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During the next few days, those six-packs--now filled with beer--will begin appearing on shelves. It will open a new chapter in what has become a Jekyll and Hyde tale of two different breweries, the old Nor'Wester and the new. The story seemed to have reached denouement last September when Goebel, who also owns Saxer, plucked the name from the wreckage of the brewery's quick, spectacular flame out. For eight months, Nor'Wester quietly remained on shelves in its old label (though consumers might have noticed a difference inside the bottle, with new recipes from brewmaster Tony Gomes). Behind the scenes, though, big changes were being planned for Nor'Wester. To begin with, Goebel and his wife, Liz, transplants from Ohio, wanted to reconnect the brand to its home market. The old Nor'Wester had irreverently (and foolishly, as it turned out) chosen the most successful Oregon crossover beer style, hefeweizen, and set out to conquer the national market. By putting his marketing foot first and his beer foot second, original owner Jim Bernau insured that, as the market tightened up, he would be unable to compete head-to-head with other, higher-quality regional beers. The goodwill he'd established with the home market amounted to about nil, and when things went bad, they really went bad. The Goebels, on the other hand, have envisioned the new Nor'Wester as an Oregon product, associated with and connected to this community. Toward that end, the brewery will begin to look and act like an Oregon brand. The labels, instead of showing generic Northwest scenes, will feature the photography of Ray Atkeson. His pictures of Mount Hood, eastern Oregon and the Columbia Gorge will be immediately familiar throughout the state. Next, the Goebels arrived at the "Oregon Promise Series" idea, where $1 from each case sold will go to Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism, the group that organizes beach clean-ups (that means a quarter per six-pack; even if you don't buy a whole case). In an era when all breweries have shifted focus back to the home market, this makes good sense. Still, there is something about the Goebels' sincerity that makes it feel like this is more than a cynical marketing ploy. "Hey," Goebel told me, "I'd be happy if I made 30,000 barrels [with Saxer and Nor'Wester]." Oregon Pale Ale As far as the new Nor'Wester goes, the brewery is planning to keep most of the product line intact, including the hefeweizen and berry weizen products. White Forest, once the winter seasonal but now available year-round, will go back to being a seasonal. Surprisingly, Blacksmith Porter--the only distinctive regular Nor'Wester product until now--will be discontinued. "When you think of a porter, what do you think of?" Goebel asks. "Blacksmith, Black Butte--remind you of anything?" The major change comes with the new flagship, Oregon Pale Ale. It has been in development for months, having gone through seven test batches before arriving at the final recipe. The new "OPA" is a fairly big beer (14º P) and fairly hoppy (46 BUs), but don't mistake it for an India pale ale. For one, it's made through a decoction mash, the only American ale I've heard of using this time-consuming process. (In fact, I had never heard of any ales being decocted, but Gomes, who was trained in Germany and has worked at Paulaner, says that some German ales are.) The process involves removing a portion of the mash--up to a third of the total volume--and boiling it. The idea is to avoid heating up the mash by using direct fire. By returning the boiling portion, the overall mash temperature rises. Among those who don't decoct (nearly all brewers), there is some skepticism that the process affects the flavor at all. Taste the new OPA and you may come over to Gomes' camp. It's got a smooth, roasty/nutty malt base with mplex hopping. The bitterness is sneaky; you notice cedary spice for the first few drinks before the bitterness starts to assert itself. By the end of the beer, you can believe the 46 BUs. Given the volatility of the market, it is a sure bet that this isn't the last chapter in the Nor'Wester story. Whether it waxes or wanes, though, people at the brewery should be proud of the new direction for Nor'Wester. |
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