Construction underway at Snow Peak, Stayton's first brewery

Thanks to three local couples, downtown Stayton will soon get its first brewery.

Construction is underway at 280 East Water Street and the six owners are working to get all plans and permitting squared away for what they hope will be a 2019 opening.

Brewing Beginnings

Husband and wife Crystal and Matt Spenner have shared entrepreneurial dreams for a decade, but it was sharing beers at a neighborhood-scale brewery on a trip to Montana that gave them direction. 

They started home brewing by buying a kit, eventually growing confident enough that they started developing beer recipes of their own. 

Prospective brewers with day jobs, they shared the results of their efforts with friends and family. They found the feedback to be unreliable, so they entered their beers in competitions.

Matt entered a beer into the 2016 Oregon Brew Crew Fall Classic. He called it Citra-Lee, named after Crystal, whose name is Crystal Lee, and Citra hops. 

"It's borderline Forrest Gump naming his boat Jenny," Matt said.  

He ended up taking second place in the American strong ale category. 

In 2017, Crystal's recipe for a beer called Haybox Amber earned her a first-place ribbon at SheBrew, an annual competition for female-identified brewers in Portland. 

Buoyed by these wins, the couple began making moves to open a brewery of their own, roping four friends into the project. 

"Everybody's got a specific role," said Matt. 

Matt, a welding inspector, will be president and head brewer. Crystal also will brew and, as vice president, is taking lead on all of the permitting. 

Brittany Klein, who has a retail background, will oversee product merchandising. Her husband, Chris Klein, has decades of experience in sales and will act as Snow Peak's director of sales and marketing. 

Doug Naugle will handle logistics and distribution, and accountant Cari Naugle, "she's our budget boss," said Crystal. 

The group originally considered Aumsville as a home for their venture, but they said they shifted gears to Stayton when the city changed zoning rules to bring businesses downtown. 

"It seemed like Stayton really wanted something like this," said Crystal. 

Kickstart the Keg

The group, five of whom have known one another since high school, chose to name their brewery venture after Snow Peak, a nod to the local landscape and a name that, for many area residents, captures the warm nostalgia, said Crystal, of "building a fire in the snow with your friends," and maybe also, added Matt, of getting your pick-up stuck. 

In order to help secure a space and buy some initial equipment, the team launched a Kickstarter campaign, hoping to raise an initial $25,000. 

With the support of 80 backers, they surpassed their goal with a pledge total of $27,515. 

"The biggest thing it did for us, "Matt explained, "was show the folks we worked with as lenders that we were serious." 

The funds helped them to buy their brewing equipment and secure the East Water Street space, which they've outfitted with new garage-style doors. They've finished with demolition, and they're currently working on plumbing.

According to the Spenners, everyone's first question is when they'll open, and their second question is, "Are you gonna have food?"

Once opened, Snow Peak Brewing Company will have a bar seating area, but it will be a brewery, not a brewpub. 

Though the brewery won't have space for a kitchen of its own, the group hopes to potentially host food trucks and offer patrons the chance to order food in from other Stayton businesses. 

Follow Snow Peak's progress via Facebook and Instagram @snowpeakbrewingco

Emily Teel is the Food & Drink Editor at the Statesman Journal. Contact her at eteel@statesmanjournal.com, Facebook, or Twitter. See what she's cooking and where she's eating this week on Instagram: @emily_teel