NEIGHBORHOOD PLACE FOR BEER LOVERS.

Byline: RETAIL NOTEBOOK By Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

It doesn't matter if you were weaned on Watney's or don't know your Heineken from a hole in the ground.

Chip Hardy has your brew.

"Our target market is the professionals downtown to college students to beer and wine connoisseurs," Hardy says. "And I think this location puts us right in the middle of all that."

He and his wife, Kristina Measells, have gutted the former Pasta Plus shop at 345 E. 11th Ave., in Eugene, and plan to open the Bier Stein Bottle Shop & Pub by May 1.

The shop will offer over-the-counter sales along with casual meal and beverage service - not to mention a selection of 650 brands of bottled beer, 10 beers on tap and a variety of wines.

"We'll have Eugene's best beer selection, and the education to back it up," Hardy says.

He has a hops-and-barley pedigree, working in the brewing trade for the past several years. He started as the assistant brewer at West Bros. BBQ shortly after moving to Eugene in 1997, then worked as assistant brewer at the Steelhead Brewery before returning to West Bros. as head brewer for two years.

West Bros. changed its name to the Dive Bar & Grill and then closed about a year ago, forcing Hardy to make a career decision.

"It was the kind of kick in the butt I needed to start my own dream," he says.

Hardy attended a 10-week course for new business owners, offered by Lane Community College's Business Development Center, then searched for the right location and set his plan in motion.

He has noticed the success of neighborhood market/pubs such as the Cornucopia at 295 W. 17th Ave., Jake's Place at 605 W. 19th Ave., and the Jiffy Market at 3443 Hilyard St., and he hopes to tap some of the same mom-and-pop appeal.

There will be similarities between the Bier Stein and the Cornucopia, for example, although the Cornucopia has "a much larger food selection and a much smaller beer selection," Hardy says.

"I'm really stealing this idea from a place back on the East Coast, where I'm from," he admits.

That would be Ollie's Pub, in Ocean City, Md.

Hardy remembers the narrow aisles, huge selection and shoulder-to-shoulder tasting as Ollie's formula for success.

"We're basically bringing that to Eugene, and I'm surprised it hasn't been done already," he says, noting the Northwest's affinity for fine brews.

Trade publications indicate that Oregonians lead the nation in high-end beer preference, with microbrews and imports accounting for 14 percent of all beer sold in the state, Hardy says.

He and his wife hope to draw from that crowd of beer aficionados, and then ply them with a menu of grilled panini sandwiches, soups, salads and appetizers.

"We hope to make a fun run of it," Hardy says.

The Bier Stein will be in a building leased from Carmichael Investment Group of Eugene. Hardy and Measells are paying to reconfigure and stock the building with about $40,000 of their own money and a $70,000 loan backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Pasta Plus moved from the building last year to a location at 385 W. Second Ave., Unit C, which is near the old Eugene Planing Mill. It continues to serve both retail and wholesale customers.

Retail Notebook runs on Thursdays. Joe Mosley can be reached at 338-2384 or [e-mail].

CAPTION(S):

Chip Hardy is renovating the old Pasta Plus store on East 11th Avenue and plans to open a neighborhood pub and bottle market there, called the Bier Stein. The shop will stock hundreds of brands of beer, he says.