Early Days
Founded in 2009 by David Logsdon and Charles Porter, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales (LFA) brewed its first beer in 2011 with a 10 barrel system in Hood River, Oregon. Drawing from their love of rustic Belgian ales and Logsdon’s and Porter’s experience brewing and managing yeast at the likes of Full Sail, Deschutes, Upland, and Wyeast Labs, LFA began with brewing its own versions of classic farmhouse styles. By 2011, co-owners John Plutshack, Jodie Ayura, Judith Bams-Logsdon and Seaberg Einarsson joined LFA’s team to help with a variety of tasks at the brewery (2011-2015) and at the Barrel House in Downtown Hood River (2015-2017).
Since 2011, LFA beers drew critical acclaim, with People’s Choice awards at local Oregon festivals and various medals from World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival. With the increased exposure and demand for beers like Peche ‘n Brett and Seizoen Bretta, LFA added Charlie Van Meter (now Head Brewer at Allegory Brewing) as a brewer. When Van Meter left LFA for Yachats Brewing, LFA hired Aaron Gilham (now Head Brewer at Yachats Brewing) as a brewer.
Pictured (Left to Right): David Logsdon, Judith Bams-Logsdon, Charles Porter (twice), Charlie Van Meter
Middle Photo Credit: www.brewpublic.com
Passing the Baton
In 2015, with Logsdon’s retirement announcement, John Plutshack and Jodie Ayura took over management and operations of the brewery and brought on Shilpi Halemane (formerly of Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.) and Curtis Bain (now of Lanikai Brewing, formerly of Cascade Brewing) to brew and manage the yeast and grow LFA’s barrel programs. Porter left LFA to work towards opening his own brewery (Little Beast Brewing).
Pictured (Left to Right): John Plutshack, Jodie Ayura, Shilpi Halemane, Curtis Bain, Mark Pearson
In addition to preserving the legacy of their predecessors, Shilpi and Curtis created new beers and developed the coolship/spontaneous program for the next chapter of LFA. These beers have garnered numerous accolades like:
2017 GABF Silver for ZuurPruim
2017 Oregon Beer Awards Small Brewery of the Year, with Gold for ZuurPruim, Silver for Raven & Rubus, and Silver for Seizoen
2018 WBC Gold for SN4 Cuvée
2018 WBC Silver for ZuurPruim
2018 OBA Gold for ZuurPruim and Silver for Spontane Wilde
Washington Expansion
In 2017, Shilpi was named Head Brewer, Mark Pearson (formerly of deGarde Brewing) joined the LFA team as a brewer, and John and Jodie continued vetting various locations and facilities in the Pacific Northwest to expand brewery operations and customer accessibility while maintaining LFA’s connection with the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood.
In August 2018, LFA expanded operations to the west end of the Columbia River Gorge in Washougal, Washington. The downtown Washougal facility includes a 15-barrel brew house system. With the additional tank space and newer equipment, LFA began producing contemporary and classic ales and lagers in styles from around the world, as well as farmhouse-style ales year round in Washougal. After some time operating both facilities, operations in Hood River ceased in 2019.
Currently restricted due to Covid-19 considerations, the Washougal Taproom has 12 taps, and an extensive bottle list to showcase the finest and freshest LFA beers. Beer can be purchased to-go, or for local delivery in the Vancouver/Washougal/Camas area.
