Burnside Brewing Company: Reimagining the Brewpub

Burnside Brewing is the brewery your brewery has wet dreams about.

From founders Jason McAdam, one of the original owners and founders of the late great Roots Organic Brewing, Jay Gilbert, recently of Full Sail, and Adam Cassie comes the most exciting new brewing venture in years. In fact, when I founded and named The New School places like Burnside were exactly what I had in mind, with their truly epic plans for the "deconstruction" and "reconstruction" of the PDX brewpub scene these partners have in store for us. To begin, I must start with the heart of any good brewing operation, the Brewmaster...

In 1515 German painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer created a woodcut image of an Indian rhinoceros that had many inaccuracies, like hard plates that covered its body, rivets, scaly legs, and a smaller twisted horn on its back end. You see, Albrecht had never actually seen a rhinoceros. It was 1515 and no rhino had been brought to Europe since Roman times, and would not be again until 1577. Dürer based his depiction off of a brief description and sketch sent to him from an unknown artist. Despite its inaccuracies, it became a widely circulated and reprinted piece of art that was accepted as an accurate representation for the next 3 centuries.

When Jason McAdam talks about beer, I am reminded of Albrecht Dürer. Listen to him speak long enough and he more than likely will have you convinced that what you think a beer should taste like is probably wrong to begin with and should be reinterpreted to taste like something else completely.

Take, for instance, when Jason told me he wanted to brew a lager regularly. I asked, 'what kind?' and he said, 'Thai.' I said, 'like Singha?...uhh, isn't that just like a macro American lager?' Jason's response was, 'no like a lager with kaffir lime leaf, Thai chilis, and maybe fish sauce'. Right! Like I said, this brewery makes a wet dream of what a brewery might dream their beer taste like. In this case, what a Thai lager might taste like if we had not had the misfortune of finding out what the real world version tastes like.

The unique beer ideas do not stop there. They are all part of what Jason calls the deconstruction and reconstruction of the prototypical brewpub model. For a city as independent and original as Portland, it is only fitting that we should have a brewery breaking new ground before the national scene jumps on the bandwagon. Burnside aims to be the ultimate purely "Portland" brewery, and part of that is making what is old new again. For example, Jason plans to bring back the Grätzer, a long lost style that has recently received some faint recognition. Burnside's version will be 70% smoked wheat beer, with the wheat being smoked in the brewpub's bacon smoker over applewood. Jason hopes it picks up some of that bacon flavor to make this a beer truly made to be paired with food.

Berliner-Weisse is a style that has made a comeback in recent years, with Dogfish Head's Festina Peche and a few other notable examples. Traditionally a Berliner-Weisse is a low alcohol wheat beer fermented with lactobacillicus to add a refreshing tartness. In Germany they serve the beers with a side of fruit syrup that you add to the beer to taste. Burnside Brewing Company aims to make a year round version, traditional to its 3-4%abv, with syrup on the side. Here is where it gets crazy: The syrup will be served in the form of little gelatin balls made with Sodium Alginate (more on this later). These are not unlike the tapioca balls you get in a bubble tea, but smaller. In addition, the little fruit syrup balls will be carbonated! This is just the first in a long line of crazy/genius ideas from Jason and Head Chef and food scientist Ronnie Vance.

Jason shows off the in-line filter

Undoubtedly the most original of the ideas I have heard is a method Mr. Vance is developing to infuse flavors into beers in between the finished fermented product and pouring the into your glass. Forgive me if I bungle the science, but according to Ronnie, CO2 gas breaks down foods better than anything else. So, for example, if you want to make a 'Duck Mole' beer, all you would need is to have the food in a chamber that the gas runs through on its way to the beer, much like you would put a beer under pressure to carbonate it or push it through a tap. This method allows you to extract a subtle flavor of duck meat, for example, and infuse it into the beer without the two ever touching each other. In Jason's words, "I want people to come in look at the menu and go 'what the fuck'".

Now before you lose your mind, let me caution that these ideas are still in progress and won't all be ready when Burnside opens its doors this holiday season.

Brewhouse photos (click to enlarge)

Though Jason's heart is in the experimental endeavors, those who are less adventuresome need not worry, as you will find standard IPAs, pales, and various dark beers in the regular lineup as well. The actual brewery production space is large, with a 15 barrel brew system and lots of fermenter space. They have tons of room to grow, and could add a room for oak barrel aging and a bottling or canning line in the future. The brewhouse is designed by Charlie Fry, who worked on Upright Brewing's system, but with lots more customization made to Jason McAdam's specs. It features lots of cool additions like an in-line filter between kettle and wort chiller that will allow them to never have to use clarifying agents, speed up production, and make completely vegan beer. There is plenty of room to play here...

The Food:

cedar wood lined meat curing room

Of course the main attraction of Burnside Brewing is the beer, but perhaps a close second is the food, particularly meat and fermented/cured foods. The pub will have an extensive, meat-focused menu, with their own house smoked and cured treats, so much so that Jason semi-seriously jokes of erecting a sign that points vegans across the street to the Farm Cafe. Jason takes special care to mention he is not out to alienate the vegetarians/vegans and that they will have a few veggie options, but the food really is just an extension of what they eat/make/want at their own homes.

From the dining room/pub side of operations, you will even be able to look through a window into a cedar-lined meat curing room, with salami and various other protein options curing in front of your eyes. Jason also aims to do quite a bit of pickling, and while I was there I got to sample a bit of it. Instead of the common pickling method, they aim to ferment their options. I tried some of the green beans and cauliflower that did indeed take on a fermented, brine-like flavor. Jason is fond of the cauliflower, and I can see why - it remained crisp and was still wonderfully spicy and acidic. Fermented pickling is clearly an approach that keeps veggies tasting relatively fresh and does not soften them up in the cooking process. It's a method I would like to see used more often for Bloody Mary garnishes. Jason talks a lot of his wish to have jars of pickled eggs - and more adventurous items like pickled pigs feet - sitting on the bar.

Beer and food pairings? Well, how about beer served as a food paired with your meal? Employing Sodium Alginate - a salt isolated from the walls of brown algae, with the chemical compound NaC₆H₇O₆ - is widely used in the food industry in things like chewing gum, indigestion tablets, and dental impressions. It works as an emulsifier by increasing the viscosity of liquids. At Burnside it will be used to turn beers into edible gels that Jason calls "beer caviar", which can be served as sides to complement your meal.

Now, I hear what you're thinking. 'I just want a nice ale and a burger', and 'how much am I going to pay for this?' Well, the Burnside boys have that covered, too. How about a Kobe beef burger with a housemade hop studded brioche bun for under $10?

The Pub:

The medium-sized pub space is both rustic and industrial in design, both warm and cold all at once. The high ceilings give it a sense of being larger than it really is. Black leather booths line one wall without any other table options as of yet. As far as style, I found it to be what I would describe as 'modern medieval', with lots of rusty and unpolished metal, but plenty of beautiful woodwork as well. The light fixtures especially remind me of the medieval chandeliers that you would find in a castle (with bulbs instead of candles). The bar expresses both of these sensibilities, with a beautiful waxed wood top reminiscent of a bowling alley, with railing around its curved corners. There is also rusted and burnt metal siding around the base that was salvaged from the buildings construction.

In the pub will be a large chalkboard displaying the menu. Chalkboards are far from uncommon in pubs, but this one is massive and fitting of the space, which has ceilings that appear to be 50 feet high. The chalkboard hangs from the back wall and will be framed in old driftwood collected and piled up in the brewery for use all around the pub.

There is no shortage of vintage and reused material at Burnside. A massive antique safe found in the space that previously held a dry cleaneer will make its home in the pub, after being moved via forklift. The safe has reportedly been there for many centuries and when it was opened revealed an antique painting and cushion but, alas, no treasure.

One thing is for sure, when Burnside Brewing Company opens its doors in late December, it will not be what anyone expects but maybe what Portland need s- a re-envisioning of the brewpub scene for a gloriously spoiled craft beer audience nursed on double IPAs paired with a burger and fries. The question is whether the notoriously craft beer-educated Portland audience is ready for something that will challenge the notion of what a typical brewpub is.

Co-owners Jay Gilbert and Jason Mcadam, 3rd partner Adam Cassie not pictured.

Photography by "SNOB" Ritch Marvin

Burnside Brewing Co.
701 E. Burnside
Portland, OR