Gotta admit, I'd never heard of White Bluff Brewing until I saw they took a medal at GABF. I didn't read all the beer reviews, but they've got solid-to-very good scores. Anybody got comments?
Never heard of them until now. I must say, there logos looks kinda Bale Breaker'ish? I'm now curious but Richland is a haul from Seattle. Hopefully some kegs will make it over the mountains to the Seattle area.
White Bluffs (named after a town wiped off the map by Hanford) are located in a "business incubator" type complex at the back end of Richland, just off the highway (HWY 240?) that you had to take if going to Seattle before the interstate that goes up through the Yakima valley was built. I didn't think much on my first visit, not too long after they opened. Half their beers were rye beers, which made me wonder if they'd overbought rye malt and were desperately trying to get rid of it. None were memorable. The last time I was there, about a year ago, I was much more impressed. They seem to have settled on Bier de Garde as their niche, with two different ones apparently regular in their line-up, plus a number of other styles. Everything seemed much better and they were packed with locals - always a good sign. As far as I know, they still are draft-only. A bottling or canning operation would probably require mores space than they have.
Nice niche; Bier de Garde is a style I love and can't really understand why it's so unappreciated, particularly with Saisons and even Grisette's coming on strong.
The nice thing about visiting White Bluffs is that there's another brewery two doors down: Shrub Steppe. Their beers aren't as distinctive, but are serviceable, and they also happen to be a BBQ place with great food. If you have transportation covered, you could simply walk back and forth between the two all evening!
I agree, but White Bluffs brewery preceded BB by more than a few years. Their motto, "Beer with character for people with taste" rings true. Bluffs (as locals refer to it) is v. close to opening a new facility in Richland, WA. The fact that they are standing room only on most Thurs and Fri nights is a testament to their popularity, due to the quality and consistency of their product. I have a pic of the new facility under construction and will try to post it soon. It will be a tasting room and large-scale production site. The distribution to local taphouses and restaurants was limited by the amperage to their current location. They started small, in a strip mall-ish location, expanded to the storefront next to it a couple of years ago, and are now ready for big-time. It was a smart approach, and if their beers are as well received in the other regions of the NW as they have been in Tri-Cities, I envision a substantial following once they start kegging.
