Dark gothic cathedral inspired Brujos Brewing opens in NW Portland
Brujos Brewing’s dark temple of occultist beers and black metal worship officially opens to the public on Saturday, March 2nd 2024.
When we first reported about cult beer brand Brujos Brewing in January 2022, it was a little known underground project whispered about in beer trading groups that few people had actually tried or were even aware of. Later that year when Brujos founder Sam Zermeño made a deal with Great Notion Brewing to release the first official public offering of beers, many people got their first taste of the intensely hop saturated and complex double and triple dry-hopped hazy IPA’s and stouts, setting off a frenzy when they later scaled up production at Living Haus Beer.
In July 2023, the New School broke the news that Zermeño, along with new business partners Scott Lemaster and Jesse McFarland had leased the vacated Hammer & Stitch Brewing space at 2377 NW Wilson St, Portland, OR 97210 to open Brujos’ first brick-and-mortar and finally have a location to call home. After nearly 8 months of renovating, and redecorating Hammer & Stitch’s starkly bright white and red flourished brewpub, Brujos has converted it into a gothic cathedral inspired taproom that the church of satan would be proud of.
Brujos are not devil worshippers, as some bible clutching neoludites might have you believe. Zermeño grew up in Tijuana Mexico and southern California, and found his people in the alternative gothic metal music and arts community, which intersected with homebrewing and other nerdy satanic panic activities such as Dungeons & Dragons. “I really fell in love with the culture, and the sharing of ideas. I was a loner growing up, so this felt like home,” says Zermeño. “Brujo” is basically the spanish word for a male witch, they were known as practitioners of healing and magic and the term is based on Latino, Caribbean, and African traditions.
Black metal and gothic/horror themed breweries are not new, and if anything have become the new cool in the cult-favorite craft beer community just as much from the inspired art and branding as music and culture that inspired it. For Zermeño it’s not just a brand, it is a lifestyle that is much warmer and welcoming then the depictions of skulls and demons on the labels and merchandise would lead you to believe. Brujos Brewing is more about the community and the iconography that express the culture, the vision is not tied to religious values or belief systems outside of personal morality and ethics.
If Zermeño is the creative visionary behind Brujos, then Ivan Morales is the heart of the brewery community and leader in cultivating the already well established followers that show up for monthly limited can releases and line around the block. Brujos Brewing has not even officially opened yet, and already has a following that most well established breweries would make a sacrifice to satan to have. As the brand ambassador and first ever employee of Brujos, Morales will coordinate events, run front of house and sales and help out in self-distribution. Wherever Brujos pops up, you will likely find Morales there.
Many have visited the Brujos Brewing taproom as a venue to pickup their highly sought after beer can releases, but it has served as more of a waiting room then an operating beer bar before the March 2nd opening. With most of the finishing touches finalized, the space’s high ceilings and mostly open floor plan have allowed for creative design choices in a the style of a fantastical black cathedral that Sauron from Lord of the Rings would be proud of. Glass chandeliers drop down from the ceiling, a gold and white painting of a skull that graced a favorite past Brujos can label for ‘Void Nectar’ is illustrated onto a back wall, while cloaked figures holding a lantern, sickle, and mash paddle, look down on the taproom denizens from above. The deck and front room offer a more open area with barrel tables for standing and drinking, behind the floating black marbled slab bar, is a back room filled out with custom beer hall style tables and salvaged church pews. Separating the seating area from the brewery is a false wall with abbey-style windows cut out for an intimate view close to the brewing action. Most impressively is the malevolent looking archways towering over the bar, engraved with detailed design work and the signature black and gold color scheme, they look like something straight out of Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower on the Plateau of Gorgoroth in Mordor.
Brujos has sub-leased their kitchen space to chef Colin Murray, a recent transplant to the pacific northwest coming from San Diego. Already a craft beer expert, Murray will run St. LoveJoy’s kitchen featuring an evolving mix of Baja-Mex/Asian/Mediterranean small plates for the taproom crowd.
“The inspiration of the name is based on the founder of the city of Portland, Asa LoveJoy,” says Murray. “From there I thought it would be fun to then play with a slightly modified rendition of the Reverend LoveJoy character from the Simpsons, to be one of the logo images. Playing off of the “reverend” and the fact that Brujos is what it is.”
Murray is a classically trained chef and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, with a 20 year career spanning from Montauk, New York & San Diego, California. Graduate of Culinary Institute of America, He has worked in fine dining and casual fare at places like ‘Carnitas Snack Shack’ in San Diego. His Southern California inspired Mexicana and culinary travels from Europe to New York, will be a perfect accompaniment for Brujos culture and Zermeño and Morales roots in Mexico.
When Brujos Brewing was first established as a homebrew and collaboration beer brand, they were known for thick pastry stouts. As the brand has evolved into a commercial enterprise, Zermeño has chose to lean heavily on New England-inspired southern California hazy IPA’s, the kind that appear like milky juice in color with huge dank hop noses and tingly juicy and earthy bitterness. Often times going double or triple dry-hopped, imperial strength and above, the hazy IPA’s have become Brujos sickle and scythe of their arsenal, while the intense imperial stouts are mostly collaborations with other sought after breweries like Omnipollo, Fidens, and Other Half. But with their taproom and expanded platform, Brujos is branching out with the help of new lead brewer Maxwell Schmitt, who like Sam is a veteran of Great Notion Brewing. “I’m just excited for people to be able to more regularly get their hands on our beer and to continue to push the boundaries of the styles we’re known for while also having the freedom to brew whatever we want to,” says Schmitt.
The opening taplist is notably not very hazy nor powered by extreme offerings:
Sunfen Luminaries, a 4.5% abv Helles lager.
Clari Didencia, a 5.5% abv West Coast Pilsner brewed with Great Notion.
Wolfenthrone, a 7.3% abv West Coast IPA collaboration with Ruse Brewing.
Loneliness, a 7.6% abv Hazy IPA.
Brujos Brewing stands out in many ways, not the least for becoming only the second Portland brewery that is strictly 21+. Their ethereal nature in the past is set to coalesce at their scorched church of a brewpub, making their beers far more available to their fans that previously traveled far and wide to wait in line for a can. After the Saturday, March 2nd opening, Brujos Brewing will be open Wed-Thus 2-9 pm Fri- Sat 12-10 Sunday 12-9.
