The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [13]
803 SE School St. • Enterprise, OR 97828 • (541) 426-0158 terminalgravitybrewing.com • Established: 1998
SCENE & STORY
East of the Cascades, dense Douglas fir forests yield to rolling hills of wheat, with narrow ribbon roads connecting small towns like Enterprise (population: 1,000). After a series of brewing jobs big and small, brothers-in-law Steve Carper and Dean Duquette moved back there to launch their own operation, Terminal Gravity (a brewing term for the end of fermentation). This is pristine Wallowa County mountain country, spitting distance from Kokanee salmon-filled Wallowa Lake, one of America’s only true glacial lakes, and the Hells Canyon recreation area, a major adventure-travel hub. And what’s a spin through the great outdoors without a beer to cap off the journey?
PHILOSOPHY
Live life to the fullest. Carper and Duquette’s brewery is a treasure, a quaint yellow-painted, Craftsman-style cottage with a few tables and stools inside and three acres of grounds outside where travelers meet to drink beer on the porch, play volleyball, and toss horseshoes—then stand around a roaring bonfire: the definition of summer itself.
KEY BEER
Terminal Gravity IPA, the tangy and ultra bitter bottle-conditioned beer that made this tiny brewpub regionally famous (6.9% ABV).
Eugene
NINKASI BREWING CO.
272 Van Buren St. • Eugene, OR 97402 • (541) 344-2739 ninkasibrewing.com • Established: 2006
SCENE & STORY
Back in 1994 the irrepressible Jamie Floyd was just slinging hobby home brew for University of Oregon parties. After graduation he considered academia but scored a gig manning the kettles at Steelhead Brewery in Eugene instead. Now Floyd has a staff of three dozen, and a 90,000 barrel-capacity brew house, not to mention a rabid fan base. In part by harnessing the power of community involvement through the arts and social networks (the company boasts a massive Facebook presence, and has both an iPhone and iPad app) and guerilla marketing (at night, for example, with the Ninkasi logo “Bat Signal” spotlight), the firm has all but conquered Oregon. Next up, the world?
Ninkasi’s new tasting room and outdoor patio features year-round beers, seasonals, and occasional limited specialty releases on tap, and big summer block parties are guaranteed. For edibles, there’s a limited menu of large soft brewery-dough pretzels, pasties, and soup.
PHILOSOPHY
“We make beer geek [approved] beer, but we don’t make beer for beer geeks,” says Floyd. “We encourage everybody [to drink beer], not just the super nerdy 1 percent.”
KEY BEER
The intensely bitter and tangy Total Domination IPA (6.7 % ABV) is one of the top-selling twenty-two-ounce beers in the state.
Hood River
DOUBLE MOUNTAIN BREWERY & TAPROOM
8 4th St., No. 204 • Hood River, OR 97031 • (541) 387-0042 doublemountainbrewery.com • Established: 2007
SCENE & STORY
After hiking waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge you’re going to have a wicked appetite, so get yourself to Double Mountain to set things right with a fresh pint and tasty pizza. Named for a local viewpoint where you can see both Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams (two of the many impressive Cascade Range peaks), the family-friendly brewpub was founded by Full Sail brewery alumnae Matt Swihart and Charlie Deveraux who met working in production and began a series of tactical brainstorms masquerading as long nights of drinking. Pinned with demand immediately after opening, Double Mountain pub is close to Full Sail and Hood River’s main drag, with a cool sage-green interior, living room couches, off-beat local artworks, and the odd live band.
PHILOSOPHY
Hop lovers to the hilt, Deveraux and Swihart (who handles the brewing duties) go for huge additions of whole flower hops and minimal handling of the beer, for a powerful but not overly aggressive character, followed by long conditioning rests and no filtration.
KEY BEER
The 6.5% ABV India Red Ale (“I.R.A.”), a scarlet, malty beast with the hop profile of an IPA, is a good match for the piquant pepperoni pizza. Or take a pull off The Vaporizer, a dry, golden-hued