As you may know from my prior posts, I am a big supporter of local flour and the local baking community. Just like with breweries, local bakeries will happily share their knowledge and teachings if you are willing to listen, learn, and share. I was looking for a shop to buy a few pieces of … Continue reading Jennells Flowers & Pie

My post summer tour funk ends today and I will be restarting my tour series.  I was waiting for a friend in Fircrest, Tacoma with an extra hour to kill due to the ever worsening Seattle to Tacoma traffic. Why not kill it at a local brewery, enter Narrows Brewing. First thing, you notice is … Continue reading Narrows Brewing

I have been hearing about quite a bit of new brewery activity and brewery expansions happening in Tacoma, Washington and figured I ought to check it out. I drove to Sluggo Brewing near the Tacoma Dome and found no parking. Then continued toward Wingman Brewing a couple blocks away and found no parking outside of … Continue reading Black Fleet Brewing

Occasionally, I miss a place in my backyard, whether due to hours, distribution, product skew, or location. Sidetrack fits 2/4 of those criterium, but I fixed that this last weekend. I was planning on checking out 4 Horseman Brewery, but it was either closed or gone, but I remembered that Sidetrack was near there and … Continue reading Sidetrack Distillery

I have heard from quite a few distillers about choosing a proper location for a distillery. I was expecting community support, access to distributors, desirable rents, or proximity to their homes. The most common answer was none of those, it was the quality of the water. Recently, I have heard from 3 distilleries that they … Continue reading Sea Bishop Spirits

I heard that a small brewery was taking over for a recently closed brewery in Redmond, WA.  I heard next that they were keeping their existing taproom in the Issaquah area, a good sign. Only a few breweries have opened new locations in the last couple years in Seattle and all have been somewhere between … Continue reading Big Block Brewing

After Acorn Brewing and some dinner I could again try and seek out Nightside Distilling. I could not seem to find them anywhere at bars or restaurants, but did see them at total wine and saw they attended a festival I meant to go to a few weekends ago. I made it my express mission … Continue reading Nightside Distilling

Lately, I seem to be wandering into a fair amount of new breweries on accident, while I wait for other events. In this case, I was headed to Nightside Distilling to check out the so called smallest distillery in the country. I expected it to take about an hour and would arrive about 30 minutes … Continue reading Acorn Brewing

The brewery that I was looking for when I accidentally found Dubtown Brewing was Four Generals Brewing. The brewery was only a couple blocks from Dubtown, but was clearly in a more local business community and should have the environment and prices to match. The taproom was small, but open to the street due to … Continue reading Four Generals Brewing

Traditionally I wait to give new breweries 6 months to figure out their recipes, taps, lines, service, etc before stopping in. Beer may only be made of 4 primary ingredients, but making the transition from home brewing or nano brewing to consistent commercial product takes time and skill. Occasionally, I stop in before that 6 … Continue reading Dubtown Brewing