Keeping it local: New Brews

By Melissa Wagoner

Keeping it local is the goal of the new  Silver Falls Brewery in Silverton. The business logo, the name of the brews, the handles for the taps and much of the ingredients in the beers themselves all have roots in the Willamette Valley.

“We came up with our name by looking for a place that is bold and incredible and unique,” Andrew Fox, co-owner of Silver Falls Brewery said. “Silver Falls State Park has all of those attributes and we want to follow in its footsteps.”

The brewery was the brainchild of Eric Druliner of Silverton, who in 2015 quit his job in law enforcement to brew full time and begin the process of licensing. Fox met Druliner through a mutual friend.

“I heard that Eric was starting a brewery and asked if he needed or would like a partner and he said yes,” Fox said.

Fox, a horticulturist who works in sales for a landscaping company, had been brewing beer as a hobby for years.

“I have always loved to brew,” he said. The two struck up a partnership.

“Eric does all of the day-to-day duty but we always talk every night about our next step,” Fox said. “As every business owner knows, we also work on the weekends, either brewing or organizing for the next week.”

Silver Falls Brewery began marketing its beer in January 2016 by visiting local establishments armed with tasters. Now their beer can be found in Silverton, Salem, Molalla, Wilsonville, Lake Oswego and at Silver Falls State Park.

“We brew mostly ales. We are trying to go back to the basics and brew traditional beer styles and not go over the top, like some Northwest styles,” Fox said. “We are always experimenting and making small changes to our beers to try and achieve the highest quality and taste.”

Silver Falls Brewery achieves its quality with local ingredients like raspberries from Willamette Valley Fruit Co., found in their wheat beer, or hops from Goschie Farms in Silverton, found in the Willamette Valley Fresh Hop IPA.

“Having a brewery in the Northwest means, we have the best hops in the world in our backyard,” Fox said. Among their other brews are Winter Falls Stout, Twin Falls IPA and Catamount Trail Ale, named for the newly opened mountain bike trail at Silver Falls State Park.

Although in operation for less than a year Fox and Druliner are looking to the future. “We are in the process of opening our own Ale house in downtown Silverton,” Fox said. “We purchased a commercial building and we plan on having a tap room and rotating BBQ food and possibly some great food trucks.”