The people of Tualatin have it pretty good these days when it comes to local craft beer options. Once a something of a beer desert, the rapidly expanding suburb and its surroundings are now home to a slew of breweries and brewpubs including Ancestry, G-Man, Smockville, FlyBoy and more. That’s one of the reasons why, when Lake Oswego-based Stickmen Brewing decided it was time for a major expansion, they set the high gear for Tualatin. Having started as a yakitori-inspired (hence the name) brewpub, founder Tim Schoenheit and head brewer Cobi Brothers were ready to do something with a much larger footprint than their 7-barrel space in Lake Oswego. In addition to their original pub, Stickman now occupies a massive 26,000 square foot warehouse located in a non-descript industrial area just off SW Herman Rd. Though their taproom has been open since December 2016, they didn’t get their brewing operations up and running until April of this year. In its current state, the brewing equipment in Tualatin only takes up a fraction of the warehouse space. This is intentional as the they plan to eventually fill the space with a canning and bottling line, plenty of cooler space, barrels, foeders and more. At the moment there are more fermenters and a bright tank on the way and they would like to install some kind of packaging line in the near future, most likely cans."There's a lot of open space right now. The goal is that in 4 or 5 years we will be kind of in our prime as far as space taken up versus utilization. We didn't want to move to a place and then 5 years down the road have to think about moving somewhere else or get capped out," says Cobi.

Tim is pretty much the opposite." Separating the brewing area and the taproom is a makeshift kitchen setup with a pizza oven. The staff cooks up a surprisingly large and diverse menu of pies, such as potato rosemary, pear gorgonzola and the Saltimbocca special with olive oil, mozzarella, chicken,pancetta, fresh sage, and fontina. The decision to do pizza was partially driven by Tim’s time spent in Italy, so there is a mix of traditional styles alongside weirder offerings and he likes to add pizzas with difficult to pronounce Italian names such as Capricciosa, Affumicata and Nido dell’Aquila (the Eagle’s Nest). The taproom itself is spacious with massively high ceilings and surprisingly few sound issues that houses a smattering of tables and couches. There are TVs, projectors, and plenty of beer to go in bottles and crowlers. Trains pass by the patio, which is surprisingly comfortable considering it literally occupies a handful of parking spaces."The community has been great. The chamber of commerce has been super supportive of us,” says Tim. Adding that the taproom is a popular place for people in the area to come after work. "It's one of those places you can have 20 people and be like, let's go there because we can probably get a seat."With an inviting taproom, delicious pizza, and massive growth projected, Stickmen Brewing is right at home in Tualatin and a worthy stop if you’re in the area. Stickmen Brewing - Tualatin Beer Hall 19475 SW 118th Ave, Tualatin, OR 97062