CCCNews Podcast: Double Mountain Founder Shares Craft Brewing Journey, Philosophy on Beer and Pizza
Hood River, Ore. July 17, 2025 — From aerospace engineer to craft brewing pioneer, Matt Swihart’s path to founding Double Mountain Brewery was anything but ordinary. In a recent appearance on the CCC News Podcast, Swihart shared his story of how passion, persistence, and a touch of rebellion shaped one of Hood River’s most beloved breweries and pubs.
Raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Swihart studied aerospace engineering at Purdue University and worked for McDonnell Douglas building fighter jets. But the work left him unsatisfied. “It wasn’t my cup of tea,” he said. After leaving engineering, he stumbled into brewing through homebrewing and working at a supply store, then attended the Siebel Institute in Chicago, a renowned German-style brewing school.
At Siebel in the early 1990s, Swihart was surrounded by brewers from global giants like Miller and Pabst, who were skeptical of his dream to open a small, craft-focused brewery. But he held firm, eventually landing at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, where he worked for 12 years before striking out on his own.
In 2007, he and business partner Charlie Devereux founded Double Mountain Brewery across the street from Full Sail. The pair envisioned a pub rooted in the local community, inspired by European taverns: dark wood interiors, no televisions, and beer designed to spark conversation rather than distraction.
“Our goal was to create a space where you sit at the bar, talk to the person next to you, and enjoy a pint,” Swihart said.
That ethos extends to their beer philosophy. Rather than adhering to strict style guidelines, Double Mountain blends traditions, using Belgian yeast, German malts and Pacific Northwest hops. “We make beer for us,” Swihart said. “If you like it too, that’s awesome.”
The brewery also prides itself on sustainability and local sourcing. Swihart explained how one longtime employee grows thousands of pounds of heirloom tomatoes and basil for their seasonal pizzas. They even grow apples for their cider and use Oregon-made refillable glass bottles, reducing carbon impact.
Swihart and Devereux also invested heavily in the food side of the business. Their pizzas draw from New Haven, Connecticut’s thin-crust tradition, with carefully balanced toppings that don’t overwhelm the cracker-thin base. One standout is the heirloom tomato pizza, available only during peak harvest, and another is the spicy Fire on the Mountain collaboration pie.
Looking back, Swihart said his passion for brewing struck like “a baseball bat to the back of my head” when he first saw an ad for Siebel while working odd jobs in Washington, D.C. That revelation led to a career he finds both creative and fulfilling, and which has shaped Hood River’s dining and brewing culture for nearly two decades.
“We’re trying to make the best decisions at every stage,” he said, “and keep the people around us happy, too. That’s how you build something special.”
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