Airways Brewing Hops Aboard the Blog

Today I am very excited to welcome a new sponsor to the Washington Beer Blog: Airways Brewing Company. If you enjoy reading this blog, please extend your thanks to Alex and Dione Dittmar, the husband and wife team behind Airways Brewing.

Although the Seattle area is now replete with software manufacturing companies, biotech engineering firms, and other types of high tech businesses, Boeing still rules the roost around here. They don’t call Seattle The Jet City for nothing. We’ve been building commercial airliners since they were invented in the early 20th Century. It’s kind of like beer: we’ve been brewing craft beer in Seattle since it was invented in the early 1980s. Airways Brewing is the result of a combined passion for airplanes and beer.

Airways Brewing opened its brewery and taproom in a business park in Kent in the spring of 2010. There you can sample the latest creations. Across town, in downtown Kent, the Airways Beer and Bistro opened in November of 2011 offering food to accompany a selection of Airways beers as well as a few guest taps.

The Sky Hag


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Airways Brewing makes a lot of great beer, but perhaps the most infamous is the Sky Hag IPA. Many local beer drinkers are familiar with the Sky Hag, but do you know the story behind the name? One day, as he returned his seat and tray to their upright positions, Alex encountered a particularly unpleasant flight attendant. She was so haggard by a too-long career in the service industry that she made an indelible impression on him.

Alex later described her to a friend who works as a graphic artist/illustrator. He did not necessarily describe her physical appearance, but he did describe her personality and attitude in detail. She was gruff, intolerant, and completely unapologetic. She seemed to project a profound bitterness that can only be attributed to a long, long career dealing with screaming children, drunk passengers, and the rest of the human race. Alex’s friend drew a picture and nailed it. Alex was amazed at the likeness. As if the artist had been working from a picture and not just a description. The Sky Hag was born.

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Sky Hag IPA: a beer that’s as bitter as she is.

Why Airways?

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Alex Dittmar, owner and brewmaster at Airways Brewing, has two passions: 60s-era airliners and craft beer. Airways Brewing is the manifestation of his love for both. What’s more, Alex recognizes that much like an airline, beer creates connections between people around the world. In opening Airways Brewing, Alex cast aside a career working for Alaska Airlines and decided to turn his home brewing hobby into a profession.

The homage that Airways Brewing pays to the airline industry is not subtle. At the brewery’s tap room you will find placards in the bathroom that are otherwise only seen in an airplane’s cramped lav. If you happen to get a peek into the brewery, you’ll notice that one wall is adorned with a nose cone from a Boeing 747 – just the very tip of the airplane. Each of the beers carries a flight inspired name: Jet City ESB, Starliner Stout, and First Class IPA, to name just a few.

Airways Brewing Company
(brewery and tap room)
6644 South 196th Street
Kent, WA 98032
(253) 200-1707

Wednesday: 3-8pm
Thursday: 3-8pm
Friday: 3-8pm
Saturday: 3-7pm

Airways Beer and Bistro
320 W Harrison
Kent, WA 98032
(253) 236-8632

Tuesday: 12pm-9pm
Wednesday: 12pm-9pm
Thursday: 12pm-9pm
Friday: 12pm-10pm
Saturday: 12pm-10pm

Airways Brewing Online

Web:

airwaysbrewing.com

Facebook:

facebook.com/airwaysbrewing

facebook.com/AirwaysBistro

Twitter:

@airwaysbrewing

 

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