By Angelo De Ieso II Oregons easternmost brewery is Beer Valley Brewing Company located just west of the Idaho border in the small town of Ontario . Head brewer Pete Ricks developed his model for Beer Valley while living and brewing in the Southwestern United States. His design grew out of his work as a Southwest correspondent for Celebrator Beer News and his partnership with Santa Fe Brewing in New Mexico. A self-proclaimed extreme brewer, Ricks brewed his first four batches of a mammoth imperial stout called Black Stout at Santa Fe. The eleven-percent brew began with distribution in New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California before making its way to Oregon. Employing eight different malt varieties and four different hops while boasting over 100 IBU, the brew remains abysmally dark and recklessly bitter. Most people dont like dark beer, and most people dont like really bitter beer says Ricks. What I intended to do with that beer was make it the darkest, bitterest beer you could pretty much buy everywhere. When Ricks made the move to Oregon in the summer of 2007, he had a relatively wide distribution base already in tact. He sought the input of former Stone Brewing brewmaster Lee Chase. (Chase) helped me in Ontario when we were first planning and formulating Black Flag explains Ricks. He looked at my recipe for Black Flag and said Are you sure you want to put that much hops in your beer?  read more »