This brewery is located in the Willamette Valley town of Albany, one of the timber capitals of Oregon. Jerry and Nancy Mathern run a small family brewery providing a wide variety of beer styles. Their annual capacity is 1500 BBL. The 10 and 21 BBL brew kettles produce enough sweet wort to fuel five primary fermenters and seven bright tanks.
Seven beers are brewed on a regular basis. A Hefeweizen is always available. Their Black Beauty Porter is deep mahogany in color with a smooth, slightly sweet, subtly hopped flavor and aroma. The Chili Beer made with Serano, Anaheim and Hungarian wax peppers really packs a punch and is very tasty. The Nut Brown, Scottish Ale, Amber Lager and Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout round out the regular line up. Seasonal ales often include a Belgian White spiced with orange peel and coriander, and a Hollybock. Hollybock is a strong dark malty beer flavored with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and orange peel. As you can see, Jerry and Nancy lean towards the darker brews and aren't afraid of experimenting with spices to give their beers a hint of the exotic. And from the fruit laden Willamette Valley comes a fruit variation on their wheat beer --- named Berry Weizen. Fruit accented ales are becoming more and more common here in the state where every berry from loganberries to blueberries to cranberries --- are king.
This brewery is as much a tasting room as a traditional pub. Kegs serve as bar stools with multi colored pillows for seats. It's funky and it's comfortable and is an excellent place for visiting with friends and discussing brews. Jam sessions are held the first Saturday of each month. There is a small covered beer garden to the side and a dart board within. Food consists of a daily soup and sandwich. The real draw here is the beer. Dark and robust and always interesting, the variety of styles brewed here make it worth the trip.
The Oregon Trader Tasting Room is open Monday -- Saturday 11am to 8pm. They're closed on Sunday, though. Brewery tours are available with advance notice.