Fort George Brewery gears up for 2010 expansion

Published 4:00 pm Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Fort George Brewery and Public House in Astoria continues to evolve and expand.

In late 2009, the business purchased several properties in Astoria, including the building where the brewery is housed and the Lovell Building next door.

Chris Nemlowill and Jack Harris own Fort George; their business is called Big Beams LLC. The partners recently requested a zoning change for their commercial properties from the City of Astoria to shift from C-3 commercial zoning to C-4.

Chris Nemlowill said the zoning change would lift parking restrictions in effect under C-3 status.

“We are not considered downtown right now, which is zoned C-4,” he said.

Owners Chris Nemlowill and Jack Harris have also made a deal to buy the equipment they need to start up the Lovell brewing facility.

Nemlowill said Big Beams LLC is purchasing extensive brewing gear from a Houston brewery that is upgrading its apparatus. Harris and a crew are slated to drive to Texas in January to pick up the equipment.

Currently Fort George can brew about 250 gallons of beer at a time in their facilities at the public house location on Duane Street. The new setup in the 30,000 sq. ft. Lovell Building will increase production fourfold to about 1,000 gallons.

“We’re being conservative in our estimates about when it will be online,” Nemlowill said of the new brewing operation. He said Fort George could begin producing beer in the Lovell Building this fall.

Nemlowill also said plans are in place to build an elevated deck on the west side of the building that would take up part of the parking lot between the pub and the Lovell Building.

“It’s a really nice area in the summer time. We’ve had parking lot barbecues there and used our parking lot for events,” he said. “It’s sheltered by the Lovell Building.”

Nemlowill said the deck will provide outdoor seating and should be in place in time for summer.

Other plans for Fort George include expanding restaurant space upstairs to the building’s second floor. The expansion will allow room for private parties and events upstairs, while allowing the downstairs pub to remain open to the public.

In addition to its restaurant and pub, the brewery has about 26 local commercial accounts to which they distribute kegs of beer. The business also sells about 60 kegs a month to Portland pubs. In addition to the Fort George and Lovell Buildings, Big Beams LLC also purchased the old rental car parking lot across from the pub, and a nearby plot that was at one time a community garden.

The Fort George Brewery and Public House stands on the location once occupied by historic Fort George, a key site in Astoria’s long and varied history.