Van Henion Brewing finds life in the Boneyard
One of the exciting new breweries that we are most anticipating opening in 2022 is making their debut in Bend, Oregon. Van Henion Brewing is launching from three long-time Oregon brewers in a familiar Bend location with major brewing pedigree.
John Van Duzer, Mark Henion and Dana Henion launch the new Van Henion Brewing in Bend, OR
Like Frankenstein’s monster, brewers Mark Henion, John Van Duzer, and Dana Henion are resurrecting Boneyard Beer’s production site with a crew of former Boneyard staffers for the new Van Henion Brewing. But unlike Boneyard Beer where all three of them brewed previously, the Van Henion brand is built around cool and crisp lagers.
“Lagers are what we love and drink most often,” says brewmaster Mark Henion. “We are in a unique position in that we have more capacity starting out then we can use and if we want to start up a new lager centric brewery, we are in a good position for just that.”
The Plateau St. brewery was where Boneyard moved their headquarters to after they outgrew their original tiny garage space and tasting room/growler fill location on Lake Pl. The property in the more business park and industrial area of northeast Bend has a capacity to put out 30,000 barrels of beer a year from an oversized 50 bbl brewhouse, and has an on-site canning line, foeders, merchandising fulfillment center, offices, and garage club house. It’s practically unheard of for a brand new startup brewery with minimum capital to launch at this massive scale, and with no major partners to begin with. It does give Van Henion a ton of freedom and capacity to brew outside brands for companies that are maxed out on their capacity in a brewhouse that the team is already intimately familiar with.
Boneyard Beer co-founder/owner Tony Lawrence says he is “beyond excited” that Mark, John and Dana are taking over Boneyard’s former home. “To get the Plateau st brewery into their hands to launch Van Henion Brewing Co couldn't be more perfect!” says Lawrence. “It's already their home and operations overall.....to now handover the keys to this team is just another chapter in our continued brewing history.”
Mark Henion (left) and Tony Lawrence (right)
Boneyard Beer founder Tony Lawrence first met Mark and John when all three were working at Deschutes Brewery in the 90’s. Mark Van Henion and John Van Duzer started their brewing careers in 1994 in what they call the “scratch and puke” department. At the time, Deschutes had recently purchased most of Widmer Brothers Brewing’s old golden gate kegs that each have side bungs and are notoriously janky. Their job was to de-bung, hot rinse, peel, scrap and scratch the old Widmer stickers off, and then spray paint and stencil ‘Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR’ on and wash, sanitize and put them back into service. The problem was many of these kegs had sat for years out in the sun with old Hefeweizen cooking inside them. “Needless to say you never knew what you were going to get when you popped that bung. And if the previous night was a good one, then....” recalls Henion. Later that year Deschutes installed a golden gate keg washer with an external caustic wash cycle, “All our work was washed away and the washer plugged up relentlessly.”
John Van Duzer of Van Henion Brewing
It wasn’t long after that Mark and John raised up the ranks from the bottom keg washing position to keg racker, to cellar, to the old Bond St. 12bbl brewer, to the Simpson’s 50bbl JVNW system. In 1997, Mark complemented his hands on-training by getting a diploma in brewing from the Siebel Institute of Technology and then became Deschutes head brewer under Dr Bill Pengelly. John followed a similar trajectory, attending the UC Davis Professional Brewers Certificate Program in 2001 and stayed with Deschutes until 2003 when Mark was named brewmaster after Dr. Pengelly was unexpectedly fired. Both John and Mark ended up at Cascade Lakes Brewing, with Henion as head brewer from 04-2010 and Van Duzer taking over the role as head brewer from 2010-201 5 when Mark exited to become head brewer at Ninkasi Brewing.
Dana Henion, co-founder of Van Henion Brewing. Photo credit: 1859 Oregon Magazine
It was in Eugene, OR at Ninkasi Brewing that Mark met Dana Robles. Starting as an employee of the the great beer bar/bottleshop The Bier Stein in 2007, Dana earned her craft beer pedigree as a homebrewer and all around beer enthusiast who realized that professionally brewing might be a career path through meeting brewers at the bar. In 2009 she joined Oakshire Brewing and began learning the ropes starting out in the cellar to becoming a brewer. In 2010 she enrolled in UC Davis to study the brewing sciences and fully commit to a future in the industry, and she remained as a brewer there until 2011 when she got a job as a brewer for Ninkasi Brewing.
In 2014 Mark Henion and Dana got engaged and left Eugene for Bend, Oregon. The following year John Van Duzer joined Mark and Dana at the quickly growing red hot brand that their old friend Tony Lawrence had started - Boneyard Beer Co. Dana was on the brew deck; the eyes and ears on the production floor. Mark built the brewery lab and created their quality control program. And John kept things running mechanically, and eventually was the point man on installing a canning line and transitioning Boneyard from draft into cans during the pandemic.
“When we got the band back together at Boneyard it was lockstep,” says Tony Lawrence. “Dana is the wildcard bringing a young fresh take on things. At the end of the day, they influenced all levels of operations. For me they were that anchor to our operations as I was getting pulled into other areas of the business.”
In honor of Mark and Dana’s wedding in 2019 they brewed Henions Helles, one of the few lagers that Boneyard Beer has released over their 11+ years. The union and the beer planted the seed for what would emerge as Van Henion Brewing after a 2 year pandemic gestation period.
Van Henion Brewing ultimately may not have been possible if not for the pandemic. Before COVID-19 the Boneyard Beer brand was a draft-only business, they were forced to quickly retool the operation to begin packaging and get 6-packs of cans into stores. But that was a temporary fix, as the brewery would never be able to keep up with it’s massive draft beer business on top of packaging. Essentially there was no turning back, and Boneyard looked to Deschutes Brewery as a possible partner and that eventually led to their acquisition in March of 2021. With production of their best-selling beers like RPM now moving into Deschutes more than capable hands, it left the Boneyard Plateau St. brewery without a reason to exist.
“Van Henion very much came out of the sale,” confirms Mark Henion. “Can't say it wouldn't have happened without it, but that's what started the process.”
The first beer out of Van Henion Brewing drops this week (reportedly the first keg taps at Bend’s Broken Top Bottle Shop on 1/13), and it’s a Helles based on the recipe from Mark and Dana’s wedding 2 years prior. It’s the first of two beers that will be the first out of the gate on draft:
Van Henion Helles Lager is a medium-bodied, classic German-style beer with a striking golden color and heady pour. This style of lager has become a staple among brewers for its drinkability and bright tasting notes. Afterall, “helles” translates to light, in German. So raise a glass, (or drink straight from the can.) Prost! 5% ABV & 18 BU's
Van Henion IPA Move along, nothing hazy to see here. Van Henion’s IPA relies on a superior blend of cascade, centennial, citra and lotus hops for a balanced, yet hoppy, flavor profile and bright golden hue. This Pacific Northwest style IPA shines with every sip. 7.2% ABV & 60 BU's
Even though they are in possibly the most IPA crazed part of the state, Mark says “We are going to go with our hearts and brew what we like to drink. So with the exception of some favorite ale styles like IPA, Kolsch, Stout, we will be primarily a lager centric brewery.”
Pending label approval and delivery, both the Helles and IPA should be canned for distribution in late January. Van Henion plans to self-distribute their beer locally in Central Oregon, and will probably be partnering with Point Blank Distributing for Eugene to Portland wholesale, and Fort George Distribution on the coast.
Van Henion is also planning to open a taproom in the building at 63067 Plateau Ct. as early as the end of the month. The space will be going for a comfortably cozy vibe with vintage barrel chairs, swag lamps and eventually a patio with food trucks.
Boneyard founder Tony Lawrence will be one of the first lined up to see what comes out of Van Henion Brewing, ”I'm excited to see what they create when the old RPM factory has a revised purpose. New Lagers and IPAs brewed with a fresh look and how things can be done at that brewery . A true changing of the guard.”
