Laurelwood sees their name in lights, sort of, at GABF
  • Brian Yaeger
  • Laurelwood sees their name in lights, sort of, at the Great American Beer Festival.
It was supposed to only be brewed one time, but when Laurelwood's double IPA came in second with a silver medal at the Great American Beer Fest earlier this year, the brewery had to give fans a second helping. Eazy Duz It, initially brewed as part of Laurelwood’s “Rando IPA” series for NWIPA's third anniversary, returns to Portland taps for the second and possibly final time. No doubt local hopheads will want to get a taste of the huge IPA, which podiumed in GABF’s second-most contentious category (after American-style IPA), having gone head to foamy head against 207 other entries. (Incidentally, the beer that won gold was Hop JuJu from Fat Head’s Brewery in Ohio, the big brother of the Pearl District brewpub that just celebrated its first anniversary this week.) I say “possibly final” because Laurelwood’s brewmaster, Shane Watterson, mentioned that there may be a limited bottling in the future.

Reached by email, Watterson said of Eazy’s return, “There are some minor tweaks to the recipe but nothing important.” The beer clocks in at 8 percent ABV and 75 IBUs (international bitterness units) and features earthy and citrusy hops from across the globe, including Northwest Simcoe, German Merkur, and Australian Ella. “The hop combination in this beer came directly from things we learned from a couple of our past Rando IPAs... and it turned out as good or better than we had hoped. Certainly the outcome was better!” We infer Watterson is referring to the award, not the tastiness.

As it happens, Eazy Duz It was neither designed to win a medal, nor would it have had Laurelwood planned appropriately. “This entry was a bit of a throwaway entry for us,” added Watterson. “This one especially seemed like a long shot.” He said that he and lead brewer Steve Balzer “had planned to send our Megafauna Imperial IPA,” but the plan was derailed by an equipment failure. Megafauna, it should be pointed out, was also intended as a one-off until its warm reception from thirsty, vocal supporters.

Eazy Duz It returns to taps this Friday at the following three locations before finding limited distribution around Portland in the coming weeks:

Laurelwood Public House & Brewery, 5115 NE Sandy; Laurelwood SE Public House, 6716 SE Milwaukie; and NWIPA, 6350 SE Foster.