Up til now for some reason I've always skipped over the Upright beers I've seen, but I keep hearing about them (along w/ Cascade; just picked up my first beer from them the other day, The Vine). Maybe it's because all the Upright labels look the same to me, I don't know. Anyway, I'm interested in getting your opinions on which of the more widely available Upright beers I should try first. Since I haven't been paying attention, I don't even really know what's out there. I'm pretty sure I just saw Four, Five, Six, and Seven at a shop today. And I checked the Upright page on BA so I got a little info there, but would like any input anyone has here as well. For now I'm more interested in their everyday beers, not the rare/limited/brewery-only type releases. Thanks. Cheers!
I really like Four and the Engelberg Pils. I'm not as much of a fan of the others. The Gose is okay but I'd probably rather have one from Cascade or something. Some of the other limited releases have been decent. It's worth going to the tasting room and rocking a sampler if you're interested.
Not from Seattle, with a preschooler in tow... that's kind of why I'm letting my fingers do the walking here first.
Most of their Sole Compositions beers are fantastic! But if you don't live in Portland and can't get to the tasting room on first or second day of the release, you pretty much have no shot at obtaining any bottles unless you trade for some. Same goes for the other special releases. Fantasia and Blend Love are absolute must try beers but at this point, you'll have to trade for them. But as for the non-limited stuff, the regular lineup is pretty solid IMO. You should try them all. The Engelberg Pils is good but it's draft only. You guys might get some of the seasonal releases like Oyster Stout, Billy the Mountain, Gose or Fatali Four up there. I think they are all worth a try.
I'm an outspoken proponent of Upright and love the focus Alex has put on yeast. The 'house strain' has changed since the brewery's inception and I think that just goes to show the thought placed into improving the brand. You've read the website already, but I'll drop a few tidbits on the lineup from my POV. 4 and 7 are my personal favorites. They are probably the most similar in recipe except 7 is twice as big as 4. 4 goes better with food but I really do love a 7 after dinner over the span of an hour or two. In some of the reviews the NC crew recently did for some Sole Comp beers they referred to Upright as the Fantome of America. I think the 4 and 7 are most exemplary of that among the regular lineup. 6 used to be my fave when they were using the 3711 yeast strain. That's the beer that most benefited from the peppery character of that yeast playing with the rye and depth of malt on that beer. It's still probably the most unique saison they put out year-round. 5 is my least favorite but that's just because I prefer a saison without such a heavy handed use of hops. Good thing we're all different and have unique preferences. A hop lover might find it to be their favorite. Pure Wit should be up your way right now. That beer drank like a Berliner Weisse last year. I highly recommend it if you spot it. Should be the same price as 4,5,6,7.
On a side note, their branding is terrible. Too hippy and weird. The fonts are barf-tastic. I think their logo is actually hurting their sales...the 750mL bottles don't help either. They could leverage the bass note or whatever it is but the rest is eh. Four in six packs? Exactly.
The lesson here is to not judge a beer by its label. The Fantasia label is pretty bad. It'd be amusing if people left bottles of it on shelves because of it. Well, actually, I wish they did.
Timely thread. My last trip to Portland I decided would be Upright-centric for the same reasons. I warmed up to them with a El Coloquio De Cervantes in Eugene and a 5 at Les Caves in Corvallis and was ready by the time I hit their tasting room in Portland. Recommendation: leave wife in car with toddler in tow while you hit the tasting room. Great time. I had the Monk & Mingus, an El Coloquio (again) and walked out with a growler of Monk & a bottle of Oyster Stout. Fun lineup & am ready to check out the rest of it.
Out of their normal stuff I think Seven and Engelberg Pils are the best. However, I think Fantasia and the variations of Seven are the best. As often as I buy the sole comp bottles, I think about half of them are not worth the $15 asking price. I think most people buy two bottles, try it, and if it doesn't suit them, trade it to one of the folks out East who drool over the low bottle counts. I've heard that you can land some pretty sweet beers with sole comp bottles.
Sorry, should have mentioned: I want to keep my family and house. I'll try to hit the tasting room if I'm ever in PDX solo.
I cannot rave about the Engelberg Pils enough, it was the last beer in a paddle I decided on, and only at the insistence of a friend. Living in Germany I get more than my fill of pilsners, Engelberg was amazing. It ended up being my favorite beer that day. I wish they bottled it, absolutely wonderful. I was also a huge fan of the tasting room and their De La Seven beer. cheers
Agree on Engleberg Pils. Not sure if you will see it up by you OP but if you do, get it! I love saisons but almost always pick the pils over the entire base lineup when given the choice. A pretty ringing endorsement from our Germany residing friend here doesn't hurt either.
In the 7 years I have been in Germany I have had pilsners from all over the country, easily over 100 different types, plus another 20 or so whilst visiting Czech Republic, and the Upright pils is easily in my top 5.
