New Arable Brewing taproom opens in Eugene

Arable Brewing Co.'s taproom is the latest addition to Eugene's craft beer scene, located between the Western and Whiteaker neighborhoods.

The new taproom features an eclectic mix of both industrial and homey detail. From the mismatched chairs and tables to its location in an actual industrial area, these contrasting components wouldn't seem to make sense for a taproom.

For Arable, it captures the brewery's journey of trying to fit into various places before finding its final home. Owners Amy Wells, Cam Wells and Chris Archer are colleagues turned friends and now business partners. What began as lofty plans eventually shaped out to become Arable.

The brewery had its soft open at the beginning of June with community members, investors, family and friends taking up every seat.

It is open with limited hours but has a homey, comfortable charm that will make you reluctant to leave.

Planning around the pandemic

At the heart of beer production are Cam and Archer, who became acquainted after Cam started working at Ninkasi Better Living Room in 2015. He was a facilities plant worker and technician. Archer was a brewer and approached Cam after a couple months to do a homebrew together. The two weren't friends, but that first homebrew is what began their friendship.

"I decided that morning that (brewing) was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," Cam said.

The two would continue working together and stayed friends as they went to other breweries to work. They talked about the aspects and details of their ideal brewery.

In 2019, Veneta promoted a fermentation incentive program to award grants for qualified folks interested in opening up breweries and the town.

Cam and Archer decided to apply, and as U.S. Navy veterans they both were able to get additional loans to start the business. They won the grants, but then the pandemic began. Before the two saw any money beyond the planning phases, the loans and grants were pulled.

"It's hard to justify a hospitality business when there's no hospitality," Cam said.

Some time later, Lowell approached the two about setting up in town. The city manager, community members' interest in a brewery and infrastructure were great, Cam said. The biggest issue: no building for the facility.

Settling into the space

As they were figuring out if Lowell was a potential landing point, they began doing pop-up tasting events throughout Eugene and smaller towns' taprooms and breweries. But the name wasn't yet Arable.

The original name the business filed was a "deeply personal one," Cam said. It was a reference to his father, who died 15 years ago. But it wasn't sticking, so Cam asked Archer. Archer's email was actually "arable brewer," and from there they were Arable Brewing.

"I grew up on a farm, so I have that connection," Archer said. "As a brewer for the last 12 years, we wouldn't be an industry without farming, so it's very important to us and everything else that we pay our respect to the land."

Finding a space just for brewing proved to be a moderately difficult task, but the three wanted to find a space where they could open a taproom. Because it's "all about the social enjoyment," Cam said.

They looked at several places, including the former Alesong Brewing packaging building just a block from their current location. It was too small, but they lucked out when they saw the site they are now at was for lease.

The facility was formerly a manufacturing space, so after moving in last October the team began redesigning and fixing it up.

Putting in emergency lighting, painting the walls, installation of the brewery equipment and more were all done by Archer and Cam.

The three describe their workflow as a triangle. Any administrative or financial paperwork is done by Amy, while Cam does building or maintenance for the machinery. Archer rounds out the three as the brewer.

Focus on the craft of brewing

Arable Brewing does not have plans to distribute, Cam said.

Their brewery system is small, but it's large enough to sustain the taproom and folks' interested in buying direct.

They have six barrels that can hold 170 gallons. When Cam and Archer did their first brews in 2019 for the brewery in the Wells' garage, their synergy system yielded 26 gallons. It was one keg if you got a good yield, Archer said.

"None of us got into this to be rich," Cam said. "We wanna sell beer in Eugene and bring in folks to enjoy it for the vibes and craft."

Cam said he got advice early on the team would have to "pick a lane" when they became a brewery: distribution or retail. Through budgetary planning, Arable is on the retail route. This gave the brewery flexibility to be focused on keeping the craft of brewing at its core.

Archer said his process is to write five recipes at a time, centering on sanitation and artistic experimentation. He said the artistic freedom is enjoyable and a deviation from other breweries he had worked at.

Despite no flagship beer, Cam and Archer want to reassure folks they will brew certain recipes again if demand is high. Once Cam and Archer have solidified a rhythm for brewing, they said there will be a new beer every two weeks.

"We don't want to be pigeonholed," Archer said. "We want to show we can make a portfolio with quality being the main thing. We wanna show we can make a crisp lager but also use mixed fermentation, so one place to be able to do it all and well."

Family friendly space

Arable keeps it simple with wood finishes and a warm yellow color for its space.

Their is an outdoor patio and inside seating with wood booths along the left wall.

The dictionary definition of "arable" is printed in large font above the register and the entrance to the brewing operation. Its open concept is similar to a winery exposing its wine barrels. At Arable you can see the chrome of the brewery's various tanks and machinery shine behind the staff.

The space is family friendly and accessible, and minors are allowed until 9 p.m. Leashed dogs are allowed in the outside section only.

The taproom is meant to be living room-esque, where it's so comfortable people don't want to leave. Amy said folks almost didn't during their soft opening.

In addition to the brewery's rotating selection, you can find cider, wine and nonalcoholic options.

"Making sure we have other options is part of my focus," Amy said. "While beer is the main focus, there are people who come in and should be accommodated if they can't have or don't like beer. So we have (wine, cider and nonalcoholic products) so folks can enjoy the vibes."

Folks can come in to have growlers and crowlers (a 32 ounce growler in a can) filled. The team is starting to roll out branded merchandise of T-shirts and hats.

Amy said they are still working on having a full-time food cart stationed at the taproom. They will serve some snacks in-house in the future as well, but outside food is encouraged. There are even address details for folks ordering delivery through DoorDash to enjoy on the premises.

For more info on hours and food truck appearances, check out the website, wearearable.com, and its Facebook page.

Hours: 2-9 p.m. Thursday to Sunday

Address: 510 Conger St., Eugene

Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com, follow her on Twitter @catchuptoemily or see what she's eating on Instagram @sikfanmai.ah.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: New Arable Brewing Co. taproom opens in Eugene