Harvest Ale

Our little ‘farmhouse garden’ at the brewery is in full bloom, and as I take a break from a little farming, I can’t think of anything better than cracking an Oakshire Harvest Ale, our fall seasonal. Here’s a little insight into developing this beer: Harvest Ale is the final beer in our seasonal series which includes Line Dry Rye, Ill Tempered Gnome, and O’Dark:30. It was inspired by our favorite fresh hop beer from 2009 and we just had to find a place for it in the seasonal line up. When temperatures start to drop and the leaves begin to turn, my beer drinking preferences turn to heartier styles and nothing says fall more than a big German Oktoberfest beer, and this is where we began in developing Harvest Ale. I wanted an orange colored, malty beer of medium strength, but one that finishes smooth and crisp, the hallmark of an authentic German lager. Also, it had to have German malt and hops to capture that unique Continental flavor. But we also knew it had to resonate with our core customers, the PNW craft beer drinker. So, to brew our PNW festbier, we increased the bitterness a touch more than you would find in an Oktoberfest-style beer and fermented it with our house ale yeast, but at cooler temperatures (60 deg F). This cooler fermentation helps control and minimize the fruity esters you find in most ales., leaving you with a crisp and clean lager-like finish. What came out is what we call a PNW fest bier, Harvest Ale. A made up style? Yes. Delicious? Of course. If you haven’t tried Oakshire’s Harvest Ale in either bottles or draft, I’d suggest dropping the rake and heading out to find it. Just like Autumn in the Northwest, it’ll be gone before you knew it arrived. Cheers! Matt