Dragon's Gate Brewery

been wanting to pop in here for awhile now, finally had the chance, an amazing little brewery in the heart of wine country out here, somehow super under the radar, but they shouldnt be. they have a focus on belgian styles, and i was impressed with both the diversity and the amount of beers on tap for how modest this place is. the space is incredible, definite farm brewery, they grow some of their own hops, are way out in the country, and have a working farm here, different barns and such on the property. the outside space is incredible, an expansive and mostly shaded grassy area with picnic tables, another patio area right off the brewery, and what looks like a venue area for weddings or something, they even operate a little rental accommodation right there, would love to stay next time! inside there is a tiny bar area on one side that opens into more of an open warehouse type space with high ceilings, tanks along the wall, and lots of scattered seating, bigger in here than it looks from the outside. the decor is awesome, gargoyles and medieval themed stuff adorns much of the space, really sets a cool castle vibe or something, totally unique. we posted up at one of the indoor high tops and it was a great session. the beers were clever too, loved a tangerine grisette, appreciated their belgian strong and triple too, was less stoked on the hoppy beers here, a little overly estery to phenolic on the belgian yeast, but overall the quality was high, not quite as high as the ambition, but i appreciated the playful takes on some classic styles tremendously. they sell some meat and cheese in here but no real food, its all about the beer and the hang. had a blast here and would recommend it to anyone, a great break from all the wine in the area, and destination worthy!

Dragon's Brewery struck me as a toned down version of Wolves and People over in Newberg. The brewery tasting room is essentially a large room in a house, with the brewery area attached to it in small warehouse. It's an informal, rustic affair (much like W&P), with some picnic tables and cornhole set up out back. At least when the weather is nice, this is pretty pleasant spot to hang with a beer.

The folks running DG seemed very nice, and I gather this is family affair. I think the husband and his wife are the owner/operators of the brewery, with mom operating the cash register (on the day the wife and I stopped by). My understanding is that they make Belgian style beers here, and they seem to do it pretty well. On the day we visited they had on a strong ale, a Belgian IPA, a grisette, a biere de garde and an Abbey ale all on tap. While I wasn't overly impressed with the strong ale or BDG, the IPA was pretty well down, and the tangerine grisette and Abbey Ale were excellent. Prices seemed reasonable. I got the 5 beer sampler, which consisted of a 5 ounce pour of all their beers for $11. There's no table service or food here; you pick up your order in the tasting room and meander out back or wherever else you want to go to drink your beer. You can bring your own food to enjoy with your beer if you like (I saw several people who had brought a picnic to enjoy with their beer).

While nothing extraordinary, I think this place is pretty remarkable for the location (out in the sticks in the southern ranch and farmland area of Milton Freewater), and IMHO they're easily making the best beer in the Walla Walla area right now. Would definitely stop here again next time I'm in the area.