Hopworks Retains Balanced Vision at 10

I first met Christian Ettinger about 15 years ago. He was head brewer at the original Laurelwood at the time. I stopped in to get a corny keg filled and we chatted informally. Several years later, he left to found Hopworks, which opened in 2008. I've interviewed him several times since. It's always an education.

On the occasion of Hopworks' 10th anniversary, I talked to Ettinger about where they've been and where they're headed. He's proud of the business they've built and the sustainable model they've followed since day one. He looks forward to the next 10 years.

"We folded the European balance of food and family and beer together at Hopworks and it's been a success. We have three pubs with another one coming on at the airport. I'm happy with where we are and looking forward to what's coming."

Ettinger can't decide which of the three pubs is his favorite, whether the original in Southeast Portland, the Bike Bar on North Williams or the Vancouver location. It figures.

"I think they balance and reinforce each other," he says. "The pubs are our best sampling point. People have a good experience there and it makes them more likely to pull our beer off a store shelf. The taprooms are a bit of a chore because they have food. I think food is important, but it isn’t completely necessary. It’s just what I believe in."

They're holding a few events to celebrate a decade in business, if you're wondering. The first of those, a retrospective event for family and friends, happened on Earth Day. Coming up in August, they'll host a Salmon-Safe IPA fest on the 25th, followed by a Dark Beer Festival in November.

"The IPA fest is going to be fun," Ettinger said. "We invited 20 breweries to imagine what IPA will look like in 10 years. Hazies kind of came out of nowhere. Now there's Brut IPA. That's today. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of vision these folks have for the future."

Of course, Hopworks has its own collection of standards and seasonals, including the recently released Totally Chill Hazy IPA (can shown above). The beer is available around town and fits in perfectly with the raging haze craze, like it or not.

The viability of the original Hopworks' concept was anything but assured. The flagship pub is located in an area many did not think ideal. There were a lot of rundown and seedy businesses nearby. It was a gamble purchasing the building and making a sizable investment in renovating it.

"Powell Blvd was probably not the most obvious place for a brewpub," Ettinger admits. "Strip clubs, check cashing businesses and convenience stores. But 45,000 cars cruise by here every day. And Eastbound traffic makes a right-hand turn into our parking lot. It's worked out nicely."

A big reason Hopworks wound up on Powell is that Ettinger was determined to purchase a building for his brewery and pub. He wanted plenty of space to grow into and didn't want to get stuck with a lease that could be pulled or increased. The place on Powell looked good to him.

"Maintaining our independence was another important factor," he said. "We had some goals with respect to sustainability and social responsibility that weren't necessarily conducive to quick profits. I figured the key to achieving those goals was independence."

Protecting that independence meant tapping into friends and family for financing early on. There was never any outside control connected to that. After a few years, early investors were paid back and Ettinger has moved on to traditional financing in recent times.

"One of the reasons our growth curve has been fairly gradual is we didn't get caught up in taking on substantial debt to expand. Sure we could have grown faster. But 30 percent growth, which you see a lot, is scary. I'm more comfortable with 10-15 percent, which is about where we are."

They intend to make some investments that will help drive future growth. In the pub, they're expanding the number of booths to make people more comfortable. They'll also introduce more vegetarian menu options. The brewery will get more efficient, not bigger.

"We'll bring in a system that extracts fermentables from any grain," Ettinger said. "It's not cheap, but it will allow us to produce wort in substantially less time, with less energy and water consumption. Plus, we get 20 percent more out of the malts we use. It will be a great upgrade."

Many will recall that Hopworks was an early adopter of aluminum cans. That may be seen as part of an innovative mindset, but Ettinger doesn't see it quite that way.

"Sure, we adopted cans early," he says. "We saw cans emerging as the most popular beverage container in the world. It may have been somewhat innovative in craft beer, which wasn't putting a lot of beer in cans when we started. Ultimately, it’s the beer that matters, not the packaging, though I do think the environmental footprint of cans is somewhat less than bottles."

The ultra-competitive market has Ettinger contemplating reasonable goals for beer production volumes. Does Hopworks need to substantially increase annual barrelage to stay relevant or is a moderate approach more realistic and ideal?

"We could simply choose to produce 14K of the best and most efficient barrels possible," Ettinger said. "That's about where we are now. I mean, 30K barrels is a neat target, but I'm not sure we need to get there anytime soon. Our focus on sustainability and social responsibility is more important."

That focus has sharpened as a result of becoming a B Corporation three years ago. Early on, the approach to sustainability and social responsibility was fairly basic. They had a green building, focused on organic sourcing and featured a variety of environmental efficiencies.

"When we became a B Corp, we found we weren't doing some things," Ettinger said. "We've had to tighten things up in some areas. We had to look more seriously at our governance and the work/life balance of employees. In some ways, things are simpler now."

As with any business, there have been twists and turns. Hopworks started out quite small and has made the transition to a much larger operation with countless employees and a reach that extends well beyond the Portland area.

"There are always challenges," Ettinger says. "I love coming to work. Building the team may be the most rewarding thing. As we've grown, the team has changed at each level. You discover you need people with expertise in different areas as you grow. For instance, we didn't think about the details of distribution in the early days. Now we have to."

I've not always been the biggest fan of Hopworks beers, which have evolved and improved. But I've always appreciated their mission. Maybe the most unique thing about Ettinger is that he's always thinking, always trying to figure out ways to do things smarter, more efficiently.

It's a vision thing. The next 10 years are sure to be interesting.

The Power of Craft Beer Marketing Grows

The marketing power of craft beer is only beginning to be recognized in the generic business world. But last weekend's Beer and Bikes Festival at Hopworks Urban Brewery was a perfect example of the co-marketing concept at work. We will likely see more events like this moving forward.

The event was actually a morphing of two events that already inhabited Portland's fall calendar: HUB's Biketobeerfest and the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show. Both events had a solid following and were looking to lean on their commonality.

If your vision is clear, you know Hopworks has been a friend to the cycling community since its inception in 2008. Bike frames are ever-present at both Hopworks locations. The Bike Bar on North Williams was located there precisely to serve as a watering hole for bike commuters. Plentiful bike parking is a feature at both pubs.

Given the environmental benefits of cycling, you might say Hopworks is a perfect fit for a Handmade Bicycle Show. From the beginning, founder Christian Ettinger has focused on green principles at HUB. Renovation of the building that houses the brewery and flagship pub leaned heavily on sustainable values, as does the brewery and kitchen. I first wrote about Hopworks here, in 2010.

Although I saw a clear connection between bikes and beer, I honestly did not know what to expect when I arrived at the Beer and Bikes Festival. The pub wasn't part of the event and it was pretty packed. The festival area below, most of which is covered, had a trade show feel. Very interesting, I thought.

On one side of the covered area, you had the beer. Lots of it. Most of the taps were pouring Hopworks beer, but there were others. Nearby, there were food stations serving the kinds of things you expect to see at an outdoor event.

On the other side were the bikes. There were a number of vendors displaying their wares, including fully constructed road and cargo bikes, custom parts and a more. Booths were staffed mostly by smiling faces ready to talk about their products.

Out in the courtyard, there were picnic and stand-up tables. And live music. It was a nice day, so a lot of people were enjoying the sunshine and the music. They also had a play area for kiddies, as this is a family-friendly event.

This event was certainly the best example of craft beer co-marketing I've seen. The bike crowd and the beer crowd tend to overlap in this city, but this was a great opportunity to expand on that connection by getting so many folks together in one place. That's basically what Ettinger said when interviewed for TV. Big win, I think.

Thinking back, I realize many businesses engage in ongoing efforts to co-mingle with craft beer. You see this at various festivals in the form of booths where you can purchase take-home goods, sign up for wind power or do something similar. The Beer and Bike Fest is simply a monolithic version of what we see at the large festivals.

Given the growing interest in craft beer, particularly among the younger crowd coveted by marketers in numerous industries, I suspect we will see more events like this one. I can easily see a festival at one of our convention centers where craft beer is combined with a green or not-so-green theme. And it will evolve from there.

These are wild times in craft beer.

Velo Cult takes Bikes and Brews in a New Direction

Every now and then you run across something that makes so much sense you wonder why you haven't seen it before. The recently opened Velo Cult in the Hollywood District (across the street from the Moon and Sixpence) is that kind of concept.

Velo Cult is a bike shop that serves up a nice selection of craft beer in a comfortable setting. The roomy space on 42nd Avenue will also host regular special events that include live music, movies, race viewings, dinners, meetings and more. Obviously, a variety of rides will start and end here.

Owner Sky Boyer started Velo Cult more than five years ago. But not in Portland. The business was born in San Diego. And it did well. But at some point Boyer and his employees reckoned Portland was where they wanted and needed to be.

"From a cultural and ideological standpoint, Portland is just a better fit for us," Boyer says. "Nothing against San Diego, which is a great city."

So they shut down the San Diego operation and moved. Challenges remained. When his employees arrived in Portland in early January, Boyer had still not been able to find a suitable venue for the store.

"Finding the right space was a challenge," he recalls. "I had spent plenty of time looking and nothing was quite right. Right after my people arrived here, I found this place. I signed a lease virtually on the spot and we started making it ready for business."

That took several months and a massive amount of work. The space previously housed an antique museum with countless display areas. All that had to be removed. There were issues with layers of floor material that had to be torn up. The lighting had to be changed. And so on.

During the demolition and construction, Boyer's vision of what the store should be changed slightly. The amount of space (5,000 sq ft) gave him a lot of flexibility in terms of how to organize things. The bar area, in particular, became a sort of pivot point.

"We had always planned to serve beer," Boyer says. "We served beer in San Diego. But it was small scale. During the construction here, we all realized the bar area could be large and comfortable without taking anything away from the store. In fact, it probably adds to to appeal."

From a retail standpoint, the arrangement is odd. Velo Cult carries a selection of bikes, apparel and related accessories. Those items occupy the rear of the store. Up front, there's the bar and a large table covered with literature. It screams out: Have a beer or a coffee! Sit a spell and relax!

The scoop with the beer is simple: Boyer will soon have three rotating taps to go with a nice selection of cans and bottles. He plans to keep different beers rolling through those taps. What's the holdup? He's waiting on a permit that will allow him to install a sink. No draft beer until that happens...probably a few weeks.

Food is also on the agenda. Boyer plans to offer a line of tamales with authentic seasonings and sauces, leaning heavily on the San Diego connection.

It's evident in my mind that Hopworks is Portland's champion of combining cycling and good beer. They are decidedly a brewery/pub with a strong cycling connection. Velo Cult is taking that concept in a slightly different direction by combining a bike shop with small scale pub.

The idea has Portland written all over it.