Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection, 2014-2017

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The Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection is a growing repository of interviews with industry professionals, journalists and community members. More specifically, this collection documents the stories of people involved with Pacific Northwest hops and barley farming; craft and home brewing, cider, and mead; and scientific research. All interviews are available for streaming online.

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ID: OH 035

Extent: 259.0 gigabytes

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Lisa Allen is a brewer at Heater Allen Brewing in McMinnville. Allen was born in Portland and grew up in Tualatin, Oregon, but spent her junior year in Moraga, California. Allen was strong academically in science and math, but was also interested in history and English. She started at Oregon State University in 2001, studying Anthropology/Archaeology. After she graduated she lived in New Zealand for six months, where she worked in the restaurant industry. After returning to the U.S., Allen got a summer job at Pelican Brewing; she helped open the Monroe McMenamins in Corvallis in 2006. Allen also worked in the wine industry, starting with harvest and then working in tasting rooms, while simultaneously studying for the GRE and applying for grad school in historic preservation. She was accepted into a graduate program in England for historic preservation, but by then had decided to pursue a career in wine. In 2009, Allen left the wine industry to join her father at Heater Allen Brewing, which he'd opened in 2007 after a long career as an investment banker.

Rick Allen is the owner and head brewer at Heater Allen in McMinnville, Oregon. He was born in Palo Alto, California and lived there for most of his childhood. He graduated from Woodside High School and though he was interested in a variety of subjects, including chemistry and meteorology, he chose to study business at Oregon State University. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. The Allen family has a deep connection to Oregon State University: Allen's grandfather went to OAC (Class of 1923) and his grandmother studied Home Economics; his parents both attended OSU, meeting during their freshman year at an "alternative Thanksgiving" retreat and marrying during their junior year; his two brothers attended OSU; he met his wife at OSU; and their daughter, Lisa, attended in the early 2000s. After university, Allen took a position as an investment banker in Portland, with short moves to Washington and California for employment; he left that field in the early 2000s. An avid home brewer, Allen considered a second career as a vintner, but decided to open a brewery in 2007 in McMinnville, Oregon.

Kyle Almlie is a home brewer and graduate teaching assistant in the chemistry department of Oregon State University. He grew up in Chico, California, where he stayed through college graduation from California State University-Chico with a B.S. in Chemistry in 2012. He moved to Oregon State University that same year to study Analytical Chemistry and work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant.

Warren Aney is alum of Oregon State University, who received his Master’s degree in the 1970s. He went on to work as a wildlife ecologist, and later worked for a Portland-based travel agency leading wine tours. Aney met vintner and brewer Charles Coury, who started Oregon's first post-Prohibition microbrewery in 1980, through their mutual interest in wine.

John Annen is a fourth generation hop grower in Mount Angel. Annen’s family came to the area in the late 19th century from Wisconsin and Minnesota, following the priests and sisters who moved to Oregon when the Catholic Abbey was established. He comes from a large family, with ten siblings and an extended family with lots of cousins; most of his siblings stayed in farming, but Annen was left alone to run the farm in the mid 1990s. He has two sons, and one has taken over the management of the farm.

Natalie Baldwin is the Head Brewer at Burnside Brewing. She grew up near Vail, Colorado, where her dad was a ski instructor. While she was growing up she spent a lot of time outdoors, skiing and mountain biking; she was also interested in art and photography, but by the end of high school decided to pursue education in Biological Chemistry at University of Colorado in Denver. She moved to Portland in 2012 and started working at Pints Brewing Company in 2013; she stayed there through 2015, when she left to take a position at Burnside Brewing.

Fred Bowman co-founded Portland Brewing Company in 1986. Bowman was born in San Francisco; moved to Montana; to Empire, Oregon in elementary school; and finally settled in Hillsboro, where he has spent most of his life. Bowman's first job was for worked for a Volkswagen distributor in high school, which fit with his interest in cars and mechanics. In addition to cars, Bowman was also interested in biology and music, playing trumpet in the youth symphony. He travelled through Europe after graduating from High School, sparking another lifelong interest in beer and brewing. He returned in time to start school at Oregon State University, but soon transferred to University of Oregon and then again to Portland State University. He returned to his job with Volkswagen, a position he held for 16 more years. He began home brewing in the late 1970s and after leaving Volkswagen Bowman, Art Larrance, and Jim Goodwin joined forces to open a brewery. They hired Bert Grant (Yakima Brewing) as a consultant, which resulted in a licensing agreement for them to brew Grant's beer in Portland; this ended in the early 1990s. Bowman and other early microbrewers were instrumental in the passage of Oregon's Brewpub Bill in 1985, which allowed breweries to brew and sell beer onsite. By 1998 the company was in financial trouble, and it was sold in 2004. Bowman had been employed as a brewing consultant, work he continued to do after the brewery was sold.

Brad Clack is a retired hop buyer for S.S. Steiner (now Hopsteiner). Clack's family did farm work on the Oregon coast before moving to Salem, where Clack has spent most of his life. He started working in the hop industry in 1978 and has deep relationships with growers and hops brokers. He retired in 2015, and his son has taken over his duties at S.S. Steiner.

Jeff Clawson has worked for the Department of Food Science and Technology as the research brewery and food processing manager since 1993. Clawson grew up in Davis, California, where his father was a University of California Extension Agent and his mom worked as a department administrative assistant. He moved to Oregon to study Agribusiness at Eastern Oregon College (now Eastern Oregon University) in La Grande. It was in college that Clawson took a class in brewing, which became a personal hobby and ultimately led to a career. He transferred to Oregon State University to finish his B.S., adding a Food Science minor and working with Mina McDaniel on sensory analysis. After graduating in 1988 he worked at NORPAC Foods in Stayton, Oregon. He returned to OSU for graduate school in 1991 to study Rangeland Resources and Water Quality; he finished in 1993, and took a position with the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Bill Coleman is part of a large multigenerational hop growing family, primarily based in St. Paul and Mt. Angel. He was born and raised in the area and all the children worked on the farm; many of the family members are still actively involved in Coleman Agriculture. The Coleman farms experienced rapid expansion from the 1950s through the 1970s, and as a result branches of the family began to become more specialized in the work they do; Bill Coleman has always been interested in and excelled at mechanics, and he developed new pieces of equipment and processes that have made the farm and the industry more efficient. In addition to the work on the farm and involvement in the church community, Coleman has also travelled extensively.

John Coleman is a hop grower based in St. Paul, Oregon. He manages the hops and perennial crops for Coleman Ag, a large family run company. Coleman grew up in St. Paul and spent most of his extra time working on the farm. He went to St. Paul Parochial and attended St. Paul High School, where he was active in the Future Farmers of America. He attended Oregon State University, where he was in the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and studied Political Science; he graduated in 1988. He has held various positions in the family business, but is currently the Perennial Crops Manager.

Denny Conn is a home brewer, author, and podcaster. Conn was born in Newton, Iowa, where his father and grandfather ran a lumberyard; Conn worked there as a child. Conn played guitar in rock bands, performed in bars and talent shows as a kid. He graduated from high school in 1980 and attended Iowa State University. He initially wanted to be a chemistry teacher, but later decided he wanted to be an English teacher. He dropped out of college part way through because he wanted to play in rock bands. He moved to Eugene, Oregon, where he attended Lane Community College for electronic technician coursework. He got a job helping a friend’s digital audio technology company, and they toured with Split Ends, Supertramp, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. When he returned, he worked at a video store, the Hult Center, and opened a recording studio. His wife bought him a Pike Place Brewing home brewing kit from Costco in 1998; brewing made sense to him because of his chemistry education, his love of cooking, and his experimental nature. He learned about different styles and methods, and soon began to experiment in a rather radical way. One method was batch sparging, which turned out to be a divisive one for home brewers; Conn started publishing his information about batch sparging online in 2003 to 2004, and people criticized it. He also experimented with ingredients, including rye for a Rye IPA, which John Maier from Rogue liked; Conn’s RIPA as inspiration for one of Rogue’s anniversary beers. He's also experimented with equipment, and is a big fan of the Pico-Brew. He and his friend Drew Beechum have co-written the books Experimental Brewing and Homebrew All-stars; they also have a podcast, Experimental Homebrewing.

Ted Cox was born in Eugene, Oregon, but soon moved to California to help his aunt manage her ranch. He graduated from Chaffey Junior College in 1967 and from La Verne College with a B.A. in Physical Education in 1969. He did two tours with the Peace Corps (1969-1973) in Sierra Leone and Belize. In Sierra Leone he worked in a teacher's college and in Belize he coached track and field, helping to create a physical fitness manual that is still used today. He returned to Oregon in 1973 to attend graduate school at Oregon State University, graduating with his master's in Physical Education in 1976; his thesis was entitled "Physical fitness parameters of male youth in USA and Belize, Central America." He was also the women's volleyball coach and taught both physical education and first aid at Linn Benton Community College (1975-1976). He opened the Old World Deli in 1977 and soon bought the building, which houses shops and the Oregon Trail Brewery (established 1987). He is the author of three books: When British Honduras became Belize: A Peace Corps memoir, Murray Loop: Journey of an Oregon Family, and The Toledo Incident of 1925: Three days that made history in Toledo, Oregon.

Chris Crabb is the Public Relations Director of the Oregon Brewers Festival and owner of the firm Crabbsoup Public Relations. She grew up in Beaverton, Oregon and attended Sunset High School. In 1991 she graduated from the University of Oregon with a BA in Journalism, with an emphasis on Public Relations. She was the PR Director and Account Manager for Campbell Production/Consulting Group, and has been working as a PR Associate at Weinstein PR since 2009. In 2003, she started her own firm Crabbsoup. Her career has focused on the hospitality field, with an emphasis on food and beverage events and promotion. She's worked with the Oregon Brewers Festival, Holiday Ale Festival, and BrewFest in the Park, as well as many other individual brewery clients.

Blake Crosby is a 5th generation hop grower who grew up on his family's farm in Woodburn, Oregon. Crosby attended the University of Oregon, where he earned a B.A. in History in 2008, and Willamette University, where he earned an M.B.A. in 2013. He is the CEO and President of Crosby Hop Farm.

Brian Crosby is a fourth generation hop family member and works at Crosby Hop Farm LLC as an accounts manager. Crosby was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up on the family farm in Woodburn. Hops production was a community and family effort, and he and his siblings all worked on the farm. After graduation, Crosby left Woodburn and joined the Navy; after three years he left the military and went to Oregon State University to study Civil Engineering; while there he also played rugby. He worked for a construction company in Portland, moved to Bend to run their local office, left the industry during the 2008 recession, and spent the next several years working in construction and earning a degree in Financial Planning. He returned to the farm in the late 2000s as a financial manager and salesperson.

William Dettwyler is the owner of Codus Medicus, Inc. He grew up on a hop farm in Silverton, Oregon, where he worked on his family farm and processing facilities in the 1930s through the 1950s, when they sold the farm. He graduated from the Oregon Institute of Technology with an Associate of Science degree in Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Technology/Technologist in 1958. He has done lab work for since the early 1950s, and has owned Codus Medicus since 1961; his work has allowed him to travel extensively through the U.S.

Otto Fredrick “Fred” Eckhardt (1926-2015) was a well-known advocate, critic, educator, mentor, and historian. Born in Everett, Washington, Eckhardt traveled widely with the U.S. Marine Corps before moving to Portland, Oregon. After leaving careers as a swim instructor and studio photographer, Eckhardt began photographing new Northwest pubs and writing about beer full time for various brewing publications. Eckhardt rose to prominence in the brewing community with his 1970 A Treatise on Lager Beers, a guide to homebrewing and the evolution of lager beer (a hobby which was notably still illegal at the time of publication). His 1989 The Essentials of Beer Style is still considered a required read for brewers and beer lovers alike. A beloved member of the brewing community, Eckhardt has been called the icon, pioneer, and founding father of craft beer, as well as the much beloved “Dean of American beer writing.”

Jeff Edgerton is the Brewmaster at BridgePort Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon. Edgerton grew up in Canby, where he was surrounded by agriculture and hop yards. After graduating from Canby High School, Edgerton moved to Corvallis to attend Oregon State University, where he majored in Microbiology; he graduated in 1987. After leaving OSU he took a job at the Blitz-Weinhard brewery, working here as a Lab Tech, Quality Assurance Manager, and Brewery Microbiologist from 1989 to 1998; the brewery closed in 1999. In 1998, Edgerton became the Quality Assurance Manager at BridgePort Brewing, six years later he became Assistant Brewmaster, and then in 2010 became the Brewmaster.

Emily Engdahl is the Executive Director of The Pink Boots Society. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she was surrounded by family, art, culture, food, and gardens. After graduating from Grant High School in 1994 she went to Southern Oregon University for a year, but didn't continue her studies there. She returned to Portland in the late 1990s, and in 2000 started working at Professional Fiduciary Services providing social service coordination for mentally ill or elderly clients. In 2003, she graduated from Marylhurst University with a degree in Communications and a certificate in Conflict Resolution. She began home brewing in 2010 or 2011, and fermentation soon became core to her work. In addition to working as a freelance graphic designer, Engdahl was the co-founder of #pdxbeergeeks, a community-based beer blog, worked as an event development coordinator for Women Enjoying Beer, was a beer blogger for "1859: Oregon's Magazine," and was the creator and owner of Oregon Beer Country. In 2013, she became the Executive Director of the Pink Boots Society.

Teri Fahrendorf grew up in a German-American family in Wisconsin. She has a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire and earned a certificate in Brewing Technology from the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago. She worked as the Brewmaster at Berkeley's Golden Gate Brewing Company in 1989 before becoming the Head Brewer at Triple Rock Brewing Company (1989-1990). She moved to Eugene to become the Brewmaster at the Steelhead Brewing Company (1990-2007) and worked as a brewing consultant before becoming a Territory Sales Manager for Country Malt/Great Western Malting (2009-2015). In September 2015, she became the Malt Innovation Center Manager at Great Western Malting. She founded the Pink Boots Society in 2007, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to education and support of women in the brewing industries.

Irene Firmat is the founder and CEO of Full Sail Brewing Company, located in Hood River, Oregon. She was born in Havana, Cuba and moved to New York when she was 3. She moved to Oregon in the early 1980s for a job as a buyer for the department store Meier and Frank. After several years she decided to change careers; inspired by the food and drink culture that was emerging in the Northwest, she found partners to start a brewpub in Hood River in 1987, aptly called Hood River Brewing Co. David Logsdon, who later founded the yeast company Wyeast and Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, was their original brewer. Soon Logsdon left and brewer Jamie Emmerson replaced him. Emmerson and Firmat soon married, living in Portland and commuting to Hood River. Full Sail became employee-owned in 1999; in 2015, the employees voted to sell to Oregon Craft Brewers Co., a local investment group.

Gary Fish is the founder and board president of Deschutes Brewery. He was born and raised in Northern California, where his father was a wine grape grower and a part of the state's modern wine renaissance. He moved to Utah to attend University of Utah, working his way through college waiting tables; he stayed to work in the restaurant industry. He and his wife returned to the West Coast in the late 1980s, settling in Bend with the goal of opening a brewpub after his parents had travelled through the city returning from a college class reunion at Oregon State University. Deschutes Brewery opened in 1988, with Fish running the restaurant and John Harris as the first brewer; the first years were rocky, the company soon saw success and expanded. In 2008, they opened a brewpub in Portland and in 2016 announced plans to build a new plant in Roanoke, North Carolina. Fish built a company with community values in mind, and has been recognized as a civic leader in Central Oregon and beyond; in 2012 he was awarded the Civic Leadership Award and the Governors Gold Awards. Fish has also been quite involved in the brewery profession too; from 2014 to 2016 he was the Chairman of the Brewers Association. Fish stepped down as President and CEO in 2017, but he's staying on as the Founder and Board Member.

Mick Flanagan is a mechanic at BridgePort Brewing Company. He was born in Sydney, Australia and spent his childhood living there and in the United States. He graduated from high school in Portland in 1987 and has worked for the brewery since 1989.

John Foyston is a beer culture freelance journalist in Portland, Oregon. He was born in a small town in East British Columbia; his family moved to Vancouver before settling in Portland in 1956. He attended Sunset High School and then studied Liberal Arts at the University of Oregon. He had a variety of jobs (mechanic, musician) before becoming an Oregonian Staff writer in 1994, a position he left in 2015 to pursue freelance work full time.

Dana Garves is a brewing chemist who owns and operates BrewLab, a company that provides chemical analyses for breweries, cideries, meaderies, and home brewers. Garves has always been interested in chemistry, starting with early successes in science and math classes in the Seattle area. She joined the Science Olympiad team in high school, serving as the club president her junior and senior years, and was enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program. She also played competitive softball through the end of high school, and was active in community service and volunteering. She began coursework at the University of Oregon with a goal of being a high school chemistry teacher, and helped out with a UO STEM summer camps for girls. She graduated with a degree in Environmental Chemistry in 2010. That same year she saw a Craigslist ad that Ninkasi Brewing was looking for a chemist. During her employment she was a Lab Tech who propagated their in-house yeast, ran the quality control program, and collaborated with Team Hybriddyne to launch Ninkasi yeast into space. She left Ninkasi in 2014 to set up BrewLab.

Cheryl Gillson is the Rogue Farms marketing and farm manager in Independence, Oregon. Gillson was born in California, but moved to Oregon when she was 18 months old; her family settled near Hillsboro, where Gillson had opportunities to grow her interests in outdoor activities and photography. She moved to San Francisco in the early 2000s and moved back to Oregon in 2004, which is when she got her first position at Rogue Ales and Spirits working as founder Jack Joyce's assistant. That position led her back to San Francisco for a few years, but she left the company to move to Istanbul, Turkey in 2010 with general plans to explore and travel. After four years in Turkey she returned to Oregon and to Rogue. After a few months of odd jobs for the company she was transferred to her position on the Rogue Farms.

Gayle Goschie is a third-generation hop grower and Vice President for Hops and Winegrapes at her family's Goschie Farms, Inc. in Silverton, Oregon. Gosche studied at both University of Oregon and Portland State University, earning a degree in Political Science at PSU. After college she worked for a small advertising agency in Portland, returning to the family farm in 1981.

John Harris is the owner of Ecliptic Brewing in Portland, Oregon. Harris grew up in Beaverton, developing an early interest in astronomy and home brewing. He was one of the first brewers at McMenamins, answering an ad in Willamette Week they'd posted for a brewer in Hillsdale; he worked there from 1986 to 1988. He left to take a job at Deschutes Brewing, where he was the founding Brewmaster for the brewery, which had opened in 1987; he stayed with that position until 1992, when he moved to Portland. That move led to a position at Full Sail Brewery, working in their small experimental brewery on the waterfront and focusing on the brewmaster reserve line. In 2012 he left Full Sail, and in 2013 he opened his own brewery.

Alfred Haunold was born in Austria in 1929, where he spent his teenage years fond of science, especially botany. He attended a prep school for agricultural studies and graduated from the Agricultural University of Vienna; he earned his doctorate in plant production and wheat breeding in 1951. He obtained a Fulbright scholarship to work on wheat breeding and genetics at the University of Nebraska; after a brief return to Austria, Haunold came back to Nebraska, where he obtained an American PhD and married. He accepted a hop research position in the USDA offices in 1965, despite not being trained as a hop researcher. Soon Haunold found himself in charge of the breeding program after Stanley Brooks resigned. This position as a hop breeder defined the rest of Haunold's career. Haunold's team released the Cascade in 1972, a hop that changed the hops and brewing industries. Haunold had a solid research team, including Chemist Stan Likens, Pathologist Jack Horner, Agronomist Chuck Zimmermann, and Agricultural Chemist Gail Nickerson. This group continued to research, release varieties, and publish their findings in a variety of publications. Haunold retired from the USDA in 1995, but continues to be a valued resource for growers, brewers, and researchers.

Lee Hedgmon is a professional and home brewer, as well as a distiller. Hedgmon is a third generation Portlander who grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood and attended All Saints Catholic School. She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1991 and attended Portland Community College before joining the JobCorps at Tongue Point on the Oregon Coast. She returned to Portland to work at the Red Lion and attended Portland State University, where she earned a B.A. in Women’s Studies in 2003. She travelled to the University of Minnesota for doctoral work in Feminist Pedagogical Theory in 2010, but moved back to Portland before finishing her dissertation; she returned with an interest in fermentation and was an avid home brewer. She soon joined the Oregon Brew Crew, first holding office as the Festival Coordinator, then Volunteer Committee Chairwoman, and then the President (the first woman in that position). Her first professional brewing position was at Coalition Brewing Company in Portland. That job led to many others, including posts at Portland U-Brew, Old Town Brewing Company, Gateway Brewing, Pints Brewing Company, Ground Breaker Brewing and F.H. Steinbart. She started work as a distiller at McMenamins Edgefield in August 2016.

Jessica Just is the Director of Technical Services for Brew Dr. Kombucha in Portland, Oregon. Just grew up in Portland, where she developed an interest in home brewing quite early. She attended Oregon State University (2005-2008) and was one of the first three graduates (first female) from the OSU Fermentation Science program in the Food Science Department (established 1995). She stayed at OSU for graduate school, where she earned her M.S. in Food Science and Technology in 2001. She interned at the St. Michelle Wine Estates from 2001-2002, and then took a job at Scott Laboratories. She moved to London in 2012, where she worked with the local chapter of the Campaign for Real Ale. She moved back to Corvallis to take a job as an academic advisor and instructor for the Fermentation Science program in 2015 and in 2017 moved back to Portland to take a job at Brew Dr. Kombucha.

Jennifer Kent is the brewer at the McMenamins Thompson Brewery and Public House. Kent spent her early childhood in Alaska and Colorado, but moved to Newport, Oregon in elementary school. When she was in high school she got a horse, which occupied a lot of her time; she graduated from Newport High School in 1993. Her mother is an artist, so Kent spent time being creative and exploring art. She moved to Springfield, Oregon before settling in Salem in 1999. After five years in the food service industry, including at the McMenamins Boons Treasury as a line cook and server, she got interested in brewing. Under the mentorship of McMenamins brewer Gary Nance, Kent learned the fundamentals, but also how to experiment to make new creations or variants. She's inspired by foods, spices, flavors, places, and improvisational belly dancing.

Nathan Kirk teaches in Oregon State University's Department of Integrative Biology, specializing in Marine Ecology. He is also a home brewer. Kirk grew up in New York state, where both his parents were teachers. He studied Biological Sciences at State University of New York at Buffalo (B.S. 2003, M.S. 2006); he was a University Honors Scholar and graduated Magna Cum Laude. He moved to Alabama for a doctoral program at Auburn University, studying Biological Sciences and working as both a teaching and research assistant; it was in Alabama that Kirk explored home brewing. He's been a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University, focusing on Marine Ecology, since 2013.

Lee Larsen is one of the founders of 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Oregon. Larsen was born and raised in Corvallis, and he grew up exploring the McDonald Research Forest and playing soccer. He and his family lived in Barcelona, Spain while Larsen was in high school, and it was there that he learned more about the European cider culture and industry. He returned to Oregon in 2003 for his senior year at Corvallis High School. He attended Oregon State University, graduating with a degree in Finance in 2008. He and friends Dave Takush and Aaron Sarnoff-Wood started 2 Towns Ciderhouse in 2010.

Sonia Marie Leikam co-owns Leikam Brewing with her husband, but also works full-time at the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation. Leikam grew up in the Bay Area and moved to Portland in 1999 to attend Lewis and Clark College; she graduated in 2003 with degrees in History and Theater. She graduated from Portland State University in 2006 with an M.Ed. in Secondary Teaching and Education. She worked for North Clackamas School District from 2005 to 2006, at Hillsboro High School as a Drama and American Studies teacher, and at St. Mary’s Academy from 2007 to 2010 as the Director of Student Activities. In 2011, she began work at the Oregon Holocaust Resource Center as their Executive Director, in 2012 she earned a Certificate in Holocaust and Related Studies from Georgetown University, and from 2014 to 2015 she was a Carl Wilkens Fellow, a program to end mass atrocities and genocide. She began work at the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation in 2015, the same year she and her husband opened their community supported and certified kosher brewery (the first in Oregon).

Nick Lorenz is the co-founder and co-owner of Nectar Creek Mead in Corvallis, Oregon, which he runs with his brother Philip. Lorenz grew up in Corvallis, where is family was involved with local farming and agriculture; both siblings worked at Denison Farms as teenagers. Beyond farming and food, Lorenz was especially interested in pottery and soccer. He moved to Burlington to attend the University of Vermont, where he studied Ecological Agriculture and played college soccer. Lorenz worked in an apple orchard during summer breaks from college, where he learned to make apple cider and brandy, and as a river raft guide. His brother pursued a college education in Apiculture and Fermentation Science, and ultimately worked in commercial beekeeping, an interest that led both of them to an interest in mead. They opened Nectar Creek in 2012.

Mark McKay is the owner of McKay Farms and is a sixth generation hop farmer; the McKay family came to Oregon from Scotland and Ireland in the 1840s. He was born in Salem, Oregon and grew up in St. Paul, where he attended a Catholic elementary school. McKay took over the farm after graduating from high school. His family has always grown a variety of crops in St. Paul (hops, mint, filberts, grass seed) and McKay expanded into Independence, Oregon. McKay’s left the hop business in the 1970s when prices dropped; McKay and his brother returned to hop farming in the 1990s when Anheuser-Busch was contracting with growers and the market was getting stronger. He farmed with his brother until 2015, when they split the business.

Lisa Morrison was an early Pink Bots Society board member and founder of the Barley's Angels. She co-owns Belmont Station, a bottle shop and pub in Portland. Morrison grew up in Oklahoma and attended Colorado State University, graduating with a degree in Technical Journalism. After graduation she worked as a television news reporter and anchor, a career she continued after moving to Portland in 1989, where she worked for KOIN TV. It was at CSU that her interest in imported and local microbrews was sparked. She began home brewing with her husband and joined the Oregon Brew Crew, a large home brew club in Portland, where he met well-known brewers, journalists, and people interested in making their own beer. Her personal interest turned into a career when she offered beer education classes and wrote about beer for local and national publications. She released the book Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest in 2011. In 2008, she started Beer O'Clock, a weekly commercial radio show on KXL, where she interviewed people from all facets of the brewing community; the show ran through 2015. In 2013, Morrison became the majority owner of Belmont Station.

Gary Nance is the brewer at the McMenamins on Monroe in Corvallis, Oregon. Nancy was born and raised in Oklahoma, and moved to the west coast after college. He started brewing professionally in 1995, working as the assistant brewer at Spencer's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Springfield, where he helped develop Oregon's first certified organic ale in 1998, and worked briefly at Eugene's West Bros. and Steelhead Brewing Company before taking a job at the McMenamins Thompson Brewery and Public House in Salem in August 2002. He transferred to the Monroe Street facility when it opened in 2006.

Gail Nickerson is a former Agricultural Chemist at Oregon State University. Nickerson grew up in Portland, and as a child was interested in science. Told by her high school guidance counselor that she could only be a teacher, she enrolled at Oregon State University as an Education major. She left school and in 1959 started to work as a full-time laboratory technician. Though she began washing equipment, she soon spent more time in the fields and doing high-level Agricultural Chemistry projects, working on many that were immensely important for the global hop industry. After developing an interest in programming and statistics, she completed her undergraduate degree in computer science in 1984. She retired as a Senior Research Assistant in 2003.

Don Norton is the owner of Norton Hop Farm, a small organic hop farm established in Goshen, Oregon in 2008. Norton was born in Eugene, and spent most of his life in the Spencer Creek area where there were large hop farms. His family moved to Oakridge in 1973, where he attended high school. Norton spent most of his working life doing factory work, before buying the farm and starting to grow hops.

Carole Ockert grew up in Ireland and moved to the United States in 1969, settling just south of Seattle. She met and married Karl Ockert, who later became the first brewer at BridgePort Brewing in Portland, and they moved around the west coast before settling in Portland with their twin daughters. Ockert is a Certified Hypnotherapist in Lake Oswego.

Karl Ockert is the Director of Brewery Operations at Deschutes Brewery. Ockert grew up brewing with his mother, though he didn't initially see that as a professional calling. He attended Humbolt State University to pursue a degree in Natural Sciences/Resources, but he changed directions while he was there and transferred to UC Davis to pursue a degree in fermentation. He mainly took oenology classes while he was there, graduating in 1983 and hopeful to get a job with a Pacific Northwest brewery. Unfortunately, the macro brewing industry was still contracting at that time, so he found himself working at Ponzi Vineyards. He was there for one harvest, and soon Dick Ponzi shared his interest in opening a brewery in Portland. They found a building in late 1983 and by April of 1984 Ockert was the first brewer at BridgePort Brewing; he hired Matt Sage as his assistant and stayed until 1990. He took a position at Anheuser Busch in Newark, but only stayed from 1992-1993. He returned to the west coast, briefly working at Nor'Wester with Jim Bernau in 1994, and in Tacoma starting two brewpubs in 1995 and 1996. He returned to BridgePort in 1996, where he stayed in a position as Brew Master and Plant Manager through 2010. He left to work at the Master Brewers Association of America as their Technical Director; during this time he also worked as a professional brewing consultant. He took his job at Deschutes Brewery in 2015.

Sarah Pederson is the owner of Saravesa, a bar, bottle shop, and breweriana showroom in North Portland. Pederson was born in Denver, Colorado and grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. She went to Minneapolis for college, starting with a graphic design major before switching to journalism; eventually, she created her own major in "aural history," which involved listening to sound and looking at communication. She finished college at California State University in Los Angeles as part of national student exchange, and then went to work for a record company doing public relations. Pederson moved to Portland in the early 2000s, working in PR for high tech firms, but also for her friend at Pix, a patisserie and bar. After leaving the tech industry, she explored brewing through home brewing, workshops at the American Brewer's Guild (brewing certificate 2005), and early jobs at the breweries Hair of the Dog and the New Old Lompoc Bar. She opened Saravesa in 2008.

Sybil Perkins is a Graphic Designer, as well as the brand director and a board member for the Pink Boots Society. She grew up in the Eugene/Springfield area, and had an early interest in arts and music. Perkins was also very engaged with community and civil rights at a young age, thanks in large part to her mother; she lived in Philadelphia and New York City, where she had a variety of experiences as an activist. She returned to the West Coast, where she began to home brew and explore jobs in graphic design. She was an adjunct instructor at both Shoreline Community College and Henry Cogswell College, a Graphic Designer at Cascade Bank (2000-2004), and taught at the School of Visual Concepts from 2003 to 2007. She now has her own graphic design company, where most of her clients are from the foods, hospitality, spirits, and brewing industries. She lives in Everett, Washington.

Mellie Pullman is a professor at Portland State University, where she is the Director of the Business of Craft Brewing Program. Pullman grew up in Chicago; after high school she travelled around the country and took classes at The Evergreen State College, where she studied energy systems and alternative energy. She started a master's program at the University of Utah, focusing Operations Management, Marketing, and Mechanical Engineering and earning an M.B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. She was the first female brewmaster in the U.S. when she took a position in 1986 at Schirf Brewing in Park City, Utah. From 2003 to 2006 she worked at Cornell University, teaching classes related to Service Operations Management and Hotel Administration. She's been at Portland State University since 2005, teaching courses related to food supply chain management, forecasting and production, and global supply chain management. In 2013, her research focus shifted from food to beer and she began work as the Director of the Craft Brewing Program, which provides instruction on business operations for beer, spirits, cider, mead, and kombucha.

Joel Rea is the owner of Corvallis Brewing Supply. Rea spent his early life in Kirkland, Washington, and his family moved to Albany, Oregon when he was in elementary school. He did college work in environmental studies at Prescott College (1993-1993) and the fine arts at the University of Oregon (1995-1996). He worked for the Forest Service, but changed careers to open a home brew and bottle shop in 1997. He has held many classes, hosted events, and mentored many home and commercial brewers.

Joy Hoerner Rich is the daughter of Oregon State University hops specialist G.R. Hoerner. She was born in Ithaca, New York when her dad was on staff at Cornell University; the family soon moved to Portland. She spend most of her youth in Corvallis, and her family regularly hosted parties with people in the macro brewing industries (e.g. Bill Blitz). Rich met her husband at OSU and graduated in 1940s with a degree in home economics. After her husband returned from WWII, the couple moved to Roseburg, where Rich ran a private kindergarten; after kindergarten was part of the public school curriculum Rich started an after school program for kids who needed assistance. Rich is also the niece of artists Berta and Elmer Hader, who are noteworthy in the world of children’s literature; Rich wrote a book in 2014 about their work.

Matt Sage has been a brewer, vintner, and hop consultant whose work has contributed to the creation and expansion of many small businesses across the Pacific Northwest. Sage was born in Portland and graduated from Central Catholic High School. Initially interested in biology, while at Evergreen State College he became more interested in agriculture and farming. Later he had a brief stint at a USDA research lab in Yakima, Washington before getting his first winery job at Columbia Winery. He was hired by Karl Ockert as the second employee at BridgePort Brewing in Portland. Sage left BridgePort in 1990 for a position at Cameron Winery in Dundee, Oregon. He worked for the Colorado-based brewpub chain Rock Bottom, helping open both the Denver and Portland locations and working there through 2004 when he returned to a much bigger BridgePort Brewing. In August 2010, Sage joined Indie Hops, a company that supplies craft brewers with hops.

Robyn Schumacher is a brewer at Stoup Brewing in Seattle's Ballard district. Schumacher was born in Billings, Montana and grew up in Spokane. She had early interests in sports, literature, and science, and after graduating from North Central High School in 1991 she moved to Helena, Montana to study biology at Carroll College. Schumacher moved back to Spokane after college to work odd jobs before returning to Montana to work for the forest service; she returned to Washington to attend Eastern Washington University for her teaching license. She spent 13 years teaching high school science before quitting in 2011 to pursue her interest in the restaurant and brewing industries. In 2012, she became a certified cicerone, the first woman in Washington to be certified. After managing a bar in West Seattle, she joined Lara Zahaba and Brad Benson in opening Stoup Brewing in 2013.

Guy Seghetti taught Social Science for Roseburg, Oregon public schools before retiring in 2008. He grew up in Corvallis, Oregon and went to the University of Utah to pursue a degree in Anthropology. He worked as a USDA Hops and Essential Oils lab and agricultural technician at Oregon State University from 1968 to 1977, where he worked with Gail Nickerson and Alfred Haunold. This was a crucial time in hops breeding program with the release of the Cascade and other hops in the 1970s. Seghetti left the program in 1977 to teach in Roseburg.

Thomas Shellhammer is the Nor’Wester Professor of Fermentation Science at Oregon State University, where he runs a lab dedicated to the chemical and sensory analysis of hops. Shellhammer grew up in San Jose, where his father worked as a field biologist studying fire ecology and his mother worked as an arts educator. He earned all three of his advanced degrees from UC Davis: B.S. in Fermentation Science in 1987, M.S. in Food Science in 1989, and Ph.D. in Food Engineering in 1996. He was an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University from 1997 to 2001 before taking his current position. He has been actively involved in the American Society of Brewing Chemists, Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Institute of Brewing and Distilling, and Institute of Food Technologists.

Larry Sidor is the founder of Crux Fermentation, a brewery in Bend, Oregon. Soda was born in Corvallis, but moved to La Grande when his father became an extension agent for Union County. The family returned to Corvallis and Sidor graduated from Corvallis High School. He graduated from Oregon State University in 1972 with a B.S. in Food Science and a minor in Enology. He took a wine internship, but his first major professional position was at Olympia Brewing Company, where he worked from 1974 to 1997, occupying positions as an Operations Manager and Assistant Brewer. In 1997 he left Olympia to work at S.S. Steiner in Yakima, Washington as a VP for Operations. Sidor left S.S. Steiner in 2003 and for a time had a vineyard in Yakima. He took a position as the Head Brewer for Deschutes Brewing in Bend, Oregon in 2004, a position he held until 2011 when he left to open his own brewery.

Blair Smith is the owner, orchardist, and cider-maker for Apple Outlaw. Smith was born in Seattle, Washington, but grew up in Stockton, California, where the family had moved for his father's job as a Math Professor at the University of the Pacific. Smith stayed in Stockton for college, where he graduated with a Computer Science degree in 1990; he spent the next 20 years as a software engineer in Livermore. In 2003, Smith and his family moved to Applegate, a town in rural Southern Oregon, where they had a property with an old apple orchard. Smith continued to work as a software contractor before switching careers to run an organic orchard and work full-time as a cider-maker. The Smith family sold apples to cider-makers throughout Oregon and began to press their own apple cider for selling at farmers markets and co-ops. In 2013, transitioned from non-alcoholic to hard cider with their first sales of Apple Bandit.

Hilda Stevens owns Bazi Bierbrasserie, a Belgian-style beer taproom and soccer bar in SE Portland. Stevens immigrated from Guatemala when she was 8 years old, living and going to school in The Woodlands (a community north of Houston, Texas). She attended St Mary's University in San Antonio, studying International Business and Marketing. After graduation worked for business and marketing companies; these jobs provided opportunities to travel extensively through the U.S. and internationally. She became a citizen in 1997, and the next year she moved to Portland in 1998, continuing to work for the San Antonio based NCR. With that job she had the change to travel to Europe in 2006, which is where she discovered Belgian beers. During this same period Stevens took night classes at George Fox University in an accelerated M.B.A. program. After the economic downtown and rolling company layoffs, Stevens decided to revisit a graduate school business plan for opening a bar. She began looking for locations in 2010 and opened Bazi in 2011.

Dave Takush is the head cider maker at 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Oregon. He was born and raised in North Corvallis, surrounded by acres of grass fields and farmland. Takush has always been interested in science classes and cooking, so after graduating from Crescent Valley High School he studied Food Science and Technology at Oregon State University, specifically focusing on Fermentation Science and Oenology (B.S. 2007, M.S. 2009). He worked briefly as a winemaker in Eugene before he and friends Lee Larsen and Aaron Sarnoff-Wood started 2 Towns Ciderhouse in 2010.

Gillian Tobin is the Events and Marketing Coordinator at Mazama Brewing in Corvallis, Oregon. She was born in Colorado, but spent most of her childhood in Albany, Oregon. She moved to Eugene to attend the University of Oregon in 2006, earning her B.A. in Journalism and Communications in 2010. In 2008 she studied Italian language and literature at the Universita per Strainieri di Perugia. She worked for Hotel Deluxe in Portland from 2010 to 2013 before returning to Corvallis to begin working at the family brewery. In 2014 she began studying Graphic Design at Linn-Benton Community College, earning her Associate of Arts and Sciences in 2016.

Kathy Tobin is a co-founder and manager at Mazama Brewing in Corvallis, Oregon. She was born and raised in Michigan, and earned her B.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1983; while in college she was a member of the Blue Key Society and Eta Kappa Nu. She attended the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management from 1994 to 1995, earning an Executive M.B.A. from the Executive Development Program. She returned to school in 2004 and earned a diploma from the Entrepreneurship Development Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management. After living in Colorado, Tobin moved to Corvallis and in 1998 took a position at Agilent Technologies as a Business Unit manager; she was there through 2002, when she left to take a position as a Vice President and General Manager at Hewlett-Packard. She was there until 2013, when she left to start Mazama Brewing with her husband Jeff.

Jeff Tobin is the co-founder and brewer at Mazama Brewing in Corvallis, Oregon. He born in West Branch, Michigan. He came from a very musical family, and played the trumpet for many years; he also loved science and math. Tobin went to college in 1979 at the Michigan Technological University, initially intending to become a sound engineer; he studied Electrical Engineering (B.S. 1983). He and his wife Kathy moved to Burlington, Vermont, where they began to home brew regularly. Tobin worked at IBM in Vermont before moving to Colorado in the 1980s, where he and his wife Kathy had two children. His family moved to Corvallis for jobs at Hewlett-Packard, where he worked as a Design Engineer until 2000. He worked at Agilent Technologies 2000 to 2005, Avago 2005 to 2006, and Marvell Semiconductor from 2006 to 2013. He and Kathy opened Mazama Brewing in 2012, where they use many recipes developed over their 24 years of home brewing.

Shaun Townsend is the senior researcher leading Oregon State University’s Aroma Hop Breeding Program. Townsend grew up in Central Illinois. He attended Montana State University, obtaining a B.S. in 1988 in Agronomy and a M.S. in Agronomy Plant Breeding and Forage Production in 1990. He received his Ph.D. in Agronomy Plant Breeding and Genetics in 1998 at New Mexico State University. Townsend began his work in Corvallis working with John Henning in the USDA-ARS hop breeding program; in 2010 he assumed responsibility for a new aroma hop breeding program in the OSU Department of Crop and Soil Science.

Don Weathers is a second-generation hop grower in the Willamette Valley. He was born in Salem and lived around the state on various family-owned farms. Weathers married Rosalie Kerr, who was also from a hop family, in 1958 and the couple had 6 children. The Weathers' farm was one of the test locations for growing the Cascade hop in the 1960s. The Weathers' land holdings expanded both in size in geography, most of the family's farms are now run by his children and grandchildren.

Kurt and Rob Widmer launched Widmer Brothers in 1984. Kurt graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Oregon in 1978, then moved to Germany to work for a pharmaceutical company, registering foreign-made drugs for sale in the German market. His younger brother Rob studied business at Oregon State University in the early 1980s. The Craft Brew Alliance was formed in 2008 through a merger of Redhook Brewery and Widmer; at that time, the two companies sold stakes to Anheuser-Busch in exchange for access to a nationwide network of wholesalers. In 2015, Kurt Wider announced he would retire as CEO of the Craft Brew Alliance.

Dave Wills is the owner of Freshops, Oregon Trail Brewery, and Dave's Christmas Trees. Wills grew up in Santa Paula, California, and studied Agriculture at a junior college before transferring to Oregon State University (B.S. 1980). His early interest in home brewing was sparked by a trip through Europe, and when he returned he sought to educate himself and find others to experiment with him; he saw a sign in a natural food store advertising a “Homebrewing Class," so he tried it out. Around this same time he took a trip to the USDA hop research farm because he wanted to grow his own; this interest soon became a real job, and he sold his first hops through his company Freshops in 1982. He and Jerry Bockmore took over the management of Oregon Trail Brewing in 1993, a brewery that opened in downtown Corvallis in 1987 and closed briefly in 1992.

Ralph Woodall works in sales for Yakima-Chief Hopunion, a company he has been with since the mid-1980s. Woodall was raised in the Yakima Valley, and most of his professional career has been in the hop industry. He travelled extensively for his job, attending many festivals, trade shows, and other events. He was also active in the Master Brewers Association of America. Tom Carpenter is a fourth generation hop grower based in Granger, Washington. Carpenter's family has deep roots in the Valley; Carpenter Ranches was established in 1868 when Charles Carpenter left his hop growing family in New York to settle in the Ahtanum area of the Yakima Valley. Theirs was the first hop farm in Washington State east of the Cascade Mountains, which is now the largest hop producing region in the world. Tom Carpenter started growing hops when he was 12, selling them by the pound to his father; he has been growing the crop ever since. Later in his professional career he helped form the grower cooperative that eventually became the Yakima Chief hop company. Carpenter is largely retired now, and his children and grandchildren continue to expend their family operations.

Aaron Sarnoff-Wood is one of the co-founders of 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Oregon. Sarnoff-Wood was born in Riverside, California, where he lived for five years. In 1986 his family initially moved to Albany, but after nine months relocated to Corvallis, where Sarnoff-Wood lived until graduating from Crescent Valley High School. As a child he played soccer, had interests in sciences like field biology, and found opportunities to explore both art and graphic design. He moved to Eugene in 1999 and lived near campus, in a rundown house a couple of blocks away from where Animal House was filmed; it was in the basement of that house that he began his home brewing experiments. While at the University of Oregon Sarnoff-Wood studied Graphic Design and also worked at an independently-owned video store. After college he took a position doing design for InterVision Media, but was laid off in 2007 and began to consider a career change. He and friends Dave Takush and Lee Larsen started 2 Towns Ciderhouse in 2010.

Gary and Susan Wyatt are the founders and owners of Tumalo Hops, a farm near Bend in Central Oregon. Susan was born in Bend, and Gary was born in Reno, Nevada. They married in 1973 and moved to Tumalo in 1978. Susan stayed home with their children, but took a position at brokerage house and construction company after they were in school; she worked there until the business closed in 2008. Gary was in the Navy during Vietnam, and after his second tour he left the service. He began work at a sawmill and was laid off when the mill closed in 1992; he learned how to do carpentry, glassmaking, and electrical work. The Wyatts chose to utilize five acres of their land to grow hops, planting, cultivating, and harvesting everything by hand starting in 2008.

Veronica Vega is a Brewmaster at Deschutes Brewery, focusing on research and development. Vega grew up in Southern California, where her family had an avocado orchard. She came from a big family, and her early life was full of good food and lots of work on the farm. She moved to Northern California to attend Humboldt State University and study Botany; she wanted to be in the forest, so she chose that school because it was the farthest north without paying out of state tuition. She worked briefly in the forest service before moving to Bend. In 2006, she took a position with Deschutes Brewery as a tour guide, moving up to cellar work, production brewing, and lead brewer at the downtown pub. In 2015, she was promoted to one of the top brewer positions.

Author: Tiah Edmunson-Morton

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research. Access to the John Harris audio file is available upon patron request only.

Arrangement

Preferred Citation: Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 035), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Acquisition Note: All interviews were conducted by OSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives Research Center staff or colleagues as indicated.

Acquired: Future additions to this collection are anticipated.

Languages of Materials

English

Other

Container List

Series 1: Interviews, 2014 Add to Shelf

Digital File 1: Ockert, Carole, March 1, 2014 Add to Shelf: Carole Ockert describes the “brewing adventure” she and her husband, renowned brewer Karl Ockert, have shared, from the European backpacking trip of their youth to the extensive success of BridgePort Brewing Company. Ockert also discusses the sense of community and camaraderie that surrounded the first few Portland brewers of the 1980s. As BridgePort and its neighbors experienced growth, so too did the community’s relationships, purpose, and goals. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on March 1, 2014 at the residence of Carole and Karl Ockert in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 2: Crosby, Blake, March 7, 2014 Add to Shelf: A fifth-generation hop grower, Blake Crosby owns and operates Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn, Oregon with his father, Kevin. Since 1900, the Crosby family has grown a variety of aromatic and bittering hops on their land. In this interview, Crosby traces the trajectory of his family’s farming and business practices. Crosby also discusses his personal connection to hop growing and his interest in the changing dynamics of the craft brew-driven industry in Oregon. Crosby believes the industry’s new focus on quality and stewardship has helped bridge the urban-rural divide between consumers and growers. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on March 7, 2014 on location at Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 3: Foyston, John, March 28, 2014 Add to Shelf: John Foyston, former Oregonian beer columnist, shares his personal history in this interview, describing events that led him to write about Oregon’s emergent beer culture. Foyston recounts his time studying journalism at the University of Oregon, as well as the importance of influences like the Vietnam War and music upon his career path. After owning a motorcycle shop, Foyston was an Arts & Entertainment freelance journalist, tracking the immense growth and changes of the Portland craft beer industry. The interview was conducted by Peter Kopp, Tiah Edmunson-Morton, and Tim Hills on March 28, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 4: Aney, Warren, April 4, 2014 Add to Shelf: Warren Aney is alum of Oregon State University who received his Master’s degree in the 1970s. He went on to work as a wildlife ecologist. Aney met Charles Coury when he moved to Oregon due to their mutual interest in wine. He joined Coury’s wine association as a non-grower member. There Aney helped run their winery tours. He also took Coury’s viticulture class at PCC in 1972-3. Aney was at the dedication of the Cartwright Brewery. When he and his family moved back to Portland in the early 1990s where he started working for a travel agency leading wine tours. Aney has written a paper accepted by the Ecological Society on Oregon’s wine climates in 1974. Warren Aney is also a wine enthusiast, and in his interview talks about his friendship with Charles Coury, brewer and proprietor of the short-lived Cartwright Brewing in Portland, Oregon. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton and Korey Jackson on April 4, 2014 at Aney's home in Portland, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 5: Fahrendorf, Teri, April 19, 2014 Add to Shelf: One of the first female brewers in the modern history of the Pacific Northwest, Teri Fahrendorf is internationally recognized for her success in brewing and her educational, networking efforts. In this interview, Fahrendorf describes her first forays into brewing, including an injury which pushed her northward from the Golden Gate and Triple Rock breweries of California to Steelhead Brewing in Eugene, Oregon. The interview discusses Fahrendorf’s later “road brew” trip in depth—an adventure which led to the creation of women-driven projects like the Pink Boots Society, Barley’s Angels and International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day. Throughout the narrative, Fahrendorf stresses the importance of education and art in the brewing industry, both past and present. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on April 19, 2014 at Occidental Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon. Portions of the interview were used in the documentary history project “OHBA Stories.” The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 6: Townsend, Shaun, May 7, 2014 Add to Shelf: Dr. Shaun Townsend is the senior researcher leading Oregon State University’s Aroma Hop Breeding Program. The project, sponsored in conjunction with Indie Hops, focuses on developing experimental hop varieties which grow best in Oregon and contain aromatic properties conducive to craft brewing. In this interview, Townsend recalls the catalysts and challenges behind the program, as well as the scientific and physical processes involved in its maintenance. Townsend also discusses his role as an informational liaison to the general public in the absence of a hop-focused extension agent. Interview conducted at the OSU Experimental Hop Yard, Hwy 34, Corvallis, OR. Portions of the footage were used in the documentary history project “OHBA Stories.” The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 7: Shellhammer, Thomas, May 7, 2014 Add to Shelf: Thomas Shellhammer is the Nor’Wester Professor of Fermentation Science at OSU, where he runs a lab dedicated to the chemical and sensory analysis of hops. With his guidance, undergraduate and graduate students alike receive hands-on experience in the brewing process. In this interview, Shellhammer discusses his own path to research, as well as the trajectory of OSU’s Fermentation Science program within the Department of Food Science & Technology. Shellhammer also discusses aspects of the program related to funding and local collaborations. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on May 7, 2014 at the brewing facilities in OSU’s Wiegand Hall in Corvallis, Oregon. Interview conducted at Wiegand Hall, OSU, Corvallis, OR by Tiah Edmunson-Morton. Portions of the footage were used in the documentary history project “OHBA Stories.” The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 8: Crosby, Blake, May 16, 2014 Add to Shelf: A fifth-generation hop grower, Blake Crosby owns and operates Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn, Oregon with his father, Kevin. Since 1900, the Crosby family has grown a variety of aromatic and bittering hops. In this interview, Crosby briefly discusses the history of his family's farm before focusing on more recent changes wrought by the increasing demand of hops for craft brewing. Crosby also discusses potential market trajectories, as well as the importance of preserving agricultural history for future generations. The video concludes with a tour of the farm's pelletizer, the only machine of its kind on an Oregon farm at the time of production. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton and Korey Jackson on May 16, 2014 on location at Crosby Farms in Woodburn, Oregon. Portions of the footage were used in the documentary history project “OHBA Stories.” The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 9: Goschie, Gayle, May 16, 2014 Add to Shelf: Gayle Goschie is a third-generation hop grower and co-owner of Goschie Farms in Silverton, Oregon. She and her two brothers, Gordon and Glenn, grow hops, grapes, and other crops on land her family has cultivated for more than 100 years. In this interview, Goschie talks about the history of her family's farm and the changes that have occurred in hop growing practices due to technological advancements and economic trends. Goschie also addresses the value of a steady, loyal employee base, as well as the advent of the sustainable farming practices Goschie Farms is so recognized for. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on May 16, 2014 on location at Goschie Farms. Portions of the footage were used in the documentary history project “OHBA Stories.” The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 10: Widmer, Kurt and Rob, May 10, 2014 Add to Shelf: Rob and Kurt Widmer are the founders of one of Oregon’s most recognizable breweries, Widmer Brothers Brewing. Based out of Portland, Oregon, the brothers’ brewery helped serve as a catalyst for the Pacific Northwest craft brew revolution. In this interview, the Widmers discuss their past and current relationships with regional brewers and the local community, crediting Portland’s pioneer heritage and adventurous drinking culture as keys to their success. The brothers also discuss pieces of their business model, which helped them weather challenges inherent to the industry. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on May 10, 2014 at the Widmer Brothers Gasthaus Pub in Portland, Oregon. The video concludes with the filming of a tasting session. Portions of the footage were used in the documentary history project “OHBA Stories.” The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site
Digital File 11: Eckhardt, Fred, July 23, 2014 Add to Shelf: Fred Eckhardt was a prominent beer writer and critic whose work includes seminal brewing texts like A Treatise on Lager Beer and The Essentials of Beer Style. In this interview, he describes the events of his early life, recounting his time spent in a children’s home in Washington and his years as a U.S. Marine. Upon moving to Portland, Eckhardt became deeply involved with the burgeoning homebrewing and craft brewing movements—environments which he describes in depth in this interview. Eckhardt also offers information about early Pacific Northwest breweries like Olympia, Red Hook, Widmer Brothers, and McMenamins. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton, Tim Hills, and John Foyston on July 23, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 12: Nickerson, Gail, August 6, 2014 Add to Shelf: Gail Nickerson is a former chemist with the Department of Agriculture at Oregon State University, whose work was immensely influential in the global hop industry. In this interview, Nickerson discusses the series of event which led her to work in the research lab of USDA chemist Sam Likens. Nickerson discusses her move from dishwasher to published researcher, recounting the technology and methods utilized and developed by her research team. Of particular interest are Nickerson’s descriptions of hop analysis and the engineering of varieties with researcher Al Haunold. The interview was conducted by Peter Kopp and Tiah Edmunson-Morton on August 6, 2014 in Corvallis, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 13: Weathers, Don, September 24, 2014 Add to Shelf: Don Weathers is a second-generation hop grower in the Willamette Valley, having owned and operated several farms throughout the state, many of which are now run by his children and grandchildren. In this interview, Weathers and his wife, Rosalie, recount the early years of their childhoods and marriage. The couple discusses post-World War II farming practices, as well as the changes to hop cultivation brought by increased mechanization. Weathers also briefly recounts the emergence of organizations like the Oregon Hop Commission and joint suppliers like Yakima Chief-Hopunion. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on September 24, 2014 in the couple’s home in Keizer, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 14: Townsend, Shaun, November 3, 2014 Add to Shelf: Dr. Shaun Townsend is a senior researcher in hop breeding and genetics at Oregon State. In this interview, he discusses growing up in central Illinois, his education and research experience in agronomy at Montana State and New Mexico state, and how he came to work at Oregon State University in the hop program. He describes his passion for research in crop science, and how his career has fulfilled that. In addition, he discusses the transformation of the OSU hop breeding program to fit the needs for variety in the craft brewing industry and how he collaborates with local growers and brewers to produce optimal varieties. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on November 3, 2014 in the OSU Valley Library in Corvallis, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 15: Sage, Matt, November 11, 2014 Add to Shelf: Matt Sage is a craft brewer, vintner and hop consultant whose work has contributed to the creation and expansion of many small businesses across the Pacific Northwest. In this interview, Sage discusses his wine and beer brewing ventures, detailing the operations and company culture of businesses like Associated Vintners, BridgePort Brewing Company, Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Cameron Winery, and finally, Indie Hops (the position he held at the time of the interview). Sage focuses heavily on the production and use of beer ingredients, as well as contemporary market trends of the hop industry. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at the Indie Hops offices in Portland, Oregon on November 11, 2014. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 16: Haunold, Alfred, November 18, 2014 Add to Shelf: Dr. Haunold released the superstar hop varieties like Cascade, Willamette, Sterling, Liberty, Mt. Hood, and Santiam while he was with the USDA/ARS in Corvallis. During this interview he tells the story of the different hops he worked with, adding interesting details about people's personalities and technological advances. This interview was conducted by Shaun Townsend and Tiah Edmunson-Morton in Corvallis, Oregon on November 18, 2014. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.

Series 2: Interviews, 2015 Add to Shelf

Digital File 1: Wyatt, Susan and Gary, February 18, 2015 Add to Shelf: Gary and Susan Wyatt are the founders and owners of Tumalo Hops, a farm often regarded as the first of its kind in Central Oregon. After the economic downturn of the early 2000s, the Wyatts chose to utilize five acres of their land to grow hops, planting, cultivating, and harvesting everything by hand. In this interview, the Wyatts recount the recent economic and cultural changes of Bend, as well as the importance of capitalizing on locality when selling their product to craft and homebrewers. The Wyatts also address the growing trend of agro-tourism and the desire to stay successful yet small via the pooling of intellectual and tangible resources. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton and Miles Wilhelm on February 18, 2015 at the couple’s farm in Tumalo, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 2: Bowman, Fred, March 11, 2015 Add to Shelf: Fred Bowman is the former owner and co-founder of Portland Brewing Company, one of Oregon's first post-Prohibition micro breweries. In this interview, Bowman discusses the biological and mechanical skills and interests that led him to found a brewery in Portland with Jim Goodwin and Art Larrance in 1986. Bowman talks at length about his life before Portland Brewing Co., detailing an extensive trip to Europe, his enlistment in the Army Reserves, and a 16-year stint working for a Volkswagen distributor. Bowman also discusses the challenges surrounding Portland Brewing Company's first years of operation, as well as his eventual decision to branch off as an independent consultant. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at Bowman's home in Portland, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 3: Firmat, Irene, May 4, 2015 Add to Shelf: Irene Firmat is the founder and CEO of Full Sail Brewing Company, located in Hood River, Oregon. In this interview, she recalls her childhood as a Cuban immigrant in New York and the changes that brought her to Oregon as a buyer for department store Meier & Frank. Firmat also recounts the creation of Full Sail Brewing (originally known as Hood River Brewing) and the process of crafting a company culture of mutual respect and collaboration. In addition, Firmat discusses former and projected market trends of the craft beer industry, emphasizing her desire to witness a return to the quality-driven production of Portland’s flagship breweries of the 1980s. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on May 4, 2015 at the Full Sail Brewery in Hood River, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 4: Hoerner Rich, Joy, May 20, 2015 Add to Shelf: The daughter of OSU hops specialist G.R. Hoerner, Joy Hoerner Rich graduated from OSU in the 1940s with a degree in Home Economics. In this interview, Hoerner Rich describes the atmosphere of campus and the Corvallis area during World War II, emphasizing the influences of the draft and the proximity of Camp Adair. After graduation, Hoerner Rich and her husband moved to Roseburg, Oregon, where she spent several decades as a kindergarten teacher and early childhood education expert. Hoerner Rich also details the work habits and duties of her father during his time at OSU and Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on May 20, 2015 at Hoerner Rich’s residence in Roseburg, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 5: Sidor, Larry, November 6, 2015 Add to Shelf: Larry Sidor is the founder and brewmaster of Crux Fermentation Project, a brewery and tasting room in Bend, Oregon. A graduate of Oregon State University, Sidor allowed practicality to push him toward the food sciences—a decision which ultimately led to a prolonged passion for making wine and beer. In this interview, Sidor discusses the company culture and economic trends of his former places of employment: Olympia Brewing, hop merchant SS Steiner, and Deschutes Brewing. He stresses the need for trust and relationships in both the macro- and microbrewery settings, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a “farm to table mentality.” The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton and Chris Peterson on November 6, 2015 in Corvallis, Oregon. This interview has also been described in the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 026).The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 6: Edgerton, Jeff, November 18, 2015 Add to Shelf: Jeff Edgerton has been the master brewer at BridgePort Brewing Company since 2010. In this interview, he recounts his path from Blitz-Weinhard lab technician to BridgePort quality assurance manager and brewmaster. After earning a degree in microbiology at Oregon State University, Edgerton brought the practices of quality and consistency he learned at Blitz-Weinhard to the increasingly popular BridgePort Brewing in 1998. Edgerton explains the brewing industry as a “lifestyle career,” one which encouraged him to pursue further involvement with the Master Brewers Association and collaborate with OSU’s Fermentation Science students. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on November 18, 2015 at BridgePort Brewing in Portland, Oregon. This interview has also been described in the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 026). The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 7: Flanagan, Mick, November 18, 2016 Add to Shelf: Mick Flanagan, a mechanic at BridgePort Brewing Company, has worked for the brewery since 1989. The interview was conducted at the BridgePort Brewing Company in Portland on November 18, 2016 by Tiah Edmunson-Morton. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 8: Harris, John, December 9, 2015 Add to Shelf: Born and raised in Portland, brewer John Harris has worked in Oregon's oldest craft breweries. He was a brewer at McMenamins' Hillsdale Brewery & Public House and Cornelius Pass Roadhouse (1986-1988), was the first employee and head brewer at Deschutes Brewery in Bend (1988-1992), and ran the Full Sail South Waterfront Brewery in Portland (1992-2012) before opening Ecliptic Brewing in North Portland in 2013. In this interview Harris talks about growing up in Portland, attending Portland State University as a theater major, and working in the evolving craft industry for 30 years. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on December 9, 2015 at Ecliptic Brewery, 825 N Cook St in Portland, Oregon. This interview is not available online. Reference access is available upon patron request.

Series 3: Interviews, 2016 Add to Shelf

Digital File 1: Annen, John, February 10, 2016 Add to Shelf: Oral history interview with John Annen, fourth generation hop grower in Mount Angel, Oregon. Annen talks about the farming history of his family, the hop growing community in Oregon and the Oregon Hop Commission, mechanization of harvesting and processing practices, labor, diversification of the hops varieties grown, and working with macro and craft brewers. The interview was conducted at the Annen Farm in Mount Angel on February 10, 2016 by Tiah Edmunson-Morton. Also present was Nancy Sites, administrator for the Oregon Hop Commission. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 2: Garves, Dana, February 19, 2016 Add to Shelf: Dana Garves is a brewing chemist who owns and operates BrewLab, a company that provides chemical analyses for breweries, cideries, meaderies, and home brewers. In this interview, Garves talks about her early interest in studying Chemistry, her experiences attending the University of Oregon, her interest in STEM education for girls, her work at Ninkasi, and her decision to start her own company. Garves also talks at length about the Ninkasi Space Launch, a year long project that she was involved with as a chemist. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on February 19, 2016 at Garves' lab in Eugene. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 3: Crabb, Chris, June 2, 2016 Add to Shelf: Chris Crabb is the public relations director of the Oregon Brewers Festival and owner of public relations firm Crabbsoup. In this interview, she discusses her work as public relations manager of multiple beer-related accounts, emphasizing the advent of social media and the importance—and enjoyment—of forging local networks. Having been involved with the Oregon Brewers Festival for more than twenty years, Crabb offers insight regarding the organization and atmosphere of the popular event. Crabb also recounts the cultural climates of Portland and Eugene during her adolescent and collegiate years. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 2, 2016 at the City of Portland Archives and Records Management office. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 4: Cox, Theodore, June 7, 2016 Add to Shelf: Theodore “Ted” Cox is the founder and owner of the Old World Deli complex in Corvallis, Oregon, which houses the Oregon Trail Brewery and several galleries in addition to the restaurant. In this interview, Cox discusses the events which led him to open the deli, including two stints with the Peace Corps. Cox also covers his time as a student, teacher and volleyball coach at Oregon State University and Linn Benton Community College, where he studied and taught physical education. A regional history aficionado, Cox shares several stories and anecdotes about Corvallis and Prohibition-era brewing practices. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 7, 2016 at Cox’s home in Corvallis. This interview has also been described in the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 026). The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 5: Hedgmon, Lee, June 9, 2016 Add to Shelf: Lee Hedgmon is a Portland-based home and commercial brewer. She is active in the Oregon Brew Crew (serving as their first female president in 2015), Ladies of Lager Ales, and Pink Boots Society, working to increase the number of women in brewing. In addition to brewing, in this interview Hedgmon talks about growing up in Portland, her work as a youth activist, experiences as a student at PCC and PSU, activism in the queer community, involvement with JobCorp in Astoria, work in the hotel industry in Portland, and graduate work in the University of Minnesota Feminist Studies program. She shares stories on her early homebrewing adventures and experiences, as well as her transition to paid positions at Coalition Brewing, Portland U Brew, FA Steinbarts, Pints, and Groundbreaker. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 9, 2016 at The Valley Library in Corvallis. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 6: Pullman, Mellie, June 17, 2016 Add to Shelf: Dr. Mellie Pullman is a professor at Portland State University, where she is the Director of the Business of Craft Brewing Program. In this interview, Pullman talks about growing up in Chicago, traveling through the country and taking classes at The Evergreen State College before settling in Park City, Utah, where she became the first female brewmaster in the US at Schirf Brewing (1986). Pullman talks about what it was like to be a woman in male dominated industries, working at Cornell University, moving to Portland, and how her research focus shifted from food to beer. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 17, 2016 at Pullman’s home in Portland. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 7: Engdahl, Emily, June 17, 2016 Add to Shelf: Emily Engdahl is the Executive Director of The Pink Boots Society. In her interview, Engdahl talks about the importance of an educational and outreach organization such as Pink Boots for women working in the brewing industries, as well as about growing up in Portland, creating PDX Beer Geeks and Oregon Beer Country, and her work as an artist and graphic designer. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 17, 2016 at the McMenamins Mission Theater in Portland. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 8: Baldwin, Natalie, June 17, 2016 Add to Shelf: Natalie Baldwin, brewer at Burnside Brewing, talks about growing up in Vail, Colorado, moving to Portland, and learning about brewing. Baldwin is known for pushing the boundaries of classic styles, and she addresses how her mentors in brewing have encouraged her experimentation. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 17, 2016 at the McMenamins Mission Theater in Portland. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 9: Leikam, Sonia Marie, June 17, 2016 Add to Shelf: Sonia Marie Leikam owns Leikam Brewing with her husband, but also works full-time at the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation. In her interview, Leikam talks about growing up in the Bay Area, moving to Portland to attend Lewis & Clark College, the evolution of her Jewish faith, teaching in Portland area schools, starting the brewery (Community Supported Brewery, Kosher certified), balancing work and family, and her work as an educator and human rights advocate. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 17, 2016 at the McMenamins Mission Theater in Portland. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 10: Kent, Jennifer, July 7, 2016 Add to Shelf: Jennifer Kent is the brewer at the McMenamins Thompson Brewery & Public House. In her interview, Kent talks about her early childhood in Alaska and Colorado; memories of growing up in Newport, Oregon; her family and mother's art career; work in the food service industry; her career at McMenamins as a brewer; the art of brewing and brewing community in the region; and being a woman in a male dominated brewing industry. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on July 7, 2016 at the McMenamins Thompson Brewery & Public House in Salem, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 11: Smith, Blair, October 5, 2016 Add to Shelf: Blair Smith is the owner, orchardist, and cider-maker for Apple Outlaw. In his interview, Smith talks about growing up in Stockton, CA and his work as a software engineer in Livermore; moving to rural Oregon and learning about running an organic orchard; and the transition from non-alcoholic to hard cider. More generally, Blair talks about how his family has focused on community involvement and environmental responsibility. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on October 5, 2016 at Apple Outlaw in Applegate, Oregon. Also present was Maureen Battistella, who works to document the Southern Oregon wine industry. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 12: Seghetti, Guy, October 6, 2016 Add to Shelf: Guy Seghetti worked as a USDA Hops and Essential Oils lab and agricultural technician at OSU from 1968-1977. In his interview, Seghetti talks about growing up in Corvallis, his time at University of Utah while pursuing a degree in Anthropology, and his experiences as a technician in Corvallis. Specifically, Seghetti provides personal observation about the breeding program, with anecdotes and details about this crucial time in hops history with the release of the Cascade and other hops in the 1970s. Seghetti left the program in 1977 to teach Social Science for Roseburg, Oregon, public schools; he retired in 2008. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on October 6, 2016 in Roseburg, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 13: Allen, Lisa, October 20, 2016 Add to Shelf: Lisa Allen is a brewer at Heater Allen Brewing in McMinnville. In her interview, Allen discusses growing up in Tualatin; her junior year spent in Moraga, California; her experiences at OSU in the early 2000s, and her travels to New Zealand. After graduating, Allen worked in the wine industry, starting with harvest and then working in tasting rooms. In 2009, Allen left the wine industry to join her father at Heater Allen Brewing, which he'd opened in 2007 after a long career as an investment banker; Rick Allen joins the interview at the end to discuss the origins and operations of the brewery, especially their choice to focus on German lagers and pilsners. Allen also discusses her experiences as a woman in the brewing industry, as well as what it is like to brew in the middle of Oregon's wine country. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on October 20, 2016 in McMinnville, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 14: Pedersen, Sarah, October 20, 2016 Add to Shelf: Sarah Pederson is the owner of Saravesa, a bar, bottle shop, and breweriana showroom in North Portland. In this interview she discusses growing up in a small town in Wisconsin, going to college in Minneapolis, living and working in Los Angeles, and moving to Portland. Pederson shares stories of her work doing Public Relations for a High Tech firm and working for her friend at the patisserie and bar Pix, as well as education at the American Brewer's Guild, early jobs at the breweries Hair of the Dog and the New Old Lompoc Bar, and opening of Saravesa in 2008. At the end of the interview, Pederson talks about being a woman working in a male dominated industry. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on October 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 15: Almlie, Kyle, October 27, 2016 Add to Shelf: Kyle Almlie is a graduate teaching assistant in the chemistry department of Oregon State University, as well as a home brewer. In this interview, he compares living in Corvallis to growing up in Chico, California, his growing knowledge and passion for both teaching and chemistry, and the challenges of participating in beer and homebrew culture while also being gluten-free. Kyle also discusses the chemistry behind brewing gluten-free beers and different kinds of mead, the chemistry of alpha acids in hops, and how that all ties back into his experience as an analytical chemist. This past spring, Kyle won awards both for his work as a TA and for a poster about his work developing equipment for fluorescence spectroscopy in the Sean Burrows, and he also reflects on those experiences. The interview was conducted by Gillian Bergmann on October 27, 2016 in the Valley Library in Corvallis. Also present was Tiah Edmunson-Morton, director of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 16: Allen, Rick, November 16, 2016 Add to Shelf: Rick Allen is the owner and head brewer at Heater Allen. In his interview, Allen shares stories about his family's deep roots at OSU, dating to his grandmother and grandfather's time OAC in the 1910s and daughter's graduation in the 2000s. He also discusses his time as a student at OSU in the early 1970s, including the campus climate, student perspective on the administration, and campus traditions linked to his fraternity (Beta Theta Pi). After university, Allen took a position as an investment banker in Portland, with short moves to Washington and California for employment; he left that field in the early 2000s. An avid home brewer, Allen considered a second career as a vintner, but decided to open a brewery in 2007 in McMinnville, Oregon. In the latter part of his interview, Allen discusses the important influences on his brewing style, experiences operating a brewery in Oregon's wine country, and issues facing small breweries in 2016. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on November 16, 2016 in McMinnville, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.

Series 4: Interviews, 2017 Add to Shelf

Digital File 1: Norton, Don, January 18, 2017 Add to Shelf: Don Norton is the owner of Norton Hop Farm, a small organic hop farm established in Goshen, Oregon in 2008. In his interview, Norton talks about growing up in the Eugene area, experiences installing and running his 1-acre farm, and work with an herbal supply company. Norton also addresses some of his concerns as a small grower, including outlets for selling his product and expansion. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton and Michelle McKay in Bend, Oregon at the Hop Growers of America Conference on January 18, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 2: Crosby, Brian, January 18, 2017 Add to Shelf: Brian Crosby is a fourth generation Crosby hop family member, and works as an accounts manager. In his interview, Crosby talks extensively about the family farm and relationships, including how he learned about farm operations and the impact of mechanization on the industry. He also discusses more current topics, such as the shift towards Salmon-Safe Certified farming practices and innovative processing techniques. Crosby served in the US Navy, retuning from service to attend Oregon State University 1984-1988, receiving his BS in Civil Engineering and playing in the the Oregon State Rugby Club while in school. He was a commercial construction manager before returning to the farm business. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton and Michelle McKay in Bend, Oregon at the Hop Growers of America Conference on January 18, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 3: Gillson, Cheryl, January 19, 2017 Add to Shelf: Cheryl Gillson works as a marketing and manager at Rogue Farms in Independence, Oregon. In her interview, Gillson talks about growing up in California, working as Jack Joyce's assistant at Rogue Ales & Spirits, traveling and living abroad, and returning to Rogue to work on their farm in Independence as a "beer farmer." She talks extensively about the crops they grow, and the impact learning about farming has had on her life. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton and Michelle McKay in Bend, Oregon at the Hop Growers of America Conference on January 19, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 4: Shellhammer, Thomas, February 14, 2017 Add to Shelf: Dr. Thomas Shellhammer is the Nor’Wester Professor of Fermentation Science and is an internationally recognized expert in hops chemistry. In this interview he talks about growing up in San Jose, early memories of his father's work as a field biologist studying fire ecology and his mother's work as an arts educator, and his early interest in the sciences. He also discusses his food and fermentation sciences education at UC Davis, internships or work experiences during his path from BS to PhD, and early impressions of Oregon State's Food and Fermentation program. Shellhammer also discusses topics such as the demographics of the industries over time, as well as his observations of the industry's patterns of growth and contraction. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at Weigand Hall on OSU's campus on February 14, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 5: Larsen, Lee, February 20, 2017 Add to Shelf: Lee Larsen is one of the founders of 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Oregon. In this interview, he talks about growing up in Corvallis and experiences living in Barcelona, Spain during high school. Specifically, Larsen reflects on the cultural differences around the drinking and production of alcohol in Spain and the U.S., as well as his early exposure to the astringent Basque ciders he encountered. Larsen also talks about his time at OSU studying Finance (BS 2008) and his early interest in home brewing. Larsen ends the interview talking about establishing 2 Towns with Aaron Sarnoff-Wood in 2010, the addition of Dave Takush in 2011, and the company culture. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at 2 Towns Ciderhouse on February 20, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 6: Takush, Dave, February 20, 2017 Add to Shelf: Dave Takush is the head cider maker at 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Oregon. In his interview, Takush talks about growing up in Corvallis, his undergraduate and graduate studies in Fermentation Science and Oenology at OSU (BS 2007, MS 2009), and his work as a winemaker in Eugene. Takush also shares information about New World (modern) apple and Traditional (heritage) apples, specifically as it relates to their commitment as a business to bring back the traditional cider style, concerns over cider apple supply, experiences finding and grafting new varieties of apple trees, opportunities to work with both local orchardists and the local community, and the importance of agricultural history. Takush also talks about the early company history, working with Lee Larsen and Aaron Sarnoff-Wood, and the company culture. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at 2 Towns Ciderhouse on February 20, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 7: Kirk, Nathan, February 21, 2017 Add to Shelf: Dr. Nathan Kirk is a teaches in OSU's Department of Integrative Biology, specializing in Marine Ecology. In this interview, Dr. Kirk talks about growing up in New York state, his early research interests and education, his experiences in his graduate program at State University of New York at Buffalo and doctoral program at Auburn University (Alabama). He also talks about his experiences as a home brewer, specifically as it related to the culture in Alabama and his own brewing practices. This interview was conducted by Gillian Bergmann and Tiah Edmunson-Morton in Cordley Hall on OSU's campus on February 21, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 8: Stevens, Hilda, February 22, 2017 Add to Shelf: Hilda Stevens owns Bazi Bierbrasserie, a Belgian-style beer taproom and soccer bar in SE Portland. In her interview, Stevens talks about immigrating from Guatemala when she was 8 years old, living and going to school in The Woodlands (a community north of Houston, Texas), attending St Mary's University in San Antonio, her early work with business and marketing companies, experiences traveling through the US and internationally, and her work establishing Bazi. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at Bazi Bierbrasserie in Portland Oregon on February 22, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 9: Sarnoff-Wood, Aaron, February 24, 2017 Add to Shelf: Aaron Sarnoff-Wood is one of the co-founders of 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Oregon. In this interview, Sarnoff-Wood talks about growing up in Corvallis, his early interest in art and graphic design, attending the University of Oregon, work in the graphic design industry, and the decision to open a cider-making company with Lee Larsen. Sarnoff-Wood also reflects on the evolution and growth of the cider industry, as well as how the company has changed with its increase in size. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Oregon on February 24, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 10: Clawson, Jeffrey, February 27, 2017 Add to Shelf: Jeff Clawson has worked for the Department of Food Science and Technology as the research brewery and food processing manager since 1993. In his interview, Clawson talks about growing up in Davis, California, where his father was a University of California Extension Agent and his mom worked as a department admin assistant. He also shares his early memories of Davis, thoughts on campus and city culture, and his decision to move to Oregon to attend Eastern Oregon College (now Eastern Oregon University) in LaGrande, where he studied Agribusiness. It was in college that Clawson took a class in brewing, which became a personal hobby and ultimately led to a career. He talks about transferring to OSU to finish his BS, adding a food science minor and working with Mina McDaniel on sensory analysis; about working for NORPAC Foods in Stayton after graduation; about returning to OSU for graduate school in 1991 to study Rangeland Resources and Water Quality; and finally about returning to the food sciences in 1993. Clawson talks about the gift from James Bernau that facilitated building the pilot research brewery and establishing the Nor'Wester endowed professorship, the evolution of the program, and the future of brewing education at OSU. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at the Valley Library in Corvallis, Oregon on February 27, 2017. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 11: Tobin, Jeff, Kathy, and Gillian, February 28, 2017 Add to Shelf: Jeff, Kathy and Gillian Tobin are the owners of Mazama Brewing Company, which was founded in Corvallis, Oregon in 2012. In this interview, Jeff Tobin discusses his childhood in Michigan, being interested in both science and music at school, and how those interests lead him to studying electronic engineering at Michigan Technical University. He also discusses how he and his wife Kathy were introduced to home brewing by peers at the university, and how they developed their skills in German styles. Jeff then recounts his career path from International Business Machines (IBM) in Vermont to Hewlett Packard (HP) in Colorado and Corvallis, Oregon, noting the birth of his children, Gillian and Riley, during that time. Kathy then joins the interview and she, along with Gillian and Jeff, discuss how they decided to open Mazama brewing, the importance of community involvement and the overlap between their relationships as family and business partners. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at the Mazama Brewing taproom in Corvallis, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 12: Loranz, Nick, March 2, 2017 Add to Shelf: Nick Lorenz is one of the founders and owners of Nectar Creek Mead, which opened up in October of 2012. In this interview, Lorenz discusses growing up with his brother Phillip in Corvallis, their early involvement in farming and value-added agriculture, and his individual interests in soccer and pottery. He then discusses how he decided to go to the University of Vermont studying ecological agriculture, his journey towards giving up soccer and the summer jobs he held as a raft guide and orchard staff member. In addition to this, Lorenz elaborates on his brother’s college education in apiculture/fermentation science and work in commercial beekeeping, and how those experiences lead to the opening of the meadery after years of planning to run a business together. Lorenz then details the growth Nectar Creek has experienced since starting, and how he incorporates his value of personal connection into their involvement in the community and their employment model. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at the Nectar Creek Meadery in Corvallis, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 13: McKay, Mark, March 8, 2017 Add to Shelf: Mark McKay is a sixth generation hop grower in St. Paul, Oregon. In his interview, McKay talks about his family history, growing up on the farm, crops they have grown, why his dad got out of the hops business, and things he learned from his father and the community. He also talks about establishing a hop farm in Independence in the 1990s with his brother Dean, industry labor practices and regulations, the challenges of an evolving industry, agro-tourism, the impact of technology on farming, as well as his thoughts on the future of farming and his hopes for his children’s involvement in the industry. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at McKay's house in St. Paul, Oregon on March 8, 2017. Also present was McKay's daughter, Michelle. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 14: Coleman, Bill, March 8, 2017 Add to Shelf: Bill Coleman is part of a large multigenerational hop growing family, primarily based in St. Paul and Mt. Angel. In his interview Coleman talks about his family’s history with hops in the Willamette Valley, growing up in a farming family, jobs he did as a child and adult, and the strong work ethic and values that were part of his upbringing. He also talks about the rapid expansion of farm land his family experienced in the 1950s through 1970s, the locations of the farms throughout the counties of the Valley, business relationships with other farming families and the monks at Mt. Angel Abbey, labor history and changes over time, and technologies he developed to improve efficiencies. He addresses the roles of different family members in current company structure, how to hand down knowledge through generations, and how they value communication. He shares his thoughts on his own travels and the value he places on meeting new people and appreciating the place he is from. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at Bill Coleman's sister's house in Mt. Angel, Oregon on March 8, 2017. Also present was Coleman's sister Jane Wavra and great niece Michelle McKay. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 15: Morrison, Lisa, March 15, 2017 Add to Shelf: Lisa Morrison is the majority owner at Belmont Station in Portland. In her interview, Morrison talks about growing up in Oklahoma, moving to Colorado for high school, and college experiences at Colorado State University. It was at CSU that her interest in imported and local microbrews was sparked. After graduating with a degree in Technical Journalism, Morrison was a television news reporter and anchor, a career she continued after moving to Portland in 1989. In addition to exploring the rapidly expanding beer culture in Portland, she began home brewing with her husband and soon joined the Oregon Brew Crew. Soon this personal interest or avocation turned into a career when she started to write about beer for local and national publications, and then later a radio show where she interviewed people from all aspects of the brewing community. Morrison talks about her process for identifying and chronicling beer culture, experiences as a woman in the journalism and brewing industries, beer education/appreciation classes she taught (including Sud Sisters, Barleys Angels), experiences mentoring and encouraging exploration of styles, and her impact on the industry, as well as her work establishing well-known festivals like PDX Beer Week, Craft Beer Month, and Fred Fest. The interview was conducted on March 15, 2017 by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at Belmont Station in Portland, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 16: Nance, Gary, March 17, 2017 Add to Shelf: Gary Nance is the brewer at the McMenamins on Monroe in Corvallis, Oregon. Nance started brewing professionally in 1995, working as the assistant brewer at Spencer's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Springfield, Oregon, where he helped develop Oregon's first certified organic ale in 1998. After Spencer's closed, he had short stints working at West Bros. and Steelhead before taking a job at the McMenamins Thompson Brewery and Public House in Salem in August 2002. Nance moved to the new Monroe Street facility when it opened in 2006. In his interview, Nance talks about growing up in Oklahoma, moving to the West Coast, living in Eugene, his growing interest in brewing, and his experiences at several different breweries in different cities. He also talks about McMenamins culture and balancing brewing experimentation with the expected standardization in a company. The interview was conducted on March 17, 2017 by Tiah Edmunson-Morton in the McMenamins Monroe brewery in Corvallis, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 17: Clack, Brad, March 22, 2017 Add to Shelf: Brad Clack is a retired hop buyer for SS Steiner (now Hopsteiner). In his interview, Clack talks about his family's farm work on the Oregon coast, growing up in Salem, Oregon, and changes in the hop industry since he started in 1978. Clack also talks about the importance of the relationships in the industry and challenges for handing down knowledge, as well as his experiences managing the hop marketing orders. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on March 22, 2017 at the Hopsteiner offices in Brookes, Oregon. Also present was Michelle McKay. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 18: Perkins, Sybil, March 27, 2017 Add to Shelf: Sybil Perkins is the brand director and a board member for the Pink Boots Society. In her interview, Perkins talks about growing up in the Eugene/Springfield area, her interest and passion for arts and music, her early and evolving work as an activist, her experiences living in Philadelphia and New York City, and her return to the west coast to the greater Seattle area. She talks specifically about her work doing graphic design and marketing work with the brewing industry, her views on gender and inclusion, and how the mission and outreach of the Pink Boots Society has expanded over the past few years. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on March 27, 2017 at Perkins' home in Snohomish, Washington. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 19: Schumacher, Robyn, March 27, 2017 Add to Shelf: Robyn Schumacher is a brewer at Stoup Brewing in Seattle's Ballard district. In her interview, Schumacher talks about growing up in Spokane, her early interest in sports and science, and about choosing to go to Carroll College to study biology in Helena, Montana. Schumacher also discusses her early career as a high school teacher and factors that influenced her decision to shift to jobs in the restaurant and brewing industries. She talks specifically about learning to home brew, studying for the cicerone exam (she was the first woman in Washington to be certified), exploring the brewing community, and the story of her co-ownership of Stoup. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on March 27, 2017 at Stoup Brewing in Seattle, Washington. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 20: Woodall, Ralph, March 28, 2017 Add to Shelf: Ralph Woodall works in sales for Yakima-Chief Hopunion, a company he has been with since the mid-1980s. In his interview, Woodall talks about his family history in the Yakima Valley, his work in the hop industry, his present role in the larger YCH company, and the changes in the Master Brewers Association of America with the decrease in large regional breweries and the emergence of the craft industry. Woodall also shows a number of pictures from festivals, trade shows, and other events he took over the years. Of special note are the pictures of NW brewers. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on March 28, 2017 at Yakima-Chief Hopunion in Yakima, Washington. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 21: Carpenter, Tom, March 28, 2017 Add to Shelf: Tom Carpenter is a 4th generation hop grower based in Granger, Washington. In his interview, Carpenter talks about the history of hops in the Yakima Valley, his families' important role in the grower cooperative that eventually became Yakima Chief, the role of family in their business, and the role of Native Americans in the hops industry. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on March 28, 2017 at Carpenter Ranch in Granger, Washington. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 22: Coleman, John, April 19, 2017 Add to Shelf: John Coleman is a hop grower based in St. Paul, Oregon. He manages the hops and perennial crops for Coleman Ag, a large family run company. In his interview Coleman talks about growing up in St. Paul, working on the farm, and attending OSU in the 1980s. He also talks extensively about the family business, including their partnership with Rogue Ales and the farm in Independence, potential collaboration with the brewery at the Abbey in Mount Angel, and ways he thinks the company can continue to grow or change to meet new needs. The interview was conducted by Michelle McKay in St. Paul, Oregon on April 19, 2017. Also present was Tiah Edmunson-Morton. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 23: Wills, Dave, April 24, 2017 Add to Shelf: Dave Wills is the owner of Freshops, Oregon Trail Brewery, and Dave's Christmas Trees. In his interview, Wills talks about growing up in Southern California, moving to Oregon to attend OSU, and how his early interest in home brewing was sparked by a trip through Europe. He details the early home brewing community in Corvallis, establishing Fresh Hops to supply the home brewing community, and the evolution of Oregon Trail Brewing, which opened in October 1987. Wills also discusses changes he's seen in the local and state brewing industry, the hops supply business, and the consumers. This interview was conducted by Michelle McKay and Tiah Edmunson-Morton on April 24, 2017 at Oregon Trail Brewery in Corvallis Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 24: Conn, Denny, May 1, 2017 Add to Shelf: Denny Conn is a home brewer, author, and podcaster. In his interview, Conn talks about his time playing and touring with rock bands, his work as an audio engineer, and how he became involved with home brewing. Conn is known for his experimental brewing techniques, and he details the evolution of his own brewing, how challenging traditional method or ingredients can advance a home brewers, his partnership with Drew Beechum in writing and podcasting, and the ways he's seen home brewing change over time. This interview was conducted on May 1, 2017 at the Valley Library in Corvallis, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 25: Dettwyler, William, May 17, 2017 Add to Shelf: William Dettwyler grew up on a hop farm in Silverton, Oregon. In his interview he talks extensively about his family farm, processing facilities, and operations in the 1930s through the 1950s. This interview was conducted by Michelle McKay and Tiah Edmunson-Morton on May 17, 2017 in the Valley Library in Corvallis, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 26: Just, Jessica, May 25, 2017 Add to Shelf: Jessica Just is the Director of Technical Services for Brew Dr. Kombucha in Portland, Oregon. Just was one of the first three graduates, and first female, from the OSU Fermentation Science program in the Food Science Department, which was established in 1995. In her interview Just discusses growing up in Portland, early home brewing experiences, her undergraduate and graduate work at OSU in the 1990s, work with the wine industry in California, and time in London and work with the local chapter of the Campaign for Real Ale. She also talks about moving back to Corvallis to take a job as an academic advisor and instructor for the Fermentation Science program, and her new job at Brew Dr. Kombucha. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on May 25, 2017 at the Valley Library in Corvallis, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 27: Rea, Joel, June 8, 2017 Add to Shelf: Joel Rea is the owner of Corvallis Brewing Supply. In his interview Rea talks about his early life in Kirkland, Washington; moving to Albany, Oregon in elementary school; his college work in environmental studies and the fine arts, and his decision to change careers to open a home brew shop. He also discusses his experiments with fermentation, brewers he's worked with and mentored, challenges to operate a supply shop in the Internet age, and how he's seen consumers evolve since the shop opened in 1997. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 8, 2017 at Corvallis Brewing Supply in downtown Corvallis. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 28: Fish, Gary, June 12, 2017 Add to Shelf: Gary Fish is the founder and board president of Deschutes Brewery. In his interview, Fish talks about growing up in California, his early career in the restaurant industries in Utah, and the establishment of the brewery in Bend. He also discusses the evolution of the city of Bend, as well how the company has grown and expanded. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 12, 2017 in Bend, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 29: Vega, Veronica, June 12, 2017 Add to Shelf: Veronica Vega is a Brewmaster at Deschutes Brewery, focusing on research and development. In her interview, Vega talks about growing up in Southern California, her college time at Humboldt State University studying Botany, her brief stint in the forest service, and her move to Bend. Vega also discusses how her work has changed at the company, including her movement up the company, starting as a tour guide and moving up to one of the top brewer position. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 12, 2017 in Bend, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.
Digital File 30: Ockert, Karl, June 13, 2017 Add to Shelf: Karl Ockert is the Director of Brewery Operations at Deschutes Brewery. In his interview, Ockert talks about his childhood adventures, including home brewing with his mom, as well as his education at Humboldt State University and UC Davis, his role as the first brewer at BridgePort Brewing in Portland from 1984 to 1990, his time at Anheuser Busch in Newark, his return to BridgePort in 1996, his work at the Master Brewers Association of America as the Technical Director and as a professional brewing consultant, and his position at Deschutes Brewery. Ockert also talks about how he has seen the industry change and concerns he has about acquisitions of microbreweries by macro breweries. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on June 13, 2017 in Bend, Oregon. The transcribed audio is available online through the Voices of Northwest Brewing site.

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OHBA oral history interviewees clockwise from left: Blake Crosby, Sonia Marie Leikam, Lee Hedgmon, Jeff Edgerton, Emily Engdahl, Dana Garves, Mellie Pullman, Tom Shellhammer, Teri Farendorf, Larry Sidor, Shaun Townsend, John Annen, Gayle Goschie, Natalie Baldwin.

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