Beer is one of the oldest and most popular beverages in
the world. In its purest form, the recipe is simple: boil
grains in hot water and then add yeast to the liquid to start
fermentation. Yet, with the addition of hops for flavoring,
the results are seemingly endless. There are many beer
styles—such as pale ales, pilsners, hefeweizens, and
porters—and each contain a multitude of varieties made
from specific combinations of these few ingredients.
More than any other, the word craft signifies Pacific
Northwest beer. The term points to both the many
microbreweries between Oregon and Washington, as well
as the many varieties of beer each brewery conceives of
and produces. But while beer brewing is a major part of
the food and drink culture in the Northwest, there isn’t a
specific process prominent in any given locale. This isn’t
like Southern barbecue, which has a distinct St. Louis style,
Kansas City style, Memphis style, and the like. Rather,
throughout the Northwest, variety is key.
In some parts of the world, specific recipes are tied to
certain regions. Pilsners, for example, were invented in
the Czech Republic. Lagers are from Germany and monks
in Belgium first made Trappist ales. But throughout the
Northwest, experimentation and selection remain the
preeminent focus. “The Northwest is all about choice,” says
Larry Rock, the first brewer at the historic Maritime Pacific
Brewing Company and veteran beer industry man. “You
can’t pin the area down to just one style.”
But craft beer abundance hasn’t always been the reality
for the region. Prior to the 1980s, beer drinkers imbibing at
their favorite taverns or local pubs consumed either cheap
domestic stuff or the often-skunky European imports
shipped across oceans. But that changed in 1981 when
Redhook Brewery planted its flag in the Emerald City. At
that time craft beer brewing was brand-new. Only two years
prior, pioneer Sierra Nevada Brewing Company started
releasing its pale ales in Northern California. But word
traveled fast and the trend soon hit the woodsy Northwest.
Redhook’s Extra Special Bitter became an early favorite
in the region in the mid-80s. Seeing Redhook’s quick
success, other breweries started to pop up in the Northwest,
including Seattle’s Hart Brewing (now Pyramid Brewing
Company) and Portland’s Widmer Brothers Brewing in
1984, Deschutes Brewery in 1988, Pike Brewing Company
in 1989, Mac & Jack’s Brewery in 1993, and Elysian Brewing
Company in 1995. Over the decades, the beer culture has
grown in the region from one or two pioneers to include
hundreds of breweries trying to home in on the moment’s
premier recipe.
Today craft beer connoisseurs in the region can buy
cans in barbershops while they wait for a trim or fill glass
growlers with a variety of specialty ales to go at their
corner drug store. To wit, almost every restaurant has
craft beer in bottles or on tap, and the same goes for sports
stadiums, theaters, and concert venues, which used to be
the uncontested domain of mega-brew monoliths. To fill
this large demand, breweries produce batch after batch for
curious customers, creating oddities such as peanut butter
stouts and jalapeño hefeweizens to go with their beloved
IPAs and lagers.
Copyright © 2021 by Jacob Uitti; Illustrated by Jake Stoumbos. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
