Beer of the Week: Pacific Rain oatmeal pale ale

Pacific Rain

Ninkasi Brewing, Eugene, Oregon

Style: Oatmeal pale

Stats: 5.4 percent ABV, 50 IBU

Available: On tap at Crucible Brewing and in six packs of 12-ounce bottles in Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, QFC and select bottleshops.

My thoughts: In 2013, Dick Mergens was one of three recipients of the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation scholarship, which helped pay for him to take a two-week course at Seibel Institute in Chicago and learn more about the art of craft brewing.

As part of the process, Ninkasi Brewing hosts the three recipients every year and invites them to brew a beer, referred to affectionately as the Sasquatch Legacy beer. Mergens and Elysian Brewing’s Josh Waldman and Oakshire Brewing’s Dan Russo had the added distinction of brewing the 10th anniversary beer the year they won scholarships.

That beer, an oatmeal pale ale brewed with 10 different hops, is getting a second life courtesy of Ninkasi. The Eugene brewery is releasing Pacific Rain, which is identical to the beer Mergens and his two compatriots brewed three years ago, this week.

“Brian Rogers (Washington Ninkasi sales rep) came in a few weeks ago and told me they were going to release the 2013 Sasquatch Legacy beer,” Mergens said. “I was like, ‘That’s mine! I need a keg of that.’”

Crucible will be the first Washington taphouse to put Pacific Rain on tap next week as they host a Glen Hay Falconer Foundation fundraiser on Feb. 17. Throughout the night, Ninkasi and Crucible will each donate $1 to the foundation for every pint sold of Pacific Rain. Also, Crucible will donate $1 for every pint of its own oatmeal pale, Steel Cut Oatmeal Pale, that is sold, and the food truck, Stick It or Stuff It, will donate $1 for every batch of wings, marinated in Crucible beer, sold.

Glen Hay Falconer was a prominent player in the Oregon brewing scene between the early 1990s and his untimely death in 2002. The foundation named in his honor furthers the careers of up-and-coming brewers by offering full-tuition brewing education scholarships each year. It was a big part of helping Mergens and his co-owner Shawn Dowling take the leap into owning a brewery.

“We felt (the fundraiser) was a good way to give back to an organization that helped launch our careers,” Mergens said.

“It really was the foundation of us starting the business,” Dowling added. “Richard got a lot of great advice from the people at the foundation during that time that helped us.”

So how’s the beer? It wasn’t available before this article went to press, but Mergens had high praise. “It’s clean, crisp and very hoppy, but not overly bitter,” Mergens said. “At least it was the last time I tasted it.”

There’s also another connection between Crucible and Ninkasi. When Mergens was getting started, he took a tour of Ninkasi’s brewhouse and stumbled upon a past-its-prime keg washer. He needed one, so Mergens piped up and asked if they were getting rid of it. They were, and now it sits in Crucible’s burgeoning brewhouse.

From the brewery: Fiercely flavorful and refreshingly drinkable, this beer is your call to experience Pacific Northwest. Crafted with water from Oregon’s McKenzie River and a band of four distinguished hops, this Northwest pale is citrusy, crisp and tailor-made for easy drinking.

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