Wild Ride Brewing Company - Brenna A Amber Lager

Presenting a deep, rich amber hue with great clarity and a cap of beige foam, this amber lager certainly looks the part. In the aroma, look for prominent undertones of caramel and light toasted bread, overlaid by an inviting fruity hop aroma that tends toward citrus, especially mandarin/tangerine, hence the name of the expressive German hop variety Wild Ride has chosen to use: Mandarina Bavaria. On the palate, the moderately rich malt profile delivers a quintessential amber lager character consisting of plenty of caramel and bready, toasty notes, which is then lifted wonderfully by the bright, citric hops – giving it a bit of a different feel than more traditional amber lagers that use more traditional hop varieties. We dig it. No wonder Brenna A took home Gold from the 2018 Best of Craft Beer Awards! Medium-bodied and nicely balanced, this is a very food-friendly beer. Pork chops or sausages, roasted fowl, and spicy Mexican dishes are just a few of the options that come to mind. Also, we'd like to note that this beer is named after one of the crab fishing boats that appears on Deadliest Catch. A portion of the profits from this beer go towards fighting ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), the disease that took the life of Capt. Pat Dwyer, father of Brenna A's Capt. Sean Dwyer.

Situated in Deschutes County, in Oregon's high desert on the eastern side of the Cascades, sits the small city of Redmond. Just 15 miles north of Bend, Redmond is pretty much smack dab right in the center of Oregon, a state well-known for its exceptional beer. For a group of Redmond natives, who were lifelong friends and craft beer lovers, the idea of opening a brewery and tap room downtown turned from a dream into a reality when the first beers of Wild Ride started flowing in May of 2014.

Planning for the brewery began in late 2011. Joining the Redmond natives was Paul Bergeman who brought his 13 years of brewing experience to the team to serve as brewmaster (or Beer Maestro, as they like to say). Paul's brewing experience includes time at Portland's Laurelwood Brewing Co., as well as serving in the position of Brewing Manager at Hawaii's famous Kona Brewing Co. With the right people in place, the next step was finding the right location. In 2013, the team found an old lumber warehouse in downtown Redmond that would be perfect for a brewery, although a ton of work had to be done first. Full utilities were added, including running water and waste water pretreatment. A brand new 20-barrel brewing system was installed, giving them today a total production of just over 9000 barrels per year. Their on-site Tap Room is family friendly and served by multiple local food trucks, so visitors can enjoy good grub along with some awesome local beer. We're very much looking forward to seeing how this Wild Ride evolves over the next few years. In their short existence, they've already garnered a slew of medals and awards from numerous competitions including the North American Beer Awards, US Open Beer Championship, Oregon Beer Awards, Best of Craft Beer Awards, and more. For more info, call 541-516-8544 or visit www.wildridebrew.com.