Mark and Joanne Camlin Willow Creek Brewing

643 Penn Avenue, West Reading 484-664-0368 willowcreekbeer@gmail.com www.willowcreekbeer.com WRA: How did Willow Creek get its name?

WRA: When did you open in West Reading and when did you actually start brewing? MC: The journey for Willow Creek started in the late 80s. Mark was getting out of Active-Duty Air Force and had tasted great beers all over the world. The problem was that there were no great beers around in the 80s. There were exceptions like Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam. Beers we have today didn’t exist in a common way.

So, Mark started to make beer at home. This had some varying success, to say that there was no beer that blew up would be a lie. He honed the craft of making beer and opened a brewery in West Chester called Ugly Dog Brewing. Ugly Dog didn’t last long, regulations and unavailability of small brewing equipment became a limiting factor in success. (Ugly Dog is one of our flagship beers and is the most popular one.) Fast forward a few years and few kids...Mark ran a brewery for the Air Force and kept his big toe in the ocean of craft beer. We invested in a local brewing operation about six years ago and that never got off the ground. About three years ago Joanne and Mark decided to start the brewery now and not wait until retirement. Willow Creek Brewing was born. After searching Berks County for two years trying to make different locations work, West Reading became our home. We have a great location that has one of the biggest beer gardens on the Avenue. We have live bands that play most weekend nights. MC: The name Willow Creek comes from one of the original locations we tried to utilize that was on Willow Creek Road. The name stuck and we went with it.

WRA: Being veteran-owned, you continue to serve by giving back to the community. Can you tell us about how you are doing that? MC: We make a point of reaching out to our community and have fundraisers for organizations almost every week. The West Reading Police, West Reading Fire Company, Reading Museum, Wyomissing Library, Keystone Military Families, Humane Society, Reading Pride, The House That Fur Built, are some of the groups that we have hosted in the past.

WRA: What is your favorite summer beverage (with or without alcohol) and if there’s a recipe, can your share it? MC: We specialize in top fermented ales. We tend to get a bit funky and have combinations that are found to be both attractive and repulsive to some. A smoked bacon beer, rhubarb/apple beer, white chocolate covered strawberry, cucumber pineapple, peppermint patty, black cherry IPA, and a black Irish ale to just name a few.

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