It all began with a European road trip. The summer of 1994 found three friends rattling around the continent in an old Peugeot, affectionately dubbed “Hotel Le Car.” An improvised itinerary landed the trio unexpectedly in Belgium, on the night of Brussels’ Ommegang festival. It was here that Brian Purcell—today Three Taverns’ founder—first discovered the wonder of beer brewed by Trappist monks. It was in that moment a seed was planted, though it took many more years to take root.

Two subsequent moments of serendipity continued to tug at Brian’s heart. In the late ’90s, an unexpected stop at Decatur’s Brick Store Pub and a glass of Le Trappe beer stirred his dormant memories, reawakening the wonder that first surfaced in Brussels. Shortly after that experience, Brian would travel to Portland, Oregon for the wedding of another member of that road-trip trio. 

Experiencing this friend’s home-brewed beer in the context of Portland’s legendary craft beer culture inspired the purchase of his first homebrew kit… which spent the next few years gathering dust.

It wasn’t until 2005, after Brian moved to a Decatur neighborhood within walking distance of his now-favorite pub, that the homebrew kit came off the shelf. With the first batch, Brian marveled that brewing satisfied something in his soul that he didn’t know was missing—and a love affair was born. This revelation became an obsession. Eventually the conviction that this hobby could be his vocation took root and strengthened. So after years of brewing and planning, a return trip to Belgium, and finally finding a perfect location, Three Taverns Craft Brewery was born. The first official beer was poured to a welcoming public on July 19, 2013.

Three Taverns was a real place some two thousand years ago on the Appian Way,  just outside of Rome. It was a traveler’s rest and is mentioned in the book of Acts. We don’t know much about it, but from stories we’re told it was a place of thanksgiving and communal hospitality. The Latin phrase for the place, Tres Tabernae, could also be translated “three shops,” which historians say would have been the blacksmith, the general store and, of course, the refreshment house.

We imagine Three Taverns as a place weary travelers in the ancient world found rest, community, and conversation—centered around food and drink at the table. Though the world has changed immensely since days of the Roman Empire, the culture of the table has been a constant throughout the ages. 

At Three Taverns, we believe, as we gather at the table and share our lives together over good food and drink, we are formed at our best as humans. 

And beer is often a participant in these moments—from thousands of years before Roman times to the present day. Our conviction is that the beer served at the table should be worthy of the moment, not just compatible with the culture of the table, but something that elevates it… because our human experience deserves it.

Cheers!