A new creamery opens today on the Oregon State University campus in Withycombe Hall, selling ice cream and other Beaver Classic products. 

Withycombe Hall has been under renovation for 4 years and the project cost $71 million to complete. The renovations include 81,000 square feet of space, including an ice cream shop, creamery and a wine laboratory.

The ice cream shop had an opening event on April 11, but the shop begins its regular hours this week. The creamery is open from noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon through 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 

Withycombe Hall held the original creamery which opened in 1952 and closed in in the late 1960’s in order to build the OSU Theatre, according to Sean Nealon, news director for University Relations and Marketing, in an email. 

Beaver Classic works with other departments across OSU College of Agriculture Sciences to produce and sell food products which include the Honey Bee Lab, the Organic Grower’s club and the Clark Meat Science Center.

The ice cream shop sells ice cream flavors that are inspired by students on campus, as well as honey and cheese, all made by students.

Behind the ice cream counter sits the creamery, which was funded in large part by Tillamook Dairy, according to Nealon. The creamery has three 600 gallon silos to hold milk which could produce up to 1,200 gallons of dairy product a day. 

Brando Riesgaard, the Dairy Pilot Plant Manager, said that currently the cheese produced on OSU campus is sold to various stores around Corvallis, such as Market of Choice and the First Alternative Co-Op. Riesgaard said that working in the creamery is a great opportunity for dairy industry experience for students, taking knowledge from chemistry and business classes for example.

The wine laboratory features a fermentation room and a bottling room. Lizbeth Goddik, head of the Department of Food Science and Technology, explained that the winery on campus partners with companies in the Oregon wine industry to try new recipes on a small scale and allows students to learn the process of making wine. While OSU’s wine is not currently commercially available, Goddik said it could be in the future.

Sindhura Karutur, a fourth year food science major, is a student worker for the new creamery. She has been working with Beaver Classic for the last four years and is excited to work in agriculture manufacturing after graduation. 

Karutur said that working with Beaver Classic has given her experiences in product development, operations and manufacturing in the food science industry which has given her the opportunity to find what she enjoys the most about that field.