Skip to main contentKicking back at his new brewery, Mike DeKalb is a king in his castle. Actually, the huge new Laurelwood Public House and Brewery has many fortresslike qualities; exposed ceiling planks seem medieval, malt silos stand like towers. There's even a large rooftop seating area where owner DeKalb can gaze down on his beer-drinking subjects.
But the king is exhausted. This is the third outpost in his Portland brewery kingdom to open in six years. The rustic-chic space recently opened after a year-and-a-half-long construction process he and wife/co-founder Cathy Woo-DeKalb undertook to transform Northeast Sandy Boulevard's Sylvia's Dinner Theater into a functioning brewery. DeKalb and his crew spent months renovating, salvaging the old-growth fir wood from the building to create tables, booths and a 25-foot bar. On July 6, he lit the "Open" sign.
The place has been packed ever since.
The new brewery, which features the same broad pub menu as its original, smaller location down the street at Northeast 40th Avenue and Sandy Boulevard (which has since changed its focus to become the Laurelwood Pizza Co.), could deliver a jolt of life to the eastern outskirts of the Hollywood neighborhood. Since the new brewery opened, there have been lines out the door. Suddenly, the 50th block of Sandy, dotted with older restaurants (including German haus Rheinlander) and shops, has become a destination.
"This stretch of Sandy needs a little shot in the arm. Hopefully we can provide that," says DeKalb, a 47-year-old Vancouver, Wash., native.
He didn't start out with the goal of becoming a beer baron. When he and his wife, both restaurant-industry workers, bought the original pub in 2000, the brewery equipment came as part of the deal. They hired brewer Chad Kennedy and started serving their suds.
And those suds are winners. Laurelwood's mix of organic and conventional beers—we're talking a two-time Gold medalist in the 2004 World Beer Cup—has helped the brewery become a local favorite, and the consistency and creativity of the beers is the same in the new spot. Kennedy started brewing at the new location two months ago, making sure the place was stocked with Free Range Red and Boss IPA. These days you can find the brewer in the glass-enclosed "aquarium" that houses his brewing laboratory, where people sitting at the bar can watch the process.
Although DeKalb says Laurelwood's original Hollywood location was the 30th largest brewpub in the nation, he believes the new place will be ranked in the top five. The new location is 6,000 square feet larger than the original pub. There's also Laurelwood's NW Public House just off Northwest 23rd Avenue, as well as two PDX Airport kiosks currently being converted into pubs. Sounds like DeKalb's building a mini-empire. Should the McMenamin brothers be sweating over a possible coup?
"No, no. Not at all. But we do want to grow. Our goal is to have about three or four more," DeKalb laughs and raises a glass to a smiling customer. "This is a good place to be." ?
WWeek 2015