Threshold Brewing Explores the Cellar
Portland's Montavilla neighborhood gem Threshold Brewing & Blending is beginning to fulfill the promise of barrel-aging that they told us about in 2017. Just shy of one-year open, Threshold Brewing has released their first to beers in bottles, 'Jens in the Woods' a whiskey barrel-aged grisette and 'Roma', a whiskey barrel-aged coffee stout.
Jens in the Woods and BA Roma are part of our daily barrel-aged beer advent calendar that highlights a different beer each day leading up to Christmas, view the rest here.
Threshold operates a small taproom at their 10bbl brewery just off of SE Stark St. on 78th. They have just debuted a new cellar bottle reserve club and are coming off some buzz for their 'Grandma's Loaded' stout at the Holiday Ale Festival. Both beers are now on-sale at the brewery, Jens in the Woods in 750ml bottles and Roma whiskey barrel-aged version in 22oz bottles, both for $14 a piece.
Jens in the Woods - whiskey barrel-aged grisette
5.8% abvAged 3 monthsAmount: 2 bblProduction method: its base beer is ‘Jens Bailed’ grisette, our farmhouse style ale we brew with Kveik yeast. Jens is actually the first beer we ever brewed at Threshold. Continued batches of it have lent themselves to a number of our experimental mixed culture and barrel aged beers over this past year. Its clean base is a nice platform for showcasing different barrel characteristics.For this particular beer, we allowed it to age for 3 months in an Eastside Distilling whiskey barrel, checking periodically for barrel character development. What began as a light and delicate ale, it emerged from the barrel with a distinct whiskey backbone that balances without overpowering the grisette.Retail price: $14
Roma - whiskey barrel-aged coffee stout
8% abvAged 9 monthsAmount: 2 bblProduction method: This stout began as a full 10 bbl batch that was infused with Mudd Works Roastery Gesha coffee at the end of fermentation. Chocolatey and semi dry, we put the majority of this coffee-forward stout on tap, reserving just 2 bbl for aging. It aged in an East Side Distilling whiskey barrel for 9 months, developing additional layers of flavor (notably oak, vanilla and whiskey) to complement its strong coffee notes. Retail price: $14