Another new brewpub is coming to Portland—and in addition to having great tasting local microbrews and an ecclectic menu, it also aims to work closely with home brewers new and old.

It is certainly no secret how Portland got the nicknames “Beervana,” “Beertopia,”and “Beertown.” Portland has a long and passionate relationship with beer that started before the turn of the century (in 1888, Henry Weinhard volunteered to pump beer from his brewery into the newly dedicated Skidmore Fountain), and has continued since the days the McMennamin brothers popularized the brewpub.

The growth of hundreds of breweries and beer aficionados in the Willamette Valley has been supported by the abundance of local ingredients, including over a dozen varieties of hops. Along with great local ingredients, there are tons of folks in the Portland area who love to brew their own beer—a passion that the soon-to-open Coalition Brewery hopes to incorporate into their business model.

Opening in 2010, Coalition Brewing will be the first brewery in Portland that partners with home brewers and engages customers to develop new beer. Coalition brewers will work with you to develop a recipe (or as Lead Brewer Bruce McPhee puts it… “recipes of happiness”), help you brew on their 10-gallon system, and then rotate your beer on tap in the pub. All for free.

Co-founders of Coalition Brewing, Elan Walsky and Kiley Hoyt, have roots in home brewing themselves. It was at homebrew store Steinbarts (where Elan worked and Kiley shopped) that the two brewers first hatched their idea to open a brewpub. Mixing their passion for brewing with bigger brewery experience, (they brought on a 10-year veteran from Deschutes, Bruce McPhee, as Brew Master and knower of all things beer), Hoyt and Walsky hope to create a unique, collaborative and successful Portland brewpub.

Coalition Brewery is located at 2724 SE Ankeny in Portland