The Former Logsdon Brewer Is Already Knocking it Out of the Park With Little Beast's Bes

It's like a lemon tart in beer form.

Charles Porter already has one Beer of the Year award in the bag. As the founding brewer at Logsdon, Porter was the man behind masterpieces like Seizoen Bretta, Peche 'n Brett and the fresh-hopped saison that topped our first annual list of the best beers in Oregon. Logsdon has had some tumult since then, with Porter leaving when Dave Logsdon sold out in 2015. Now, he's back with Little Beast, which took over the system in the doomed Brannon's steampunk brewpub in Beaverton. Little Beast's Fera is a beautifully crisp and rounded Brett farmhouse saison that leaves the palate with a bit of complex and fruity pith, but it's the Bes tart wheat that feels like the flavor of the summer to come. Fermented with three strains of saccharomyces and then lacto—plus lightly dry-hopped with multiple varietals, including citric Lemondrop—Bes comes on refreshingly tropical and just a little sour, propped up by a satisfying wheaty fullness. Consider it a coconut-crumbled lemon tart in super-crushable beer form. Recommended. MATTHEW KORFHAGE.

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