This weekend, Sarah and I joined our friends Thom and Amanda in a very Oregon adventure: homebrewing a Northwest IPA on Oregon’s Metolius River. The headwaters of the Metolius are about 10 miles East of Sisters, Oregon and about a 3-hour drive from Portland.
As the sign in the parking lot says, “Down this path, a full-sized river, the Metolius, flows ice cold from huge springs. The springs appear to originate from beneath Black Butte. However, geologists say this is misleading, and believe the springs have their origins in the Cascade Mountains to the West. The unusual fault which created Green Ridge is thought to have brought the springs to the surface, thus releasing the beautiful Metolius River.”
The headwaters are actually on private property, so we headed a little farther downstream to set up our temporary brewery and find someplace to pitch our tents for the night.
Thom and I brought all the equipment we’d need – the same sort of stuff you need when brewing in a kitchen, plus a large propane tank and burner (from the Bayou Classic turkey fryer) with which to boil and sterilize the water. And yes, we were car camping. I can’t even imagine how much all this would weigh if you were backpacking. It took 4 of us a couple trips each to lug it all down to the water’s edge. Perhaps REI could be induced to develop a titanium kit for $1500 or so.
We drew all the water for the brew directly from the icy waters. It was crystal clear, having just emerged from its underground source, but we boiled it anyway, lest we end up brewing Giardia Pale Ale. As river-brewer Tom Petty once said, “the wading is the hardest part.” Not only was it extremely cold, but the bottom of the river was covered in sharp rocks whose pain required a significant quantity of alcohol to ease.
We began the brew by steeping some grain @ 150 degrees for an hour. We used 1 pound of organic Crystal Malt, and another 1/2 pound of chocolate malt from Steinbart’s in Portland.
While we waited, Sarah filtered some water with which to sterilize the carboy we’d be filling with our river wort. Thom uses a no-rinse sterilizer for his brewing, which was nice given the work required to filter water. Well, it seemed like a lot of work to me, but you’d have to ask Sarah.
Jasper was a good source of entertainment (and a wealth of brewing trivia) as the river and the afternoon rolled on.
Once the grain had steeped for an hour, we pulled it, sparged (rinsed) it, and began adding organic dried light malt extract (DME).
We used a lot of malt, which required a fair amount of stirring to work it all in.
A little more extract brought the total to eight pounds, and we cranked up the heat. This beer is going to have a kick.
Once the wort was boiling (and done foaming over), we added about 1.5 oz. boiling hops, some Fuggles from Nicole and Tyler’s backyard, supplemented with Dave’s Special Backyard Blend of Cascade and Mt. Hood.
I’ve been harvesting about half a grocery sack-ful from the pergola almost every night for the last two weeks, and these hops smell as good as they look.
We added about 2 oz. more of Dave’s Blend for the final 10 minutes of boiling, and another 2 oz. in the last minute. Did I mention I like hops?
Apparently, Amanda does, too.
With the last dose of hops, the wort was done. We quickly rinsed the hops of the wort they’d absorbed in the boil (mustn’t waste wort), and carried the pot to the river to cool it quickly. The Metolius was about 55 degrees, and cooled the wort quickly.
We had already put the carboy (already partway-full of pre-boiled water) in the river for cooling.
Once the wort had cooled, we combined it with the water in the carboy by straining it through a funnel to remove any debris (hops, barley hulls, fish eggs).
The combined wort now in the 6.5 gallon carboy, Thom and Amanda returned the container to the Metolius to rest overnight.
The next morning, after packing up the cars, Thom and I returned one last time to the frigid waters to retrieve the carboy.
Jasper led Thom and I back to the cars, the two carriers pausing often to curse the weight of 6.5 gallons of proto-beer heavy on our river-lacerated feet.
Finally, we reached the road and buckled the wort in for a long ride in Thom and Amanda’s Volvo, up and over the 4800-foot high Metolius Pass. Seat belts are required by Oregon law.
As it turned out, it was a good thing we buckled the beer in. Thom pulled away quickly, leaving Sarah, Jasper and I in the dust on the drive back to Portland. Thom’s lead foot would lead to a run-in with the State Police on the way back, drawing a $140 ticket for going 78mph in a 55.
Still, I think Thom would say it was all worth it. I know I would. As we brewed and drank Oregon beer in a postcard setting, we imagined all the other Oregon rivers we could brew in. I’m sure this wasn’t our last riverside brew.
Epilogue: Monday night, I pitched 2 smack packs of Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale Yeast. I doubled up just in case a stray bacteria or three made it into the wort en route to my basement. The introduction of 200 billion competitors should give any volunteer yeast a run for their malt.
Original Gravity: 1.054 @ 70 degrees F
Sweet, nicely bittered wort with a little floral hop aroma and slighly oily mouthfeel. This should be a very interesting beer.
Thom Says:
September 12th, 2006 at 10:27 pmVisit Thom
The police officer pulls me over and says, “I notice you’ve got an open container of beer in there.”
To which I say, “No officer. We haven’t pitched the yeast yet. It’s just sugary, hoppy water.”
And he snipes back, “Ah. So it’s conspiracy to transport an open container.”
Har. Dee. Har. Har. Gimme my damn ticket… First ticket in 10 years. Yeesh.
Dave was nice enough to not mention how much of a sissy I was about the river. Not just cold, it was polar. Brrr. Observant readers will notice there’s no photo of us actually pulling the carboy out of the water, and that’s because I couldn’t get out of the Metolius fast enough.
Thanks, Dave and Sarah! We had a fantastic time. Where next?
Gabe Says:
September 12th, 2006 at 11:48 pmVisit Gabe
Looks like you guys had fun! You will have to save me a bottle, I would like to give the river brew a try.
eli Says:
September 14th, 2006 at 6:39 amVisit eli
thats awesome, never thought to use a river/stream as a wort chiller.
Stephanie Says:
September 14th, 2006 at 10:27 amVisit Stephanie
Wow, great pictures! I think you should pitch the Titanium Northwest Riverside Brewkit idea to REI. It could be a joint venture with the Wydmer Brothers or something. Or that could be the first product offering for BS Brewing!
Getoutdoors.com Outdoor Blog Says:
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:08 amVisit Getoutdoors.com Outdoor Blog
Make You Own Beer While Camping
Wow, this has to take the prize for creative things to do while camping. F%&k smores, makes beer from scratch like the folks over at The Champagne of Blogs. These boys and girls brought their own hops, wort, and fuggles and homebrewed a Northwest IP
amanda Says:
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:40 pmVisit amanda
Thom and I just tried a beer from his last batch, Irish Ale, and it was really delicious. Made me hanker to try this one. We must come up with a good menu for the brew. Something with hazelnuts. All my photos of the brewing are on Flickr.
MAKE: Blog Says:
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:06 pmVisit MAKE: Blog
Mouthful of Metolius (Riverside brewing)
Dave has a good project to do when you go camping, he writes – “Here’s a recent homebrew (beer-making) adventure I took with a friend. We brewed beer 500 yards from the source of the Metolius River in Oregon,…
Technology Insight » Blog Archive » Mouthful of Metolius (Riverside brewing) Says:
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:10 pmVisit Technology Insight » Blog Archive » Mouthful of Metolius (Riverside brewing)
[...] Dave has a good project to do when you go camping, he writes – “Here’s a recent homebrew (beer-making) adventure I took with a friend. We brewed beer 500 yards from the source of the Metolius River in Oregon, drawing water for the brew directly from the river. Many photos ensued.” – Original Link. [...]
RadioEyes Says:
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:10 pmVisit RadioEyes
Very Prohibition Era-esque. Is there some unwritten law that says you must return to the riverbank in order to drink it? I’d think it’s only fitting that way.
Sharon Says:
September 30th, 2006 at 7:00 pmVisit Sharon
Think you could make this ultralite for backpacking?
Go Mojo » Blog Archive » Brew Your Own Campsite Beer Says:
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:32 amVisit Go Mojo » Blog Archive » Brew Your Own Campsite Beer
[...] Tent? Check. Sleeping bags? Check. Hops, deep turkey fryer? Check. Beer mugs? Check! When you want to pack it up and get away from it all except good beer like these folks, well then my bags are packed. From the Blog Sober website these people explain in detail with photos on how to brew your own beer at the campsite. Genius! [...]
Jens Dalsgaard aka. Nanobryg.dk Says:
October 4th, 2006 at 4:52 amVisit Jens Dalsgaard aka. Nanobryg.dk
That has got to be the biggest chiller I have ever seen.
Bored Camping? Brew Your Own Beer – Outdoor Gear – Travel Gear Blog Says:
October 7th, 2006 at 3:17 amVisit Bored Camping? Brew Your Own Beer – Outdoor Gear – Travel Gear Blog
[...] Bored when you’re camping? Brew your own Beer! That’s what the folks from the BS Brewing Blog do. Looks like they’ve got quite the stash of equipment tho, so you may not want to carry it all while backpacking. [...]
The Champagne of Blogs » Mouthful of Metolius Is in the Bottle Says:
October 10th, 2006 at 10:40 amVisit The Champagne of Blogs » Mouthful of Metolius Is in the Bottle
[...] Well, in keeping with the original theme, we probably should have done this at the summit of Black Butte, but it turned out to be a little more convenient to bottle Mouthful of Metolius in my kitchen. Thom and Amanda came over to help bottle. I’m not going to even begin to try to describe what this tastes like (tongue having just been blasted by Deschutes Anniversary Pilsener), but instead let Thom’s expression tell the tale in 1000 words or less. [...]
The Champagne of Blogs » Brewing Idea Day Entry Three Says:
October 10th, 2006 at 4:05 pmVisit The Champagne of Blogs » Brewing Idea Day Entry Three
[...] Using all of the same equipment that you dragged along for the Metolius brew, why not do a brew in a very public, high-visibility location in downtown Portland? Who knows, a couple of folks might stop by and learn a thing or two about how their favorite beer is born or at the very least, it might be illegal and we’ll get chased down the streets of downtown by the police with a carboy of steaming wort in our hands. Even better, Pioneer Courthouse Square comes with its own fountain for cooling the wort. [...]
Get Outdoors – Plastic Islands the Size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean – Getoutdoors.com Outdoor Blog – Travel News – Adventure Logue Says:
October 12th, 2006 at 4:32 pmVisit Get Outdoors – Plastic Islands the Size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean – Getoutdoors.com Outdoor Blog – Travel News – Adventure Logue
[...] My Mom told me not to post this: How to brew beer at your campsite.(BlogSober) [...]
The Champagne of Blogs » Edward 40 Hands Says:
October 13th, 2006 at 12:03 pmVisit The Champagne of Blogs » Edward 40 Hands
[...] Like the neighbor down the street with the 73 Nova on blocks, I seem to be doing a good job trashing up the place. Dave has insightful photo essays on the Iowa State Fair and he and Thom (Welcome Thom!) did the enormously popular Metolius Brew entry. As for me, well, I’m responsible for two beer bong entries, a gratuitous boob shot from Octoberfest and a Homer Simpson picture. So, in honor of my online white trashy-ness, I present Edward 40 Hands. [...]
The Champagne of Blogs » Brewers, Meat-eaters, Photographers Says:
November 26th, 2006 at 11:56 amVisit The Champagne of Blogs » Brewers, Meat-eaters, Photographers
[...] I entered some of our photos from the Metolius River brewing adventure in A Good Beer Blog’s recent photo contest, and we won! I already have a copy of the book given as prize in the contest, but I will pass it on to Thom and Amanda, since they are the winning photo’s subjects. [...]
2008 Year in Review Photos : BS Brewing’s The Champagne of Blogs Says:
November 24th, 2008 at 10:58 pmVisit 2008 Year in Review Photos : BS Brewing’s The Champagne of Blogs
[...] of Blogs readers: we won the contest a few years ago with a photo from taken at Thom and my “Metolius Brewing” experience. Here’s what I entered into the contest this [...]