Colleagues, friends remember brewmaster Curt Plants

Central Oregon’s craft brewing industry has lost a staple. Curt Plants, the co-founder and brewmaster at GoodLife Brewing Company in Bend, passed away April 28.

His colleagues and friends said he was one of the best brewers they ever met.

“He created a culture here that’s family, not business, and that’s one of my favorite things about him,” Dewi Stanczak, the pub manager at GoodLife, said Monday.

Plants was a 33-year-old Bend native.

“He’d been previously sick with a case of mono, and that transitioned into a streptococcal bacterial infection in the blood, and that took him within just a couple of days,” said Ty Barnett, Plant’s business partner and longtime friend.

Stanczak said Plants wanted to make every day fun for everyone at work, and was gifted in his craft.

“He could just take a sip of a beer and say ‘Yes, that is a good beer.’ He could look at a piece of paper of a recipe and go ‘Yep, that’ll work’ — without even making it, Stanczak said.

People who knew him said they’ll always remember his signature traits.

“His hugs and his laugh,” said Jeff Schauland, the head brewer at Silver Moon Brewing. “He had this enormous laugh that just filled the room. You always knew when Curt was therem because he just had this big booming laugh,”

Barnett said GoodLife will continue Plant’s legacy, brewing beers in his signature hop-forward style.

“He will always be here, he will always be part of the business,” he said. “The brewery will continue on, but it will be in memory of Curt.”

A Celebration of Life service will take place at 11 a.m. next Saturday at the Mountain View High School Auditorium, 2755 NE 27th Street in Bend. The celebration will continue at GoodLife Brewing Company following the service at 3 p.m. Both events are open to the public.