Charles Porter from Little Beast Brewing in Portland has been a big supporter of our malt in Oregon. We asked him some questions to get to know Little Beast Brewing and what he likes about Skagit Valley Malting.

What is your brewery known for? 

We’re definitely known for mixed culture and experimental/innovative beers. Sort of Belgian styles with an American twist. We do a lot with Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. We even incorporate the mixed cultures into some of the canned products we do. We’re not doing kettle sours - we’ll make a wort with malt and grains with no hops in it and then rack it into a fermenter with lactobacillus and let it naturally ferment, and instead of boiling that, we take and blend that with beer that’s actively fermenting, which makes for a cleaner flavor profile. At this point, I also hope and think we’re known for nailing down conventional styles like American IPA, West Coast IPA, even Hazy IPA which we’re not known for, but have already won awards for, and lagers, of course. 

Why did you start to use Skagit Valley Malts?

We started using them initially because Van Havig from Gigantic reached out to a bunch of brewers saying that Skagit Valley Malting was going to be coming down and giving some malt away to try out. We ended up getting a batch of malt and making a Czech Pilsner with it. Of course we’ve continued to use Skagit Valley Malts because a lot of what Skagit Valley Malting offers is very unique. One of the most fascinating parts is the terroir, that it’s true maritime malt, and is able to be traced back to different batches/to what land it was grown on and by which farmer. 

What has been your favorite malt from us? 

My favorite so far has been the Talisman Pilsner - I love the light color. 

Desert island beer/favorite beer style?

It’s tough as time goes on to pick one, and it changes all the time. I think it’s good to note that it’s a floating answer, but I’ll say American Pale Ale. Ultimately it’s about drinkability and flavor, there has to be a balance. So it’s easy to think of American Pale Ale, and I say that also because we just made a Fresh Hopped Pale Ale that’s really drinkable. 

If you could have any type of malt from SVM, what would it be?

It’s really tough to answer the malt question, because you guys do such a range with different varietals already. It puts me on the fence because I like what Skagit does with all of it’s locally grown grain, but I’d love to see what you do with grain grown in the Czech Republic, for instance. I’d also love to see what your raw barley does when it’s floor malted.