Tap Handle #788: Buoy Beer Co.

June 22, 2022

Tap Handle #788: Buoy Beer Co. - Czech Pils

Tap size: 8"

Rarity: tap no longer produced, hand-made

Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

Although a little on the small size at a mere 8", holding the weight of this Buoy Beer Co. tap in your hands (which is made of solid metal) is much more impressive in person. Manufactured for Buoy by Art Design eXchange (ADX) of Portland, Oregon, the tap bears a solid likeness to the landmark Buoy 10 on the Columbia River (more about that to follow below). The tap was a challenge to manufacture due to the shaping, TIG welding work, and volume that had to be produced. It took 3 iterations but this final version turned out fantastic. The name of the brewery appears at the top of the tap as red letters against a white background. Below that is the buoy structure, and at the bottom is a solid round piece that bears the label of the beer. Each beer variety has it's own label printed in red white and blue, but each label starts with the same phrase: "Reach for a " with the name of the beer variety following. I actually had two of these taps at one time - "Reach for a Czech Pils" and "Reach for an IPA", although the latter was sold to a local breweriana collector who loves to fish at Buoy 10. There was a red version and a rust version, but only the red was sold to the public, while the rust version went to the tap room or accounts. The front and back are identical so I have reduced the number of photos taken. I believe they were first produced in 2018 during a time of significant expansion for the brewery - that's when I first walked into the brewery and saw them for sale, and when they first appeared on the secondary market. Initially they sold for $40-$50, but over the next couple of years the value bottomed out. Now, however the value appears to be climbing, as the tap is no longer in production.

Buoy 10 at the mouth of the Columbia River

Buoy 10 is actually a buoy out towards the mouth of the Columbia River. It represents the outbound deadline for fisherman before entering a no fishing zone on the bar. But the name signifies far more than just a buoy. When you hear guides and regulars to the area refer to Buoy 10, they’re actually referring to a large area encompassing the ocean out in front of the Columbia River, up and down the coast line 5 miles in each direction, to a point up around Tongue Point on the eastern side of Astoria.

Buoy Beer Company was founded in Astoria, Oregon in 2013 by Luke Colvin, Dan Hamilton, David Kroening, Jerry Kasinger, and Andrew Bornstein. Colvin was a local entrepreneur who was looking to make a large impact to the Astoria community. Hamilton was one of Colvin's clients who had been home brewing for over 40 years, and Colvin began to consider opening a brewery. He brought on his brother-in-law Kroening, as well as his business advisor Kasinger and local businessman Bornstein. Colvin became CEO, while Kroening assumed the title of President. They decided to locate the brewery in Bornstein's Seafood, his family-owned cannery building. The building was old (dating to the early 1900s), and in such a state of disrepair that he doubted it would be feasible, but the uniqueness, the history, and the views couldn’t be beat. The founders began to raise funding for the building repairs and equipment needed to get started. Chefs Eric Jenkins and Jennifer Chapman, who Colvin knew through their mutual work with the local food bank, were hired, along with Head Brewer Kevin Shaw, and his wife Katie, who managed the taproom.

In 2014 the taproom opened, and the restaurant soon followed. Wood floors and walls were refinished, and the tap room featured a small bar with tables. The restaurant was far more expansive, with picture windows offering a gorgeous view of ships plying up and down the Columbia River. In a nice touch to the building's history, a fish processing ladder was left intact in the restaurant for ambiance. Clear acrylic panels were placed in the floor so that customers could watch sea lions playing and barking on the piers below. The taproom offered up to 17 beer varieties at one time. The food menu included Rockfish and chips, Willapa Bay oysters, clam chowder and broiled pork chops, among other offerings.

In 2017, Buoy won the Double Gold in the SIP Northwest Awards for their Helles Lager, which was held in the Seattle area. Afterwards, demand for Buoy beers in that area grew rapidly, with people from Seattle, Olympia and Tacoma driving to the taphouse in Astoria just to get their hands on the beer. In 2019, Pilot House Distilling had become part of Buoy Beer Co., and Buoy purchased the Astor Street building, a former video rental store across the street from the brewery. The Astor property was initially used as an open air beer hall. In 2020 River Barrel Distributing was established by Buoy and Pilot House to incorporate Seattle hires and warehousing to serve the Seattle area, Olympia, Tacoma, and several other western Washington counties. The new distribution company was expected to Double Buoy's capacity within 5 years. RBD soon partnered with Old Town Brewing and Bauman’s Ciderworks to expand offerings to Oregon’s northern neighbor, and soon after added two more Oregon brands, Zoiglhaus Brewing Company and Ascendant Beer Company.

Also in 2020, Buoy and Pilot House announced big expansion plans, despite the impact of Covid that forced the closure of the taproom and restaurant, and shifted beer drinking to the Astor beer hall. Pilot House moved to a new permanent home on the waterfront in a building adjacent to Buoy Beer’s location; their previous location was a 4,000 square foot section on the backside of the Liberty Theater building, with a tasting room on Duane St. The new distilling facility included a 5,000-liter copper pot still and column (a significant upgrade from the previous 950-liter still), a new fermentation cellar with a mash mixer and a mash filter, and a 12,000 square foot second floor devoted to barrel aging. The 24′ tall copper column was visible through full height glass walls, leading people to sample the products at the new Pilot House Distilling tasting room. The tasting room featured not only tastings and bottle sales, but also a 21-and-up bar to enjoy hand-crafted cocktails and views of a working distillery in an intimate setting on the back dock over the water.

At the same time, construction started on the Astor building to raise the roof height, in order accommodate a new 50bbl 4-vessel brewhouse along with more fermentation tanks. However, the majority of beer production remained in the old Bornstein Cannery. A pipe bridge was intended to be installed between the Astor building and the main brewery where the lager tanks, bright tanks, kegging lines, and new higher-speed canning line were also planned. The pipe bridges would carry wastewater from the brewery and distillery to the brewery’s own treatment facility that processed the water before it entered the city’s wastewater system. The new campus offered visitors a brewpub, grab-n-go food window, distillery, distillery tasting room and bar, and brewery/distillery tours. On the north side of the building along the Riverwalk, Buoy created a new walk-up “take & go” food option that continued to feature local seafood to compliment the cocktail bar. The outdoor area also had some Riverwalk seating with beautiful views.

Brewer Matt Jones, a former Widmer Brothers Brewing brewer, was hired to oversee the production in the Astor building. Shaw, Buoy’s original head brewer who became Director of Brewery Operations, began to search for a replacement to take over the day-to-day operations of the main brewery and lead the team. Paul Anderson, formerly of Deschutes Brewery and Ordinance Brewing, was hired to take on the role. Brewing projects included a barrel aging program and a collaboration with Fort George Brewing. Additionally, Buoy contributed to Forged Together Oregon, a fundraiser in collaboration with 14 local breweries to raise funds for Wildfire Relief in Oregon. To help in relief efforts, Deschutes Brewing invited fellow Oregon craft brewers to participate in creating a variety 12 pack from different breweries, with all of the proceeds benefiting those impacted by the wildfires. Due to an overwhelming response from brewers, the 12 pack became a 15 pack. Buoy supplied their Cream Ale to the project.

(Editors note: this following section covers an event that happened as I was working on finishing this post. I felt that that the devastating news, and Buoy's response, should be included in this write up as part of the brewery's story, so I waited for a week before posting this in order to capture more information.)

In June of 2022, a portion of the Buoy Beer Co. building collapsed over the Columbia River, causing significant damage but no injuries. It was not immediately clear what triggered the collapse. No one was known to be in the building, which housed the brewery’s taproom and restaurant, small-batch brewery, brite tanks, lager tanks and canning line. The building was closed as investigators began to look for the cause, and a building assessment performed to determine the structure’s stability. The caved-in area had been closed off to employees and the public in late 2021, because there were known structural issues with the dock and pilings underneath that section. The Columbia River had been running at minor flood levels. The pipe bridge had supposedly been finished, but it's unclear how far along Buoy was into the new tank installations and high speed canning line before the collapse. Buoy President Kroening released a statement that said Pilot House and RBD were unaffected, and that the brewery's immediate priority is returning staff to work. Fortunately the Astor building, which is assumed will maintain some production, may be able to help with that.

Drone photo showing the collapsed building (The Astorian)

Cans of beer and debris floating in the river after the collapse (The Astorian)

Buoy Beer Co.'s Czech Pils has a bright, traditional taste. It is a classic pilsner with roots in the great beer heritage of the Czech Republic. This Czech-Style Pilsner features Saaz hops supporting layers of rounded malt flavors.