Heathens Build Brand, Eye Expansion

Sunny Monday was a perfect day for a quick road trip and a stopover at Heathen Brewing in Vancouver. I'd been up there several times before, most recently over a year ago. A revisit is always fun because you see progress. Heathen continues to expand its portfolio and reach.

You may recall that Heathen resides in a residential garage in rural/suburban Vancouver. Yeah, it's a little odd. Founder/owner Sunny Parsons lives in the adjacent home and has a short work commute. The area around the brewery, once heavily wooded, has been cleared and stuffed with McMansions. Progress, some might say.

A lot has changed since my initial visit in 2013. They were pretty small back then. Parsons and brewer Rodney Stryker did everything. But they made a name for the place with Transgression IPA, winner of the Battle of the Brews competition at the 2013 Oregon Brewers Festival. Since then, they've added employees. Stryker has been directing the brewing operation for more than a year.

Snooping around the brewery, I spied many more beers pouring. They've dramatically expanded the list and it covers a wide spectrum of styles. They're making a lot more beer, as well. The garage, once fairly open, is packed with fermenters. And they have five larger fermenters outside. Rodney said they have more than 200 barrels worth of fermentation space.

One of the goals they set early on was to have a pub, and they realized that goal last July with the opening of the Feral Public House in downtown Vancouver. It's an important addition because the brewery/tasting room is small and remote. The Feral House is the brewery's "best customer," I was told, consuming several dozen kegs a week.

The big surprise on my last visit was the barrel program housed in a facility near the brewery. This is Stryker's pet project and it has grown significantly. Heathen's barrel house is now home to more than 120 barrels of beer aging in wine and spirits barrels. At Rodney's suggestion, we conducted pH testing (wink) of several barrels. The program seems to be coming along nicely.

Heathen's beers are distributed by Maletis Beverage in Vancouver and by Point Blank in Portland. It isn't that hard to find their beer in bottleshops, beer bars and specialty stores on both sides of the river. Grocery and convenience stores are another matter. Current volume simply isn't sufficient to support ongoing sales in those outlets.

"The worse thing we could do right now is make the jump to stores like Fred Meyer and Safeway and then not be able to keep the shelf space filled," Stryker said. "That's a bad scenario in the short run, but it would hurt us more in the long run because buyers remember that kind of thing."

Which takes us back to the brewery, which will produce something like 2,500 barrels this year. That's a decent number, but the place is apparently woefully inefficient and takes a lot of time and effort to brew. And there's a lot of waste. Plans for a production brewery have been in the works for several years and will likely come to fruition at some point.

"I think we could probably max out at around 5,000 barrels a year where we are," Stryker said. "But I hope it doesn't come to that. We'll be in a much better position to support our growth when we have a production brewery. It's a huge investment, but something that will happen."

As documented in various publications, the Vancouver/Clark County beer scene has improved dramatically in recent times. What was once a bad joke has turned into something pretty cool. Heathen is part of that, one of a growing number of breweries that are putting Vancouver on the beer map. It was a long time coming, but seeing the progress is fun.

Heathen Leads "Fussy" Beer Charge in the Couv

Saturday afternoon I went on a little junket to Clark County. I figured I'd repeat last year's pre-Super Bowl routine with a trip to Heathen Brewing for some beer. It worked like a charm last year and things were looking pretty good until, well, you know. But never mind.

You may recall this brewery lives in a residential garage in rural/suburban Vancouver. Sunny Parsons is the owner/founder and his home is next to the brewery. Real convenient. The brewing operation is more or less directed by Rodney Stryker, one of craft beer's up-and-coming cool kids.

These guys became a borderline household name in the summer of 2013, when their Transgression IPA won the Battle of the Brews competition at the Oregon Brewers Festival. At the time, Heathen really wasn't set up to take the ball and run with it. Transgression was a special beer, made especially to make a splash. They didn't have the facilities to produce it on a grand scale.

Well, the folks at Heathen have been up to no good since my visit a year ago. They've packed the remaining space in the garage with fermenters and there are two more outside. They've also added some additional employees, have 14 beers on tap and sell 22 oz bottles (at 50 percent off on Saturday!). They're fast-tracking their success now.

I had wondered why I kept seeing Heathen bottles, including Transgression IPA, at area bottleshops. They've yet to make much of a splash in the grocery channel, but that's often a challenge for small breweries. The extra production capacity, which has consumed most of the old tasting room space, has put them in position to build on their success.

Rodney and Sunny in 2013

Talking to Sunny about the road ahead, he said they are in the process of putting together a production brewery in another location. He will drop a fairly sizable chunk of change getting it off the ground. It sounds like they may go with a fairly basic setup initially and build it out as demand for their beer grows. That seems like a smart move.

The real bombshell is the barrel program they've launched. Rodney showed me around a secret location where they've got 60+ barrels simmering. Some of these contain Epitaph, a barrel-aged Imperial Stout. But Rodney's pet project is the other side of that space, where he has some sour beers aging. I was stunned to find them so immersed in barrels.

There's more. Once the production brewery is up and running, the current brewery will be retooled to produce strictly wild and sour beers. I didn't pry into how that might happen. I suspect most of the fermenters will be moved, because you want to age these beers in wood. Their current mash tun looks like a deep coolship, so it could work as their inoculation vessel for the wild stuff.

In case you're wondering, you can find some of Heathen's specialty bottles around town. Their beers are distributed by Point Blank in Portland and I've seen Epitaph and the bourbon barrel-aged barleywine, Reindeer Tears, here and there. I suspect the supply of these bottles will increase with time and eventually there will be some sour beers, too.

It's hard to believe. Not that long ago, Vancouver was a laughing stock on the craft beer front. They had seen quite a few small breweries come and go. To see what they're doing at Heathen is pretty cool. The brash branding really fits with who they are. They're having fun working their asses off doing something they enjoy: making great "fussy" beer.

Asked about a possible sale to Anheuser-Busch, Sunny shook his head. "That's not really on my mind or part of our plan." You have to ask.

Heathen (s) Looking to Plunder Local Beer Scene

Stryker (left) and Parsons flank the Heathen gong

Portland's neighbors to the north were slow to catch the craft beer wave. They've seen a number of attempts to crash the party, but Clark County was mostly a laughing stock until recently. Today they sport more than a few promising breweries and there are more on the way. Times have changed.

Heathen Brewing is one of the bright new faces on Vancouver's block and it has earned a lot of attention in recent weeks. At the Oregon Brewers Festival, its Transgression IPA was voted among the top beers. In KOIN TV's Battle of the Brews, Transgression finished first. Needless to say, it's been a wild couple of weeks for the two-man show that runs Heathen.

Plenty to sample

Sunny Parsons is the owner and founder of Heathen Brewing. The brewery and tasting room (rolled into one) is located in an expanded garage next to his residence in rural Vancouver. It's a pretty down-to-earth operation. The mash tun is a salvaged buttermilk tank. They have a 10 bbl brew kettle and several fermenters, including one 20 bbl. Taps line one wall. Logo glasses, growlers and other schwag are nearby.

Sunny's partner is Rodney Stryker, who you suspect is more than a few years younger than Parsons. Because the boss still has a day job, Stryker is the one doing the vast majority of the brewing (90 percent he reckons). He keeps up with the demand for their beer by working 60 or more hours most weeks. They have been reluctant to bring on more people, though that will soon change.

A wide view of the brewery/tasting room

I met these two chatterboxes while sampling their Transgression IPA at the OBF. They were hanging out near their beer to interact with patrons. What a novel concept. Anyway, they love to talk beer and are happy to describe their brewing processes and values. They are dedicated to producing what they describe as "progressive ales for the promiscuous palate."

The newfound popularity of Heathen beers is going to make it tougher for these guys to maintain their values. They will almost certainly be forced to grow beyond their rather small and comfy space. A pub space in Hazel Del is in the works, and demand for draft beer is growing. As well, they plan to start bottling (22 oz bottles) by late fall. Parsons said the brewery will stay where it is for now. He and Stryker are well aware of the challenges associated with rapid growth and becoming a serious business.

In case you're wondering, neither of these guys has professional brewing experience. Both have strong homebrewing backgrounds. Parsons was making plans to open his brewery when he met Stryker, who was hoping to open a small brewery on his own. They agreed to combine their efforts and the result is Heathen.

Parsons happily chats with a beer fan

About the name, Parsons describes himself as a something of a wild child growing up. He was constantly in trouble and once surprised his father with a thermos full of pollywog soup. They taste just like chicken, I bet. The Heathen name and identity somehow evolved out of that. It seems to work well for them.

The brewery/taproom was a beehive when I visited, unannounced, on Saturday afternoon. There was a constant flow of beer fans rolling through tasting beers and getting growlers filled. Almost everyone wanted to talk with them about the beer. This just demonstrates how starved Vancouver has been for good beer that's local. People drove out there to get Heathen beer because it's theirs.

They were pouring a wide range of beers on Saturday. I tasted almost everything. The standouts were Blackberry Hefweizen (100 pounds of fresh blackberries were pureed and added to a 10 bbl batch during secondary fermentation) and Gold Pale Ale (a crisp, light ale that leans on Mosaic hops). Both of these beers, as well as Transcend IPA, will be poured at the upcoming Vancouver Brewfest (I should mention that Gold Pale was made for the festival and will be poured under an assumed name.)

Empties await fills on pallets outside

Some of their other beers include Promiscuous Blonde (balanced for the style), Indulge Amber (good), a standard Hefeweizen (I didn't try it), RIP Porter (near great), Son of Malice Imperial IPA (seems unfinished and needs dry-hopping) and a barrel-aged IPA that was mostly alcohol.

If you're looking for the fantastic Transgression IPA, you're mostly out of luck. It's a special beer, a seriously tweaked version of the standard Transcend IPA. Thirty-one kegs of this stuff crossed the river, 24 of which were consumed at the OBF. Heathen's distributor, Point Blank, evidently sold six kegs to various pubs around town. The remaining keg went to the Horse Brass Pub, where it still shows up on the draught list (as of Sunday evening). It really is an amazing beer.

If you're able to make a trip up, down or over to Heathen, check the calendar on their website for open days and hours. There's also a handy map there. This place isn't super hard to find, but there's road construction in the area that makes things more confusing than they need to be.

These Heathens are alright.

Stryker fills one of many growlers