Interview with McMenamins' Brewery General Manager Kevin Tillotson

By Angelo M. De Ieso II

Following a modest beginning at Portland’s Barley Mill Pub at the corner of SE 17th Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard, brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin have expanded their pub operation into more than fifty locations throughout Oregon and Washington. Soonafter the Barley Mill opened, Oregon’s laws changed allowing beer consumption at the same location where it was brewed. In early 1984, McMenamins opened the Hillsdale Brewery & Public House in southwest Portland making it Oregon’s first brewpub.

Today McMenamins is known for its acclaimed theatre-pubs, historical preservations, and decorative lodging sites. Further, the company has expanded its operations to making wine and distilling spirits. But what about the beer? With so many microbreweries popping up in the corner of the Pacific Northwest often referred to as “Beervana”, what is McMenamins’ means of keeping up with such a competitive marketplace where independence and innovation thrive? I spoke with the brewery’s general manager, Kevin Tillotson to find out.

McMenamins appears to be a continually growing company. How did elements such as the distilleries and wineries come about? Have you guys been brewing beer longer than distilling/winemaking?

Kevin Tillotson: We've been brewing beer since October of 1985. So it has been a part of our business model pretty much since the get go.

The winery and distillery seem like a natural progression for us. I think Mike McMenamin had probably been interested in doing a winery from the outset but it wasn't until the Edgefield property was secured in 1990 that we got the winery on track. Edgefield had lots of space, space which afforded us the first realistic opportunity for a full-scale wine making operation. You have to remember that wine making (as well as distilling) presents major challenges in the way of long term barrel storage. So neither operation was something that could realistically been pulled off in one of our smaller locations.

The distillery actually wasn't fired-up until 1998. Mike McMenamin had located an old 65-gallon Holstein pot still, and there was a building on the Edgefield complex that had served as a storage facility for root vegetables back in the poor farm days. Now it's a distillery and a bar and serves as the launching point for golfers playing our pub course.


How did standard brews such as the Ruby, Terminator, Hammerhead, etc become regulars for McMenamins? What does it take for a beer at McMenamins to be a “standard” beer?

KT: Our three flagship ales -- Ruby, Terminator and Hammerhead -- were all developed very early on at our first brewery (The Hillsdale Brewery & Public House). They were put into regular production there, and one thing lead to another. As we added more breweries and pubs to the mix Ruby, Terminator and Hammerhead were always available. They are the three most recognized McMenamins beers and people get cranky if they aren't available. Hammerhead currently accounts for 26% of our total production, which is astonishing to me, especially considering the number of unique recipes created within the McMenamins network of breweries every year.

The idea behind offering "standard" beer is, I suppose, an attempt to present a consistent and recognizable product at all of our locations for people who appreciate that kind of dependability in their beverage choices. Beers that have become McMenamin "company standards" are really just recipes that became very popular over the years, and because they were made with a degree of regularity people came to expect to see them in our places. To my knowledge no brewer for McMenamins has ever sat down and said "I will now design the next 'company standard'". They just sort of evolved behind their own energy. Clever marketing minds probably don't like to hear it but the truly great beers have a way of creating their own enduring legend, which in turn creates staying power.

Can you tell me more about McMenamins' use of "green energy"? To what capacity do you employ this?

KT: McMenamins brews all of our beer using green (renewable) energy. We know the total beer production we do company-wide, and we know how much energy is involved in the process of making a keg of beer since two of our breweries have their own power meters. The power usage therefore includes all power used in the brewery, from the operation of pumps and other equipment down to the lighting in the brewery itself. Based on that information, McMenamins pays a higher rate to purchase the amount of green energy needed to match our company-wide beer production. Obviously there is no way that you can specify the type of energy that is supplied to a particular location, power from every source goes into the same grid that everyone uses. But we pay a higher rate for the energy, and the extra money PGE collects is directly invested in renewable energy development, primarily wind power turbines.

We started out just using the green energy credit model for the production of our seasonal beers a couple years ago, but as of August 2006 we decided to make a full commitment to include all of the beer we produce.



Can you tell me more about the McMenamins’ Barley Cup competition?

KT: The Barley Cup brew Festival is held at the Thompson Brewery & Public House every year. McMenamins has a number of brew fests every year.

The description for the Barley Cup: “McMenamins breweries compete for the coveted Barley Cup by brewing a randomly drawn brew style, ensuring a full range of beers for you to choose from. The overall winner of the Barley Cup trophy, determined by The Capital City Homebrewers Club, will go on to represent McMenamins at the Holiday Ale Festival in Portland. Meanwhile, patrons choose the winner of the "People's Choice" award.”

Note: For more information on McMenamins’ festivals and brewing competitions, visit:
www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=75&id=421"


Some beer snobs might think some McMenamins beers to be less adventurous than others. What does your organization do to challenge the brewers and what do the brewers do to challenge them in creating seasonals and test market new beers?

KF: Let me put it this way: We brew in small batches (6 barrels/12 kegs - with the lone exception of Edgefield), which allows our brewers to collectively create well over two hundred unique recipes every year. McMenamins has from the beginning had at its core a philosophy of creativity and experimentation — and to that end, we’ve had some fabulous successes as well a few unbelievable disasters. It’s all part of the package. You can’t be afraid to try something. At least once anyway. While it is true that as the company has matured we’ve tempered the recklessness of some of our earlier experiments, I still find our brewers are constantly pushing the envelope. I’m amazed at some of the recipes I come across when visiting our places.

My experience has been that most brewers don’t need any additional prodding from ‘the suits upstairs’ to be experimental in their approach to recipe design. That curiosity about ingredients and style are part of what makes a brewer a brewer. McMenamin brewers do have to work within some parameters, and need to communicate their ideas with brewery managers before production begins. But for the most part that process is a mere formality to make sure someone isn’t doing something foolish, dangerous or illegal.

As to the opinions of ‘beer snobs’ as you refer to them — to be truthful I don’t think any of us pays attention to that sort of stuff. ‘Snob’ as it is defined infers some sort of cultural elitism that isn’t particularly relevant to the pub business, as I understand it. The good pubs seem to me to be pretty blue-collar, all-inclusive environments. It is indeed true that there are a number of enthusiasts around who very much enjoy the sensory process involved in categorizing and rating things to fully realize their personal beer or wine or coffee drinking experience. But to be honest the vast majority of beer drinkers aren’t concerned with breaking things down to anywhere near that degree. They pull up to the bar, order a beer, and talk to their friends about the day’s news. The main thing most of these beer drinkers are looking for is a high degree of satisfaction out of their chosen product. ‘Are the finish hops aromatic enough in this IPA?’ ‘Is the porter as flavorful as the last batch?’ ‘Is this keg of Hammerhead still a little green?’ I think we’ve always operated under the assumption that the only beer ‘snobs’ or ‘judges’ you really need to worry about are the ones sitting on the other side of the bar. The folks who pay the heating bill. And you’d better pay real close attention to their opinions if you know what's good for you.

When you get right down to it there's only one reason that anyone should drink any beer, and that's because they enjoy it. The criteria for what makes any given beer enjoyable vary widely from person to person. A ribbon or award is a nifty thing for the brewer that gets it but it doesn’t mean a thing to me as a customer sitting on the other side of the bar deciding what beer I’d like to try. To that end, our most useful feedback always comes from the folks that frequent our neighborhood establishments. It’s a relationship that naturally results when a community comes to feel comfortable, welcome and valued in your brewpub. In all of our places, there are patrons who offer constructive feedback to brewers and pub staff face to face. Trust me, people in this region have fairly sophisticated palates when it comes to microbrews, and are not shy about telling you exactly what they think of your efforts. They also respond when you take their comments to heart and act on their input. Any brewer worth their weight in salt can't help but become a better craftsman under those kind of circumstances.

So the real trick becomes finding the balance. Creativity for creativity’s sake is fine for a home brewer, but the fact of the matter is that we’re ultimately in the business of selling beer. That Blue Ribbon you got for your authentic Belgian Dubbel won’t do too much for you if your customer base isn’t interested in drinking twelve kegs of Belgian Dubbel in a reasonable amount of time. Every McMenamins brewer is familiar with the feeling of delivering a taster of his latest floor-malted masterpiece to a regular customer and getting the dreaded “mmmm, that’s a real delicious Scotch Ale you made here Pete. Now could you pour me another IPA please” response. I’ve worked with a number of brewers over the years who were never quite able to deal with that. It’s a hard lesson to accept, and can be a crushing blow when you’ve really poured your heart into developing a recipe. But understanding and responding to that dynamic is critical to a brewer’s success in this environment. Regardless of how exquisitely made a beer may be, certain styles consistently sell well, and certain styles consistently sit around for a long, long time. And what’s even trickier is that dynamic can change significantly from pub to pub. That’s the reality of the situation. The wise brewer listens to his customers and knows the tastes of his regular clientele and then uses his creative approach to the brewing process to create beers that cater to, and ultimately if they’re doing their job well, further develop those tastes.

So in the end it’s about knowing your crowd and playing the hand you’re holding wisely. Smart craft brewers focus energy on their own strengths. What McMenamins has to offer is a flavorful, locally made alternative. We can do much more experimenting with styles and recipes because we are not restrained by the immense scale of the operations of even some of the larger regional "craft" breweries. My experience has been that people respond very positively to that alternative and creative spirit not just for McMenamins, but in most of the area’s little brewpubs.

What is your bottling situation look like with beers? Any seasonals?

KT: Actually, we don’t bottle any of our seasonals. The only products that McMenamins currently bottles are Hammerhead, Terminator, Ruby and Sunflower IPA. I’m not sure if we’re going to expand on that program any time soon. You can still walk out of any of our establishments with a jar of whatever is on tap.