“I have been reminded repeatedly by a number of people that I said I would never run a restaurant,” says Oakshire Brewing founder Jeff Althouse.

But in a major shift in stance, 16 year old Oakshire Brewing opens their new restaurant concept Brewfare Pizza this week in Portland.

When Eugene, Oregon-based Oakshire opened their second location the “Beer Hall” in Portland in July 2019 the industry was a different place. Having been around since 2006 Oakshire had already experienced the surge of success, slowing of marketplace growth, the ups and downs that led them to reinvent themselves again and tweak their business model to feel fresh and new. In Eugene the Oakshire taproom has always been a tasting room only with regular and rotating food trucks, when they purchased the former Old Salt Marketplace building at 5013 NE 42nd Ave. Portland, OR it came with an impressive kitchen setup, but owner Jeff Althouse didn’t want to become a restaurateur. So they partnered with Guam food truck BIBA! Chamoru Kitchen to take over the kitchen and operate semi-autonomously. But when that didn’t work out, perhaps partly because of the pandemic, Althouse knew he had to try something different.

Part of the pandemic pivot was to bring in Sure Shot Burger, the food truck now parked on-site at the large Oakshire Beer Hall patio has been a popular spot for the regulars and locals to get top-notch smashburgers. But Althouse also knew they needed something permanent that could operate the same hours as the beer hall with consistent crowd-pleasing options that their customers could count on being available and satisfying.

“Oakshire exists to share great beer experiences,” says Althouse. “No restaurateur going out to do their own thing wants to be second fiddle to the beverage program. So it’s kind of a setup for a not great relationship. But if we are operating it we can apply the creative processes we know from experimentation to developing core products. We can apply the model of letting creativity thrive in the beer side of the business, and apply that to the food side of the business.”

Brewfare is a beer and food collaboration between bakers, brewers, and the hospitality staff. The opening Brewfare menu hosts 8” square pan pizzas and a dough made with Oakshire’s Italian-style Pilsner. The crust has crispy edges all the way around the pan, but is soft inside, with a slight malt flavor. The menu is supplemented by fresh salads, cheesy garlic breadsticks,  and oven-baked desserts are also featured as part of the Brewfare lineup.

The Brewfare pizza crust is already plant based with natural rising dough from the addition of beer. This makes it easy for vegetarian/vegans who can choose between plant-based versions of pepperoni and Italian sausage with an option for Follow Your Heart plant-based cheese, and the pub has developed their own recipe for a crispy cauliflower that goes great on the Banh-Mi Pizza or a substitute for protein on the Buffalo Chicken pie.

Chris Heuchert is the new hospitality director who previously managed Block 15 Brewing’s pub operations, and now manages the overall program at both Oakshire’s and launching the new Brewfare concept.

Althouse and Heuchert acknowledge the similarities between Brewfare pizza and popular regional deep dish pies like Sicilian, Chicago-style, or the increasingly brewery popular Detroit-style Pizza, but wanted to make this it’s own thing.

“We didn’t want to put a name on it, we want it to standalone… Even give us the creativity to take it where we want to take it and have a lot of fun with it,“ says Althouse.

Heuchert adds, “It’s a thicker crust as a pan-style pizza, but it’s still light in body, so it’s filling but not heavy and dense and has great topping distribution across the whole pizza. It’s rare to see people leave crust on their place. People want to eat the whole thing rather than leaving that edge of crust that’s very often on round pies.”

Brewfare is designed for fast-casual dining and an easy to execute menu, Oakshire staff can manage both the taproom and the pub side of the operation. If successful, Oakshire is planning to expand the Brewfare concept to Eugene, but won’t abandon their current outside food options either.

“By no means are we looking to replace the food cart option, what we are looking for is something so that the guests can have a consistent option that they can count on,” says Althouse, who compares it to filling the needs of regular taproom guests who want to know that they can always find favorite beers like Oakshire’s Watershed IPA, Overcast Espresso Stout, or Amber Ale on tap. The beer hall will continue to welcome not only Sure Shot Burgers, but outside food from the neighborhoods diverse options like Yonder, Pizza Jerk, and Santo Domingo Taqueria.

But Oakshire made the unusual choice to spin-off Brewfare as a separate business with its own branding and identity.

“We think Oakshire has a 15 going on 16 year history and we are known for our beers, we wanted to create a brand that could be separate but still cohesive,” says Hannah Child, new marketing director for Oakshire who was previously the taproom manager. “As the name suggests “Brewfare” it is a beer and food collaboration, so we wanted to portray that in a separate brand of itself. It’s a concept that we could take to other locations.”

Matching the hours of the Oakshire Beer Hall, Brewfare will operate from 3pm to 9pm Monday through  Thursday, 12pm to 10pm Friday and Saturday, and 12pm to 9pm on Sunday. This summer they would like to expand into lunch hours durng the weekdays as well.

There is also the  opportunity to order Brewfare and Oakshire beer online for a quick take-out option. Lunch hours and  specials will be added at the beginning of summer. To see the current menu and order online, visit brew fare.com. Follow @oakbrewpdx and @brewfarepdx on Instagram to see current pairings and specials.  

About Oakshire Brewing:   Oakshire  Brewing  of  Eugene, Oregon,  is  a  community  inspired  small  batch  brewing company founded in 2006. Oakshire is privately owned by the family and friends of its founders,  employs 28 people, and produces a wide variety of beers through its three distinct brewing programs:  Core,  Pilot,  and  Vintage.  These  beers  are  available  on  draft  and  in  package  through  Oakshire’s  exceptional wholesale partners in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.  Oakshire operates two taprooms  in Oregon, the Oakshire Public House in Eugene is located at 207 Madison Street, and the Oakshire Beer  Hall  in  NE  Portland,  which  is  located  at  5013  NE  42nd  Ave.  For  more  information  about  Oakshire,  including our people, locations and beers, visit our website at oakbrew.com.  

Photo credits: Baker Poulshock