From Upright Brewing – Portland OR
Flora Rustica
Our annual flower based saisons, the Flora Rustica and its barrel aged version simply titled Flora, are both set for release on July 30th. They use Oregon grown calendula, hops, and spring yarrow from the home garden of Upright head brewer Alex Ganum. Both beers have historic profiles that embody the character we love most at the brewery, with bold aromas and flavors that never overstep. The Floras each have redesgned labels by Alex’s wife, Sheila Tompkins, who is working on several seasonal/annual release labels, so expect to see some new and old beers with fresh art.
Hearts’ Beat and Shades
Speaking of new beers, two very exciting ones are currently conditioning – Hearts’ Beat and Shades. Named after a very special tune on a very special Charles Mingus album, these two sister beers were brewed in June 2014 with brooks cherries and rainier cherries, respectively. They followed processing similar to our sour peach beer, the Fantasia, beginning with cherries being sourced from Baird Family Orchards, whose fruit we’ve grown to depend on for its depth. After a year of fermentation in casks, both beers were blended while we rebrewed them for next year with the recent harvest. The Hearts’ Beat pours intensely red and drinks with a huge tannic quality, showing bits of brett lambicus and orchard yeasts in the flavor, while Shades has a more typical beery color but surprises with loads of rainier character and more firm presence of brettanomyces. The conditioning is ongoing, but we expect the beers to be ready sometime in September.
Special Herbs
Special Herbs is making a return soon and the release will likely be in early/mid August. The beer was tasting great at blending with aromatics all over the board and a very pleasant acidity so we’re excited to get it out. It has always been a small batch composed of only two wine barrels and two gin barrels, so the beer will certainly go quick. Stay tuned to the brewery facebook page for a specific release date as soon as we nail it down.
