NOW ON TAP: Das Boot

Das Boot

Festbier // 5.6% ABV // 28 IBU // 12.6 P

medium body + balanced + clean

Festbier is the modern Oktoberfest style, otherwise known as Wiesn. Originally introduced by the Paulaner Brauerei, now all six Munich braueries who make up Oktoberfest pour this style. This contemporary lager is much lighter, similar to a strong Helles. Das Boot is made up of two imported Pilsener malts, a touch of Carahell, and hopped moderately with Mittelfruh and Perle for delicately complex hop profile. It was double decoction mashed to bring the rich malt flavor to the surface. This beautiful lager is fully aged, and 100% naturally carbonated.

HOPS:
Mittelfruh, Perle
MALT:
Pilsener, Carahell

NOW IN BOTTLES: Fremontii

Fremontii

9.0% ABV

Fremontii is the result of an afternoon barrel tasting and blending with our friends Brouwers and The Masonry! What we came up with was a blend of 3 barrels. 2/3rds of the blend consisted of a rustic bock style beer, lagered in clean French oak puncheons throughout the winter of 2017. In the spring of 2018, it was re-barreled into second-use bourbon barrels and well-conditioned wine casks. We included one of each in this beer. The other 1/3rd of the blend is a 30-month-old cask of mixed culture pale saison.

It's difficult to say what "kind" of beer this is, but we can say is that it has a well matured acidity, hints of bourbon and sweet caramel, and a classic brett brux flavor in the background. The final product was bottle conditioned with native yeasts and bacteria for six months.

NOW ON TAP: Floyd the Barber

Floyd the Barber

Nordic Pale Ale // 5.0% ABV // 15 IBU // 11 P

medium body + pineapple + fresh hopped

Floyd is a Nordic Fresh Hop Pale Ale open fermented in a foeder with Kveik yeast: by far the most unique fresh hop beer we've ever made! Brewed with Pilsener, rye, and raw wheat, and hopped in the kettle with Strisselspalt and Hersbrucker. Floyd then spent eight weeks in the foeder, just enough time for the native Brett Brux to work in notes of canned pineapple, which are on full display in this beer. The final touch was a hefty dry hopping of fresh and wet Centennial hops from Growing Veterans.

This beer is very soft to the palate, with an impressive display of esters and a delicate grain field like quality.

HOPS:
Centennial, Hersbrucker, Strisselspalt
MALT:
Pilsener, Raw Wheat, Rye

NOW IN BOTTLES: Pink Yoshi

Pink Yoshi

Raspberry Berliner Weisse // 4.4% ABV // 0 IBU // 9.5 P

light body + raspberry + bubbly

For the second year in a row, we brewed this crushable treat for our good friends at the Latona Pub! This kettle sour brew was mashed with wheat and Pilsener malts from Skagit Valley Malting and fermented with our ale yeast on top of 500 lbs of fresh organic raspberries from Hedlin Farms. The final touch - Bottle and Keg conditioned with Champagne yeast to create an extra dry, bubbly, and intensely tart experience. Pink Yoshi 2019 is by far the sourest beer we have ever made - think raspberry warhead...

HOPS:
Malling
MALT:
Pilsener, Wheat

NOW ON TAP: Desolation Angels

Desolation Angels

Spritz Farmhouse Ale // 4.7% ABV // 20 IBU // 10.8 P

light body + Skagit Valley raspberries + earthy

Every year we buy thousands of pounds of organic fruit from local farmers to use in various projects. Sometimes the spent fruit still has plenty of flavor to use for another beer. This time around, we had 500 lbs of raspberries to use as a secondary fermentation source - pulling out the last bits of fruit essence.

The base beer consists of flaked rye, soft white wheat, and a heavy dose of raw buckwheat - which leads a fantastic earthy, herbal tea, and almost honey-like complexity. The raspberry aspect is light, but perfectly balances buckwheat and Czech Premiant hops. All-around, this spritzy farmhouse ale shows plenty of youthfulness on the palate and great depth for a light-bodied beer.

HOPS:
Premiant
MALT:
2 Row Pale, Buckwheat, Flaked Rye, Wheat

NOW ON TAP: Fish Have Feelings

Fish Have Feelings

Salmon-Safe IPA // 7.2% ABV // 35 IBU // 14.6 P

big body + juicy + tropical

The ale with them scales has migrated back to Bellingham. For this beer, we sourced Salmon-Safe Certified Hops from Roy Farms. To obtain this certification, farmers need to minimize or eliminate their use of harmful chemicals, which prevents any run-off that could negatively impact a salmons habitat. Roy Farms believes Salmon-Safe farming is "the right thing to do as a business! We want to be as nurturing to the soil as possible because the soil is our greatest asset. We also love fishing and eating salmon and want to take care of them so that they are around for everyone to enjoy."

Pineapple aroma and a subtle kick of spices, this juicy IPA packs a punch! Draft and cans are available at both locations. Grab a sixer to-go and celebrate the final days of summer!

HOPS:
El Dorado
MALT:
Vienna, 2-Row, Oat

NOW ON TAP: Helles

Helles

Munich-Style Vollbier // 5.0% ABV // 20 IBU // 11.8 P

medium body + malt forward + crisp

Helles Vollbier is the latest release from our obsessive approach to authentic lager brewing. This beautifully delicate lager is simple - and only created with the highest quality Organic German Pils and Mittelfruh hops. A double decoction mash takes single malted lager to a height of malt complexity. The hop character sublimely balances the palate, while the carbonation is 100% natural, resulting in a most drinkable lagerbier.

HOPS:
Hallertau Mittelfruh
MALT:
Pilsener

NOW ON TAP: EDELSTOFF PILS

Edelstoff Pils

German-style Pilsener // 4.8% ABV // 35 IBU // 10.8 P

light body + noble hops + sharp

This German-style Pilsener was brewed specifically to be our entry into the Bitburger Challenge. When one of the most famous German breweries is judging your ability to make German lager bier, you have to make it authentic. This beer was triple decoction mashed with malt from a little known (in America) malt house in Northern Franconia, hopped with German noble varieties, fermented at 8°C, lagered for eight weeks, and 100% naturally carbonated. End result is a clean, bright, and refreshing beer with cutting minerality and a deep malt backbone.

HOPS:
Hallertau Mittelfruh, Perle
MALT:
Pilsener

Stammtisch Session: Frank Trosset & Lager Beer

Frank pouring himself a frothy lager at the brewpub

If you’ve visited Aslan in the past year, you’ve noticed an increase in the number of lagers on our menu. While ales will always hold a soft spot in Aslan’s heart, our staff has been really digging the brews coming out of our lager program. About a month ago we had over five different lagers on draft at the Brewpub! That number dwindled as we started running out of lager, partially from staff drinking our own supply, but it remains a key focus for our brewery.

This shift into making high-quality lager was by design. Frank Trosset, Head Brewer and an Owner of Aslan Brewing, has been obsessed with brewing and drinking lager beer for the past few years. We sat down with Frank to learn more about lager beer and it’s future as Aslan Brewing Co.

Andy: Let’s start with the basics; how would you describe the difference between lager brewing and ale brewing?

Lager brewing equipment at Pivovar Nymburk in the Czech Republic

Frank: The difference between ale and lager brewing is similar to the difference between speed skating and figure skating. The goal of speed skating is to move around the ice as fast as possible. The goal figure skating, on the other hand, is more focused on technique and presentation. Both are fine, and there’s nothing wrong with either of them, but they are two totally different mentalities. 

What it comes down to is that lager is a much more difficult beer to make. It requires a lot more patience, an appreciation of history, and an understanding of nuance and restraint. In a large part craft beer in the US today is known for being unbalanced and over the top, but lager beer isn’t like that. 

If you are making really well-made lager beer, you are geeking out about the most specific details: what is the PH you are targeting at specific points in the mash to optimize enzymes, how much yeast are you pitching, how much oxygen are you allowing to come in contact with the wort. While in ale brewing mistakes can be hidden, those same mistakes become profoundly understood on the palate with lager brewing. You have to be perfect throughout the whole brewing process, including an intense concentration in wort production, fermentation, and cellaring, filtration, and packaging.

Andy: What do you like about the flavor and taste of lagers compared to ales?

Frank: The drinkability of lagers is unrivaled. I could sit here and drink a well-made lager beer all afternoon without my fatiguing my palate. I am yet to find an ale that I could sit and drink all afternoon in the same way without my taste being overwhelmed. 

There’s a great saying in the Czech Republic that the first three beers are for the thirst, the next five beers are for the flavor, and everything else is for your intoxication. 

I think Helles is the perfect beer because you can drink it all day long. There’s a ton of flavor, but you have to let your tongue open up to it. With an IPA, the flavor can explode on your tongue like a firecracker. It doesn’t work that way with properly made lagers; you have to search for it.

Frank with Chip McElory, the owner of Live Oak Brewing Company, drinking a bier at Pivovar Nymburk

Andy: You’ve recently traveled to Bavaria and the Czech Republic, how was that experience?

Frank: It felt like the sleepwalking scene in Donnie Darko when he is in the wormhole. I wasn’t trying to achieve anything in particular on the trip. I just knew I had to go there and see how they are making beer. It was amazing to see how breweries there have been making beer for hundreds of years, what’s not beautiful about that!

What is most important about theses trips is the perspective that they cast. Anyone can get a pitch of lager yeast from their bank and make a lager, but there is much more that goes into really making lager. You can discover some bits of knowledge from German brewers, but most of what they do they keep a secret. These secrets can be uncovered over time if you know what to look for. My trips to Bavaria and the Czech Republic helped me to start understanding this and galvanize my approach to lager bier.

Andy: What would you say the key is to making excellent lager beer?

Frank: It is understanding the history of beer and the brewing process while applying modern technology. We need to do it in a way that is mindful of the artisan element of beer, which you can still find in small non-industrialized breweries in Germany. We fortunately don’t have to cut corners like industrial beer to save time and cost. It comes down to repetition. Perfecting the slightest nuance takes a long time, and a lot of careful attention to detail. Also putting wheat in a lager. Just gonna say that we will never do that.

Andy: What’s the best lager you’ve ever had?

Pisner Urquell in Pilsn, Czech Republic

Frank: One of the most profound beer-drinking experiences I’ve had was in the cellars of Pilsner Urquell. A long time ago they used to ferment all of their lagers in open-top wooden tanks underground. When the beer was at near terminal gravity, they would transfer it into closed wooden casks further underground — due to the void of artificial refrigeration/suitable metal for brewing. As the world advanced, these ancient practices went away. Most would agree that the modernization of the world has helped create better beer, among other things.

However, some things get lost along the way. If you visit the city of Pilsn and go to Pilsner Urquell, you can see this old practice still in use. Drinking a lager, that is not infected, out of a wooden tank, fully carbonated, unpasteurized and unfiltered, while in a cave that’s hundreds of years old is the pinnacle of beer drinking. At that moment, I knew I had to replicate what I was experiencing — I just gotta figure out how to get a cave built under the brewery haha!

Open-top fermentation tanks in Czech Republic

Andy: What’s been your favorite lager you’ve brewed so far in terms of process?

Frank: The Czech lagers we have done because of their authenticity. A lot of breweries will call their Pilsener a Bohemian because it’s not German enough, but I’ve yet to come across a craft Pale lager in our region that would pass in the Czech Republic as “Bohemian”. A different process is required to create the distinct flavor of Czech lager.

I’m also particularly proud of Tateyama. Doing a real cereal mash with whole rice was hard, but a lot of fun.

Andy: What’s been your favorite lager you’ve brewed so far in terms of taste?

Alsan’s Coastal Pils

Frank: That’s tough, but again both Czech pale lagers and our most recent batches of Helles and Tateyama. The latter two had a really cool cola note hidden in them. It’s these small nuances in fermentation technique that drives so much complexity in a pale lager. These flavors won’t jump out; you have to find them.

Andy: What has lager brewing taught you about ale brewing?

Frank: Patience, intense appreciation for tradition, and how important a clean brewery is. Ask anyone of my brewers, and they’ll tell you that the brewery can never be clean enough. You can taste a dirty brewery in its beer. You can’t taste a clean brewery, because it’s clean. Maybe that is the taste?

Andy: For someone that only drinks ales, how would you convince them to give lagers a chance?

Frank: Oh man, I’m not sure I’d want to convince them. I honestly like that most people don’t get all worked up about a well-made lager. However, if you want to expand your palate, lager is a great way to do it!

Andy: Anything final thoughts on lagers? 

Frank: Super stoked to see that we got recognized for our attention to detail in our lager program by getting invited to be one of the eight breweries invited to be part of the Bitburger challenge. Looking forward to being in Portland this weekend!

NOW IN BOTTLES: Orange Suede Suit

Orange Suede Suit

Farmhouse Ale // 5.0% ABV

Orange Suede Suit is the result of a dream to create complex farmhouse ale with a low ABV. This beer is highly carbonated, very refreshing, and unlike any beer we've ever made.

We worked with our good friend Paul Thurston and Fortside Brewing to design this concoction. We blended hard red and soft white Skagit Valley Pilsener wheat through a multi-step mashing process then whirlpooled it with Hallertau Blanc hops. The final step was to ferment and age the beer in neutral French oak for several months with zested and pressed Cara Cara oranges. If Oragina befriended a farmhouse ale, you'd end up with this. Spritzy, light barnyard aroma, orange essence, and so so drinkable.

NOW ON TAP: Inevitable IPA

Inevitable IPA

West Coast IPA with Hibiscus // 5.8% ABV // 55 IBU // 14.0 P

floral + fresh cut grass + drying

West Coast IPAs are classics. Much like the classics of art and music, they need to be revisited and remixed from time to time. With that in mind, we took a standard IPA and added 20 pounds of hibiscus powder. The addition of the hibiscus powder presented a light tartness, tannic tea like characteristic that pairs nicely with the floral and piney aspects of the hops. This is a refreshing summertime beer perfect for drinking in the sunshine!

HOPS:
Centennial, Chinook, Simcoe
MALT:
Marris Otter, Munich, Caramunich, Wheat
ADJUNCTS:
Hibiscus Powder

NOW ON TAP: Alligator Suitcase

Alligator Suitcase

Double IPA // 8.2% ABV // 60 IBU // 17.5 P

big body + citrus + pine

Back for a third year, this DIPA resembles the 2018 version as a near single expression of Azacca hops grown for us by our friends at Roy Farms. Azacca is a unique hop, straddling the line between piney and over the top naval orange. What we get in Alligator Suitcase is an upfront immediate distinction as fresh squeezed pulp-y orange juice that finishes with a really rad piney bitterness. While more bitter than most hazy double IPA's, the finishing bite is refreshing to the palate. Heavy whirlpool and dry hopping, little hops added elsewhere - enjoy fresh or not at all!


HOPS:
Azacca, Idaho 7
MALT:
2-Row Pale, Oats, Carahell

NOW IN BOTTLES: PM to the AM Funk

PM to the AM Funk

Barrel Aged Saison // 7.0% ABV

This noteworthy beer was blended to help mark the 12th anniversary at Bailey's Taproom in Portland, OR. The blend consists of two of the oldest beers in our barrel program. Each began its life in October of 2016. The first beer consisted of pilsener and wheat malts, in equal proportions with negligible hop additions. The second beer included pilsener, wheat, and rye malts with our favorite low alpha french hop. Both were fermented and aged in single-use red wine barrels.

Oddly enough, these two particular barrels had nearly been forgotten about, collecting dust in a dark corner of the Depot. Stumbling upon the barrels one serendipitous afternoon, it was obvious that these needed to be blended. Each exuded a phenomenally accurate Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc character; one was too sour on its own, the other too brett forward. When blended, all the pieces seemed to fit in the right place.

The final act was to dry hop each barrel with Nelson Sauvin, right before blending. This wonderfully balanced saison is dripping with the typical flavors of Sauvignon Blanc: lime, gooseberry, white peach, and passion fruit. The dryness and light acidity of the beer helps each unique flavor come together in harmony.

NOW IN BOTTLES: Peach, Be Humble

Peach, Be Humble

Fruited Saison // 7.8% ABV

This beer started its journey on November 14, 2017, as a simple recipe consisting of Pilsener and Wheat malts and lightly hopped with Pacific Gem and Mosaic. We fermented and aged it in an oak foeder until August 2018, at which time tree-ripened peaches from Yakima where added. The fruit was minimally processed, allowing for a carbonic maceration to assimilate the fruit into the beer. After a five-month rest on fruit, we bottled the beer with its native yeasts and bacteria.

The overall ratio of beer to fruit is relatively low, lending a more subtle peach note. While fruiting a beer is certainly something we enjoy, the goal is never to create imbalance due to heavy-handedness. The profile of this beer will undoubtedly change over time, but today its quite reminiscent of natural white wine. The result is lightly tart, very dry with a beautiful peach aroma, and finishes with notes of lemongrass.

NOW ON TAP: Hefe

Hefe

Weissbier // 5.4% ABV // 14 IBU // 12.6 P

medium body + piney + balanced

Who makes Hefe anymore?! While it may not be the most trendy beer in the PNW, it's a beautiful style that's worth resurrecting. We could ramble on about the extent we went to produce this classic, but our SparkNotes will do: longest protein resting/mash we've ever done, double decocted, 60% wheat, classic yeast, free rise fermentation, extensive aging — slightly more clove than banana, and entirely satisfying.

HOPS:
Hersbrucker, Mittelfruh, Perle
MALT:
Caramunich, Pilsener, Wheat

NOW ON TAP: Return of the Mack

Return of the Mack

West Coast Style IPA // 7.0% ABV // 55 IBU // 14.6 P

medium body + piney + balanced

The return of the return of our West Coast style IPA. Inspired by a certain midwest icon, where nearly the entire hop bill is Centennial. For our beer though, we dry hop it with a small amount of Mosaic. Aside from that, this is a showcase for our favorite C hop. With a firm bitterness, and a palate ranging from pine to white Texas grapefruit, this beer exemplifies what we would call a classic west coast style. It a brewery favorite for sure and one that we look forward to releasing each year!

HOPS:
Centennial, Mosaic
MALT:
2-Row Pale, Carahell, Vienna

ARTIST FEATURE: Connor McPherson

Last month, the Aslan Depot courtyard got a pretty significant makeover. Connor McPherson, just days after returning from Australia, spent a week at the Depot constructing a mural that spans the entire back wall of the Depot. It is impossible not to notice the beautiful mural when walking down State Street these days. We sat down with Connor over a beer to learn more about the man behind the mural.

Andy: How did you get connected to Aslan Brewing?

Connor: I met Jack, Frank, Boe and a bunch of the other guys years ago at a 4th of July party in Bellingham. We were all having a great time. I never lived in Bellingham but just happened to be up here that weekend.

Afterwards, I kept coming back to Bellingham and kept bumping into the future owners. At one point they were like we starting a brewery! I said I bet you are and that sounds great! Didn’t think much of it. 

I left on a work trip and when I came back Jack reached out and asked if I wanted to come over and paint a mural. That was the first mural I’ve done, in the back of the brewery by the top offices. I had no idea what I was doing and it was so terrifying. Jack was persistent and kept asking me if wanted to come up, and I was like I don't know! Jack said just get up here, do it, and we will see what happens.

Since that mural, we’ve had a really rad relationship. I get to grow with the brewery and Jack presents me with some really cool and challenging design opportunities.

Andy: How did you initially get into art?

Connor: When I was a kid I was always drawing. I would just redraw old books like Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends page for page and Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. I would just draw that page for page as a kid over and over and over again. I fucking loved it. I then got full-blown anime nerd when I was in Jr. High and went really deep down that rabbit hole, for better or for worse.

I played basketball through most of university and was also trying to do art on the side. When I got hurt and kind of had to give up basketball, I went fully into trying to pursue and explore making my art. 

I graduated with a degree in art history and I think that's what blew it wide open for me. Seeing anything and everything that anyone's ever done. That's when I was like oh shit this is it! There's a whole world to look at and take in, but you have to be careful, you can't just steal or straight up redraw someone's religious iconography. And yet at the same time, there's so many little details in all the different styles. Things you can pick up and work with. I love that little bracelet, or I dig the way that person drew the neckline. It all mixes and blends together, it’s inevitable. 

Andy: How do you start a new project like a mural?

Connor: It's always drawing based, somewhere hidden in a sketchbook, a bunch of little ideas getting played out. I try to constantly be drawing in my sketchbook and keeping ideas flowing around. Some of those get turned into bigger things and ideas that I pursue later, but it always starts with little narratives.

The murals are great because it's a chance to get out of the sketchbook. I haven't done a whole lot of larger murals like these, so this is still quite a challenge for me, to figure out where I am on the wall and get things to look all even and crispy. It’s a fun game for me. 

Andy: You’ve done a lot of Aslan bottle designs, what’s that process been like?

Connor: All of the bottles that I’ve done for the most part have been done abroad. I did the first like ten of them while I was traveling across the Nullarbor, which is a giant two thousand kilometer long desert through the middle of South Australia. 

I did all those early beer bottle labels while living in a janky old camper van! I literally had to go on the Australian Craigslist and try to find people that might have scanners that I could use at their houses. I found this woman in Adelaide and paid her ten dollars to go to her house and use her scanner for one scan! There are a bunch of weird stories from that trip. So every time I see those bottles I always laugh, because I think people might imagine someone sitting down going through this romantic artistic process and the whole time I’m feeling like a homeless person, hanging out at free camps, hot as fuck, sweating my face off. The whole thing was a fantastic challenge, but so much fun.

NOW IN BOTTLES: Strawberry Dojo

Strawberry Dojo

Fruited Saison // 6.2% ABV

Strawberry Dojo begins like the others in the Dojo series, with the same base beer. The various types of fruit and their native microflora define each Dojo's unique flavor. After approximately eight months of macerating the strawberries, the barrels were blended and bottled on March 26th of this year. Three months later, this batch is ready to drink. It's very acid neutral but has waves of brett complexity. Over the next 5+ years, we suspect the intensity of fruit in these Dojo beers to slowly fade. If cellared properly though, this beer will evolve wonderfully.

We purchased the strawberries, as we do with most of our organic fruit, from Hedlin Family Farms in La Conner, WA. Skagit Valley is an extraordinary agricultural space in this world, and we are lucky enough to be able to capture it in our beer from time to time. In the wine world, this sense of time and place encapsulated in a drink is called Terroir.

NOW ON TAP: Captain Ron IPA

Captain Ron

Tropical IPA // 7.0% ABV // 20 IBU // 15.5 P

medium body + tropical + smooth

Captain Ron is back! We used the same base recipe as last year, except we adjusted the hop profile a bit. Last year it was all Mandarina Bavaria hops. This time around the beer is mostly hopped with Callista, a new super low alpha hop from Germany. This allowed us to add way more hops to the whirlpool than usual, which created some really smooth layers of flavor. Heavily dry hopped with both Callista and Mandarina Bavaria. This hazy IPA has intense hard fruit candy flavors, velvety mouthfeel, and very low bitterness.

HOPS:
Callista, Mandarina Bavaria
MALT:
2 Row Pale, Carahell, Oats

NOW ON TAP: 館山市 (Tateyama)

館山市 (Tateyama)

Japanese Lager // 5.2% ABV // 18 IBU // 11.6 P

light body + refreshing + crisp

This premium quality pale lager is made with whole white rice and German Pilsener malt, which went through a 4-hour cereal/decoction mash. Lightly hopped with Strisselspalt for a hardly noticeable 17 IBUs. Fun fact, when Budweiser still used real hops they used Strisselspalt after they had to switch away from Saaz. This beer is dry, crisp, and intensely satisfying.

We brewed this beer in honor of our Bellingham sister city Tateyama, Japan. The Bellingham Sister Cities Association is a community based organization that seeks to promote intercultural understandings, economic and tourism ties, and world peace. Second fun fact, Bellingham has seven different sister cities across four different continents.

HOPS:
Strisselspalt
MALT:
Pilsner, Rice