Coldfire & Warm Hearts
Nearly a year ago I made a trip to Corvallis, Oregon to visit the OHBA (Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives) located at OSU (Oregon State University). Well, in order to get there, I first flew into the city of Eugene. This town would turn out to be quite a highlight for your favorite Beer Villain. Eugene has quite a legacy in craft beer, hosting a number of notable breweries, but I'll tell you exactly why you ought to make Coldfire Brewing your next priority.
Green in Eugene
As I arrived in Eugene it had just finished raining. I had gathered recommendations from the locals I met on the plane on what breweries to check out. I had to be brief though, I only had a single afternoon in town before I needed to make my way to Corvallis that evening.
I stared out the window of my ride-share as it delivered me from the airport into a pocket of town where a few different breweries were within walking distance. Walking through these neighborhoods felt foreign. I noted the dense foliage along the highways. The sidewalks were caked with moss that crawled up along the trees and consumed the rooftops of homes nearby. Everything was green here, myself included, navigating this city for the first time.
Loved by the Locals
In front of me were four empty flight glasses. I lifted the fifth glass to my nose, a tulip, wafting the aroma of the final pour I'd have here.
I asked the beertender, "Can I close out? Oh, and where would you recommend I go next?" They happened to also be the general manager at this location.
"Well if you're hungry, you could try out X brewery..." They replied.
"No, I just left there actually. I am pretty hungry though!"
"Oh then that's easy!" They tell me, "You have to stop by Coldfire. There's always food trucks there." They came a bit closer and leaned in, "They brew great beer and honestly... they're just really good people."
Side Pulls & Saisons
Coldfire was a modest white building with a sign out front displaying their hop cone inspired Celtic-knot insignia and name. I wasn't even sure if that was the front door, so I snuck around the side where I found a couple food trucks set up next to outdoor seating and a ramp with access into the taproom. It's always interesting what our eyes can be pulled to first at a tap room. At Coldfire, the first thing I noticed was the tap list, only to be distracted by the kind greeting from their beertender.
The beers they had on that day put a big smile on my face. The variety was fantastic! Just to name a few: A Czech lager, Irish stout, doppelbock and–wait is that a pinot barrel saison?? It's a secret rule of mine when there is a Czech lager on, and I haven't had it before, that it will be my first pour. Boy, if you thought I was excited before–when I ordered a pint, the beertender, Josh, asked if I'd prefer a side pour. I hadn't spotted the LUKR taps before then. I eagerly asked if he could do a mlíko pour, though I certainly butchered the pronunciation in that moment. The Czech was delicious and I ordered several, but that barrel aged saison was calling to me.
A Father of Daughters
That pinot barrel aged saison I mentioned, it was referring to a beer named Elisabeth, but that is hardly the whole story when it comes to this beer. Elisabeth is a true Bière de Coupage. That is a traditional Franco-Belgian brewing technique especially common with farmhouse ales like a saison, where a younger beer is blended with an older, often barrel-aged sour beer.
Elisabeth blends a pinot barrel-aged saison with a chardonnay barrel-aged sour blonde, and in addition to all that, it's also dry-hopped with Nectaron! The menu only lists it as a sour at a quick glance, but I mixed up some things when cross-referencing the bottle list they had at the time. The bottle list featured the sister-beer. The saison component in the Bière de Coupage, Elisabeth, is a barrel aged version of their award-winning beer named, Lily.
When I ordered a glass of Elisabeth it was served to me in a stunning Teku glass. The head on this beer was gorgeous. Elisabeth poured elegantly but rose wildly in the glass. The fervor aided in my attempts to navigate the incredibly complex bouquet as all the elements of this Bière de Coupage danced. Between taking notes and taking pictures, I had hardly a single sip before being pleasantly interrupted.
One of the owners, Stephen Hughes, was standing there with a bottle in his hands. He couldn’t have been more sincere as he told me, "When I heard a tourist was enjoying a glass of Elisabeth, I had to come introduce myself." We chatted for only another moment before a second interruption!
A young girl came running up loudly interrupting him, “daddy daddy!” She yelled as she excitedly jumped and ran her hands across his down-vest, she was asking about what they could have for dinner. He, without skipping a beat, assured her that she could have what she was eagerly asking about but maintained his collected tone and demeanor. At the end of our short exchange, Stephen gave me a bottle of Lily to take with me.
More Than We Can Be Alone
Lily and Elisabeth are the first and second beers, respectively, in a series dedicated to Stephen's daughters. This series of farmhouse-style ales, they say, pays homage to the people who help us grow and become more than we can be alone. Far be it for me to claim to know a brewer's vision for their beer, especially one as complex and intimate as these two. Humor me as I consider the level-headed energy Stephen had given in response to his daughter. The same way oak barrels impart their steadfast wisdom upon the sours and saisons as they age, sealed within the staves. As the Hughes Brothers and Coldfire Brewing celebrate 10 years, I wonder if they might have active plans for the third beer in this series. If it's anything like the first two, I'm sure it will continue to build upon both Lily and Elizabeth–an incredible testament to artisanal ales, as well as the people who help us grow and become more than we can be alone.
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