Like a song, each beer is our expression;
The enjoyment and interpretation is yours.
That simple but empowering message adorns every bottle from Alesong Brewing & Blending.
Alesong is a Eugene, Oregon, brewer celebrating its 10th anniversary and consistent excellence and creativity that’s something to treasure in this age of failing breweries and too many bad beers.
I remember first buying beer from Alesong in 2016, shortly after they opened their warehouse facility on Conger Avenue in Eugene. It was there that I experienced a food and beer pairing for the first time. I don’t recall the beer samples but I do remember tasting cheese in new ways. I also recall a terrific custom-made chocolate and beer pairing party at Alesong’s then new rural production facility and tasting room. Each quarterly release includes food pairing suggestions for each beer, and I’ve found most to be home runs.
I was not surprised when Alesong began earning annual medals at the Great American Beer Festival, nor when it was named 2024 Brewery of the Year (251-500 barrels). The beers are really that good.
After moving to Colorado, it took awhile for Alesong and distribution company Tavour to ship quarterly releases to Steamboat Springs, but since then, I’ve enjoyed my fill of barrel-aged magic. I favor the always creative and delicious variations of higher ABV stouts, barleywines and ales but have found myself slowly starting to enjoy the wild and sours in each quarterly release. And always welcome is the Rackhouse Reserve, an ever-evolving blend of available stout and ale stock that never fails to thrill.
There are also periodic curveballs — like the Mezcla ale aged in tequila barrels with pineapple and morita chili peppers or the Old Fashioned barleywine ale aged in bourbon barrels with orange peel — that are as spectacular as the stouts.
I appreciate that Alesong has a tight focus: It experiments, but typically offers only four to five beers per release, all barrel-aged with a strong emphasis on local or regional ingredients (such as the bing cherries referenced in the Cherry Decadence video above). This is not a brewery churning out dozens of mainstream flavors like lagers, IPAs or pilsners. That mantra of less is more and "surprise and delight" keeps the bar extremely high on quality.
Because every beer is barrel aged, the bottles are not cheap — roughly $16 each through the club and often up to $20 at retail locations sharp enough to stock it — but I find the stouts and barleywines to be worth every penny.
Here’s to another 10 years of creative brilliance!
Cheers!