A Glimpse of ForeLand
I went on a secret mission at Sean Burke’s new brewery, ForeLand, in McMinnville yesterday. I can say no more about that, except to add that Heater Allen’s Lisa Allen and Wayfinder’s Kevin Davey joined us.
Sean Burke is the well-regarded brewer from Von Ebert and before that The Commons. He has diverse tastes, but they seem to center around the traditional beers of Europe, particularly Germany (where he was trained as a brewer) and Belgium. So for example, when Sally and I arrived, we promptly ordered a glass of smoked helles and saison. The brewery does make IPAs, of course, and although they don’t seem to make Sean’s heart sing the way a subtle lager does, ForeLand’s hoppy beers are really good, too.
Since I wasn’t there for a proper tour and full story on the brewery, I will save that for another time. I did snap a few pictures, however, and they constitute a decent nickel tour. Have a look.
The Building
ForeLand is just one street off of McMinnville’s main drag in the building that used to be occupied by Allegory Brewing. It’s modest in size, but has this expansive parking lot for outdoor sipping. Just to my left, across the parking lot, is a food truck. In photo 2 you can see the saison and helles.
The Brewery
Sean partnered with David Sanguinetti, the owner of Allegory, on this project, so all he had to do was move in to the new furnished apartment, so to speak. The brewery is a 7-barrel, two-vessel system from Slovenia (I think), which makes brewing a batch of beer a fair amount of work. For now, they’re happy using it and can think about expanding/upgrading down the road.
The Barrel Room
ForeLand plans to make wild ales a central focus. So far the barrels are filling slowly and deliberately (photo 1). Sean rescued three barrels from the Common, which are identified by the numbers (photo 2). And though they haven’t yet put it to use, this old dairy tank will become the coolship. It’s on wheels and they can roll it outside (photo 3).
The Folks
That’s Lisa Allen on the left and Kevin Davey on the right. Sean is smiling broadly from underneath his luxurious mustache in the middle. His brewing collaborator, Aaron Copelin, is to his left, and co-founder David Sanguinetti to his right.