McMenamins Highlights Barrel-aged Beer Program

It will almost certainly come as a surprise to many beer fans that McMenamin's has a barrel-aged beer program. I had no idea until a couple of weeks ago, when I attended Inside the Barrel down at the Crystal Brewery (inside the Crystal Ballroom). More on what they're up to shortly. First, some brief history.

The early days..Mike and Brian with Hillsdale brewer, Ron Wolf

One of the generally unappreciated aspects of the McMenamin's story is that Mike and Brian have generally gone about their business quietly. They and their organization have made many positive contributions to the community. Yet they have never been particularly active in honking their own horn about any of it.

For instance, on the day they were scheduled to receive the keys to the Kennedy School in 1995, Brian saw a huge crowd and TV cameras as he approached the school. For a moment, he considered turning around and driving home. He obviously didn't and, anyway, the Kennedy School turned out to be one of their great success stories.

Looking at those successes, it seems to me the primary story revolves around their knack for acquiring and restoring unique (and often decrepit) historic properties. Beer's role has always been somewhat secondary...to attract fans. Mike and Brian liked good beer and they figured a lot of other people did, too. Time has proven them exactly right.

When I bumped into Brian prior to Inside the Barrel, he told me he sees beer in more of a leading role today. Frankly, I don't think he fully agrees with my view of where beer has fit in the McMenamin's scheme, but never mind. Inside the Barrel suggests they recognize the need to push what they're doing more fully with social media and other PR tools.

The truth is, the barrel program isn't all that new. It was launched in 2005, when Mike McMenamin asked brewers to create a bourbon barrel-aged beer for a special event they were holding at Edgefield. They've been gradually moving barrel aging forward in the years since.

These guys are well-positioned to age beer in barrels. Why? Because way back in 1998, they started a highly successful distilling program at Edgefield. They launched a second distilling facility at Cornelius Pass in 2012. This means their brewers have easy access to barrels. Many breweries don't have that luxury.

"The distilling program presented us with a unique opportunity to begin barrel-aging," said Graham Brogan, head brewer. "The ease of access to freshly dumped barrels (sometimes filled with beer the same day they are released by the distillery) combined with the creative freedom here to make barrel-aging a no brainer."

The beers they showcased at Inside the Barrel were produced at a number of McMenamin's breweries. A few examples: Whiskey Widow (Bourbon barrel-aged porter) from Concordia Brewery; Venomator Imperial IPA (Hogshead Whisky barrel-aged) from the Crystal Brewery; Night Court Barleywine (Rum barrel-aged) from the Edgefield Brewery. And others.

In fact, Inside the Barrel was a sort of pre-launch party for a hoard of events that will feature barrel-aged beer in coming weeks. There's a list of dates, beers and locations here. By the way, these beers will only be available at certain McMenamin's locations. This is standard operating procedure for these guys. They have never really distributed beyond their own walls.

As for the future of the barrel-aged beer program at McMenamins, it will likely continue to flourish. There's something about barrel-aged beer that attracts the interest of brewers and the pallets of beer consumers. Indeed, the savvy pallets of Portland beer fans are driving increased demand for premium, complex, barrel-aged beers. It's all good.

"Almost all of our breweries would like to be involved in barrel-aging," Brogan said. "The problem is, most don't have the necessary space. We are currently looking into acquiring smaller barrels so our smaller breweries can play around with barrel-aging."

John Harris? Who the Hell is He?

You've probably heard John Harris is getting ready to open a brewery and pub over on Mississippi and Cook. If not, you heard it here first. John's holding a sneak preview of what he's up to on Sunday, April 28, from 2-4 p.m. He'll reveal what he plans to call the place, among other things. But wait. Who the hell is John Harris?

The collaboration with ex-employee Tony Lawrence was a hit

Even if you don't recognize John's photo or know him, you almost certainly know some of his beers if you've been around Oregon beer for any length of time. See, John has been part of the beer scene around these parts for 26 years...and counting. He's what you call an icon, even if you don't know him.

John began his professional brewing career with McMenamin's at the Hillsdale Pub. After the Brewpub Bill passed in 1985, Hillsdale was the first pub to take advantage of the law and start brewing. When they advertised for a brewer, John applied. He had some homebrewing experience, nothing more. As he joked when I spoke to him a while back, "I had no experience, but they hired me anyway." That's kind of the way it was in those days.

He got off to a rough start. "When I was hired, they told me to bring rubber boots my first day. But I forgot to buy them and showed up in hiking boots. That didn't work out too well when it came time to shovel the hops out of the brew kettle. But they didn't fire me, thankfully."

Unknown to many, they were using malt extract to brew at Hillsdale in the early days. They didn't have the ability to mash, so they bought 50-gallon drums of extract and used that. The beers were okay, never great. Other brewers made fun of them. About a year later, they started mashing and the Hillsdale beers eventually got better. Harris was there.

"The cool thing about McMenamin's is you had your own brewery. They gave you a lot of freedom to create stuff. We brewed with fruit, which was not common at the time…rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries. Some recipes worked better than others. There were times when they would say, 'Don’t make that again.'”

After two years (1986-88), Harris took a job at a little place called Deschutes Brewing in Bend. Deschutes was just getting started and he had a major role in developing recipes that were and are infamous in Oregon and beyond.

"I developed the recipes for Mirror Pond, Bachelor Bitter, Black Butte Porter and Obsidian Stout…all the good stuff," he said. "That’s where I made my name." Later in his four-year tenure at Deschutes, John hired Tony Lawrence to clean up the place after brewing day. Lawrence eventually left for Arizona, but subsequently returned and launched...Boneyard Brewing. 

John left Deschutes in 1992 and returned to Portland to work for Full Sail. Full Sail had opened in 1987 in Hood River and was well-known...in large part because they were the first craft brewery to start bottling. But they wanted a pub presence in Portland. The Pilsner Room on the South Waterfront seemed the perfect spot.

"I moved to the Pilsner Room in 1992," Harris recalled. "The place was still run by McCormick and Schmick. Pretty soon we made all Full Sail's draft beer for Portland in that brewery. We made the first IPA here…in 1994. Later, I started the Brewmaster Reserve Program, which was small batches, special beers. The brewery here was good because it gave locals a chance to taste Full Sail's specialty beers without going to Hood River."

Harris left Full Sail after 20 years in 2012. His plan all along was to start his own brewery and pub, but it took longer than he had hoped to find the right location with the right combination of attributes. Now that he has things moving along, it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. Should be good stuff.

If you plan to stop by on the 28th, keep in mind there won't be any beer. Not yet. But there are lots of places in the area to get a beer once you've taken a gander at John's plans.

McMenamin's Story Keeps Chugging Along

A business trip unrelated to beer took me out to the Hillsdale area the other day. There aren't many important beer destinations on the west side, but McMenamin's Hillsdale Brewpub is on the list. Perfect chance for a stopover, I figured.

For the unknowing, the Hillsdale Brewery and Public House opened in 1985. It was then the first brewpub in Oregon, the result of a law that allowed pubs to brew beer and sell it on premise. The law, which has been revised in various ways since 1985, launched a revolution in Oregon that continues to this day.

McMenamin's artwork is always delightful.

Today, Mike and Brian McMenamin operate more than 50 pubs, breweries and hotels in Oregon and Washington. They have received considerable and well-deserved recognition for their role in transforming historic buildings into pubs, theaters, hotels, etc. It is an amazing story.

Simply put, beer is not the most important aspect of McMenamin's business. They have a drinkable collection of standards like Hammerhead, Terminator, Crystal and Ruby, along with revolving seasonals that are decent. But they have not pushed the brewing envelope like many of the other breweries around Portland. 

On my visit the other day, they were pouring a seasonal called Black Ops CDA. Everyone has a CDA these days.  Some aren't good. But Black Ops is very nice. Full bodied and tasty, yet smooth. I was impressed. I had a Hammerhead with my lunch because I've always liked it. But the Black Ops would have gone nicely with my curried tuna sandwich. Enough said.

The big board at Hillsdale the other day.

The thing is, McMenamin's occupies an seminal place in the history of Portland's craft beer culture. While they may not be especially well-known for their beers, their pubs were essential to the sustained growth of the craft beer movement. Why? Because they were everywhere...and you always knew you would find decent craft beer there.

Back in the early nineties, we often wanted to tip some pints after an evening of racquetball, an afternoon of softball or a day in the yard. When we did, the closest McMenamin's was usually the consensus choice. And it usually wasn't far away.

Things have changed today. There are many options out there, some of them flashy or fancy. For its part, McMenamin's keeps chugging along, doing essentially what they've always done. Good for them.