Foyston's Follies and the Imploding Oregonian

John Foyston has left the Oregonian. Rather, he was shown the door over what the paper describes as a breach of journalistic ethics. Hmmm. I'm actually surprised to learn the Big O knows anything about journalistic ethics, but I'll get to that issue in due time.

Foyston foto

In a story published on the Oregon Live website the other day, editor Mark Katches explains why the paper cut ties with Foyston. It's a simple business, really. Foyston lifted passages from press releases and brewery websites and included them in posts without attribution. Very shoddy.

Not to get too far afield, but let me just say that what John did is fairly common among beer bloggers. We get a lot of press releases. Many who blog simply regurgitate these releases on their sites verbatim or with minimal change and without attribution. That's not to say it's okay. It isn't. But it's common.

I've actually talked about the fact that many bloggers are nothing more than shills for the industry. You write friendly stuff and you get free beer. Viola! It gets better. Some hacks write about breweries and events in which they have a financial interest as if they're objective observes. That's the virtual black hole of beer writing. But never mind.

I make no excuses for Foyston, And neither does he. In a Facebook post, he took responsibility for errors in judgement. There was a mitigating circumstance in the case of the piece that got him axed, but nothing excuses the pattern of lapses described by Katches.

In case you're wondering, and you should be wondering, I've known John for five or so years and consider him a friend. He's your prototypical nice guy and also a renaissance man,..a painter, writer, musician, motorcycle mechanic and more.

More to the point, Foyston is easily the most read beer writer in Portland. He built a following over the years by updating readers on the local scene and storytelling. John knows everyone in the industry and is much beloved, partly because he doesn't write critical pieces.

The riff between John and the Oregonian is bizarre. Sure he violated the rules of journalism, apparently more than once. But why sever ties with the area's most renowned beer writer? Why not issue a firm reprimand and move on?

The answer is simple enough. The Big O has been in deep decline for many years. As Jeff Alworth suggests in his take on this mess, out-of-state owners mostly botched efforts to join the digital revolution. With print in free fall, they have been hemorrhaging cash hand over fist.

As a result, they've been dumping senior level talent as a way to stay afloat. If you wonder why the paper's content is wafer thin, look no further than the fact that they no longer have the people to investigate and report. Talk about a lapse in journalistic integrity.

Foyston spent 28 years with the paper. He suffered the indignity of being demoted from staffer to free lancer as the Oregonian began to circle the drain a while ago. He bit the bullet and carried on. That's the kind of guy he is.

It wasn't a match made in heaven, that's for sure. For that last few years, Foyston has been writing blog posts and occasionally for print, essentially loaning his name and following to the Oregonian in exchange for next to nothing.

You might say dumping Foyston says a lot more about the paper than it says about him. The big shots probably think they have or can easily find someone who will write flashier copy and better click bait for the website and social media. That's the way of the digital world these days.

But you really can't replace a guy like Foyston. No one has his connections or his depth of knowledge. As one of my media friends quipped, "John's replacement won't even know which press releases to copy and paste." Pretty funny, but sadly true.

Foyston was one of the few bright spots at the Big O. His columns drew traffic to the clunky Oregon Live website and kept some reading the decrepit print version. Getting rid of him was a dumb move. He can write for anyone now and his readers will follow.

It won't take long for the paper to realize it needed John more than he needed them. But fading media outlets are prone to dumb moves like this. Oh well. Time moves on.

Larrance and Foyston: Champions of Portland Beer

Last night's festivities at the Cascade Barrel House honored Art Larrance for his contributions to Portland's beer scene. There was a good crowd on hand. An oil painting of Art by John Foyston was unveiled. Larrance and Foyston have both contributed plenty to the beer culture here. Champions they are. More on why shortly.

Foyston with his painting...and Larrance

A bunch of Art's Oregon Brewers Festival partners came up with the painting idea as a way of honoring him. These folks are mostly unknown outside the beer community. People like Teddy Peetz, Preston Weesner and Chris Crabb, all integral parts of the OBF virtually forever. They're mostly in the background and they like it that way.

These good folks commissioned Foyston to produce the painting that was unveiled last night much to Art's surprise. See, he was kept totally in the dark...very hush-hush. When I casually mentioned the upcoming event to Weesner at Belmont Station the other night, he gave me the universal "sheesh" symbol. I suspect the NSA knew, but almost no one else.

The painting is a great likeness of Art. Foyston has had some practice. He has several pictures hanging in pubs around town. Have you seen Don Younger above the fireplace at Lompoc's Sidebar? How about Younger at the Horse Brass? Or the rustic landscape at The Commons? Those are all John's paintings. And there are reportedly more on the way.

What about this Larrance character, anyway? Why should he be honored? Silly rabbit. Art belongs in the same breath as Henry Weinhard, Arnold Blitz and the Wessingers on the list of Portland beer royalty. Read my history of Portland beer if you want to know more. Art's contributions via Portland Brewing, the Oregon Brewers Festival, Raccoon Lodge and Cascade Barrel House are impossible to overlook. He's had a hand in exposing millions to great beer.

Art with longtime buddy, Teddy Peetz

"We were lucky," Larrance said, grouping himself with Fred Bowman and Jim Goodwin, co-founders of Portland Brewing in 1986. "We came around at just the right time and took advantage of a terrific opportunity. I've been fortunate to ride that wave with Cascade Brewing and the OBF. If it hadn't been me, I honestly think it would have been someone else."

Where does Foyston fit in? Again, silly question, silly rabbit. John is a talented writer, far better than most of us who attempt to cover the beer scene. He has been writing about beer for the Oregonian for nearly 20 years. His columns provide a base of knowledge and perspective, not to mention an event calendar. The painting gig is a recent venture and merely demonstrates John's renaissance man talents.

"I'm really happy to be involved in recognizing the people who were instrumental in getting craft beer off the ground in Portland," Foyston said. "Art's contributions are hard to fathom because they have benefitted the entire community."

As far as I'm concerned, we need more of these paintings. Need a list? For starters, Kurt and Rob Widmer, Mike and Brian McMenamin, Dick and Nancy Ponzi and Fred Eckhardt. Add Charles Coury, founder of the ill-fated Cartwright Brewing, to the list. Getting these folks in oil would be a nice start...and there will be others. It would be really great if this work got us talking about the beer museum we desperately need in Portland. But never mind. I digress.

Anyway, congratulations to Art Larrance on being recognized for his contributions to Portland beer. Certainly well-deserved. Similar congrats and thanks to John Foyston for his efforts. Word is the portrait will find a home at the Raccoon Lodge. Sounds about right.

A Taste of Wednesday at the Oregon Brewers Festival

The Oregon Brewers Festival's first-ever Wednesday opening day is in the books and it went well. It may take casual beer fans a year or two to jump on the Wednesday bandwagon, but there was a pleasant crowd on hand.

John Foyston and Art Larrance

Parade Grand Marshal John Foyston led a large contingent of fans who had brunch at the host brewery, Bridgeport, Wednesday morning. Foyston, who has been writing about beer for the Oregonian for nearly 20 years, opened the festival with a charming story about Chet Atkins' inability to sing. If you're younger than 50, you likely didn't get it...but never mind.

There are some changes this year, some of which I've already mentioned.

Big space between tents and trailers on South side

One of the things you'll notice right away is they've made more room on the South side of the park. The token sales area has been moved back, meaning people lining up for tokens won't block your access to the South trailers. Good call. Tents on that side of the park are smaller than in past years, meaning there is a large open area between the tents and the beer taps. Another good call, and one that may help reduce cluttered lines there during peak times.

Of course, if you're paying attention, you know about the 3 oz pour and the new glass. First, the glass. It's great. You can actually see, smell and taste the beer. The conical shape also minimizes the effect of the 3 oz pour. Because the glass is narrow at the bottom, the smaller pour size appears to be similar to recent years. I thought I would see a lot of people opting for full beers, but that wasn't the case. We'll see what happens when things get nuts on Friday.

Drinking again...from a real glass

I had a list of about 20 beers I hoped to taste on Wednesday. It seems like a lot, but it really isn't when you consider pour size. I have to say my batting average was pretty shitty early on. I typically like fruit beer variations of many beers, but I was disappointed with most of the beers I tasted in that style. Oh well. I moved on to more standard approaches and found some winners.

Collaborator Smoked Helles is terrific. It's mildly smokey and nicely balanced. As you may know, the Collaborator program is sponsored by Widmer Brothers Brewing and the Oregon Brew Crew. This beer won a competition and was then brewed by Widmer. I understand why.

Fewer of these than I expected

The are a grand total of nine IPAs on this year's bill. It was not my goal to seek these beers out. Many, like Ballast Point Brewing's excellent Sculpin IPA, I've already had. But I advise hopheads to make a beeline to Heathen Brewing's tap on the North side. Transgression IPA is a fantastic blend of several hops over the top of a near-perfect backbone. Really fantastic and highly recommended. I was fortunate to spend some time talking to the Heathen brewers.

Almost any beer from Boneyard Beer in Bend is a good bet. That's exactly the case with Bone-A-Fide Pale Ale. If you're interested in a light version of the wildly popular RPM IPA, this is your beer. Boneyard brewers have hit a home run with this very drinkable beer that exudes hop aroma and flavor.

It's that time of year...

Without going into any detail, I also liked Bayern's Kaiser Pils, Occidental's Dortmunder, Upright's Offen Kolsch and Silver Moon's Bone Crusher Imperial Red. Obviously, Rome wasn't built in a day and you can't taste all the beers you want to taste in a day, either. I'll be back Friday for some more tasting and festing. Or is it feasting? Hmmm.

Enjoy the festival...and the great weather.

An Idea Whose Time is Right

Since I started writing this blog a couple of years back, I've made occasional reference to the risks associated with the rapid expansion of craft brewing in Portland. You tend not to make a lot of friends when you bring these unpleasant issues up, but someone has to do it.

A friend in the know recently told me we now have 61 operating breweries in town. Is that too many? If it isn't too many, how many is too many? Does anyone have a clue?

Listen, I'm not the only one concerned about this. I've talked to plenty of brewery and pub owners who privately worry about their financial futures in a crowded marketplace. It turns out there actually is more to staying in business than creating new and interesting beers. Go figure. In fact, Andy Crouch made reference to the increasing importance of good business planning in a recent Beer Advocate column. 

Now comes news that Portland State University gets it. The school is launching a Certificate program as part of its Professional Development Center that will educate brewers and pub owners (prospects and existing) on the business aspects of the industry. Kudos to my friend John Foyston, who first reported news of this program in yesterday's Oregonian. I urge you to read John's article here, because it contains all the details.

The Business of Craft Brewing Certificate is, at least for the moment, a standalone program that can be taken in live and online scenarios. This effectively means anyone can sign up for the classes. You need not be in a degree trajectory, although PSU students apparently can receive credit toward a degree.

The leader of the instructional group is Mellie Pullman, who has a lengthy background in beer and business dating to the mid-80s. There are four segments at the moment: Basic Business for Craft Breweries; Craft Beverage Business Management; Strategic Craft Beverage Marketing; and Finance and Accounting for the Craft Brewery. 

Why is this an important development? Because many people who get involved in commercial brewing have formal brewing training, but no formal business training. That means there are people out there wandering in a proverbial minefield of the unknown. PSU's new program provides an opportunity for those folks to improve their knowledge base and chances of success.

This is an idea whose time is right.

Don Younger's Lingering Influence on Display

Beer geeks and industry folks gathered at the Horse Brass last night to give another sendoff to legendary publican Don Younger, who passed away a year ago last week. The event was well-attended, as beer people packed the area around the back bar at the HB...and parking was scarce.

Two vices

The main event was the unveiling of a new John Foyston painting of Younger. Prior to the unveiling, Foyston tapped a Firkin of Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA for all to enjoy. Lots of mingling. Good times.

For the unknowing, another Foyston painting of Younger hangs over the mantle at Lompoc's Sidebar on North Williams. Younger was a partner in the Lompoc operation and the Sidebar painting was mounted just months before his death. When Don first saw that painting, he was shocked, but loved it, according to Foyston and Lompoc owner Jerry Fechter.

Foyston lifts a glass moments before the unveiling

The newly unveiled portrait is a painted version of a picture taken by Lisa Morrison, aka the Beer Goddess. It appropriately shows Younger drinking a beer from a glass (he's drinking from a plastic mug in the picture at Lompoc) and smoking a cigarette. His favorite vices. Morrison took the photo at Amnesia Brewing.

While we surely crossed paths many times over the years, I never formally met Don Younger. So my points of reference with him revolve around the legendary stories, which are many. I've always been drawn to the one about how he wound up owning the Horse Brass.

Fred Eckhardt and Rob Widmer enjoyed some chat time

The story is well-known. He evidently bought the place during the course of a day and night of drinking, and wasn't sure what he'd done when he discovered the bill of sale the next morning. He may have been a little groggy at the time.

After he took over, the Horse Brass would eventually become a place where players in the fledgling craft industry met to share ideas over a few beers. Some of those same folks, people like Fred Eckhardt and Rob Widmer, were on hand last night, honoring their departed friend.

This event and the people who attended it are proof of Younger's lingering and extensive influence. Without him, the Portland beer landscape would not be what it is today. Foyston's latest portrait will hang as a testament to that notion.

Lompoc Shows Off Holiday Beers

The folks over at Lompoc Brewing have been toiling away preparing for the holiday season. Lucky for beer fans. Beer geek media types got a chance to sample this years holiday collection on Tuesday night at the Sidebar on North Williams. (If you haven't been to the Sidebar, plan to get over there!)

The tasting adventure begins!

Most of the beers we tasted will be featured at release party on Nov. 29 at the Sidebar. More about the beers shortly. First, a special thanks to owner Jerry Fechter and his crew for making the preview happen. The Lompoc brew crew is Dave Fleming, Bryan Keilty, Zach Beckwith and Irena Bierzynski (read my profile piece on Irena here). A great bunch of folks.

For the unknowing, it's important to note that Lompoc is not a large brewing operation. They actually have trouble supplying their regular beers to their five locations, and expanding bottle distribution. Yet they somehow found a way to produce the 10 holiday beers we previewed on Tuesday. Sometimes you wonder.

The first beer we tasted was Blitzen, a spiced golden ale originally brewed for the Holiday Ale Festival a few years back. Blitzen is a low alcohol beer (4.6% ABV), with a light malt character, a hefty cinnamon aroma and hints of lemon and ginger on the pallet. It offers are rare combination of character and drinkability. Blitzen will be Available at Lompoc pubs only, according to Fechter.

Filling tasters kept the Lompoc folks busy

Next up was Cherry Christmas, which is a blend of four different beers. The elves at Lompoc make great standard beers, but the experimental stuff is truly grand. This beer is slightly sour and reminded me of some of the beers they're producing at Cascade Brewing Barrel House. But it's fairly light at 5.6% ABV. Cherry Christmas may undergo some additional tweaks, they said, but I found it to be excellent, as is. This is Lompoc's offering at the 2011 Holiday Ale Festival, coming up in a couple of weeks.

Brewdolph is a Belgian-style red ale brewed with Ardennes yeast. It's mildly sour and fruity, with hints of clove on the pallet. This beer does of nice job of hiding its 7.7% punch. We quickly moved on to Holiday Cheer, almost certainly the darkest of the beers tasted on the evening. It's a full-bodied vanilla porter that combines a terrific chocolate bar flavor with robust vanilla notes. The elves at Lompoc tossed vanilla beans in the conditioning tank to fashion Holiday Cheer, with great success. Cheers!

The Lompoc elves, Bryan, Irena, Dave, Jerry and Zach

Jolly Bock is another of the beers that was originally made for the Holiday Ale Festival. This is a lager, deep amber in color with a rich malt flavor and spicy hop finish. Jolly Bock doesn't have the depth of character present in most of these beers, but it's a style thing.

One of Lompoc's most popular beers is C-Note Imperial Pale Ale made with the seven "C" hops (Crystal, Cluster, Cascade, Chinoook, Centennial, Columbus and Challenger). The holiday version of that beer, C-Sons Greetings, is tweaked with more malt and hops. All seven hop varieties are used in dry-hopping this beer, with magnificent results. Bourbon Barrel Aged C-Sons Greetings, aged for seven months and cellared for another month, is slightly over the top. A heavy bourbon character is present in the nose and taste. I preferred the standard C-Sons Greetings. Both of these beers come in at 8% ABV.

Old Tavern Rat is a dark barley wine, aged for nearly a year. It's named after late Don Younger, the legendary Portland publican who was a partner in the Lompoc operation for many years. Old Tavern Rat is a nicely balanced barley wine, featuring sweet caramel and hints toffee, along with a hop punch. Younger would hate this beer, Fechter admits. At 9.4%, you can't drink a lot of it and the Old Tavern Rat liked to have his paying customers drink several beers. Cheers to Don!

Foyston signs Old Tavern Rat labels

As good as the standard version is, Bourbon Barrel Aged Old Tavern Rat is another click up. Brewed nearly two years ago (December 2009), this beer was aged in barrels for 10 months and cellared for another 13 months. I wasn't sure about this beer at first, fearing bourbon overload. I turned the corner quickly. The barrel aging and cellaring has given this beer a full, yet mellow character. This stuff won't be available for long, and it will only be sold at Lompoc locations and a few bottle shops. Get some if you can. And when you do, let it quietly age for a year or two in your beer cellar. It's great now, but I think it will be even better down the road. Trust me.

A quick note on the Foyston photo above: If you go to the Sidebar, you will see a picture of Don Younger above the fireplace. John Foyston painted that picture, which was done secretly and first shown to Younger about a year ago. Younger was reportedly blown away. Sadly, he died a few months later. Anyway, the painting is the basis for the label on Old Tavern Rat in bottles. John signed labels and bottles during Tuesday night's event.

Holiday cheers!

Lost Weekend at BBC11

First off, the title is a little misleading. The just-completed Beer Bloggers Conference in Portland was definitely worthwhile and not a lost weekend. Well, a few people (no names) may have overindulged. What are you gonna do when you're in Beervana? So many beers to taste, so little time.

Kickoff
There was much to like about the Conference. For instance, one of the first things I saw when I arrived on Friday was a line of people who were, yeah-huh, tasting beers. What better way to kick off a beer conference than by getting people lubed up before they even walk into the room? Thanks to Widmer, Sierra Nevada and Pyramid for providing some nice brews.

Icebreakers

The opening segment by Julie Herz took us through some great information on the state of an industry that is growing at, frankly speaking, an alarming rate. The stats essentially suggest that craft beer is bursting at the seams all over the country. Portland may have the most breweries in the world and the most vibrant beer culture (apologies to Asheville and brewgasm), but the concept of craft beer is taking hold everywhere. It's quite a time to be writing about (and drinking) craft beer.

John and Fred Show
Possibly the highlight of the weekend was the Friday Keynote of Fred Eckhardt and John Foyston. If you don't know, Eckhardt is a onetime Marine and the dean of American beer writers. He has written several books and numerous articles on beer and has been an influential force on the Portland craft beer scene from day 1. Foyston has been writing about beer for The Oregonian since, well, forever.

Foyston served up the questions and Eckhardt provided the answers. It was like Ed McMahon and Johnny Carson, with a bit of audience participation. A couple of examples:

The John and Fred Show

Fred: “People ask me, Fred, what’s your favorite beer? And you know what I say? The beer in my hand.”
Audience member: “What’s your second favorite beer?”
Fred: “I think that’d be the next beer in my glass. Especially if it’s free beer.”

John: Do you have a blog?
Eckhardt: I probably should write a blog. But I'm just too lazy.

It just doesn't get much better. Two local legends on the stage clowning around while providing great insights into the state of craft beer today for writers from all over. Thanks to both of these great guys.

Brooklyn Brewing? Seriously?
The team of Erica Shea and Steven Valand gave an interesting presentation on what they are doing with their brewing supply business in New York. Yep, you heard that right. Even in New York, interest in craft beer and brewing is growing. I recently read that they are starting to grow hops again in rural New York. This was once a very productive hop growing region and they apparently hope it will be again.What's driving it? Demand for hops among craft brewers and homebrewers in the Northeast. Go figure.

Beer Making in New York

These guys talked about all kinds of things they are doing to increase interest in beer and homebrewing. They also mentioned using some strange ingredients (lobster?) to brew and, not so surprisingly, some odd results. But they have great passion for what they are doing and what they are doing is spreading the gospel of craft beer to an urban audience that hasn't always been in the loop. Big kudos!

Hops in the Field
Our Friday afternoon excursion took us to the Goschie farm near Silverton for a tour of their hop production facility, followed by dinner. This would normally be a fairly short trip, but all bets are off when you hit rush hour traffic out of Portland. On a Friday. The trip took well over two hours. Fortunately, folks from the Oregon Brewers Guild (Ninkasi, Widmer, Oakshire, etc.) were aboard the buses handing out tasty beers. Their coolers were well-stocked, thankfully.

Serious hop farming

I grew hops at home as part of my homebrewing phase a few years ago. Seeing hops on a production scale is a different story. These things are growing on trellises that must be 30 feet tall. They are in harvest mode for some of the varietals grown at Goschie. We got to see the entire process. It's fascinating to see hop vines brought in on one end, cones separated, piled up to dry (takes 8-12 hours, apparently) and then eventually baled. Pretty amazing to finally see how it's actually done.

Hop drying in motion

Oh, kudos to the Oregon Brewers Guild and Gayle Goschie for hosting the trip. Dinner was great, as were the beers they had available there for all of us to quaff. I think a good time was had by all...maybe too good. I know the brewdad (Mike Besser) and a few others were passed out on the ride back to Portland. Long day, but a fun one.

For the Love of Beer
We listened to several informative presentations on Saturday, but I want to move on to what was billed as the marque event of the weekend, For the Love of Beer. The movie was served up at the Bagdad, following a terrific dinner at Bridgeport (thanks again to the Oregon Brewers Guild and to the folks at Bridgeport).

I wrote about the movie in an earlier post, so I'll summarize here. Although brewing was for many centuries handled by women in the home, it became the domain of men with the coming of the industrial revolution. Today, women are slowly working their way into beer-related careers. The movie focused on the stories of several women, particularly Sarah Pederson (Saraveza) and Tonya Cornett of Bend Brewing.

It's a good movie. Hearing the stories of these women and seeing the passion they have for what they do was inspirational. They have made significant contributions to the craft beer movement in Oregon. Here's where I was disappointed: Although a number of women are featured in cameo roles, really only two of them get attention in the film. I wanted to hear more from Lisa Morrison, more from Chris Crabb, more from the others. Again, it's a totally worthwhile film. It just felt incomplete to me.

It's a Wrap
Sunday came and went like a flash. For better or worse, the good folks at Oakshire Brewing in Eugene provided some morning wake-up nectar in the form of Line Dry Rye. Thanks for that! We enjoyed some great presentations from eight bloggers and I'll have more to say about some of them in due time. It was fun meeting so many people who are enthusiastic about beer. A lot of ideas were shared around. I hope to do it again.