Peaks and Pints Fancy Pants Sunday: Oakshire Rye Whiskey Very Ill-Tempered Gnome

When Jeff and Chris Althouse founded Oakshire Brewing Co. in 2006 they were the only employees, brewing Original Amber on a four-barrel system under the moniker Willamette Brewery. In 2008, Willamette Brewery became Oakshire Brewing — a name that embodies the strength of an oak and the connection between people and place that is a shire, an old name for a rural county. Today, New Year’s Eve 2023, we chose a special bottle from Oakshire’s Vintage Series for our Sunday fancy craft beer series. Welcome to Peaks and Pints Fancy Pants Sunday: Oakshire Rye Whiskey Very Ill-Tempered Gnome.

Oakshire operates a small, 4,000 square-foot production brewery in Northwest Eugene, as well as the Oakshire Public House in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood, and the Oakshire Beer Hall in the Concordia/Cully neighborhood in Northeast Portland. Pronounced “oak-shy-er,” the Althouses chose Eugene, Oregon, for their brewery in part due to the accessibility of clean, soft water from the McKenzie River. Since 2013, Oakshire Brewing has partnered with our local land conservation group, the McKenzie River Trust. One percent of Watershed IPA sales revenue is set aside for the protection of local watersheds in the territories where the beer is sold, helping to preserve the clean water that is so vital to their community and their beer. Today, Dan Russo is the lead water wrangler, as well as director of brewing operations managing Oakshire’s collaborative, small-batch production team of seven and overseeing the Pilot, Vintage, and Core Seasonal programs, including the development of a series of fruited open-fermented American farmhouse ales, and their “kettle-soured” Sun Made Berliner Weisse line up.

In late 2023, Oakshire re-released their Rye Whiskey Very Ill-Tempered Gnome (15.36%), a rye-whiskey barrel-aged imperial expression of one of our favorite beers, Ill-Tempered Gnome dry-hopped winter brown ale with layers upon layers of toasty malts and resinous hop flavors. Ill-Tempered Gnome is brewed with American and British malt and hopped with some of their favorite varieties from the Pacific Northwest. Oakshire blended Very Ill-Tempered Gnome from barrels and finished in rye-whiskey barrels from a very special Vermont distillery. With more malt, more hops and more flavorful goodness, Rye Whiskey Very Ill-Tempered Gnome sports a malt profile of caramel, light fruit, and toasty nuts backed by a warming alcohol presence and a bold citrus hop blast. It’s bold but balanced.

You fancy, Oakshire Rye Whiskey Very Ill-Tempered Gnome!

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