Saturday 6th of August 2011 03:31:51 PM

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In spite of the fact that there isn’t much to the town of White Salmon, Everybody’s Brewing is a bit hard to find. Look for the wood and brick fronted two story building labeled “Goodwill Lodge”. Once you’ve parked (street parking) and are walking by, you can see the name in white on the front door. The street-front is quite nice - stained pine trims the full set of windows. Inside you’ll find a large open room with polished concrete floors, light brown and orange walls, several massive wood beams and rafters, exposed aluminum heating ducts, and a ceiling covered in narrow slats of wood. There are a number of black wood tables and chairs, a couple of large communal tables, as well as a slightly raised wooden platform with two comfortable dark leather couches, and a shuffleboard off to one side. At the back is the bar area with tall tables and chairs. The bar itself is quite long and made of an extremely wide thick light wood. Wooden stools with black padded seats line it.

All the way in the back is a very comfortable outdoor patio outlined by rusting corrugated steel short walls, perfect on a hot summer day/evening in the Gorge. There are painted wooden picnic tables, mostly shaded by a stretched cloth shade overhead. Mostly there’s a view of the nearby grassy hills but you can see Mt. Hood from one side. Through windows in the building at one side of the patio, you can look down into the brewery on a lower level.

The beers are quite good, including two very good IPAs (Goodwill IPA and Country Boy IPA).

Thursday 10th of September 2009 04:15:11 PM

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The Columbia Gorge.

For 80 miles, it stretches from just outside the Portland city limits east beyond The Dalles. By far, the most magnificent is that portion that lies from Troutdale through Hood River. The mighty Multnomah Falls resides here along with a dozen or more of her brothers and sisters. On the Washington side, climbing into the gorge on Highway 14 outside Washougal offers some spectacular over-views of the river and it's surrounding terrain.

There's something else here worth a visit; five breweries within 20 miles of each other, all producing their unique kind of beer -- 4 of them clumped together in a one-mile radius.

In Stevenson on the Washington side near the Bridge of the Gods is Walking Man Brewery that consistantly produces award-winning beers. In Hood River alone Big Horse, Full Sail and Double Mountain Breweries offer their own brand of brew, all within 2 blocks of each other and all busy year round.

Wife Persimmon and I love White Salmon which lies just across the bridge. Perched on a hill overlooking the Columbia River, this tiny burg offers us The White Salmon Inn; a spectacular little hotel on the main street with the feel of a a B&B that includes a sitting room and full breakfast bar, a room with private entrance and family atmosphere. They never remember us but always make us feel like old friends each time we return.

And down the street next to the Artisan Jewelry shop, in a one-time hardware store sits Everybody's Brewing, the interloper in this trail mix of young and not-so-young; the new kid on the block.

Opened only a year ago, Doug Ellenberger is not new to beer. He's been brewing since 1998, has distributed beer in Portland, tended bar and worked at Full Sail. But "brewing," he says, "is my calling."

He intends to have as many as 8 beers on tap with rotating seasonals - during our visit (Labor Day weekend 2009) only 3 were available; a recent fire next door caused some smoke damage and slowed operations but everything seemed to be moving along swimmingly the day we arrived.

We tried the Pale Ale, the ESB and the IPA but Doug told us he "loves making porters and stouts because they're such sweet beers."

And we like drinking them for the same reason. It was, needless to say, a disappointment that we could not partake this trip. But the beers we did have were decent. The Pale I thought a bit too hoppy while the IPA was a perfect fit for anyone wanting to try that style for the first time; the right balance of hops and sweet tang of citrus. The ESB was aromatic and nutty.

So how do 5 different breweries co-exist with such a limited customer base? In my estimation, they've all carved out a certain niche for themselve. Full Sail, the big brother of them all, concentrates on sending their beers out into the world; Big Horse is a brewpub-restaurant with spectacular views of the river and folks who want to sit and eat; Double Mountain caters to the younger 20-ish crowd featuring live music, lots of brown beers and standing room only; Walking Man is for the laid back, mellow group who wish to be involved in a small, intimate, back-yard bar-b-que setting.

Everybody's is...well, for everybody. A small town pub featuring good food and beer, views of the river, raucuous Saturday night games or quiet, lazy summer afternoons.

When he started, Doug told us: "Anything that wasn't yellow was what I wanted."

Me too, Doug. Me too. Keep brewing