Quick interview with American's new brewer

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by BBThunderbolt, Apr 30, 2015.

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  1. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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  2. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
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    He grew up on a small farm in Vermont! Does that mean soon we'll get to taste some authentic Vermont IPAs?

    Sounds like he's interested in doing more saisons and sours, which are always welcome. And I like his mention of Russian River, Firestone Walker, Hill Farmstead, Logsdon, and Sainte Adairius. You don't achieve greatness (or even escape mediocrity) by aiming low.

    And this quote seemed a little odd: "Black Raven does fabulous stuff. I think they're kind of the sweetheart brewery of the Northwest right now. They always have the longest lines at festivals." While this might be true of Washington, I don't know that it's true of the entire NW. I know I'm splitting hairs, but I can think of a few Oregon breweries that are probably bigger NW "sweethearts" than BR. And I'd suggest the reason their lines are longest at festivals is because their beer is harder to find if you don't go to the brewery (which, being on the East Side, may as well be in Spokane :wink:).

    Also, why does American have a 30-barrel system to produce 3,500 barrels, compared to Mac and Jack's 20-barrel system to produce 45,000 barrels? I don't know enough about commercial brewing to know whether this makes sense or not, but the math seems odd.
     
    #2 Orca, Apr 30, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2015
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  3. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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    Yeah, that caused me some wonderation, in a couple different ways, too. A: Is American making almost 100bbl a day on a 30bbl system? That'd be 3 brews a day, most every day of the year. B: How damn many fermentors must M&J have? They must be brewing multiple batches, 24/7, most of the year. That's getting the most out of your system. Dude does say he was working nights at M&J, so maybe they run 3 shifts?

    BR does have a line, all fest, every fest. Nobody else even comes close. But, for a lot of people, that's the only time they get to try BR's more limited stuff. For example, Fremont's limited stuff gets distro, whereas most BR limited stuff, only a few kegs leave the brewery.

    If he wants to brew to the quality level of FW or RR, great. But if he's just looking to copy them, or build the type of hype that surrounds HF, we'll wait and see what the shareholders think.
     
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  4. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
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    Black Raven has been sending bottles out like crazy lately, though. Even some of the limited beers like Ouseaux and Raven de Garde end up at retail outside the brewery.
     
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  5. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
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    True, I see their stuff more and more often and occasionally pick something up (I liked La Mort Rouge quite a bit). But they haven't reached the saturation of, say, Fremont—which I'd say also qualifies as a NW "sweetheart" (I thought I'd mention Fremont since we never talk about them on here). I think Frantz might be under the impression that BR is more popular than it is largely because of the festival lines, while the relative scarcity of their beers is also a big reason for these lines. For all I know, his perception is shaped largely by what he has seen at beer festivals.
     
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  6. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    I was left more curious about what happened with Skip.


    But definitely none of my business.
     
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  7. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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    Well, BR is popular, their brews sell extremely well whenever they're on tap up here. They make a nice variety of beers, lots of styles, and their tasting room probably does as much, if not more volume (pro-rated for size and capacity) the Fremonts. Perhaps some of y'all should pay the toll to get across the bridge more often. Make sure you've got a GPS app on your phone, wouldn't want the city folks to not be able to follow the breadcrumbs home, now would we?
     
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  8. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
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    No question they're popular and doing well. I still have very little incentive to make the trek to Redmond to drink good beer (even before it cost me several dollars to do so). If I found myself over there for some other reason, sure, but I wouldn't make a special trip. That's just me though.
     
  9. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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    What? You don't find Redmond as scenic as Whidbey?
     
  10. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Not quite. And I can also take my family to Whidbey. They aren't welcome @ BR.

    Anyway, I see we've again (typically) gotten off topic. How about that American Brewing Company? I hear they have a new head brewer.
     
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