News and Culture

Smoky Bars: Horse Brass Regulars Say Goodbye to All That

4:27 PM December 31st, 2008 by Nigel Jaquiss
Activism / Food & Drink / News |  Email This Post |

The photo above is of a group that will be feeling a lot less happy come midnight, when a new smoking ban goes into effect. They’re the regulars at the Horse Brass Pub in Southeast Portland, long known as a true beer geeks’ paradise and also one of the smokiest bars in town.

Titled “Last Smokers” and taken by Sir Aaron Barnard of Vanished Twin Photography, the shot echoes a less nicotine-stained collection of diners pictured below in “The Last Supper.”

The hirstute, bearded gentleman in the middle of the top photo is Horse Brass publican Don Younger, a legendary figure in microbrew circles for his early and unstinting support of the craft beer movement.

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Tags: Don Younger, Horse Brass, smoking ban

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Activism, Food & Drink, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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5 Responses to “Smoky Bars: Horse Brass Regulars Say Goodbye to All That”

1. A. Trotious says:

   January 2, 2009 at 12:01 pm

   Yay. Now I can start going to the Horse Brass. Never went there because of the foul smokey stench.

   Reply
2. Jill says:

   January 2, 2009 at 2:03 pm

   It’s a sad day when government once again attempts to legislate behavior of a legal activity. No one is forced to enter an establishment that allows smoking. For Don, my dear redneck friend, I send my condolences.

   Reply
3. ls says:

   January 4, 2009 at 8:59 pm

   the place certainly isn’t suffering since the ban. they were packed to the rafters saturday night.

   Reply
4. Jules says:

   January 5, 2009 at 10:20 am

   Having been in the Brass on Friday, I too, noticed they were quite busy, but with an entirely different type of clientele. Maybe it was my own lack of nicotine making me grumpy; however, I saw behavior there that I had never seen before. It seems that smoke is a deterrent to people that seem to have little or no respect for others. Yes, I am making a generalization, most of the folks there were decent, but I was bumped into several times with not so much as an ‘Excuse me." Not to mention that in going outside for a smoke, and doing my part in standing at least 10 feet away from the door, to be passed by someone who makes a mock ‘cough cough’ noise and mutters under their breath as they pass, well, that is just rude. I fear the ban will change what Don worked so hard to make the Horse Brass become. Business, I hope, will still be there for him, but many of us regulars that he used to hold court with will not.

   Reply
5. Miss Kris says:

   January 5, 2009 at 10:21 am

   There are plenty of non-smoking places in the State of Oregon that we all can enjoy. Being a non-smoker, I always enjoyed the people that came into the Brass. Sure, I came home w/ smokey clothes and hair, however, I do not agree with the government telling us how to run our lives. This wasn’t even a vote, for Christsakes! Now we (us regulars) have to deal with all of the yuppies that come in for beer and fish n’ chips. We all know who you are because we have to show you where the bathrooms are!

   Reply