Quick interview with American's new brewer

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 ).

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

I was left more curious about what happened with Skip.


But definitely none of my business.

 

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.

 

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.