Trap Door Brewing introduces new head brewer Tristan Karosas formerly of Single Hill
left to right: Toby Armstrong, Tristan Karosas, & Jake Watt
Trap Door Brewing is attracting talent to Southwest Washington; Former Single Hill Brewing brewmaster Tristan Karosas is the new Head Brewer of the Washougal based brewery joining Jake Watt on the team as former assistant brewer Toby Armstrong exits. Trap Door has been consistently putting out quality beers proven with medals from several national and regional competitions under Watt, who knows that surrounding himself with good ingredients is just a start - It takes talented people to put those ingredients to work.
Jake and Tristan met in the summer of 2024, while judging the Oregon Brewers Guild’s Best of the West Coast IPA Throwdown. There was an instant connection that continued to develop at Shadowfall, an IPA Invitational at Varietal Brewing in Yakima, WA. Nerding out over their mutual affinity for D&D, they both knew there was the right kind of vibe between them. Solidifying their understanding of each other's talent and ambition by connecting at the Craft Brewers Conference in Indianapolis, IN, something great was bound to happen.
Starting in the lab at Hollingbery Hops, Tristan became the first brewery employee at Single Hill Brewing when they announced their opening in Yakima. He has admired the Portland/SW Washington beer scene from afar. He enjoyed the area's beer and food, so was excited at the thought of working with a brewer he knows in a cool spot. At a young age, Tristan had beer from Minnesota breweries, such as Summit, Surly and Town Hall. Michigan based Bell’s distributed their historic Two Hearted ale to Tristan’s area and that beer had a big impact on his brewing path, However, the Northwest was calling him. While a member of Americorp, he was based in Alaska and inspired by Deschutes Brewing’s Black Butte Porter. That was the beer that made him think deeper about the craft of brewing. Tristan has years of experience brewing world class beer and having incomparable access to fresh and experimental hops, he did some things prior to brewing that people only dream about.
Besides time in Alaska, Tristan spent a chunk of his Twenties backpacking in Asia, South American and beyond. Wanderlust kept him going, but learning about both himself and the outdoors while travelling opened doors to his next thing. Being outside and helping kids enjoy the outdoors was calling him. Leading programs of wilderness therapy for at-risk youth is one of the ways he sharpened his leadership skills. The youth benefit from having an all around wilderness and life facilitator and Tristan got to have a lifelong impact on the youth he served. Searching for his next gig and remaining a craft beer fan, he went to Yakima for the beer.
Brewing in one of the world’s top hop growing regions gave Tristan entry to an almost limitless world of experimental and fresh hops. He says, “the energy during harvest is the best,” and will miss it, but working with Jake is going to make up for it. Few people know fresh hop beers the way Tristan does as proven by Single Hill Brewing’s 2021 Great American Beer Festival gold medal for "Energy Cone" in the fresh hop category and "Best of Show" at the Yakima Fresh Hop Festival. Even before Trap Door’s ‘Fresher than Fresh’ earned a gold medal at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival, Tristan had admired their fresh hop program. Now closer to Oregon hop fields than Yakima’s, Tristan will get the opportunity to work with different varieties and earlier availability due to differences in the climate and terroir. This harvest season Trap Door already has plans for fresh hop collaborations with Living Haus and Double Elbow Beer as well as Wildwood Taproom and Tall Trees Brew Lab.
Besides fresh hops beers, Tristan is excited to brew the Italian style Pils, Birra de Famiglia, which won a silver medal at this year's North American Brewers Association’s International Beer Awards. Drinking that beer made him take pause, “I knew Jake was good, but to have a beer like that, I knew I was in the right place.” Getting the opportunity to make, “one of the best Italian style beers that I have had,” is something Tristan wanted to make happen. Jake wanted to make it happen too. He knows, “having an experienced person that the load can be split with,” helps not only with brewing, but all of the administrative tasks that go along with being a head brewer. Jake isn’t afraid to push a little and think outside the old boxes. “I think a little redundancy is helpful,” says Jake on his operational outlook considering his desire to attract outstanding talent in order to have time to be creative and move the industry forward. He thinks the dual head brewer model, “is going to work out famously,” because it isn’t just about hierarchy and titles, it’s about the right people in the right places working as a team.
When visiting Tristan and Jake at the production brewery, it was evident they speak the same language, are calm, respectful and have micro education moments with each other. Discussing harvests, yeast management and a deep academic dive into West Coast Pils displays how both brewers want to constantly improve themselves and their products. Jake says, “it’s never bad to put talent together,” and sometimes timing helps too. With the current assistant brewer, Toby Armstrong moving to another state at the end of summer and Jake taking an extended vacation, he started to prepare for a longer than average learning curve for a replacement. Then some creativity happened. Tristan and Jake scheduled a time to meet and now everyone benefits from the two head brewer partnership and a short training window. Guests, suppliers and other Trap Door teammates will enjoy a seamless transition. While Jake was away, Toby and Tristan brewed a collaboration beer with Buoy Beer for Brewing Bridges. Jake and Toby worked together at Buoy Beer, so it’s special to have a Trap Door/Buoy collaboration beer to say goodbye and get to brew it with Tristan.
Jake says, “it’s impactful to have someone like Tristan in this market,” while Tristan says, “ I’ve admired the area for a long time and can continue to develop as a brewer here.” Both of these brewers have shown effective leadership with their teams and now they are showing industry leadership with their new partnership. Tristan wasn’t going to move for just any brewery. It had to be a business that is focused on quality, development and has brand awareness. Under Jake’s leadership, Trap Door moved into a new class and is part of the overall conversation about producing excellence. With Tristan joining the team, it shows the investment Trap Door has in SW Washington produced beer. He will not only work side by side with Jake, but continue to pave the road in showing the world what North Bank breweries can do.
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