After years in the making, two Oregon breweries announce an artistic collage of cask-aging alchemy
It took two years, and lots of time aging in the dark and mysterious interiors of hand-selected barrels for four distinctive brews to become COLLAGE, the first beer brewed in Deschutes Brewery’s Conflux Series. The journey began with a conversation between Hair of the Dog’s Alan Sprints and Deschutes Brewery’s Gary Fish, when they set out to explore the idea of a collaboration beer unlike any other.
In the spring of 2010, four world-class beers were brewed: Deschutes Brewery’s The Stoic and The Dissident and Hair of The Dog’s Fred and Adam. These four classics continued their courtship for the next 24 months aging in a variety of cask barrels, including rye whiskey, cognac, sherry, pinot noir, bourbon, new American Oak, and new Oregon Oak.
In fact, more than 100 distinct barrel-aged rounds were sampled to identify prominent flavors and subtle nuances. Gary, Alan and the Deschutes Brewery brewmasters then began the fun and challenging task of determining the perfect blend. In the end, Gary Fish declared, “We expected something really good. What we got is really great.”
Fish continued, “It’s an industry where we can do things because it’s fun, because it’s interesting and intellectually stimulating. We’re lucky we have a group of consumers that are passionate about what we’re doing.”
The result is a virtual “collage” of patience, time and collective curiosity. The final blend has so many flavors and gradations; it is unlike any other tasting experience imaginable. Alan Sprints marveled, “It was amazing how we blended all those different barrels together and you can still pick out individual characteristics from each barrel.”
A match made in craft beer heaven? We think so.
Collage will be available in extremely limited quantities in 12-ounce bottles only starting May 15th at Deschutes Brewery’s Bend & Portland brew pubs. Special beer dinners are being held in Portland at Wildwood Restaurant (May 14) and at Deschutes Brewery’s Bend Pub (May 18) to celebrate the release and provide a unique opportunity to try the component beers; visit www.deschutesbrewery.com/events for details and tickets.
Hair of the Dog Brewing Company is located in Portland 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.
www.hairofthedog.com
