14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Why we’re all drinking craft brew today
and a third former classmate, Art Larrance,
Bowman produced test batches in the base-
ment of his Beaverton home.
Changes in state law brought the found-
ing of BridgePort Brewing in November
1984 and Widmer in March 1985. Portland
Brewing was the city’s third craft brewer,
entering the market in January 1986.
Financial success seemed uncertain. “We
were wringing our hands wondering if there
would be enough of a market for the three
of us,” he said. “Those three breweries are
100 times bigger than the size they were,
and there’s hundreds more breweries. It was
pretty shortsighted of us.”
By R.J. MARX
FOR COAST WEEKEND
H
ood River, move over. Cannon
Beach is vying for the No. 1 brew
town in Oregon. With Public Coast,
Bill’s and Pelican open for business and
a spirited citizenry behind them, Cannon
Beach is a must on the Oregon beer trail,
along with Bend, Ashland and Eugene for
starters.
What Cannon Beach has going for it is
the fin-du-monde quality that would have
intrigued Ernest Hemingway. Add to that
a foodie culture, peerless local ingredients
and proximity to Destination Portland.
Hayday, what organizers hope will be an
annual beer festival in Cannon Beach, is the
latest invocation of this fast-growing scene
and, as a summer party, this was one of the
best.
“I’m like a coyote in the sheep pen,”
author and Hayday attendee Peter Lindsey
nudged after teaching me how to walk com-
fortably with a full glass of beer hanging
from a lanyard around my neck.
Martin North Hospitality President Ryan
Snyder invited about 150 of his closest
friends to sample lagers and IPAs in the
cool comfort of a tented midtown spot.
I met with Snyder before I’d sampled
my first Pilsner. Snyder, who opened Public
Coast last year, described himself as “a
food, beverage and hospitality person.”
Snyder worked with Holy Cow Casi-
no and Brewery in Las Vegas in the early
1990s. Before that, he drank Coors light.
“Then you realize there is something more
to it,” Snyder said.
“I’ve been in business my whole life,”
Snyder told me. “To be in the brewing
business is more like a brotherhood then
a business. People are very open and very
supportive. It’s been an amazing experi-
ence.”
Standing out
Snyder landed in Oregon in 1995 and
found a welcoming atmosphere to broaden
his experience. Public Coast, a brewpub and
eatery on East Third on the site of the for-
mer Lumberyard, is his latest Cannon Beach
location. With the ingenuity of brewmaster
Will Leroux, Public Coast is producing an
inventive and palate-pleasing array of beers,
including Stephen’s Root Beer, a product of
Leroux and his assistant Stephen Snyder.
Hayday celebrated its inaugural event
with 47 beer-pouring stations. Four of them
Oregon beers come of age
PHOTOS BY R.J. MARX
Will Leroux and Ryan Snyder
early ’80s, along with Art Lar-
were brewed by Leroux, including
rance, Dick and Nancy Ponzi of
two “VIP” entries: “La Barrel-Age
BridgePort, Kurt and Rob Widmer,
Blonde,” a pinot noir barrel-aged
and Mike and Brian McMenamin
imperial blonde ale, and “Cannon-
in lobbying to legalize brewpubs
tucky Campfire,” a bourbon-barrel
in Oregon.
weizenbock — a German-style
Today he serves as a consultant
wheat beer.
to Public Coast and a mentor to
“We are very small players, but
both Snyder and Leroux.
we are hoping to celebrate what
is happening in our backyard in
Oregon,” Ryan Snyder said.
Craft-beer pioneer
Familiar names on the chalk-
I started my Hayday experience
board included Oakshire, Ninkasi
sampling the Alameda Lobo Ama-
and Breakside, and local standouts
rillo, a tequila barrel-aged imperial
Bill’s Brewhouse, Pelican, Fort
IPA that really did taste of tequila.
George, Buoy Brewing, North
Fred Bowman, a My companion tasted “The Bees
Jetty and Seaside Brewing. “What founder of Port- Knees” Honey Strong Ale and
you’re seeing now is everybody is land Brewing.
Pono Brewing’s Black Hole Sun.
trying to continually reinvent the
I snacked on a brat, hot from
craft beer culture, finding new ways to stand
the grill, before sampling Block 15’s Sum-
out,” Snyder said.
mer Knight’s Kolsch.
The regional craft brew scene originated
Then Lindsey gave another tug on my
in Portland in the 1980s, he said, inspired by
sleeve. “You want to meet Fred Bowman?”
“a gentleman named Fred Bowman.”
he asked.
Bowman is the former owner and
Upon introduction, Bowman unfolded
co-founder of Portland Brewing Compa-
his story, back to the time when he and
ny, one of Oregon’s first post-Prohibition
other brewpub pioneers entered the world of
zymurgy.
microbreweries.
Bowman was active in the late 1970s and
With childhood friends Jim Goodwin
Today, by raw numbers, Portland has
more breweries than any city in the world,
overtaking Cologne, Germany, 15 years ago,
Bowman said.
MacTarnahan’s Pale Ale, named after an
original investor, debuted in 1982 and be-
came the Portland Brewing’s flagship brew.
Portland Brewing’s IPA was produced
when few were familiar with the style in
America. India Pale Ale had its origins in
England before the advent of pasteurization
and antiseptic packaging, Bowman said.
After a long sea voyage, most beers ended
up tasting like “pickle juice.” The strength
and hoppiness of the pale ales kept the beer
drinkable for English civil servants over-
seas.
“We were trying to make a beer that
wouldn’t make somebody used to drink-
ing a light lager spit it out,” Bowman said.
“We were trying to make something fairly
mainstream.”
His success at Portland Brewing came
with international awards and accolades.
Bowman served as a consultant after
Portland Brewing Co. was sold to Pyramid
Brewing in 2003, before turning to a role
as an industry consultant. Portland Brew-
ing became known as MacTarnahan’s until
reverting to the Portland Brewing Co. name
in 2013.
“I’m amazed that we can almost get
any style of beer in the world made locally
in Oregon,” Bowman said. “It used to be
Belgium which had the greatest variety of
styles, and we have pretty much all of those
beers. I think small beers in the U.S. now
influence what is going on in Europe.” CW
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s South Coun-
ty reporter and editor of the Seaside Signal
and Cannon Beach Gazette.