Grand Fir Brewing 3-Year Anniversary Q&A w/ Whitney Burnside & Doug Adams
Grand Fir Brewing celebrates their 3rd anniversary this Saturday, November 15th at their inner Portland brewpub. It’s been a remarkable three years for Grand Fir that seems to have went by in a flash. When we were first to break the news that noted Oregon brewer Whitney Burnside was leaving 10 Barrel Brewing Portland to team-up with her husband chef/restaurateur Doug Adams of Bullard Tavern, Imperial, and Woodsman Tavern it was met with quite a bit of anticipation. But with such high expectations the pressure was greater than ever.
In year one Grand Fir Brewing was honored as best new brewery at the Oregon Beer Awards, also winning a bronze for Silvertip IRA, Silver for their Ember dark lager. After an already impressive debut, 2024 turned out to be an even bigger year: at the Oregon Beer Awards that brought GFB a gold for Redside IPA, a Gold for Heart Island coconut Stout, a Silver for Foxglove session IPA, a Gold for Heartwood Stout, and Small Brewery of the Year. Later that year they would enter the national stage at the most prestigious beer competition in America where GFB won a silver medal for Ponga their New Zealand-style IPA, a silver for Rolling Rust their red ale, and a silver for Gastropod Imperial IPA, which led to them being recognized as Brewery of the Year in the 501-1,000 barrels category. So far 2025 has brought more of the same with more accolades, even better beer, and a dedicated following.
Even with all of that success, Grand Fir remains a small husband and wife owned brewpub primarily selling all their beers on draft at their own restaurant with only limited amounts to accounts around Oregon and the occasional canning run. 2025 has brought slow expansion to unoccupied suites in their building. One new area is now occupied with additional tanks and cellar to help juice beer production. Another suite is home to Doug’s new project with AJ McCafferty, The Bitter Root Club, an intimate hunting-lodge inspired dining room setup to host higher-end eating experiences with an intentional family-style rotating prix fixe menu and special collaboration dinners with local chefs, winemakers, and brewers.
Q & A with Whitney Burnside and Doug Adams:
Whitney, you had been dreaming of opening your own brewery for a long time before it finally came to fruition. What was the key to finally making it happen?
WB: I originally wanted to own a brewery and bakery concept situated in a neighborhood to give a very European vibe. Throughout my brewing career, my dream took different iterations but I knew one thing for sure; the concept needed to be more than just beer. It needed to have a special element to it. When the pandemic happened, it opened the doors for both Doug and I to explore putting our talents together and creating something truly unique.
Doug, Since transitioning from running multiple restaurants and catering to a different community of patrons, what do you miss the most?
DA: Opening the Bitterroot Club was a game changer for me because it solved really what I missed the most, which is cooking more seasonal and beautiful ingredients in an ever changing form. So from the cooking side of things I feel like we have the best of both worlds now. We get to feed hundreds of people casually a day and serve 22 people in a really intimate creative setting once or twice a week.
Whitney, at your 3 year anniversary, is there anything different in the brewery that took you some time to dial in?
WB: I am always tweaking and coming up with more efficient ways to get better results. I have done that since I started brewing and I don't think I will ever be 100% satisfied if I'm not pushing myself and my team to do the better than we are currently. A new fun challenge is figuring out our new production schedule with our tank expansion.
Doug, How have the patrons of Grand Fir Brewing surprised you in their tastes?
DA: Portland as a city is a discerning clientele. Always has been. Portland is a competitive city for restaurants because there is so much talent and hard work here. If you walk 10 minutes in any direction from grand fir you could be eating food from Gabe Rucker (one of americas greats) the best ramen in the city from Toya, Nongs, Wolf's head, etc etc. Any chef or restauranteur who acts surprised that anyone in pdx expects great not good is in trouble haha. We've always known the stakes are high.... I think what can be surprising is the high expectation for cheap and fast at a brew pub. We've always tried to push the limits and offer a steak here and there or a chicken dinner but people really do want that under $20 full meal a head when they walk in the door. And they want it fast!! We spend a lot of time dialing in efficiencies to food out of that tiny kitchen fast - we are lucky to have such a strong team to make that possible in the front of house and back of house.
Whitney, How do you decide what types of beers to make these days? I imagine that now that you can see what is popular and what takes longer to sell, you might brew differently than you would have when you worked for another company and didn’t necessarily have that same level of connection to the bartenders and the sales?
WB: It's funny because at 10 Barrel, times were different in many ways. The demographic was different at 10 Barrel, the beer industry was thriving, and I had a credit card with endless possibilities for purchasing fun, unique ingredients. I was never worried about dumping a beer down the drain though that was rare. When I was at 10 Barrel, I truly brewed what I wanted to brew during that time. I think when we opened Grand Fir, I wanted the beer to be more straightforward and classic. I still am brewing beer that I want to drink and luckily, so do the customers. I do not do "hazy IPAs" except for my New Zealand options, which gives me no choice haha.
Doug, Grand Fir has changed up the menu a lot since opening but I think the burger had remained the same up until recently, why did you change it now and what has the feedback been?
DA: I try not to over think things at gfb. We did that burger sauce and the beef tallow onions on a burger for the night market snack fest burger smack down and the crown went wild. We won with it ... and thought why not.
Whitney, What are the biggest changes in the industry in the last 3 years since Grand Fir has opened, and how do you adapt to them?
WB: I think we are seeing more of a shift towards the old school brew pub model. People like to walk or bike to their local pub and enjoy a pint. We are seeing mostly millennial and older generations come through our pub and a lot of the younger generation is gravitating towards cider and low alcohol options.
Doug, How hand in hand does the kitchen work with the brewhouse in collaboration or exchange of tastes, pairings, and appealing to consumers?
DA: Whit and I live and breath GFB 24/7 at work and at home. Her input into the menu is invaluable as she has more experience at successful brew pubs than anyone in the company. She also comes from a culinary background. I can find myself in tail spins of wanting to feel like I'm back at sit down fine dining and her feedback of what people want (especially at lunch) is key to our success.
With Grand Fir’s 3rd anniversary and the end of the year coming up, do you have any new years / year 4 resolutions?
WB: First, we would like to take a long vacation!! That's number one. We are very excited for Grand Fir's future plans. Now that we have added more tanks to our brewery, we can finally start making real plans for our second location while also introducing other beverages that are not beer.. Stay tuned.
DA: stand in a river looking for trout more than last year.
GRAND FIR BREWING 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY
Saturday, November 15th noon - 10pm ish
Grand Fir Brewing, 1403 SE Stark Street Portland, OR 97214
Local vendors and artists from noon to 5 set up in the pub including:
Handmade jewelry from @tashabaileydesign
Tattoos by @a_m_bailey_
Artisan bread bakers @nascent_bread
West Cult IPA anniversary collaboration beers release with Brujos Brewing on draft and limited 16oz cans and t-shirts available to-go.
Food Specials:
BBQ Beef Short Rib Sandwiches
Hand Dipped Corn Dogs
Pop-up wine bar in the Bitterroot Club
Live Music:
GFB brewer/bartender Cassidy Mack Rife’s melodic punk band Old Cross plays at 9pm.