A Q&A with Jerry Fechter at Horse Brass Pub.
In November this year, the Horse Brass Pub will turn 50, though the bar celebrated a bit early this year. For the past half-century, the storied taphouse has been home to local brewers, English expats, and neighborhood residents alike. It fills nightly with all ages of clientele looking to throw darts, knock back a few (real, imperial, 20-ounce) pints, and dig into some of the best fish and chips in Portland. And although he passed away in early 2011, you can still feel the presence of its famed publican Don Younger, the patron saint of Oregon’s craft brew scene, whose 86th birthday the Horse Brass celebrated in mid-July with a week of collaboration beers and live music. Its current owner, former Lompoc brewer and owner Jerry Fechter, carries the spirit forward today.
Alex Frane: How did you first meet Don?
Jerry Fechter: I met Don Younger when [the western] side of the Horse Brass opened in ‘94. A friend had said, “Hey, you need to come check out this bar. They have all these craft beers.” I came over five or six times over the next few years. I don’t really remember meeting Don, and I don’t really remember talking to him very often, but in 1999 I was trying to buy Lompoc Brewing, where I was the brewer. A guy who worked at Steinbart’s and Belmont Station said, “Don Younger might be into partnering up with you. He’s helped so many brewers.”
So he called up Don and we met and talked for about an hour or two. A couple of days later he came over to Lompoc at 8 in the morning. 10 hours later we had the framework of a deal. It took us about another month or so to get our money together and figure out what we were doing. Then we bought it in early 2000 and opened the doors around May.
AF: When did you join up with the Horse Brass?
JF: Over the next 11 years, the partnership was obviously good and Lompoc was doing well. Don must have seen something in me he liked and his longtime bookkeeper, Joellen Piluso, and I got along. When Don passed away 2011, he left an option for myself and Joellen to each buy half of the pub. I know he wanted to do something good for Joellen; she’s been here since day one.
AF: So did you start working here in 2011?
JF: No, it was business as usual, Joellen kept running it. Then slowly, over time, as I started selling off parts of Lompoc, I would come over to do maintenance projects, either build new stuff or fix stuff. When we closed Lompoc Brewing in 2019, that’s when we had the conversation: We’ll work together for a year or two and then we’ll phase Joellen out [for her retirement]. COVID bumped it back. I bought her out a couple of years ago and she retired three years ago. She still comes in about once or twice a month. I still have her reconcile the checkbook and she’s a good sounding board.
AF: What do you think makes the Horse Brass special compared to the many tap houses and brew pubs that have opened up in the last 50 years?
JF: It’s just a neat pub. There’s a lot of history here, a lot of craft beer history. Don was a total pioneer. Not only on the craft side, but he brought in all the imports. He brought in Newcastle, he brought in Watneys, he brought in Bass and Guinness. As an English pub, that was an easy avenue for him. When Widmer, Deschutes, Bridgeport, Pike, and Bert Grant’s, came on the scene, their first taps in Portland were at the Horse Brass. That blossomed over the years. After they opened this side over here [gesturing to the western half of the bar], a lot of the brewers all met here every Friday at 4 and they called it Poets. It was just a great place to come and meet brewers.
AF: How do you think the bar has evolved over the past 50 years?
JF: I think in a lot of ways we’ve evolved, but in a lot of ways we haven’t done anything. It’s always been a neighborhood bar and some of the regulars have been coming in here for 50 years. There are three things in life: your home life, your work life, and then you either have a hobby or you have a place to go where you socialize. Don was a big believer in the Third Place and that’s what he always tried to create. One of the original phrases that the Horse Brass was built on was “Where companionship is the order of the day.” It’s a very English phrase, but it holds true. You come to the bar to socialize and have a beer and talk to other folks who want to socialize and have a beer, and you get to know people. There’s good food and there’s good conversation to be had and that’s what people are looking for. So that’s all we’re trying to do. Don’s big quote was, “It’s not about the beer. It’s about the beer.” You know, how the beer gets there, who made the beer, what the beer does to people, how it makes them feel.
AF: Do you still see that kind of community here at the Brass?
JF: 100 percent. 100 percent. We see a lot of newer, younger folks coming in, hanging out. They bring other folk or meet other brewers here. We’re still doing something right.
