Breaking News - Deschutes Brewery Rides the Beer Rapids in Style
April 14, 2000 -- Bend, Oregon Brewery is one of the best
by Alan Moen
Bend, Oregon, is truly a recreational paradise. Located in the "high desert" (actually more of a pine-forested plateau) region of the state east of the Cascade mountains, this former mill town community has long been known for its hunting and fishing opportunities. In recent years, it has attracted a new breed of sports junkie with world-class skiing on Mount Bachelor, a dormant 9000-foot volcano, world-class rock-climbing on the sheer basaltic pinnacles of Smith Rocks, and world-class white-water rafting and kayaking on the scenic Deschutes River. But there's one more element in Bend to complete the paradise picture: world-class beer.
The Deschutes Brewery is as good a story of craft brewing success as you'll find anywhere, a run complete with a few deep holes and whirlpools. It all began in 1988, when Gary Fish and his father decided to open a brewpub. Fish's father had been involved in the booming wine industry there, and he was a veteran of the restaurant trade - the problem was that neither knew how to brew beer. Gary offered to exchange his restaurant expertise for brewing know-how with his friend Ed Brown, who opened the Rubicon Brewing Company in San Francisco.
Next they had to find a location. Fish wanted to build his brewpub in Northern California where he grew up, but a real estate boom in the late 1980's made that impractical. He decided on Bend because both his parents were from Oregon and he liked the quality of life there. Working with consultant Frank Appleton, Fish designed and built his pub on Bond Street in downtown Bend. He hired John Harris (now head brewer at Full Sail) to be his first brewer, using a 10-barrel system.
But far from the urban centers like Portland or Seattle that spearheaded the craft brewing revolution, Fish's beer was a hard sell in Oregon's outback. "People did not flock to our door," Gary admits."
The small brewpub, located on Bond Street in downtown Bend, hit a low spot in December of its first year (called "Black December" now by Fish). Ten straight batches of beer went bad and had to be dumped. As it turned out, a fatal flaw in the brewery’s design had put the grain mill directly over the mash tun, and airborne bacteria on the grain dust had infected the beer.
The problem was solved, and Deschutes beer - particularly its Black Butte Porter - began selling in Portland, thanks in part to the efforts of Jim Kennedy at Admiralty Beverage. Fish's "dark vision" of flavorful beer caught on, providing probably the greatest contrast in the region to the typical watery light lagers of the giant breweries. Now his porter is the number one selling porter in the Northwest, with over 70% of the market, and number two nationally, even though it is distributed in only seven states. Good brewing and a dedicated sales staff helped pave the way, but Gary admits that luck was also part of Deschutes' amazing ride, "being in the right place at the right time."
Black Butte Porter was the "right" beer for the brewery, but the wave of Deschutes' success in the early 1990's eventually became something of a liability. By 1993, Deschutes was brewing as much as 16 batches a week to keep up with demand. Fish had to lease more warehouse space, and finally decided it was time to build a new brewery.
The resulting production facility, now nearing completion, is one of the finest anywhere in the region. With over 65,000 square feet of space and a 50-barrel brewhouse built by JV Northwest (their first made of that size), Deschutes made over 76,000 barrels in 1998, ranking it among the Northwest's five largest craft breweries (Redhook, Widmer Brothers, Pyramid and Full Sail are the others). The rated capacity of the new brewery is 120,000 barrels per year.
Deschutes' head brewer is now Dr. Bill Pengelly, who supervises all production. Unlike most craft breweries, Deschutes uses only whole flower hops, rather than pellets, and krausens all its beers (all bottled beers are naturally yeast-conditioned. By refusing to compromise these principles as the brewery has grown, Deschutes beers have been marked for their quality and consistency over the years.
Black Butte Porter (O.G.1.057, 30 , 5.6% a.b.v.), a gold-medal winner for brown porter at the GABF, remains the brewery's major beer. However, it does not overshadow an equally impressive line-up of British-inspired ales. Cascade Ale (O.G. 1.044, 28 IBU, 4.6% a.b.v.) is light and golden, with a nice touch of hops; the Mirror Pond Pale Ale (O.G. 1.052, 5.3% a.b.v.) is a very fruity copper-colored brew with a great hop aroma; the Obsidian Stout (O.G. 1.075, 50 IBU, 6.7%) remains one of the Northwest's best examples of the stronger foreign style. Deschutes also makes some excellent seasonal beers, including Bond Street Brown (1.050, 5.0%), dark and toffee-sweet in the Northern English style: Broken Top Bock (named for a nearby volcano -1.070, 7.0%) , a traditional strong and malty Spring brew; the Bachelor ESB, reformulated somewhat from the popular Bachelor Bitter, is maltier and golden amber in color with the definite flavor of English Kent Goldings hops; Paulina Pils (1.065, 5.1%), golden, dry and crisply hopped in the German style; and the celebrated Jubelale (1.065, 60 IBU, 6.7%), one of America's finest strong ales, very rich and malty and aggressively hopped (dry-hopped as well in recent years).
In the tradition of the nation's best companies, Deschutes has also given back to its community. The Sagebrush Classic, a golf tournament and gourmet feast sponsored by the brewery each summer for the past ten years, has raised over $80,000 for local charities.
Bend is now booming year round, and soaring real estate prices there have changed the landscape forever from that of the remote milltown where Gary Fish once started his brewpub. In the meantime, Deschutes Brewery has become both a big business and a regional force in craft brewing. And like its namesake river, its flow of fine beer has been a pure pleasure to watch.
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