A Sprawling Beerless Wasteland

John Robertson doesn’t want to offend anyone by saying it aloud, but he cannot help recognizing that Bellevue is behind the curve when it comes to craft beer. He does not call it a “beer wasteland” because he wants to badmouth Bellevue. He sees it as a problem that he intends to fix.

Robertson fully recognizes that Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Bellevue makes some excellent beer. He also knows that Rock Bottom is a chain of breweries spread across the United States. He knows that the Taphouse Grill has one-hundred-something beers on tap. You do not need to remind him about those two downtown establishments or any of the sadly few other places around town that offer a barely passable selection of craft beer. He knows Bellevue inside-out. He is a native and a current resident.

Like Robertson, I am also a Bellevue native: it is my hometown. I grew up there and spent a significant portion of my adult life there. I have a realistic opinion of the beer scene in my old stomping grounds. When it comes to beer, Bellevue needs some tough love.

We recently met with Robertston at the Pumphouse Bar and Grill (one of the better places to drink good beer in Bellevue) to talk about his plans to open the Bellevue Brewing Company. His enthusiasm is infectious. His motivation is pure of heart. His success seems imminent.

Good Beer and Baseball Jerseys

Instead of building something in one of downtown Bellevue’s glass towers, which might more aptly match many people’s stereotypical visions of a Bellevue brewpub, Roberston has secured a location in a much more modest part of town. Instead of designing a pub with a polished, corporate or franchised feel, he is creating a place that is casual and comfortable. Rather than worry about creating a logo that tests well with focus groups, he seems more concerned about how it will look on a Little League baseball jersey.

“No doubt the beer must be great,” Robertson says. “All of the other things we want to do start with great beer. In this market, you cannot produce an inferior product and expect people not to notice.”

Behind the modest storefront, a vast space awaits--a blank slate.

Robertson tells us that he is ready to assemble a team that will quickly put Bellevue Brewing Company on the beer map. He says that he is looking for, and assembling, the best of the best. We get the feeling he is farther down the road to building his brewery team than he’s letting on. He is noticeably tight-lipped about that part of the plan.

Serving the Community

While there might be some secrets about who will be manning the brewhouse, Robertson happily shares details about the rest of his vision. The plan is for Bellevue Brewing Company to be an integral part of the community. Not just part of the business landscape, but a visible and important part of the real community.

If you live up north in Bellingham, you know how deeply involved in the community Boundary Bay Brewing has become. If you live in West Seattle, you know how important Elliott Bay Brewery is to the community. John Robertson imagines Bellevue Brewing Company having a similar place in the hearts and lives of the people of Bellevue.

“I believe that if you want to invest in the future, you should invest in children,” he tells us. “If you show kids that you believe in them and you want them to succeed, and that you think they can succeed, then they will succeed. We intend to do a lot of work in the community to benefit organizations that help kids be great.”

He tells us that he imagines crews of people wearing Bellevue Brewing Company T-shirts fixing up local parks, cleaning up roadsides, painting houses, and generally working to make the community better.

Literally, when he showed us some of the preliminary artwork, he said, “Wouldn’t that look great on a Little League jersey?”

He wants the people of Bellevue to be proud of their brewery. Robertson recognizes that the business must make money in order to do the things they want to do. That leads him back to the same point, “But it all starts with world-class beer.”

Location, Location, Location

The Bellevue Brewing Company will be located not far off of Highway 520, between two major arterial routes. Robertson has secured 12,000 square-feet off of 130th Ave. NE in the part of town referred to as the Bel-Red corridor. For old-time Bellevue guys like me, I’d describe it as being next to Angelo’s.

This is not exactly the heart of Bellevue’s thriving retail hub. This is not the land of shimmering glass and towering steel that most outsiders think of when they think of Bellevue. This is the real Bellevue, removed from the skyscraping glitter of downtown Kemperville. Not that there is anything wrong with downtown, it’s just that most of Bellevue is significantly different than Bellevue Square.

Existing, albeit pending, plans call for a light rail transit station in this area—within walking distance of the Bellevue Brewing Company. Urban planners look at the open spaces and available properties nearby, anxiously waiting for a time when condo and apartment developers get active again. This is not lost on Robertson, who knows a thing or two about real estate and the current financial situation facing real estate developers.

Shifting Gears

Robertson doesn’t hide the fact that he comes from a different place than many other would-be-brewery-owners. He isn’t a brewer or a restaurant guy. He doesn’t have a background in the beer or service industry. He’s a businessman who has built a career for himself by helping real estate developers find the financing they need to realize their projects. Now he is ready to move on to new challenges.

An empty shell with endless potential (and three loading docks).

“There comes a time when you look at what you’ve done in life and think about what it’s really worth,” he says. “I’m at a point where it just feels like I should be contributing more to this community.”

“Bellevue has changed a lot since we grew up here,” he tells me. “Today, a third of the city’s population wasn’t born in America. Downtown is unrecognizable compared to when we were in high school. Bellevue has a new face, but it is still the same great town where we grew up.”

He’s right. Bellevue was a great place to grow up. He’s also right that it has changed. I could go on and on remembering the Bellevue of my youth, but that’s not productive. I like Robertson’s approach. Let’s move forward and build something great. Let’s make Bellevue great for the kids growing up there now. And, for crying-out-loud, let’s get Bellevue its own brewery!

One thing that hasn’t changed over all of these many years is that Bellevue is still my hometown. In case you cannot tell, the fact that Bellevue is about to get a brewery—a brewery built by a local guy like me and not some big corporation—makes me very, very happy.

The architects are working on plans. Soon, the build out will begin. I look forward to telling you more as the plan unfolds.

Contact Bellevue Brewing Company via email.

Find them on Facebook.

Until a few minutes ago, the Porterhouse in West Seattle was pouring Hop Chops IPA — a delicious, Simcoe dry-hopped IPA. Now, they are pouring the Slainte Stout, an Irish-style nitro stout. I was fortunate enough to sample the IPA before it blew. I don’t want to rub it in, but it was good.

Hopefully we’ll start seeing more North Sound Brewing beers around town. The bartender confirmed my suspicions. The Porterhouse was early to tap these new brews because Silas Reynolds, the Porterhouse’s owner, knows the owner of North Sound Brewing (Kurt Ahrens).

Janelle Pritchard, Head Brewer at Trade Route Brewing, sent us the following message:

I am sad to announce that Gordon Legg passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. Gordy was known to many of us brewers as the insurance agent who pushed CNA to begin underwriting microbreweries back in the late 80’s when no one else understood the business. He was also an avid homebrewer and beer lover who coordinated the World Beer Cup 2006 in Seattle. He will be sorely missed by our community. No information yet on a memorial service.

On a professional level, Gordon Legg helped convince CNA to begin underwriting insurance policies for microbreweries. (CNA is a big financial services company that has a commercial insurance arm.) It hasn’t always been easy for craft brewers to insure their businesses. According to a CBS Money Watch story published nearly 15 years ago, “In the craft brewing industry, there are two distinct types of risks–the microbrewery and the brew pub. This market offers some unique exposures that have kept many companies from providing coverage. However, one company—CNA—recognized the potential represented by this growing business and was willing to develop underwriting criteria that fit the needs of this market.”

Gordon Legg helped CNA recognize and understand the potential represented by the craft brewing industry. For that, we thank him. Cheers to Gordy!

Since that time, Emerald City Beer Company’s flagship beer, Dottie’s Seattle Lager, has hit the market. Perhaps you’ve already seen the distinctive emerald green tap handle at your local pub.

Today we announce the grand opening of the brewery and taproom, dubbed “The Emerald City Beer Lab.” On September 25th the festivities will run from 2:00 – 8:00 and will feature beer (Dottie’s), bratwurst, and live music. Emerald City Beer Company is located at 3100 Airport Way South, in the old Rainier Brewery. See the official event poster below.

Just moments after the congressman walked through the door, Will Kemper handed Larsen a printout and explained that it was list of all of the craft breweries in the 2nd Congressional District, which includes the communities of Everett, Monroe, Whidbey Island, Bellingham and others.

Rep. Rick Larsen with Will and Mari Kemper.

Larsen’s hosts, Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen owners Will and Mari Kemper, did an excellent job of articulating the needs and concerns of craft brewers. Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen was born in the summer of 2008, just a few short months before the financial markets began melting down. While the beers and the brewpub have won prestigious awards and have continually grown in popularity, Chuckanut has faced challenges because of the recession. Suffice it to say, it was not (is not) an easy time to be getting a business off of the ground. Representative Larsen seemed particularly interested in this part of the Chuckanut story.

The challenge of making beer when the well has run dry

The conversation included plenty of discussion about the decreased availability of business financing. The growing popularity of craft beer across the nation has created an uptick in demand for craft beer and many of our local breweries are scrambling to keep up. Virtually every brewery we visit is producing beer at capacity and is trying to grow. While some breweries are finding creative ways to finance the growth of their businesses, it has become increasingly difficult to secure funding through traditional means. It’s a theme we’ve heard over and over again: while business loans are not impossible to secure, various forms of private financing have become increasingly common.

Chuckanut recently installed five new conditioning tanks. The Kempers explained to Larsen exactly what they had to go through to make that happen. While Will and Mari were able to talk in detail about Chuckanut’s particular situation, we used larger brush strokes to share what we’ve learned from talking to so many brewers across the state.

Swallowing tons of information in a single gulp

When it came time to talk about the brewing process and the business of making beer, Will Kemper bombarded Larsen with information. The Congressman seemed to have a practiced ability to absorb it all. His questions were thoughtful and his interest genuine. For example, Larsen immediately recognized that a major byproduct of the process was hundreds of pounds of spent grain and he was curious to know how Chuckanut disposed of it. That’s when Mari Kemper lit up and chimed in.

Mari explains that a local pig farmer who uses it to feed his hogs takes the spent grain. When they’re able, Chuckanut serves pork from this pig farmer and calls it Full Circle Pork. She continues to talk about the restaurant’s commitment to local food and then segues into a conversation about the role that the restaurant side of the business plays in the local economy, not just by employing people but by engaging in commerce with local producers and vendors.

Issues at hand

The hour-long conversation included a number of other topics, most of which are familiar to craft beer enthusiasts. While this pleasant little chat about beer and the beer industry was worthwhile, there are important issues at hand and there was no way that Will Kemper (or I, for that matter) was going to let this opportunity pass without giving Larsen an opinion or two.

For example, we talked about H.R. 4278—a bill that introduces changes to the federal excise tax codes, redefining a “small” brewery and changing the excise tax paid by a brewery on each barrel of beer it produces. Will Kemper explained his position on this important issue, pointing out that the changes promised by H.R. 4278 would allow him to further grow his business, create more jobs and pay more state, local and federal taxes not so directly tied to the production of beer. (Read other posts about H.R. 4278)

This issue was not foreign to Representative Larsen. He is, after all, a member of the House Small Brewers Caucus. We thanked him for his participation in that important group. In 2007, members of congress who wanted to gain a better understanding of the craft brewing business formed the House Small Brewers Caucus. Co-chaired by Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Dennis Rehberg (R-Montana), the Caucus seeks to gain a better understanding of the craft brewing community. The purpose of the Caucus is to provide interactive opportunities for elected officials and their staffs to learn about craft beer, from business and regulatory issues to the history of the craft beer industry.

Congressman Larsen’s visit to the Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen is a perfect example of the kinds of interactions and opportunities the House Small Brewers Caucus aims to facilitate.

Attaway, Rick! Attaway!

We appreciate Representative Larsen’s interest in the craft beer business. How much the United States Congress can or will do to help the craft beer industry remains to be seen; nevertheless, it is nice to know that there are people working in the other Washington who care enough about this Washington to stop by and talk to small business owners like Will and Mari Kemper.

The Kempers and other small breweries like Chuckanut are not powerful, influential campaign contributors; however, craft beer is one of the only industries in Washington that continues to grow during these rough economic times. It’s good to know that Congressman Larsen and the other members of the House Small Brewers Caucus are paying attention.

Before he was a congressman, Rick Larsen attended Pacific Lutheran University. In the words of the late Frosty Westering, PLU’s legendary football coach, “Attaway, Rick, Attaway!”

1. Anderson Valley Anniversary Imperial
2. Avery Maharaja Imperial
3. Bear Republic Racer 5
4. Beer Valley Leafer Madness Double
5. Big Time Bhagwan’s Best
6. Big Time Scarlett Fire
7. Black Raven Trickster
8. Boulder Mojo
9. Boundary Bay Imperial
10. Caldera
11. Diamond Knot
12. Dick’s Imperial
13. Dogfish Head 90 Minute
14. Elysian Idiot Sauvin
15. Everybody’s Brewing Goodwill
16. Firestone Walker Union Jack
17. Fremont Interurban
18. Full Sail Spotless
19. Georgetown Lucille Cask
20. Great Divide Titan
21. Green Flash West Coast
22. Harmon Single Hop
23. Hopwork’s Organic
24. Hale’s Over the Hop
25. Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’
26. Laughing Dog Devil Dog Imperial
27. Laurelwood Workhorse
28. Left Hand 400lb Monkey
29. Maritime Pacific Double Dry Hopped Imperial
30. Midnight Sun Meltdown Double
31. New Belgium Ranger
32. Ninkasi Dry Hopped Tricerahops
33. Northern Lights
34. Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial
35. Pike Double IPA
36. Port Brewing Mongo
37. Port Townsend Imperial
38. Schooner Exact Virgil Imperial Cask
39. Scuttlebutt Hoptopia Double
40. Southern Tier Randall
41. Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial
42. Stone Double Dry Hopped
43. Two Beers Peach-Infused Summer Hop
44. Victory Hop Wallop Randall
45. Walking Man Homo Erectus
46. Widmer Deadlift Imperial

The Spokane Oktoberfest website is now up and running with a lot of information and tickets available online.

Saturday and Sunday authentic German/Austrian musical entertainment will be provided by Happy Hans Music.

There are some volunteer shifts available. Volunteers will receive a T-shirt, stein and festival admission for a non-shift day or session. (Contact matt@washingtonbeer.com and let him know your availability.) They would prefer that you have some experience pouring at festivals.

Admission is $20 advance, $25 at the door and includes six 5.5 oz. tasting tickets. Extra tickets are $1.50 each. A weekend pass is also available for $50 and includes six taster tickets per day. Advance tickets available at the Spokane Oktoberfest website.

The current list of expected breweries  includes:

Northern Lights (Spokane)
Iron Horse (Ellensburg)
Palouse Falls (Pullman)
Paradise Creek (Pullman)
Riverport (Clarkston)
Georgetown (Seattle)
Elysian (Seattle)
Mac and Jack’s (Redmond)
Snoqualmie Falls (Snoqualmie)
Elliott Bay (Seattle/Burien)
Fremont (Seattle)
Pike (Seattle)
Diamond Knot (Mukilteo)
Snipes Mountain (Sunnyside)
Golden Hills (Airway Heights)
Schooner Exact (Seattle)
Northern Ales (Northport)
Laht Neppur (Waitsburg)
C.I. Shenanigan’s (Spokane)
Alpine (Oroville)

If you can get over your triskaidekaphobia (irrational fear of the number 13), and you posses some artistic talent, you might just win a case of beer and dinner for two.

Rande Reed, brewmaster at Snoqualmie Falls Brewing, has concocted a special beer to commemorate the brewery’s 13th anniversary. The beer is named Triskaidekaphobia. Now they are looking for a label for the beer. That’s where you aspiring artists come in.

I must admit that I have an irrational fear of my own. Not of spiders or confined spaces, but of 17 letter words. I don’t have a problem with 19 letter words like antiparliamentarian or even 20 letter words like ultramicroscopically, but for some reason I dread 17 letter words like triskaidekaphobia. I hope you all can appreciate how terrifying I find it to write this post.

Here’s the contest information straight from Snoqualmie Falls Brewing’s Facebook page:

ATTENTION ARTISTS AND WANNABES!
Snoqualmie Falls Brewing will begin celebrating its 13th anniversary in December. Appropriate to the occasion, we will release a limited edition brew called Triskaidekaphobia, which means fear of the number 13. Of course, this will be a beautiful tripel. Part of this limited run will be bottled, and this is where you come in.

We need a special label for the brew, and unfortunately, we can only draw stick figures.

So, assuming the name will be Triskaidekaphobia, send us your best! We don’t need a full label as there are strict federal requirements for them. Just send us a drawing, painting or photograph we can reproduce, preferably including the word Triskaidekaphobia.

Helpful background information may be that for the 13th anniversary the traditional gift is lace; modern gifts are furs and textiles; flowers are hollyhock; and gems are moonstone, malachite and citrine. Yeah, we have no idea what those stones are either, but info is cheap on the net.

Remember, though- Fear of 13 is the overarching theme.

Most importantly, though, is that we at SFBC are unrepentant capitalists and so we need your label to attract attention and produce a grab. We need a great label that will earn us more money for the run than Bud makes in a year. Ooh, I can already hear the money rolling right in! At the same time we want it to be fun and quirky like Jones Soda.

Huh? What’s in it for you? Oh, how about a case of the limited brew, dinner for four at the Taproom and credit to you for the inspired artwork right on the label? Get on it, artsy types!

Questions? Call Dave Eiffert, co-owner at 425-894-7970

Here’s what Jeff had to say:

We did a soft pre release at the Poulsbo Street Dance last weekend which went well. We will be doing our official release brewers night at Tizely’s Europub in Poulsbo in the next 3 or 4 weeks.  We are still working on our tasting room which should be done around the end of September.

After the release party we will be selling kegs to the local area as we make it.

Thanks

Jeff Holcomb
Valholl Brewing Co.

First, we received an email from someone who found the building locked up with a “Brewery equipment for sale” sign on the door. That seems pretty clear.

Second, we found a report in the San Juan Journal that said, “Negotiations are in the works and a new tenant may soon be moving into the former location of the Alehouse and San Juan Brewing Company.” That doesn’t leave much room for speculation.

That’s all we know. If anyone has details about the situation please let us know.