Cloudburst Brewing’s Steve Luke on the classic beer that inspires him

Steve Luke of Cloudburst Brewing

Everyone has that one beer – the beer that lit ignited your love for craft beer and sent you on a journey. This could be a basic lager or something more complex like a gueuze or lambic. In many cases, it’s a flagship from one of the pioneers of the craft beer industry. In our hyper-local craft scene where breweries often crank out several new releases every week, sometimes we overlook the classics and the staples that may have been super exciting at one point in time. These beers may feel antiquated or old man-ish compared to the latest pastry stouts or quadruple dry-hopped haze bomb, but they are still just as worthy of attention. They are also quite often the go-to beers for brewers who want a beer that is balanced, respectable, and not too much of a palate overload. In our column The Beers That Made Us, we talk with brewers about the beers that have made the biggest impact on them in terms of their personal taste and love of craft beer as well as well as how it inspired their approach to brewing. 

Steve Luke is no stranger to pioneering craft breweries, having put in his time as a production brewer at the legendary Allagash Brewing Company and pre-sellout Elysian. At Seattle’s Cloudburst Brewing, which he founded in 2016, Luke has managed to simultaneously push the boundaries of craft beer while also tipping his hat to classic styles that may have seemed edgy or different decades ago. Anyone who has been to one of Cloudburst’s two Seattle taprooms can clearly see that the small brewery is heavily focused on IPAs, but amongst all those delicious hazys and experimental hops you can see Luke’s reverence for older styles peek through in lagers, porters, brown ales and wheat beers that are equally worthy of attention. Given his own history and the beer portfolio of Cloudburst, Luke’s choice for this edition of The Beers That Made Us is somehow both surprising and the most obvious possible selection he could make.

Allagash White, the modern classic Belgian-style Wheat Beer

Beer: 

Steve Luke: I don't how overlooked it is considered, but I'm going with Allagash White. Final Answer.

Your first time:

SL: My first experience with it was probably around 2003, during my freshman year of college at Colby in Central Maine. Back then, it was a shining light (literally) amidst a dark sea of ales brewed with Ringwood yeast - which almost every other Maine brewery employed thanks to Alan Pugsley's early influence in the region. I enjoyed drinking Allagash White so much, it led me to my first job in the industry at Allagash in 2005, the summer between my junior and senior year. After graduating, I found work at a couple other breweries, but returned to work at Allagash in 2007-2008, where I worked my way up on the brew deck, making it almost every day for an entire year. The attention to detail, the perfectionist approach, and the systems in place while learning to brew at Allagash made a huge impact on my brewing philosophy.

What makes it special:

SL: In my opinion, very few beers can satisfy that wide of an array of beer drinkers. White can be as simple or complex as the drinker wants to make of it. It's approachable, balanced, and refreshing. Or, you can dig into the beautiful fermentation characters from their house yeast, how the restrained use of spices mingle with the hop bill, and how the full but soft mouthfeel from multiple wheat varieties and oats creates an unforgettable drinking experience.

Why this beer is influential:

SL: Well, it was an obscure Belgian-style flagship for a brewery that was way ahead of the curve. And I think its success gave other craft breweries confidence to stick to their guns and brew beer they are personally passionate about, and not necessarily what the market is dictating.

Why beer drinkers should pay attention:

SL: Because it is just SO. FUCKING. GOOD. And it’s been consistently amazing for [over] 20 years. And you don’t have to take my word for it - it’s garnered GABF medals throughout that entire timeline. It’s subtle and restrained and complex and balanced and drinkable and perfect.

How this beer inspired your brewery:

SL: When I left Allagash in 2008, I told myself I'd never brew a Belgian White again - mostly out of respect for that beer and the company that taught me how to brew. Also, because I know I could never recreate a version that would ever be as good. At Cloudburst, the most similar-ish beer we've brewed was called "Younger Us" (Zach, our other brewer, also worked with me at Allagash in 2008 as a kegwasher), but that beer had a double wheat malt bill (so like mid-7s ABV) that we fermented with a saison yeast, so it wasn't really close.