Dooney took a trip over to ten barrel and I asked him to write about it! Pretty awesome stuff from the sounds of it.
More on the pumpkin beer later today - keep calm and carry on!
This weekend I ventured off to Bend, Oregon in order to find
the perfect pumpkins for the pumpkin ale Rooney and I were planning on making.
At the time I heard from some local family members that the pumpkins in the
area were exceptionally good. Though Saturday I discovered I was not the only
person to seek the same pumpkin patch in order to make delicious beer.
I had
gone to the 10 Barrel Brewery Pub with my girlfriend and cousin to taste some
of their beer and get some good food in the process, which I do have to agree
with Rooney, they have some killer pizza. Anyways, after sampling pretty much
everything 10 Barrel had on tap I ran into an old high school friend who just
happened to be there with one of 10 Barrel’s newest brewers. So of course I
quickly began asking as many questions as I could come up with. That’s when I
learned that the brewer had just completed the very first Pumpkin Ale 10 Barrel
has ever produced and it was fermenting as we spoke. So of course I had to ask
to check out the brewery to see where all the magic happened. He was more than
happy to take us over to the brewery and give a full tour. So I finished my pizza, downed the remainder
of my beer, and on we went.
When we got to the brewery and the
bay doors opened I was immediately hit with a delicious aroma of fall spices. The just completed pumpkin ale was one day
into fermentation and it was like nothing I have experienced since I started
brewing with Rooney. The blow off hose was engulfed in a large water trough and
it was overflowing with krausen foam. I was even given the opportunity to try
the soon to be beer right out of the fermentation vessel. It was sweet and rich
with flavor. You can tell it was just starting to become alcoholic. It was
amazing!
Now we were going to get the chance
to tour the brewery, however there was a strict rule before doing so… That was
to go over to the cooler and pour a nice frosty glass of beer. It was important
to be continuously drinking beer as the tour took place. We started upstairs
where they kept all the grain right near the grain mill. Downstairs consisted
of the two kettles for mashing and the boil along with several fermentation
vessels. It was quite the site. This was really my first tour of a brewery
after I took up the obsession of being a home brewer. Unfortunately time was
limited. After seeing all that I could get my eyes on and snapping a few
pictures, the tour came to an end. Everyone around that was associated with 10
Barrel was very nice and welcoming. I mean, how can you not be when you have
free beer to offer? The brewer was even nice enough to give me his email so
Rooney and I could contact him with any questions we may have. With the tour
ending and beer still left in my glass, I was told I could keep the glass as a
souvenir along with a few free stickers that were thrown in too.
So that was the end of my tour.
After everything was all done and said, I quickly realized that 10 Barrel was
the real deal. It wasn’t just another one of these restaurants who make beer on
the side to bring in customers. It was a brewery that’s sole purpose was to
make amazing beer with some delicious food to pair it with. I eventually made
it down to the nearby pumpkin patch (the same place 10 Barrel got their
pumpkins) and managed to pick out a healthy selection of fresh specialty
pumpkins and squashes. I even managed to pick up some organic clover honey to
add to our soon to be batch of beer. Now all we need to do is brew!
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