She's from Sumeria, you know

I was asked by a friend of mine to do a bit of commentary on Ninkasi. Admittedly, they are a good topic for discussion: in two years, this Eugene brewery has done just about everything short of riding into your local supermarket (regardless of where in the US you are), planting a flag, and forcing their beer into your hands. Open for business and develop the flagship brewery in their hometown? Check. Double the production capacity? Check. Add-on a tasting room? Check. Create an IPA that turns into the #1 22 oz. seller of ANY kind in Oregon and a top-10 bomber in the nation? Check, check, and check.

I've had 8 of the 10 beers produced by Ninkasi and they range from 'not my favorite' * to 'good' ** to 'just bring the keg over here and save time' ***. They have an absolute passion and positivity that is a requirement for brewing in Oregon, let alone achieving the kind of successes they've made right out of the gate. Their labels and tap heads have interestingly cool designs, they are a fixture at every beer festival I can think of, and Oregon freakin' loves them. Ninkasi has created some ridiculously loyal followers.

Floyd and Ridge, in my opinion, do their best work with seasonal releases. From my vantage point, the opening salvo of hop bomb after hop bomb after hop bomb was like firing off an air horn - the intent is to get people looking in your direction and then bait & switch them. "Oh, hi! Sorry about the noise . . . say, while you're here, check out this cream ale we've got . . . " There are other brewers who are better at limited releases versus year-rounds, but with Ninkasi, if seems like the distinction between the two is much, much greater. I may return to some of the standard offerings at some point, but the my first passes through did not go well.

So, Ninkasi - good, just dodge the year-rounds. With that in mind - I'm looking forward to trying Maiden The Shade (hey, a seasonal!) at the OBF in a few days.

* Tricerahops Double IPA - I can appreciate a beer giving your taste buds a bit of a hop blast, but this is obscene and not in a good way. I've tried it twice - once out of a bomber and once on tap - and in both cases, I couldn't get past the hops to enjoy the beer. Much like Dogfish Head's 120-min IPA, it's basically worth drinking once just to say you've tried it, but good luck having more than one. I should admit that the on-tap version did smooth out the flavoring a bit, but we're talking five, maybe ten percent max.

** Spring Reign - Very 'clean' beer - in appearance, mouthfeel, and flavor, there is a crispness to it that almost makes you think of a pilsner. But it's actually like a light version of a Kölsch with more hop taste. It's an apt name and a good brew.

*** Oatis - Now we're talking. It's pretty good in the bottle, but Oatis takes on a brilliant, creamy mouthfeel when you can find it on-tap and, for me, that is a perfect attribute to have in an oatmeal stout. Dark, pleasantly thick (but not to motor oil levels), very smooth, and with just a touch of sweetness to it - this is the beer you want to be packing on a raw, Fall day.