The Unique Odyssey of Mt.Tabor Brewing

Every brewery has a story. Just like any business. Of course, some of the stories are more interesting than others. For Mt. Tabor Brewing, which just opened a production brewery and tasting room in Southeast Portland, it's been quite a ride.

The first edition of the brewery, launched by friends Eric Surface and Brian Maher, was located in Maher's garage. Subsequently, they moved to an industrial space in Montavilla in 2010. A year later, they lost that spot. That led to Version 3 in downtown Vancouver, opened in October 2011. Now there's Version 4 in Portland.

"When we moved to Vancouver, the brewery was really nothing more than a hobby that supported itself," Surface says "But we quickly outgrew the limited space there. My vision had always been that our production facility should be in Portland and we actually made that happen more quickly than I imagined when we moved to Vancouver."

In fact, plans for Portland were moving forward well before their lease in downtown Vancouver ended last May. Two years ago, Surface and several partners leased 6,000 sq ft of space in the Buckman neighborhood. Since then, they've been navigating the construction and permit process involved in getting the doors open, which happened a week ago.

Another twist in the road involves their head brewer. When the previous brewer left to pursue another opportunity, Surface needed a replacement. A lot of industry heads spun Exorcist-style when they learned Ben Dobler, a 20-year Widmer veteran, had opted to leave a good job in an established company to roll the dice with Mt. Tabor as head brewer.

"I saw things changing at the CBA," says Dobler, who worked in new product development for most of his last 10 years there. "They wanted me to create inexpensive beers that could be sold at a premium price. The stress was mental, not physical. But the uncertainty of what's happening with the CBA and whether I'd still have a job in a couple of years made me uncomfortable."

Dobler and Surface knew each other from their days at Mountain View High School in Vancouver, classes of '92 and '93, respectively. They had stayed in touch over the years through mutual friends and had occasionally spoken. Would Dobler leave a cush job at Widmer to join a startup working 60 grueling hours a week?

"I had no idea if he'd be interested," Surface says. But we have similar tastes in beer and similar interests outside brewing. He seemed like a natural fit for our program and the expansion I envisioned with the move back to Portland. I figured there was no harm in asking so I sent him a text message."

Dobler, somewhat bored at Widmer, saw potential at Mt. Tabor and thought it represented a stimulating opportunity. "I'm going to brew quality beer my way," he said. "The beer list will reflect my preference for balanced, drinkable, low ABV beers. I'm not a fan of alcohol bombs where patrons have to be carted out after more than a pint."

The Portland location features a 15 bbl brewhouse with three 20 bbl fermenters. They could brew up to 120 barrels a month with the current setup, and expect to produce around 500 barrels this year. The taproom, managed by veteran Nicole Kasten, will be open Friday and Saturday for the time being. Soon enough, Surface expects to add Sunday and Thursday.

Kasten, Surface, Dobler

Growth will happen primarily via draft distribution for now, Surface said. Mt. Tabor beers are distributed by Running Man in Portland and by Stein in Vancouver. They will consider packaging options once draft volume edges closer to capacity. Their space has considerable room for expansion, when the time is right.

The beers on the core list are solid and all are under 7% ABV. But there isn't a single niche or zinger on the list, which seems odd. Normally, you walk into a Portland brewery and see at least one standout, flagship beer. Not here. In the heart of the craziest craft beer market in the country, these guys expect to attract a following with quality and drinkability. We shall see.

Despite the heavy recent focus on Portland, Vancouver has not been entirely abandoned. Surface and partners have leased space in the Felida area and will open a brewpub and pizza joint there by the end of the year, if all goes well. That location, in an underserved residential area not far from Surface's house, should do especially well.

Mt. Tabor's strange, twisting journey continues.

Editor's Note: On October 15, two weeks after this story was published, Ben Dobler and Nicole Kasten announced they are leaving Mt. Tabor Brewing. No reasons were given to the public. Mt. Tabor's strange odyssey continues.

Widmer Rolls into 2013 with Renewed Look, New Beers

The folks down at Widmer Brothers Brewing celebrated the new year with a beer release party the other night. It was fun event, with beers all around, gourmet cheese appetizers and a mildly spicy stew for the main course. Three ice creams and stouts made up the desert mix. Great stuff.

Ice cream and stout...yummy!

Kurt and Rob Widmer, as well as members of their brewing, marketing and other teams were present. Thirsty operatives from virtually every beer-centric media outlet in the area also stopped by. No one in their right mind wants to miss a party like this.

Just to be clear, this was strictly a Widmer affair. There was no mention of the other Craft Brew Alliance brands...Omission, Redhook and Kona. This was all about what Widmer is doing and where they're headed for 2013.

Big Picture
I'll get to the star of the evening momentarily, but first the big picture. Widmer is in the process of revamping its packaging for 2013. You'll notice it right away when you see the seasonals and Rotator IPAs on store shelves. It's a bolder look than before and will eventually be applied more broadly.

They're calling this "revised" as opposed to "rebranded" packaging. There's a big difference. If this were a full rebranding, there would certainly be a new logo...and there isn't. What they've done is brighten up the presentation. The big idea seems to be clearer differentiation between the various brands and that's what you'll likely see as the new packaging rolls out in coming months.

Sixer side view

It seems to me the new packaging is part of a reevaluation of their overall marketing plan that began in 2011. Why did it start then? Because that's when they started to seriously address the dipping performance of Hefeweizen, the main meal ticket for many years. This reality is surely driving many initiatives as Widmer moves to solidify a broader portfolio.

One interesting quirk with the packaging is that the beer specs are on the bottom. Yep. Don't bother looking for info on ABV, IBU or other ingredients on the side panels. Nothing there. You'll have to lift that six-pack above your head to see what's in the beer. I'm not sure how 12-packs and cases will be handled, but I suspect they're be the same.

Stars Out
The star of the show in my mind was the newly released Columbia Common Spring Ale. I was talking about the rise of lower ABV, session beers the other day; lo and behold, I ran into this beer that very evening. What a great find!

Bottoms up details!

Backing up, brewer Ben Dobler told me this beer was in the pipeline when I met with him a couple of months back. He gave me a bunch of details, which I wrote it down in my notes and mostly forgot because, well, because I knew it wasn't going to be released for a few months. Then I forgot about it.

Columbia Common features a nice combination of flavor and drinkability. At 4.7% ABV, it has less kick than Budweiser. Make no mistake, though, this light amber beer has great character. The zesty hop notes are derived form Columbia hops, which were nearly extinct before Widmer brewers rediscovered them. Another part of the equation is the combination of Hefeweizen and lager yeast, which seems to create an almost creamy body.

Fine cheese!

Although it has the makings of a year-round beer, Columbia Common is billed as a Spring Seasonal, with January-April availability. That's seems odd. I'm guessing the timetable is related to the wide distribution of Widmer beers. Some of this beer has to be shipped to distant markets and that takes time. So they've built that into production and marketing.

The other new seasonal is Chocolate Russian Imperial Stout '13. This is a nice beer. They used the KGB Russian Imperial Stout recipe and added Ecuadorian cocoa nibs. The result is a complex beer that is mildly sweet with hints of cocoa and coffee. Hops are in the background. This thing clocks in at 9.3%, so you have to be careful.

Add-ons
Another of the evening's beers was O'Ryely IPA, one of the Rotator IPAs from last year. Widmer is re-releasing O'Ryely in the revised packaging. They say this is "a big punchy IPA with notable hoppiness and just a touch of caramel malty sweetness." But it's 6.4% and only 50 IBU, so it isn't too punchy.

O'Ryely sixer side panel

It's good to see O'Ryely back out there. The revised packaging will certainly make it easier to spot than the (too busy) old packaging. The beer itself seems to have a bit more zip in hop character than what I remember, but Dobler said the recipe is the same. Perhaps minor ingredient variations are responsible for any change...or maybe I'm just crazy. Sure, that's it.

Of all the recent Rotator IPAs, I like O'Ryely the best. The others (Spiced, Falconers and Shaddock) never came close to my IPA sweet spot. For my money, the best of the Rotator IPAs was the original X-114, which came on the heels of Broken Halo...both retired. Maybe Widmer will bring these beers back as part of the new approach. Hope springs eternal.

All and all, it seems the folks at Widmer are heading into 2013 with a solid game plan that mixes innovation with tradition. I look forward to seeing what else they've got up their sleeves.

Disclosure: Like everyone who attended this event, I was treated to snacks, free beer, dinner and a take home beer of my choice.

Widmer Moves Forward with Reinvented Approach

I probably sipped my first glass of Widmer Hefeweizen while I was a graduate student in the great tundra of the Palouse, otherwise known as Washington State University. This was in the late Eighties and there were maybe one or two pubs in town where you could find decent beer.

The Widmer story is fairly well known. The brothers, Kurt and Rob, built the business from the ground up, with a sizable assist from their dad, Ray. You see, Ray could fix anything...a nice skill to have when your brewery is made up primarily of scavenged dairy equipment held together by baling twine. Things weren't very sophisticated in those days and the Widmers weren't the only ones who built a brewery from junk.

Kurt and Rob back in the day

But the business was a success and they eventually grew up and out of their original digs on Northwest Lovejoy. Seeking a larger space, they looked at numerous locations before getting hooked on an abandoned building on Russell Street. This was not a good area in those days and nearly everyone advised them against taking up residence there. But the price was right ($1) and they made the leap.

A few million bucks in renovations and improvements later, they went on to even greater success at the Russell St. location. The brewing operation has expanded dramatically into one of the largest regional craft breweries in the country. Today, Widmer is part of the Craft Brew Alliance, which includes the Kona, Redhook and Omission (gluten-free beer) brands.

They've produced many great beers over the years, but it's an accepted fact that Hefeweizen built their brand. The brothers tapped into the broad appeal of Hef when they partnered with Anheuser-Busch in 1997. That deal provided access to the AB distribution network, thus putting Hefeweizen on store shelves throughout most of the country. A major home run.

I had a chance to chat with the brothers the other week as part of a project that's a little bigger than this blog...more on that down the line. I was surprised to find them sharing a very plain office at the street level on Russell. This is a long-term arrangement. I don't know how they manage it, honestly, but working in close proximity has probably benefited the business over the years.

Back to the flagship beer, Hefeweizen. If you follow the beer industry at all, you may know the beer that essentially built the Widmer brand has been dropping market share in recent years. It's the result of more competition in the wheat beer segment (from Blue Moon and others) and a growing flood of craft beer choices, generally.

The lagging performance of Hefeweizen has forced the organization to rethink and alter its approach. You see this represented in the Rotator IPA series, the Series 924 beers and the increasing number of experimental and seasonal beers. An active creativity is driving the business into the future these days.

I was recently invited down to taste some of the new (and old) concoctions. A tasting trip to the Gasthaus is always a worthwhile treat, even more so when you have the benefit of a guide...in this case brewer Ben Dobler. Ben came to Widmer in 1996 after three years at Bridgeport. He is well-immersed in the experimental, pilot brewing program.

Tasting in progress

The current lineup of Widmer beers has some interesting twists. Of course, there's a seasonal aspect to it and you won't find everything on the list in the pub. A few of my highlights below.

X Wheat is unfiltered wheat beer brewed from a recipe used in the early days of Hefeweizen. Tasted next to the current version, X-Wheat is clearly a bolder interpretation of the style. It seems the current Hef has been softened up somewhat over the years to gain (my guess) wider appeal. I really liked the X Wheat.

Series 924 Milk Stout has a rich chocolate flavor and is ultra smooth with a vaguely sweet finish...apparently the result of adding milk sugar. I'm not normally a stout fan, but this is a good one. Milk Stout has limited availability so you'll have to get it soon.

Brrrr Seasonal Ale is Widmer's standard winter beer, available in bottles and on tap. A lot of people get fooled by this beer, thinking it's a dark winter beer. That's not what it is at all. Instead, Brrr is a mildly sweet, mildly hoppy red ale. At 7.2%, it isn't exactly light. But Brrr is balanced and highly drinkable.

Alchemy Project: Barrel Aged Brrrrrbon '12 is essentially Brrr aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels. This is the third year of this beer. Bourbon aroma and flavor is very upfront and pretty hard to miss in this one. I think it could use some cellaring. This is a big beer (9.2%) and it will surely be better in a year or two than it is now...though it isn't bad now.

Nelson Imperial IPA is one of the year-round Series 924 beers. It packs a pretty serious hop punch (70 IBU) balanced out to some extent by a subtly sweet malt background. I've liked this beer since it was released because it's consistently clean and flavorful. There are other Imperial IPAs I like better, but Nelson is a solid standby.

They were featuring several New Zealand Hop beers...Pacific Gem, Pacifica and Southern Cross. Ben described these as experimental brews made to test the characteristics of the hops. None of these beers was great, though Southern Cross wasn't bad. They're far more important as a symbol of Widmer's commitment to trying new approaches and ingredients.

In the overall scheme of things, I'd say the challenge posed by the threat to Hefeweizen has made Widmer better. They cruised along for many years on the strength of Hef's financials. I don't want to say they weren't creating anything interesting during that time, but they have most definitely turned their game up a notch in the last few years. It's good to see.