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Celebrating Oregon Beer Newsletter
Published 3 days ago • 7 min read
Celebrating Oregon Beer
Your fortnightly round-up of all the beer and hop news from the Beaver State.
This past Monday, the mercury rose to around 70 degrees in the Willamette Valley, kicking off the first day of short-sleeve, beer-garden weather of the year. (Central and Eastern Oregon may have gotten there first.) Yay, Spring! If you missed your opportunity, fear not--more warm, sunny days are on the way. Be sure you find that beer garden and enjoy an Oregon beer!
News
Pelican to Yachats
On Monday, the news broke that the Whales Tale, an institution in Yachats on the central Oregon coast, was sold to "a well-known coastal brewery and restaurant chain," which the New School reported was Pelican.
In other coastal news, Portland-based Steeplejack has officially opened their Manzanita location. They're "serving up burgers, sandwiches, ice cream sandwiches, cocktails." Find them at 519 Laneda Ave.
The Brewers Association has a fascinating story about how the malting industry is evolving to meet the needs of craft breweries, recalling the way craft breweries scrambled the hop industry two decades ago.
In case you missed it, pFriem Family Brewers and Rahr Malting collaborated on a pilsner malt, now publicly available as To Thee, which is a case-in-point illustrating the Brewers Association's thinking.
The Guardian has a great piece that highlights work at Deschutes Brewery. "Water shortages and rising heat is putting pressure on beer ingredients, but US brewers and farmers are adapting."
Finally, a correction from our last newsletter--this time with the correct link!
Great Brewery Profile
Community-supported Ashland News has a wonderful profile of Talent's Art Bop Beer Company. Southern Oregon breweries don't get as much attention as some others, so learn about this cool place.
Do you regularly visit Oregon breweries or attend Oregon beer events? Do you have a phone? Awesome: we need your help! We are looking for a dedicated corps of volunteers across the state who will regularly post their visits to events and breweries on Instagram. Oregon is a big place, and we can't promote all the state's breweries the way we would like. If you're willing to help out, shoot us an email at director@celebrateoregonbeer.com. We'll share some of the goals and give you a couple tips about how to help. We'll even send you some stickers! Oregon has the best beer--we need to let the world know. Join us and help spread the word!
Upcoming Events
Please send us all your upcoming event information at the following email so we can include them in our weekly roundups: events@celebrateoregonbeer.com
Loyal Legion & B15
Attack at the Block! features beers and ciders from Block 15’s distribution portfolio (Block 15, ColdFire, de Garde, Ferment, Helvetia Cider, and Wayfinder) at Loyal Legion locations on each of three nights: April 1 (Beaverton), April 2 (SE Portland) and April 3 (PDX).
Since 2015, the OBAs have grown to become one of the premier beer competitions in the US, with over 80 expert judges awarding medals in 29 categories. Medals are handed out annually to a sold out crowd of brewers and beer lovers at Revolution Hall. Come sees who takes gold on April 2nd!
On April 11th, the Baker's Dozen returns with 13 breweries, 13 roasters, and 13 bakers for the ultimate Portland experience. Taste a baker's dozen of coffee-beer collabs, and sample the offerings of 13 donut-makers.
de Garde's anniversary celebration has become one of the showcase events in Oregon. On May 2, come taste beer from 60+ breweries from around Oregon and the world as well as some of the best music and food from the region.
The crisp taste of lagers will be in the spotlight when Buoy Beerhosts its annual Lager Fest in Astoria from May 8-9. This year, 18 guest breweries will offer tasty examples of lager's diverse color, fermentation processes, hop profiles, and malt flavors.
Pacific City, Oregon is an unlikely beachhead for an empire. A sleepy one-time fishing village of a thousand, it is off the beaten path—in this case Highway 101—and easy to miss if you don’t turn right on Sandlake Road. Despite the fleet of dory boats that still ply the waters, the town is now mostly a vacation destination, but even that doesn’t guarantee success on the coast, where former breweries outnumber surviving ones by a fair margin. Summer crowds are large, for sure, but they vanish in the fall and don’t return again for months. Yet Pelican Brewery has not only managed to survive, but thrive, expanding to five locations (with a sixth on the way).
All photos courtesy Pelican Brewing
So-called legacy breweries haven’t been faring well lately. Just down the coast from Pacific City, Newport's longtime anchor, Rogue, closed last year. Pelican has thrived through a combination of amazing pub locations and a head brewer who has carried a vision for the brewery over its entire run. That brewer, Darron Welch, continues to make a range of the kind of well-crafted, true-to-style ales and lagers that have made it the most decorated brewery in Oregon.
A Modest start Pacific City is one of the most beautiful spots on Oregon’s extraordinary coast. A spit of sandy rock shoots out into the sea at the north end of town—Cape Kiwanda—yet one’s eye is inevitably drawn to the 340-foot basalt rock a mile offshore. The original Pelican Brewpub sits literally on the beach—its parking lot is often obscured by sand—and positioned to take in these sights. It’s got one of the best views in the world.
It’s a perfect location for a brewery. Who doesn’t want to come off the beach and grab a beer? And it may be even better in the winter, when storms blow in and provide the drama of crashing skies and surf. Yet when Jeff Schons and Mary Jones bought the derelict building Pelican would one day inhabit, they had no plan for it. “The senior partners in Pelican today had been doing some real estate work in Pacific City,” Darron said. “They met with the previous owner of what is now the Pelican building. They were talking about real estate, and apparently there was a lot of wine consumed, and they woke up the next morning and said, ‘Holy [moly], did we buy a piece of property yesterday?’” Only then did they begin seriously consider what to do with it.
Original building
Mary and Jeff didn’t know anything about brewing, and the first order of business was finding a brewer. In 1995, they attended a brewers conference in Portland that was happening the same weekend as the Oregon Brewers Festival. Native Oregonian Darron Welch was drawn to the same events from Appleton, WI, where he was brewing at the time. He found Mary and Jeff's want-ad on the bulletin board (1995, remember) saying “Beachfront brewery needs a brewer.” He ultimately got the job and has been at Pelican ever since.
A Model of Consistency Breweries have many different approaches to making and selling beer. Making the beer obviously falls to the brewer, but decisions about the kinds of beers a brewery makes, their different product lines, branding approaches, and annual calendar often issue from the owner or the sales and marketing departments. That’s especially true of breweries the size of Pelican, with six-packs in grocery stores throughout the Northwest. It’s rarer for breweries to follow the lead of the brewer, but that’s how it’s still done at Pelican.
Tracking the evolution of the industry, Pelican now makes a lot more than the four beers Darron first brewed in 1996. The types of beer the brewery makes has also shifted. The core line now features a lot more hoppy ales than it did thirty years ago. Some of the classics from the early days, like Doryman’s Dark, have been relegated to periodic pub favorites. Yet a Pelican beer is a Pelican beer. Darron's attention to detail, his affection for hops, an a certain old-school mentality guide Pelican's lineup, whether the beer in question is a classic lager or a hazy IPA.
Beyond the beer, Pelican has become an emblem on the North Coast, now rivaling Mo's as the most-recognized name for dining. Pelican's beautiful pubs, which sometimes offer world-class views, have helped create a sense of place for Pelican that is rare for breweries. Jeff and Mary have been content to stay in the background, but they have quietly built a coastal empire that stretches along the upper half of the coast, from Cannon Beach to Yachats (coming soon).
Pelican has become one of Oregon's largest producers by volume, as well, managing to navigate the changing currents of the market to remain one of the most popular brands in the Pacific Northwest. It's amazing to see a 30-year-old brewery managing to do more than survive in this difficult time for beer, but flourish and grow, yet that's what Pelican has managed to do. Indeed, learning about their plans to expand to Yachats on their 30th anniversary underscores Pelican's success.
Celebrating Oregon Beer Your fortnightly round-up of all the beer and hop news from the Beaver State. We've made it to March, which means it won't be long before it's beer garden weather! March also marks the moment when the beer world seems to wake up from its winter slumber. Right on cue, we have a ton of news this week, plus some big events. But before we get to that: Volunteers Needed! Do you regularly visit Oregon breweries or attend Oregon beer events? Do you have a phone? Awesome: we...
Celebrating Oregon Beer Your fortnightly round-up of all the beer and hop news from the Beaver State. Hi everyone, Today's email is a truncated version due to travel conflicts by the drafter. Nevertheless, we still have some big news and a reminder that Zwickelmania is this Saturday! You can visit the Oregon Brewers Guild website to find out what your local brewery has planned. And while you've got your calendar out, please put SheBrew on it, too. The 11th edition of this wonderful showcase...
Celebrating Oregon Beer Your fortnightly round-up of all the beer and hop news from the Beaver State. Today's newsletter finds you at the very tail end of #PubJanuary, and I want to thank everyone who went out and supported their local brewery this month. They really appreciated seeing you! As the slowest month of the year nears its end, news and events are becoming more plentiful. You'll find a bunch of them below, but the next newsletter will be delayed by out-of-country travel. We'll have...
