Posts by Word Bird
In Memory of Lyle Hehn
Lyle Hehn 1958 – 2022 If you know Hammerhead and Ruby, you know Lyle Hehn. If you’ve seen the Satin the Cat, myriad jesters, or most of our beer labels, you are familiar with Lyle. If you’ve met Lola Baldwin or Umbrella Jimmy, you’ve met Lyle. Lyle was an artist for McMenamins until his death…
Read More12th Annual Running of the Brewers
On September 8th, McMenamins brewery district managers arrived at Willamette Valley’s Sodbuster Farms as trucks overflowing with just-harvested Mosaic hops rolled in from the fields. 30- and 50-pound bags were packed, and the managers were off, racing to each of their breweries with the freshest of hops. Within minutes, these beautiful, fragrant Mosaics were added…
Read MoreBart Hance: Head Distiller, Cornelius Pass Roadhouse Distillery
When Bart Hance started working at McMenamins, it was not unusual to call up your boss to say you wouldn’t be coming in that day because the Grateful Dead was in Eugene (chances are, your boss was going too). 32 years later, it’s less likely to call in “Dead,” but a convivial air of friendship…
Read MoreExquisite Meals & Decadent Desserts
Winter at the Black Rabbit Bar & Restaurant at Edgefield is everything you dream of – cozy, warm, full of creative cocktails, delicious comfort food and extravagant-yet-homey desserts. We sat down with Executive Chef Jaime Shultz and Pastry Chef Chuck Dugo to taste and talk. Black Rabbit Executive Chef Jaime Shultz After a stint at the…
Read MoreEerie Edible Edgefield
An Interview with Chuck Dugo, Pastry Chef Black Rabbit Bakery at Edgefield Strangely, it was Christmas that inspired Edgefield bakers to construct a creepy, crumbling Halloween version of Edgefield manor. In order to have enough time to make the thousand or so sugar & egg white bricks that make up the traditional pastried holiday structure,…
Read MoreSeeing the World at 15 Miles per Hour
Stephanie and Merrick McGinnis have ridden their bikes from Key West to Nova Scotia, Boston to Seattle and up and down the West Coast. Now these two-time Cosmic Tripsters are taking McMenamins by bike on a quest to fill their third Passports in a ride that may not be their longest (Boston-Seattle gets that honor…
Read MoreCelebrating Our 35th Anniversary of Our First Beer
1985. Ronald Reagan is president, The Goonies is popular in theaters, the Unabomber is at large in the U.S., Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. and McMenamins’ first beer is born. In 1985 McMenamins was two years old and, after the recent passage of the Brewpub Bill, just dipping our toes into the proverbial mash of…
Read MoreMeet Thursday Jane
Either you’re on the bus or off the bus In 1983 Mike McMenamin had just opened the Barley Mill Pub on Portland’s Hawthorne Boulevard when a recent California transplant, Thursday Jane, applied for a job waiting tables. She danced into the pub in her high tops, ready for her interview, but the manager was out,…
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