Wednesday, January 4, 2017

2017 Brew News

We can look forward to (at least) three new breweries to open in 2017 in the VanWA area, and two tap houses:
  • McMenamins (which, btw, is NOT pronounced mc-minimums) is building a new facility  in Kalama, WA, 30 miles north of Vancouver. In a nod to the town founder's heritage, the building's architecture will be modeled after the Pioneer Inn in Lahaina, Maui. It will include a 40-room hotel, restaurant, rooftop pub, and brewery.
  • Even closer, Grains of Wrath is opening in Camas, only 13 miles to the east. In addition to the brewery, their facility will also contain a restaurant.
  • Beerded Brothers, an existing brewery, will be opening a tasting room downtown. (Yay, biking distance!)
  • And, Mt. Tabor's Vancouver location will finally reopen after a long closure to relocate from downtown to a larger facility in the Felida neighborhood. (That's the rumor anyway.)
My count for 2016 is three new breweries (Hopworks Urban Brewery, Victor-23 Craft Brewery, and Trusty Brewing Company) and three tap houses (Tap Union FreehouseDomsday Brewing Safe House, and Ben's Bottle Shop). I would not be surprised if I missed a few as they are popping up faster than coffee houses at this rate. But, believe me, I'll do my best to keep up.

I get a free renewal of my WABL membership when I visit 50 different breweries. I already have 45 stamps in my passport. At this point, I don't really need to go anywhere to get the last five because the breweries are coming to me!

Here's to new brews in 2017. Cheers!

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