Over the past year we’ve been hard at work featuring some of the Portland area’s most exciting new breweries. Each has their own unique story, specific beers they specialize in, varied histories within the local beer industry, and each a distinct ethos to chart their own path.
As a distributor that’s historically specialized in regional and national breweries, we’ve consequently changed how we operate so as to prioritize these exciting new breweries. This new approach has opened new doors for all of us, enabling a steady supply of fresh, well crafted, local offerings to customers beyond traditional bottle shops and taprooms, where you’ll now find our brands in fine dining establishments, event venues, cart pods, and specialty grocery stores.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what we’re so excited about: four sets of folks that’ve just started their own businesses, making some of the tastiest beers available in Oregon today!
Hetty Alice Brewing – Portland, Oregon
Arguably the most personal stories of the four featured here, Hetty Alice Brewing is the passion project of Gavin Lord and Giselle Kennedy Lord. The brewery’s namesake, Gavin’s maternal grandmother, lived a life spent in the moment, without pretense, and always exuding an air of kindness & positivity.
The brewery itself was a concept conceived during the pandemic while touring the west coast and Mexico in their school bus turned RV. Having just finished 7 years as Head Brewer at pFriem Family Brewers, Gavin briefly left the industry at the beginning of the pandemic to spend time with friends and family, then ultimately to plan their next chapter.
Giselle’s path has predominantly been guided by a love of cuisine and environmental causes. As communications director at Slow Food USA, plus a digital media producer and/or consultant for Ecotrust, Edible Portland, Textile Exchange, Smithsonian Student Adventures and the Portland Meat Collective.
In addition to their focus on creating extremely drinkable, yet thoughtfully created beer, they’re also one of the most environmentally conscious brands in the Pacific Northwest. All their cans printed designs are 100% recyclable, utilize compostable 4-pack carriers, and they’ve signed on with 1% for the Planet – members contribute at least as much from their annual sales to environmental causes.
Unsurprisingly, a big part of their ethos lies within the concept of great food paired with their complex yet refreshing releases. There are plans for pop-up events featuring Hetty Alice paired with dishes at some of their favorite local restaurants, which are in the works. The first event, just announced yesterday, will be a Seafood Extravaganza at Gumba Pasta Parlor on NE Alberta, happening on March 22nd. The tickets are already sold out!
The brewery itself operates as an alternating proprietorship at Living Häus Beer (co-owned by Gavin), with Lord also overseeing their contract brewing operation, Sin Marca Beverages. Launching with their flagship West Coast IPA and Bavarian-style Pilsner, they’ve since released 5 other beers, including their latest, a crushable “shifty” beer, Industry Lager, as well as Poof! their Hazy IPA.
Living Häus Beer – Portland, OR
The realization of Living Häus Beer was initially the creation of owners Mat Sandoval and Conrad Andrus, both former employees of Modern Times Beer, the former tenant of their spot on the corner of SE 7th and Belmont. The aforementioned Gavin Lord of Hetty Alice signed on soon after, overseeing their contract brewing operations, Sin Marca Beverages.
The name of the brewery and personal names of each of their releases are drawn from their shared experiences with loved ones, with each beer named after. Combined with the greenhouse vibe evident within their taproom, it’s a very straightforward meditation on lives lived and creating .
Mat played a primary role in setting up operations at Modern Times’ Belmont Fermentorium in January of 2018, preparing a new take on the space formerly occupied by The Commons Brewery. Prior to arriving in Oregon, Mat was one of Modern Times’ earliest employees, then parting ways as it’s Head of Brewing Operations after the brewery’s sale to Maui Brewing just last year. Sandoval oversees Living Häus’ brewing operations and their marketing program.
Cutting his chops at Culmination Brewing in NE Portland, Conrad Andrus made a name for himself as an innovative Head Brewer – not only pushing the boundaries of Hazy IPAs in Oregon, but also reinvigorating classic styles such as German Lagers and Fruited Sours. Leaving just before the pandemic to work for Modern Times, he linked up with Mat and things have never been the same. Conrad primarily oversees sales and various other brewery operations.
The brewery itself is devoted to making “beers that are balanced, nuanced, and delicious.” Combining the wealth of knowledge present between Mat, Conrad, and Gavin, plus the recent addition of Sam Zermeño (formerly at Great Notion, current owner of Brujos Brewing) and you’ve got a powerhouse of brewers creating some of the best beer in the Pacific Northwest.
Proof of their prowess resides within two of their current brands we have on hand (pictured above) – their flagship Herman Hazy IPA (named for Mat’s grandfather) and Castorini, a seasonal Italian-style Pilsner. Their other flagship brands include Bethine (named after Conrad’s grandmother) a Munich-style Helles, Dolores (named after Mat’s abuelita) a Pilsner, and Harris (named after Conrad’s grandfather) a West Coast IPA.
VIA Beer – Clackamas, Oregon
The story of VIA Beer is the story of Charlie Devereux and his journey through the Oregon brewing industry. Charlie is best known for his co-founding of both Double Mountain Brewery in 2007, then later his co-founding of Wayfinder Beer in 2016, the latter of which he’s still a co-owner of.
Before any of that happened though, Charlie was a brewer at Otter Creek Brewing, in Middlebury VT, starting in 1991. He then found himself as a shift brewer at Full Sail Brewery in Hood River and left the industry from 2000 until the founding of Double Mountain. So this new endeavor of VIA Beer brings his career in beer full circle, back to brewing, this time at a contract brewing facility, Conspirator Beverage in Clackamas. We spent time with him on his first brew, one year ago Saturday, as he created his first batch of Special Pils, one of only a few rotating brands within VIA’s portfolio.
A central player in getting things off the ground at Conspirator was Kyle Larsen, brewer/owner of Kings & Daughters Brewing, as he was overseeing all the contract brewing operations and assisting Charlie with recipe creation. In essence, VIA Beer is his first gig as a brewer in over 20 years, as early on his was very active in assisting Kyle with day-to-day contract brews for customers of Conspirator Beverage.
VIA constitutes new territory, as it’s Charlie’s first solo venture, except of course for his continued partnership with art director Orion Landau, known for his artistic creations with Wayfinder Beer, Relapse Records, Sizzle Pie, and many others. Orion’s visual style has been effective in visually capturing and realizing the concept of each release.
In addition to Charlie continuing to brew his own beers, he also has the assistance of the Conspirator’s head brewer, Jacob Zuchowski. He previously worked at Worthy Brewing, Silver Moon Brewing, and most recently as founding brewmaster of Formula Brewing in Issaquah, Washington.
Since launching a year ago, VIA Beer has created 31 distinct beers, 16 of which have been varieties of IPA, with the others being Lager, Pale Ale, or a specialty one-off Ale. VIA Beer’s latest two releases include Kasbek, a Czech-style Pilsner featuring a new hop varietal of the same name, nicknamed “super Saaz”; the other release being NeXT West Coast IPA featuring Mosaic Incognito, Crystal, CTZ, and Mosaic Cryo.
Vice Beer – Vancouver, Washington
In many ways, Vancouver’s newest brewery, Vice Beer, can identify with the old adage, “what’s old is new again,” in a number of ways. Operating in what was once the Barlow’s Brewing space just off the Mill Plain Blvd in East Vancouver, owners Cameron & Erica Johnson and Michael & Bria Perozzo have been here before.
Cameron was Barlow’s lead brewer when Barlow’s shuttered in the middle of 2022 and Erica was working as a teacher. Michael’s marketing company was still working with Barlow’s and Bria had been managing their taproom a year before closing, all the while the Perozzos were also partners in The Juice Box, a joint-venture taproom in downtown Centralia. All that changed when Brian and Alicia Rummer offered the brewery to the couples based upon their heavy involvement with Barlow’s since the beginning.
What they’ve created in it’s place is Vice Beer: a mash-up of 80’s & 90’s culture that’s embodied by everything from the clever beer names, to the “living room” in the back of the taproom that’s endlessly playing VHS tapes on a small tube TV. Having only opened just this past August, they’ve already created nearly 40 unique beers, from “Shaquille O’tmeal,” an Oatmeal stout to “Breakfast Club,” a Mimosa Sour.
In addition to all these fun creations invoking the waning days of the 20th Century, they’ve also put a steady focus on making collaboration brews with local Washington & Oregon brands, as well as some of their personal favorites like California’s Anderson Valley Brewing – a collaboration soon to come! Their latest collaboration, pictured above, is a Modern Belgo IPA collab with Bellingham’s Stemma Brewing.
Be sure to stop into their newly remodeled space which not only offers a close up look at their brewing operation, but also an abundance of patio space, a mini-arcade, and some impressive Jalisco-style Mexican food from the El Viejon Taqueria & Mariscos. The taproom itself offers an abundance of drafts including two side-pull faucets for Czech-style Lagers, as well as two slushy machines, perfect for the dog days of summer.
Day One Distribution 