(Portland, OR) – In its first year of brewing, Breakside Brewery (820 NE Dekum) has developed a reputation for its creative beers and enthusiasm for collaboration brews. After working with numerous brewers and members of the beer community, Breakside brewmaster Ben Edmunds and owner Scott Lawrence are excited to announce the kickoff of new series of collaborations:
Beginning this month, Breakside will work with twelve of Portland’s top chefs to craft beers that are tailored to their restaurants’ food. Once a month for the next year, one of the chefs will join Edmunds in the brewhouse to get the hands-on experience of making a beer suited to their cooking. The first beer in the series is now on tap, and it is the brainchild of Wildwood sous chef Paul Kasten, whose beer pairing dinners have made him the top chef advocate for beer in the city. For his beer, Kasten chose to design an English-style old ale brewed with molasses and aged on oak. Part of the beer has also been reserved for aging in a bourbon barrel.
Following the Wildwood collaboration, Aaron Barnett of St. Jack will head over to Breakside in to concoct a dry-hopped golden farmhouse ale brewed in the tradition of an Uytzet. And in October, Rodney Muirhead of Podnah’s Pit will craft a strong Helles lager to complement his Texas-style barbecue. Other chef collaborators will include Andy Ricker of Pok Pok/Whiskey Soda Lounge, Gabriel Rucker at Le Pigeon/Little Bird, Naomi Pomeroy of Beast, Cathy Whims of Nostrana, John Gorham of Toro Bravo/Tasty & Sons, Brian Spangler of Apizza Scholls, David Welch and Jenn Louis of Lincoln/Sunshine Tavern, and Andy Arndt of Aquariva.
“We are incredibly enthused about this project. We love eating and drinking, and we think this is a great way to bring the two together,” said Lawrence. “It is the first time anywhere in the country that a single brewery will work systematically with a city’s best chefs to create beers for their restaurants. It’s a testament to the great beer culture in Portland that chefs of this caliber are excited for an opportunity like this. Hopefully, it inspires other chefs to seek out breweries and elevate the way that top tier restaurants treat beer.”
Edmunds said that he is excited to work with the chefs to design their beers, many of which may run astray of traditional style boundaries, in order to make beers that complement their work . “Food-oriented beers are what I love; I think these beers afford us a lot of freedom to experiment and come up with beers based on flavor profile rather than on style guidelines.”
The chefs are looking forward to this as an opportunity to complement their menu in ways that would otherwise be impossible. Aquariva’s Arndt explains, “I’ll be able to add characteristics that I would like to see with my food at the restaurant, knowing the blend of hops, spice, yeast and final alcohol percentage.[On my own] I would never have the time to experiment to get the right flavor profile.”
When the series finishes next August, Breakside promises some sort of wrap up celebration, though no plans have been set yet. “We have a year to figure that out,” says Lawrence, “but we do plan to save some of each of the beers for some sort of gala event in 2012.” Kasten’s Old Ale is available at Breakside and will be released at Wildwood later this month. The bourbon-barrel aged version is likely to be released in time for a pairing dinner at Wildwood in early 2012. Likewise, beer lovers and foodies alike can expect to find all the collaboration brews at both the brewery and the chef’s restaurant(s). Limited amounts of bottles of each release will be available for sale as well.