Laurelwood Hits Hoppy Trifecta

As I may have documented in one or two posts over the last few weeks, I took a little time away from bigger craft beers for the first month of the year. No, I did not resort to Bud Light. I simply looked for low ABV craft beers...and found several good ones.

Megafauna

My time away was not helpful to the content of this blog because I was not doing much beer tasting or traveling. Of course, I'm leaving out a minor drinking spree at Base Camp, but that happened at the end of the month. I'm only now getting back up to speed, if that's what you call it.

I stopped at Laurelwood's Sandy Pub for the first time in a month the other day. I discovered a Trifecta of perfection...or near perfection.

First, Workhorse finally seems to have returned to what it was before they started bottling it for distribution again. You will recall that this beer was taken out of distribution for nearly a year while they dealt with hops contracts. I thought the interim, draft-only Workhorse was mostly faithful to the original recipe. Along with many others, I did not think the most recent version, the one they started bottling and kegging for distribution several months ago, was true to the original.

The current beer has the same cloudy, amber appearance that I'm accustomed to. The aroma and flavor profile seems pretty close to what I remember. I think this beer has been restored. For the record, the folks at Laurelwood always contended Workhorse never changed. Take that however you wish.

Workhorse (the beer) is tasting good

Second, they are currently pouring (Brewmaster Vasili Gletsos couldn't say for how long) a massive hop bomb (a Double IPA) called Megafauna. This is on the seasonal board and clocks in at a restful 9.5 ABV and 140 IBU. The IBU number is debatable, given the way these things are measured. Here's what Vasili had to say about the IBUs:

140 IBUs is a calculation. We have no way to verify [the number] without expensive lab equipment. Basically, if you jack up the late hop additions, you get the flavor profile, but it throws off the calculations for utilization. It's that way with almost all 100+ IBU beers. Hop oil solubility is a tenuous, hydrophobic relationship, so these numbers can be hard to pin down. Every time you touch the beer, it looses IBUs (as well as aroma). Yeast robs a lot of bitterness. It clings to tank walls, etc. IBU has become a shorthand for people to talk about hoppiness, which is a much more complex subject. IBU doesn't reflect hop aroma or flavor at all and we would be better off or more accurate to disentangle these terms.

Anyway, I thought this was a pretty fantastic beer the first time I tasted it. It is not especially bitter, relying more on very dense aroma and flavor. My guess is massive late hop additions dialed aroma and flavor to the point that they cover up (to some extent) bitterness and alcohol. When I tasted Megafauna for a second time on Tuesday evening, the aroma and flavor didn't seem quite as dramatic. Perhaps my palette was off a bit. Or, just as likely, the tenuous aspect of hop oil solubility are at work. Regardless, this is a beer worth trying as long as it's on.

The Seasonal Board

Finally, there was Portland Pale Project #9, also known as Pony Pale or Petite Workhorse. As noted, this is one of Laurelwood's rotating Portland Pale Project beers and it is excellent. It's almost a session beer at 5.8% ABV, but has aromas and flavors strongly reminiscent of Workhorse. Indeed, this is Workhorse in a dialed down package. Vasili's comments:

Petite Workhorse is exactly right. It is a beer we have been thinking about for a good while. We all love Workhorse, but it's a strong one [7.5%], thus stopping us from drinking as much as we want to. Problem solved! Brewer Shane Watterson took the lead on reformulating Workhorse for a Pale version and, with some conversation, that's what we came up with.

I definitely prefer to call this beer Petite Workhorse because that's exactly what it is. I tasted it again Wednesday evening (out of a growler) and had the same response as I did initially. If anything, hop aroma and flavor are more pronounced than in standard Workhorse. This is a terrific beer and one I would like to see added to the standards list here. I wonder...

Laurelwood's "Brave New World"

As some who read this blog surely know, Laurelwood's flagship location on Northeast Sandy is in my hood. So it's obviously one of my regular stops. You get to know the regulars on both sides of the bar at a place like this. It's almost a Cheers situation...a personal comfort zone.

They've been making some changes at my favorite pub. It's tough not to notice. And these changes really aren't connected to the new (very nice) pub down in Sellwood, which opened a month or so ago. Nope. They're tinkering with a bunch of things at the flagship.

For Gearhead, the end is near

I happened to run into owner Mike De Kalb the other evening and asked him about what's happening. I should probably preface this by noting that brewers are almost always to blame when changes are made, and I knew Brewmaster Vasili Gletsos had to be involved. So I asked Mike if he had possibly lost his mind and let Vasili run wild. I'm kidding here, but you get the idea.

Mike said he was giving Vasili some room to explore and implement his ideas for moving the business forward. An email to Vasili was quickly returned with some details, which I shall get to shortly.

Big Picture
The big news is that Laurelwood is paring down its list of standard beers. Pale Ale...gone (actually, different versions will rotate). Hooligan Brown Ale...gone. Gearhead IPA...very soon gone. I'll get around to the IPA implications in a minute, so hang on. What they intend to do going forward is limit their core focus to four or five beers, which will free them up to produce more seasonals and specialties.

The Sellwood pub has attracted a good following

The cool thing about the seasonals is they are a team effort. Vasili will write some of the recipes with input from his brewers and the brewers will write some of the recipes with input from Vasili. Some of the beers may be fantastic and some may not be to everyone's tastes, he said. But it should give the team more strength and versatility in the long term.

Their approach to standard beers is also evolving. Vasili believes they should always be striving to make beers the best they can. Raw materials can vary in quality and availability. Thus, he doesn't mind varying the hops or malts in a recipe if he thinks it might make a beer better. So there may be some minor variation in even the standard beers. That's not a bad thing.

The big picture changes are perfectly in line with what is happening around Portland. Today's beer fans are seeking out seasonals and specialty beers in breweries and pubs. Well-known standards no longer cut it, as they did a few years ago. You have got to keep things interesting if you want stay relevant in this business. That's where Laurelwood is headed.

The IPA Story
Gearhead is going away (already gone from their website) because they are bringing Workhorse back as their distribution IPA. A little history here. Gearhead was introduced just over a year ago when Laurelwood ran short of the aroma hops used in Workhorse...those being Amarillo and Simcoe. Gearhead is a smaller beer that uses more traditional Cascade and Centennial hops.

The new standards board above the bar

Officially, they always intended to bring Workhorse back as their standard IPA...once the hops became available again. I was never quite sure how they would do that, but it makes good sense. See, Gearhead simply isn't in the same league as Workhorse and it never gained a large following. Workhorse is an iconic beer, one that has brought Laurelwood significant recognition. The fact that some of the ingredients can be more difficult to source is just part of the bargain.

When Workhorse was on hiatus, they eventually made it available at Laurelwood pubs. But you couldn't find it in bottles or in pubs around town. My first clue that a change might be in the wind was when I discovered they were pouring Workhorse down at Blitz Ladd. Anyway, the beer will be back in full distribution soon, although I'm not sure of the specific timetable.

Back in the mix

Some people are going to miss Gearhead. Its lower alcohol (6.5% ABV) content makes it a sessionable IPA (meaning you can drink a fair amount of it and not get hammered). By the way, Gearhead will likely be brought back from time to time as a seasonal beer. Good news for fans of the beer.

Implications
Discontinuing Gearhead and paring down the list of standards is a smart move, and one they probably had to make. Why so? Because Laurelwood's production capacity is pretty maxed out. The Sandy brewery produces essentially all of the beer they sell in multiple pubs and distribute by bottle. Streamlining production makes good sense.

"With Workhorse, it's much easier for us to focus on and produce more of one beer then it is to split the fermentation capacity and everything else among two brands that are more or less the same style of beer," Vasili said.

Workhorse is certainly the right choice if you're only going to make one IPA...in my view.

The bottom line is this: Laurelwood needs a production brewery. They have expanded distribution to the point that they need more production capacity. I know Mike is working toward getting a production facility off the ground, but the timeline is uncertain. Meanwhile, they've got to feed the monkey, as it were.

Additions
Other add-ons at the Sandy pub include a beer engine and some revised signage. These are good changes, as they add to the functionality and appeal of the place.

The newly added beer engine...and operator

Part of the reasoning behind the beer engine is the house yeast...English Ale yeast. This strain is perfect for subtle English ales (duh?). So they've got a cask program in place and will be rotating different beers through. They recently had a cask version of Workhorse and then an organic version of Treehugger Porter with vanilla beans.

"The cask program gives us the opportunity to use different dry hops, or anything else we want to try," Vasili said. "I can imagine some nice beers coming out of this program. I'm looking forward to a Red dry-hopped with Cascades and Centennials, which will go on this week, as well as a stout dry-peppered with a very fruity black pepper, almost like a prune flavor with a touch of heat."

Above the bar, you'll note the board of standard beers has been revised. It now lists the beers with basic stats. No more frilly pictures, which were artsy-fartsy, but also took up a lot of space.

"The standards board had all those wonderful pictures which were nice, but becoming obsolete and conveyed no information," said Vasili. "I think our customers prefer being able to see more about the beer...and less. The new board accomplishes that, I think."

The larger board of seasonals fits in nicely

The old seasonal board near the end of the bar has been replaced with a larger one on the wall that fronts Sandy Blvd. This was a necessary change. The old board was too small to list all of the seasonal beers and sometimes difficult to read for a variety of reasons. The new board is out in the open and much easier to read and absorb quickly.

Brave New World
It seems to me the things they're doing at Laurelwood will enhance and extend the reach of their brand. Staying relevant in this beer economy means constantly evaluating where you are with your beers, your people and your facilities...and making adjustments where they make sense.

As Vasili said in closing his email: "It's a brave new world."