“Wir Zwicken” in Eugene
I spent Zwickelmania in Eugene February 13th this year. Statewide the brewery open house weekend, sponsored by the Oregon Brewers Guild drew 10,00o attendees. In Eugene a bit of February sunshine and the KLCC Microbrew Fest the same weekend brought out the crowds.
I was lucky enough to be on a beer junket sponsored by the Eugene, Cascades and Coast tourism board with a crowd of other beer writers and bloggers. The ECC “Adventure Center” a few blocks away from Hop Valley features a selection of local beers and wines.
We started the day at Hop Valley Brewing in Springfield, where brewer Trevor Howard poured us samples of his Natty Red from the zwickel. A zwickel is a small spigot or samplecock on a brewing vessel that allows a brewer to pull a sample of beer (generally to check on its progress). The word, like many brewing terms is borrowed (well probably stolen) from German. The verb zwicken means to nip or to pinch, so Wir zwicken became the motto for the day. The Natty Red from the conditioning vessel was a tasty NW red, with big citrusy hop flavor from Cluster, Simcoe, and Cascades pairing with a sweet toasty chewy malt mouthfeel.
Hop Valley, in the former Spencers Brewpub location just off Beltline, is bedecked in photos of early Lane County hop pickers, and a McKenzie River driftboat hangs from the ceiling. (These flat bottomed boats were designed locally and have become quite popular with fishermen throughout the west.) The enlargements of the photos of local hop pickers tie Hop Valley to the local history, which it is proud to celebrate. Hop Valley is brewing a special beer for Springfield’s 125th anniversary celebration later this year.
In Eugene, Ninkasi Brewing was featuring Oregon Beef burgers, from cows fed on Ninkasi’s spent grain. Owner Jamie Floyd gave us a tour of the rapidly expanding brewery. Last time I was at Ninkasi, in November of 2008, they had just installed their new 30 barrel system, well the brewery is growing so fast they are building an expansion which will include a Krones bottling line, 240-barrel fermentation vessels, and a 60-barrel brewhouse. The brewery has grown from 2 employees (Floyd and business partner Nikos Ridge) to 37 today. All this growth hasn’t distracted Floyd from his calling to be “the village brewer” though. He strives to support the local community, and on Thursdays all employees get chair massages. The growth is gauged to keep up with demand, which keeps growing both locally and in other markets. Ninkasi’s beers are now available in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, and in the Bay Area in California. The local Costco in Eugene recently agreed to buy two pallets of Ninkasi beer and said maybe they would buy two more. A few months later they are on their 32nd pallet of Ninkasi beer, and it has become the first beer to outsell Coors Light and Corona at that store. Ever wanted proof that Oregonians like their hops? 60% of Ninkasi’s production is Total Domination IPA, and Tricerahops its Imperial IPA and Believer, a NW Red ale, which, though maltier clocks in at 60 IBUs make up another 25%. Floyd still likes to have fun, and the Ninkasi brews special beers for Burning Man and The Oregon Country Fair, as well as offering limited release beers for the local draught market.
Recently Ninkasi opened a beautiful new tasting room with swanky locally designed metal tables and bar, and offices that have a layout that resembles the bridge of a starship. (Their conference table is something that would do Darth Vader’s sense of style proud). The tasting room is open 11-7 seven days a week.
Across town at Oakshire, food carts were on hand for Zwickelmania, and the atmosphere was quite festive. The production brewery has a small tasting bar, open two days a week, with a few special beers brewed on its half-barrel pilot brewery.
Brewmaster Matt Van Wyck showed off the brewery’s newly acquired 30-barrel and 80-barrel vessels. The brewery got its start in 2006 as Willamette Brewery with a 4 barrel system, but now has a 15 barrel system. The brewery was forced to change its name by winemaking behemoth Willamette Valley Vineyards, and chose Oakshire, which refers to the Willamette Valley’s white oak savannah.
“The oak tree symbolizes independence and strength, what Oregon is all about, and shire is community and bioregion,” says founder Jeff Althouse. “In my opinion we don’t really need much more than we make here in Oregon.”
Last year Oakshire’s Overcast Espresso Stout was its top seller, though only by 10-20 barrels more than its Watershed IPA. The espresso for the Stout comes from Eugene roaster Wandering Goat, and is made in a cold press extraction in 10 gallon batches. In the 80-barrel vessels, 100 pounds of espresso are used.
We badgered Van Wyck into letting us sample Oakshire’s new spring seasonal, a Cascadian Dark Ale, called O’Dark:30, though it had only been in the fermentor two days. It showed excellent potential, and I am excited to try it when it comes out. That’s the beauty of Zwickelmania- a chance to taste beers still in the fermentor. Cheers to Zwickelmania.