Every beer drinker has that one beer they turn to time and time again, an old faithful that never lets them down. For many, this beer is usually a staple of sorts or at least what one might call a “shelfie” in that it is readily and widely available. In some cases, this is the beer that started it all for you. Perhaps it was a pioneering craft brew that enlightened you to the world of beer that actually tastes good, or perhaps it is a beer that made you completely rethink what you thought you knew about a particular style. Whatever it may be, this is a beer that made an impact on you and is burned into your taste buds forever. In our monthly column The Beers That Made Us, we talk with brewers about the beers that have made the biggest impact on them in terms of their personal taste and love of craft beer, as well as how it inspired their personal approach to brewing. 

According to The New School’s Ezra Johnson-Greenough, “Matt Storm and his two Seattle locations of The Masonry are known for two things: wood fired pizza, and a deep and intensely curated beer list featuring obscure, rare and notable mixed culture wild ales and saisons.” This is definitely true and both locations of The Masonry are destinations for beer lovers, but these days Storm is also gaining recognition for Fast Fashion, the brewing project he started with Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisan Ales a couple of years ago. Though the brewery is known for cranking out cans of high-end hazy IPAs, many featuring their signature “Anchovy” hop variety from Segal Ranch, they have also been producing creative and traditional lagers as well as classics like dry stouts to show they aren’t just focused on staying trendy. If you’ve been lucky enough to visit The Masonry and experience their highly impressive taplists, or to have tried any of Fast Fashion’s numerous offerings, you get the sense that Storm’s own tastes are all over the map. If there is one consistent element in his tastes and preferences for beer, it seems to be his passion for quality and creativity. In this regard, the beer that inspired his journey may come as something of a surprise yet still seems to fit right in.  

Beer: 

De Ranke XX Bitter

Matt Storm: One of the beers that changed the way I looked at beer and is still an absolute favorite today is De Ranke XX Bitter. 

Your first time:

Matt Storm: My gateway into beer when I was 21 was generally the Belgian section. At the beginning it was mostly the big candy sugar beers but it slowly moved into saisons and lambics. At the time, Shelton Brothers wasn’t in [Washington] and I didn’t have much in the way of money (I was a student and working at a bottle shop), so trading for beers in the Shelton catalog wasn’t much of an option unless folks brought them into the shop to share. When they finally came back to Washington, about a decade ago, XX Bitter completely reframed the way I looked at both Belgian beer and hoppy beer. 

What makes it special:

Matt Storm: It’s a beer that just never seems to overstay its welcome. It can be sipped and thought about, but it also is snappy, bitter and refreshing, and it works just as well in a pint as in a wine glass. Unlike some other hoppy Belgian beers with a slightly less robust malt profile, it seems to really keep as well. I think in general it’s best drank fresh, if you can find it in that state (though Lime Ventures and Walden here in Seattle tend to be doing a really great job at that these days). But as the hops fade with time, it doesn’t seem to oxidize in a terribly unpleasant way and instead the yeasty esters of the Belgian yeast take over.

Why this beer is influential:

Matt Storm: These days craft beer is so omnipresent that I imagine the barrier to entry is much lower but beers like this were really good perspective shifters when the options were generally either big beer or the classic Northwest craft lineup of Northwest IPA, Amber, Porter, Stout. I don’t think there is such a thing as somebody that can’t benefit from a little shift in perspective.

Why beer drinkers should pay attention:

 Matt Storm: This beer uses hops in a way that seems to be becoming increasingly rare. Very floral and all whole cone, there is both a depth and diversity of flavor that I think we are getting less of as we shift more and more towards extracts and cryo. The upsides of these products are obvious and as a brewer it is nice to have hop products that are extremely reliable, but the flip side is that they make a lot of beers trend towards a more homogenized flavor.

How this beer inspired your brewery:

Matt Storm: have been extremely blessed to brew with and learn from Averie Swanson, who is both in inspiration and a brilliant mind. She has a shared affection of XX Bitter so we brewed a take on that beer called Reality is an Atmosphere. Batch 1 used whole cone Centennial from Segal Ranch and some Cascade pellet from Segal as well. We will be releasing batch 2 any day now (probably before this is even published) and for that one we used whole cone Chinook as well as Belgian Cascade grown at Forest Farm, which is where some very notable breweries including De Ranke get some of their hops out in Belgium. With batch 2 we also switched from a more commercial Belgian ale strain to Averie’s saccharromyces strain, so we are quite excited about the way this beer is progressing. Our aim isn’t to mimic XX Bitter as much as see what an XX-like beer using mostly Yakima hops would look like and we’ve been really happy with it so far. Our plan is to continue brewing this with different whole cone hops whenever we are lucky enough to have Averie out here in Seattle.

The Beers That Made Us is a monthly column exploring brewers favorite underappreciated or simply classic beers that they find essential drinking. Read past entries into this series with Russian River Brewing founder Vinnie Cilurzo, Chuckanut Brewing founder Will Kemper, Hair of the Dog Brewing founder Alan Sprints, Firestone Walker founder David Walker, and many, many more.