At Ruse Brewing’s new Crust Collective on the Vancouver waterfront Detroit-style pizza takes center stage. Seemingly the favorite style of pizza by breweries, Detroit-style is known for it’s square cut thick slices with gobs of cheese on top that are burnt and crunchy around the edges like a lasagna, typically served with sauce on top, but Ruse is going old school by keeping it underneath. Its a perfect drinking food, perhaps even better than the thin cuts of triangular NYC style slices.

Ruse Brewing founders Shaun Kalis and Devin Benware believe the “crust" or “dough” is the most important attribute of this style of pizza, and the building block for the rest of the ingredients. This is why they put "crust" in the name for their second location which has a grand opening this Saturday, April 23rd at 11:30am.

Ruse Brewing started production in 2017 as an alternating proprietorship brewing behind-the-scenes at Culmination Brewing, in 2018 they opened their own production space and taproom in southeast Portland and grown in esteem since. In 2019 they were one of the 3-Way collaborators, they have hosted white hot pop-ups, a summer beer garden concert series, and collaborated with some of the best breweries in the country. It was with one of those breweries that the idea to open a pizza pub came from.

“When Cellarmaker Brewing had us down for a collaboration a few years back they literally ordered the entire menu and brought it out to us,” says Ruse co-founder Shaun Kalis referring to the San Francisco brewing company that opened a dedicated Detroit-style pizzeria called Cellarmaker House of Pizza in 2019 and helped kickoff brewers love affair with the style. “We had never experienced that caliber of food from a brewery, we were for sure inspired by that experience.”

In 2021 the Ruse Brewing team flew to Detroit to learn the art of Detroit-style Pizza first hand.

“We learned stuff that you can only absorb if you go to Detroit and hit all the spots,” says Ruse co-founder Shaun Kalis.

Kalis is from the Detroit area, and co-founder Devin Benware is from another top pizza capital in Vermont, so you might say that the love of pizza was baked into the pie. While in Detroit for research, they spent time at their favorite spot in town Michigan & Trumbull, and learned a few things.

“We learned about a great gluten free flour, and hydration rates for them. Also specific ambient temps for the kitchen. We we’re actually there while they were making the dough and saw what type of mixer they use/mixing speeds, water temp etc.” says Devin Benware. “Seems like they nerd out about the same procedural stuff in the kitchen as we do in the brewery.”

Kalis adds “The importance of using a steel & seasoned pan that never gets washed is key to these pies; scrape, wipe and re oiled after every use. We were inspired how passionate everyone was about their pizza. Every place was like…’we have the best pizza!”’

Ruse Crust Collective is all about the carmelized melted cheese on their pies from both mozzarella and brick cheddar. Getting the dough properly hydrated is important to keep the rich slices airy, and using the right touch on toppings so that the pie doesn’t get floppy and gets just the amount of crunchy browning on top to contrast the soft melty interior.

Shaun Kalis was a McMenamins alumni, and when selecting a chef to head up the Crust Collective he dipped back into that well to recruit chef Dino Mangini. In addition to his experience with high volume, Mangini loves pizza and is eager to stretch his wings into new styles and fanbase. Leading the service will be Ruse veteran Seth Black who is stepping over from the longtime position as a bartender at the Portland taproom since day one. Black is excited for a new opportunity and customizing the Crust Collective experience to Washington, while bringing his deep knowledge of the already established Ruse Brewing brand to new customers.

The Crust Collective is in a brand new building designed by Covalent Architecture and built out by general contractors Buildform, they have the benefits of being the first into that space and ability to customize it exactly to their needs. With the relatively small 1,825 sq. ft. floorplan making the most of the space is vital. Ruse expects the pizza and pick-ups to be high volume, possibly with the majority of sales being to-go.

The taproom/pizzeria is bright and naturally lit from tons of west facing windows looking out directly onto the riverwalk over the Columbia River. Ruse has worked hard to make the new space feel similar to the original even though the building’s and neighborhoods couldn’t be much different. They are using blue pine prominently, with a brass bar top just like in Portland and a similar glass art display by Ghost Pig. Crust Collective seats 40 indoors, with a small bar with room for about 8 stools. The bar will serve 10-11 Ruse beers on draft, plus a large selection of wines, and most importantly a cooler door of bottles and cans so customers can grab a 4-pack and a pie on the go.

Its the covered sidewalk patio that will nearly double capacity on a nice day though, with plenty of people watching and boats and planes flying into PDX passing by.

The Vancouver Waterfront is a $1.5 billion public-private partnership between the City of Vancouver and Gramor Development in Portland’s neighbor to the north. Just a 10 minute drive from Portland and a short bike ride from downtown Vancouver, the waterfront is home to a series of new apartment buildings and condos and a wealth of bars and restaurants along a 7-acre waterfront park. With pay lots and street parking, the area has become a popular destination for families to get a view on the Grant Street Pier, and adults wanting to treat themselves at one of the elegant boutique style dining rooms or wine bars that are almost all franchise or satellite locations of existing chains.

The Crust Collective is one of the few independently owned small businesses on the waterfront that feels like it’s run by real down-to-earth people rather than a board of directors. Despite the dozen or so options for food and drink, there hasn’t been a good option for casual and quality beers or pizza until now. Up until recently, the Barlow’s Brewpub was the only spot on the waterfront for a good craft beer selection and casual bites, but even before they closed permanently in February most of the patrons were sipping wines rather than craft beers. The Crust Collective will give a reason to craft beer nerds to visit the waterfront, and bring in a whole new crowd to Ruse that expands their fan base into a new demographic and region.

Ruse Brewing Crust Collective
650 Waterfront Wy, Vancouver, WA 98660

Opening Saturday, April 23rd at 11:30 am
360-953-8394

Regular Hours going forward: Sunday - Thursday from 11:30am - 9pm, Friday and Saturday from 11:30am - 10pm.