Scout Brewery Announces Opening Date on SE Hawthorne

Joe St. Martin of Scout brewery isn’t your typical brewer. Launching Scout Beer in 2015 with co-owner Sean Oeding, he makes beers like Nori-Torious, a gose salted with nori seaweed, and Cuckoo, a milk stout involving more than a pound of Cocoa Puff cereal in each keg. He started Scout as a beer cart, with locations currently in the Gantry and Tidbits food cart pods. And now, he and Oeding are opening the Scout Beer brick and mortar in the former Hawthorne Strip stripclub. Speaking with Eater, they say Scout Beer will throw open the doors September 22, at 1516 SE 10th Ave.

“A brick and mortar was always the goal,” says St. Martin, but that doesn’t mean he’s doing away with outdoor beer garden vibe of Scout Beer’s first locations. The roughly 1500-square-foot venue will be set up beer hall-style, with picnic tables topped with camping lanterns, and it has large roll-up doors to let the outside in, with a custom counter that wheels onto the sidewalk to extend the venue. Fir boards salvaged from a house that was torn down on Hawthorne pepper the space. The brewery’s five barrel brewing system occupies the rear.

On the food front, Scout will serve a mix of lunch and dinner options, like meat and cheese boards, with house-made sides from mustards to pickles, and larger dishes like salads and panini. There will be snacks like spicy bacon hazelnuts and sourdough twists made with a six-year-old starter, and for dessert, prepare for s’more pu pu platters that “won’t be fancy at all.” St. Martin says they’ll feature the classics: Hershey’s and Honey Maid. Scout Beer also hopes to launch a beer and cereal brunch down the road that could involve all-you-can-eat cereal.

Mattie John Bamman/EPDX

Scout Beer will have 18 taps, and in addition to its creative beers, it’ll offer guest ciders and brews. For added fun, you’re invited to make your own beer creations by ordering your own blend of beers in a pint glass. It’s all part of Scout’s no-holds-barred beer culture.

“Making the greatest red ale ever doesn’t interested me,” says St. Martin. “I want to see what will happen when you dump 15 pounds of fresh marionberries into a beer.” The first beer he ever made was a brown ale, which, after asking himself what on earth he’d do with 50 bottles of brown ale, he infused with coffee. “And I never looked back.”

Taste it for yourself Thursday, September 22. The brewpub will have sports on the televisions, trivia nights, and movie nights, and it will operate Monday through Thursday, from noon to 10 p.m.; Friday, from noon to midnight; Saturday, from 9 a.m. to midnight; and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

• Scout Beer [Official Site]
• Scout Beer Garden to Open Brewery at the Old Hawthorne Strip [New School Beer]