Barley Brown's brews beer to celebrate Oregon agriculture

Lisa Britton, Baker City Herald, Ore.
·4 min read

Oct. 7—When Tyler Brown was asked to brew a beer with Oregon-specific ingredients for a special campaign supporting agriculture, he knew it wouldn't be a stretch for his brewers.

"It was easy for us — we already make a lot of beers with Oregon ingredients," said Brown, owner of Barley Brown's Brewpub in Baker City.

The campaign, called Cheers to the Land, is a project of the Oregon Agricultural Trust, a nonprofit land trust that protects agricultural land from development.

Nine breweries across the state have developed limited-edition beers for the campaign.

Some, like the pale ale at Barley's, will be available only on draft.

Brown said they made only 40 kegs.

"It's a one-time only beer. It turned out phenomenal," he said.

Eli Dickison, Barley Brown's head brewer, created the recipe. The beer is a 6.5% ABV IPA that is described as "bright golden in color and has flavors and aromas of tropical fruit, citrus, with a hint of cherry."

The Barley's pale ale was brewed with barley grown in Enterprise and malted at Gold Rush Malt in Baker City, and Mosaic and Citra hops from B&D Farms in St. Paul and a blend of other Northwest hops.

All nine of the limited edition beers will be labeled "Cheers to the Land."

Six of the beers will be packaged in 4-packs and distributed in specialty grocery stores.

All breweries will donate a portion of sales to the Oregon Agricultural Trust.

"Breweries in Oregon have a huge following, and we tend to be very involved in our community," Brown said. "This one made sense — we definitely have a massive tie to the farming and agriculture industry."

Special events

The Oregon Agricultural Trust will host special events at each brewery during October.

A meet-and-greet is planned for Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Barley Brown's brewpub and taproom from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The evening will feature Oregon-sourced food specials but, again, Brown said that's standard for the pub's menu items, such as serving Country Natural Beef.

For a full schedule of all the special events, visit www.cheerstotheland.com/events.

Those close to Loyal Legion locations can find all nine beers during tap takeovers Oct. 14 at the Portland location, and Oct. 15 in Beaverton.

"One of the major reasons we have some of the best beer in the world is because Oregon has such fertile farmland," said Nellie McAdams, Oregon Agricultural Trust executive director. "Our farmers grow 5% of all the hops in the world and we have some of the best soil on the planet. But you can't unpave farmland; once it's gone it's gone. So Cheers to the Land both celebrates our farmland and raises awareness about the importance of protecting it for agriculture, forever."

Participating breweries

—Barley Brown's (Baker City): Pale ale. Draft only.

—Block 15 Brewing (Corvallis): West Coast India Pale Ale featuring Gold Rush Malt from Baker City and Zappa and Comet hops, both grown at Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn. Cans and draft.

—Gorges Beer Co. (Cascade Locks): Golden Ale fermented on 120 pounds of apricots from an orchard in The Dalles. Aged for two months till perfection. Limited edition crowlers and draft.

—Falling Sky Brewing (Eugene): Cascadian dark ale with Oregon-harvested spruce tips, Salmon-Safe malt from Goschie Farms in Silverton, and Salmon-Safe hops from Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn. Cans and draft.

—Ferment Brewing (Hood River): Hoppy pale ale brewed with Mecca Grade malts from Madras, oats, and hops grown on Oregon trellises. Cans and draft.

—Fort George Brewing (Astoria): Double India Pale Ale utilizing Salmon Safe hops and grain. Cans and draft.

—ForeLand Beer Co. (Portland): Dry-hopped Pacific Northwest lager with Salmon-Safe Lorien and Sterling hops, and Oregon-grown Salmon-Safe malt from Mainstem Malt. Cans and draft.

—Pelican Brewing (Cannon Beach): A 503 Pale Ale with ingredients grown entirely on Goschie Farms — Pilsner Wintmalt and Willamette, Fuggle, and Santiam hops. Draft only.

—Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery (Newberg): Mixed culture rye pale ale made with Oregon-grown Mecca Grade malt, aged in casks with Willamette Valley Robada apricots. Cans and draft.