Rooted in the Lager tradition while simultaneously branching into innovation, Portland Oregon’s Living Häus Beer embodies the foundations of West Coast brewing and the core elements of the craft, while paying homage to loved ones and life well lived.
In July of 2022, Living Häus Beer was founded by Mat Sandoval and Conrad Andrus, both former employees of Modern Times Beer, the former tenant occupying their location on the corner of SE 7th and Belmont. The space has now housed 4 different breweries, including another beloved brewery, The Commons.
Soon after opening, Gavin Lord of Hetty Alice Brewing signed on, overseeing the first few years of contract brewing operations, collectively operating as Sin Marca Beverages. Today, both Living Häus’ & Hetty Alice’s brew programs are producing enough beer to render contracting unnecessary, ceasing those projects over a year and a half ago.
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 a relative, friend, pet, or a meaningful cultural figure. Combined with the greenhouse vibe evident within their taproom, it’s a very tangible meditation on lives lived and humans still creating.
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 in 2022. Sandoval oversees Living Häus’ day-to-day operations, on both the production side and front-of-house side, and also oversees their marketing program.
Living Häus’ brewer, Doug Rodriguez, joined the team in 2023 after a stint at Cellarmaker Brewing. He is joined by creative crew of beer industry veterans including Brendan Barber – seven years experience in the local beer industry previously working at Von Ebert & Culmination, Lynlee Garside – a brewer at Boise Brewing for 6 years, Kylie Witkowski – employed for 8 years at Beer Store Milwaukie, and brand sales headed by Chase Ruscio.
The brewery itself is devoted to making “beers that are balanced, nuanced, and delicious.” Combining the wealth of over 30 years of collective brewing knowledge present on the production team, resulting in a powerhouse of brewers creating some of the best beer in the Pacific Northwest.
Proof of their prowess resides within their three core brands (pictured above) which include Dolores Pilsner, Herman Hazy IPA, and Harris West Coast IPA, each named after family members of the brewery’s founders.
Their core brand program is supplemented by a steady stream of seasonal, rotating, and cutting edge one-off releases, many of which are collaborations with local and West Coast-based breweries. For instance, their latest West Coast IPA, Lynette, was brewed in with Great Notion in celebration of their 10th anniversary, with even more collaborations in the works with Human People, Grand Fir, Alvarado Street, Ruse, Holy Mountain, Wayfinder and more.
They’ve also got some big events expected over the next six months including their Fourth Anniversary the last weekend of July. They also routinely host weekly & monthly community events including DJ Nights, Friday Beer Releases, Tuesday Chess Nights, Plant Markets & Swaps, the monthly “Häus Share” bottle share, Cask Beer Thursdays, Girls, Gays & Theys Game Night, and more events slated for the Fall.
And while there are no concrete numbers as of yet, but they’re scheduling more Fresh Hop beer releases than ever before, not to mention hosting a Freshtoberfest event featuring Fresh Hop and Oktoberfest collabs with Stigbergets, Solaris, Tenma, Threes, Ghost Town, Loza Farms and more.
Since their inception, there has always been an excellent food option on site, with pizza generally being the primary option since they opened. The longest and most beloved of them all, Whit’s Pizza Pies, is back this week after 6 months of cancer treatment.
Day One Distribution has been proudly worked with Living Häus Beer since their inception. While they do operate independently with their own sales and delivery team, Day One handles all of their sales and delivery outside of the Portland-metro market across Oregon.
In addition to the aforementioned core brands and their Lynette West Coast IPA collab with Great Notion going on sale this week, Living Häus also has on offer the brand new Barton River Lager, plus Brü, and American IPA, and Jose, a Noble IPA. Be sure to check out all they have to offer on our live inventory sheet or make a visit to their taproom at SE 7th and Belmont!
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