 Brewer Spotlight
- Barley Brown's in Baker City, Oregon
It doesn't take too long to realize your in a small town, the
fact that you drove 90 miles from the last major city on highway 84
suggests that you may actually be in the middle of nowhere.
Instead you have found yourself in Baker City (or Baker for some of
the locals), located on the historic Oregon Trail and home to potato
farmers and folks who know a thing or two about livestock.
Baker is a beautiful town nestled in a valley known for great
farming and cold winters. This town also has a little
something some big cities just don't have, a quality brewpub.
Barley Brown's is in the middle of old town on Main Street (and
Church). The building is old and unassuming, there are no
bright lights that flash to the world that great beer is about to be
served. The inside is clean, but not shiny. The hosts
(and hostesses) will kindly seat you and the food is good. But
I am not here for the food today. I am here for the beer.
I wouldn't get to all of the beers on tap (8 taps in all), but I
would make it through enough to know why this place is busy on a
Wednesday night. Following are very brief details of the good
beers on tap that night.
I started with the Wheat beer, an American style wheat with the
use of west coast hops and American grains. It is a filtered
beer that tastes pretty darned good, light in body with a nice dry
finish.
Then there was the ESB, a very creamy ale with wonderful head
retention (pretty just to look at). A nice copper color
suggest use of darker malts and the hop bittering says "made in the
USA". A very nice beer it was, it would be my second favorite
of the night.
The IPA had a wonderful American hop aroma, citrusy and piny and
very strong. It was a golden colored ale with decent head
retention and a fair haze to it. The taste was much more
subdued than the aroma, a little disappointing actually after such a
strong and wonderful aroma. The hop bitterness was there,
however, and was accompanied by a light malt character. Not a
"Great" beer when compared to the style guides, but certainly worth
the try... it is a local favorite from what I gathered.
Their Golden Ale had a fair amount of American Hops in the aroma
and was a light golden color with decent clarity and head retention.
The taste was also quite nice, a good hop character with little malt
balance and a medium body. I would have liked to have seen
more malt sweetness in this, but again this was a very good beer and
the guy next to me was more than happy to tell me just how much he
enjoyed it.
An American Rye is almost always a good thing, so I was already
salivating when it was placed in front of me. This beer is
obviously not for everyone, but for those liking a good rye pale ale
you will find this more than good. It had a good balance of
hops and grain, the color was deep copper, but generally lacked head
retention. The rye comes through quite obviously and finishes
dry and hoppy. I also noted a slight alcohol warmth in the
aroma and mouthfeel, but it wasn't distracting or overpowering.
I consider this a must try for those of you lucky enough to wonder
into this place, along with...
Turmoil. This beer gets my vote for the best of show at
Barley Brown's. An impressive American hop aroma, very black
in color with garnet highlights visible when held up to the light.
The taste displays a very good balance of dark, roasted, malt and
strong western hops. This is a complete, full flavored beer
that is offensive to the unprepared pallet, but very enjoyable
overall. According to the boss, this is their IPA recipe with
dark malt additions. Ah, it was worth it.
The beers, overall, aren't the best the west has to offer, but
after spending some time there with the locals and the owner I can
honestly say that I wouldn't change a thing here. The locals
are happy and the brewer prides himself on satisfying the local
taste buds. They don't distribute and don't really enter
competitions either, there really isn't much in the way of
competition anyway. Beer snobs will tell you that the brews
lack body and whatever else, but for the general population of beer
lovers this place provides great drinks at good prices.
Next time you're traveling west from Boise on I-84, or if you're
planning an extensive tour of the west coast brew pubs, you must
stop by and sample what they have to offer.
Important to know info...
Barley Brown's
2190 Main St
Baker, Oregon 97814
The bar
The tanks
|