Gary Nance Oral History Interview

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.