(OR) Hair of the Dog Brewing & Deschutes Brewing Co. Collaborate for 2011’s & Oregon’s New Beer
Portland, OR / Bend, OR - When this story hit our inbox we had to refresh the screen a few times but no you are not seeing things. Today it was announced that Deschutes Brewing out of Bend and Hair of the Dog from Portland, will be collaborating on a new beer for 2011.
“When we started talking about collaborating on a project, Alan Sprints at Hair of the Dog was the first person I thought of working with,” said Gary Fish, president of Deschutes Brewery. “We’ve known each other for a long time and partnering on a project like this was the perfect way to be able to do something original and unique together. When you have two creative companies embarking on a creative project together, something fun is bound to result.”
It wasn't until March of this year that Sprints made the drive to Bend in order to brew two of his beers at Deschutes Brewhouse. Once Alan finished his beers it was up to Deschutes' Larry Sidor to produce two beers he believe spoke about Deschutes. The beer styles' for now will be kept secret as they age in various wood barrels, before being blended (in a yet to be determined ratio) sometime in 2011.
Over the course of the year both brewers (Alan Sprints & Larry Sidor) will revisit the maturation progress on their barrel aged creations to determine the right ratio.
Sprints said, "This partnership was born in an effort to express the vitality of today’s American brewing community and push the boundaries of what is commonly known as beer. Both of our companies share a pride in Oregon products and I have long admired the level of professionalism that Gary brings to the brewing industry. My idea was to do a blend of beers that we already produced, merging our products and passion for beer, hoping to create a beverage that will be deep, complex, earthy and beguiling."
This is the first collaborative beer for each of the companies, and everyone is excited to see how the new beer will develop. Fish continued, “We have no idea how these four beers will taste blended together, but we do know that the total will be greater than the sum of its parts.”
Located in beautiful Bend, Oregon, Deschutes Brewery is in the business of daring people to expect more from their beer. That's why we started off in 1988, on the banks of the Deschutes River here in Bend, Oregon, by selling Black Butte Porter at a time when others were sure a dark beer would never catch on. Our brewers love to push the envelope, especially if it makes someone nervous. But for us, the highest praise is a raised glass and a toast of "Bravely Done!" For more information about Deschutes Brewery and its courageously crafted beers, please visit www.DeschutesBrewery.com.
About Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Hair of the Dog Brewing Company is located in Portland, Oregon and was created to produce bottle-conditioned beers that improve with age. The main focus is to provide the beer lover with new and unusual beer styles, and is known for its barrel aged and high alcohol beers. Hair of the Dog is one of the world’s smallest Breweries, producing a mere 120 gallons per brew, last year’s production was about 15,000 gallons. For more information about the brewery and our beers, check out hairofthedog.com
Cheers
About the photo’s author
"Matt Wiater is a photographer covering the Portland beer scene for portlandbeer.org."
