THE KING OF BEER … SELECTION
Chip Hardy's top 10 summer favorites
BY MARK FRISBEE

Chip Hardy knows all about what goes into making a good beer. As with most professional brewers, Chip's love of yummy frothy goodness began as a home brewer. Before opening The Bier Stein just over two years ago, Chip was a professional brewer. Over the years he's held positions as assistant brewer at Steelhead and head brewer for West Brothers.

After experimenting at home and years of brewing for "the man," Chip and his wife, Kristina, decided it was time to go into business for themselves.

Now, for those of you that have not been to the Bier Stein (if that is even possible), the time has come to put down the Xbox 360 controller, get up off the couch, put some pants on and drag your lazy ass down there for an adult beverage. Trust me, all your nerdy friends on Xbox Live will still be there when you get back. C'mon, people, with a choice of more than 900 different types of beer, is it really that hard a decision?

"13.4 percent of all beer sales here in the state are craft brewed beer or imports, which is the highest market share in the country," Chip said. "Of that 13.4 percent, 11.2 percent of that is Oregon brewed beer, so most Oregonians are thinking Oregon and drinking Oregon."

With all those different beers to choose from, Chip said if he were stranded on a desert island and had to pick one beer to have with him it would be their number one seller, the IPA from Pelican Brewing Company in Pacific City.

If you are looking for some suggestions on great summer beer, here are Chip's top 10 Oregon summer beers:

1. Pelican Brewing Company's IPA

2. Full Sail's Session Lager

3. Cascade Lakes' Blonde Bombshell

4. Ninkasi's Total Domination IPA (draft only)

5. Deschutes' Twilight Ale (summer seasonal)

6. Widmer's W 07 Pale Ale

7. Caldera's Pale Ale (canned and perfect for summer fun)

8. Bridgeport's Haymaker Extra Pale Ale

9. Hair of the Dog's Fred

10. Laurelwood's Organic Free Range Red (draft only)

So what's next on tap for the King of Beer Selection? "We are in the process of getting a website up and running to sell beer online, which is the next phase of what we want to do," said Chip. "We have the product, so for us it's a no-brainer — why not? It doesn't cost that much to have a website every year and compared to what we can sell on it, it would be good way for us to expand our market."

Keep your eyes peeled for that new Bier Stein URL and make sure to stop in the store for what Eugene Weekly readers have voted the Best Beer Selection in town two years running.

Product of EW's Advertising Department

| 2006 Oregon Brewer's Festival | The Business of Brew |
| A wine guy sips some special suds |102 years of hop farming |120 Gallons of Beer |
| Who's Your (Beer's) Daddy? | Staff Favorites | Beer Tidbits |