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Home , Brewing in Oregon, Copper ale, Deschutes Brewery, Goose Island Brewery, Henry Weinhard

in and the Fred Eckhardt

Oregon craft brewing began in in Canada. He had started work- and ing in brewing in 1945 at the age of 15, because older men were all serving in Oregon/Washington's original and most the war and not available for such work. successful brewer was , who founded one of the territory's first Grant began to put his operation togeth- brewing establishments. In 1856, he er in the fall of 1981. He wasn't worried carried his 300-gallon copper brew kettle about the reception of his product. He across the country. He probably started kept his job with SS Steiner, and simply by brewing steam . In 1928, deep in brewed the beer he liked; offering it for the Prohibition, his Fort Vancouver sale. The beer he liked was Grant's Brewing (WA) merged with Arnold Blitz's Scottish , and the offered it company (OR) to form Blitz-Weinhard for sale in their location at 25 North Front Brewing in Portland. They were very Street, in Yakima, on 14 July 1982. successful in the post-prohibition era, Grant's Original Scottish Ale, 1982, until they finally found themselves OE/OG 13.5P/1055, alcohol 5.7 (volume) making the same yellow industrial brew and 43 IBU (international bittering units). that the BudMillerCoors group excelled The brewery building, the old Yakima in. They were bought and sold several Opera House, was one of the oldest in times, today owned by Miller, their beer is Yakima (1889) and had also been a brew- currently being produced under contract ery before prohibition. Yakima Brewing by Full Sail in Hood River. The beer is and Malting remained in operation there much better these days than it has been until 1990, when a new facility was for several decades. constructed on Presson Place, with a brewing capacity of 15,000-barrels/ Bert Grant, the first successful non- 465,000-gals/ 18,000,000hl per year and Californian micro-brewer, took a different which was later enlarged. That brewery tack in 1981. Bert, was a quality control was, until recently, owned by Washington expert and Technical Director for SS Winemaker Chateau Ste Michelle. Their Steiner Hops in Yakima, Washington. product was not at all up to Grant's Grant was a recognized Master Brewer standards. Grant died in 2001; they who had been trained at the University of closed the brewery in 2005.

48 Journal of the Brewery History Society Grant also opened a brew pub, in the In 1983, Grant offered cask ale to his train station and was the first brewer to repertoire when he presented his serve cask conditioned in North Scottish Ale, in that style, at his Yakima America since well before prohibition. Brew Pub that year. Today, there is an Grant, was famous for his assertive well annual cask ale festival: Real hopped . Actually, he was such a Ale Festival, at hophead that he always carried a vial (gooseisland.com) in that city. Other of hop extract with him to brighten up areas (Seattle) are also following suit in the prosaic brews he encountered at that area. gatherings of the Master Brewers Association or the American Society of Brewing Chemists. He is reported to have Red Hook added a few drops to a glass of in the presence of Augie Meanwhile in Seattle, a group of 20 Busch IV, to that personage's great investors, including Starbuck's Coffee consternation. Grant was well known impresario Gordon Bowker put together for his forceful opinions concerning his a microbrewery in a renovated transmis- beer. sion shop in the Ballard district. The result was an odd tasting brew - that from the strange yeast strain that brewer Cask conditioned ‘real’ ales reintro- Charles McElvey (a former mainline duced to North America Seattle Rainer brewmaster) had imported from England. The new beer (OE/OG A lovely painting, ‘McSorley's Bar’, by 13.5/1055, alcohol 5.8% (volume) and John Sloan in 1912 shows beer engines 18IBU (international bittering units), with behind the bar at McSorley's old (1856 it's strange taste profile, soon devel- New York) saloon. This is proof enough of oped a love-hate relationship among the existence of cask beer in the U.S. and Northwest beer lovers. Red Hook (red- of course logic would tell us that anyway. hook.com) was introduced in Seattle on Whether or not any survived prohibition is 11 August 1982 at Jake O'Sheanessey's hard to say. I wasn't looking for such in the Queen Anne district. The Mayor of things in my early drinking days, but judg- Seattle and Washington's governor were ing from my friends' anecdotes of British present to applaud the new beer. wartime beer, it was ‘Warm and pissy’. In Brewery president Paul Shipman imme- those days, Americans were always diately took to the road publicizing his decrying lack of cold beer anywhere in beer; with the result that Grant's Scottish the world they visited (which was actually and Red Hook were often at logger- my own experience in our occupation of heads for the few taps available in Seattle Japan; the beer was too warm for me in and Portland. Consumers, however, were those days, too). quick to appreciate a choice in beer and

Brewery History Number 138 49 both brews were successful. Today the each topped with winemaker's fermenta- original, quite distinctive, Red Hook Ale tion locks. has been superseded by a rather ordi- nary Red Hook ESB. Red Hook ranked The ancient bottling line, out of the twelfth in our nation's production in 2007 1930's, was something to behold and at their two locations of Woodinville (WA) never really worked properly. Coury's first (near Seattle), and Portsmouth (NH). The bottling effort (17 March 1980) proved a brewery is now owned (about 25%) by wretched failure. The beer was only Anheuser-Busch (anheuser-busch.com), slightly carbonated as the refrigerating which facilitates marketing across the equipment had failed to chill the beer country. All in all, this represents quite a properly to retain the CO2. The filtration success story. was through a far-too-small cartridge filter one might find in the kitchen sink. The beer itself reeked of di-methyl-sulfate The paths of failure (DMS) and worse. The $1 price tag (high for its day) did not encourage anyone to Oregon's first brewery was started, in try more than one bottle. At this point, a 1980 by Californian Charles Coury, who local law student and home brewer, Tom had started Oregon's first vinifera winery Burns, walked in the door seeking part and was bought out by his partners. time employment. Coury named the new brewery Cartwright Brewing after his wife Shirley's Tom Burns was able to persuade Coury family. Coury's winemaking expertise to change two things: they went to pro- was of little assistance as a brewer and ducing bottle conditioned beers higher in he spent over two years producing and alcohol content; and they increased the promoting a beer that had little going hop levels in the beer. Now the beer was for it. His initial goal was to make a at least carbonated and the heavy hop ‘,’ a beer with a low taste profile, levels covered whatever deficiencies which could compete with Portland's were to be found in the beer itself. Blitz-Weinhard. His equipment was ancient and makeshift. The brew kettle The original Cartwright Portland Beer was an old steam-jacketed dairy vessel had a gravity of 11.2% fermentables as was the ‘mash tun.’ The mash tun (11.2-Plato/1045 gravity - from 2- and 6- had a makeshift wooden false- bottom row barley malt and crystal malt), an alco- strainer and (worse) the mash stood hol content of 4.3% by volume and about overnight before running off in the 18 bitterness from Cluster and Cascade morning. The brew-size on this venture hops. The final brew was stronger, 12.3- was 330-gals/1250hl, about 145 cases. Plato, 5.2% alcohol and about 40 - The fermenters were retired stainless ness. It was, in fact, quite acceptable if steel 50-gal/190litre Coca-Cola barrels, you got it fresh. However, the months of

50 Journal of the Brewery History Society marketing bad-tasting beer had taken its as a brewer. He had lost all the money toll. When the new ‘good’ beer came out from the sale of his share of the winery, most people were afraid to try it. notable for the fact that it was the first American winery utilizing European- To make matters worse, that summer style Vinifera grapes to start Oregon's was one of the hottest on record and by flourishing wine industry. He and Shirley August the brewery's ambient tempera- left Portland, older and poorer, but wiser. ture had climbed to almost 80F/27C; Coury's mistakes were many, but most which proved to be disastrous for the important, he brewed the wrong beer, beer's ferment. Worse, Coury released aimed sales at the wrong people and much of it to the public. Tart beer may be failed to maintain quality control in the popular in some parts of the world, but crucial early stages of his operation. He in Oregon, at that time, was may have also been too early on the another matter. The brewery's fortunes market; but he had fatally failed to appre- went steadily downhill after that. ciate how much more difficult it is to brew beer than to make wine. Near the end of 1981 Coury went to the local homebrew club, the Oregon Brew The lessons of Coury's failure were not Crew, with an appeal for money and an lost on his successors. offer to brew a special beer at $20/case. Those beer enthusiasts cheerfully chipped in and Coury brewed his last The advent of multiple tap bars brew. He was a born-again Christian and had even had the brewery blessed; so he The success of these small ‘micro’ brew- named the new beer Deliverance Ale. ers depended on their availability in The new beer had some fermentation local pubs; since none of them produced problems, but that turned out to be a bottled beer. blessing. It had a flavor not unlike that of Belgian Orval and was actually quite deli- The growth and proliferation of multiple cious when allowed to age a bit. tap pubs was pioneered in Oregon and Washington. We drank most of our beer Those of us who were lucky picked up at the local tavern in that era. I remember, our case in mid-December; but on 31 in the late 1960s and early 70s, search- December 1981 our local Multnomah ing for pubs with something besides County Sheriff padlocked the door. The Budweiser or Millers on tap. The light movable equipment and the balance of beer mania hadn't even hit the streets yet the beer was auctioned off (at $1/case) to and there was seldom any other choice. I pay $284 personal property taxes that had become convinced that draft beer Coury owed the county. The Feds and his was immensely superior to the bottled landlord took the rest. Coury was finished stuff. I rejoiced even in finding Schlitz or

Brewery History Number 138 51 Pabst in the few establishments where town of Kalama, Washington; about 30 alternatives flourished. miles north of Portland (OR). Portland was his main market and his brewery Getting one's beer into a pub was (and had a strong effect on Oregon brewers; still is) a major accomplishment. The new especially so, since his flagship Pyramid micro-brewers, who were the most suc- , a great English-style pale ale at cessful, were the ones who didn't have to 11P/1044g, 4,4%abv, 40ibu, and good go to the expense of bottling their beer; rich color, became quite popular in such the ones who could stick to draft beer and bars. make that work for them. In time Portland gradually became famous for such estab- Hart eventually sold his tiny, but very lishments. The Wurst Haus, Wanker's successful, brewery to a Seattle group. Corner, and the Horse Brass Pub were Pyramid Brewing (pyramidbrew.com) is early successes in Portland, which city now brewed in Portland and also sold gradually became famous for such bars. and brewed across the Pacific Northwest Ten, twenty, then thirty, and even forty- and northern California; although the tap bars became more and more com- beer is not up to Tom Baune's high stan- mon. A hundred seems to be a major dard (in my opinion). limitation, if only because the bar's staff cannot keep track of that many taps Oregon finally got back into the act on regarding how long the beer has been on 14 November 1984, when winemaker that tap. Draft beer is easily damaged Dick Ponzi opened what became the by improper care and maintenance. A BridgePort Brewing Co. (Bridgeport- particular draft beer left on tap for more brewing.com). Winemaker Ponzi had than a week begins to go off, developing decided to brew beer, for a simple rea- odd-flavor characteristics. Managing the son: ‘It takes a lot of good beer to make cellar of such an establishment is a real good wine!’ he declared. Ponzi promoted challenge. The storage area becomes one of his winemakers, Karl Ockert, to like a spaghetti mix with clear and red brew beer in the new brewery. Ockert had plastic tubes in a spider-web-like maze. graduated from the University of Changing becomes a major chore. California-Davis' new brewing depart- ment with strong opinions about brewing In Washington, in 1983, Mike Hale start- English style ales and the new ed a small brewery in Colville (WA) and BridgePort Ale was popular right from the later he opened additional plants in start. The Brewery, still at 1339 NW Spokane, Kirkland and Seattle (Hales- Marshall, was successful; but real suc- brewery.com). cess came with the opening of their now famous BridgePort Brew Pub in March of In September 1984, Tom Baune opened 1986. Oregon was definitely ready for Hart Brewing, a small brewery in the little good beer. In 1992 the brewing opera-

52 Journal of the Brewery History Society tions were moved from behind the pub to 18-inch thick walls, the oldest industrial another area at the opposite end of the building in Portland dating from 1876. At old building, where they installed a new one time it had even been used as a brew house, with added production branch of Blitz-Weinhard, Oregon's UR- facilities, to increase capacity to 50,000- mega-brewery. barrels. When the brewery opened on 14 In 1995 winemaker Ponzi sold the com- November 1984, there were only about pany to beer distributor Gambrinus of twenty micro's in the U.S., six of them in San Antonio, Texas. Despite feeling Washington state. There were only six among Portlanders that ‘no Texas com- ‘brew pubs’ on the entire North American pany could do justice to Oregon beer’ Continent, three in British Columbia, two Gambrinus did just that. They have in California, and Bert Grant's brewery allowed Portland Brewing to proceed pub in Yakima, Washington. Ponzi want- along its own trail rather than being over- ed a pub brewery where Karl Ockert whelmed by its parent company. could brew specialty beers for Portlanders, but Oregon law didn't allow Ponzi planned initial production at about such a business, you could brew beer 620-gallons/2350hl a month. The beer and wholesale it or you could retail it, but was to be a beautiful deep copper ale, not both. dark, but a little lighter than what was considered ‘dark’ beer at that time. This JV Northwest Engineering (jvnw.com), a was to be a copper or ‘red’ ale, with a local firm, put the brewery (and many oth- wonderful bouquet, a rich bitter-sweet ers in these parts) together, for some- palate, and an ambrosian taste. The orig- thing over $40,000. Batch size was 10- inal gravity was 13Plato/1050g, 4.4% barrel (about 310-gals/1173hl). Mashing alcohol (volume), and a modest 26 bitter- was a two step process with Portland's ness from Washington Cluster and very soft (25ppm hardness) water, a Cascade hops, plus fine, aromatic thick-mash protein rest (122-F/50C), Oregon Willamette hops. He would use which was then raised to conversion the finest malt he could find at that time: (starch conversion at 155-F/68C) temper- two-row Klages barley malt from nearby ature by underletting with hot water. The Great Western Malting in Vancouver, wort was transferred to the redwood Washington, plus an Eastern dark roast- covered brew kettle; where it was boiled ed caramel malt from Briess Malting in for an hour-and-a-half. The hot wort was Chilton, Wisconsin; plus a good British then whirlpooled in the kettle to separate top-fermenting yeast from the Cal-Davis hop residues and trub, after which it is yeast bank. The location was the old pumped over to the fermenting vessel by Portland Cordage building, at 1313 NW way of a small hop back, where the beer Marshall, a three story brick building with was infused with aromatic whole

Brewery History Number 138 53 Willamette hops and cooled to 65F/18C was popular in England but Americans in a shell-and-tube wort cooler. The fer- had always panned such an idea; calling ment took 3-4- days, followed by condi- English Cask beer warm and lifeless. tioning (1-week), after which it was The BridgePort people brewed that beer racked, filtered and kegged. About this as usual, then just before ferment was time, the brewery changed its name from complete they racked (transferred) the Brewing to BridgePort beer to casks, where fresh hops and a Brewing Company, honoring Portland's fining agent (to settle and clarify the beer) nine bridges. On St. Patrick's day, 1985, were added. The cask is cellared for 7- they introduced a delicious that 10- days, during which the beer works tasted like we all wished Guinness would fermenting slowly to bring about ‘condi- (OG 13.5, 1055g, 55 bitterness, 5.7% tioning,’ a modest infusion of carbon alcohol). Fermenting took place in a small dioxide gas (a natural by-product of the 310-gallon/1173liter open fermenter. That ferment). The beer is drawn directly from summer a pale beer was introduced, the cask by a hand pump called a ‘beer BridgePort Golden Ale, to reach out to a engine.’ Such beer has a velvety mouth- larger market. feel and lacks the sometime annoying prickly mouth-feel of regular carbonated Late in 1985, Oregon passed a new beer. This had the effect of making the brewpub law with allowances for small BridgePort one of the most famous brewers to retail their own beer. The new American pubs. beer critic law was the most liberal in the U.S. and it Michael Jackson (who died in 2007) said was to make Oregon a glowing center of it all when he praised the BridgePort American brewing activity. On Saturday, Brewery in the London Independent 1 March 1986, the brewery opened their newspaper, 22 September 1990: BridgePort Brew Pub; although not Oregon's first. It was located right next to ... BridgePort, offers in its taproom the best the brewery with a direct entry from the cask conditioned beer I have tasted in street. The brewing eqipment was sepa- America. rated by large glass windows, allowing the patrons to watch the brewing One thing is certain, Jackson did take his process. cask beer seriously. The true delight of Bridegport Cask is that it is served side- The pub was ‘rustic’ in decor, but ‘British’ by-side with the standard brew of the in operation and menu. Moreover, the same type. One of the very few such dynamic duo Ponzi and Ockert intro- opportunities offered anywhere in the duced Cask Conditioned Ale for the first world. time in Oregon. Until then only Bert Grant had the chutzpah to try such a thing, up For the first time in history one could try, in his Yakima pub. Cask conditioned ale side-by-side, a single beer served in both

54 Journal of the Brewery History Society traditions: chilled and carbonated, vs ing temperatures (above 58F/14C), but warmer (at cellar temperatures: 55F/13C) aged cold as beer under 35F/2C). and non-carbonated! The result was a The beer, Widmer Alt, OG 11.5P/1047g, true revelation to the discerning beer 4.7% alcohol, 45ibu. The Alt, although enthusiast. Even a visiting German swim quite delicious and an excellent example team's coaches found it enticing, when I of the type, was not their most popular, took them there in 2004. despite good promotion under the slogan ‘Alt or nothing’. It wasn't until that sum- I, for one would have been willing to bet mer, when they brought out a seasonal important parts of my anatomy that cask : Widmer Weizen (11P/1044g, ales would never ever gain a foot-hold in 4.4%abv, 18ibu) that sales took off. The North America, other than as an exceed- Weizen was light, delicious and served ingly rare sampling in obscure venues. I European style in a special glass, gar- would have lost because I think cask ales nished with a slice of lemon and soon are gaining ground here in the states even became the best selling micro-brew in as they lose ground in their home turf. Oregon; where it was superseded only by its cloudy and yeasty unfiltered alter-ego The brewery's next expansion was to Widmer hefe-Weizen which remains happen three years later, when they quite popular here in Oregon to this day, installed an Italian-made bottling line in a true cult beer, if there ever was one. the brewery's back room. A thousand- gallons of Blue Heron (450 cases) were Oddly enough, the hefe- (from German bottled on 6 September 1989. This made ‘with yeast’) beer has been a key first it possible to expand production, moving step in customer acceptance of the fresh BridgePort up to 14th in Oregon sales assertive beer styles being produced by behind Widmer and Full Sail. Today it is the new craft brewers of Portland. This ranked 44th nationally. was an immense help to all of Portland's fledgling brewers who have benefited by having their beer accepted by local beer Widmer Brothers drinkers. Curiously, local drinkers never took to the Alt, even though many of Brothers Kurt (a recovering IRS agent) Portland's beer enthusiasts will tell you it and Rob Widmer were next to step into is the best beer made in Oregon. the fray, when they opened their Widmer Brothers (widmer.com) ale brewery at a In 1987, Widmer expanded by building a cost of $60,000 in April 1985, at 1405 NW second brewery next to the then new Lovejoy; a block away from the BridgePort. BMoloch-Heathman Deli, complete with The brewery introduced its Widmer Alt, a large glass windows to observe the brew- German style ale (Alt-bier, Old beer), i.e., ing operations. By 1988 production was a brewed at warm top ferment- exceeding even that increased capacity.

Brewery History Number 138 55 New quarters for the main brewery had to March 1986, Fred Bowman and Art be found; and in 1989 they started reno- Larrance finally opened their brewery and vating an old building on the east side, brew pub, offering Grant's Scottish Ale across the Willamette River, near the under contract from Bert Grant in Yakima. Broadway Bridge, at 929 N Russell St., Grant had always had trouble getting his and even that was to prove inadequate in Eastern Washington brewed beer to two years, so new tanks and vessels Oregon's receptive market and he wel- were added in that building, and later comed the opportunity to have his beer across the street, to further increase brewed there. Bowman and Larrance capacity. also began brewing Portland Ale, a deli- cious brew in its own right. Originally Until 1994 they produced only or Portland Brewing, was at 1313 NW draft beer, yet holding their high sales Flanders, just a few blocks from the orig- ranking for much of those first ten years. inal Widmer and BridgePort. Of course, In 1994, they added a bottling line in their the building was small and they soon ran operation. The expansion brought the out of space. They moved to new quar- opportunity to have the beer distributed ters almost a mile away in 1992 (2730 nationally when they allowed themselves NW 31st Av.), with capacity at 26,000- to be owned 20% by AB. I have observed barrels/30,498,000hl, upgraded to no change in the brewery's operating or 40K/46.9M hl, in 1994. Sadly, they too management styles from this. More joined the Pyramid Brew group, although recently they joined with Seattle's Red still brewing in Portland. Hook also part-owned by AB in a new company (Craft Brewer's Alliance) which recently added Chicago Goose Island Captain Neon and the McMenamin and Hawaii's Kona Brewing. Other than empire greatly improved distribution nationally, there seems to be no interference from Perhaps the most remarkable success the Anheuser-Busch management, story is that of the McMenamin brothers although that company, too, has changed Mike (Capt. Neon) and Brian, who ownership. opened Oregon's first brewpub on Halloween of 1985. The Hillsdale Widmer ranks eleventh in national brew- Brewery and Public House (1505 SW ing (2007), topping all Oregon brewers. Sunset Bv. - just off the Beaverton - Hillsdale Hwy in Hillsdale) is noted for it's wide ranging beer styles, which are Portland brewing offered alongside the products of other Oregon micros and in competition with Portland's third micro, Portland Brewing, Bud and Weinhard as well. Hillsdale took a long time hatching, but on 26 Crystal Ale, a pale ale, and Terminator

56 Journal of the Brewery History Society Stout, are the most popular among the ly operating his own McMenamin's Pub in patrons at these establishments, but the Hillsboro. The brothers soon opened The brewery does offer some strange brews, Barley Mill Pub in a run-down area in and one can observe the ferment under East Portland (1982). Portlanders do a lot the eerie glow of the neon lights in the of pub drinking, and any tavern offering a fermenting room. Raspberries, blueber- good beer selection and good food has a ries, grapes, and no end of other odd good chance to succeed. The Hillsdale ingredients go into Capt Neon's brew ket- soon followed, and success has been tles and, while the names of the beers keeping them company since then. < (Ruby Tuesday, Stella blue, Moby Grape) might bring a smile to one's lips, Captain The McMenamins are most famous for Neon laughs loudly all the way to the their expansion of brewing craft beer to bank. The McMenamin enterprise renovating several historic old buildings, opened two more pub in 1986: such as Edgefield, a former county ‘Poor Cornelius Pass Brewery in May in Farm’; Kennedy School, where the little Hillsboro (Sunset Highway and Cornelius girls room is now a brewery; and Pass Rd.), and in Lincoln City in August Portland's elegant old Baghdad Theater, (Lighthouse BrewPub, 4157 Logan Rd.). showing popular movies and serving The Fulton Pub and Brewery (0618 SW good beer, which has become their most Nebraska--off Macadam) and the popular idea. Many of their establish- Highland Pub and Brewery (4225 SE ments offer these amenities in their huge 182d Av. - off Powell, Gresham) opened strong of pubs and pub-breweries around in June and July. Washington and Oregon.

Mike started all that some $300,000 in the hole. His first venture in restaurateur- Full Sail Brewing Company in Hood manship was Portland's popular Produce River Row Cafe and Bogart's Joint. This was the beginning of Portland's multiple tap No story of northwest brewing would taverns specializing in quality beer. Both be complete without mentioning Full proved successful, but Mike wasn't satis- Sail Brewing of Hood River (fullsailbrew- fied; he had a thirst for beer and the ing.com), which started selling beer on knowledge thereof. He sold Produce Saturday, 26 September 1987, under the Row, Bogart's Joint and a third tavern, guidance of then president Meg Roland the Stockyard Café. This allowed him to and German-trained brewmaster James open a distributorship; thereby lining him- Emmerson, with the production of Full self up for failure. It didn't take long. Sail Golden Ale, a lovely and delicious Distributing beer is a sometimes grim blond ale (12P/1048, 4.8%abv, 33ibu). business. That's when he joined with The new brewery was built in Hood brother Brian, who had been successful- River's old Diamond Fruit Cannery Press

Brewery History Number 138 57 Room, at 506 Columbia Street, featuring Brewery was to be managed by John an outdoor beer garden overlooking the Harris hired from ; river and a 15bbl/465gal/ 1760litre brew- Harris had begun his training under the house by JV Northwest at a total cost of McMenamin's, before joining Deschutes. around $350,000. In 1993 they were second only to Widmer at 38,500bbls/1,193,500gals/45,160,500hl. The brewery was the 1982 vision of Jerome Chicvara and Meg Rowland, In June 1998, the five founding share- who'd dreamed of establishing a brewery holders, with a 65% interest, were offered in the lovely and scenic town of Hood a bid by India based United Breweries, River about 65 miles east of Portland on which had been attempting to buy short- the Columbia River. They were joined by lived and failing Nor'west Brewing in Joe Hill, Roger Barry and Irene Firmat Portland. By February 1999, the deal and raised $50,000 from 33 friends and began to go sour and United Breweries relatives and borrowed an additional backed out, allowing Full Sail's board to $150,000 from the Oregon Resource negotiate an employee buyout under the Technology Development Corp. They direction of Irene Firmat and James were soon joined by home brewer David Emmerson, Full Sail's last two original Logsdon, owner, Wyeast Yeast Cultures, stockholders. They negotiated an whose revolutionary new yeast packag- ‘Employee Stock Option Program’ ing simplified management of that (ESOP) to buy out shareholders. The important part of fermentation science. employees (four brewers, three office workers and two management types) They were soon to increase production in finalized the changeover on 29 April 1999. stages. In 1989 doubling and the 1990 installation of a brewhouse bottling line, and had shown a $87,000 profit. They Oregon Trail Brewery finally obtained a state high risk capital loan of $250,000, allowing increased pro- Jerry Shadomy, a landscaper and duction to increase ranking nationally just award-winning homebrewer, produced behind Red Hook and Sierra Nevada his first brew for sale on 15 July 1987 nationally. Production that year was at the Old World Deli in Corvallis. 15,000- barrels/ 465,000-gallons/17,595M Shadomy's Oregon Trail Brewery hl. (Oregontrailbrewery.com) hides itself next to the Deli kitchen, in that establish- In July 1992, they negotiated a deal with ment, at the corner of Second and Portland restaurant McCormck and Adams. Shadomy's interest in brewing Schmick at that company's westside began in 1980, after he began making Portland Willamette riverfront at 0307 homebrew, and finally decided to take the SW Montgomery. Harborside Restaurant plunge into building his own brewery. He

58 Journal of the Brewery History Society cornered two of Charles Coury's old brewery in the coastal town of Newport Cartwright Brewery vessels for fer- just south of that city in South Beach, menters and then, from Hart Brewing Oregon. They now rank 34th in U.S. pro- (Kalama, WA), he obtained their 215- duction and specialize in brewing a great gallon mash-tun and copper brew kettle, number of interesting and innovative beers. when Hart was updating and enlarging that operation. First Oregon Brewers Festival, 1988

Deschutes and Rogue In 1988, Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt declared July as ‘Oregon Oregon's next two major craft entries Microbrewery Month’. The three Portland were Deschutes (deschutesbrewing.com) brewers (BridgePort, Widmer and and Rogue (rogue.com) Brewing. In Portland Brewing) joined together with Bend, Oregon, Gary Fish opened his the Oregon Brewer's Association and delightful Deschutes Brewery and Public the Oregon Department of Agriculture. House. The Brew pub opened on 27 June They assembled the first exhibit of 1988, at 1044 Bond Street, with John independent small brewers ever held. 22 Harris as brewmaster. They expanded (in of America's smallest and finest craft November 1993) to a second location, a brewers were present to the delight of spanking new brewery at 901 SW Portland beer lovers (see Appendix 1). Simpson Street, with present brewing They invited no large brewers at all, capacity of 200,000 bbls/6.2mgals/ including Portland's Blitz-Weinhard. This 234,700Mhl. In 2008 they opened a post-dates the based Great brewpub in Portland, at 210 NW 11th Av. American Brewers Festival, but which Deschutes beer production popularity was open to all breweries in the country. ranks sixteenth, and the quality is among the very best in the U.S. The Oregon Brewers Festival (oregon- brewfest.com) was set up annually for the last three days in July at Portland's Rogue more than just a name Waterfront Park along the Willamette River. It was designed as a family edu- Rogue (named after the Rogue River in cational activity with more than just Southern Oregon) was established origi- beer tasting. Several Portland restau- nally in Ashland (1 October 1988) as a rants joined in to offer ‘beer foods’ and brew pub by a recovering attorney Jack non-alcoholic beverages, to the accom- Joyce (the original pub is now closed, as paniment of live Dixieland jazz. well as their next move, The Bayfront Brewery and public house in Newport Agricultural exhibits showed the process city). In 1992 they finally built a full size by which barley, hops, and water become

Brewery History Number 138 59 liquid beer. A ‘big top’ and numerous Appendix 1 small tents shielded festival visitors from the elements. Members of the Oregon Brewers at the 1988 Oregon Brewers Brew Crew, were on hand with volunteers Festival to assist and educate the public about the world's oldest alcohol libation. ALASKA: Alaskan Brewing Co, Douglas (Juneau). Visitors purchased a plastic mug (glass is CALIFORNIA: Anderson Valley Brewing, not allowed at Waterfront Park) for $1, Booneville, Buffalo Bill's Pub Brewery, and buys beer in four ounce tastings up Hayward (Oakland), Saxton Brewing Co., to full glass amounts. 49 different hand- Chico, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico; made beers were available to sample. Triple Rock Pub Brewery, Berkeley. MINNESOTA: James Page Brewing Co., The first festival was very successful. Minneapolis. Sponsors were stunned when a huge MONTANA: Bayern Brewery, Missoula, crowd of 15,000 people materialized; with Kessler Brewing, Helena. the result that some of the brews were WASHINGTON: Hales Ales, Colville and drained within a very short time. The Kirkland, Hart Brewing, Kalama, Red Hook 2010 festival hosted 78,000 visitors. It is Brewing, Seattle, Thomas Kemper Brewing, indeed a popular destination for a good Poulsbo, Yakima (Grant's) Brewing Co., number of tourists, many of whom travel Yakima. here to just to volunteer their services in WISCONSIN: Hibernia Brewing, Eau Claire. the festival. OREGON: BridgePort, Portland, McMenamins Cornelius Pass/ Hillsdale The Oregon Brewers Festival has been Breweries, Deschutes Pub Brewery, Bend, instrumental in promoting Portland as Full Sail Brewing, Hood River, Oregon Trail ‘Beervana Am Der Willamette’, one of the Brewery, Corvallis, Portland Brewing Co., world's greatest beer venues. Oregon Portland, Widmer Brewing Co., Portland. currently has about 96-100 breweries, with 74 brewing companies. Portland has 34 breweries and brew-pubs inside the City limits.

13 Journal of the Brewery History Society