Sing A Song For Alesong!
Look at that view while you sip on some amazing sours!
Little over two hours south of Portland near Eugene there is a brewery that is in the heart of wine country. That brewery’s name is Alesong Brewing.
This is a very special brewery because they make sours in a very specific way that not a lot of breweries do. These use French oak wine barrels for nearly all of their beers and that fact alone gives these beers a very special type of flavor. It's unlike most sours out there on the market. There’s little wonder that these beers are a bit hard to find… they don’t make a ton of them! But what they do make… are outstanding.
I headed down there a little less than a month ago with a few friends to check it out and boy were we happy we did. That morning heading south though… lets just say that it was extremely foggy and not the best weather you want when driving. We did stop at an In & Out Burger for an early lunch because… if there is one on the way… you HAVE to go! Those are the rules! As we got closer to Eugene the weather started to get a good deal better. The sun even came out and when you are in Oregon long enough… you very much long for a sunny day. The crazy thing is to get to the brewery you have to get off the interstate and then drive some backroads for over twenty minutes and by that time you are really in farm & wine county. It gets really pretty out there and with the sun? It was shaping up to be an outstanding day!
We finally arrive and who could’ve guessed… we were the first ones there when they opened and I always love when that happens! I still remember with fondness of all my San Diego brewery trips with my friends back in LA. So any time you can make a brewery a destination for a trip? It just means you are going to have the best time imaginable. It's like Christmas… but with fresh Craft Beer straight from the source!
The brewery itself is in a prime spot next to a HUGE winery called King Estate Winery. The place is massive and the vineyard is extremely impressive. The brewery itself isn’t that big but it does have a good amount of outdoor seating and with the view that this place has? It’s great that they do! You can see for miles as you sip on their sours!
That VIEW!
See? It was a very nice day to be there and we couldn’t have asked for a better view. Once we got into the brewery we were greeted and we started our tasting that we had booked in advance. The tasting included four beers and we were given our first and then taken back into the cellar to see where all the magic happens. As we were led into the cellar… all you saw were barrels and more barrels and some foeders as well. I loved every minute of it! We were told that since they are so close to all these wineries that they are able to source their wine barrels basically from their neighbors! Extremely smart. What's the old adage? Location. Location. Location. We also found out that they use bourbon barrels for different ales and stouts and a few other different types of barrels for some beers that they like to play around with.
Out of the beers that we tasted… I will have to say that the Farmhouse cuvee delighted me beyond any of the rest. Not to say that the rest were bad… they all were amazing but man that first one set a real high bar. We did try one of their bottles, the Belle, which had plums as its main focus and it BLEW me away! We then also got a charcuterie board that just checked all of the boxes as well. My friend loved their beers so much that he even joined their Beer Membership! I’m excited about that because when we hang out together for a beer share… I will get to try more Alesong! Absolute Win.
Overall… I would say that if you like sours and want to try a very different type of one… head to Eugene, Oregon and give Alesong a try. The place is just beautiful and it is really nice to get out into the countryside every now and then.
