Corvallis
10-percent ABV, “Some Like it Hop” is one of the
strongest and most enjoyable beers around, and when
placed hand-in-hand with the wine-like delicacy of Flat
Tail’s English ESB, it creates a beautiful contrast that
you can’t help but enjoy.
W O RD S BY A N D Y VALENT I NE • PHOT O S BY JACKSO N VO ELKEL
OREGON TRAIL BREWING COMPANY
Oregon Trail, founded in 1987, is the oldest brewery
in the Willamette Valley and the fourth oldest in
Oregon. The copper kettle that houses pounds upon
pounds of ingredients each year attests to this fact — it
used to belong to Pyramid Breweries, which is now a
corporately run giant out of Seattle. Beyond being long
established, though, Oregon Trail has an antiquity to it
that serves more to intrigue than to impress. With a
limited number of beers on tap at the brewery itself,
the true excitement in a tour here starts with the
gravity-based system they use.
Each story has a hole in the floor and a hole in the
ceiling (with the exception of the third and highest
story) through which the ingredients for every beer
must pass before reaching their final destination in the
miniscule, packed-like-sardines fermentation room.
“Brewing is, not even on purpose, a very green
industry,” says Sean Martin, self-proclaimed “everything
man” and brewmaster of Oregon Trail. His explanation
of the green gravity system makes it appear
exceptionally fertile, and it’s clear that he enjoys it.
Martin gets a workout each day from climbing the
steps, and for a low-personnel project such as this, the
small amount of beer they have ready to go is really
quite awesome.
“My favorite beer depends on my mood and the
weather,” Martin says, giving a nod to the Oregon heat
of late. “I’ve been drinking a ton of Wit, but in the
winter nothing beats our Ginseng Porter.” With summer
in the air, the temperature has been rising in Oregon,
and the Oregon Trail Wit is perfect for shaking off the
swelter — light in texture and taste but surprisingly
dark in color, it could have you back on your feet (or
sitting on your ass) in no time.
BLOCK 15 BREW PUB
Unfortunately, Block 15’s owner and founding
brewmaster, Nick Arzner, was unavailable for comment
due to a case of Widespread Panic, but that meant
Matt Williams was given a chance to spit some game.
Though still young, Matt has been on the scene for a
good six years, and he’s gained barrels of experience
along the way.
“Every day I end up learning something new,” says
Williams, remarking that Arzner has shown him
techniques he never could have learned in school.
The Block 15 Brew Pub is small and lively; they
have an insane assortment of beers — including a
house brew designed as a stand in for the domestic
bullshit they got tired of serving — and the food is
awesome. They plan to expand next door with a
“European-style beer café,” and that’s probably for the
best, considering that they need the space.
Literally every single barrel, bag of grain and piece
of equipment in Block 15’s labyrinthine cellar was
carried down by hand. This includes, of course, the
custom-designed fermentation tanks that weigh in at
something to the tune of 800 pounds each.
Dave Marliave
Flat Tail Brewing
At this point, I feel it’s only right to mention the
Bourbon Barrel Porter. When you crack the wax-sealed
cap on a bottle of this beer, you better be ready to
smell whiskey and taste barbeque — in short, it’s
fucking dank. At 10-percent ABV (alcohol by volume)
it’ll play with your head pretty hard. I’d recommend
eating before trying this.
Speaking of ABV, the Corvallis beer scene must be
full of wasted people. Seriously, the beers up there
average 8 to 10-percent a lot of the time, and most of
them are deceptively light. This is a fact easily
discovered at Corvallis’ youngest brewery, Flat Tail.
FLAT TAIL BREWING
Sean Martin
Oregon Trail Brewing Company
The vibe at Flat Tail Brewing is chilled out. With
five-year brewer Dave Marliave manning their seven-
barrel system at all times, there’s rarely a complaint to
be heard — that is, unless you don’t like beer. Marliave
got his degree at OSU’s School of Fermentation
Sciences — a trend that would appear to grip the entire
Corvallis beer scene by the balls — and since graduating
at the beginning of last summer, he’s set to work finely
tuning his art.
“Brewing is like any art form,” says Marliave. “It has
layers.” And sure, most of his beers have a bunch of
separate layers — each of them as delicious as the last
— but what happens when they’re mixed together?
This, it would seem, is a process of trial and error,
because it’s all too easy to end up with solid separate
layers that don’t mesh well, “It’s like a peanut butter,
jelly and bacon smoothie,” Marliave explains. “The
ingredients are great on their own, but not always
together.”
Overall, the beer at Flat Tail is incredible. Dare I say
it? They’ve stumbled upon a double IPA recipe that
blows Ninkasi’s “Tricerahops” out of the water — at
Matt Williams
Block 15 Brew Pub
“(Some of) our fermenters were designed specially
so that they would fit down the stairs,” Williams says.
Honestly, it’s miraculous how much stuff they’ve got
down there — and it’s probably a safe bet that none of
it’s ever coming back up.
Of the 14 beers on tap at Block 15, the flight you’re
looking at should probably include the following:
Aboriginale, King Caspian, Wandelpad and Alpha IPA.
The rest is up to you, but those four are freakin’
magical. Unfortunately, the “Millennium Falcon” IPA
that Williams deems his personal favorite currently is
not in production. As he says, though: “The Millennium
Falcon will be back, I’m sure.”
C O N T I N U E D
O N
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THE STATE OF SUDS 2011 5