It’s Aloha Tuesday at the Eugene City Brewery where a group of regulars sit side-by-side sporting their Hawaiian shirts, waiting to get their first two pints half off. Brewmaster Trevor Howard and Brewery manager Dave Stark sit among the swarm of beer connoisseurs, sipping on their very own 100 Meter and Track Town IPA’s. After indulging in a few of Rogue’s award-winning ales, Howard leads a group downstairs, eager to reveal the skillful effort and tedious process that he’s been putting into his craftwork since his arrival at the Brewery three years ago.

“We have a great relationship. He’s a fantastic brewer and a great guy to hang out with,” Stark says of Howard. “He has no ego about his brewing, just great passion.”

Howard’s experience at home steered him towards pursuing a career in the brewing industry. “My dad was into home brewing,” Howard says. “I grew up around beer.” Howard grew up in Eugene but moved on to major in Fermentation Sciences at Oregon State University, one of only three schools in the United States that offers this particular degree.

Howard’s experience and training in the brewing field has led him to where he is today. “Now that I look at it,” Howard says. “I don’t know what else I would do.”

Shortly after earning his degree from OSU, Howard quickly landed a job after one of his OSU professors notified him of an opportunity working with Rogue.

Stark endlessly compliments Howard for the “passion” and “devotion” he puts into his trial-and-error brewing methods every day. “Trevor never screws up,” Stark says. “His experiments always work out, he’s very creative and really has his brew system wired.”

Stark’s road to Rogue was paved differently, but his “long story,” he claims, stemmed from his service experience and his passion for world-class beer. “I remember my first Sierra Nevada in the parking lot of a Grateful Dead show,” Stark says. “That was it for me.”

“The knowledge and experience I’ve gained has been phenomenal.” Stark says of his time working in Las Vegas. “I picked up great service skills and all-around people skills,”

For Stark, it all began by being in the right place at the right time. After a Sound Tribe Sector Nine concert, Stark and his girlfriend happened upon Rogue’s San Francisco Public House, one of the five Rogue locations in the U.S. There, Stark met and befriended the prior Eugene City Brewery Manager. A couple of months later, when the previous manager contacted Stark looking for someone with passion and experience, Stark found himself moving to Eugene to take over the managerial duties at the Brewery.

“Eugene is home now,” Stark says. “I’m not leaving.”

Both Stark and Howard take pride in Rogue’s products. “We don’t skimp on ingredients,” Stark says of Rogue’s award winning “world-class products and full-flavored beers.”

As manager of the Eugene City Brewery, Stark expresses the enjoyment he gets out of working around the other staff and customers he refers to as “friends.” “Our staff has a great time working here because of our loyal customers,” Stark says. “I’d like to think that we have a friendly and comfortable atmosphere, which I believe is extremely important to our customers.”

Even with a number of local breweries right here in Eugene, “we feel fortunate to be in a smaller city…And there is competition,” Stark says. “But in Eugene, it’s friendly competition.”

Eugene is home not only to the Eugene City Brewery but to Ninkasi, Steelhead, The Bier Stein and McMenamins, a number of local pubs and breweries all of which, according to Stark, are “top shelf operations.”

“There’s a lot of support here,” Stark says of Eugene’s small town, “tight-knit” beer community. “We want everyone to succeed.”