Coronavirus Diaries at Five: Heater Allen
Five years ago, during the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, I collected reports from several Oregon breweries as they struggled to navigate the crisis. This week I will have some follow-ups from the same breweries on what has happened since. Today we hear from Lisa Allen of Heater Allen Brewing.
Heater Allen is a small brewery in McMinnville, the main population center in Oregon’s wine country west of Portland. Originally founded to seel European lagers (and never IPAs), the brewery went through a major change during Covid as Kevin Davey joined the brewery as founder Rick Allen—and Lisa’s dad—retired. They started a side-brand called Gold Dot, and expanded their taproom and brewery.
It’s strange to think that five years have gone by since Covid. Sometimes it feels like hardly any time has passed and other times it feels as if 10 years have gone by. For Heater Allen things are definitely different. During “the plague years,” Kevin [Davey] and I had long chats with my dad about the future of the brewery, and we decided to come up with a plan to buy a majority share from him.
We have also acquired the entire building at 907 NE 10 Ave in McMinnville, which has allowed us to build a better, more efficient cellar and add a few more tanks. This allowed Kevin and I to launch a second brand we make under the Heater Allen License, Gold Dot Beer.
Starting in June of 2024, we opened up our tap room five days a week and now have a full-time food truck on premises. And we were awarded a grant at the end of the summer 2024 allowing us to add an HVAC system in the taproom so we have temperature control all year round.
Overall, the brewery is doing pretty well. Could we sell more beer? Of course, always. One thing that I have seen since Covid is an overall weirdness to the market. I say this as it’s been hard to know exactly what people will buy and in what format. A beer will sell out super fast in cans, but stick around for ages in kegs or vice versa. And there are breweries out there that are selling “lager” at a super deep price cut (something I know they can’t be making any money on), which gets them a tap handle. That screws over breweries like ours that are trying to put a high-quality product on the market—and we simply can’t charge bottom-of-the-barrel prices for. Our lagers are some of the best in the US: we use high-quality imported malt, true-to-style hops, and maybe the most expensive ingredient, time. But I believe in our product and more sales will come with more time.
I still have concerns about the state of the industry. As I’m sure many will point out in these updates, people are drinking less. Many folks will place the blame on Gen Z, but personally I think it’s American society. Having just spent the last 2+ weeks in Germany and Czechia, the young people are drinking—they are drinking less, but they are still going out. Restaurants and bars are still packed, even on a Tuesday. People aren’t hunkering in night after night ordering Door Dash as their “treat” and watching the newest season of XYZ. People are talking to each other, sitting at a table next to strangers, and not staring at their phones or ignoring everyone around them with airpods in.
And, I get it, the US is expensive. A half liter of beer in Munich was typically around €4.50, whereas most places in Portland a beer is $7-8 and who knows if you’re truly getting a 16oz pour. But, to me, that’s not just it. People in the US seem to be becoming more and more anti-social. And how can we blame them?! There’s a world of entertainment on these little devices we carry around everywhere.
Bringing it back to Covid, I think this event was one of the catalysts that caused this change in behavior. Making people stay at home showed them that they could be perfectly content, and now cancelling plans is revered on social media. Instead of going to their local brewery they’re headed to the big box store where they can place a grocery order for pick-up along with a 6-pack of whatever IPA is on sale. American society has changed for the worse at a time when we need collaboration and community the most. (Side note: I don’t think people need to go out each and every night, I just feel like many folks are relying on social media and television to get their social “fix” and I think that we as humans need more in-person connections.)
Finally, I know this gets mentioned a lot in the beer space, but I’m going to say it again. If you like a brewery, order their beer when you see it on a draft list, go to the tap room or pub, and buy some merch. A lot of the time when a brewery closes someone mentions “Oh, man, I loved that place, their beer was really good,” yet that same person maybe showed up and actually supported that business once or twice a year. I feel lucky to live in McMinnville, we have a super supportive community and I do feel like our spot is becoming a Third Space to many. I truly appreciate each and every customer that comes through our doors. And if you haven’t been out to see our updated space (with more updates on their way…) please visit!