Darron Welch became the head brewer at Pelican Brewing Company at age 26 with just a few months brewing experience under his belt. A true brewers brewer, Welch is a born and raised Oregonian who brings an analytical, process and ingredient driven, approach to brewing that combines the refined and disciplined brewing pedigree of Germany with the creativity of American craft. This year Pelican Brewing celebrates 25 years in business and Welch has been there for every one of them guiding the brand from a small town startup to one of the largest and most acclaimed on the west coast.

This is chapter nineteen in a periodic ongoing Q & A series in which we get to know brewers and check-in on what they are currently drinking and thinking about their beers and others.

Welch grew up in the Eugene/Springfield area and like any high school kid in a college city he had the odd beer or two before coming of age, but he wasn’t particulary interested in pursuing it outside of house parties. After graduating from high school he had the opportunity to live in Germany for a year and that’s when everything changed.

“I liked beer and was looking forward to trying authentic German beer; once I arrived, I discovered that I loved beer, it just had to be great beer!” says Welch. The first beer styles that caught his attention were the clean crisp pilsners that reminded him of the beers he found at home, only much more flavorful and aromatic. Also, since he was staying in the southern part of Germany he found himself around a lot of Weizenbier. “It took some getting used to, since the flavors were so different. But the ritual of the pour, the beautiful glassware, the fruity, spicy aromatics, it really drew me in.”

When he had the opportunity to travel more around Germany he decided to make it his mission to taste the local beers and learn about the regional styles. Dunkel Weizen immediately drew him in with the added richness, but before long he was discovering an appreciation for Berliner Weisse, Altbier, Koelschbier, Helles, Export, Bock, Doppelbock

“My group of friends would typically go to the on-campus Kneipe at lunchtime for a half liter of Dunkeles Weizen and a game of pool. As an 18 year old American kid, this was unbelievable! Beer at lunch! On-campus pub!” says Welch. “At the time, it seemed like an entire world of beer diversity. “

After spending the year biking around the country, visiting the sights and enjoying the beer gardens Welch returned home to Oregon and enrolled at the University of Portland. He also decided to give homebrewing a try. “My thinking was that even if the beer didn’t turn out perfectly, it would have more flavor than the beer generally available in the US at that time.” Welch graduated with a BA in History from the Robery D. Clark Honors College at the U of O. “I still enjoy historical subject matter quite a bit. Well written history is really a story that explains how the world has come to be as it is.”

Out of college, Welch ended up with a job that would scratch his interest in history and mechanics as a pipe organ builder for John Brombaugh & Associates based out of Glendwood, OR. John specialized in tracker-action organs that were inspired or modeled after the classic instruments of north Germany. “The sort of instruments that JS Back or Buxtehude would have played on” he says. Brombaugh & Assoc. had gotten a major gig installing a pipe organ at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and Welch was on the install crew. The installation took about a year and while he was out there he got to know a few people at the local brewery and came upon the opportunity to intern for Alder Brau Brewery at 26 years old.

“It was a little 7 barrel system, kind of frankenbrew by today’s standards, but as a beginning brewer up from the homebrew ranks, it seemed pretty impressive to me!”

After his work at the Lawrence University ended, Welch returned to Oregon with a renewed passion for brewing and interest in making it his full time career. It was 1995 and there weren’t many breweries even in the already beer famous Portland market. Welch heard about a small industry conference being held in Portland the same week as the Oregon Brewers Festival and figured that was a great place to start.

At the conference Welch met Jeff Schons and Mary Jones, two construction and development entrepreneur looking to open a brewpub in a little beach town called Pacific City.

“I answered an ad that they had posted on a 3 x 5 card. There were many back and forth phone calls, a couple of interviews, and mostly through luck and sheer enthusiasm, I landed the job.”

Darron’s first day at Pelican was September 5th, 1995. One year later they landed their first medal at the Florence Chowder and Brews Festival for their McPelican’s Scottish Ale. Three years later they took home their first major awards, a Silver for Doryman’s Dark and a Bronze for Tsunami Stout at the 1998 Great American Beer Festival. The accolades began to pile up and in 2006 they racked perhaps their greatest accomplishment in winning five medals in one year at the GABF and the brewpub attained a state of profitability.

Today Pelican Brewing is one of the largest breweries in the state, and Darron Welch is perhaps the most award-winning brewer.

“To this day, I still love creating great flavors in beer. Making it consistently as the brewery grows is always a challenge. The whole interaction of artistic/creative and how that interplays with the science and repeatable process,” says Welch.

5 Questions for Darron Welch:

Q: With things opening up fully in Oregon right now, what are you most looking forward to doing again or a place you want to visit again?

Darron: Looking forward to enjoying a beer with friends and colleagues like normal people again. Beers on the patio by the beach – the Pelican “Peanut Gallery”

Q: What are some of your favorite beers right now, both Pelican beers and from others?

I’m really enjoying Updrift and Paddleback from our own brewery, and Breakside’s Noble Pils is just fantastic. Sunset IPA from Hopworks is pretty nice right now too.

Q: Are there any current styles or trends in the beer industry right now that you are curious about or following closely?

I am curious about Kevin Davey’s Cold IPA thing. Paying attention to that. I remain confused about how it is distinct from a Brut IPA or a dry hopped Imperial Pilsner. So I’m paying attention to see if I can get a better understanding. I guess one distinction is that Cold IPA is still being talked about and Brut IPA is completely dead in the marketplace. But that is more abut buzz and talkability, not necessarily about the beer itself. So I remain curious about this one.

Q: What is currently in your tanks, fermenters or in planning that we can look forward to?

Last Thursday I brewed the third installation of our Bird Day series. Jason Schoneman from Steel Toe returned back to Pelican and we had a great time catching up, brewing and socializing. The beer is what we are calling a Hopwine, and while the ingredients are very conventional, the process is not. So it has been a very fun project so far.

Q: What makes you optimistic about the beer industry in the wake of the pandemic and our many challenges?

I’m optimistic that with the reopening of the economy, people will be ready at long last to have a beer in a restaurant, bar or pub. I look forward to the return to health of on-premise business. This can only be a positive development for craft brewers.

Check out our past Q & A’s with Whitney Burnside (10 Barrel), Brett Thomas (Sunriver), Ben and Rik of Baerlic Brewing, Austen Conn of Buoy Beer, Michael Kora of Montavilla Brew Works, Scott Sieber of Falling Sky Brewing, Coren Tradd of Pelican Brewing Cannon Beach, Sarah Resnick of Freebridge Brewing, Tyler West of GoodLife Brewing, Natalie Baldwin of Breakside Brewery, Justin Leigh of Dwinell Country Ales, Chetco Brewing’s Mike Frederick , pFriem’s Gavin Lord, Ex Novo’s Ryan Buxton, Coin Toss Brewing and NW Coffee Beer Invitational’s Dave Fleming, Lisa Allen of Heater Allen Brewing. Dan Russo of Oakshire Brewing, and Kevin Shaw of Buoy Beer Co.