De Garde Brewing Is Celebrating Its 10th Year in Business With a Big Ol’ Beer Festival

During its nearly 10 years in existence, Tillamook’s de Garde Brewing always let the beer speak for itself.

The business never threw large festivals or turned to marketing blitzes to attract drinkers to its corner of the Oregon Coast—a place where wild yeast thrive and gather character from the flowing estuaries and Pacific brine, which then spontaneously ferment de Garde’s world-class beer.

However, that big party part is about to change. Today, brewery founders Trevor and Linsey Rogers announced that they will be marking 10 years of operations this spring with a festival-style celebration.

The event is scheduled to take place from noon to 6 pm Saturday, May 6 at the Port of Garibaldi Event space overlooking Tillamook Bay. From a scenic, outdoor shelter, you’ll be able to sample a wide array of de Garde beers that are cooled and fermented in a coolship—picture an open-top vessel kind of like a shallow bathtub if you’ve never seen one before—then aged not just for months, but typically years, in oak. You can expect a large selection of new releases, a curated collection of beers from the brewery’s extensive archive as well as bottles to go.

And if that alone had you asking, “When and where can I get my ticket?” Just wait. There’s more.

De Garde has invited nearly two dozen other breweries to pour special releases at the party. Names include Belgium’s celebrated Brasserie Cantillon, Holy Mountain in Seattle, Vermont’s Hill Farmstead and Oregon’s own Block 15, just to name a few. Each brewery is a friend that de Garde has made during its 10 years in business.

The event will be a celebration of place as much as it is of beer, since views look out at the bay and food vendors, including Sea Baron Fish & Chips, Nestucca Bay Creamery, Jandy Oyster Co., and Garibaldi Portside Bistro, represent the area’s diverse culinary offerings. Live music is also on the schedule.

De Garde may best be known for its funky brews, but in more recent years, the Rogers have gotten into the wine business under the de Garde Cellars label. As with the beer, their goal is to make wine that speaks to a specific time and place, and they practice low-intervention production, using grapes from premium vineyards in the region and native yeast.

If you last visited when de Garde was still located in an industrial space near the massive Tillamook Air Museum, you’re way overdue for a visit. Snag a ticket to the anniversary bash, then hit the beautiful tasting room, which opened in 2017, in downtown Tillamook.

Admission goes on sale online starting at 9 am on Feb. 6.