Stillwater
Client Brewer
in Grand Mound,
Washington,
United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Of Love & Regret - Pub and Provisions
Established in 2010
In 2011, Strumke woke one morning to find himself anointed as one of the top new brewers in the world by Ratebeer.com - a proclamation that would change the trajectory of his life forever. Over the last 10 years, he built and scaled Stillwater® into an international business, capturing broad attention with it’s multidisciplinary approach and award-winning products crafted worldwide.
Formerly known as Stillwater Artisanal. Brian is from Baltimore, MD but has relocated to Seattle. Stillwater was tied to the Brooklyn, NY scene and importer / brewery Twelve Percent. Beers have been brewed at various breweries, but with many coming out of Twelve Percent's North Haven, CT brewery. Now Brian has brought Stillwater to the state of Washington and set down roots. Stillwater beers are brewed at Talking Cedar as of late 2023/early 2024.
A dozen years after pioneering the “nomadic brewing” model, Stillwater® has planted roots in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time, all production of its inventive and style-bending beers is concentrated at one location under founder Brian Strumke’s oversight and control: Grand Mound, Washington’s Talking Cedar. Opened by the Chehalis Tribal Enterprises in 2020, Talking Cedar is a 35,000-square-foot complex that houses a state-of-the-art brewery with a 60-barrel brew house, rows of 120-barrel fermenters, and multiple oak foedres.
Leighton (34941) reviewed Stateside Saison from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Tap at BCTC 2010. Pours hazy orange with a slight, white head. Citrus fruits, wood and spices haunt the aroma. Flavor is fairly sweet, with more fruits and some yeast, light funk and mild hops. Light bodied with fine carbonation. Finishes dry and yeasty with some notes of lemon. Very good. (Summer 2014, score: 4.0)
Draft at CBC 2013 - Copenhagen. Pours cloudy gold with a light, foamy white head. Dried doughy pale bread in the nose, wheat, light yeast, straw. Light to medium sweet flavor with light bitterness, more dry dough, light alcohol, yeast, hay. Light to medium bodied with average carbonation. Clean finish, moderately sweet, with some yeasty dough, light bitter hay. A fairly classically styled saison. I like it. (May 2013, score: 3.8)
Lubiere (24459) reviewed Stateside Saison from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
A cognac amber saison with a thin big bubbled off white head. In aroma, a nice and complex woodu spice, gin alcohol, junniper berries. In mouth, a nice saison with oily malt, light coriander, nice and spiced. On tap at ChurchKey DC, Sept. 16 2010.
bb (18428) reviewed Cellar Door from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Draft. Slightly hazy golen amber with a whitish head. Spice and yeast aroma. yeast and spice flavor with light hay and a light fruitiness. Medium bodied. Yeast and spice lingers with light sweetness and light fruit.
Sledutah (12313) reviewed Stateside Saison from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle shared by footbalm, thanks
Appearance: Hazy golden with a nice frothy white head and good lacing left in the glass
Aroma: Slightly tart, coriander and spices
Taste: Citrus, pepper, orange peel with a dry finish
Nice.
Travlr (30173) reviewed Autumnal from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Tap at Churchkey. Muddy brown, beige head, scant lacing. Aroma of honey, caramel, nutmeg. Taste is like butterscotch with hops. Nice combo of pine, lite spice, and even a bit of chocolate. Worth trying.
maniac (11822) reviewed Stateside Saison from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
On tap at Commercial Taphouse on 03/31/2011. Hazy orange body with a medium rocky white head. Dry spicy aroma with some fruit and floral hops. Dry spicy flavor, fruit, and a dry floral bitter finish. Medium body with moderate carbonation. 7/3/7/4/15 3.6 On tap at Mekong on 11/11/2010. Slightly hazy orange body with a small frothy white head. Sweet citrus and spice aroma. Big spicy flavor with citrus hops. Medium body with moderate carbonation. 7/3/8/4/15 - 3.7 Bottle on 07/11/2010. Golden body with a large rocky off-white head and heavy belgian lace. Sweet fruity aroma with some dry spice. Fruity malt flavor, some grain and light astringency. Light citrusy hops and a dry finish. Medium body with modeately high carbonation. 7/3/8/3/15 - 3.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Interesting saison-esque beer. My only qualm is that the aroma gets rather perfumey. There’s a fair bit of spiciness and a lot of floral flavor. The beer tastes less perfumey and more yeasty. It’s a good earthy, funky yeast. The mouthfeel is a smooth and relatively low on bubbles. The beer pours a rich amber with an off-white head. It’s a good beer, but I was a bit thrown by the floral notes of the aroma.
bhensonb (22605) reviewed Stateside Saison from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle shared by Marcus. Pours dark amber gold with a foamy off-white head. Aroma is light earthy and citric sour. Medium body with foamy carbonation. Flavor is earthy/barnyard, tannic, yeast and citrus sour. Nice flavor combos.
oh6gdx (51139) reviewed Stateside Saison from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Cask@GBBF2010. Hazy orange colour, small white head. Aroma is fruits, wood, caramel, some hops and mild nectary and vanillaish notes. Flavour is very fruity, a bit funky with some citrus and a bit earthy notes.
popery (1998) reviewed Cellar Door from Stillwater 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Very good saison. The yeast notes seemed a bit dominant only because I would have liked to taste the hops a touch more. That might have to do with the age of the keg. The herbs were a nice touch; the sage stuck out well without pushing forward too much. Stillwater’s saison yeast is quite good, dry with a mild barnyard note. The hops were citric but much more subtle than in the Stateside Saison, which I prefer. The beer poured hazy and light gold with a white head. The feel was appropriate for the style, not too much carbonation and fuller than the abv would suggest. The carbonation is gentle but feels like lots of small bubbles, if that makes sense. Anyway, I look forward to trying more beers from Stillwater.