Wild Man Brewing Co. is part of the renaissance that is taking place in Raymond, a town tucked in just east of Willapa Bay on the Washington coast. Ryan Porter and his two friends, Cristian Dumitrescu and Grant Forrest, had long talked about taking their beer, cider and mead making hobbies to the next level by opening their own business.
Porter was more cautious and wanted to wait five years but the other two talked him into moving up the timeline. The three recently celebrated with a grand opening event and “Five Years from Now,” a New England-style IPA, on tap, inspired by Porter’s prudent pace.
The trio work at a plant nearby, which has taught them the skills they bring to this smalltown small business, Porter noting those range from environmental issues and permitting to the cost of goods sold and accounting practices. Here, he chats about what he’s into that they are brewing and their next-level ladies’ restroom.
1) Which of your brews are you digging the most right now?
Destitute New England IPA is the favorite of at least two of us. It was an experimental small batch that we are so happy with we want to make it a staple beer or our flagship IPA at least. It is juicy with a creamy mouthfeel and has a pleasant hop bite and aftertaste. We’re really in love with this beer and can’t wait to brew the commercial batch next.
We are also extremely pleased with the reception our mead is getting as well. Cristian is the head mead and winemaker and he is extremely creative. He innovates constantly and isn’t afraid to take chances I might never take with our beer. He comes up with some really neat and tasty stuff because of this and people seem to love it.
2) What is it about the craft of making beer appeals to you? How did you hone your craft?
I like that I can take a beer from grain to glass. Going back even a step further I can just think about what flavors and textures might go together well and create a whole new recipe — a hybrid beer if you will — or I can follow a traditional style and create a tried and true recipe.
It is very rewarding to make a beer and hear someone tell you they think it is amazing. It’s kind of instant proof that people think you did something awesome. I think we all like that we can take customer feedback and create or modify our recipes to be something people even enjoy more. Cristian loves talking about mead, a lot.
3) You have one of the fanciest ladies rooms ever seen in a brewery. What prompted the TLC for your female guests?
We all have wonderful women in our lives — whether it’s our wives, mothers, daughters, sisters or just our friends. I can tell you personally that I have learned the women in my life will walk into a restroom and that can become the decision on if we ever go back. This definitely played into our reasoning for getting that remodel done. Grant did almost all of that work himself and it turned out great. We get lots of great feedback on that so it has paid off for us.
4) What kind of tunes do you like to jam to while creating your brew?
Grant and Cristian are usually the ones that pick out the music. I mostly just complain about whatever they choose. I’m an ’80s and ’90s fan so pretty much anything from that time frame, especially rock or even alternative is my favorite. Green Day is one of my all-time favorites but there is just a super wide range that I’ll listen to.
