Ambient Roar is a foeder aged mixed culture ale with prickly pear, hibiscus and lime.

Von Ebert Brewing will release the official beer of the 2020 Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival in 500ml bottles and on draft this Friday, July 3rd. Like everything else this year, the Farmhouse Fest was canceled due to the Coronavirus but fans of the festival and style of beer can still get a little taste of what was to be and win VIP tickets to next years event at the same time.

Both Von Ebert Pearl and Von Ebert Glendoveer will begin selling bottles of Ambient Roar for $12 when they open at 1130am this Friday. Each bottle will come with one raffle ticket to be entered for a chance to win a VIP pass to the Farmhouse Fest when it return's in 2021. Additionally, 2 bottle packs of Ambient with a Portland Farmhouse and Wild Ale Festival glass and 2 raffle tickets will be only $25. Only 200 bottles have been packaged of Ambient Roar, so get them while you can.

Ambient Roar is an expression of wild grains and latin flavors rolled up into an oak-fermented ale with influence from multiple cultures. Von Ebert Glendoveer head brewer Sean Burke has been wanting to play with ancient grain varietals as a way to replace the wheat in some beers for a more nuanced flavor and body impact. Ambient Roar uses kamut, an un-malted spelt, and einkorn, a grain that Burke brewed a beer with when he was in Germany. Einkorn was not easy to find, but he managed to get some from Bluebird Grain Farms in Winthrop, Washington.

The second part of the unusual ingredients in Ambient Roar come from the use of hibiscus, prickly pear and lime. All flavors that Burke picked up on while enjoying one of his favorite culinary delights which Burke posts to his instagram regularly.

“I was eating some amazing carnitas tacos one day at a local taqueria and I ordered a soda, something I rarely do,” recalls Burke. “The flavor was prickly pear and orange and it went really well with the fatty taco's. I thought that would be a cool idea for a beer. We swapped in the lime to give it a little extra punch and added a little hibiscus to bring a floral/spiced element to it.”

Ambient Roar is aged in the large vertical oak vessels called foeders that Von Ebert Glendoveer features at it's intimate golf course brewery in outer northeast Portland. While these farmhouse ales are not actually crafted on a farm with European ingredients like those in Belgium and France, Burke does utilize the environment around him as is traditional. That turned out to be baker's grains and taco making ingredients in this case.

Von Ebert Glendoveer hosted the Portland Farmhouse and Wild Ale Festival in 2019 after the event relocated from Saraveza. Full disclosure: I am the founder of the festival and was involved in it's running, and was excited about it's new home at Glendoveer Golf Course next to VE Glendoveer. But that will now have to wait until 2021 when the event comes back hopefully stronger then ever. Since Ambient Roar was brewed at VE Glendoveer, it's a perfect ode to what would have taken place there when the fest was originally set to take place in early May.

“The region we live in is so bountiful that we would be foolish to not integrate the high quality ingredients it provides into our beers as much as possible,” says Burke. “I think Ambient Roar will age well. It is drinking beautifully right now, but I think over time as some of the delicate flavors subside, the base beer will continue to mature nicely.”

Ambient Roar Details

• Mixed-culture, foeder fermented base beer with pilsner malt, kamut un-malted spelt and einkorn from Bluebird Grain Farms in Winthrop, Washington. Kamut, spelt and einkorn are all loosely related to wheat or are old/ancient grains.
• Prickly pear, hibiscus and lime added after maturation and before packaging.
• Bottle conditioned
• 5.6% ABV
• Official beer of the 2020 Portland Farmhouse and Wild Ale Festival that did not happen this year because of stupid Covid-19

Find Von Ebert on social media: @vebrewing and facebook.com/VonEbertBrewing.

Follow the Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival on social media for updates on next year's festival: @pdxfarmhousefest and facebook.com/PortlandFarmhouseAndWildAleFestival/

About the Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival

The Portland Farmhouse and Wild Ale Festival is the Pacific Northwest's largest showcase of rustic, funky, tart, complex and wild ales from American breweries. Learn more at http://portlandfarmhousefest.com. Each year the festival welcomes new breweries, exclusive beers, and a wide variety of beers and attendees. The 2021 Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival will be held at Glendoveer Golf Course behind Von Ebert Brewing Glendoveer. Learn more at http://portlandfarmhousefest.com.

About Von Ebert Brewing

Von Ebert Brewing sits at the crossroads where storied traditions meet bold new ideas in brewing. Independently owned and operated, Portland, OR, based Von Ebert produces award-winning beers in a variety of styles. In addition to modern IPAs and crisp lagers, the oak-aged, bottle-conditioned heritage beer program sets the brewery apart. All of the beers pair perfectly with the elevated American pub cuisine served at both brewpub locations. For more information, please visit www.vonebertbrewing.com.