It's like a marriage of two things locals love most: craft beer and award-winning cheese.
Bend-based Crux Fermentation Project and Rogue Creamery of Central Point have teamed up to create a limited-edition, lambic-style ale, made using products from Rogue Creamery's world-champion blue cheese, Rogue River Blue.
"Two years ago, Crux Fermentation Project, a craft brewery in Bend, Oregon, approached the Southern Oregon artisan cheesemaker to invite it to take part in the 6th rendition of Crux's 'Coolship' fermentation program," states a press release from the two companies. "The brewers and cheesemakers devised a plan to brew a beer inoculated with Rogue Creamery's famous Rogue River Blue cheese."
Rogue River Blue took home the top prize in the World Cheese Awards in 2019 – the first time an American cheese won in the awards' then-32-year history.
To make the unique brew, beer makers from Crux filled their portable "Coolship" tank with beer wort and drove it to southern Oregon, where yeast and flora from the Rogue River Blue went into the mix. Then the Crux team drove the Coolship back to Bend and let the creation age in barrels for two years. Now, that creation is nearly ready and is slated to debut to the public this weekend, on Sat., Nov. 25.
"The Crux Coolship project is all about experimentation with wild yeasts and unique ingredients — don't let the blue cheese scare you away from this slightly sweet and oaky lambic ale that is the perfect pair with your holiday roast," said Larry Sidor, Crux's founding brewmaster. The beer is available in Bend at the Crux tasting room, in Portland at Crux's facility — opened in the Rose City during the summer of 2023 — and at the Rogue Creamery Cheese Shop in Central Point. It will be available both on tap and in 750 ml bottles while they last.