Sip Northwest, Spring 2019
C O M M O N T H R E A D South Puget Sound Pride A Connected Tale of Two Fermenters BY JULIA WAYNE PAT JANSEN Matchless Brewing These days Pat Jansen is widely known and recognized as one of the top brewers in Washington and the country But before he co founded Matchless Brewing in the Olympia Washington suburb of Tumwater he was just another homebrewer getting the hang of things Brewing started as a hobby thanks to a willingness to ferment anything he could find A bottle of juice tea whatever Jansen says Id just let it ferment Within a year of homebrewing the beer was ramping up in quality Thats when he met fellow Olympia based fermenter Dave White who would later found his own company Whitewood Cider Co and the two started hanging out together Quick as shit Jansen says they started talking about fermentations One weekend both were pouring at a festival and White introduced Jansen to Nate and Sara Reilly owners of Three Magnets Brewing Co in Olympia After connecting with the Reillys over their mutual interest in making beer Jansen was hired as their head brewer Things took off quickly and he never looked back When he stepped out to start Matchless he left his assistant brewer in charge at Three Magnets White supported his vision and now the pair kind of just toss info back and forth Jansen says They talk about aging and fermentation pH temperature control and occasionally collaborate For his sour beer production Jansen says the aging is really similar to making cider Together they combined a spontaneously fermented cider and a mixed culture saison called Palm Moon that they aged in a foudre large format barrel which will be released this spring Its one third fermented apple juice and two thirds malt wort Jansen says Its one of my favorite beers 74 S I P N O R T H W E S T C O M PHOTO BY WILL REA
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
