Aaron Wight and Sean Wallner, owners of Whitewall Brewing in Marysville, have brought interns on before, but none were up to brewing their own beer.
That is, until Roy Eddleman came along.
Eddleman, the current intern at Whitewall, recently brewed his first professional beer. Angry Amber, a smoky amber, will be released Saturday. The beer isn’t especially close to Eddleman’s heart, but the cause that it will be supporting is: Proceeds from sales of the beer will go to the Burned Children Recovery Foundation.
For 20 years, Eddleman and his wife, Jennifer, have worked with Camp Phoenix, a camp at Lake Samish that invites young burn survivors from around the country for a week of fun on the water. He is longtime friends with BCRF president and founder Michael Mathis and his wife, Kathleen Boutiette-Mathis, the foundation’s executive director.
“It’s all about the kids,” Eddleman said. “Many of the returning kids are now counselors. It’s really a special camp and something I’ve been proud to be a part of.”
Having been homebrewing for quite a while, Eddleman’s brewing journey started like many others. He decided to take the next step by signing up for Skagit Valley College’s Craft Brewing Academy, a one-year program taught by a number of local professional brewers, including Anacortes Brewing’s Allen Rhoades and Flyers Brewery’s Tony Savoy.
In March, with coursework finished, he hooked up with Wallner and Wight and started interning 10 hours a week in the brewhouse. Both brewers were impressed with Eddleman’s passion and effort, so they decided to let him try out his own recipe.
“It’s difficult for me to let go, but Roy has really worked well with us,” Wight said. “We’ve had other interns but none as committed as Roy.”
Eddleman said his next step is to open his own brewery. He’s set his sights on a 1,000-square-foot space near La Conner Flats, a garden and produce market west of Mount Vernon. He’s looking for brewing equipment and hopes to open before the next tulip season.
The beer itself is an amber made with Skagit Valley Malting’s NZ-151 Pale and Caramel 30/60 malts, as well as some peat-smoked malts to give the beer a smoky quality. The hops are fairly routine (Centennial, Columbus and Cascade), but they give the beer a nice hoppy bitterness to go along with the smoky finish. It’s a drinkable and interesting beer.
As for the name, its origin stems from when Wight was texting with Eddleman and Wallner about the beer. “Amber” would autocorrect to “angry.” Wallner and Wight don’t particularly enjoy ambers, so angry was an apt descriptor.
Whitewall will release Eddleman’s Angry Amber and hold a BCRF fundraiser all day July 28 in the brewery’s taproom, 14524 Smokey Point Blvd., Suite 1, in Marysville. There also will be a food truck, a raffle and Angry Amber T-shirts for sale.
Also on this week’s taster tray:
FrankenGose, Middleton Brewing: The latest release in Middleton’s Cereal Killer series, this tart delight was brewed with FrankenBerry cereal. Available on tap at the brewery and Toggle’s Bottleshop.
Warchild IIPA, Lake Stevens Brewing: A mix of Cascade, Amarillo and Rakau hops gives this coming-of-age IPA notes of stonefruit, fig and grapefruit. Available on tap at the brewery.
Butch’s Brew, Foggy Noggin Brewing: This English hazelnut brown recently won a silver medal at the Washington Beer Awards. Available on tap at the brewery.
Belgian White, SnoTown Brewing: Simple grain bill of white wheat and two-row malt meets Jarrylo and Citra hops and a dosing of Belgian yeast. Available on tap at the brewery.
Hopsie, Naked City Brewing: Naked City collaborated with Pike Brewing on this complex yet light and crisp pale ale for its seventh beer in its Decima 10 for 10 Series. Available on tap at both Naked City locations.
Blonde Stout, Scrappy Punk Brewing: Brewed with walnuts from Skip Rock Distillers and decaffeinated coffee, this stout is light in color but big in flavor. Available on tap at the brewery.
Hoppy Camper, Lake Stevens Brewing: A summer IPA made with Galaxy, Idaho 7 and El Dorado hops. Available on tap at the brewery.
Session IPA, Three Bulls Brewing: A one-hop session IPA made with Centennial hops. Available on tap at the brewery from 2 to 7 p.m. July 28.
DRINK THIS
Angry Amber
Whitewall Brewing, Marysville
Style: Smoked amber
Available: On tap at the brewery
From the brewery: Brewed by our intern Roy Eddleman and made with 100 percent Skagit Valley Malting grain, including peat-smoked malt, this amber has a solid malty backbone and a smoky finish.
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