WA approaches 250 breweries

We'll hit 300 by next year easily....

 

I can barely keep up with all the new ones popping up in and around Seattle.

 

Wow thats great.
Here in Oregon as far as i can find out its 175.
Both States are close in the amount of people per brewer.
Oregon has 22,457 per brewery
WA has 22,880 per brewery

 

oh using the guys calculations thats 214 for Oregon

 

18,364 per brewery

 

Where it seems there's still a lot of growth opportunity is in small to midsize towns. I'm sure Seattle will continue to get more breweries ... but Vancouver seems under served. I'm sure there are plenty of folks that would rather not cross into Portland and Heretic is the only brewery there I know of. Does Wenatchee have a brewery at all? Seems like they could serve the locals and tourists that come through. Walla Walla? Surely people would like something other than wine to drink. Kennewick? Then on the small side ... When driving out the the Yakima Fresh Hop fest I stopped in Roslyn; in addition to Roslyn Brewing they had a cool little spot called Wild Earth that was doing brisk business and had some interesting beers.

I'd bet there's good opportunity on the fringes of Seattle as well. Woodinville is developing a little cluster ... but as far as I can tell there's nothing in Kent, Snohomish, Burien, Federal Way, etc. I've heard good things about Strong Arm in Renton.

 

Ooops - make that HEATHEN in Vancouver. Heretic is in CA.

 

Wenatchee appears to have three breweries: Saddle Rock, Badger Mountain, and Columbia Valley. As far as I can tell, all are still operating but certainly not generating any kind of buzz, at least not on this side. Saddle Rock's tap list doesn't even include any house beers, so maybe they're just a pub @ this point (although they do have two Bale Breaker beers listed, including Citra Slicker, so there's that).

When we were over there this summer, stopping in for lunch on our way east, as far as I could tell Iron Horse is more ubiquitous there than anything else. I was pretty surprised by the apparent lack of choices. I bet it would be surprisingly difficult to get a self-sufficient brewery or brewpub off the ground in Wenatchee. There's only 30,000 people and it's kind of in the middle of nowhere.

 

I've been to Badger Mountain and Columbia Valley in Wenatchee. Badger Mountain is right downtown, serves BBQ and isn't very far from the awesome Pybus Market. Pretty standard beers, but they're busy and seem to be doing ok.

 

Here's a little report on a brewery that opened up this last summer in Walla Walla:

http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/first-visit-burwood-brewing-walla-walla/

 

They also have Loowit Brewing and Mt. Tabor Brewing. A friend who lives in Vancouver has said good things about Loowit, so I'm looking forward to checking them out soon.

 

I think many small towns in WA can still afford a brewery or three.

When the tiny little town of Carson, WA (population 2200) has three breweries, you know there is still room for growth all over the state.

 

Or room for a couple more AA chapters in Carson.

 

There's Icicle brewing in Leavenworth, not too far from Wenatchee. There's a brewery in little ol' Waitsburg, WA (population 1,200)...Laht Neppur brewing I believe.

 

The lack of breweries in South King County is kind of odd. Hard to believe a city the size of Federal Way doesn't have one. Renton has 2, but both are small and have very limited hours. Not much else except for Airways in Kent. Nice to see Odin moving to Tukwila. Oh and Elliott Bay has one of their locations in Burien.

 

There's a small taproom in Ocean Shores called Elk Head. I gather from reading that the owner mostly brews his beer in Buckley, and sells here a few days a week. But I also read that he may be brewing some small amount of beer on site in Ocean Shores. He was just closing (at 7 pm!!!!) when I tried to visit there last month, so I've got no personal experience with his beer.

 

Cole Street in Enumclaw, Northwest Brewing in Pacific and Wet Head in Auburn.

I've heard rumors of another brewery coming to Auburn, but it's all just hearsay. Nothing solid.