ENTERPRISE South School Street in Enterprise is a small hug of a road that holds in its grasp Terminal Gravity, one of the most popular and successful microbreweries in Oregon.

It’s beverages India Pale Ale and siblings, ESG, Triple, Breakfast Porter, Bar X Stout, Festivale, 10 and Barley Wine are like a magnet that draws folks from close and far to share the Brew Pub’s renowned beverages, cuisine and company.

Set amongst aspens and a percolating "ditch" stream, "TG" currently produces 6,000 barrels of Maltcraft ale a year. And that is soon to increase with the new tanks and bottler wrapped in an expanded brewery.

The Upspring

The inception of the brew pub began when Steve Carper and wife Debra Duquette were living in Portland, feeling unease with the city lifestyle. They decided to step outside the box and into the world of kettles, malt and mash.

Carper began learning brewing processes, plant engineering and design. He quit his contractors job and went to work at Portland’s medium-sized breweries.

Carper’s passion for brewing was further fueled by keen observation that many of the once small specialty breweries were expanding and, in essence, losing some of their unique tasting products in order to appeal to a wider market of beverage connoisseurs. He perceived the very small local brewery market maintained select tasting products.

"I realized that there were flavors between the two markets, a brew that was complex and exciting in flavor that was diminishing in availability, so I focused on that flavor," Carper said.

In the next few months, the couple contacted Dean and Rosa Duquette across the country in Florida with the microbrew idea and a partnership was formed. The Duquettes had been living and working in Florida for 15 years, with Dean working in the construction field and they too felt it was time to do something different for their family.

Unanimously, the four entrepreneurs set out upon finding the right setting for the microbrewery and pub. Places like Colorado and Alaska were weighed, but it was Enterprise that met all of the criteria the team had developed. The snug northeast corner of Oregon offered a family quality of life, outdoor recreation, good water and relative proximity to an eager market.

In 1996 Terminal Gravity Brewery and Pub was born.

Steve and Debra moved to Wallowa County, and the lots next to the Willow Sausage Company’s "house" were purchased. In 1997, Dean and Rosa moved to Enterprise. Just before construction was to begin for the Brew Pub, The Blue Willow house came up for sale and the partners purchased it, leasing space to the sausage company and Wildflour Bakery.

Three months were spent building the original brewery that housed three fermentation kettles. The brewing ensued, but not before Steve had put his experience and training to work. Setting up a lab environment at home, nine "Iterations" were created before the exact flavor of "TG IPA" and the other ales was accomplished and the brewing production began.

"It was an exciting time, perfecting the tastes we were looking for."

Evolution

In 1998, the sausage company left with the owners’ retirement and the bakery grew into its own location. The change offered room for the expansion of services for the brew pub.

The Pub History

From 1996 to 2002, Debra and Rosa Duquette operated and maintained the TG Public House and grounds. Together, they created the menu and enhanced the atmosphere.

"We created a menu based on fare that was not otherwise offered in the county. Ethnic dishes like Greek, Thai, French and Mexican," said Debra, adding all their dishes were created from scratch on site.

"It was challenging, with both the limited kitchen space and the fact that both Rosa and I had young children."

The efforts of the two women were clearly felt. As popularity of the cuisine increased, "We never advertised the store front word just traveled," Debra added.

The evolving menu has been described as the "cutting edge of culinary experience" and is flush with locally grown vegetables and Stangels’ prairie-raised buffalo.

In 2002, Jacey Bell began leasing the pub, keeping the tradition the founding mothers had started.

"It was a natural move when the lease was finished to continue in the same capacity as manager," said Jacey.

She recalls the gentle increase in popularity of the pub and offers that in January of 2003, she and friend Leigh Latta came up with the idea of "First Fridays."

"We wanted to provide a venue, a showcase, for local talent and began Open Mic on the first Friday of every month from 7 to 10 p.m."

The event has been drawing performers from a wide variety of talents with a full range of appreciating audiences since then.

"We have had musicians such as renowned harmonica player Howard Levy, and many writers, poets, dancers and musicians from all over."

In the winter months, the upstairs large room, with its furnishings of soft couches, easy chairs and wood floor comes alive with creative resonance to the delight of onlookers.

In warmer summer months, the monthly event naturally flows outdoors beneath starry skies, on the front porch of the pub. Be assured that coming early ensures intimate seating for the sharing of entertainment.

What brings it all together

What brings it all together is the distinct copper body and hoppy full flavor of TG’s brew.

Terminal Gravity’s Malt fare begins with a sensitive knowledge of the quality of constituents needed for the distinct flavor. Purveying Marris Otter pale ale malt from the British Isles, Northwest and European malts, British Fuggles and selected hops is premier.

Those ingredients, coupled with spring water and snowmelt waters of the Wallowa Mountains, begin the TG brewing process as malted barley is placed in the mashton and put through a hot water conversion step where starch is converted to sugar.

The mixture at this stage is known as mash. It is then strained and routed to the sweet water kettle to make the wort. The boil is intense and evenly maintained and lasts between 60 and 120 minutes depending on the ultimate flavor desired.

At this stage of brewing, the wort containing the protein molecules that have formed longer protein chains are combined with select hops.

Transferred to the whirlpool, the formed protein links are coagulated and the mixture is placed in the trube and then to the one of the eight fermentation tanks for the final step before conditioning.

But before placement in the fermentation tank, yeast is added. TG uses a very specific yeast.

"We don’t use public domain yeast," said Steve. "There are about 3,000 catalogued yeasts available that gives ales their subtly unique tastes."

It is during fermentation that sugars made from the malt are metabolized into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Conditioning begins when the sugars in the fermenting beer have been almost completely digested, the fermentation slows down and the yeast starts to settle to the bottom of the tank. At this stage, the beer is cooled to around freezing, which encourages settling of the yeast, and causes proteins to coagulate and settle out with the yeast.

During this time pressure is maintained on the tanks to prevent the beer from going flat.

And that is where the name Terminal Gravity is fashioned from. It is the final specific gravity of a beer when fermentation is complete.

Current conditions

In 2004, TG began bottling its IPA and Portland was eager for the glassed brew. It was not long before the unique India Pale Ale’s popularity fanned out to all over Oregon and more recently into Washington and Idaho.

With the pressure to bottle and keg an ever increasing amount of microbrew, three years ago the team incorporated an additional partner, 18-year Wallowa County resident and outfitter, Ed Millar. Expansion was a part of the plan from the beginning for TG, and Millar was incorporated to help with the legions of paperwork.

In 2005, on the precipice of popularity, they applied for and were awarded an $80,000, first line of construction grant from Northeast Oregon Economic Development District and began the brewery expansion. Reinvesting 90 cents of every dollar made back into the business, the team recently purchased eight new kettles and what Dean Duquette calls the "Ferrari," a GAI Italian model, 12-head filler that will fill and crown 20 bottles of IPA a minute.

"It was four times more expensive than our original machine," Dean added, "a welcome addition to the plants production."

Visiting TG

As you enter the country setting of the Brew Pub, you cross the gurgling "creek," walk beneath the dangling tresses of fluttering aspens on to either several picnic tables or to embracing arms of the wooden porch. From here you can either rest at ease with a full view of the Wallowa Mountains, or step inside the Brew Pub to enjoy the variety of brewed imbibments and cuisine.

The house in itself can hardly be distinguished from the area’s older buildings. It was built in the early 1980s by Ron Peterson, using salvaged older period fixtures, including leaded glass cabinet doors and trim. The 1930s bar stools came from the Camels Oasis, a restaurant long ago gone.

There are two benched seated tables downstairs, and when filled, the upstairs beckons and draws patrons to comfortable seating, whether at tables or booths or in the angled ceiling open room. The total inside seating capacity is about 40, while in the summer, with outdoor accommodations, it is almost countless.

TG boasts a familiar community atmosphere and is open to persons under 21 until 9 p.m. As one sits inside or out, conversation from the labors of the day to political views or artistic endeavors can be heard. Customer Jeff Wagner describes TG as "a little oasis, where you meet up with close friends, visit on the porch. A social node, gathering place for all from all persuasions."

The community of TG

To grasp the complexity of Terminal Gravity’s presence is to acknowledge the elaborate roles Steve Carper, Ed Millar, Debra, Rosa and Dean Duquette play as partners in the popular brewery and pub as well as the energy the up to 22 employees give in making TG an integral part of Eastern Oregon life and beyond.