Breakside Brewery’s Ben Edmunds
March 10th, 2012
At the beautiful Breakside Brewery in Portland, Oregon I interviewed Brew Master Ben Edmunds over 7 tasters of his fine craft beer. Each beer was an exquisite representation of it’s style. The quality of these brews is evidenced by the 2011 Great American Brew Festival medal awarded the Dry Irish Stout. This was no doubt one of many awards to come for this innovative brewery.
In this interview Ben tells us about Breakside from it’s beginnings through today’s expansion plans. He also shares the surprising fruits of collaborations with award winning chefs. Together they’ve created unique beers that subtly merge culinary flavors in complex layers. The teacher in him peeks out as he discloses “how to” details, tricks and tips including use of alternative ingredients. Chestnuts anyone?
His journey to becoming a professional craft brewer is surprising yet the approach he has taken may be a necessary one for those wishing to succeed in today’s Craft Brewing community.
Finally we wrap up the the program with a tour of this modest brewery, where the real magic begins.
Links:
Craft Brew Cast:
If you enjoy the program:
Craft Brew Casts are ideal listening material while Driving or commuting. Download it to your device or stream from craftbrewcast.com
Technorati Tags: craft beer, interviews, festivals, brewing, ben edmunds, breakside brewery, portland, oregon, irish, stout
Special thanks to Wammo of the The Asylum Street Spankers for bringing music to this episode with “Beer, Beer, Beer”. Members of the band used to stay with Scott when they performed in town. It seems fitting to bring them all together in this episode… Download: 
Firestone Walker Brewery’s Brewmaster Matt Brynildson and I enjoyed a beer at one of the many events surrounding the Oregon Brewers Festival. 
In a rare interview he shares his passion for brewing and brewers education. Bob has rallied suppliers, labs, distributors and pubs behind the Legacy Project that funds the GHF Foundation scholarships to the Seibel institute in Chicago Illinois.
Drew Cluley invited me to The Pike Brewing Company for their Vertical Barley Wine Tasting and was a fabulous host. They served six vintages of the Old Bawdy side by side to a packed house in the Museum and restaurant in Seattle Washington.
with stories from the risqué beginnings of the brewery through its evolution to its current location. Later, you’ll join us in a lively round table discussion on the topic of Beer vs. Wine and more with Pike’s alumni of brewers including Dick Cantwell now with Elysian Brewing Company, Fal Allen now at Archipelago Brewing of Singapore, Kevin Forhan now at Ram Restaurant and Brewery, and Janelle Pritchard now at Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company.
HopValley Brewing Co. had been open for about a week when I stopped by. They have done a remarkable job of opening this beautiful restaurant and brewery in very short order. Lot’s of light and warm wood, not only is the decor inviting, but the beers are outstanding. This is a worthwhile destination just a block or so off of the beaten path in Springfield, Oregon.
already proven himself to be a world class brewer with several medals in his portfolio. Now he will have the freedom to create and experiment with beer styles and processes. This is the type of brewer that will always have something new and exciting to try. Like the Vanilla Porter, which definitely made my “favorites” list.
Cambridge Brewing’s head brewster Megan Parisi and member of the Pink Boots Society of women in the brewing industry speaks about their seasonal and award winning beers, exactly how she got her foot in the door as a professional brewer, a bit of the history of women in the brewing industry and some of the not so glamorous work that goes into specialty ales.
Jeanine Marois, founder and President of Mondial de la Biere festival provides a bit of history and happenings of this fantastic international festival held in Montreal around the end of May and Early June. She also announces a new festival that will debut in France in 2009! 
Wrapping up the show with “Drinking Alone” by Becky Bishop. A tune that I found at podsafeaudio.com. [Photo left: Becky Bishop, photographer Michael McCans] 
