Vesper Bitter

The N face of Vesper

The name. The mountain. Vesper is a lesser known peak out the mountain loop highway past the Verlot ranger station. The route takes you past Headlee pass, a gorgeous pass, en route to the class 2 route up the NE ridge to the summit. In contrast to the easy going NE ridge, the N face is a nice rock face that offers relatively easy rock climbing in an alpine setting. My partner and I took the “1968” route up and we enjoyed our first “real” alpine rock climbing coinciding with the last nice day of the summer in 2007. It was a great feeling lying on the sun baked rocks after the climb taking in the grandeur of the mountain loop highway environs.

Vesper was our first beers served after deciding to open the brewery (served at the PNA summer beer taste). It has also been a favorite when brewed and served at the brewery. Because of the requests, it is now back on tap for the mountainBeers and at the brewery.

The beer.  We brewed this based on the English style so it is made mostly with ESB malt, with some crystal and biscuit for character. Vesper has a nice, light, bready mouthfeel that ends with a slight lingering bitterness. While the bitterness is a definite character of the beer, and hence the name of the style, the level of bitternes in Vesper pales in comparison to many other beers brewed in the Pacific NW. The end result is a nice easy drinking, flavorful English style ale.

ABV: 5.0%  Malts: ESB, Crystal, Biscuit, Victory, Flaked.  Hops, Apollo, Goldings. British ale yeast.

Views of Morning Star Pk (foreground) and Del Campo and Gothic Peaks (Behind)