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Ben Dobler - the One Who Tells Us What to Do

Like Troy McClure, you might remember him from commercials such as Hop Bounty or Rotator IPA Series and who can forget, Ben Dobler Here. Dobler got his start in 1993 at Oregon’s oldest craft brewery, Bridgeport Brewing Co. at the age of 19. “Looking back on that time at Bridgeport is pretty much a blur. You have to remember in ’93 it was called Micro-Brewing. The word Craft was not associated with what we were doing. The Portland area resources at the time were the Widmer brothers, Art and Fred at Portland Brewing, Rouge and the McMenamin brothers. Henry Weinhard was in operation too, but they were in a different world than this group. We were all trying to figure out this business and it was wild.”

Right here, right now.

Right here, right now.

After spending 3 years learning the trade he left to accept a job at Oregon’s second oldest brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. He went on to spend 20 years at WBBC where he refined his brewing skills. While at WBBC he managed the product development and innovation team, who was now part of the larger conglomerate Craft Brew Alliance. Under CBA, Dobler continued to refine his brewing skills, and also picked up valuable knowledge regarding the business side of beer. “The experience I gained at WBBC/CBA was immense. We developed so many different styles of beer and I worked with so many random ingredients over the years.  We won a lot of brewing accolades along the way too. I traveled the world and met so many amazing people.  I’m truly thankful for that experience!”

Having seen how a large brewery is run, Dobler was ready for a change and decided to leave CBA and go work for Mt. Tabor Brewing Co. “I basically went from 800,000 barrels of beers to 800 barrels of beer overnight.” After a brief stint at Mt. Tabor, Dobler moved on to another PDX legacy brewery, Laurelwood Brewing Co. “I really enjoyed my time at Laurelwood because I was able to see how a pub style brewery is operated and run.”

Each one of these experiences has brought Dobler to a place of finding the right partners and creating his own legacy. “It only seems fitting, that after 20 years working for 2 brothers, I now get to finish my career by working WITH 2 brothers,” Dobler likes to quip about his Co-founding business partners. “Bringing the Hammer & Stitch brewery and brand to life has been amazing! Each day brings a new challenge, but I’m beyond confident in myself and our partnership, that we are building something everyone will be proud of.” 

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