A piece of Portland’s vaunted brewery scene is barreling across the Columbia River.
But Mt. Tabor Brewing will keep its original name when it moves to downtown Vancouver.
Eric Surface, the company’s owner and brewmaster, chose Vancouver because he wanted cheaper space that was closer to his Felida-area home.
A married family guy with two kids, he expects to open his one-man brewery and tasting room by June in space being renovated at 113 W. Ninth St. Surface closed the microbrewery’s Portland location in February, after buying out longtime partner and brewery co-founder, Brian Maher.
“It’s way more affordable than Portland these days and has so much more to offer,” said Surface, who is relocating the brewery from 7724 S.E. Stark St., Portland, its home since 2009. Mt. Tabor Brewing had developed a following at that location and regularly sold out of its limited-run beers.
Over time, Surface expects the brewery to replace his full-time job as sales manager for a company that makes pipe valves and fittings. For now, however, he plans to keep a job that requires traveling three days per week at the same time as he brews beer and grows his business.
He was drawn to downtown Vancouver by an emerging bar scene and smattering of beer businesses.
Although some say the area still lacks a critical mass of residents to support businesses, downtown beer enthusiasts are beginning to show up as regulars at the city center’s Salmon Creek Brewery and its beer-selling neighbor, By the Bottle, on Evergreen Boulevard.
Moreover, downtown’s bar scene, a virtual ghost town three years ago, has gradually blossomed with Main Street bars and restaurants that stay filled until the late hours on Saturday nights.
“Those places are my customers, not my competitors. They’ll be selling the beer that I make,” said Surface, who added that he is confident about his move despite Clark County’s persistently high unemployment rate and the area’s slow jobs and real estate market recovery.
Through economic hard times, beer fans have continued drinking. According to the Seattle-based Washington Beer Commission, there are 137 breweries operating in the state. In Oregon, the current count is 112 breweries, said Brian Butenschoen, executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild.
Surface said he sees growth opportunities ahead for his new location, where he will make beer and occasionally open to the public for tasting. The approximately 500-square-foot brewery space will be equipped with a roll-up door, and its adjoining 500-square-foot tasting room will have bar seating that faces the street. His company does not sell bottles of beer, instead selling it in kegs for bars and home enthusiasts to serve on tap.
Surface plans to measure the brewery’s success on the beer’s taste, rather than profits, although he admits nerves about the business loan he secured from Vancouver-based Columbia Credit Union.
“Basically, my business plan is that if I sell 21 barrels (roughly 42 kegs) a month, the brewery pays for itself, pays the debt and puts a little bit away,” Surface said.
Mt. Tabor Brewing’s kegs start at $150 each, said Surface, who started making beer with friends as a hobby.
He and four buddies met once a week to brew beer batches at Maher’s house in the Mt. Tabor area, hence the company’s name.
“It wasn’t about getting rich,” Surface said. “It’s really still not about that.”
More production
The hobby turned into an obsession for Surface and Maher, who became business partners and took their home brew from the tailgate party circuit to its on-tap debut at Portland’s Canton Grill on Southeast 82nd Avenue and Division Street. Mt. Tabor Brewing’s next break came when the partners started selling to the Vintage Cocktail Lounge off 82nd and Stark Street.
Surface expects the Vancouver brewery to produce beer on a much larger scale than in Portland. He has purchased a larger brewing kettle, which will allow Mt. Tabor Brewing to make up to seven barrels of beer per six- to eight-hour session.
“Before, we could only make one barrel,” Surface said.
“We wanted to make varieties and found out we could change the flavor by doing one simple thing or another,” he said.
Surface said his secret to brewing unfailingly good beer is to maintain consistent temperatures throughout the process — from grain storage to boiling the “mash,” a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water.
“The trick to making really good beer is doing the same thing repetitiously,” he said.
