Aaron Brussat is an author, brewer, and educator. Originally from Maryland, he relocated to Eugene, Oregon, in 2008 after a cross-country trip inspired him to settle in the Pacific Northwest. He began his career in the beer industry in 2010. His professional experience is extensive and varied, including roles as a beer steward, assistant buyer, and event curator at The Bier Stein; a homebrew supply shop employee at Falling Sky Fermentation Supply Shop; and a professional brewer at Plank Town Brewing and Claim 52 Brewing, where he is the head of brewing innovation.
For several years, he served as the managing editor for
As a writer and journalist, his work has been published in numerous outlets, including
Brussat holds certifications as a Certified Cicerone and is a beer judge through the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). His commitment to education is evident in his development of the "Beer Flight School" program and his selection for the American Brewers Guild scholarship from the Glen Falconer Foundation for 2025. He is a member of the Cascade Brewers Society homebrew club.
Further details on Brussat's career can be found in
The collection was donated by Aaron Brussat in 2023.
Collection is open for research.
Aaron Brussat Papers (MSS Brussat), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
All archival collections are described on the
More information pertaining to the history of hop growing and brewing in Oregon can be found on the
The Aaron Brussat Papers are arranged into three series: 1. Professional Writing, 1890-2020; 2. Photographs, 2013-2023; 3. Beer Stone Website, 2010-2025.
The Aaron Brussat Papers document his work as an Oregon-based beer author, photographer, and brewer. The collection is comprised of digital files, including article drafts, administrative records, digital photographs, a small number of audio and video files, and web archives of his professional blog.
A portion of the collection documents Brussat's work as managing editor for
The photographs include dozens of Oregon breweries, cideries, and meaderies, capturing facilities, people, special events, and the brewing process. They focus on the Willamette Valley, primarily from 2013 to 2023, with a few digitized historical photographs dating to 1890. The collection's strength is its in-depth, longitudinal documentation of the craft beverage scene in the Southern Willamette Valley and Central Oregon Coast between 2013 and 2023. Key local producers such as Agrarian, Oakshire, Block 15, and Cold Fire are featured, some over multiple years, providing a rich visual history of their growth.
The collection explores the agricultural side of the industry, with photographs from hop farms like Goschie and Crosby hops, and barley suppliers such as Mecca Grade and Admiral Maltings, in addition to barley research from Oregon State University. Furthermore, the records document Brussat's participation in national and regional beer events like the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), homebrewing clubs, and beer education classes. The collection includes multiple media formats, such as an audio interview with Yachats Brewing and video files from Block 15 and the GABF.
The digital folders in each series of this collection are available upon request.
These photographs, primarily from 2019-2020, feature contemporary breweries, beer products, and staff picks, alongside digitized historical photographs of Southern Oregon breweries dating from 1890 to 1940 that were used for an article.
These materials document the editorial and production process of
Additionally, the folder includes administrative files from 2015-2018, which contains information related to the management of the publication. Together, these files provide a comprehensive overview of the publication's content and workflow.
Photographs documenting Oregon's craft beverage scene that provide a holistic view of the industry, capturing not only brewery facilities, taprooms, and brewing equipment, but also the people and culture, including brewers, owners, staff, and patrons. Documentation covers a range of activities such as special events, collaborations, festivals, hop picking parties, the brewing and packaging processes, and food pairings. The collection is heavily concentrated on producers in the Southern Willamette Valley—particularly Eugene, Springfield, and Corvallis—with additional coverage of the Central Oregon Coast and Central Oregon. In addition to breweries, the folder also includes photographs of cideries (WildCraft Cider Works, Ciderlicious), meaderies (Viking Braggot, Nectar Creek), and other fermentation projects.
These materials provides a rich, localized history of a key region in Oregon's brewing landscape during a period of significant growth. While primarily photographic, there are multimedia files for specific breweries, including a short video (.mp4) file for Block 15 (2015) and video (.mp4) and audio (.wav) files for Yachats Brewing, including an audio interview. Several key breweries are documented over multiple years, offering a valuable record of their evolution; these include Oakshire Brewing (2013-2019), Cold Fire Brewing (2016-2021), and Xicha Brewing (2017-2023). Photographs capture the community aspect of the craft beer world. Sub-folders dedicated to specific events like Agrarian Ales' "Hop Picking Party" and various brewery collaborations highlight a focus on the culture surrounding these businesses, not just their physical spaces or products.
Materials related to: Agrarian Ales; Alesong; Almanac Brewing; Arable Brewing; Beachcrest Brewing; Belgian Underground; Benedictine Brewery; Bine Valley Brewing; Block 15; Brewers Union; Ciderlicious; Claim 52; Coast Fork Brewing; Cold Fire; Conversion Brewing; Covered Bridge Brewing Group; Cyderish; de Garde Brewing; Defeat River; Deschutes; Dirt Road Brewing; Draper Brewing; Dwinell Country Ales; Falling Sky; Flat Tail; Freehand; Gratitude Brewing; Labyrinth Forge; Little Beast; Long Timber Brewing; Manifest; Mazama Big River Restaurant; Monkless Belgian Ales; Nectar Creek; Ninkasi; Oakshire; Plank Town; Salem Ale Works; Sam Bond's Brewing; Silver Falls Brewing; Siuslaw Brewing; Sky High Brewing; Snow Peak Brewing; Sunriver; Three Sheets; Viking Braggot; WildCraft Cider Works; Wolf Tree; Xicha Brewing; Yachats Brewing.
Photographs documenting various beer festivals and beer-related travel. The folder features materials from major national events, including the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in 2016 and 2018, and Homebrew Con in 2018. The 2018 GABF documentation is particularly extensive, including photographs from the festival and visits to several Colorado breweries such as Funkwerks and Purpose Brewing. The materials for Bierstadt Lagerhaus and New Belgium are notable, containing both video and photographs. Also included are regional festivals like the KLCC Brewfest (2019) and the Sasquatch Brewfest (2023). A folder documenting a 2019 beer-focused trip to Walla Walla, Washington, is included.
Photographs related to homebrewing and beer education activities. The beer education component includes files from "Beer Flight School," a tasting and educational event, and the "Boss Rambler Beer Club," a club in Bend. The homebrewing section features materials concerning the Cascade Brewers Society, a local homebrew club, and "Tripp's Brewing Gear," a personal homebrewing equipment setup. Additionally, the folder includes files from 2019 related to the "Porter App," a beer-focused mobile application.
Photographs document different facets of the barley supply chain, including two prominent craft malthouses: Admiral Maltings in Alameda, California, and Mecca Grade Estate Malt in Madras, Oregon. Also included are files concerning the barley research and breeding program at Oregon State University, highlighting the connection between agricultural science and the brewing industry.
Photographs related to hop farming focus on two prominent Willamette Valley hop suppliers: Goschie Farms and Crosby Hops. The majority of the files document Crosby Hops, showcasing their farm facilities, hop farm tours, and their on-site taproom, the Topwire Hop Project. Images of Goschie Farms from 2018 are also included. Collectively, the photographs provide a visual record of the cultivation, processing, and agritourism aspects of the local hop industry. Photographs of hop harvesting at Agrarian Ales are in Digital Folder 2.01.
Photographs documenting the Public House and The Wheel, local Eugene restaurants, from 2018-2019. Includes photographs that were compiled for use in newsletters and photographs and movie files for "Rock the Kasvot."
This website was crawled in August 2025 using Archive-It.
This series consists of a