Walter Scheurle Oral History Interview, May 22, 2019

Partial Transcript: So hold on one second. Let me...All right. Let's go ahead and get started. What's your name?

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle introduces himself and provides background information about when and where he was born.

Partial Transcript: So your your parents owned a brewery? Was it, was it part of the work that the other people in your family did as well? Were there other brewmasters or brewery owners?

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle discusses growing up in Nazi Germany. He discusses his memories of Nazi rallies, Hitler’s speeches, and his brother’s involvement in the Hitler Youth. Scheurle also recounts his father’s job running a brewery and how the Nazi regime regimented agriculture and food production.

Partial Transcript: What...So thinking back when you were when you were young and thinking about what you wanted to do when you grew up, what what were the things that interested you?

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle talks about his childhood interests. He recalls being passionate about science and engineering, both of which he used in his careers later in life.

Partial Transcript: So what were your first impressions of Portland? Did it remind you Germany?

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle talks about his career as an engineer and how it brought him to Portland in the latter half of the twentieth century. He describes his earliest memories of Portland, and compares them to his memories of Germany. He also talks about how he transitioned from engineering to brewing.

Partial Transcript: So I'm. I'm curious about what the difference in the brewing business, culture-wise, from Portland and then moving to Pittsburgh?

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle talks about his move from Portland to Philadelphia in the mid-1980s. He compares the styles of brewing between Portland and Philadelphia, and the West Coast and the East Coast more broadly. He states that the West Coast has a brewing style more similar to German brewing.

Partial Transcript: So what was, what was the conversation or what was the demand from the consumers?

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle talks about brewing in the 1980s. He discusses the industry, noting that there was a smaller consumer base and that people were less interested in varied flavor profiles. He describes some of the beers he made and compares them to more recent works.

Partial Transcript: So one story that that Fred wrote about and I'm sure you've been asked about it a lot, is your trip to Germany.

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle talks about a trip he took to visit Germany in the 1990s. He explains that he was interested in finding purer ingredients and imitating certain styles of German brewing, which motivated his trip. Schedule goes over what he did on the trip and what information he took back to the U.S.

Partial Transcript: But what are some other fun places that you went, or where they had these pairings.

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle talks about the different places he’s travelled and the food and drinks he’s had while travelling.

Partial Transcript: So in thinking about the last ten years, what have you stayed active in?

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle discusses his current relationship with the beer industry, noting that he’s largely been removed from it since his retirement. He’s had a variety of health problems that prevent him from being as involved as he used to be, and he now focuses his time on other things.

Partial Transcript: So I would love to hear more about your work as a rocket engineer.

Segment Synopsis: Scheurle discusses his career in engineering. He describes some of the different projects he worked on, the people he worked with, and his favorite memories. He also discusses how new technologies that developed during and in the aftermath of World War II impacted the engineering field and his own personal career.