Ancestry Brewing Looks to the Future 2 Years In
It's hard to believe Tualatin, Oregon's Ancestry Brewing is just celebrating its 2-year anniversary this Saturday, May 26th from 2-8pm. The party takes place at the flagship location at 20585 SW Tualatin-Sherwood Rd., though the brewery also operates a satellite pub in SE Portland's Sellwood neighborhood. In celebration of the occasion, Ancestry Brewing is releasing a beer in bottles called Quality River IPL. Check out my original preview of Ancestry before it opened back in 2016.Ancestry Brewing owner Jeremy Turner has been working on a 3rd location of the brewery for quite some time, after planned locations in St. Johns and inner southeast Portland fell through. But Turner says that "Our third location is still in the works and after a lot of site visits, we have identified a location that we are much more excited about." The space and the buildout would be a big project to pull off, says Turner, but the excitement over the opportunity is palpable. "If we achieve what we have in mind, I think it would stand among some of the landmark breweries in Portland while still serving the neighborhood we are in first and foremost."
As the company enters its 3rd year of brewing, Ancestry has just purchased its own bottling line, which should be coming shortly and allow the team to bottle more specialty beers that previously were draft only. One of the aspects that sets Ancestry Brewing apart from other brewerires in the area is its commitment to English-style ales that aren't so trendy and popular these days. Ancestry goes so far as to have launched a traditional cask program about four months ago and plans to continue pushing beers like English-style bitters and milds into the market.
Ancestry's 2nd Anniversary beer "Quality River" is an India Pale Ale hopped with a lot of hot new hops: Ekuanot Cryo Hops, Idaho 7 Hop Hash, Monroe and Vic Secret."Quality River is a stone fruit bomb," says Ancestry Brand Manager and former New School contributor Branden Anderson, who adds that it has "flavors ranging from peach to apricot to cherry. We wanted the pilsner base so we could bring the hops to the forefront while providing a crisp malt backbone."The name of the beer comes from Joel Gregory, one of the pioneers who described the Tualatin River as the "Quality River" on his expedition because of the beautiful land on each side of the slow-moving river. $1 from each bottle sold of Quality River IPL is going to benefit the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge."They protect and maintain part of the Tualatin River Natural Area, and educate the public about the beauty preserved in the refuge," says Andersen. "Our brewery is backed up to protected wetlands, so we couldn’t imagine a more fitting first benefit beer."Ancestry Brewing's Anniversary Party also features music from the Chris Hahn band and a special food and beer menu.
Ancestry Brewing 2nd Anniversary Party
Sat. May 26th 2-8pm20585 SW TUALATIN-SHERWOOD RdTualatin, Oregon 97062