How the brewery came to be
When Rick Allen started home brewing in the late 1980’s, he seemed to have a knack for making good beer. After having the opportunity to move away from the banking world in the early 2000’s, his first thought was to look into brewing. Rick decided that a brewery focused around a more niche-oriented product made sense. Before getting licensed, he spent a year working on brewing techniques, consistency, and recipe development. At one point he brewed 14 batches of Pils in a row - unheard of for a home brewer! With encouragement from family and a number of friends, Rick started Heater Allen in April of 2007. The brewery started with a glorified home-brew system of 20 gallon batches. After the initial success of the brewery a 6 BBL system was purchased and installed in the spring of 2008. In late fall of 2013 a brand new 15 BBL system was installed to keep up with growing demand and is the system still in use today.
Family Owned and Operated
In late fall of 2009 Rick’s daughter, Lisa Allen, started working at the brewery for what she thought was a temporary stint. Lisa fell in love with the brewing process and enjoyed being a part of something with a strong connection to family. After having about every job there is to have at a brewery, Lisa officially took over as head brewer at the beginning of 2017.
New Life
At the beginning of September 2022 Heater Allen took over the entire building at 907 NE 10th AVE and later that fall Lisa and her partner Kevin Davey (founding brew master at Wayfinder Beer) purchased a majority share of Heater Allen from Rick. In March of 2023 Lisa and Kevin announced the launch of their own brand, Gold Dot Beer. They will continue to make Heater Allen beers and have been building out a new cellar space and adding improvements to the existing brew system to increase production. They also have revamped the outside beer garden and have plans to remodel the inside of the tap room once the cellar renovation is complete.
How the brewery got it’s name
Heater is Rick's wife Jan's maiden name, and Allen is his last name. He figures that you should always give your wife first billing. While Rick has little German heritage on his side of the family, most of Jan's family is of German descent. Their daughter Lisa who works for the brewery is a true Heater Allen.