USA, OR: Newport�s newest brewery open for business

After months of constructing and careful planning, Newport�s newest brewery is open for business in the Canyon Way building that some long-time local residents will remember as Pop�s, the Newport News Times reported on August 27.

�It�s been a long road,� said Brodie Becksted, owner and manager of the brewery. �It�s been over two years, so we�re pretty excited to get it open.�

The brewery, which opens with the accompanying restaurant, The Anchor at Newport Brewing Company, will have a variety of original craft beers on tap, including a lager, a pilsner, a pale ale called the Yaquina Sunrise, a Dungeness IPA and a hazy double IPA, along with a �Rockfish� stout and the �Salty Big� ros�.

�I�m a lager guy, so that�s what I�m drinking right now,� Becksted said Friday afternoon, the day before opening to the public. �We have some non-alcoholic beverages. We have a full bar with all the alcohol, wine, and we have hard seltzers, too.�

Each of the seven original brews served up at the brewery�s opening night aren�t the only original beers to be brewed on site. Within another week, Newport Brewing Company staff will have another couple of brews ready � an English oatmeal stout and a fruity kettle sour.

�We�ll have a kettle sour with a bunch of fruits and stuff,� said Sam Zerme�o, the brewer. �It�s pretty popular with the ladies.�

That sour is made with hibiscus, berries and milk sugar to balance out the tart, Zerme�o said.

�It gives it a little bit of sweet so it doesn�t overly bite your palate with tartness. I add a little bit of vanilla bean at the end as a dry hop, and it all plays really well together.�

Food prices will range from $7 to $30, depending on the dish, slightly higher than the prices offered by the fledgling brewery�s local competitors. However, Becksted hopes the modern, industrial vibe of the brewery will fill the hole in the local market he saw prior to opening.

�We have a really big brewery across the bay, and I figured it would be neat to do something a little different out here,� Becksted said.

The craft beer, too, is unique at the brewery, according to the in-house brewer.

�I don�t see a lot of people doing the styles of beers I�m going to be doing here,� Zerme�o said. �We�re going to be doing some pretty interesting kettle sours and hazy IPAs. Those are pretty trendy still, and we�ll be doing a handful of those I think will be pretty popular.�

The opening of the brewery�s doors isn�t the last of the new business�s development. Becksted has plans to expand what the brewery offers and use the feedback he and staff get from customers.

�We have plans to expand and add more tanks, add a canning line, more distribution,� Becksted said. �This is just a start, really.�