Don Younger Beer Publications Collection, 1979-2007

Don Younger bought the Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Oregon in 1976. He was a strong supporter of local beer and a mentor for other publicans; he was also a book and beer memorabilia collector.

Donald Allan Younger was born in San Francisco in 1941. The first bar he set foot in was the Howdy Doody in Gresham, Oregon. Though he was 17, he looked 13, snd he was served a Blitz beer anyway. He loved it. By the late 1960s, he was a regional office manager in Portland, Oregon for Lever Brothers, a consumer goods company that promoted brands like Lifebouy, Pepsodent, and Mrs. Butterworth’s. When his brother Bill returned from Vietnam and suggested they buy a tavern, Younger agreed. They opened the Mad Hatter tavern in Southeast Portland in 1967 and later Strawberry Fields in suburban Gresham. Rules for operating a tavern at that time were restrictive, with limitations on singing or dancing and ban on having windows or serving wine; when those were loosened, the clientele changed and brought different interests for food and drinks.

Younger’s acquisition of the Horse Brass Pub in 1976 is steeped in lore. The one most often told is that one afternoon while his car was being fixed he stopped at the “homey English-style pub” on Southeast Belmont Street, which sold pizza. He’d never been to the Horse Brass before, never drank anything besides light American lagers, and hadn’t visited the U.K. He and then-owner Jay Brandon drank a lot and, as legend has it, Younger awoke the next morning with the deed to the bar scribbled on a cocktail napkin in his pocket. It’s unclear if he won it in a poker game or just bought the place, but it is clear that his brother was surprised to co-own a new property.

In 1977, the Horse Brass began carrying bottles of New Albion, the first "microbrewery" in America in the post-Prohibition era, which was a stretch for the small Sonoma, California brewery. Younger was also excited by the opening of Portland’s Cartwright Brewery in 1979 because he looked forward to serving beer from a local microbrewery. In 1982, he put Grant’s from Yakima, Washington on tap, which was the first microbrewery beer he served that wasn't in bottles. He said that people in Portland were ready for good beer, all they needed was someone to make it. Soon, he served beers from Anchor Brewing and Sierra Nevada, both from California, and BridgePort Brewing and Widmer Brothers Brewing, which both opened in Portland in 1984. Younger was dedicated to finding ways to showcase the promising new breweries and often ended up being the first Portland account for the brewers now regarded as pioneers. He offered early breweries like McMenamins, Rogue, Deschutes, and Portland Brewing some of their first tap handles. Rogue Ales still makes Younger's Special Bitters, named for Don's favorite beer brand and in honor of his late brother. Beyond serving beers from different breweries, he also encouraged different styles; in 1983, the Horse Brass put in the first cask hand pump, which was likely the first cask-conditioned beer available in a U.S. bar after Prohibition.

He also offered a gathering place for people to share and consume both local and imported beers. It was at the Horse Brass that brewers came together to draft the 1985 Oregon Brewpub Bill, which allowed breweries to make and sell their own beer onsite. Younger also played a leading role the creation of Oregon Craft Beer Month to offer breweries who were left out of the Oregon Brewers Festival an opportunity to promote their products; organizers called it “Fringe Fest,” later known as Oregon Beer Week and then Oregon Craft Beer Month. He was a mentor for others running pubs in America, and publicans from across the country consulted him for advice; as a result, he became part of a group of bar owners who called themselves the Publican National Committee.

Younger helped his friend Joy Campbell start Belmont Station in a small space next door to the Horse Brass Pub, which was among the first “craft” beer stores in the country. Concerned they wouldn’t succeed just selling beer, Younger and Campbell also offered hard-to-find British foods and breweriana. He owned or co-owned several other businesses, including the Rose and Raindrop in Portland and Lovejoy’s on the Oregon Coast; there was also a “sister” pub in the U.K. called the Princess of Wales. Younger helped found Lompoc Brewing in 1996 in Portland and was co-owner of the three New Old Lompoc locations. He also lent money to Duane Sorenson, the Stumptown Coffee Roasters founder, who worked at Belmont Station for nine months in 1999.

When reflecting on the broader success of breweries in Portland, Younger often credited Mike McMenamin and Bill McCormick (McCormick & Schmick’s, Jakes) for promoting local beer and international styles in their businesses. McMenamin opened the first distributorship, purportedly to sell bottles for Cartwright Brewing; then he opened the Produce Row Café and the Fat Little Rooster bar in SE Portland, before opening the Hillsdale Pub. McCormick offered multiple taps of different beers; their prominence as a restaurant in Portland gave others selling a more diverse beer menu credibility.

Younger died in Portland Oregon on January 31, 2011 after a short illness.

Author: Tiah Edmunson-Morton

More Extent Information: 3 boxes, including 2 oversize boxes

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: The collection was donated to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center by Mark Campbell, friend of Don Younger, in 2019.

Related Materials:

The Don Younger Beer Publications Collection is complemented by several other collections. The Brewing and Fermentation Research Collection (MSS BFRC) contains information pertaining to the history, growth, and culture of the Pacific Northwest brewing industry; included are newsletters for homebrew clubs such as the Oregon Brew Crew and Cascade Brewers Society, as well other noteworthy industry periodicals and publications. The Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 35) includes interviews from industry professionals, journalists, and community members.

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), Ninkasi Brewing Company Collection, 2012-2014 (MSS Ninkasi), and the Oregon Brewers Guild Records. The personal research collections of Fred Eckhardt (MSS Eckhardt), Denny Conn (MSS Conn), Pete Dunlop (MSS Dunlop), Fred Bowman (MSS Bowman), Robert Daly (MSS Daly), and Abram Goldman-Armstrong (MSS GoldmanArmstrong) contain additional information regarding the beer writing process and 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: Don YoungerBeer Publications Collection (MSS Younger), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Don Younger Beer Publications Collection, 1979-2007

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