Meet the Brewer-Flyers Restaurant and Brewery
Tony Savoy
Tony Savoy: Head brewer at Flyers Restaurant and Brewery in Oak Harbor. Satellite restaurant and tasting room in Burlington, at the Skagit Regional Airport.
Hometown: Oahu, Hawaii
Favorite Beer: Of all the beers he’s brewed, Tony names Pacemaker Porter as his favorite. Not only because it’s tasty, but because it’s won so many awards, including medals at the Great American Beer Festival and the North American Beer Awards.
Beyond the Beer: He’s head coach of the women’s soccer team at Skagit Valley College. Also, he’s an instructor at, and helped develop the curriculum for, Skagit Valley College’s Craft Brewing Academy.
Brewing Pedigree: Skagit Valley Brewing (Mount Vernon, WA), Ram Brewery (various locations around Washington), Jackson’s Restaurant and Brewery (El Paso, TX), Snipes Mountain Brewing (Sunnyside, WA), Flyers Restaurant and Brewery (Oak Harbor, WA).
His Story: After high school, Tony moved from Hawaii to the Skagit Valley to play soccer for the Skagit Valley College Cardinals. After his collegiate soccer career had run its course, he didn’t see anything else at college that interested him, but he wanted to stay in the Skagit Valley so he started looking for a job. In 1994 he took a job as a bartender at Skagit River Brewing. It didn’t take long for him to start doing some very basic work in the brewery and before long he was brewing the beer. Eventually he took over as the head brewer.
He spent about 10 years bouncing around other breweries but in 2005 an opportunity arose to start Flyers Restaurant and Brewery with a friend that he’d worked with at Skagit River Brewing. In 2016 Flyers opened a second location, a restaurant and taproom, at the Port of Skagit, overlooking the Skagit Regional Airport.
Today, when Tony isn’t making beer at the brewery in Oak Harbor you can find him coaching soccer at his alma mater, managing the women’s soccer program, recruiting new players, or teaching at the Craft Brewing Academy. The Cardinal Brewery and Taproom, also near the Skagit Regional Airport, is where you can sample the beers that Tony’s students produce. Hours are limited so keep an eye on the Facebook page.
