Sacred Profane Brewing Launching Summer 2022

Nah that’s the Czech approach….

 

I agree, Extrava was not a Notch or a Schilling and yes it's not a perfect analogy since the beers were not in style. I'd still take what they were putting out versus second or third locations for Brickyard Hollow and Stars and Stripes. The beer market in Portland is saturated with mediocre breweries trying to capitalize on the tourists. And that is why even though I live here I head to Notch, Silvaticus and Idle Hands more often than drinking in Portland.

 

Yeah, I get it - this was going back to whether there is any similar precedent here in the US

 

I mean, surely you can find good beer around here without ending up at Brickyard Hollow or Stars and Stripes. I take your point that there are some mediocre places in the Portland area catering to our throngs of tourists, including some quite popular places IMO, just because there are so many breweries period. But I have to push back on the notion that Portland doesn’t also have numerous top tier options. I’d be hard pressed to think of another city this small with so many excellent beer drinking establishments in a 30 minute radius.

 

I saw Brienne mention this thread in her IG story. She wasn’t complaining, she just said if you’re looking for some entertainment go give it a read.

 

Thanks. Don’t follow her, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

 

I agree, I would have liked to have seen Extrava survive. It provided some much needed variety in that specific area.

Although Belleflower does make some damn good IPAs. But even better, they don't do JUST IPAs. So at the end of the day I'm ok with it.

As of 2019 Portland had the most breweries per 50,000 residents at 18.

https://vinepair.com/booze-news/top-25-cities-breweries-per-capita/

Are you talking about a 30 minute walking radius or driving? I assume driving.

 

What I'm getting at in a roundabout way is that Portland needs a Sacred Profane, Notch, Schilling type brewery. Take away the second location breweries that have opened up recently we have Belleflower that opened 2 years ago and before that you have to go back to 2017 for Battery Steele and Definitive, correct? With that, the scene inside Portland can become a bit stale. Yes, it's worth the drive outside of Portland to a Tributary.

 

Her screenshot of the BA forum was also captioned with "LOL" for whatever that's worth.

 

Belleflower is having their first anniversary party this weekend actually. Definitive was 2017 I believe, but Battery Steele was a couple years earlier. Goodfire opened at the tail end of 2017 also.

I can understand wanting a new lager focused brewery here, which it sounds like is what you are really getting at, but I certainly wouldn’t consider the brewery scene here to be stale. I’m not sure it’s reasonable to expect an awesome new brewery to open up every year.

 

I agree with both your points, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s stale.

My last trip was the first time in awhile I actively was drinking at a couple places and thought, “Yup, I don’t need to come back here anymore.”

Which isn’t a bad thing because you can’t really check out every brewery in Portland in a weekend anyways.

 

Not to rag on the breweries in Portland but a lot of them give you a similar experience. Try the beers that you want to try and move on to the next one. Few really stand out purely from an experience stand point. Oxbow is just a chill place to hang out and Duckfat has been a huge game changer. Allagash is just Allagash. I haven't really been able to stay at Bissell for long, but I feel like they captured good vibes that were in place at the old spot. The rest? I don't find them particularly notable.

I think Extrava failed because they didn't get enough people excited about what they were doing. They didn't have a marketing budget but they were going to be the third Belgian focused brewery in a city that already has two highly successful Belgian focused breweries. They didn't really lean into or tell their brewer's experience at Lively. They just said he was a veteran which isn't enough. You have to tell your story. I wasn't really in the area during the period they were in operation, so I never made it out. That's a business plan you could be critical of though.

And Belleflower is a good contrast because those guys worked at Trillium. There was some expectation that those guys knew what they were doing. I think I had a Belleflower beer when I was down in DC because I knew Zach had worked while Trill was good. I imagine a lot of folks have gone, not just because they're a new brewery, but because they've had higher expectations for them (versus an unknown). It makes a difference.

To bring it back to Sacred Profane. I have strong faith in Brienne and Fava's brewing skills. They both did great work at their previous jobs and are great people. It's funny to me that many have cast doubt on the business without even seeing what it will be like or experiencing the product. They're going to provide a unique experience that isn't just a taproom. Success in the brewing industry isn't a monolith. It isn't just about growth or size. It isn't about brewing particular beers.

These days, my favorite breweries are those that are doing something different. They're not trying to be a haze factory. They're not pumping out pastry stouts. They may make them, but they're doing their own thing and carving their own niche. There are plenty of untapped niches in the beer world and we need places like Sacred Profane to tap into them.

 

I think one overlooked piece of this whole thing is the hospitality and service aspect of it all. If the hospitality and service are great and the beers and food follow suit, it won't matter how many beers they have on tap.

Quick Fava story once told in the Oxbow thread: many years ago friends and I rented the farmhouse at Oxbow. It was right after a Native Wild release, and it sold out before we got there. Fava gave us a tour of the brewhouse and I mentioned that I was bummed I missed the release. A couple hours later he handed me a bottle of Native Wild Select from his personal stash. I was completely taken aback. I drank it that night with my buddies and it's a favorite beer memory of mine.

Sure, a different time and different place, but I'll never forget that. And as an owner, I have a feeling that's exactly the experience he and his partner will try to curate.

 

I think she just thought the discussion was funny. She likely is not going to be concerned with the opinion here, as evidenced by the very public tenacity she has displayed, and just thought all of the concern regarding the viability of the business model to be amusing.

 

I think another aspect that’s huge is the location.

How many of you immediately thought, “I’m totally going to this place for lunch and beers on my way up and/or down from Portland”?

For example, if I’m in Salem, or even in the Northshore, I’m thinking of popping into Notch. And now probably Backbeat and Gentile for cask ales too.

 

Yep. I go up to Portland three or four times per year. I love the idea, this seems to be right up my alley. This thread has me actually more excited. Can't wait to check this place out on the way up. Is there any word on opening day date?

 

Lukr (horizontal) serving tanks in the flesh - "first of its kind"

 

Those tanks above look similar in size and aspect ratio to those I saw in the Czech Republic with one example:



I didn't think to look for manufacturer labeling during my visit.

Cheers to tankovna (tank) beer!

 

I didn’t know Lukr started as a company in 1990.

Were there side pull taps before them?

 

Lukr named one of their faucets NOSTALGIA per the “Czech tradition of drawing beer”

LUKR Nostalgie faucet
Let the Lager Flow: A Short History of Beer Taps | Pilsner Urquell

...Not sure how a 19th Century MLÍKO was drawn
The History of the Mlíko Pour | Pilsner Urquell