Tony Lawrence Oral History Interview

Tony Lawrence is the co-founder and Brewmaster at Boneyard Brewery. In this interview, Lawrence talks about growing up in Southern California, beach and hot rod culture, his interest in snowboarding, his move to Tahoe and Bend to pursue snowboarding, his work on Mt. Bachelor on the ski lifts in the late 1980s, and his early experiences working for Deschutes Brewery in the kitchen. He also talks about being persuaded by John Harris to start brewing (since washing kegs is better than washing dishes).

Taking advantage of Deschutes education program, Lawrence attended the Siebel Institute of Technology for brewing classes; he also took community college classes in welding. Lawrence left Deschutes in 2002 to take a job with former Deschutes brewer Tim Gossack at his brewery Rio Salado in Phoenix, Arizona. Lawrence left Arizona in the mid-2000s to pursue an opportunity at Firestone Walker in their packaging line, where he worked for a year until beginning consulting work. It was in his travels and exposure to other brewing facilities that Lawrence was motivated to design his own brewery, Boneyard, which was located in a garage and constructed out of pieces of equipment he had collected while consulting.

Lawrence talks about his co-founders, Clay and Melodee Storey, the early years and brews, and the company’s growth and development. He concludes with thoughts on future projects and areas of growth for the industry.