Trevor Rogers - Founder De Garde Brewing
1. Where is your brewery?
Our brewery is located on the Oregon coast, just outside of Tillamook.
2. What was the first beer you had that made you realize craft beer was going to be a bigger part of your life?
That's a difficult question! It's certainly been awhile... I suspect it was Rodenbach. Can't recall which though! Really, I came from a wine background and a good friend introduced me to a broad range of great beers, both domestic and imported, in a short period of time. The excitement and desire to be involved happened very quickly.
3. What is your favorite style to brew and why?
Probably our Lambic inspired beers. The process of making the wort is such a small part of the creative process. The beauty is in the long transformative maturation and fermentation. Seeing the slow progression over time as different strains of our local yeast and bacteria exert their influence is inspiring. The final composition is also one of the most challenging and artistic things that we do: selecting barrels, sampling, and ultimately hoping that the composition expresses itself as desired and imagined. We quite simply don't have control as most breweries do because of the complex nature of honestly wild fermentation, and the extreme breadth of organisms creating a unique 'ecosystem.' We have to embrace the beauty of being ultimately submissive to the beer.
4. If you were stranded on an island (with a working refrigerator that automatically replenished itself) and you could only have one beer for the rest of your life in that fridge, which would it be?
Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze.
5. What is your favorite music to listen to in the brewery?
No music. I like hearing what happens around me, and I find a beauty in the presence of the barrels and my thoughts without the interruption of extra sound.
6. Which other brewery has inspired you the most? Why?
Another difficult question... The traditions and history (and expertise!) of Cantillon, and the unparalleled blending skills of they and Drie Fonteinen are humbling. Likewise, Tilquin came out of nowhere and blew my mind.
7. Single hop beer - which hops are you using?
Well, we love our three year old Oregon grown Cascade and Willamette hops. Put them in almost every beer! Probably more to the question though (hops that actually provide character to the beer), we've been very much loving dry-hopping with Azacca recently. It seems to provide a wonderful ripe stonefruit and tropical character to complement the citrusy notes in many of our ferments. Ask me again next week, and I'll possibly have a different answer. We like to try new things.
8. Where is your favorite place to get a beer after work and why?
Either home, or our taproom. Home, to relax and think about the beer. Our taproom to socialize and share beer with like minded beer drinkers.
9. What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone who thinks they want to get into the craft beer industry?
Be ready to work incredibly hard. Be prepared to sacrifice a lot. Be aware that you will almost certainly make a modest income. We consider ourselves the most fortunate brewery around because of the modest recognition and success we achieved, and the market was decidedly less competitive when we started than it will be in the next couple years. But passion, love and great product go hand-in-hand, and are always apparent to the consumer I believe. If you've got those, the first pieces of advice aren't a burden.
10. Dogs or cats?
Cats. Well behaved dogs may apply as well.