Owner

Bio: Art Larrance has been involved in Oregon’s craft beer industry since its inception and is considered one of the seven founding fathers of the Oregon craft brewing industry. He co-founded one of the state’s first microbreweries, Portland Brewing, as well as the Oregon Brewers Festival, which today is one of the world’s preeminent craft beer festivals. He helped pass Oregon’s Brewpub law, paving the way for scores of pubs since. And he developed Cascade Brewing, a pioneer of the Northwest sour beer movement.
Art got involved in the craft beer industry from its earliest onset in Oregon, homebrewing in a friend’s basement in the late 1970s. He went on to brew Grant’s Scottish Ales for the Oregon draft market with high school buddy Fred Bowman in the early 1980s.

Portland’s reputation as Brewvana wouldn’t exist without brewpubs, and we have a handful of people to thank for that, including Art. He, along with Fred Bowman, Brian and Mike McMenamin, Fred Eckhardt, Dick Ponzi, and Kurt and Rob Widmer initiated brewpub legislation in Oregon in 1985, making it legal for a brewery to sell its beer on premise, an act that had been banned in Oregon since Prohibition.

In 1986, Art and Fred opened Portland Brewing Co., which quickly evolved and grew. They sold stock to shareholders, who claimed stools at the bar.

In 1988, Art was an active partner in organizing the Oregon Brewers Festival and is now the sole owner of the long-running and beloved event. The festival has grown from 22 breweries to 84, and from 15,000 attendees to more than 80,000 from all over the world. An economic survey estimates the Oregon Brewers Festival’s effect on the local economy at more than $30 million annually.

In 1994, Art left Portland Brewing to pursue another craft beer adventure. Four years later he opened the Raccoon Lodge & Brew Pub and Cascade Brewing in Southwest Portland. His goal was to provide a warm and friendly atmosphere for families to enjoy quality food and craft beer brewed on-site.

In 2006, Art and brewmaster Ron Gansberg began an aging and blending program that would lead to countless awards and an entire new style of beer: the Northwest Sour Ale. The rest, as they say, is history!!

Year Started: 1998

Favorite Beer: The one in my hand

Brewery Production Manager and Chief Science Officer

Bio: I’ve spent 15 years homebrewing; one year at Widmer Brothers in cellar and packaging operations; and three years with Lompoc Brewing covering all aspects of brewing, cellaring and barrel aging. I am an alumnus of the American Brewers Guild.

Year Started: 2010

Favorite Beer: Saison Grand

Production Brewer

Bio: I spent time at OSU in the fermentation science program, as well as in the wine industry. I have also worked as an artisan cheesemaker and a cook.

Year Started: 2012

Favorite Beer: Diesel

Cellar Manager

Bio: My job encompasses the execution and oversight of day to day cellar operations. Prior to Cascade I spent 3.5 years at Firestone Walker Brewing where I worked in the quality and sensory labs, cellar, and brewhouse. I have a B.S. in chemical engineering and have completed the Master Brewer program through the collaboration of Siebel Institute in Chicago and Doemens Academy in Munich.

Year Started: 2016

Favorite Beer: Yet to Decide!

Facilities Manager

Bio: My job involves warehouse maintenance, finished goods inventory control, shipping and receiving, oversight of logistics department and the movement and placement of obscenely large objects. I’m a veteran homebrewer and beer drinker, as well as a former lab technician with extensive work in chemical and microbiological lab analysis.

Year Started: 2015

Favorite Beer: Manhattan