It’s About the Social Aspect

The Commons Brewery started in Mike Wright’s garage in Southeast Portland. A true nano brewery to be sure.-you can read more about that toward the bottom of this page.

After a short stint in the garage brewery, Mike decided to expand the operation to a 7bbl brewhouse and a new space. That work began in the summer of 2011 and should wrap up in the Fall of 2011.

The Commons strives to make well executed beers , often with yeasts originating from Belgium, that enable or enhance social interaction. For the consumer the focus should not be on the beer, rather in their friends and family they have gathered with.

Backstory

The Move

Change is afoot at The Commons Brewery. I’ve decided to ignore logic and common sense and expand the brewery to a commercial space and a 7BBL system. The summer of 2011 will be full of activity building out the space, corralling licenses and learning the new system. 1810 SE 10th Ave, Unit E, 97214. That’s between Hawthorne and Division just west of 11th Ave.

The expansion will allow me to expand my customer base, serve my existing customer base more consistently and begin to bottle my beer. Bottling is something I’ve wanted to do from the beginning, but haven’t been able to make it happen yet. Oh, did I mention there will be a tasting room? Well, there will be a tasting room. This is easily one of the most exciting developments.

I appreciate your support and patience as I work through this transition.

Bee what?

Beetje (\’bee-cha’\) is a Flemish word that roughly translates to “little”, or “little bit”. This brewery will live up to that notion for the foreseeable future.

Beetje will produce small batch beers using high quality ingredients. I intend to use organic 2-row and organic pilsner as my base malts. As much as possible I will use organic specialty malts, and hops. Sound familiar? Yeah, a lot of breweries do this, particularly in the Northwest. I like the approach, and intend to employ it. Quality inputs tend to have a positive impact on the beer.

At the risk of being too romantic, imagine a small, rustic farmhouse brewery (in the inner city). The beers are generally going to be every day drinking beers, not super-complex-monster-bombs. There are plenty of breweries covering that arena.

The Process

In June of 2009 I decided to go on walk about through the bureaucratic wild. I assumed my application would be thrown in the laughable pile because I proposed to locate the brewery in my garage. To my surprise my application gained some traction. It was about this time that I devised the first draft of the plan. When it started to look like I might be approved by the OLCC (Oregon Liquor Control Commission), I decided it was time to move on to phase two of the challenge-the TTB. To be sure, the TTB review is the real challenge. Fast forward to June of 2010, I received TTB approval. Let the real story begin…

The Original System

The system that started it all, produced just shy of 1.5BBL’s. Beetje! It’s a mish-mash of pieces, some new, some old. There is no automation built into the process and my back always seemed to ache a bit after a brew session. This system is still in use at the new brewery as a pilot system and for small one-off batches.

I can promise some level of variability. This is going to be a small, relatively low-tech operation which lays a solid foundation for variability-I intend to embrace the variability. I realize on the surface this sounds like a negative quality, but I’ll liken it to the variability you might see from one vintage to another in wine. Modern breweries have an incrediable amount of control over every step of the process, which results in a beer that is nearly identical each and every time. While I can appreciate that, I simply do not have the financial means to set up a brewery with that level of sophistication.