Aaron Brussat is a Eugene-based beer writer. In his interview, he talks about growing up in Maryland, visiting Washington DC, and his family’s book and record business. He talks about his decision to go to college in Maryland and how that fostered his interest in sound and filmmaking. He also talks about an important cross country trip he took with his then girlfriend, now wife, that led him to the Pacific Northwest. He discusses his interest in gardening and farming, his environmental concerns, his love of being outdoors, and his discovery of craft brewing and local ingredients.

Brussat was a beer steward at the Bier Stein, is a member of the Cascade Homebrewing club, and has transitioned to writing full-time about beer in the southern Willamette Valley. He also talks more generally about his interest in how beer reflects space and place. His interview concludes with changes he’s observed in writing and publishing with the increase in social media and online news content. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at Brussat’s home in Eugene, Oregon May 16, 2018. It is a component of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 35), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.