What is open fermentation?
- Open fermentation simply refers to beers produced in vessels with no top or lid. This is a historic departure from the ubiquitous closed, conical tanks common for decades now. These modern tanks are favored for their convenience, notably the ease of yeast harvesting which is pulled from the bottom post-fermentation. With open vessels, yeast can be harvested in its best form from the top, only a few days in at peak fermentation. This top-cropped yeast is very healthy, allowing the beer produced in subsequent batches to shine.
 
Are there other benefits to open fermentation?
- Yes, the small height to width ratio of our open fermenters favors a profile with softer phenols and a wider ester range, ultimately yielding beers with great nuance and expression. You can taste this in the Supercool IPA, where the yeast profile plays with the hop character in subtle ways. Over the years we’ve found this to be true with nearly every yeast strain, although not all yeasts are appropriate for the open vessels as many do not form a layer that can be harvested for future batches.

What yeasts do you use in the open fermenters?
- We employ two lines of yeast for our open fermented beers. One is a classic British ale yeast with origins dating back to the 19th century, used on the Supercool IPA and other traditional beers. For rustic farmhouse styles and the Money Avenue IPA we use a blend of two Norwegian kveiks combined with a secondary strain called metschnikowia reukaufii, all three of which are stored on a handmade wooden yeast ring that hangs in the open fermentation room.
 
Can I go inside the open fermentation room?
- Normally we don’t allow anyone in the open fermentation room, and today won’t be an exception.

Does Upright produce a hazy IPA?
- We do, but on our terms. It's called Money Avenue IPA. It uses fashionable hops like el dorado and strata, has low bitterness, and isn't clear. Where the Money Ave departs from typical hazy IPAs is an extra warm dryhop temperature of 95F at peak fermentation, drawing out complex hop oil aromatics that blend with our unique kveik yeast blend, so the beer doesn't just smell like a bag of raw hops. It's also very dry and not grossly opaque, so you can enjoy drinking it and looking at it.

Where do you source your fruit?
- The majority of our fruit comes from Baird Family Orchards. Over the years we’ve used several varieties of peaches, nectarines, apricots, and cherries. We also produce a beer in collaboration with Patton Valley Vineyard using their pinot noir grapes, and have worked with John House of Ovum Wines for muscat and gewürztraminer.
 
Why is Supercool IPA so tasty?
- What sets the beer apart are two unique processing elements: a cool, open fermentation with a classic British ale yeast, and a special dry hopping accomplished with a HopBob.
 
HopBob – what’s that?
- The HopBob was developed by former Upright brewer Bobby Birk. It’s a custom built perforated metal basket that allows us to dry hop the Supercool while still active in the open fermenter. The beer gently passes through the basket under its own natural movement, allowing for a complex aroma and flavor profile to be extracted while yielding a crisp, clean tasting beer in the end.
 
I love the Engelberg Pilsener. Can you tell me more about it?
- Absolutely. The Engelberg was first produced in early 2010. At that time very few locally produced lager beers were available, so we decided to make our own, mostly because German style pils was something we wanted to drink ourselves. It found a place in the market and became our first mainstay outside of rustic farmhouse styles, eventually winning beer of the year from the Willamette Week in 2015. The Engelberg hasn’t changed much over time, using a single malt, Oregon tettnanger hops, and a Munich lager yeast that brings it all together.

How big is the brewery?
- Upright does small volume, with annual production around 1000 bbls. The brewery was envisioned as a hands-on producer from the onset, with details such as equipment, layout, processes, et cetera, all revolving around that. For instance, the mash tun is sized to be mixed with a simple paddle, the open fermenters are cleaned by hand with nothing but a brush, and the bottling line is completely manual, just to name a few examples. We feel that a hands-on approach is fitting for a brewery focused on historically styled beers and also enjoy working that way.  
 
Who are the people behind Upright?
- Founder and Head Brewer: Alex Ganum
- Brewer since day one: Gerritt Ill
- New Brewer: Neil Yandow
- Old Brewer: Bobby Birk
- Tasting Room Manager: Brent Small
- Sunday Guy: Dee
- Tuesday Guy: Nick Flores
- Artist: Lloyd Winter
 
Will Upright ever expand?
- Nope
 
How did you get the equipment down there?
- This is a very common question from visitors. The brewery is in the basement of the Leftbank building, originally built as the Hazelwood in 1923. Our build out began in 2008 and one of the challenges was getting the brewhouse, fermenters, and conditioning tanks inside. Most of them came in through a rollup door on the SW corner of the building, slid carefully down a wide flight of stairs, and then carted across the basement horizontally into the brewery. Some vessels came through a different path that is more difficult to explain, but the important part is that they made it.
 
Why did the brewery end up in such an unconventional location?
- The original plan was to find an inexpensive site on the outskirts of the city. The opportunity to be in the Leftbank came about when someone working with the building’s owner overheard a conversation between myself and a friend regarding the search for a spot. She leaned over and asked, “so you’re looking for a place to build a brewery?” and the rest is history. A fun note about that story is that it was just up the street, on the patio of Amnesia Brewing when they were on Mississippi ave.

I have a question not answered above, who should I send it to?
- Alex at uprightbrewing@gmail.com