Last night my wife and I stopped by the Bier Stein for a tasting of Oakshire’s latest single batch release; Smokin’ Bagpipes Scotch Ale. The brewery also brought with them some Very Ill-Tempered Gnome, a one-off brewed for this year’s Portland Holiday Ale Festival. And while not available for sampling, the bottle shop was serving Cerise Noir; a Cherry Wheat Ale from Oakshire’s Barrel Aging Program.
I talked to brewery Co-Founder Chris Althouse for a while about their new brews and what we can expect down the road from Oakshire. He told me that Smokin’ Bagpipes is the first in a (hopefully) monthly series of single batch releases. The one-offs are being created by Oakshire brewers Matt Van Wyk and Joe Jasper. They have a lot of great ideas in the mix for future releases; we can expect a baltic porter soon.
Chris also talked about Cerise Noir. It is a wheat ale, aged on Oregon cherries in Pinot Noir barrels from Sokol Blosser Winery. Only a couple barrels were produced, so this will be a very rare release. Chris said that Oakshire is having a lot of fun with its barrel aging program; and it will be churning out some unique beers. They currently have a batch of Berliner Weiss aging away in Pinot barrels. They are also looking into the feasibility of bottling some of their barrel-aged beers, giving people the opportunity to cellar them.
I had a chance to try all three beers at the tasting. I started with the Very Ill-Tempered Gnome, which I won’t go into a lot of detail about; many of you have already tried it at the Holiday Ale Fest. For those who haven’t, it is a lot like the regular Gnome, but jacked up to barley wine strength. It clocks in at 9.7% ABV and sports 100+ IBU. If you have yet to try the regular Gnome either, then you are missing out on a great winter ale. Go out and buy a bottle tonight.
Next up was the Smokin’ Bagpipes. I have not had a lot of experience with scotch ales, but if they all taste as good as this one, I foresee that changing quickly. It is a big, malt driven ale with a sweet, caramel finish. It also had a subdued smokiness, which I learned was from the use of a cherry wood smoked malt. The malt makes up just 3% of the total grain bill, so the smoke flavor is very subtle. The ale is extremely smooth drinking, despite its full body and higher alcohol content (7% ABV).
The last beer I tried was the Cerise Noir. It was not available for sampling, so I purchased a glass at the bar while my wife ordered herself a pint of the Bagpipes. The ale was a cloudy pink color with a white fizzy head. It smelled very tart, but was not overly fruity. It tasted quite sour upfront, but as it faded, I could pick up a lot of grape from the wine barrels. When talking with Chris, he agreed that the cherries imparted much more tartness than actual cherry flavor, and that the Pinot really shined through. The sharp flavors completely masked the wheat ale’s 7% ABV, and the fizzy carbonation made it go down quickly.
I have to say that all three beers were great, with Smokin’ Bagpipes being my favorite of the night. If you have an opportunity to try any of them, I encourage you to do so. Only 22 kegs of the scotch ale were produced, but I believe I heard that some were destined for Portland. If you happen to be in the Eugene area, all three will be on tap at the Bier Stein until the run out. This may be the only place to try Cerise Noir; only a couple barrels were made.
Finally, I want to mention that Oakshire is having a Brewers Dinner in late January at the Downward Dog/Cloud 9 in Corvallis. When more details are available, I will post them.
Cheers!
Kevin