Welcome back to Sip Northwest’s Beer Hall of Fame: a twice-monthly induction into a list of essential Northwest beers that have made their mark on the field and region.
Everywhere you turn, there’s a new IPA. Thick, big, bold and hoppy. In large part, that’s how most breweries are judged. Do they make a great IPA? But that’s not the case for every brewery. Some, like the esteemed Chuckanut Brewery in Bellingham, Washington, pride themselves on their pilsners and lagers — lighter stuff. And maybe the brewery’s best is their Vienna lager, the latest brew inducted into our BHOF.
Mari Kemper, co-owner of Chuckanut along with her husband Will, describes the amber-colored lager to tout toffee and malt on the nose, but it finishing dry. “We describe it as a little slice of heaven,” she adds.
The couple has brewed the beer since the mid-1980s when they owned Thomas-Kemper brewery — which, for you youngsters out there, was a beer brewery and not just a producer of delicious root beer. Lately, the Vienna lager has won many awards, including two gold and two silver Great American Beer Festival medals.
Chuckanut’s Vienna lager has a crisp sweetness on the front end and finishes lighter as compared to a traditional ale, a perfect beer for summer or for a drinking session that could include more than a pint or two.
“The history of the Vienna lager goes back to the 1800s,” explains Will Kemper. “It’s a distinctive style. The world is full of different flavors and we wanted to suggest this beer to people.”
Kemper says he and Mari wanted to do something different with their brewery than what most of the other 300 Washington breweries are doing. Not to mention the time it takes to craft a lager — usually five weeks or longer, whereas ales typically require just three weeks — set the production apart from the beginning.
“We’ve been fortunate to travel the world for the sake of beer,” he says. “We’ve had some of the best beers in the world, which often times aren’t in the U.S. With lighter beers, freshness is key. But sometimes they can be fragile and delicate and risk getting destroyed.”
With this as inspiration, the couple has labored to bring light, flavorful beers to their drinking audience. Something for people to appreciate besides the bland, thin conglomerate lagers from the mammoth national brands. And this aim has paid off, so much so Chuckanut has expanded to a new production center in nearby Burlington, Washington.
“With light beers, the subtleties and intent can be masked over with course flavors,” Kemper says. “We wanted to carve out something really desirable. With the Vienna lager, there’s an emphasis on subtlety and quality.”
Raise a glass and cheers to Chuckanut and their Vienna lager!
