Having moved from Portland to a small downtown Vancouver storefront in October 2011, Mt. Tabor Brewing is getting ready for another big move, this time to Felida.
Eric Surface, the brewery’s primary owner, said the small brewing company is about to launch construction of a restaurant in Felida Village, at the intersection of Northwest 119th Street and Northwest 36th Avenue with Lakeshore Avenue, that is expected to open in June.
In addition to 20 to 27 beers on tap, the family-friendly restaurant will offer pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven and “Northwest-style cuisine,” said Surface, who lives nearby.
The restaurant, with 3,100 square feet, will have almost triple the space of Mt. Tabor’s brewpub in downtown Vancouver at 113 W. Ninth St.
In addition to its move within Vancouver, Mt. Tabor Brewing is nearing completion on a new production facility and tasting room in Portland at Northeast 11th Avenue and Sandy Boulevard. The new facility will more than double the brewery’s production capacity.
“Downtown (Vancouver) is a great location but we can’t brew any more beer in that space,” Surface said. “We’ve been needing more space for two years.”
Mt. Tabor is brews 30 beers, which it sells to local restaurants and pubs, in addition to serving them at its own taproom.
Surface anticipates construction on the restaurant to begin in December and for it to be open for business in June. The new location will be open seven days a week, and Surface expects to add between 12 and 20 new jobs. The downtown taproom, open just Thursday and Friday evenings, is expected to close in June.
Mt. Tabor Brewing was an early arrival to Clark County’s beer culture, which has grown rapidly in recent years. There are now 18 breweries in the county, with more on the way this year and next.
In the latest sign of the craft brew industry’s growing vibrancy, ZZoom Media has created a Brewcouver Passport that showcases 10 Vancouver-based brewers, including Mt. Tabor, and offers a small prize for passport users who get a stamp from at least eight of the locations. The passport is set to launch Friday and can be found at www.brewcouverpassport.com.
