Who’s in your top 10?
by Beeraroundtown ~ March 10th, 2010. Filed under: Uncategorized.
So the other day I was in a conversation with a friend over who I thought was Portland’s best brewery. Later in the day I sat wondering who I thought were Oregon’s top brewers. After all, with a major influx of new breweries opening in the next year I need some bar to see how they stack up, and it’s something to look back on years from now.
Sitting back in deep beer fueled thought a few jumped to mind, then I stopped to consider their whole beer line up and things got more complicated. On one hand there are breweries like Hair of the Dog, they make Adam which could downright be the greatest fricken beer I’ve ever had, but their line-up is smaller and has a ton variability. On the other hand are breweries like Deschutes, they crank out great beers across the board, but might have a few less “wow” beers then the previous. How do you compare? Lastly there are quite a few breweries that I haven’t had a large enough sampling from, i.e. Brewers Union, Barley Browns, Oakshire, so those don’t get a fair shot. So enough with the blathering here is my list:
1. Block 15
2. Deschutes
3. Cascade Brewing
4. Hair of the Dog
5. Big Horse
6. Heater Allen
7. Upright
8. Standing Stone
9. Double Mountain
10. Laurelwood
Heater Allen? A all lager brewery? I’m not typically much of a lager guy, but damn they make great beer.
I’m not sure Cascade/Raccoon Lodge would have even been in this list a few years back, but their recent work with sour beers has ramped them up near the top.
Block 15, from no where these guys have risen to the top of my list in a short time they’ve been open. Every time I’ve been to their pub I’ve ordered up a big sampler tray full of inspiring beers.
The most interesting part of this for me was looking back on my list once finished and thinking about how it will stand in the coming years. I’m sure if I had created this list when I first moved to Oregon, and I wish I had, it would have looked very different. Maybe I’ll continue to hash out this list yearly to compare. So who’s going to climb up the rankings in 2010? Which of the new breweries opening up will leave a real impression?
So who’s in your top 10? Any bets for who will jump out of the gate in 2010?
March 10th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Caldera
March 10th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Wow, that’s an interesting list. Big Horse over Double Mountain? I feel dumb, I haven’t even had a beer from Big Horse.
I’m impressed that you could come up with a ranking of 10 breweries like that. After #1 — which would be Deschutes for me — I have a hard time ranking them. But somewhere on the list would be Bridgeport, Caldera, Full Sail, Hair of the Dog, Upright, Widmer.
For the big boys, I’m not talking so much about their supermarket range as about their seasonals and reserves. Then there would be about 20 breweries tied for 8th place on my list.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Yah, although I’m a big fan of Caldera, and they probably would have been on my list if I made it a few years back I just haven’t had the chance to try many of their beers in the last couple years. Jim does a great job though.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Bill,
Next time you’re in Hood River check it out, really excellent selection of styles all well done.
The list was difficult, then again saying one brewery is #4 and one is #5 isn’t saying much, more just an exercise in who is making the top ten.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I have to dissent on the Big Horse pick. I was there a month ago and had a five-beer sampler tray. Given the brewery’s history (mediocre), they’ve taken a big step forward with a new brewer. But the beers were still a tad inconsistent and only one sang to me.
I don’t know that I could do a top-to-bottom ten best list, but I would definitely have many of those in there. I have yet to give Block 15 a serious try, but I think it’s in the cards for the end of the month.
I agree with Bill that Caldera would make my list, as would Pelican. Full Sail would be in the mix, at least by dint of their Pilsner Room offerings. Hmmm…
March 10th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Hopworks would certainly be in my top 10.
March 10th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Jeff,
Disagree with me will you? Maybe I should just delete your post!
March 10th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Ha!
As I was saying, this is a perfect list….
March 10th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Derek,
Great call on Block 15. Nick and his team have been brewing some serious quality beers for a couple of years now. Of the 300 batches they’ve done, there are over 70 styles. My latest favorite, the bourbon-barrel aged oatmeal stout (Super Nebula), is outstanding. Of course, the only way the Alstrom Bros. can taste it is if they drive cross-country (yes, I’ve been following Jeff’s blog as well).
March 10th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Top ten, wow thats a hard list to make but I have to agree with you on Block 15, they are making excellent beer and the food is great. Favorites so far, Pappy’s Dark, Super Nebula and Hypnosis. And the fact that they are putting some of the beers on Cask is awesome & they are trading casks of beer with Brewers Union now. I would have to put Brewers Union on my list as the cask beer is unreal…its worth the drive. and Oakshire brewing, great beer, very nice people, its nice to see a brewery with just a tasting room and nothing else….just beer. Oh Hopworks, Deschutes, Caldera, Widmer, Full sail….just to get started
March 10th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Cascade? Really? I live in Beaverton and usually go across the river for a great beer. While Cascades sours and fruity brews may have drawn recent attention, their line-up wholistically is weak at best.
In order to be a top ten Oregon brewery you better not be a “one truck pony”.
The same could be argued for Big Horse. While I look forward every year to their Vernon the Rabbit Slayer (amazing fresh hop!) BH does not have the spectrum to belong on this list.
Sub in Roots or Hopworks
March 10th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Why have I never been to block 15? You would think that I would have been there at least once in all the years I’ve been going to Portland and the people I drink beer with there.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Jeff, I’m thinking road trip next time you’re in town.
March 11th, 2010 at 11:38 am
This list needs a lot of work!!!
March 11th, 2010 at 11:54 am
PDX, Please do explain.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Dave:
I disagree big time. I mean sure, outside of the sours and goses, the cascade line-up can be average at best, but I don’t think that’s what cascade is about anymore.
And they certainly haven’t been a one trick pony if you’ve been paying attention: Kriek, apricot, noyeaux, bourbonic plague, vlad the impaler, the vine, sang royal, sang rouge, mouton rouge, ol yeller, sang noir, nightfall, cuvee, etc… and then there are all the goses.
Detach the Cascade beers from the Raccoon lodge beers that are brewed for the average beaverton non-geek restaurant crowd, and you’ve got a brewery that’s consistently been hitting one after the next out of the park.
When the cascade barrel house opens and the division between the two sides of the business are more apparent, I think it would be very difficult to argue that cascade isn’t a top tier brewery in Oregon.
They’ve found their niche, and they’ve filled it exceedingly well.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
I think I’d put hopworks in over laurelwood, and Caldera in over Standing Stone.
My parents retired to Ashland, and whenever I go down there to visit, I get my share of standing stone and caldera, and I think Caldera really stands out over Standing Stone is quality and variety every time. I just had some caldera old growth imperial stout at Baileys last week, and I enjoyed that beer over anything I’ve ever had from standing stone to date.
I need to try block 15 now. I’ve known the name for a little while now, but never had any in my glass.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Jeff,
Yah, I am also a big fan of Caldera, and I was struggling with the list so the sat just on the outskirts. Sadly we don’t get enough of Caldera up here. What happened to every bar seeming to have dry hop orange and dry hop red like they did about 5 years ago?
As to Hopworks I’ve always been so/so on their beers. As an admitted lover of the malts over the hops perhaps their “stride” doesn’t line up with my tastes as well as some of the others, but nothing wrong with that, can’t appease everyone.
And you hit the nail on the head with Cascade.
March 11th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Now that Caldera is doing the 22’s, it sounds like we’ll see a lot more variety up here. Hopefully the increased interest in the brewery through their packaged goods will get more kegs sent this way too.
I had Hopportunity Knocks on tap at horsebrass along with their huge english breakfast the morning of the superbowl. I think I’ve seen dry hop orange recently on tap somewhere too, and like I said, I had that fantastic Old Growth last week.
Still have yet to visit the new pub in the old rogue space. Last time I drove down, I planned it around an announced opening date, just to find a sign on the door with the date crossed out and changed in black marker! Still, they have it on tap all over southern oregon when I’m down there.
What I really like about the Hopworks beers, is that despite being ales, they all have a really smooth, clean, crisp, refined quality like lagers. You’re right though, there isn’t much over there for someone who prefers malts to hops.
March 11th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
New Old Lompoc does a good job.
March 11th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
I went to Southern Oregon State college from 93-96, and was able to hang at the Original Rogue brewery/pub before they left and as it changed over to the Siskiyou Micro pub, at the time Caldera had just started and you could get all of the Caldera beers on tap and they were always excellent, its been a while since I’ve had the chance to get back to Ashland but i can’t wait to get back and go to the Caldera Tap house (formerly Siskiyou, formerly Rogue) its going to bring a lot of good memories back for me and getting the Caldera beers on tap will be nice as you said its hard to find them around. I was also around when Standing Stone opened and back then the beer was really ok but never came close to Caldera, they have gotten better over the years but still don’t compare to Caldera…Just my 2 cents…oh and yes road trip to Block 15, its worth it, I’m lucky to have a brother in Corvallis so I go everytime I’m down to see him.
March 11th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Don’t know about top ten but my top five would be…
1. Hair of the dog
2. Cascade
3. Deschutes
4. Double Mountain
5. Derek and Josh and Sean’s homebrew (seriously you guys brew some great beers…love the experimentation
March 12th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Todd,
Solid top 4, far to generous with #5, but thanks!
March 13th, 2010 at 12:52 am
big horse? seriously?
March 15th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Not sure how someone leaves Amnesia and Lompoc out of the discussion of PDX favs as both of them are great. And not to be a DM fanboy but I did just return from their 3rd anniversary party this weekend with a couple growlers
. Gotta concur about adding Pelican.
Top five though has to be
1. Double Mountain (IRA, Molten Lava, Hop Lava, Vaporizer, Chaos, Little Red Pils, etc.)
2. Laurelwood (line up of IPAs and Free range red still define NW brewing style for me even post Christian).
2. New Old Lompoc (C-Note, LSD, CSons greatings, etc.)
3. Ninkasi (Double Believer, Tricerihops, Otis)
4. Deschuettes (amazing line up pretty much year round)
5. Amnesia
7. Standing Stone (excellent lineup, wish I had been able to try their DIPA that was out so quickly at NAOBF last year before taking the top spot in voting).
Maybe my exposure to Block 15 is low, but I have tried everything they have moved at beer fests in town and at Rogue Brew Dog fest and can’t say I’ve been blown away.
Of coarse this just reflects my hop and red heavy pallet, I understand that there is huge interest for the Uprights and Hair of the Dogs of the World, but that is what is great about living here, tons of variet
.