USA, OR: de Garde Brewing adds another production facility in Tillamook

When they opened their first tasting room in the fall of 2013, de Garde Brewing co-founders Linsey Hamacher and Trevor Rogers chose a small storefront in downtown Tillamook, Tillamook County Pioneer reported on January 12.

From the start, their wild, sour beers, brewed at the time in their home garage and made available to consumers at limited release events, took the regional craft beer scene by storm. As word rapidly spread, fans of deGarde began snapping up tickets for quarterly release events at a rate of 600 per hour. Eleven months later, in August, 2014, they relocated the tasting room from 1909 2nd Street to the Port of Tillamook Bay where they could set up shop in larger quarters and expand production to meet growing demand for their beer.

However, with the recent purchase of the former NAPA Auto Parts building at 114 Ivy Avenue, de Garde owner Hamacher and head brewer Rogers are planning to relocate their tasting room back to the city’s commercial core, hopefully in early fall.

“We love the idea of being back in Tillamook,” said Hamacher. To head off rumors of a de Garde brew pub, she added, “But it will just be a tasting room, not a restaurant.”

The space will also include a production area, and storage for their oak barrels, although they plan to continue some production at the Port property. The addition of a second location will likely result in de Garde hiring two more full-time employees, increasing its staff number to seven, said Hamacher.

The NAPA building became vacant when Davison Auto Parts-NAPA moved to a new building on 11th Street and the south end of Pacific Avenue. Built in 1944, and home to several auto parts stores over the years, the older building measures 5,355 square feet, occupies a quarter of an acre and features a showroom, mezzanine, warehouse and loading dock. “We respect the historic aspect of the building,” said Rogers.

Hamacher said her plans include building the showroom and future tasting room area out into the parking lot and doing some structural remodeling. The mezzanine will serve as barrel storage, although, “We’ll probably offer tours of the whole building,” she added.

Between 200 and 300 people visit the de Garde tasting room each week, most of them from out of town, said Hamacher. “We have a map in the tasting room so people can tell us where they’ve traveled from, and it really is from all over the world. I would say that the majority of customers are from Portland, Seattle and California.”

Hamacher and Rogers say they are excited at the prospect of helping to spur economic development in downtown Tillamook by drawing customers who would be willing to stick around, have dinner, stay the night and check out various area attractions and shops while they are in town. “If we’re in downtown, it will actually probably result in people staying longer,” said Hamacher.”

“We’re about getting people to come and stay the night,” added Rogers. Even the presence of the tasting room will encourage customers to buy food from nearby restaurants, he said “People can bring food to the tasting room.”

13 January, 2016