A bit of Bert Grant lost
The relationship between Bert Grant’s Ales and the late Bert Grant becomes more tenuous with the announcement that Yakima Brewing and Malting Co. is moving production of its beers out of Yakima, Wash., to other breweries not yet named.
Obviously the beers will be brewed under contract, not in the brewery he built in 1990, and certainly not in the copper boiling kettle that Grant pointed to with pride when the conducted tours of his brewery in the mid-90s. Can they possibly be the same beers?
Some might argue that it doesn’t matter, that either the beers have already changed or that they’ve been passed in character by a new generation of stronger, hoppier beers. But let’s not forget he was the first of the modern U.S. brewers to brew a stout that could be called Imperial, and the first to label his beer India Pale Ale.
He was not shy, and he was not afraid to offend. This was a man who carried a vial of hop oil in his pocket to boost the flavor of a bland domestic beer. Geez, he named one of his own beers “Perfect Porter.” When he died in 2001, Michael Jackson wrote a particularly eloquent essay, including this paragraph:
He brought classic styles back to life, but gave each beer its own personality. He created beers that he liked, and hoped that they would find drinkers who felt the same way. The world needs people like Bert Grant. It needs egos who can deliver: whether they are brewers, bakers, cheese-makers, charcutiers, chefs, restaurateurs, entertainers, movie-directors, writers… people who know what they like and how to produce it, without reference to jargon-bound bores in suits.
Would I generally order Grant’s Imperial Stout if I could get Old Rasputin (from North Coast), for instance? Not usually. But (and I’m not entriely certain Grant’s Imperial Stout still exists) I would once in a while, feeling it still has some of Bert Grant in it.
With production is leaving Yakima it will be hard to feel that way.
