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 hoppy beers. For saisons and rustic farmhouse styles we're currently using a Norwegian kveik combined with a secondary strain called metschnikowia reukaufii, but often rotate in other strains.
 
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.
 
What is bottle conditioning?
- Bottle conditioning is a process in which beer is packaged still (without carbonation) with the addition of fresh yeast and a sugar solution, allowing fermentation to happen in the bottle. Fermentation creates carbon dioxide, and because the gas has nowhere to go in a sealed container, it dissolves into the beer, carbonating it naturally over a short period, typically two weeks. Bottle conditioning is surprisingly rare in modern craft beer production, where the common practice is to force carbonate by injecting CO2 into the beer while still in tank, then packaging it. The subject and practice of bottle conditioning can be a long and complicated matter, but the most important point is that it allows beer to develop with time – an evolving beverage live with nuance. At Upright every bottle is conditioned.
 
When was my beer bottled?
- Packaging dates are always stamped on the case boxes and represent the bottling day when conditioning begins. Most beers aren’t released for anywhere between two weeks to several months after that date.
 
What does the vintage year indicate?
- Beers that we feel are appropriate for cellaring have a vintage year noted on the label. The vintage year indicates when the beer was bottled and not necessarily brewed or released. For instance, the 2016 vintage Fantasia was brewed in 2015 with peaches from that summer’s harvest and released in 2017.
 
Should I age my beer?
- As stated above, beers that are particularly good candidates for aging have a vintage year on the label. Our beers are ready to be enjoyed upon release and we will condition them in-house as long as that takes. Some beers evolve nicely well beyond that but we suggest drinking most within one year. If you do decide to age your beer, it’s important to keep it at a steady temperature, ideally at 55 F. If you aren’t able to keep your beer below 65 F, it’s not advisable to keep it long term.
 
What are farmhouse-style ales?
- There’s an irony in trying to categorize something that defies categorization, but it’s also important to help people unfamiliar with this lovely “style” find a starting point for their own exploration. Farmhouse-style is a recent label that attempts to describe an enormous range, with history that dates back well over one hundred years. The best way to learn is through experience by tasting examples, but there are two noteworthy books that do an excellent job covering them. One is Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski, and the other is The Secrets of Master Brewers by Jeff Alworth. In that book Jeff has a great chapter on rustic French ales that really speaks to us here at Upright.
 
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 farmhouse-esque beers, eventually winning beer of the year from the Willamette Week in 2015. The Engelberg hasn’t changed much over time, using a single malt from France, Oregon tettnanger and Czech saaz hops, and a Munich lager yeast that brings it all together.
 
What’s the story with the Frequencies Series?
- The Frequencies Series is a label theme for one-off and collaborative barrel aged projects. Each one features artwork relating to sound waves by designer Lloyd Winter.
 
Is the Ives label a series too?
- The Ives is our house “wild ale”. It’s typically a blend of three to five casks taken from a lot of over 20 that house the same base beer, a barrel fermented raw wheat ale with an unusual mash and processing regime intended to draw out a slow fermentation. Barrels stored in our cellar for long term maturation are tasted from time to time and eventually become part of a blend. That may lead to a blend of only Ives casks, or it may include other beers with fresh fruit or other elements to layer the Ives base. The beer is inspired by the great American composer Charles Ives, with each blend noted on the label.
 
Pathways Saison is year round? No way!
- It’s true. We maintain about 25 casks in rotation, with different vintages coming together in both draft and bottle conditioned blends. A mix of barrels including vermouth, gin, and several wine varietals all house Pathways of different ages, making each batch unique, something we embrace and find excitement in here at the brewery.
 
How much beer is barrel aged at Upright?
- There are roughly 150 oak casks that we use, some of which date back to the very beginning. Casks that continue to yield tasty profiles are given extra attention and may be part of the brewery indefinitely. The bulk of our barrels contain the Four Play, Pathways Saison, or Ives, three beers we feel embody our house character, while the rest of our barrels have a variety of annual releases or one-off projects.
 
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