Oakshire History – Through Tap Handles

I had the fortunate chance to meet an awesome individual last Thursday.  His name is Lloyd Palmer and he is an avid tap handle collector, something like 800+, wowzer!  He collects as many Oregon micro handles as he can get and IPA’s from anywhere.

I was able to gather up enough tap handles to satisfy his collectors appetite.  However, one unique thing about the way he collects is that he likes to be able to tell the the story of a brewery or a particular brew through the history of its tap handles.  I had never thought about this but after lining up 10 of our handles to tell the story it was apparent that we even had some interesting history in our short 2+ years.  Below are his words about our tap handle history.

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Oakshire Brewing Tap Handle History

by Lloyd Palmer

Version 1
Starting as Willamette Brewery, their first beer brewed in October 2006 was their Willamette Amber and therefore, the first tap handle they used was for that beer.  All of the tap handles that they have ever used were wood and were roughly paddle/pilsner glass shaped.  The first styles were laser cut, having their symbol of an oak tree cut into the top.  There was also a slot in the top in which the cards with the names of the beers printed on them were inserted.  The first handles also had the “Willamette” name laser etched into each side of the tap handle.

Version 2
Later versions of this style of tap did not have the name Willamette laser etched along the sides as they were looking for ways to cut down on the cost of making each handle, which starting at roughly $50 a piece.  These taps were produced in both a 10 ¼” tall version and a shorter 6” version.  There were a few taller 11 ½” taps produced because of sizing errors in the CAD setup but they were never widely used.

A couple of problems arose with the use of these taps so some changes were made.  The practice of using tap handle cards in the top slots worked out initially but eventually they became hard to keep stocked.  In addition, if the upper strip of wood above the top of the tree broke the slot would no longer hold the cards.  As a result stickers with the name of the beers were stuck to the tap but these would cover the laser cut oak tree which defeated the purposed of having the tree cut into the tap.

The second style of tap used did not have the laser cut tree or lettering on the side of the tap but instead had a solid flat surface where the tree had been located.  Stickers with the name of each beer were then applied to the flat area.  The card holding slot was still located in the top to accommodate the placement of cards if so desired.  This second style of tap was being used when the company was renamed the Oakshire Brewing.

Version 3
When Willamette Brewery became Oakshire Brewing, in July 2008, lessons learned from the styles of taps that they had formerly used were incorporated into the new taps for this company.  The new taps were again made out of wood and stayed the same shape as the earlier taps, however the new styled oak tree logo and the Oakshire name are burned into the wood using small branding irons.  The oak tree is burned into the front and back, part way down from the top, leaving enough room to apply a square tap handle sticker with the appropriate type of beer on it.  The Oakshire name is burned into each side of the tap.

The handles still continued to contain the slot for cards in the top but that is being phased out in the newest taps.  The slot required that a separate piece of wood be used to make the slot, therefore requiring it to be glued to the top of the lower portion of the handle.  This extra step cost additional money and time and once again was hard to keep cards stocked.

Version 4
As a result Oakshire’s newest taps are one solid piece of wood with no tap handle card slot.  The new handles come in the standard 10 ¼” tall version and a shorter 6” tall version for accounts that have tap handle height restrictions.  They were making the shorter ones by simply cutting taller handles down but this left a rough edge along the bottom.  Now these shorter taps are actually made to the 6” height and have a milled, finished bottom.

As a side note brothers, Jeff & Chris Althouse and friends are making all of the tap handles by hand.  Starting with wood blocks in the basic shape of the tap handle, they do all the sanding, routering, branding, staining, threadsert installing, and now finishing themselves.

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Lloyd lives in Waldport and I will be fortunate enough to get a chance to see his collection this summer!  I will definitely post pics after the trip!

Cheers!

Chris Althouse