Stratacasters on Display
I am not good with puns, as the almost-certainly confusing title to this post attests. In the following paragraphs I will not be talking guitars, however, but Oregon’s home-bred, home-grown hop and the breweries who use it: Strata. Next Friday, May 23rd, a large, statewide collaboration kicks off at Roscoe’s here in Portland. It is a huge project that involves two dozen breweries, nine hop farms, four taprooms, one hop breeder, and a yeast lab all located right here in Oregon.
The beers of Oregon Homegrown will touch down in four cities in Oregon over two weeks, starting in Portland a week from today:
Portland: Roscoe’s (8105 SE Stark St), May 23-25
Salem: Westside Taphouse (1594 Edgewater St NW #110), May 31 to June 1
Hood River: 64 Taphouse (208 Oak St), June 6-8
Bend: River’s Place (787 NE Purcell Blvd), June 7-8
It’s a project I spearheaded while wearing my other, Celebrate Oregon Beer hat, and the idea was to focus attention on the amazing local beer culture Oregon has—and which I think Oregonians have largely forgotten. The notion was to have a bunch of breweries come together to brew different styles of beer with a single Oregon-bred and Oregon-grown hop variety. We’ll do this at least once a year, but to start out we thought it would be good to use a celebrity hop that brings a lot of glamor to the festivities. Strata, which is grown almost entirely in Oregon, seemed like a pretty obvious choice.
I have been busy doing promotions for this collab, and you might see or hear the more formal versions elsewhere. (Tune in at noon on Monday to OPB’s Think Out Loud program, where I’ll be discussing it with hop-grower Gayle Goschie.) But today I thought I’d do a more personal post about how this came about and why we designed it the way we did.
I’m not going to lie: I think Oregon is a very rare and special place for beer. Going back to the late 1980s, I thought Oregon had a great beer scene, but my impression was of the uninformed, tub-thumping variety. I came to appreciate Oregon in a deeper way when I started traveling abroad to see rich beer cultures elsewhere. As I looked at what made those places special, I began to recognize the same thing in Oregon. I would love everyone to know why Oregon is special, but at the very least, locals should have a sense of how rare and cool some of the background to Oregon beer is.
To wit: this is the birthplace of the modern American hop industry, where the initial cultivars were first bred (Cascade and Willamette). Those varieties would ultimately lead to the creation of the hoppy American ales now brewed around the world—and which brewers first started brewing here in the ‘80s. When you consider all the places people drink beer, precious few breed and grow their own native varieties, so Oregonians are very lucky in that way.
The world of hops has gotten so complex, people can’t keep track of the new varieties. Galaxy, Mosaic, Motueka, Vic Secret—they all just float in the ether. Most people have no idea where they come from or what they taste like. That’s no doubt true of Strata, as well, so in this project we wanted to give drinkers an opportunity to get familiar with their native hop. We invited breweries to join the project and brew with Strata, encouraging them to brew different styles so people could begin to identify Strata beer to beer. They did a great job. Among the styles represented are best bitter, kolsch, West Coast pils, saison, light lager, and various forms of IPAs and pale ales (including a Brett IPA). Strata is a pretty distinctive hop, and once people start to get a hang for that strawberry and cannabis profile, they should be able to recognize it anywhere.
To pull off the project, I approached Jim and Anca Solberg at Indie Hops and Tamara Logsdon at Wyeast to help out. Indie Hops got started back in 2008 with the idea of re-energizing Oregon hop breeding. After a an active burst where they released a bunch of new hops, the USDA program in Corvallis went dormant. Indie Hops brought it back there, funding Dr. Shaun Townsend, a hop breeder and researcher, to begin a new program. (The USDA subsequently restarted their own as well.) Although Indie Hops released Meridian first, it was a found hop; Strata was the first cultivar bred by Townsend.
Oregon also boasts a couple yeast labs, and one of them is Wyeast, the first company focused on the craft beer market. It was founded 39 years ago, and Tamara Logsdon, second-generation daughter of the founders, has started to look into the company’s history. For our project, she highlighted the strains that were donated to Wyeast from Oregon breweries. She knew of eleven such strains—including the famous London III that has become a darling of hazy IPA breweries. That one came from Rogue.
Finally, I put out the call to the breweries, and I wasn’t sure anyone would be interested in the project. They were! One of the cool things about this collab is that a number of breweries that don’t really distribute much have joined in. These include 3-Legged Crane, which is doing a cask bitter, Root & Rye, a new brewery that is in the old Crowing Hen space, Crooked Creek from St Helens (they’re doing the Brett IPA), and Solera.
Collabs are now old hat in the beer industry, and I think consumers sometimes tune them out. I hope they don’t tune out Oregon Homegrown. It’s a really impressive feat of coordination and creativity, extending from the soil and test tube to breweries and the four generous taprooms who agreed to host these beers. On the Celebrate Oregon Beer website we say “Oregon is a special place for beer,” and I think that this project and these beers demonstrate that perfectly. Without Oregon, we wouldn’t be drinking hoppy American ales, and without Strata, we wouldn’t be drinking these beers. It is a special thing, and people should feel all warm and fuzzy inside to realize it.
I’ll leave you with a current list of the beers which is almost complete. If you live in Oregon, consider heading down to one of the taprooms listed above and trying out the beer. I have every confidence you will be delighted by the results. As an inducement, I have printed up some cool Celebrate Oregon Beer stickers that will be available at the taprooms, so you might even get a prize for visiting.
(Most of) The Beers
3-Legged Crane (Oakridge) | The Spirit of Ted Best Bitter
A crisp, golden, English pale ale. Made with Simpsons Marris Otter English pale malt. English Fuggles and finished with the proper portion of Coleman Greenleaf Strata hops. Open fermented with a classic top cropping English yeast strain.
Bevel (Bend) | Van Life Hazy IPA
Brewed in support of Celebrate Oregon Beer, Van Life is a juicy, hop-forward hazy IPA made possible with generous doses of Fobert Farms Strata and Wyeast 1318 London Ale III.
Binary Brewing (Beaverton) | Suburban Swarm Kölsch
The ‘burbs are buzzing! Local honey and honey malt bring a sweet touch to this crisp Kolsch with a modern twist of using BC Hop Farms Strata hops and Wyeast 2565 Kolsch strain.
Boring Brewing (Sandy) | Mitch’s Honey Kölsch
Honey from the Sandy River basin along with the Strata hops makes this a very pleasing session beer. Perfect for a Kolsch Service. (Wyeast 2565 Kolsch)
Cascade Lakes (Redmond) | Homegrown Brewerist Pale Ale
It’s a great time to celebrate the world’s greatest beer locale with its own ingredients! Enjoy this radiant Oregon Pale Ale from our state’s heart for all of her people. (6%, 45 IBU, Westwood Farms Strata, Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale)
Crooked Creek (St. Helens) | Strat’ Outta Oregon Brett IPA
(6.4%, Coleman Alluvial Farm, and three Wyeast strains: 5151-PC Brett C, 1318 London Ale III, and1762 Belgian Abbey II)
Double Mountain (Hood River) | The Wind Cries Strata West Coast Pilsner
You can smell hoppiness staggering down the hop back. With these hops, this old brewery, and this wisdom, we find lush chord changes over a clean pilsner base. And the wind, it whispers Strata. (Coleman Farms Strata)
Level Beer (Portland) | Press Pause Pale Ale
This pale ale has a smooth malt body with mild caramel and bready malt character balanced with an assertive hop bitterness and wonderful citrus and floral hop flavors and aromas. We made this version of our classic pale ale for a classic and unique twist on one of our favorites.
Montavilla Brew Works (Portland) | Lil’ More Righteous Hoppy Pale Ale
This super sessionable hoppy pale ale is light, bright, and snappy and is bursting with over-the-top Strata goodness! Brewed with pilsner malt, a touch of Vienna for character, a bit of Simcoe hops for a piney background note and Strata hops on the hot side and in the dry hop. Righteous indeed! (Wyeast 1056 American Ale and Coleman Home Farms Strata)
Oak Union (Portland) | Her Own Wings West Coast IPA
Her Own Wings unfolds with layers of sun-kissed strawberry, drifting tropical fruit, and a hush of cannabis, before fading into the dense resin of the pines.
Root & Rye (Carlton) | Thorns of Strata Fruited Wheat
A vibrant salute to local craft and the spirit of the Oregon Homegrown Collaboration. This wheat ale harnesses the fresh, tangy allure of prickly pear, elevated by a dry hopping addition of Oregon-grown Strata hops. (ABV 5.6% IBU 7, Goschie Farms Strata and Wyeast 1010 American Wheat yeast)
Solera (Parkdale) | Strata Lite Special American Lager
A very crisp American lager with a fairly neutral malt palate allowing the hint of corn to come through. In a less traditional move, a kiss of Strata hops were utilized for this OR Homegrown project alongside a good amount of Czech Saaz. (4.8%, Sodbuster/Lakeside Stratas and Wyeast 2035-PC American Lager yeast.)
Stickmen (Tualatin, Happy Valley, McMinnville) | Strata Sploosh Hazy IPA
Hazy IPA brewed with Oregon grown Strata hops and Oregon grown malt. Flavor profile of tropical fruits and a hint of piney resins. (6%, 42 IBU, Wyeast 1318 London Ale III yeast)
The RAM (Medford) | Wander and Charge IPA
American IPA using Coleman Farms Strata hops and Wyeast 1272 American Ale II yeast. The beer features passionfruit, mango, and dank aromas with a clean, subtle malt finish (6.4%, 72 IBUs)
TPK and Oregon City Collab (Portland & OC) | Like, Comet, Subscribe
Hi, I’m Jess! I’m the former assistant brewer at Oregon City Brewing, and I’d like to welcome you to my channel. For this episode, I really wanted to explore the interplay between Strata and Crosby-grown Comet CGX and in a West Coast IPA. The result is this piney, citrusy-smooth IPA with hints of blackcurrant and mango. Don’t forget to Like, Comet, Subscribe! (7.5%
Upright (Portland) | Strata Saison
A straightforward saison, featuring BC Hop Ranch Stratas with a little wheat malt and Indie Hops Lórien hops as well (5.5% Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale)
Vertigo (Hillsboro) | Erik eStrata Hazy IPA
New England IPA showcasing Oregon-grown Strata hops paired with Eldorado to produce juicy fruity notes of melon, peach and passionfruit, with some citrus and piney resin. (6%, Coleman Alluvial Farm Stratas, Wyeast 1318 London Ale III yeast)
Wild Ride (Prineville) | Copious Amounts of Strata XPA
A dry-hopped West Coast-themed extra pale ale with pilsner malt and a touch of Mecca Grade wheat to coat the mouth. F&B Farm Strata hops and a light dose of Simcoe lend huge notes of passion fruit and guava blended with touches of citrus rolled up with dank fresh cut buds. (6%, F&B Farms, Wyeast 2575 kolsch yeast)
Zoiglhaus (Portland) | Oregon Homegrown Vienna Lager
Brewed with Oregon-grown malts and hops, we put the Zoiglhaus spin on it, making a crisp, sessionable lager with notes of toasted grains and hop aromas/flavors of strawberry and citrus. Prost to Oregon!!! (5.8%, 28 IBU, Goschie Farms Strata)