NW Bearded Brewer in the News!

Last weekend was the inaugural Summer's Here! Brewfest in Coeur d’Alene. CW had told me about it and we had planned on going together, but she bailed at the last minute. No worries though, Dos Equis Dan to the rescue! Ta da da!

Dan is always up for an adventure… especially when tasty brews are involved. So after dropping of a month’s worth of trash at the dump (the thing’s we do for friends), we left the Evergreen State for the Panhandle of the Spuds.

Getting to CDA isn’t very hard but we made a few wrong turns after we got off the highway. Dan said he knew the way, but I didn’t believe him. Thank goodness for smartphones. We finally pulled up to the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. Both Dan and I were confused, because we saw lots of little kids and signs for a Shriner’s Circus. Fortunately once we were through the gates a man with a fez said, “Brewfest? That way”, and pointed us in the right direction.

Once we arrived at our destination, I was completely blown away. There was a live band with guitars, trumpets, and even a trombone. Beach balls being knocked around over the crowd, and along the edges were many volunteers dispensing wonderful liquids of all styles. There was even a wine table…. but this is a beer blog, dang it!

Among the breweries represented were Budweiser, Shock Top, Sam Adams, and a few others. I immediately gravitated towards the Wallace Brewing Company’s table. This table was manned by two members of the distributing company used by WBC. All the other tables were covered by volunteers for the event.

Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a camera (it was in CW’s purse at home) or even a pen. I would try the beer and have to run up to the front and ask the nice ladies running the cash box for a pen. I think they got sick of me asking, but c’mon… if I come up once and go back for more beer, might I come back again to write some more notes? Anyway, they were great sports and I really appreciated the pen!

So obviously, I felt like a schmo because I was completely unprepared. I’m a beer blogger, man! I should be prepared at the drop of a hat. I saw another person there with a pad, pen, and a pretty sweet camera. When I asked him if he was doing a beer blog he told me, “No. I’m with the Coeur d’Alene Press.” We spoke for a minute and he asked me a few questions about what I thought of the event, and about what I thought of the beers. It was up the next morning. I was so excited, but I realized that he didn’t use my handle “NW Bearded Brewer” but rather just referred to me by name. Ah well, any press is good press right?

Enough gushing about my minute and a half of fame…. let’s get to the beer.

Again, my apologies for the severe lack of pictures…

Wallace Brewing Company (Wallace, ID)

Vindicator IPA - Big bitter and good floral hops


    




The Dirty Blonde - Light mouth feel, some hop notes but not over the top.








Odell Brewing Company (Ft. Collins, CO)

90 Schillings – 5.3% : Dark brown, malty, sweet, great mouth feel and flavor. My favorite for this trip.










IPA – 7% : One finger of foam, great hop nose and flavor, and a great balance bitterness.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Overall, a wonderful event in a great town.  The thing I can think of to improve it is to have more brewers or representatives from the breweries there to talk about their beer.  Sure, reading a pamphlette about the beer is fine, but you don't get the passion and love that went into that beer from a piece of paper.  The brewers pride and committment to the craft always comes out in the brew, but when they're there decribing it too you... it just tastes better (as if that's even possible).
 
Slainte!
 
NWBB

Golden Hills Brewing Company – Brewery Tour

So we recently re-opened our NW Bearded Brewer and Cider Wench Facebook page.  I found a little surprise waiting for me… a message from the Golden Hills Brewing Company in Airway Heights saying that I could come up and visit.



I’ve had some of the brews from Golden Hills before, but I had never really paid much attention to what I was drinking in those days.  For shame…

A while back, the Cider Wench and I went to an event called “Begin” at the MAC, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.  There was live music, some tasty tidbits, and some Golden Hills brews.

On tap at the museum were two brews from Golden Hills, Ben’s Brown and Clem’s Gold.  CW and I both had one of each, and both were absolutely delicious.  Ben’s Brown was very dark, very smooth and CW’s new favorite beer.  Clem’s Gold wasn’t as dark but very tasty.  Unfortunately we were unprepared for any formal reviews, but we definitely remember that we enjoyed them both.

A little history about Golden Hills Brewing Company …

The president is Bernie Duenwald.  Bernie grew up in Eastern Washington and even graduated from Reardan High School.  Bernie worked for a company selling malt to different beer companies.  He was sent to the Seibel Institute to learn about making beer as to better serve his customers.  In 2006 Golden Hills Brewing Company had its first beer on draft.

Golden Hills Brewery

I met Bernie at the brewery in Airway Heights.  The garage doors were open and I could see the copper clad brewing setup as I pulled up.  Bernie was sitting at a long table reading a newspaper and a half-full glass of beer close at hand.  After some introductions, I explained a little more about our blog and why I was interested in speaking with him.  As the self-dubbed NW Bearded Brewer, I am interested in different styles and types of beer, but especially those of the Pacific Northwest and more over the local beers I can get right here in Spokane.

Golden Hills Brewing Equipment

Bernie and I talked for a while and he showed me the brewing setup.  He explained the brewing process a little more to me and the differences between each part of the brewing equipment.  Besides the equipment used to brew the beer, there were also two large fermenters, one 30 Barrel and one 60 Barrel.  A Barrel, I learned, is around 31 gallons.  That’s a whole lot of beer!  I was fortunate to see Bernie’s test batch setup.  I hope to make my own multi-level brewing system someday and so I was very eager to see what he used.

Large Fermentors

Bernie told me that the mission of the Golden Hills Brewing Company was to fill a niche in the craft brewing industry.  As he explained it most large breweries produce lagers exclusively, and that craft brewers make ales specifically to distance themselves from the “big guys”.  While ales are generally known for their big flavors, lagers have great taste and are incredibly smooth which makes them more drinkable.  Bernie’s thoughts that a craft brewery that produces lagers would be a refreshing option for beer drinkers that some find some craft beers are too strongly flavored. The hard part is convincing diehard fans of the large breweries to try a “craft beer”, and to convince people who enjoy craft beer to try a lager.

Bernie's Setup for Test Batches of Beer

Bernie has an established clientele here is Spokane, and he’s trying to make a push over in the Seattle area.  He said he’s taking kegs every week to the Puget Sound area, and hopes to find a distributor over there to work with in the future.

Golden Hills has three main beers that they produce, Clem’s Gold, Ben’s Brown, and Lizzy’s Lager.  Recently they unveiled a batch of new beer in Reardan, WA, called Em’s Easy.  Bernie described it as Golden Hill’s answer for the light beer drinker.  The keg ran dry at Em’s premiere, but fortunately Bernie said that there was some leftover in a keg from another location.

Found:  Golden Hills Brewing Company (Airway Heights, WA)
Brewery:  Same
Style: Lager
ABV: 4.5%
Price:  Check these Eastern, WA restaurants, or if you are in the Seattle area, check these out.



Pour gave a small amount of white foam with medium and small bubbles.  Color is bright and golden, and a little hazy.  Bernie explained that this batch of Em’s was unfiltered, but if they go into full production Em’s Easy will be as clear as the other beers brewed at Golden Hills.  Bernie also said that once filtered the color should become darker, almost an amber color.  Aroma didn’t really give me much.  I could smell the beer, but there were no powerhouse hop notes.  Again, this is a lager and not an ale.  There was plenty of flavor of grains like the barley used at Golden Hills.  Mouth feel gave the feeling you could drink this beer all day long at a picnic or at the beach.  Extremely refreshing, crisp and clean.

NW Bearded Brewer’s Grade:



I had a wonderful time at Golden Hills, and Bernie was a terrific host.  If I see the Golden Hills label on a tap in the future, I’ll make sure I get a pint.