
Recently, another paper in town published a list of every Portland brewery’s first beer brewed, and wrote that, in April 2009, the basement-based, Belgian-leaning Upright Brewing whipped up a beer called Four Play cherry sour. But according to brewer/owner Alex Ganum, their first was actually a beer called Billy the Mountain—a wild, barrel-aged old ale. Four Play, a titillating wild ale aged in Pinot Noir barrels with Oregon cherries came second, but was first released a year later.
That beer proved so popular, it is now available full time in the subterranean tap room. But Upright’s cherry-tasting improvisations don’t end there. “We’re in the thick of some cherry beers,” said Ganum. “Last summer we started two that were just bottled,” he mentioned, adding that they are still bottle conditioning and will be released later this month. More on that after the jump.
One of these beers made in the Belgian lambic style—cherry lambics in particular are called krieks from the Flemish word for cherry—is called Hearts’ Beat and it’s made with local Brooks cherries that are bolder and darker, akin to Bing cherries. Ganum notes that Hearts’ Beat pushes a cleaner profile. The other, Shades, features yellow Rainier cherries and presents a “funkier, Brett profile.” (Brettanomyces is the wild yeast responsible for its barnyard character.) The latter is likely similar to Double Mountain’s Tahoma Kriek, made using Double Mountain owner/brewer Matt Swihart’s own fruit picked in Hood River. Both krieks, said Ganum, “are somewhat Fantasia-esque,” referencing Upright’s fantastic sour peach ale, “with primary fermentation happening in the barrels on top of freshly picked fruit.” Said fruit, as is Upright’s custom, came from Baird Family Orchards in Dayton near McMinnville.
Ganum hopes to debut one at the upcoming Puckerfest IX, Belmont Station’s annual celebration of all beers sour, and the other at Bailey’s Taproom’s 8th anniversary.
For fans of sour beers like these, Ganum hopes to make this pair of cherry beers annually, noting, “I’ve always had good luck with cherries. As a brewer, the first fruit that comes to mind is cherries... You get big, complex aroma and using the pits and skins makes them wine-like.”
Puckerfest IX at Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark, Sun July 19, 3-5 pm, free (but pay per beer)