Whistle Punked in Spokane

Compared to the Portland beer scene, which is spinning wildly out of control with breweries and pubs opening seemingly every week, the scene in Spokane is relatively calm. Nonetheless, there's a quality craft beer culture on the rise there.

Craig Hanson

Last week's trip to the Inland Empire to visit family included several brewery stops. Each of them was impressive in it's own way, but the one that continues to stand out in my mind is Whistle Punk, located in a unique basement space in downtown Spokane. 

Co-owner Craig Hanson, who doubles as the longtime wrestling coach at East Valley High School, was behind the bar and happily chatted me and others up on the Whistle Punk story. As always seems to be the case, there were some interesting twists and turns involved in getting the place up and running.

"I got involved in brewing when I was a college student in the eighties," Hanson recalled. "It was a cheap way to make beer. Later on, my son [co-owner] Matt got interested. Pretty soon, friends started asking us to supply beer for weddings and other special occasions. We obliged."

They were selling so much beer by 2013 that they figured they ought to get a license. At that point, the original name, Hanson Brothers Brewing, resulted in a trademark dispute with the Hanson Brothers singers. Rather than fight it, the brewing Hansons took the path of least resistance and changed their name to Whistle Punk, an old logging term that refers to the guy who blew the whistle on a steam donkey (look it up).

"The name and branding have been well-received," Matt Hanson said. "We get guys here who've been in the logging industry and they know what a whistle punk is. They like it. And it seems to have wide appeal with a lot of our patrons."

With the name in hand, the Hansons began selling kegs to a few key outlets in 2015. The objective was to collect feedback on the beers and build some name recognition. Mission accomplished. But they knew selling beer out of their own space was the future. That's become the Holy Grail of craft brewers in recent times.

In May 2017, they landed in a charming downtown space which formerly housed the Brooklyn Nights lounge. It's a sunken space bathed in brick and rock walls. As with many pubs and breweries, exposed wooden beams complete the visual picture. Tables and chairs of various heights provide apparently ample seating. Nice digs.

No beer is produced  here. The Hansons brew on a tiny 2-bbl system located in nearby Newman Lake, then transfer the beer to the tasting room. Fresh, small batch beers rotate through on a regular basis. Although they will soon upgrade to a 7-bbl system, their goals aren't changing.

"We really like being taproom-focused," Matt Hanson said. "Moving to a larger system will allow us to do a little outside distribution and participate in some festivals, which is tough now. But we'll continue to make a great product and sell most of it in our taproom. That's our profit center."

As for the beers, everything in my flight was solid. Coast to Coast IPA is a juicy hazy with a bit of bitterness. Good stuff. Another one I liked was the Espresso Milk Stout, which is aged on bourbon-soaked vanilla beans and blended with cold brew. This beer is 7.1% ABV, but drinks a lot softer and lighter than that, thanks to the lactose. There's also Spruce Tip Pilsner, a terrific beer.

The beer scene in Spokane remains well-behind what's happening in Portland and Seattle. That, I believe, is because Millennials have flocked to the larger cities and are driving the craziness there. But Spokane is on the upswing, catching up nicely, doing things right.

Whistle Punk visitors can check the current tap list on their website. It's constantly changing and they update it regularly. I advise verifying their open hours the same way.

Bale Breaker Brewing: Supplemental

The October issue of BeerAdvocate magazine includes my profile of Bale Breaker Brewing, which is located on a hops farm in the Yakima Valley. As is always the case, the published version of the story leaves out a few details that may be of interest here.

Bale Breaker opened in 2013, the creation of three siblings who grew up on Loftus Ranches hops farm, and another partner who married into the family. The kids had gone off in their own directions after high school and returned to the farm when it occurred to them that a craft brewery might go over well there.

More than a few people thought they were nuts. Even though the Yakima area produces hops that fuel brewers all over the world, rural areas like eastern Washington have been slow to catch the craft beer wave. Enough people in the industry told them they would fail that it caused a bit of self-doubt.

Nonetheless, they forged ahead. The team of Patrick Smith, Kevin Smith, Meghann Quinn and Kevin Quinn (married to Meghann, the sibling of Patrick and Kevin Smith) put together a business plan that included some interesting details.

Ownership
The brewery would share ownership with the hops farm, but be operated as a separate business. They did not want either business to be tied to the success or failure of the other. As well, they did not want other craft brewers to see Bale Breaker as competition.

As it turned out, they needn't have worried about competition. Craft brewers don't operate like that and never saw Bale Breaker as competition. Keeping the businesses separate was mostly designed to insulate the successful hops business from the brewery, which might well fail.

Market
Due to their rural location, many assumed Bale Breaker would focus on building their brand in the lucrative Seattle market. They rejected that thinking. Instead, they were determined to build their brand in the local area and expand out from there.

A few industry friends recommended that path. Kevin Quinn had worked in the franchise business and got a firsthand look at the problems associated with being spread out and not having a core market. He was convinced that they should start local and build from there.

Cans vs Draft 
It's pretty common for new craft breweries to focus on draft sales. Bale Breaker had other ideas. Early on, they decided their flagship beers (two brands) would be packaged in cans and that packaged product would be their main focus.

Looking out on the bar landscape, the Bale Breaker kids saw rotating tap handles as a dead end. A keg blows and something else goes on, no matter how fast the beer sold. They came to see shelf space in stores as the new permanent tap handles. If your beer moves, you keep your spot. Thus, filling cans is their priority, even if that means not filling kegs.

Success
The proof is always in the results. Bale Breaker has been embraced by the rural community. The distributed beers, Top Cutter IPA and Field 41 Pale Ale, sell so well that they are challenged to keep up with demand...despite expanded production capacity.

If you're wondering, Bale Breaker beers are now available in most of Washington. Portland residents can find Top Cutter and Field 41 in many Vancouver stores and pubs. An in-progress expansion project at the brewery may allow them to tap Oregon in the next year or two. Hopefully.

The full story is in the BeerAdvocate piece. There's no online version, though you can buy the issue on Google Play if you don't subscribe and don't want to. Cheapskates will seek copies in local pubs.

7 Seas Brewing: Gig Harbor's Rising Star

One of my industry friends recently said this: "If Washington is the cradle of the craft beer movement, Oregon is the nursery." His rationale is that Bert Grant and Redhook were established before Oregon had much going on. But Oregon quickly displaced Washington once it got moving.

That allegory is not entirely accurate. Anchor and New Albion, both in Northern California, predated anything in Washington. These places provided the idealistic fodder that led to craft breweries subsequently being pieced together in Washington and Oregon. That's my view, anyway.

By the time I left the rolling hills of the Palouse for Portland in 1989, Oregon's craft movement was well-established and growing. Breweries were popping up in Washington, as well, but it always appeared to me that Oregon was leading the charge.

Fast forward to present day Western Washington. Seattle has emerged as a robust craft beer market. Sales are strong in numerous channels. Across the water from the Emerald City lies the Olympic Peninsula, where residents wear galoshes most of the year. It's a little sleepy. I know. I have soaking wet family out there.

Taking flight

It was largely thanks to those family connections that I discovered 7 Seas Brewing in 2009. The place opened shop in 2008 and occupied a quaint space in a funky part of Gig Harbor. I made it a point to stop in whenever I risked the elements and traveled up there.

The original 7 Seas location featured a miniature tasting room, the kind of place where you sometimes needed a shoehorn to get a beer. Through a glass window, you could watch brewing operations. Beer choices, in my experience, were limited to three or four. Capacity was clearly an issue.

The innerds

Space-challenged almost from the beginning, 7 Seas moved to larger, more lavish digs in 2012. Production shifted in March. The taproom followed in December. They brought along their old 8.5 bbl brewing system, now used for experimental and pilot batches. Production brewing moved to a 25 bbl system. Nice setup.

Just as importantly, the new location is a virtual Spruce Goose next to the old place. There is a glut of space for tasting and conversation. For the two or three days of decent weather they get every year, they have a patio area outside. Mixed nuts are complementary, but there are no TVs in sight. I'm told that's by design. I think they should fix that, but never mind.

Part of the brewing operation

I should mention that these folks have been selling their beer at retail since very early on. Many stores in the area carry 7 Seas beers. They package in 4-packs of 16 oz cans, a decision driven by the well-known benefits of canning. For folks who still think canned beer sucks, this ain't your grand-pappy's can or beer.

On my recent visit, I was impressed by the number of 7 Seas beers on tap. They had the standards covered, but were also pouring a collection of seasonals. This is apparently the result of having enough production capacity to mess around with unique seasonal approaches.

From the standard list, I have always liked Rude Parrot IPA and Ballz Deep Double IPA. Rude Parrot is lighter and fruitier, where Ballz Deep is mildly sweet and highly resinous. They also produce a decent pale (British Pale Ale) and amber (Cutt's). The real standout this time around was their Cascadian Dark Ale. I appreciate the fact that they don't call it Black IPA. Anyway, this is a fantastic beer with, as they say, layers of hop character balanced with a smooth, lingering malt finish. Very nice.

From the seasonal list, I was amazed by the Bridge-Toll Berliner-Weisse. (The name is a reference, I assume, to the nearby Narrows Bridge, which costs $5.25 to cross when you're headed back to civilization.) I thought Bridge-Toll was a brilliant little beer (3.9%) and perfectly tart. No one else agreed. Of course, no one else in the group was from Beervana, where we see this style a lot.

For Gig Harbor's sunny days

What's the future of 7 Seas beers? In a cordial email, co-founder Mike Runyon told me they are focused mostly on the local market. Keeping up with demand is a challenge. I suppose keeping cans on store shelves and draft accounts filled keeps them busy. They aren't really inclined to push distribution into distant cities.

"If beer lovers in a local market are enjoying all the beers a brewery has to offer, why ship the beer further," Runyon said. "As we grow and catch up with demand, we may reach a little further. We hope to distribute to Vancouver and Bellingham in the near future. Eastern Washington is another potential market. We'll see."

If you're in the area, visit 7 Seas, Gig Harbor's rising star.

Mill City Brew Werks Stalks Clark County Beer Scene

Until recently, Portland's craft beer explosion left our neighbors across the Columbia River largely out in the cold. I've talked about this before. For much of the last 10 or so years, the trend in brewery growth in Clark County was mostly anemic. Today, the course is shifting.

Terrific, unassuming location

This was bound to happen. There is a gigantic underserved population in what might be referred to as metro Vancouver. The key to tapping that audience has always been the same: You need a product that's good enough to compete with Portland. Your underserved audience generally prefers to stay near home, but it refuses to accept a poor product. That presented an elusive challenge for many years. No more.

Another example of the progress that's being made in Clark County is Mill City Brew Werks in Camas. Located in the charming and historic downtown area (only blocks from the paper mill), Mill City features an extensive line of great beers and a food menu packed with tasty items prepared on site. There is nothing fake or shoddy here. Quality is king.

At the bar

Owner Mark Zech comes from a long line of brewers. He started homebrewing in 1985, but says his ancestry has several centuries of brewing experience. These things are hard to verify. Yet you get the feeling he knows fully what he's doing. Mill City opened over the summer and the place is doing well.

There are reasons for these things. When Mark and his wife were in the early stages of planning the business, they did guerrilla marketing out of their residential garage. They offered food and beer in exchange for honest input on what was good and what wasn't. That input was used to develop the beer and food lists. Smart move.

The boss checks the boil

Mark installed a 10 bbl brewing system in the basement of the pub. He has four good-size fermenters and the same number of brite tanks. All the beer is kegged for serving and makes its way to the pub above via glycol-chilled lines. Next to the brewery is a bakery, where they create desserts and a variety of baked items. Fresh ingredients arrive daily. This place is all about hand-prepared food and beer.

The brewpub approach that kick-started the craft beer revolution in Portland and around the country is on display here. Mark believes good food attracts customers who might not come in strictly for beer. People who do come in for beer will stay longer and drink more beer because they offer food. There's more overhead in food, but it's worth the additional cost, he says. It's a proven concept.

Tasters 

Beers
I tasted virtually everything on their beer list, as well as a couple that are simmering in the basement and not on the beer menu. Aside from a Scottish Ale that is cloudier than it should be (the yeast refuses to drop out of solution, Mark said), it's a stellar list. Even the Scottish Ale is pretty good if you drink it with your eyes closed.

Alpha IPA (7.1% ABV, 88 IBU) is their flagship beer and one of the beers they were serving at last week's Celebration of Beer at Skamania Lodge. For good reason. This is a nicely balanced IPA that's dry-hopped with Simcoe. The hops are immediately evident in the nose and flavor. Alpha IPA compares well with some of the area's best IPAs and will likely be the basis of further expansion...which I'll get to
.

Brewers Panini...recommended

Red Beard IRA (7.4% ABV, 85 IBU) is a quality red similar to Double Mountain's IRA. I'd say the malts obscure the relatively high IBU count, but that's fairly common in reds and ambers.

Zech's Bavarian Hefeweizen (5.5%.ABV, 11 IBU) is a traditional Hefeweizen with strong clove and banana aromas and flavors. This beer competes with Alpha IPA for their top selling brew, Mark said. I get it. This was the first keg to blow at Skamania and I heard several people raving about it.

Log Splitter Imperial IPA (9.5% ABV, 90 IBU) leans on eight types of hops added at different times. The beer is deep copper in color and packs a wallop. They serve Log Splitter in an 8 oz snifter for good reason. It isn't dry-hopped, so it lacks the aroma of the standard IPA..but it's a fairly complex beer.

On-site bakery in motion

Jose Jalapeno Ale (6.7% ABV, 19 IBU) is a mild mannered chili ale. I am not normally a fan of these beers. But this one is very well-executed. They added 25 pounds of roasted jalapeno for several days during secondary fermentation. The result is a beer that has mild jalapeno notes, but lacks the throat burn so common with these beers.

Pst Pale Ale (5.2% ABV, 26 IBU) is a sessionable beer that works well. This one leans on Citra for dry-hopping and the aroma is unmistakable. This is a great choice if you like the smell of Citra and plan to have a few beers.

Some of the other beers included Hop This Fresh Hop IPA (no green moldy character here), Dragonfly Black Rye IPA (great if you're a fan of rye beer), Genesis Cream Porter (full-bodied), Milk Stout (smooth as silk on nitro) and Nelson Sauvin IPA (made exclusively with New Zealand hops).

Fermenters and brite tanks

You can find Alpha IPA in a few places around Vancouver and apparently as far north as Longview. These guys have only been open for a few months and getting access to tap handles is a work in progress. Alpha IPA has been on at Pizza Schmizza, Brickhouse and Lapellah, to name a few. More coming.

It's interesting. Mill City has no plans to enter the Portland market. Mark says they will focus on Clark County for now. If things go as he expects, long-term plans include a brewpub in downtown Vancouver, a production brewery outside the city and entry into the Seattle market. He intends to begin building the Mill City brand in Seattle in the near future so he'll have a customer base once the production facility comes online.

Mill City is certainly a worthy addition to the local beer scene. The fact that it's located in an underserved area in a charming spot makes it just that much more appealing. Check it out if you have a chance. Mill City is  located at 339 NE Cedar in Camas. They have a Facebook page, but no website.

Historic downtown Camas

Washington Beer Tax? I Got an Uncle Lives in Taxes

The current flap over beer taxes in Washington state reminds me of the old Marx Brothers quip having to do with taxes...or something. "Hey, I got an uncle lives in Taxes...Dollars, Taxes." That's funny. What's happening in Washington isn't.

Nah, I'm talking about taxes, money, dollars

This mess has been discussed at length in the beer community. In 2010, the Washington Leg implemented a sort of sin tax. It affected candy, pop, bottled water, beer and even some professional occupations. The idea was to close a $2.8 billion budget hole. The excise tax on beer jumped from 26 to 76 cents per gallon. This was supposed to be a temporary tax, set to expire on June 30, 2013. Naturally.

To insulate the state's craft brewers, the Leg exempted them from the tax. Brewers selling more than 60,000 barrels a year were stuck paying it; little guys weren't. Since that time, the big guys have been shelling out $23.58 per 31-gallon barrel. Small brewers have been paying $4.78.

A couple of weeks back, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he wants to make the beer tax permanent. Worse, he wants to remove the exemption for craft brewers. The folks in Olympia evidently see this as an easy way out of the state's continued financial problems in a woeful economy.

Part of the issue here is that the tax on beer is about all that's left of the 2010 tax package. The soft drink companies spent $16 million to pass an initiative that wiped out the tax on soda and water. The beer industry likely would have done the same thing, but they were busy trying to scuttle the liquor privatization initiative...which passed with disastrous results for Washington consumers. But never mind. That's another messy story.

A couple more things about the beer tax:

1. First, it will apply to all beer sold in Washington. It will certainly cut into the profit margins of in-state craft brewers. Beer from states like Oregon, where the per barrel tax is low (8 cents per gallon, $2.48 per barrel) will be taxed at the higher rate when sold in Washington. Distributors will pay the tax, which will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
   
   
2. Second, big guys won't feel the impact of this tax. That's because they spread their tax burden around. Since tax rates vary around the country, the big guys simply suck it up and subsidize sales in states with high taxes with the extra money they make in low tax states. That's why Washingtonians haven't seen a spike in macro prices since 2010...and likely won't see one if Inslee gets his way.

Make no mistake, this proposal is bad news. It will cripple the craft beer industry in Washington if it happens. Most small breweries are nothing more than small businesses that cannot absorb this kind of financial hit. Jobs will be lost. Breweries will close. It's no wonder people connected to the industry in Washington are hysterical. Any Oregon governor who tried to pull something like this would be run out of the state on a rail.

Stick around...it's early

Washington craft beer brings $4.3 billion into the state annually. New breweries have been popping up all over the place at a time when there aren't a lot of bright spots in the economy. It's almost unfathomable that state leaders would consider wounding this industry. At least one publication thinks Washington state has the most regressive tax system in the country. Yikes!

Washington craft brewers are wondering how this happened. They're thinking they've never been so insulted. Hey, stick around...it's early.

State excise tax rates on beer are here.