Melvin building WA brewery

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by BBThunderbolt, May 31, 2016.

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  1. AlohaStyle

    AlohaStyle Initiate (0) May 28, 2010 Washington
    Trader

    The owner/head brewer is from the Bellingham / Mt Vernon area, that is why they're going there.
     
    #21 AlohaStyle, Jun 3, 2016
  2. mactrail

    mactrail Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,999) Mar 24, 2009 Washington
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Then I wish they'd do a hostile takeover of Skagit River or La Conner!
     
    #22 mactrail, Jun 3, 2016
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  3. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    So sad to think of how good La Conner once was! Have to say I'm surprised all these years later and no one has ever duplicated (to my knowledge anyway) La Conner's Bottleworks Dry Hopped IPA. That hop cone in the bottle really made the beer unique.
     
    #23 TheBungyo, Jun 3, 2016
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  4. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think they must have suffered the loss of a brewer that left for greener pastures elsewhere and have never adequately replaced them. For a time in the early "oughts" you could find their beers in Spokane and they were pretty good, then they disappeared. Years later, I went to their brewery one afternoon while visiting family in Mt. Vernon and was unimpressed with everything I had, like it wasn't even the same brewery.
     
    #24 woemad, Jun 3, 2016
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  5. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I used to really like Skagit River, but I haven't been there since my brother moved away 3-4 years ago and haven't seen any of their bottled beers for some time. I had some sort of session lager from them about a year ago that wasn't bad, but nothing terribly special.
     
    #25 woemad, Jun 3, 2016
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  6. dirtylou

    dirtylou Grand Pooh-Bah (3,352) May 12, 2005 Oklahoma
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    O'so been cranking a hop cone IPA since 2009ish - pretty decent

    http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16386/46088/
     
    #26 dirtylou, Jun 3, 2016
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  7. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Skagit's BA Trumpeter stout is really good, but I haven't been impressed with anything else lately.
     
    #27 distantmantra, Jun 3, 2016
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  8. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    Yeah, you're more right than you know. I can't recall how or where I heard this story, but the old brewer who created all the wonderful stuff they used to have was Arlen Harris (a guy @beertunes and I have discussed on a few occasions). Apparently the owner of La Conner asked Arlen to teach him how to brew, then once he felt confident he could do the job he fired Arlen. He then went to Rogue Issaquah (where he brewed an Imperial Stout for Bottleworks Imagination Series) and then left brewing altogether.

    Without Arlen, La Conner immediately encountered problems. They had a lot of bottle bombs, and other quality issues for a time there. Again, I heard that story a long time ago, but I do feel fairly certain I got the details from a reputable source. I know Terry talks to Arlen now and again, maybe we can get the scoop straight from the source.
     
    #28 TheBungyo, Jun 3, 2016
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  9. AlohaStyle

    AlohaStyle Initiate (0) May 28, 2010 Washington
    Trader

    Exactly my thought. Love their BA Trumpeter, but can't drink anything else. Although I haven't tried in the last 2 years, but I gave up on them. :slight_frown:
     
    #29 AlohaStyle, Jun 3, 2016
  10. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    The thing about Melvin setting up shop in Bham that doesn't make sense to me is logistics. If they can supply WY, CO, WA, and at least part of CA from Jackson, and assuming they want to enter OR, why put your brewery 2 hours north of Seattle? All your ingredients (excepting perhaps some local malt) has to travel 2 more hours north, then all your finished product has to travel 2 hours south before it starts to go anywhere. Why not put it near the intersection of I-90 and I-5? If you want to reach Spokane and Boise why add those freight charges? Why (other than the hometown reason) put it in WA at all? Spatially, it doesn't make sense to me.
     
    #30 BBThunderbolt, Jun 3, 2016
  11. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    IMHO, they'll be, at best, trying for second best brewery in town. Wander is clearly making the best, and most interesting beers in town. Melvin is kind of a one-trick pony with hoppy stuff, Wander makes so many styles, all very well done.
     
    #31 BBThunderbolt, Jun 3, 2016
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  12. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    I came away from my visits to Structures absolutely impressed with them as well. It really isn't a gimme in my opinion that Melvin should automatically be anointed as "best". But as a future resident of Bellingham I don't really care, I'm just psyched that all three places will eventually be there.

    BTW, I was really impressed with Cedar Dust when I had it during our search for a home. Any chance that'll be brewed again any time soon?
     
    #32 TheBungyo, Jun 3, 2016
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  13. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    On the Skagit topic, they aren't brewing the majority of their beers anymore. This is convoluted, so stick with me here. The owner of Skagit decided he wanted to focus on the bar/restaurant side of things. So he sold the brewing equipment to his long time brewer, Mike Armstrong, who then opened Farmstrong, which is now producing Skagits beers, under the Farmstrong name. Skagit has (or will) install a small system, so that they can continue to be a "brewery". I don't know if Farmstrong is producing Skagit beers under the Skagit name. Cans of Cold Beer Pilsner, originally a Skagit beer, are on the shelves around here under the Farmstrong name, but I haven't seen any fresh Skagit product on shelves since the switch-over. And I really miss having bottles of The Gospel around, which brings us to;

    Arlen Harris. The Gospel was first brewed at Skagit with Mike Armstrong and Arlen Harris attempting to recreate the old LaConner IPA. When I first moved here, LaConner was THE brewery around. It was the place where other brewers would on a day trip for beer. I lived at the Whatcom/Skagit county line at the time, and dropping down to LaConner wasn't much more than driving into Bham, so I would go down fairly regularly. LaConner was sold, and the new owner started cutting corners, and Arlen got fed up and left. He brewed at Rogue Issaquah for a while, and, IIRC, from there kinda "gypsy" brewed for a bit. He landed with the WA Brewers Guild, where he's been for quite a while now.

    LaConner is sad shell of it's former self, although, last time I was there (3-ish? years ago) the beers had improved a bit. Not enough to convince us to make the detour on the way to Anacortes, Oak Harbor, or PT, but it might suffice if you have to go art shopping in LaConner.
     
    #33 BBThunderbolt, Jun 3, 2016
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  14. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Been on tap in the beer garden for the last week or so, but not at the main bar. It gets brewed on a semi-regular basis, mostly depending on the brew schedule and tank space. Should be fresh batch out in a couple weeks.

    In general I'm also impressed with Structures. I'm not real big on their hoppy stuff, but everything else impresses me. BTW, they introduced a new IPA yesterday, Juice on Juice, clocking in at a whopping 7 IBUs! They basically just threw a small handful of hops in the boil, then dry-hopped the hell out of it. Hoping to get by today or tomorrow to try it.
     
    #34 BBThunderbolt, Jun 3, 2016
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  15. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    I read about that IPA, and had been hoping to get there this weekend to try it (won't be happening sadly). I know they're trying to get the community to drink it all this weekend so I'll probably miss out. Oh well. Good to hear about Cedar Dust.
     
    #35 TheBungyo, Jun 3, 2016
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  16. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    We'll see what we can do. I've got roller derby duty tomorrow night, so I'll have to try to grab some before that.
     
    #36 BBThunderbolt, Jun 3, 2016
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  17. AlohaStyle

    AlohaStyle Initiate (0) May 28, 2010 Washington
    Trader

    I went yesterday, drank a pint there and brought a growler home. Was very unique and very weird drinking an 8% with only 7 IBUs!?! I thought it was pretty good and very unique, but I wish it had just a touch more bitterness to it, not much, but a little bit. It is very drinkable, until you start feeling the alcohol. lol The smell is incredible, my wife and 2 young kids even loved the smell.

    I have some NE style IPAs coming to me today and I'm anxious to see what I think of them. I was never a fan of Heady Topper and some other East Coast styles I've had, and was always a huge fan of West Coast style. But after Structures opened up, (and trying a NE style IPA at Airways a couple months ago), I have been really enjoying their IPAs so I'm curious if they are similar to the newer NE style. If so, my West Coast taste buds might be ruined... :slight_frown:
     
    #37 AlohaStyle, Jun 3, 2016
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  18. thebeerjunction

    thebeerjunction Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2010 Washington

    If you're in the (West) Seattle area tomorrow- Structures Juice on Juice will be on tap as part our our hop fest.
     
    #38 thebeerjunction, Jun 4, 2016
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  19. mactrail

    mactrail Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,999) Mar 24, 2009 Washington
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thanks for the informative history! I'm hoping for the best from Farmstrong, seems like such a big facility.
     
    #39 mactrail, Jun 4, 2016
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  20. NWer

    NWer Pooh-Bah (2,145) Mar 10, 2009 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    This isn't the first thread that has ripped on La Conner Brewing. Curious to see how bad it was
    I dropped in a few weeks ago so I could see for myself. I had a NW IPA and it was quite good.
    One and done though for what it's worth.
     
    #40 NWer, Jun 4, 2016
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