Much beloved breweries that have passed on!

Wish I could have that one again. Bought a bottle at a gas station in Vantage while on a school-sponsored trip to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR, around 1994, when all I drank was Guinness, and didn't know what the hell a Scottish Ale was supposed to taste like.

 

About the same time as me, then. Yeah, their beers were pretty much all somewhere between blah and crap by that point, but they were still doing a brisk business. I guess being the only brewpub in a small tourist town keeps them afloat.

 

Yeah, that was my experience -- everything I tried there was between blah and crap, and it seemed surprisingly busy. I bought a growler of something. Don't remember what. I wished I hadn't.

 

Fucking stunning. But, they're in a tourist/arts town, and, the food is probably still good.....

 

I went to Grant's brewpub once while I was going to grad school in Ellensburg. It was near the end due to corporate mismanagement, but still glad I can say I was there.

 

I never visited Grant's brewpub, but I did get the chance to meet Bert Grant at Lucky Baldwin's Pub in Pasadena. (On my birthday, no less!) He was gracious enough to sign a copy of his book The Ale Master for me.

 

I try to avoid my early reviews. They often make me sad or embarrassed, or both.

 

From New England, Catamount and especially the inimitable Pretty Things. Haven't been out here long enough to experience the passing of many breweries.

 

As it happens, the team behind Pretty Things is now brewing under the name Saint Mars of the Desert, in Sheffield, England:

https://beerofsmod.co.uk/

 

I always enjoyed a Tallgrass or ten when visiting in Middle America and was very surprised when they closed.

 

Yeah, they are ramping up slowly, up to three beers. When they opened they had one. Kind of like the Howard Johnson's in Blazing Saddles. They have the same vibe, and I'm sure the beer is good.

 

Jack d'Or was the classic American saison. Not Belgian saison. Not French saison. But clearly American, with how the sweetness was integrated into the profile. I wish I drank more of that beer when I had the chance .

 

Dann Paquette didn't close Pretty Things because of finances. He was tired, and tired of the business. He publicly spoke out about the pay to play system in Boston bars, for which he received criticism from, among others, Jason Alstrom. Seems like he's happier now, which is good.

I do miss the beer. They did a series of "Once Upon a Time" series of recreations of English beers from the past based on research and contemporary recipes that was very cool.

 

The only one of those I remember was a "strong mild ale," which was definitely strong and nothing like any mild I'd ever had before.

 

Baron was so good in the early/mid/late 00s. I remember visiting the Georgetown location and drinking the Uberweisse. It was a revelation to me.
Sadly, they really struggled with infection and diacetyl issues not too long after and were never the same. But in their prime they were the Chuckanut of their day, with people across the country singing their praise. Hope Jeff is doing well, great guy who deserved more success.

 

And that's where Grant explained his inspiration for, and the naming of his Scottish Ale, saying that it was based on his "...favorite home-brewed beer style - and has been my favorite beer since 1945, when I first tasted Dominion White Label ale at Canadian Breweries*. The emigrant Scottish brewmasters who made Dominion White Label assured me that I was tasting the same kind of ales that were brewed in Scotland. That was my reference."
* Which evolved into Carling-O'Keefe by the 1970s.

He used a yeast he had isolated in 1954 which originated at a brewery in the English Midlands. Local PNW water, Yakima Valley Cascades ("the finest aromatic hops in the world") added "at a rate at least three times that of any of the major U.S. lagers" - 40 - 45 IBUs, Great Western 2-row malt as well as about 5% of the total from barley malt they roasted themselves for color (thus "and Malting" in the company name).

He notes it had a higher alcohol content at 4.7 abv, but didn't taste as heavy nor as sweet as "indigenous Scottish ales", ending the section with:

This name origin story was also noted by M. Jackson in his first S&S Pocket Guide to Beer [1986]:

Note the two different abv's - Grant's and Jackson's. ? IIRC, Grant's IPA would be listed in various publications at the time with different abv's, as well.