BridgePort, Oregon’s oldest craft brewery, turned 30 this year—which means they’ve been making West Coast craft beer decades before West Coast craft beer was a thing.
To celebrate, brewmaster Jeff Edgerton created the Trilogy series, a collection of three beers (one for each decade; get it?) that have launched over the course of the year. Now that Trilogy 3 is out, BridgePort wants to know which drinkers like best; they’ll bring the crowd favorite back as a year-round beer in 2015. Election season just got a whole lot better.
We cracked open our bottles to test the goods:
Trilogy 1: Crystal Dry-Hopped Pale Ale
What it is: A 5.2%-ABV pale ale dry-hopped with Crystal hops, one of Edgerton’s favorite varieties, and brewed with a bit of rye. The beer’s a tribute to the early craft breweries that first started experimenting with robust hops 30 years ago. Our notes: Delicious citrusy hops are the star of this show, perfectly balancing flavor and bitterness; a touch of rye spice adds nice complexity. Bubbles aggressively rush the tongue in a playful, lively way.
Trilogy 2: Aussie Salute
What it is: A 5.8%-ABV twist on the brewery’s flagship IPA, which, when it debuted, was called “aggressive” and “extravagantly hopped.” This version is BridgePort’s first-ever collaboration beer; Edgerton teamed with former brewmaster Phil Sexton (who now resides outside Melbourne) to brew a Centennial- and Chinook-hopped IPA, then dry-hop it with Australian hop varieties. Our notes: You haven’t sipped anything like this before: Crazy-catty and oniony, garlicky hops bum-rush the swallow, but a hint of piney lemon keeps the profile balanced. The beer slips down quick and clean.
Trilogy 3: Brewers’ Class
What it is: A 5%-ABV session brown ale hopped with Sterling, Cascade and Centennial hops—and the brainchild of Edgerton and students from Oregon State University’s fermentation sciences program. Our notes: It’s a wonderfully soft brown pale ale. Juicy, cushy, citrusy hops team latch right on to breaths of chocolate and roast; together, the flavors ride a cloudlike swallow that ends in a cohesive, dry finish.
Our staffers were split; one loved the unique cattiness of Trilogy 2; others loved the orangey hops of 1 and 3. If you’ve sipped all three, you can vote here, or on Instagram, post with #BPTrilogy1, #BPTrilogy2 or #BPTrilogy3 to pick your favorite; voting’s live until Nov. 26. Last we checked, Trilogy 1 was in the lead!
UPDATE: The voting deadline has been updated to reflect BridgePort’s extension until Nov. 26.
