Liquid Gold offers taste of Northwest brews

“We started this Internet sales business because we were both bored, and we did that out of the house for about a year,” Wallace said. “But then the state had a new law that lets businesses like ours fill growlers, so we decided to open a shop.”

Growlers are 64-ounce jugs used to transport keg beer.

The small store, in the corner of a strip mall at 11202 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., doesn’t look like much right now. But the two entrepreneurs and their families have big plans for expansion in the near future.

The shop opened in September with 20 types of beer on tap. Customers can’t drink a glass of beer on site — at least not until Carter and Wallace secure a state license for that — but in the meantime, visitors can bring their own growler or buy one and have it filled at the shop. They can also taste a 2-ounce sample of any tap beer before they decide to buy.

“What we’re trying to do is have a smorgasbord of growlers, we want people to be able to pick and choose,” Carter said. “It doesn’t seem like a lot of people in this part of town are educated about the craft beer scene, so we’re hoping we can help them learn about it and give them the opportunity to try some new beers.”

Tap beers include selections from Mt. Tabor Brewing, which recently opened in downtown Vancouver, Walking Man Brewing from Stevenson, Boneyard Beer from Bend, Ore., and several other regional producers.

Beyond the growlers, the shop also sells a large selection of Northwestern bottled beers that customers can buy as singles, and the company still ships regional beers to out-of-state customers across the nation.

“A lot of the West Coast beers don’t make it past the Rockies,” Wallace said. “People come to the Portland area and they go to brewfests and they fall in love with our regional beer. But they can’t get it back East, so we ship it to them.”

Orchards might seem like a strange location for a gourmet beer shop. The relatively low-key, sleepy part of town hasn’t had many options when it comes to finding a good brew — other than what’s been offered at big stores like Fred Meyer.

“The majority of people in the Orchards area, when they find us, they’re ecstatic,” Carter said. “There’s no place else around here that sells craft beer.”

After about five months in business, word of mouth has been spreading, and, while nobody’s getting rich financially, things are moving along nicely, the owners said.

“It’s been really good,” Wallace said.

The company made $50,000 through its online sales last year. And so far, the retail location has sold about 300 growler bottles, which customers bring in one to three times a week for a refill, Wallace said.

Bottle fills cost around $10 to $15, depending on the beer.

Before setting up shop, Wallace and Carter talked to several people from Vancouver’s downtown beer scene, including Arlene and David Nunez from By The Bottle, at 104 W. Evergreen Blvd.

“By The Bottle, they’ve got it down,” Carter said. “We’re so far from them, we’re not in competition at all. And they were so great and so helpful in sharing information with us.”

That’s part of the advantage of brewing and selling beer in Clark County, Nunez said. Business owners don’t think of themselves as competing, but rather helping each other to build a stronger scene.

“More beer businesses makes our area more of a destination for beer enthusiasts,” Nunez said. “If there were 10 brewers right here, would it be competitive? Yes. But would it be packed and healthy and great for the area, too? Heck yeah. That’s what we want.”

Eric Surface, owner of Mt. Tabor Brewing, said he also wants to be supportive of the new shop.

“They’re great guys,” Surface said. “I’m looking forward to doing more with them in the next few months when I have more product for them to sell.”

Wallace wants to expand Northwest Liquid Gold into more of a destination once the store gets a license for customers to drink beer on the premises. The first step in that will be to build an outdoor beer garden next to the shop, which he hopes to have up and running by summer.

“It’ll be a nice cordial place to go have a beer, hang out for a bit and then head home,” Wallace said. “I’m trying to keep it sort of rustic.”

On the other side of the shop, Wallace and another son-in-law are thinking about building a deli, he said.

“We’d like to open all this up, maybe even bring in some brewing classes from Bader (Beer and Wine Supply),” Wallace said. “And with the deli, we’ll have food, too. I think we can grow this to something that people here can really enjoy.”