Oregon Beer Awards 2024 Hall of Fame winner Darron Welch
The Oregon Beer Awards recognized industry veteran and influential brewmaster Darron Welch with the 2024 hall of fame award at the annual ceremony held on April 4th at Revolution Hall. If you were not at the ceremony, you may have missed the video presentation and tribute to his career which was produced by the New School in association with Zzeppelin Media and Willamette Week.
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. In 2021, Pelican Brewing celebrated their 25th anniversary with Welch at the helm for every one of them. Guiding the brewery from a tiny beachside pub with 5 beers on tap, to becoming one of the largest and acclaimed breweries in Oregon.
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. “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!” recalls Welch.
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,” says Welch.
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.
The rest is history. Today, Pelican Brewing has four locations and brews primarily out of their massive production facility and tasting room in Tillamook, Oregon. The original brewhouse is no longer in Pacific City, but the restaurant is still an iconic attraction on the beach. Pelican also has a Cannon Beach restaurant and pilot brewery, and their newest facility is a waterfront destination on the Siletz Bay in Lincoln City which boasts parts of the original brewhouse.