Looking Backward….Looking Forward.

Well, I’m a little tardy on my year end reflections like so many people seem to do as the calender rolls from December to January.  I think I’ll look back with a list of the top 5 amazing things that happened in 2009 at Oakshire Brewing. And then we’ll look ahead to some exciting things to look forward to in 2010.

5. The company has grown from 4 employees to 8, including me as I hauled my family from Illinois to Oregon in March.

4. We had 5 tanks in the cellar (fermentation and packaging) and now we have 11!

3. We got a spiffy new keg washer that knocks out 3 clean and sanitized kegs in about 6 minutes.

2. We met many new friends and customers inEugene,  Portland and throughout the state at festivals and events, and we hope to meet many more. The mention of the name “Oakshire” raised eyebrows and brought puzzled looks in early 2009, and now it only seems to bring a smile. That’s good.

1. We nearly doubled in size, not only in employees and tanks, but also volume of beer made!

Ah, ok, I have one more and a top six list just doesn’t seem to sound quite right. Here’s 1B:

1B. We won our first national award at the 2009 Great American Beer festival for Overcast Espresso Stout.  We’re very proud of all of our beers and were honored to receive the award in Denver in September.

Ok, on to the future and wow, if you thought we changed a lot in 2009, wait until you see what we have in store this year.

In the first quarter of the year we should have a grain handling system in place  that will surely save the back of yours truly and the rest of the brewing staff. For anyone who knows how a silo and auger work, come out and ask us about our milling and mashing procedure. Prepare to be amazed.

We also are on the lookout for more brewing side tanks including a whirlpool and Hot Liqour Tank. These two items will help streamline and automate our brewhouse allowing us to more easily double our production again.

On the beer side, look for more new and original seasonals and one-off beers.  We continue to experiment and craft new and unique beers while maintaining the consistency of the year round beers you love.  On the seasonal front, look for a new spring seasonal by March 1st. On the bottling front, look for us to expand what we already do and bring you several more beers to you in bottles.  You might even see a new package in 2010 if all goes our way…..stay tuned.

Also, look for our barrel aging program to expand and we’ll also try to sneak a few odds and ends out into your hands.  If you didn’t know, we have 10 Pinot barrels full of various little items waiting…waiting…waiting… I can’t wait for the taste test to begin!

We’ll also continue to expand and improve our tasting room. We’ve done a lot to provide tours, tastings and dock sales in a friendly and casual way. Look for more things to come in 2010 allowing us to serve more beers in the tasting room and better fill your corny kegs on M,Th, F, and Sat.  And remember Devour is out here serving up sandwiches and soup every Saturday from 12-4. They are very tasty!

So those are just the things I know of that may change even before summer gets rolling. Who knows what else is in store.  Might we venture outside of Oregon? Might we drop yet another Fermenter in the back room? Might wecome out to your corner watering hole and shoot the breeze with you? I sure hope so.

Here’s to a successful and prospererous 2010! Thanks for making Oakshire Brewing what we are. Cheers!

your humble brewer of delicious beer,

Matt