Lisa Allen and Kevin Davey (above) are launching a new venture at Heater Allen: Gold Dot Beer.
“Gold Dot Beer is a collaboration of Lisa Allen and Kevin Davey,” says the company’s Instagram page. “Get excited for the best damn beer from the best damn lager brewer power couple.”
The first half of the power couple is Lisa Allen, the longtime head brewer at Heater Allen, a lager-focused brewery in McMinnville, Oregon. Her family’s brewery has focused on producing lagers since 2007, back when craft lagers were not yet so cool. Working alongside her dad, Rick Allen, who handled a lot of the non-brewing part of the business, Lisa earned a reputation for creating award-winning and highly acclaimed lagers.
The second half of the power couple is Kevin Davey. Back in 2009, when Chuckanut Brewery was still new, Kevin started brewing award-winning lagers alongside brewmaster Will Kemper. Eventually, he moved on to brew at the Gordon Biersch location in Seattle, where his lagers continued to win awards. A few years later, he was part of the team that opened Wayfinder Beer in Portland. Among many other notable accolades, Kevin is known as the inventor of Cold IPA.
The couple has now taken over Heater Allen to create Gold Dot Beer, but some of the Heater Allen mainstays will not disappear; thus, you’ll still be able to get Heater Allen Pilsner.
With Gold Dot, the couple intends to create a high-end brand that may fetch a bit more at the cash register but rewards the consumer with a top-quality beer. Think of it as Heater Allen’s luxury brand, or as a brewer-owned brewery where every decision is made based on how it will best benefit the beer, not the bottom line. Reportedly, the Gold Dot flagships will include a Helles Lager and a Cold IPA (duh), among others.
Gold Dot Beer hopes to create a destination brewery in McMinnville. Stay tuned to the company’s burgeoning Instagram feed as the entire plan comes to fruition. Read more about the plan on Beer and Brewing.