A firefighter who was killed battling a fire earlier this year received a touching tribute last week. A beer has been brewed in his memory.
Austin Smith was a volunteer firefighter in Saint Paul, Oregon. He was killed in an explosion in February while fighting a barn fire.
Smith is part of a fifth generation farm and one of their products is hops used in making beer.
Crux Fermentation Project in Bend was chosen to help brew a beer in Smith’s memory.
“Hopefully it lives up to Austin’s reputation as a great hop farmer and a great man and helps unite the brewing and hop community from Central Oregon to the Willamette Valley,” said Grant McFarren of Crux. “As we always have been, but it’s just one other gesture to bring us together.”
The beer is headed back to the family farms where it will debut in the family’s tasting room.
