Been meaning to start a new notes thread for a bit now, and the new Visiting Seattle thread was the catalyst (it reminded me). Stemma Brewing is hoping to be open in the spring. The original name was to be Hoppa (a play on the owners name, Harper) but potential copyright issues played in to the change. They'll be located not too far from Kulshans K2 spot. Alespike in Stanwood is closing, but they are opening their own brewery, Camano Island Brewing soon (they had a soft opening yesterday, 9/30). I had a couple of their brews at Alespike a couple days ago, and, well, they're a brand new brewery. Unconfirmed rumor has a change in leadership at Farmstrong. I'll ask around and see what I hear. Unconfirmed rumor #2a has Melvin trucking in wort from Wyoming after the departure of the head brewer of the Bham location. His wife died, and he lost interest. #2b has Melvins Fairhaven location closing. It was open last time I walked by a couple weeks ago, but not busy at all. In fact I don't think I ever saw more than 6-8 folks in there at once. The new Twin Sisters Brewing has been insanely popular since opening (the few times I've popped in it was packed to the gills, with waits for a table exceeding an hour, and the place is huge), so much so that there is some push back from neighbors over parking and noise issues. Twin Sisters side of the street is zoned Light Industrial, but the other side of the street is zoned Residential.
To follow up on a couple things: Melvin has indeed closed the Fairhaven spot. In the noticed taped to the door, they called it a 'Pop-up", but that's not how they spun it earlier. Shrug. Melvin on Meridian still seems much slower than when they first opened. When I walked by yesterday (around 2-2:30pm) there were only a couple patrons, but, they were showing bicycle races on the TV. First time I've seen anything than their beloved cheesy kung-fu movies on. Haven't been able to get a backstory I trust to post, but, Mike Armstrong is definitely out at Farmstrong. Was in Menace last week, and a couple from Whidbey Island were in. They happened to mention a small brewery in the Freeland area, Double Bluff. They were added here in 2015, but that was the very first I've heard about them. Any of y'all try? While at Menace, I had a very nice Dunkel. They mentioned that it actually made the final round of judging at GABF, but didn't medal. Not sure if it's the seasonal change in the weather, the initial "it's new, we must go there" rush is over, or something else, but the last couple times I've swung by Twin Sisters, it's been much less swamped. Seems like service is starting to find its footing as well.
Out running some errands yesterday, and decided to hit Aslan, as I hadn't been in for a while. As I walked by the brewery door, I saw my buddy Andy, and stopped to bullshit for a minute. They were brewing a Rauch beer yesterday. So we've got that to look forward to. And, rumor has it that a certain brewery that received some unwanted notoriety earlier this year will be closing their spot here in Bham at the end of the year. I'll see if I can get confirmation from other sources.
Not sure which thread this belongs on (here or the Structures thread) but, apparently, by all reports, confirmed by outside sources, Structures did well today. The line apparently went to the corner, made the turn, and (depending which version) went either past, or down, the alley. My hobos got there before 11, and didn't get in until after 1. I was at a different brewery for a bit, and had multiple people ask me what was going on over there. I said that it was their anniversary party, and folks were excited about it. Anyhoo, congratulations to the team at Structures. I'll roll by Monday and hope some Barleywine is on tap.
A line for no specific highly sought after beer? Unheard of. The travails of living in a college town, I guess.
We released our first BA Barleywine last weekend, as well as cans of one of our more sought after double IPAs. We also had a bunch of "rare" stuff on tap. By far the biggest turnout we've ever had for a release. We really do greatly appreciate the support from everyone.
Sorry you missed out on draft Terry, but we tucked some kegs away that we'll pull out for special occasions. Also if you happen to find yourself at Brouwers for Hard Liver you could try it there as well.
I visited Bham last week on business, and spent time at both Aslan and Melvin While at Melvin, I asked about what I read here in this thread and had a great (and lengthy) discussion with staff working while I was there ... - the coming close at the end of the year: none of the staff knew anything about such a looming closure. One staff member disappeared to ask the brewing staff if they knew of any such closure, and all said it was not true. - the wort being trucked in: full brewing operations have been underway pretty much without significant disruption when the previous head brewer left. There are many unique Melvin offerings brewed right in Bham, several of which are the work of the new head brewer who began working there in June Also of interest from my chat time: - the previous head brewer in Bham did go back to Wyoming, and after a month or so departed to open the Melvin location in San Diego - the Fairhaven pop-up closed as scheduled; there will be another pop-up in '19 (location and timing is already set, though probably not made public yet)
Mid-week a few minutes after opening. During my ~hour hang there were roughly 20 people who came/went.
