I read a fair amount of articles about the lager renaissance in the PNW, but those articles mostly focus on the newer breweries involved - pFriem, Wayfinder, etc. So glad to to see Jeff Alworth’s recent post giving Rick get much deserved credit for starting a lager-focused brewery almost 13 years ago when hoppy beers were all the rage in Oregon.
When Rick Allen launched his brewery in 2007 with the determination to exclusively make traditional German lagers, it seemed like a wonderful and doomed venture. No one wanted lagers then. (Up North, in Bellingham, Will Kemper also struggled for years with Chuckanut, based on the same model.) Yet somehow, miraculously, Heater Allen didn’t just stay in business, it managed to slowly build a market for lagers. Specifically, pilsners, thanks to the flagship Heater Allen Pils.
Over time, more and more pilsners appeared, and more and more breweries found there was a major demand for them. It even turned out that the German/lager model was viable, and now there are several: Zoiglhaus, Occidental, Wayfinder, and Rosenstadt. Breweries like pFriem and Buoy aren’t devoted exclusively to lagers, but have become magnets for lagerheads. When we look back through the decades, the 2010s will be remembered most for the way lagers became established as an important element of Oregon beer.
Thanks Scott! I think Jeff wrote that because Lisa beat him up about discussing big regional brand lagers that came five years after us in an earlier piece he had written.
I contend that the demand for lagers was always there. Most craft breweries didn’t make them because they used a lot of tank space. Space that could be better used cranking out several batches of IPA in the same amount of time.
I made a similar comment about the glaring omission of Heater Allen in his recent post about the rise of lagers, which I found otherwise informative. FFS, he even mentioned Ninkasi. NINKASI!! In a piece on lagers?!?
Hopefully the fences are mended with Jeff as I’d love to see you and Lisa do Jeff’s podcast. I mentioned that to him in a comment to the rise of lagers piece.
What Scott said. I have to drive out to Shoreline for a kid’s soccer game, which means I might need to make a side trip to Chuck’s… Need you guys to start delivering just a little farther east to Redmond
I don’t trust the freshness of K&L. I’ve gotten 4-5 month old beers from them when I’ve ordered online. Most of the beer is all in northern california, so it takes a week to get to K&L hollywood for their transfer. Then I gotta find time to drive 45 minutes each way to Hollywood. I could just have it shipped, but it goes back to the initial issue that I don’t trust K&L
When I was in Long Beach in Jan I saw 5 month old (Hi-Lo Liquor) and 1 month old (The Wine Country) HA Pils.
Luckily I passed on the 5 month old, as my next stop had the fresher beer.
We distribute in CA through Lime Ventures. I think the beer is more available in Northern CA, but I’ve talked to retailers all the way down to San Diego.
Mr.K’s always has super fresh HA beers, it’s the only place I buy them from. He’s in the OC. Best bottle shop in So Cal by a long shot and great prices too.
The shop I work at is quite small and new, but I have a feeling we’re bringing in a pretty big chunk of those 3k cases. We were always regularly ordering with Lime Ventures, but with Heater Allen’s switch to cans it has become an even more regular occurrence
Thanks Mike, I hadn’t seen that. This was a collaboration where we both brewed the same beer at the same time. The Good Word version is a little different than ours, mainly because they dry-hopped it, and we didn’t. We just aren’t set up to dry-hop very easily. They shipped us a few of their cans (and we’re shipping them some of ours), and I liked it.