Cascade Lakes celebrates new location with ‘brewlanthropy’ lager Helles for Habitat

Published 11:30 am Friday, June 16, 2023

Cascade Lakes Brewing Co. is preparing to open its newest pub on Bend’s east side, located at the corner of Reed Market Road and 27th Street. To coincide with the opening, the brewery plans to release a new charity collaboration beer, Helles for Habitat. It’s a German-style Helles lager brewed with Old Standby Brewing Co. of Salem, and $1 from every pint sold will benefit Habitat for Humanity.

Ryan Holt of Old Standby teamed up with Cascade Lakes brewmaster Ryan Schmiege in early March, and they brewed the lager at Cascade Lakes’ brewery in Redmond. Old Standby is a small operation, and in 2022 Holt launched a project to team up with other breweries to brew beers for charity.

He works with Yakima Valley Hops, Imperial Yeast of Portland, and LINC Malt of Washington, which donate all of the ingredients for these beers.

“My three raw material suppliers … have never put any limitations on the size of my collaborations,” Holt said via email. “They have continued to support my project with an incredible amount of enthusiasm, which has really been amazing because none of these collabs would be possible without their support.”

Holt calls this his Brewlanthropy project, and he has collaborated with eight other breweries, including Bend’s The Ale Apothecary earlier this year.

Schmiege enjoyed working with him.

“He’s a great guy who loves beer and has found a wonderful way to give back to great organizations,” he said via email. “From creating the recipe together and acquiring the raw materials all the way through the brewing Ryan was a great partner.”

A less bitter lager

The Helles lager style is a close cousin of pilsner, and is a pale lager emphasizing subtlety and balance. Where pilsner tends to emphasize hops and a crisp, dry finish, Helles highlights malts and brings a rounder, slightly sweeter character with less hop bitterness.

In choosing the style for this collaboration, part of the goal was to celebrate the opening of the new pub location; knowing how construction projects can take time, brewing a lager allows the beer to condition for weeks following uncertain schedules.

I asked Schmiege for details about the beer.

“We brewed a Helles featuring Mistral hops, which is a newer variety from the Alsace region of France,” said Schmiege.

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“They feature a light fruity character with floral notes that we felt would lend well to the beer and they were donated by Yakima Valley Hops.”

The Mistral variety contributes less bitterness and soft, rounded fruit character including melon and citrus, qualities that would work well in a Helles lager.

“This beer is a great way to try raw materials we have not previously used, celebrate the generosity of the brewing community and benefit Habitat for Humanity,” Schmiege said.

Pints on the roof

Since the beer isn’t available yet, I haven’t had the chance to taste it myself. I asked Schmiege for his impressions.

“The beer is a lovely display of LINC Francin Pilsner malt and European hop varieties,” he said. “The body offers clean bready flavors balanced with Tettnang and Hallertau Mittelfruh hops. The Mistral hops used to dry hop give wonderful lemon and floral aromas. The beer is a refreshing summer delight!”

He also hopes to host Holt again to try it. “I hope to get him back to town to have a couple pints of Helles on the rooftop of our new location.”

Helles for Habitat will be available only on draft, so once the new pub is open, be sure to stop by for a pint to check out the new space and help raise money for Habitat for Humanity.