Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Gordon.
Hi Josh, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My wife and I love to travel, and food and especially beer/breweries have always been a big part of the travel experience. Home brewing was also always a passion, something I have been doing for over 30 years. I worked for adidas, for almost 25 years, as a designer in product innovation. After a 8 year stint working at the adidas HQ in Germany, we moved back to Portland, OR. And yes, I was home brewing in Germany, as IPA’s were all the rage in the US, but something that the German’s were slow to adopt. After a year or so back in the US, I started to have strange symptoms. I was getting itchy skin rashes, my eyes always felt sticky, and then finally I started having problems swallowing. My doctor scheduled a swallow study, which was fine. My eye doctor told me to use eye drops. I ended up going in for an endoscopy, which determined my throat was swollen and inflamed, my stomach was not better. Blood tests later revealed that I had celiac disease. Ok, so nothing delicious or convenient going forward…. Bread, noodles, donuts, pizza, and of course beer! So over time I worked to give it all up, somethings harder than others, with only some good GF replacements, none that I liked for beer. Purely by chance in 2022, I found a GF brewery for sale, closed during COVID with no plans to reopen. I had never tried their beer, but was able to find some, and… Wow, this IS beer! On thing lead to another and by earlier 2023 we had purchased that brewery and reopened the brewery.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would like to believe that all small businesses struggle, at least a little or for a while. But I was still working at adidas, so we had some financial security. That is until, like usual, the big brands clean house. I got laid off in 2024, which is both good and bad. No more security, but now more time to fully run the brewery. I had never worked in a production brewery, especially not by myself, but I know beer. There is of course a lot to learn, and its something we do on a nearly daily basis. Besides working on new recipes, and keeping great beer brewing, distribution and sales is always a challenge. Since we are a 100% dedicated GF brewery, some stores, restaurants and bars are quick to adopt, while most are not. Same with beer drinkers, who will mostly happily walk past us at events, snubbing their nose at the idea of GF beer, I get it but I don’t like it. The beer market is also challenging, with lots of breweries shutting down. Younger consumers are just not consuming, or at least not beer. And, brewing GF beer is expensive, so margins are tight as we look for break throughs. The current economy also seems to have people tightening their belts.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I guess it all goes back to playing legos as a kid. Sure I built the sets when I got them, but they were quickly torn down and turned into some cooler thing, with innovative features of course. When I started college, I thought Mechanical Engineering would be the right fit, but later and luckily found Industrial Design. School for me took a little longer, since me and my girlfriend (later to be wife) took on various summer jobs that had us coming and going from school. It started with seasonal jobs in Alaska, a design internship at Kohler, a short stint as a brewery, back to Alaska, then St John’s in the Caribbean, another short brewery stint, back to Alaska, then Hawaii. Finally back to school and graduation. When it came time to find a job, I knew I wanted to be in the PNW, so I landed a design job in Portland. Right away, I got to work with great clients, especially given our small firm with 6 or so people. We did projects for Intel, Herman Miller, Rio Audio, Nike and adidas. I learned a lot and had a great time, it was a lot like college, all nighters, presentations, a lot of drawing, making and innovating. After a few years, I got recruited by adidas, and moved to Germany to work in the innovation team. I worked in an amazing team, did amazing things, traveled the world, and raised a family there. While I have dozens of shoes that went to market, I am probably most proud of the world cup ball I designed, the Jabulani for 2010. I am not good with rules, I like to solve problems, and I love to create something special. All these things now apply to brewing GF beer.
How do you think about happiness?
Lots of things make me happy. My family, great and unique food, travel, a great night of sleep, oh and catching an elusive salmon… As it applies to the brewery and my work, GF people actually come in, try my beer, and cry. It does not happen a lot, but it happens. Being Celiac is not easy, and you can and do feel like an outsider. I guess its like most disabilities, where being with “your” people makes you feel more whole, accepted, appreciated. The brewery for me feels more like a passion project than a business that will get me rich. I do it for my people. I do it because I love beer, the sense of community it can enable. It has a certain rule breaker vibe to it that I like. And when I do get a long line of beer drinkers at an event, that are not gluten free, but want more of my beer, it makes me happy!
Pricing:
- 4 packs usually $14-$18 (16oz)
- Case pricing from $69
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.evasionbrewing.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evasionbrewing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvasionBrewing/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/evasion-brewing-portland
