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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2010)
in other words july13 2010 Another Round: More Words of Wisdom About Beer By Scott Laird “A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it’s better to be thoroughly sure.”--Czech Proverb Where Have You Been?-- Several Vernonia’s Voice readers have recently asked me, “What happened to the beer column?” Well, ever since we started publishing twice each month-- well, it’s not that I haven’t been able to find time to drink beer-- that’s not a problem-- but it sure has been hard making time to write about it. Anyway, while talking on the phone to my my teetotaling father who lives in Pennsylvania the other day, he brought up that even he noticed that Another Round has been MIA; I figured it must be time to get back to writing about beer. So here you go. NAOBF, Our Favorite Fest-- We had a chance to attend the North American Organic Brewers Festival again this year and had a really good time. Held on the last weekend of June every year in North Portland’s Overlook Park, this festival just keeps getting better and better with age, like a good cast conditioned stout. Outdoors, with lots of space to spread out, this is my favorite Portland festival to attend. We went late on Saturday afternoon and the lines were a little long, but in general this is still a well- organized and accessible beer fest with some interesting beers to try. There were a bunch of IPA’s and Belgians, as was expected, and this year there were a couple of hard ciders that were kind of refreshing because it was a very hot day. And even us dark beer aficionados found some tasty brews to try. A couple of favorites: People’s Porter, a Coffee Porter from Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery was smooth and full-bodied with a very strong coffee nose and flavor. The Elliot Bay Vanilla Bean Organic Stout was an Oatmeal Stout that was rich and creamy, well-rounded with, surprise!, a strong vanilla flavor to it. Black Gold Porter by Ambacht Brewing in Hillsboro was spicy and kind of sour, but interesting. And the Mud Puddle, a Chocolate Porter from Oakshire Brewing in Eugene, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite breweries, was excellent-- complex, smooth and balanced with a really nice finish. Don’t Forget-- The Oregon Brewers Festival is July 22 through the 25th- - The 23rd Annual Oregon Brewers Festival will once again be held at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland. Always the last full weekend in July, times are: Thursday through Saturday-- noon to 9:00 P.M. and Sunday from noon to 7:00 P.M. One of the nation’s longest-running and best-loved craft beer festivals, it is the premier summer event for anyone who loves craft beer, and is the ideal venue to relax with friends and sip some suds. The Oregon Brewers Festival is a true reflection on the immense popularity of American craft brewing, and the fact that the festival continues to draw vast crowds 23 years after its inception is a strong testament to the public’s loyalty toward craft brews. The purpose of the Oregon Brewers Festival has always been to provide an opportunity to sample and learn about craft beer. The number of breweries participating has more than quadrupled from the first year, now with 81 craft breweries from across the county showcasing a score of beer styles ranging from Amber to Wit. Volunteers (now numbering 2,000) pour the beer, industry exhibitors explain key ingredients, homebrewers visually describe their craft with on-site brewing, and vendors offer beer-related merchandise. Make sure to mark your calendar, beer lovers, and stop by to support Oregon craft beers. within. So I ended up waiting tables at a McMenamins in Salem, volunteering in the brewery and starting to brew at home to get more experience. And things lined up and a position opened up at the Roadhouse and I was able to get it. It just all worked out for me. VV: How much do you get to experiment with creating your own recipes? 13 tap, because at each one the brewer has that kind of creative control. If I was working at another brewery in Oregon, your only hope would be to work your way up and eventually become the head brewer because everyone brews his recipes. What I love about working at McMenamins is I get to involve creativity in my job on a weekly basis. VV: What else do you like about your job? Brady: Growing up on a ranch, I really liked the physical labor. There’s something about working hard, feeling tired at the end of the day and knowing you’ve accomplished something. But, unfortunately, working on a ranch you don’t know if you’ve accomplished anything by the end of the day; because of the whims of the market or the weather, it could all be for naught. For me, the ideal job involves physical labor, it would involve a tangible product-- a product that makes people happy, and something that involves creativity where I use my mind as well as my body in my work. It just happens that the process of making beer involves those three things. Beer is great, but being a brewer has really been fulfilling in more ways than I would have guessed. My Buddy Brady, Part I-- I recently met a new couple that moved here to Vernonia in January. It turns out that Brady Romtvedt is a professional beer brewer-- he brews beer at the McMenamins Cornelius Pass Road House. Brady and I have starting hanging out a bit-- We watched some World Cup soccer together, play Ping Pong at his house or sometimes on Sundays at the Cedar Side, went to a Portland Timbers game and I even got to meet his parents when they were in town visiting. (His Mom is a wicked Ping Pong player-- She shows no mercy!) And, occasionally, we drink some beer together. (Actually, we Brady: One of the great drank beer during all those previous- things about working at McMenamins, mentioned activities!) as opposed to another brewery in the I sat down recently with Brady state, is the incredible license they give and, over a bottle of Deschutes Brewing their brewers to come up with their “Once-A-Decade Ale” (part of their own recipes. For example, me and my VV: As a brewer you spend a lot of Jubel series), had a little Q & A about brewing partner, Chris Osgood, have time by yourself, it’s kind of a solitary brewing and beer. The eleven taps to fill at the job, right? following is Part I of my Roadhouse. And we’re Brady: It is, and that’s another thing I went to conversation with my brewing four company that I enjoy. I can have social interaction school for a buddy Brady. recipes all the time-- by going over to the Roadhouse and Vernonia’s Voice: couple of years so I’m always brewing seeing how my beers are pouring. Each What do think of this Ruby, Hammerhead, month, we have our Last Wednesday keg over in Texas “Once-A-Decade Ale?” Terminator and whatever release where the brewers hangout and and ... hey, Brady: It has a the seasonal is. But even talk to people when they drink our beers some places beautiful, deep red, garnet something like IPA, and talk to local home brewers, so I get don’t really color and a handsome the northwest’s most a chance to do that. And I still get the have beer like popular beer, they allow chance to do beer education where I go deep tan head. It has a wonderful complexity on each brewer to come and talk to the servers in the company we do here in the nose, it smells like a the northwest. up with his or her own about the beer, about how to serve the beer that has been aged. India Pale Ale. So, at beer, about how to promote the beer. It has a wonderful malt the Roadhouse, we have But ultimately, I have a job where I can sweetness and sort of a licorice finish seven taps where the recipe is up to arrive as early as I want if it’s a hot day on the tongue. I detect a high level us. So a little more than half the time, in the summer, I can listen to music and of alcohol without it tasting hot like I’m brewing something that is my own I have my own space-- where it’s really a young beer would. There is a lot of recipe. And what it does is, it creates my brewery. malt, but the alcohol content is hiding a really interesting beer world. Right and balancing the sweetness well. It’s now, if you look at all the different Look for Part II of “My Buddy got a little bit of oak-aged flavor. The McMenamins pubs and breweries, there Brady” in the next issue of Vernonia’s mouth feel is wonderful-- it has some could be a hundred different beers on Voice, July 27th. nice burnt sugars, like a candied plum. A really delightful beer! VV: So, tell us about how you got into brewing? Brady: I got into brewing mostly because I really liked beer. I’m not necessarily a big beer drinker, but I went to school for a couple of years over in Texas and that was kind of a wake-up call that-- hey, some places Sat, 7/17 Rockin’ Blues don’t really have beer like we do here in the northwest. So, coming back, I CD Release Party Thur, 7/22 really set out to understand beer better. (No Live Music 7/23-24 during Run 21) So I started going around with my Sat, 7/31 Rockin’ Blues wife and buddies to different breweries and kept a tasting log and talked with Sat, 8/7 Classic Rock & Roll different brewers when I could. One 7-10PM All Dates of my motorcycle riding buddies was Café open Wed-Sun 9am-4pm, Serving Breakfast & Lunch a brewer for McMenamins and he told Dinner on music nights Closed Mon-Tue me that brewing is a pretty tough field Grocery & Liquor Store Mon-Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 9am-5pm to break into, but that McMenamins was 11139 Highway 202 (503) 755-2722 a good company that liked to hire from Birkenfeld Store and Café Liv Mus e ic! “Megan James Band” “Lock Stock & Barrel” “Bolt Upright” “Lynn Conover Band”
