Brewer's dream moves off back burner.

Byline: PEOPLE By Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

It's the day after Christmas and Jamie Floyd is hard at work in the Springfield brewery he's been leasing for the past half year. It's damp and drafty in the narrow, high-ceilinged room. Floyd sports his standard issue jeans, black T-shirt and spiky hair, and could probably pass for a rock star were it not for rubber boots on his feet.

His cell phone is ringing constantly. He answers every call that comes in.

"Hello, this is Jamie with Ninkasi Brewing," he says.

The caller turns out to be a writer for a brewing magazine. He wants to spend the day with Floyd and it's clear the date he's chosen is not ideal. It's a transfer/brew day, which means Floyd will be moving 15 barrels of beer, then brewing 15 more. He'll also be spending about 16 hours on his feet.

But, he agrees to do the interview anyway, then goes back to talking with another member of the media.

"I wanted to own my own business before I became a brewer," Floyd says. "I wanted to open my own coffee shop. When I (wasn't working for myself) I worked as hard as an owner would, but in those situations, you don't have a lot of control."

Floyd doesn't claim to have complete control just yet. In addition to the 30 barrels of beer he makes each week, the former Steelhead Brewing Company brewer is also laying the groundwork for his own Eugene production brewery, which he hopes to open in March in the old Voss Plumbing building on Van Buren Street.

Floyd has nine beer medals to his name, he's a past president of the Oregon Brewer's Guild and a certified beer judge. Recently, he's been fighting a steep beer tax proposed by state legislators, even though the tax probably would not affect his small brewery. The tax is aimed at larger breweries and would help fund prevention and treatment programs for drug and alcohol users. Floyd argues that taxing one specific industry is not a very responsible way to deal with broad social issues.

Education is another area where Floyd has been active, teaching classes in beer appreciation and beer and food pairings. And, for several years running, he's helped organize a homebrew contest associated with the KLCC Microbrew Festival.

Jason Carriere, a co-organizer of the homebrew contest, says Floyd's commitment to beer - not just to his own product, but to to other brewers - has never waned in the years he's known him.

"He's contributed a lot to the brewing community," says Carriere, who owns the Valley Vintner and Brewer store in Eugene. "He can talk to regular people and appreciate beer on their level as well as getting totally geeked out with beer judges."

Others who know Floyd say his ability to relate to all types of beer drinkers is a big part of his success. He's been able to make the kinds of hoppy beers that people crave and that the Northwest is famous for, while also introducing some less common microbrew styles.

During the nine years he worked at Steelhead, starting off as an assistant brewer and then graduating on to brewer, Floyd came up with some memorable creations, says Christopher Studach, a homebrewer who has known him for years.

"I think he did a great job of taking over (as brewer)," Studach says. "Over time he started spreading his wings and that became really interesting."

"He started dabbling in lagers, he had a pilsner and a helles. And an Oktoberfest, which we used to beg him for."

Studach says Floyd's lagers were particularly notable, since most small breweries don't make them. Lagers typically take three to four times as long to brew. Another favorite Floyd creation was a Scottish wee heavy, which is among the strongest of beers. Although Floyd's version weighed in at a hefty 10 percent alcohol, Studach says it wasn't just strong, but also well-balanced.

Since leaving Steelhead late last year, Floyd has continued on in a similar vein, balancing crowd-pleasers with some less common creations. Ninkasi's best selling beer, a hoppy brew called Total Domination IPA, is joined by a winter ale, a pale ale, a German helles and a Munchner Dunkel, a classic brown lager. Floyd also makes beer for the Villard Street Pub and Spank Dog Ale for the McDonald Theatre. He plans to unveil more lagers when Ninkasi moves into its larger location.

So far, the business recipe appears to be working. Ninkasi has about 40 accounts in Eugene and 15 in Portland. The numbers have been growing ever since Ninkasi started brewing in June of 2006 with 10 accounts.

To hear Floyd tell the story of how he became a brewer in the first place, it almost sounds like an accident. After growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, he came to the University of Oregon where he focussed on community studies and graduated in 1994. Although he considered becoming a teacher, he took a job in the Steelhead kitchen and was soon offered an assistant brewing position. Even though his only experience was that of a homebrewer, it was obvious he was cut out for the industry, says Doug Fuchs, a former head bartender at the brewpub.

In addition to being a talented beer maker, Fuchs says, Floyd is also a skilled beer taster, who can point out the regularities and irregularities of anything he tastes. That refined palette and broad knowledge, he explains, is part of what makes him a great brewer.

"Some brewers like to specialize but Jamie can brew any beer," Fuchs says. "He makes beers that are hoppy, beers that are malty, beers that are balanced ... He's banged out some incredibly high quality beers, again and again and again."

Floyd's knowledge of beer extends into the past as well. An avid beer historian, he named his brewery after the Sumerian goddess of brewing. The Sumerians, he says, were the first recorded brewers of beer.

Floyd's ultimate goal with the brand is to make Ninkasi a beer name associated with Eugene in the same way that Elysian Brewing Company is connected to Seattle or Stone Brewing Company beer is tied to San Diego.

But, he says, there are still limits to how much control he has over the fate of Ninkasi - even if he does have command over the process and ownership of the place.

"It's like a dream," Floyd says. "You're in the dream, you're part of the dream, but you can't ever completely control the dream."

Jamie Floyd Age: 34 Occupation: Owner, brewer, Ninkasi Brewing Company Recommended beer reading: "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers," by Stephen Harrod Buhner; "Travels with Barley: A Journey Through Beer Culture in America," by Ken Wells Brewery names from the cutting room floor: Elysian, Isis On being a brewer: "We are glorified janitors. Cleanliness is the key to good beer." On drinking beer: "I probably have a beer most days. I don't have a beer every day. My wife and I typically will share a beer."