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Fred Bowman Papers, 1983-2010

By Tiah Edmunson-Morton, Mary Williams

Collection Overview

Title: Fred Bowman Papers, 1983-2010

Predominant Dates: 1983-2001

ID: MSS Bowman

Primary Creator: Bowman, Fred, 1944-

Extent: 9.11 gigabytes. More info below.

Arrangement: The Fred Bowman Papers consists of two series: 1. Digitized Photographs, 1985-1988, and 2. Digitized Documents, 1983-2010.

Date Acquired: 00/00/2015

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

Fred Bowman co-founded Portland Brewing Company in 1986. The Fred Bowman Papers include digitized versions of photographs showing the renovation of the original Portland Brewing location and early events at the brewery. The digitized documents include news articles, business documents, and a personal pocketbook with handwritten notes.

The digitized photographs in this collection are available in Oregon Digital. The other digitized materials in this collection are available for reference use upon patron request.

These materials were provided to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2015 for digitization. The original items have been retained by Bowman.

Scope and Content Notes

The Fred Bowman Papers include digitized versions of photographs showing the renovation of the original Portland Brewing location and early events at the brewery. The digitized documents include news articles, business documents, and a personal pocketbook with handwritten notes.

The photographs, 204 in total, show the extensive building renovations, brewing operations, and public events at the brewery at 1339 NW Flanders. Of special note are are pictures of equipment delivery, Portland Brewing's first brew with Frank Commanday, Fred Bowman, Art Larrance and Bert Grant tasting; and the pub's opening party. All the digitized photographs in this series are available are available in Oregon Digital.

Also included in this collection is a digitized scrapbook with news articles, beer labels, and photographs collected by Bowman; a folder with news articles, business documents for Portland Brewing, and correspondence, and a personal pocketbook with handwritten tasting notes, promotional brainstorming, contacts, and equipment information (1984-1985). “FB.B” files are from the scrapbook; “FB.F” are from the folder of documents; and “FB.PB” are from the personal notebook. These materials were provided to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2015 for digitization. The original items have been retained by Bowman. Reference access to these materials is available upon patron request.

Biographical / Historical Notes

Fred Bowman co-founded Portland Brewing Company in 1986. Bowman was born in San Francisco in 1944. He moved to Montana; to Empire, Oregon in elementary school; and finally settled in Hillsboro, Oregon where he has spent most of his life. His first job was 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 in 1963, 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.

Bowman started homebrewing after receiving a “How To” guide from high school friend Jim Goodwin, who was also a talented jazz musician. Bowman and Goodwin made test batches of beer in the basement of Bowman’s Beaverton, Oregon home. They were soon joined by high school friend Art Larrance, who gave them positive feedback. They decided to open a brewery but didn’t have the resources to fund a business or know-how to run a brewery, so Bowman looked for a consultant to hire. Initially, Bowman consulted with Ken Grossman, former homebrewer turned professional brewer who co-founded Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in 1979 with Paul Camusi in Chico, California. He wanted to work with someone in the Northwest, so he consulted The Weekly, a newspaper in Seattle, looking for Washington breweries. He found three: Horseshoe Bay Brewing Co., Red Hook, and Yakima Brewing & Malting Co, also known as Grant's Brewery Pub. Ultimately, they chose Bert Grant, who had a brewery in an old opera house in Yakima, Washington. In addition to a consulting agreement, they also had a license to brew Grant's beer in Oregon. Bowman also spent several weekends in Yakima to learn how a commercial brewing operation operated. It was a valuable experience for learning what to do and not to do; Bowman attended the Siebel Institute in Chicago for more formal training in February 1988.

Robert Malcolm "Mac" MacTarnahan invested $25,000 in Portland Brewing, which allowed them to renovate the Flanders Street building and open their brewery in January 1986. In 1992, they named MacTarnahan’s Pale Ale after him and it became the Portland Brewing’s flagship brew. By 1998 the company was in financial trouble, and that year MacTarnahan bought $3.5 million in debt in exchange for stock; as a result, Portland Brewing began using MacTarnahan labeling. Portland Brewing Company merged with Saxer Brewing Company of Lake Oswego in 2000. In 2004, MacTarnahan, then 88 years old, sold the company to Pyramid Breweries of Seattle. Bowman served as a consultant after Portland Brewing was sold to Pyramid Brewing, before turning to a role as an industry consultant. The Portland Brewing facility was renamed “MacTarnahan's Brewing Company.” MacTarnahan died later that year. In 2008, Pyramid was acquired by Magic Hat Brewing Company, which was subsequently bought by North American Breweries of Rochester, New York in 2010. In 2012, the company was purchased by the Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co. In 2013, the brewery announced it would return to the Portland Brewing Company name. After declining revenue, the company closed its taproom and restaurant. Bowman had been employed as a brewing consultant, work he continued to do after the brewery was sold.

Portland Brewing was part of a trio of early Oregon breweries. BridgePort Brewing opened in November 1984 and Widmer Brothers Brewing in March 1985. Portland Brewing was Portland’s third craft brewer, entering the market in 1986. The Bridgeport facility was located at one end of 14th street, Widmer was a half block from them, and Portland Brewing was on the other end of 14th at Flanders Street. This area had been zoned for commercial brewing since before Prohibition. The lone surviving 19th century brewery, Henry Weinhard’s, had been at NW 12th and Burnside since 1864. Widmer Brothers moved to North Portland in 1990, but for those early years, these three breweries formed the nexus of “Beervana.”

Another important facet in the history of craft brewing in Oregon was the “Brewpub Bill.” Before 1985, brewpubs were illegal in Oregon. The state’s post-Prohibition laws said that alcohol manufacture and retail could not occur on the same premises. Breweries were required to work with third-party bars and restaurants to add taps and sell their product to new customers. Bowman, Larrance, Dick and Nancy Ponzi of BridgePort, Kurt and Rob Widmer, and Mike and Brian McMenamin were instrumental in lobbying to legalize the marriage of production and on-site sales, effectively legalizing brewpubs in Oregon. Governor Vic Atiyeh signed it into law on July 13, 1985.



Author: Tiah Edmunson-Morton

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 446 files, including 241 document files, 205 digital images

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: These materials were provided to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2015 for digitization. The original items have been retained by Bowman.

Related Materials:

The Fred Bowman Papers are complemented by the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 35), which includes interviews from industry professionals, journalists and community members. Fred Bowman was interviewed March 11, 2015 and his interview is available online.

The Brewing and Fermentation Collection (MSS BFRC) consists of materials collected by the OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center pertaining to the history, growth, and culture of the Pacific Northwest brewing industry, including regional hops and barley farming, commercial craft and home brewing, and craft cider and mead.

Further information regarding the values, logistics, and goals of the burgeoning regional brewing community can be found in organizational collections like the Heart of the Valley Homebrewers Records (MSS HOTV), McMenamins Brewery Collection (MSS McMenamins), and the Ninkasi Brewing Company Collection, 2012-2014 (MSS Ninkasi). The personal research collections of Fred Eckhardt (MSS Eckhardt), Pete Dunlop (MSS Dunlop), Denny Conn (MSS Conn), and Robert Daly (MSS Daly) contain additional information regarding the beer writing process and Portland-area beer culture.

Collections linked to Oregon State University research, as well as other manuscript collections are described on the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives research guide. More information pertaining to the history of hop growing and brewing in Oregon can be found on the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives website.

Preferred Citation: Fred Bowman Papers (MSS Bowman), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Creators

Bowman, Fred, 1944-
Portland Brewing Company

People, Places, and Topics

Bowman, Fred, 1944-
Brewers--Oregon--Portland--Biography.
Brewing industry--Oregon.
Hops and Brewing
Portland (Or.)
Portland Brewing Company.

Forms of Material

Digital images.


Box and Folder Listing