Kari Doyle Oral History Interview, June 29, 2018

Partial Transcript: So, go ahead and introduce yourself.

Segment Synopsis: Born in 1981 in Frankfurt, Germany. Her family moved every three to four years due to her father’s job with the government. She went to college in Pennsylvania at Pennsylvania State. Since most of her life was spent traveling, she still is an active traveler when she gets a chance. She likes to travel around the United States and Europe.

Kari has four brothers, one of which is her twin. Growing up she spent a lot of time in third world countries where getting an American Snickers was a big deal. They would get invited to the Ambassador’s house where they would go swimming and use tennis courts. They lived off base but were around other children who were being raised like them. They received their education from DOD (military run school) or private schools. At the high school level she was around more international students, since it was an international school.

While living in Australia she lost the tip of one of her fingers when a door slammed into it. Her mother was a midwife.

Partial Transcript: What kinds of family activities did you do? Traditions? Stand out as special? Academics?

Segment Synopsis: Kari’s family was close and were not super religious. Something that was a sort of tradition was when their father got summer leave, they would come back to the States to Pennsylvanian to visit family.

Science was always an interest to her. Chemistry and chemical reactions were the most interesting. She first went to college for international politics but ended up doing criminal justice instead before joining the military.

Her first time in Bend, Oregon was when her parents bought the house, which they currently live in. She remembers it being rural and less urban like it is today. Kari liked moving around due to feeling like it was a fresh start each time. Germany was the hardest place to leave. The culture and food, plus the first time she experienced good beer. Her favorite food there was the Doner Kebab.

Partial Transcript: What did you think you wanted to do? Where did you want to live?

Segment Synopsis: After high school Kari wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but she knew she wanted to return to the States. She decided to join the United States Marine, where she served four years active and four years inactive. Her decision was impacted by her exposure to the marines at a young age watching them guard the Embassy. Her father was in the Coast Guard, two oldest were in the Army, and her twin was in the Air Force. Her father did communications for the Coast Guard, and oversaw the HAM radio which led her to choose communications in the Marines.

Okinawa, Japan was her first time in an Asian country, and they were stationed there for two years. She was then sent to camp Pendleton for 6-8 months, before she was shipped to Fuchsia, Iraq. Her experiences in Iraq were profound. After the time spent in Okinawa she thought she would be a lifer, but in Iraq she came to the conclusion that it was too much and she wanted to get out due to its highly active nature. She was there during the second wave of the war. While there she was not allowed to explore due to the risks involved. They had MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) and at one point they had a chow hall, but it was mainly MREs for meals.

Kari came back in 2007 and while inactive and she was hired at Deschutes.

Partial Transcript: How did you transition from Fuchsia, Iraq to Bend, Oregon and Deschutes Brewery?

Segment Synopsis: After she returned from Iraq, she was in quarantine for a period for adjustment. When she got out, she visited her parents in Bend and enjoyed the time she spent in the area. Kari had previously been working at the theater as the audio technician. While visiting in Bend, she heard that Deschutes Brewery was hiring for the packaging line, where only three other women working at the time.

She never imagined working at a brewery but felt it was a perfect fit, and quickly became part of the Deschutes family. Descutes offered an avenue to work your way up through the company, you start in the packaging line, and from there you can work your way up. When an opportunity presented itself to become the brew master Larry Sidor's assistant, she jumped on the opportunity and was hired.

Kari was largely responsible for keeping Sidor organized. She was to take notes and perform other miscellaneous tasks to ensure efficiency in their operations. After Sidor left the company, Kari worked with Brain Faivre and Cam O’Connor before she became the Brewing Logistics Specialists. Kari credits some of her success to the time she spent with Larry Sidor, he was an invaluable source of information that allowed her to develop unique skills, such as identify hops by their looks alone.

Partial Transcript: How does that early time in brewing change your relationship with beer as a consumer? What was your role and experience in the department?

Segment Synopsis: Kari notes that it was difficult to pick up on everything quickly as she was introduced to the fine art of brewing. Now with a refined understanding of the brewing process, she has found that it has become increasingly difficult to enjoy some beer, her acquired taste makes it harder to enjoy all types of beer.

She mentions how dramatically her role changed, and all the responsibilities that were placed upon her.
Kari talks about the activities she enjoys away from work, including hiking, sports, and other means to stay active.

One day a week she would work at the pub Paul Earne to gain more knowledge and experience. She would spend her free time getting into the brewing process. MBAA (Master Brewers Association of America) awarded Kari the Brewing and Malting scholarship, which means she will be going to Wisconsin for a two-week program in October.
Kari was interested in how different yeast and hops can bring out different flavors in beers. She goes into some experiments with chocolate in beer and the results it created. The Fresh Squeeze recipe had some ups and downs, but they ended up being successful after a few tries to get the flavors right.

Partial Transcript: In 2015 you transitioned again, how did that come to be?

Segment Synopsis: Kari details how she was operating outside of her job description, performing various outside duties that needed to be completed as well. This prompter her to create schedules for everything that would allow for the process to transition from one brewing production to the next. In the beginning they were working with so many different excel files that it was hard to catch mistakes when they happened. Over time the process improved and implemented a better system. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is the name of the software system that they use.
Kari talks about the enjoyment of the puzzles that her job entails, the different things that are going on, and the excitement. There is always a strive for consistency, especially when it comes to the beer. She would like to learn more about the automation that they have in place.

Partial Transcript: Is there a milestone that sticks out in your mind during your time here? Point of change?

Segment Synopsis: The processing is a lot more. They are putting out more barrels and there are more beer flavors now. This is the longest she has been anywhere. It shows how a company who genuinely cares for its employees will retain those workers.
Living in Bend is great due to seeing the mountains every day. There is always something to do and everywhere is beautiful. She never imagined food carts would be so popular. Another interesting thing about some of the food carts is that if you cannot pay you can write an IOU and get them next time.

Being in the industry you do a lot of networking and everyone is friendly and excited to collaborate on things. The industry is remarkably close and friendly. She did not get to participate in all the collaborations, but she did do a lot of the scheduling for the beers to ensure that they would be made.

Partial Transcript: What is exciting to you about craft beer? Where is the industry now?

Segment Synopsis: There are no limits to the industry right now. Kari is excited with the fact that people are dreaming up and trying different things. She has not started home brewing herself, yet. But taking the class in October she is hoping that she will get more opportunities to brew more. The opportunity will give her a chance to have a better understanding and maybe learn some new processes to bring back with her.
Kari goes into her favorite Deschutes memory and pub memory that has stuck with her. They are all family there and even when people leave, they are still part of the family.