Fort George Beer & Surfboards: Cannon Beach Merchant Offers One-Stop Shopping

Interview with Mark Mekenas, Owner of Cannon Beach Surf and CB Beach Store

Q: Describe your business including what you sell, and how long you've been up and running.

A: The CB Beach Store was set up in December 2008 after we had leased the Family Market for 10 years we decided that since we own the building with the surf shop, it didn't make sense to lease space in another building.  The CB Beach Store sells beer, wine, some groceries, snack items, sodas, lottery, cigars and cigarettes, beach toys, fishing and some hunting tackle, and fishing licenses.

Q: How are the surf shop and market related? What's it like juggling two different businesses?

A: Both businesses share the same building, and are accessible with a doorway between them.  A customer can pay for the products in either store, except for beer and wine, those can only be purchased in the CB Beach Store.  It is fairly easy, as they both play off each other very nicely.  A customer can hit the surf shop, pick up the equipment for the day, then hit the beach store, and get all the snacks, etc. for a day at the beach.

Q: What made you decide to become a small business owner, and what are the biggest challenges and rewards?

A: After 30 years in the corporate world (alcoholic beverages), and constant travel, the idea of being in one place and working for ourselves seemed like the right thing to do at our time in life.  Challenges are the daily biz.  Rewards are when everything works right.  Both of these are a daily occurrence.

Q: Why did you decide to start carrying Fort George beer and what would you like to tell customers about your selection of craft beers and the experience of shopping for them at your place?

A: Fort George fits perfectly in our business plan, as we were just getting ready to start pairing down our selection of big named corporate brands, and focusing on smaller local beer brands.  So, when the rep. walked in the door, we were ready for him, as I was just about to call you guys.  Our focus is on higher quality products in all the stores; Fort George fits that requirement perfectly.

Q: What's business like this time of year in Cannon Beach and what's it like riding the peaks and troughs of slower and busier months in a place with seasonal tourism?

A: This time of the year, every day is different, some are slow, and then some are surprisingly busy.  The weather plays a big part in day-to-day business, but then we do find that certain products that we carry still have draws year round.  The toughest part of the seasonal business is staffing and inventory, always a crapshoot.

Q: What are your future hopes and dreams?

A: Keep growing, keep remodeling, and adding new products to our stores.

Q: Finally, enough about your business, tell us a little about your background including where you're from, family-life, education, hobbies, etc.

A: We are originally from San Diego, left in ‘80, moved to Idaho, then to Seattle, took an early retirement package in ‘98 and moved to Cannon Beach.  Married to Maria (today is our 38th anniversary), 2 kids, Jennifer, prior Army, now mom and  works at Bank of Astoria in CB , 2 granddaughters, 8 and 4, they all live in Gearhart.  Our son is in Seattle is still a reserve Captain in the Air Force, did 10 years active, and now working for Olive Garden.   I surf and shoot, while Maria mostly enjoys her gardening.  My background was Division Manager in the whiskey business, covering 11 Northwest states, Alaska, and Hawaii.

No Shave November!

This November, Fort George will be holding a contest, again.  Who can grow the best facial hair in exactly 30 days?  This is a celebration of manliness and all the glory that is the male beard.  Let the best man win… although women are encouraged to participate.

Rules:

• 1 complete month of absolutely NO SHAVING....PERIOD. 

• Exceptions:  NO EXCEPTIONS.

• Contestants must have a picture of themselves, clean-shaven, next to a November 1st 2011 or later newspaper.  There will be a photo party at Fort George on Nov. 1.  Any other pictures are to be submitted via facebook.com/fortgeorgebrewery or noshavenovember@fortgeorgebrewery.com by Nov. 25

• Judging will take place on December 1st at the Fort George Brewery + Public House @ 6pm.  All are welcome to judge!

• Grand Prize will be chosen by unanimous crowd decision.

• Grand Prize?  A special bearded Mug Club membership, and beard bragging rights for the year of 2012.  A value of $85, but absolutely priceless...

• Consolation prizes will be awarded to the less beardly, un-stachely, and pre-pubescent. 

MUG CLUB APPRECIATION
Mug club members who renew their membership on December 1st will recieve $2 mugs of Fort George Beer.  Proceeds to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation. 

***All hair to be donated to beardless children.  After all... it’s all about the kids. 

3rd Annual Halloween Hellorium 10/31

On... HALLOWEEN! 

Come out for our 3rd Annual Halloween party with Ma Barley and the Knowitalls, and party like it's Halloween... because it will be.  The party will take place from 7pm until 11pm in the Fort George Lovell Building Brewery, which will be transformed in front of your eyes into the most hellish brewery you have ever gotten your reggae boogie down in!  If you have not been to a Fort George Hellorium party, it is a blast.  Costumes are a must, and the best costume will be brewarded!  See you out there-

Foraging at the George 10/20

The Fort George Lovell Taproom will be hosting "Foraging at the George," an informative cooking demonstration using locally foraged foods.  The Taproom will open at 6:00pm for refreshments, with the event starting at 7:00pm.   

Locally grown food is all the rage these days, and you can’t get much more local than wild foods that are foraged and hunted for in our North Coast landscape, from the upland forests to the estuaries.

On Thursday, Oct. 20th at 7 p.m, the Fort George Brewery + Public House, 1483 Duane St., Astoria, is the place to go if you want to learn more about what’s in season this autumn. 

Teresa Retzlaff and Kristin Albrecht, co-hosts of Coast Community Radio’s Food Talk program join in conversation with local foragers and hunters Carla Cole, natural resource project manager for Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, and Doug Ray, wetlands consultant and North Coast Land Conservancy board member.

Cole and Ray are both long-time wild food enthusiasts with a passion for cooking and eating from the natural landscape.  The evening’s culinary conversation centers around a native food feast prepared as an example of what can be done with seasonal foraged foods and other locally grown ingredients.  The presenters will work their way through the menu, talking about each recipe–where the ingredients are found, and how to safely harvest them, and store them if needed. This is a great way to get inspired about incorporating more wild foraged foods into your home cooking

The program takes place in the Fort George’s Lovell Building next to their Tap Room.  Doors will open at 6 p.m. for those wanting to purchase seasonal beers on tap and other beverages at the George before the program begins. Recipes and resources will be available for those wishing to learn more about foraging and hunting on the North Coast. 

The program is free and open to the public.

TAP ROOM ART SHOW: JOHN FOYSTON

Beer Journalist Trades Pen for Paint Brush in Art Show
 

John Foyston with one of our first cans off the canning line.

When the Fort George Brewery has been in the Oregonian, the writer has been John Foyston.  Best known for being one of the top beer journalists in the Northwest—John has been writing about Oregon craft beer for 20 years—he’ll be at Fort George this month, not reporting, but showing off one of his more obscure talents, oil painting.  John’s art will be on display in the brewery’s tap room during the 2nd Saturday Art Walk October 8th 5-9 p.m. and he will be present during an artist’s reception on October 15th 4-7 p.m. (immediately following the Hoppy Holidays event).
    John was a staff writer for The Oregonian for 25 years and as a freelancer still writes and blogs his weekly column "The Beer Here" for the paper. Before he wrote professionally, he was a computer assembler, a monkey handler, a professional musician, motorcycle mechanic and shop owner. 

     John started oil painting about six years ago. Early paintings were done from reference photos, but thanks to a workshop with Oregon plein air painter, Thomas Kitts, John has been painting outside and onsite for most of the last year.  Plein air painting is a tradition going back to the French impressionists and beyond, and requires the artist to establish color and value quickly and accurately, to simplify shapes and work quickly in changing light. 
     This show includes earlier paintings and recent plein air landscapes and still life, including the series of paintings that John has been doing in the Brooklyn Rail Yard Roundhouse, home of the famous Daylight steam locomotive 4449.

THE BEER GODDESS IS COMING

Hoppy Holidays: Women's Beer & Food Pairing Event

Beer Goddess Lisa Morrison

Saturday October 15th 2-4:00

Fort George Brewery Tap Room

For the perfect beer and food pairing, look no farther than your child's Halloween candy.  Hoppy Holidays is the theme of this year's beer appreciation for women class at Fort George Brewery, an official Barley's Angels event. Your guide, Lisa Morrison, is known around the globe as, The Beer Goddess.  Lisa will share her knowledge, and several specialty beers from a variety of breweries plus elegant holiday appetizer pairings on Saturday October 15th 2-4 p.m. in our Lovell Building production brewery, adjacent to the Tap Room.  The cost is $30 and we encourage you to register now as the event fills quickly, either in person at Fort George or at our online store. 

By the way, the Tap Room will be open during the event (a great place for the men to hang out) and John Foyston's art show immediately follows.

Lisa is host and producer of “Beer O’Clock!,” the Pacific Northwest’s only weekly, hour-long on-air radio show devoted to craft beer -- heard Saturdays 3-4 p.m. on 101 FM in Portland as well as about 10 other stations throughout Oregon. It is also livestreamed at the same time and available in podcasts 24/7 on KXL.com and in podcast on iTunes.

Lisa recently released her first book, Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest: A Beer-Lover's Guide to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, to high critical acclaim. She also was one of 40 contributing writers for an internationally published book, “1001 Beers to Taste Before You Die,” which was released in the United States in 2010.

Lisa is a regular columnist for the nationally distributed publications Beer Advocate  and Celebrator Beer News and is the first and only female contributor to “Beer Talk” in the national magazine, All About Beer. She writes the “Beers to Your Health” column and contributes other articles for the regional publication Northwest Brewing News. She also frequently contributes to other publications, including Beer Northwest, Nightclub and Bar Magazine, The New Brewer, Zymurgy and Brew Your Own.

Lisa was chosen as one of the three original recipients -- and the first female recipient -- of the national Beer Journalism Awards, presented by the Brewers Association, for a column she wrote about the benefits and traditions of serving beer instead of wine at the Thanksgiving table. 

Lisa loves to share her passion for beer with others. She conducts numerous classes about beer in hopes of reaching out to more potential craft beer fans. For example, she presented a seminar on pairing beer with food for the national convention of the Women's Chefs and Restaurateurs Association, and she held a similar demonstration at the Mondial de la Biere festival in Montreal, Canada. Additionally, she has been teaching Beer 101 classes for women (traditionally not beer drinkers) in and around Portland for more than a decade. 

As a way to give back to the beer community and raise awareness about craft beer within the general public, Lisa organizes a number of nonprofit beer-related events, including the annual FredFest, a beer tasting for the octogenarian Portland-based beer writer, Fred Eckhard. In the past six years, the event has raised more than $50,000 for local charities.  

When she is not writing or talking about beer, Lisa and her husband, Mark, enjoy traveling with their Samoyed dog, Yeti -- if for no other reason than to be reminded that there's "no better beer than here."

Portland beer journalist, John Foyston, will have his oil paintings on display in our tap room during Hoppy Holidays and will be having an artist's reception following the event.