Hillsboro, Oregon bottleshop and taproom Wildwood is getting funky this Spring with two Lambic inspired events, including the premiere of the documentary Bottle Conditioned with filmmaker Jerry Franck. The small but devoted following for authentically made Lambic-style sour beers made in the traditional European method of open-top coolships with spontaneous fermentation is ravenous. Unlike the “quick sours” that have been popularized in America that rely on overnight souring processes, these beers are much more nuanced and complex, and often take years to make. They are expensive, and can be less inviting on first whiff for their barnyard characteristics, but the sip is always worth the effort if you don’t mind varying levels of acetic and lactic acid in your beers from wild yeasts and bacteria.

Wildwood Taphouse co-owner Will Witt fell in love with Lambics after becoming fascinated with brewers “hand off” approach to producing them, preferring to let the natural fonta and flora in the breeze, rafters, and aged ingredients, do the work.

“The concept of allowing a natural process to take its course and take a life of its own while carefully monitoring the process was so inspiring to me,” says Will Witt. “As I've grown in my own beer journey my appreciation for the subtlety and complexity that comes with the traditional lambic style has made it become one of my favorite styles to drink. It's one of my favorite conversations to have with customers at Wildwood when someone tells me they don't like sour or spontaneous beer, my response is always that they just haven't found it yet. This always turns into a fun interaction and connection with customers that usually involves cracking some bottles to share with the bar ultimately unifying everyone together through beer. That sentiment is ultimately why Andrew and myself opened Wildwood in the first place.”

Witt first heard about the Bottle Conditioned documentary through his friend Tim Dekker of Altbrau and Admiral Maltings. “I was so excited to see that Jerry was taking such an intentional approach to his film, honestly it's a story that's long overdue being told,” says Witt. He reached out to Franck last May and opened a conversation about hosting a screening of the documentary, after a year of discussion Wildwood was selected as one of just a handful locations in the world to feature a special viewing with the filmmaker/producer himself. Franck will be flying up to Portland for the event and doing a Q & A after each of the two screenings at Wildwood on May 21st.

Franck was nominated for an Academy Award® in 2015 as a producer for the film Chau, Beyond the Lines. The Luxembourgish filmmaker moved to the U.S. in 2010, but found himself back in Europe in 2018 when inspiration struck for his directorial debut - Bottle Conditioned.

“At the time I was also looking to make a documentary on beer, but I didn't know what it was going to be yet because the subject matter is so vast,” says Franck. “One afternoon we found ourselves at the small family-owned 3 Fonteinen Restaurant. It was mid-afternoon and the restaurant had already stopped serving lunch. The beer menu listed quite a few lambics and amongst them was a vintage bottle of "gueuze" from 2001, priced at 95 Euros. Of course we ordered it, and since neither of us had ever paid this much for one bottle of beer, we really hoped that it was going to be good. To our surprise, it actually turned out to be phenomenally good and truly eye-opening. This beer had so much complexity and endless depths of flavor, unlike anything I had tried until that point.”

Franck, who was already a beer enthusiast, began diving deeper into the story of lambic. As he began uncovering some of the rich history and brewing community surrounding it, he decided it would be the subject of his first film. Franck and his co-producer, Courtney Marsh, and cinematographer, Mario Contini, started filming in January 2019. Interrupted by the pandemic, the production ended up lasting three years. Over the course of that time the film shifted from focusing on how lambic was made and how unique it was, to an in-depth exploration of the culture surrounding it and what made these beers special to begin with.

Bottle Conditioned film explores the small Belgian community where lambic beer—one of the oldest, rarest styles of beer—is made. A cultural heritage almost lost after WWII, lambic began a more recent rise to popularity as the world discovered them. The film follows three of the most well known authentic lambic producers at a pivotal point in time; Cantillon, 3 Fonteinen and Bokke. “I opted to focus on them specifically because they all represent different facets of the lambic revival today, while also being the most revered amongst enthusiasts,” says Franck.

On Sunday, May 21st, 2023, Wildwood Taphouse in Hillsboro, Oregon will shut down for normal operations and host two screenings of the film Bottle Conditioned, one at 3pm, another at 6pm, each followed with a Q & A with director Jerry Franck. The documentary will be projected on a 5' x 9' screen with 2 x 15" 2-way speakers running the film in stereo. Special for the event, Wildwood will have lambic beers available by bottle pours of each producer featured in the film, Cantillon, Bokke, Drie Fonteinen & Girardin. Limited tickets will go on sale to the public on April 17th, but attendees of Wildwood’s Funks Not Dead event on April 15th will get early access to screening tickets.

Funks Not Dead is Wildwood’s earlier celebration of local Lambic-style and lambic-inspired breweries De Garde, The Ale Apothecary, and recent newcomer Funky Fauna Artisan Ales. Paul Arney of Ale Apothecary, and Michael Frith of Funky Fauna, will both be in attendance. The event takes place on Saturday, April 15th at Wildwood Hillsboro. Kegs get tapped at 11am and tickets for Bottle Conditioned will be available to attendees immediately, with the big FND party starting at 5pm.

Beer List for FND:

• de Garde - Chateau

• de Garde - Peach BuVeaux

• Ale Apothecary - Earthbound Astronaut 

• Ale Apothecary - Sahali

• Ale Apothecary - Sahati

• Funky Fauna - Edwin

• Funky Fauna - In The Flowers

• Funky Fauna - Lavandula Kedavra

• Plus, limited bottle pours of other sour/spontaneous producers as well. 

IMPORTANT DATES:

April 15th - Funks Not Dead party and early access to Bottle Conditioned tickets

April 17th - Public tickets go on sale for Bottle Conditioned screening

May 21st - Wildwood hosts Bottle Conditioned documentary, Q & A, and tasting

Wildwood Taphouse
9345 NE Windsor St, Hillsboro, OR 97006