Canby Business Connection: Canby Beer Library

The highly anticipated Canby Beer Library opened to the public last October in the heart of downtown after Oregon City Brewing’s Bryce Morrow transformed the former hardware store and Canby Municipal Library into a beautifully designed venue and barrel facility with a staggering selection of the Medal at the 2024 World Cup Beer Awards “Specialty Berliner-Style Weiss” for Cactus Makes Perfect, a 5% Sour with prickly pear that tastes slightly sweet with notes of melon and light fig.

Sour beers are aged in Pinot Noir barrels for anywhere from six months to over two years, making for fun and funky flavors. Head outside to the heated patio with plenty of seating and seven locally owned food trucks that all pair beautifully with a frothy brew. Esan Thai serves the best Thai cuisine in the Portland Metro Area, and Poundtown Smashburger is the ultimate Smashburger cart that will load you up with extra toppings at no additional charge.

The aroma of wood-fired barbecue is detectable from the street and leads you straight to Church of Smoke BBQ, while Adelina’s Mexican Food serves all your favorite scratch-made Mexican dishes. Indulge in fresh fish and chips at Blessed Bites or visit Alani Mediterranean for the region’s finest craft brews and food truck pairings you’ll fall head over heels for.

Before opening OCB, Bryce was a home brewer, making beer in his bathroom, garage—you name it. He first pitched the Beer Library project to the City of Canby in 2020. The building had been vacant since 2016, and the renovations to comply with current building codes were arduous, especially with the pandemic and rising construction costs. The first thing you’ll notice in the indoor taproom is rows upon rows of French Oak barrels ranging in capacity from 53 to 1600 gallons, along with two giant stainless steel blending tanks.

“We’re blending from multiple barrels—each one creates different flavor profiles based on the age of the barrels, type of wild or mixed-culture yeast, raw fruit additions and beer style

being barrel-aged,” Bryce explains.

Brewmaster David Vohden crafts a variety of unique brews with over 30 different styles on draft at any given time, from yeasty Belgians and hoppy IPAs to malty ambers and rich and robust dark beers. With 51 taps, it’s a bigger selection than you’ll find…well, anywhere. The brewery’s full list of awards is equally mind-blowing. One of the most impressive is a 1st Place Gold tastiest Mediterranean street food.

Zula’s Tea & Coffee features Boba drinks, soft-serve ice cream and taiyaki, which are fish-shaped pastries bursting with various fillings. Though the taproom in no way resembles a library, there are nods to the venue’s past life sprinkled through out. Shadowbox displays on the wall show the building’s history as Coast to Coast Hardware and library artifacts found during construction. A book garden with reads for all ages is stocked by Friends of the Canby Public Library, and 100% of the proceeds from book sales go back to the organization to fund library programming.

The Beer Library was partly funded by grants from the Oregon Business Development Department and the State Historic Preservation Office Oregon Main Street Revitalization. Creating a welcoming space for all was a goal from the beginning, including ADA-accessible entries and restrooms. “We want this to be your community living room,” says Bryce.

Canby Beer Library is located at 292 N. Holly St. in Canby. Please give them a call at 503-705-4805 or visit their website at www.ocbeerco.com.