Jon Abernathy Oral History Interview, September 11, 2018

Partial Transcript: So go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us where we are...

Segment Synopsis: Jon was born in St. Helens, Oregon, the first of three boys. He shares a bit about his family's background, mentioning his fathers career with Meier and Frank and how his parents came to live in St. Helens to raise a family. Jon attended Alfalfa school first through fourth grade, a small school located in the rural farming community. As a part of the Redmond school district, he and his brothers transitioned into attending the Redmond schools, which required a 45-50 minute bus ride each way.
As an introverted kid, Jon didn't participate in many school activities or sports. He instead spent much of his time reading, on the computer and doing other academically inclined things. Overall he enjoyed his experience growing up in Central Oregon, as demonstrated by his willingness to stick around and live in Bend as an adult.

Partial Transcript: I did 4 years of High School French and segued into Central Oregon Community College

Segment Synopsis: In High School Jon took 4 years of French which he then applied at Central Oregon Community College where he took 2 more years of French as well as Russian. Following his time at the community college, he moved to Spokane where he took a year off from school to work. He then enrolled at Eastern Washington University where he completed his degree in French. After graduating from college he assessed his opportunities with his degree, and came to the conclusion that he didn't want to become a teacher and he began to transition into the computer world.
He transitions into the mid 90's where he elaborates on his experience diving into the world of the internet, explaining it as a magical time that really blew his mind. He then back tracks to some jobs he held during high school, specifically a summer job on his aunt and uncles fishing boat in Newberg.

Partial Transcript: I graduated college in '97

Segment Synopsis: Jon graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1997, and spent a few years after graduation working for his cousins software company. But his fondness of his childhood in Central Oregon, he eventually found his way back and began working for Alpine Internet in Sisters, Oregon. He was offered a job with the Portland Public School District in 2002, but received a matching offer from Pennbrook Homes, a construction and real estate company in Bend where he did IT and website design. The recession in 2008 led to him being laid off, which allowed him to spend the summer as a stay at home dad with his children. By the end of the summer he received a job from Smartz doing similar work in website designing and programming.
He then shares about his earliest memories of Deschutes Brewery, noting a time when he was 19 years old and Keanu Reeves was reported to be spending the afternoon at Deschutes, but he wasn't old enough to get in.
While still living in Spokane in the 90's, Jon began to become involved in the home brewing community, a hobby that evolved over time and led to him writing about the brewing industry in the State of Oregon.

Partial Transcript: I remember thinking "I need to start a website for Breweries"

Segment Synopsis: Jon explains his thought process while working for Alpine Internet that he needed start a website for breweries. He hadn't found any good resources for breweries on the internet, but found what did exist what fairly incomplete. He launched his official brew site, brewsite.com, in 2004. He shares that there was a few local bloggers based in Bend that he found inspiration from, noting that they would meet every once in a while to talk about their blogs in the early days of the environment. His blog eventually gained enough traction that Widmer Brothers Brewing sent him a 6 pack of Hefeweizen for PR and marketing to get the word out on their products. The situation evolved into various Breweries sending him various care packages and flavors of beer to encourage him to write about their products. The highlight of this venture came from Shock Top when they sent him a package filled with camping gear to promote their experimental smores flavor they were in the process of testing.

Partial Transcript: What has it been like to be in the blogger/ documentarian category?

Segment Synopsis: Jon talks about his relationship with his wife, and specifically her relationship with beer. While she doesn't consider herself a beer lover, she does enjoy it on occasion and will attend brewery events with Jon. Concerning the blog, Jon focuses on the writing aspect and his wife takes control of the social media component to gain exposure within the local community and across the internet.
He then shares about how his work throughout the years has gone on to serve him in later writings as he is able to reference previous pieces he has written, ultimately allowing him to cite his blog in his own book. Without putting much thought into it, Jon was creating historical records of the development of the micro brewing industry in Bend and throughout the state of Oregon.

Partial Transcript: when everything is on the internet, what does that mean 20-30 years from now?

Segment Synopsis: Jon continues to expand on the idea of having physical copies of his writing rather than relying on the storage of his work strictly on the internet, explaining that having a book in circulation around the world brings him comfort for the safety of his writings. The interview takes a right turn as Jon elaborates on some of his favorite beer memories. He explains that in the early 1990's when he was getting involved in the craft beer industry he had a few favorite breweries that he enjoyed sampling beers when given the opportunity. Much of how he viewed beer revolved around and began to grow through his experiences at breweries, he fondly reflected on the camaraderie that existed with strangers while tasting at breweries. He then pivots a bit to share some of the more misfortunate stories he has witnessed in brewing, specifically stories that resulted in minor explosions and ultimately some injuries.
He concludes the interview by sharing what his expectations were of the interview, and what he thought they would ask him but never did. He anticipated that he would be asked in detail about the book Bend Beer, and assumed he may need to do a review of his notes before the interview to prepare himself.