once per month at the end of each month until it's gone. It might turn out to be swill, but it'll sure beat a can of Keystone Lite in a pinch.