N. Portland’s Homebrew Exchange and Look Long Brewing sold to new Ownership Group

A N. Portland mainstay of the DIY homebrewing, winemaking, fermentation world and it’s nano brewing counterpart pub have been sold to a new set of owners who want to revitalize the business and maintain it as a stable home for fellow businesses Long Dai Food Cart and vegan pastry shop Hail Snail.

As first reported by the New School this summer, the 10+ year old Homebrew Exchange (HBX) and Look Long Brewing (LL) went on the market in the search for new owners in June. Homebrew Exchange achieved some notoriety in 2010, when they helped Portland’s then infamous Mayor Sam Adams become a homebrewer. In June, HBX and LL Co-Owner Rory Schellinger told us that if they didn’t find a buyer they would likely close up the business by this fall.

Luckily that never happened, Homebrew Exchange and Look Long found new owners in their own backyard; Danny Quarrell, Dylan Burgess, and Pete Schuft have purchased the businesses with an intent to keep them in operation as essential parts of the community. The new ownership group has quietly been stocking the store back up, and plans to bring on more staff for the homebrew side of the store and the taproom.

“We all live within a couple of blocks of the store/taproom and we really didn't want to see what we thought was a great place right in our neighborhood go by the wayside,” says Danny Quarell, one of the new owners who has lived one block away from the business since 2010.

Quarrell is a sports fanatic, not only an avid golfer, mountain biker and Timbers season ticket holder but also big into the Ultimate Frisbee world, which is where he met Stanley Barnes from HBX. Look Long had sponsored ultimate teams that Quarrell was involved with as a former player and coach. He has since spearheaded the purchase of HBX/Look Long with the goal of improving the interior and exterior of the building, expanding the fermentation supply side of the store, and debuting a new backyard patio space this coming Spring.

Look Long Brewing, the nano brewery and taproom side of the business opened in early 2018 and had become a popular spot for community events, game nights, acoustic performances and trivia. Their beers made it to the Nano Fest and even had some limited distribution through High Road Distributing. However, with only 1 barrel of production size, it was clear that LL would never be able to meet demand if the taproom ever became busy again. That, and former brewer Stan Barnes is now the head cidermaker at fellow N. Portland biz Swift Cider.

To keep the LL brewery running, the owners are planning to keep bringing in guest beers out of necessity and exploring their options in having beer brewed off-site and guest brewers come in to brew on their system. Barnes hopes to still get in occasionally to brew a beer, and will remain in a consulting role through the transition. But time will tell when and where the demand for housemade beers come back, with the new owners all having their own separate successful careers they are afforded the luxury of patience.

“As of today we don't have any LL beer on tap (we do have something in the bright tank ready for kegging) and are mainly serving via guest taps. Of course, we plan to scale brewing back up, but with COVID we aren't in a rush to brew beer we won't be able to sell. We'll take a wait and see approach on when it's best to scale up,” says Quarell.

As Portland hopefully begins to recover from the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2021, HBX and LL plan to add employees to help manage the homebrew supply shop and pub, and add a second food cart to their lot if the neighborhood will sustain it.

“Our vision is a family friendly neighborhood watering hole with a nice big patio. We don't have any intention to serve food or to run the food carts that are on site, we see the other businesses (Hail Snail and Long Do) as great partners who help to make the location kind of a fully featured place to get food, get beer and hang out. Converting the back patio from storage to seating is our big change to the business,” says Quarell.

Homebrew Exchange / Look Long Brewing

6550 N Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97217