Portland’s Von Ebert Brewing consistently crafts solid beers across a range of styles, and this summer the brewery sent me samples from its core lineup to review: Pils, Volatile Substance IPA, and Sector 7 Hazy IPA.

I’ve reviewed Volatile Substance in the past already; it’s a multiple award-winning beer, including the gold at the GABF in 2021, and one of Oregon’s strongest IPAs. Here’s a snippet from my tasting notes from that review:

Smell: Dank, resinous, slightly catty, grapefruit, some pine/fir, citrus, a bale of hops.

Taste: Big, almost juicy bitterness with a sweat component; resinous, grapefruit, herbal. Toasty and clean malts as a canvas for the hops which are pungent and expressive, with some dandelion flower, pine, citrus oil. Super balanced however, no hop burn or any harsh notes.

Let’s take a look at the other two beers.

Pils German-style Pilsner

Pils just won the gold medal this spring at the World Beer Cup in the German-style Pilsener category, which I imagine is not an easy feat. With 4.9% ABV, it’s brewed with Hallertau Mittlefruh hops from Bavaria, for a fairly authentic representation of the style.

Appearance: Pale yellow, nice clarity, with a good, delicately lacy white head.

Smell: Lightly crackery with floral notes—honeysuckle, wildflowers. Warm grainy note. Light and clean.

Taste: Crisp and snappy malt with solid herbal bitterness and a note of toasted rye crackers. Peppery-spicy, lingering at the back of the tongue, it’s quite clean otherwise.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied but enough hop character and flavor to seem fuller in the body. Dry, crisp, long finishing bitterness.

Overall: Full-flavored pilsner that’s super solid and drinkable.

Sector 7 Hazy IPA

Sector 7 is the beer I have the least information about, besides that it is 7% ABV with 45 IBUs. According to Untappd, it’s brewed with Mosaic, Simcoe, Citra, and Galaxy hops, though that’s not specifically listed on the website and this New School article (from 2020) lists different ones.

No matter. The website’s own tasting notes list “Ripe pineapple, ruby red grapefruit pulp, and sweet green melon.” Let’s go to my notes.

Appearance: Hazy translucent yellow-gold. Good whipped white foam head.

Smell: Fresh pineapple, hay, allium/chives, some stone fruit, peppery spice note. Hay/straw which could also be wheat or similar grains (raw wheat perhaps?).

Taste: Initially I get some green melon, then escarole/arugula and wild greens that have a lightly spicy bitter quality. Bitter melon rind. Protein rich malt body that’s a bit bread-doughy, or maybe raw flour. There’s perhaps a bit of citrus peel flavor. It’s a bit indistinct in general, a touch muddled.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body, with a “fluffy” texture in the proteins.

Overall: It’s okay to me, not great nor terrible, but better than middle of the road although there’s nothing that particularly stands out for me.