Sip Northwest, Fall 2016

BY ADRIENNE SO 51 S I P N O R T H W E S T C O M BEST PILSNER 1ST PLACE 7 Seas Brewing 253 ORIGIN Gig Harbor WA CHARACTER Named for the area code fr om which it hails 7 Seas introduced this beer in 2014 with the goal of supporting various nonprofi t causes in the 253 Sparkling gold this benevolent brew features a soft metallic hop character combined with clean cracker like fl avors Simply put it tastes like beer should best served cold refr eshing bready hoppy balanced and supremely quaff able 10 12oz 6 pack 7seasbrewing com 2ND PLACE Double Mountain Brewery 5 16oz draft 3RD PLACE Boneyard Beer Pabo Pils 6 32oz crowler BEST WHEAT 1ST PLACE Fish Brewing Co Leavenworth Biers Boulder Bend ORIGIN Olympia WA CHARACTER Fish Brewing makes its Leavenworth Biers to refl ect the German tradition and this one qualifi es as a world class dunkelweizen dark wheat ale On the nose it has a slightly bready cake like aroma and on the palate the fl avors are rich and chocolaty with an ester y sweetness reminiscent of ripe pears In the end it is dry and not overly sweet 9 12oz 6 pack fi shbrewing com 2ND PLACE Full Sail Brewing Co Blood Orange 8 6 pack 3RD PLACE Fremont Brewing Co Wandering 4 22oz Industry Influencer ART LARRANCE CASCADE BREWING PORTLAND I n the case of Art Larrance infl uencer might be a less accurate term than creator Along with the McMenamins the Widmer brothers the Ponzis and several other iconic beverage families Larrance is responsible for passing the Brewpub Bill in 1985 the historic legislation that allowed breweries to serve beer on their premises As memorialized in Portland legend Larrance introduced the idea of the brewpub to state Rep Tom Mason in the shower at the Multnomah Athletic Club Thats accurate Larrance admits We started talking in the shower and kept talking after we got out of the shower Mason introduced it in the Oregon House in January 1985 and it passed later that year Without Larrance there might not be an Oregon craft beer scene at all If that were his only contribution it would be hugely signifi cant But Larrance had barely started In 1986 he co founded Portland Brewing one of the four original Portland breweries with Fred Bowman and Jim Goodwin He was also the driving force behind the creation of the Oregon Brewers Festival and was its main organizer for many years When Portland Brewing sold shares to stockholders and the owners lost control of the company Larrance was shown the door But after a few years of trial and error that decision resulted in one of Larrances most successful enterprises yet In 1998 Larrance and Ron Gansberg a former co worker at Portland Brewing opened Raccoon Lodge in west Portland As they began to develop their beers they grappled with how to defi ne themselves and move away from quickly ubiquitous India pale ales and presciently hit upon the idea of using Lactobacillus to produce sour beers with local Northwestern ingredients The duos Cascade Brewing Barrel House opened in 2010 with a variety of sour and barrel aged beers including their fl agship Cascade Kriek a sour red ale aged in oak barrels with Bing and sour pie cherries Again Larrance and Gansberg helped usher in a new era of Oregon brewing this time the current mania for sour beers and wild fermentation It was luck and timing and a number of factors says Larrance of his long and illustrious career I feel honored and privileged to have been involved with it all And is there anything else to come from the man who has been at the forefront of Oregon beer for so long We have three generations of family in the business now Larrance says Ill probably withdraw after a period of time But I want to stay around I just want to play with the toys that Ive got I dont need anything else