Yesterday (Tuesday, Feb 7), Brad Robinson of Odin Brewing was on King 5 TV’s New Day Northwest discussing beer and food pairing. He presented a lovely array of food from Naked City Brewery and Taphouse paired with beers from Odin Brewing, Naked City Brewing, 7 Seas Brewing, Big Al Brewing and Sound Brewery. We share the video below, or you can find on the King 5 website.

Brad represented Washington beer very well and shared some good information with the audience, which is primarily comprised of women who do not normally order a beer with dinner.

It’s great that King 5 decided to do this. Washington beer deserves more of this kind of mainstream attention. Brad and King 5 New Day Northwest producers are to be applauded. Great job!

We just received some IPA news from Elysian Brewing Company. They plan to get a bit manic about IPA in the coming months.

Also, Avatar Jasmine IPA (one of Mrs. Beerblog’s most favorite beers ever) is about to make its return and is getting a facelift. The brewery reports that after a little hiatus due to difficulties securing quality jasmine flowers, Avatar Jasmine IPA will soon be returning to taps and shelves.

Here is the information about the manic IPA series straight from Dick Cantwell, brewmaster at Elysian:

Last spring Big Al Brewing became the first Washington craft brewery to install a solar-thermal heating system. Big Al Brewing flipped the switch in June and started brewing with water heated (at least in part) by the sun. Net Zero Impact, a local solar energy solutions firm, designed and installed the system. The same company recently began installation of a similar hybrid solar-thermal system at Hale’s Ales Brewery in Fremont.

The system at Hale’s Ales Brewery is about three times the size of the system at Big Al Brewing. The project recently began with the dramatic lowering of a 1,200-gallon storage tank through a temporary opening in the brewery’s roof.

Hale’s Ales expects to reduce natural gas expenditures by $15,000 per year. The system will supply 3,000 – 4,000 gallons of solar-heated water per day. The hot water will heat the building and be used in the adjoining pub, but the most significant savings come from using the solar-heated water in the brewing process–a process requiring copious quantities of hot water.

The new solar-thermal hybrid system is one of several “green tech” solutions implemented by Hale’s Ales. The company uses high-efficiency light bulbs throughout the 17,000 square foot facility and manages the building’s lights and heating/cooling systems with an automated energy management system.

“We’ve spent 27 years serving the community with the very best hand-crafted beers possible and making our operations greener is just another way of giving back to our community,” said Mike Hale, founder and president of Hale’s Ales. “Net Zero Impact’s experience working with breweries, exceptional warranty and ability to implement an extremely complex design made it an easy choice to work with the company.”

According to Net Zero Impact, the solar system should prevent 3.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere over the next 25 years.

“Northwest brewers have an acute need for hot water and have been early adopters of our hybrid solar thermal technology,” said Barry Andersen, CEO, Net Zero Impact LLC. “We proved the value of the Net Zero Impact system with our installation at Big Al Brewing earlier this year and now, with Hale’s, we’re demonstrating that it works on a large scale.”

The Net Zero Impact system, replacing the inefficient gas-fueled steam boiler, includes:

• 480 solar thermal tubes manufactured by Kingspan Solar,
• a one million British Thermal unit (MBtu) steam boiler,
• a one MBtu high-efficiency hot water boiler,
• a 1,200-gallon water storage tank,
• heat exchangers and programmable controllers for all pump delivery systems.

Kingspan solar thermal tubes transform direct and diffuse sunlight—solar radiation available even on cold, cloudy or humid days—into useful heat in the form of hot water, capturing the sun’s energy, a critically important advantage in the Pacific Northwest’s frequently sun-starved environment.

Inside each tube, solar radiation is collected, concentrated and transferred to an insulated manifold. Super-heated water is then pumped through a heat exchanger to Hale’s 1,200-gallon storage tank. The water is then used to make delicious beer, heat the building, and provide hot water for the pub.

Updated at 4:30, Tuesday, Oct 1st. Photos added at bottom of post.

Congratulations to Airways Brewing. The Airways Brewing Beer & Bistro opens for business today at 11:00 a.m. It has been a long time coming and a lot of work. The owners of Airways Brewing, Alex and Dione Dittmar, did not want to make a big deal out of the opening. That’s why they waited until today to make the official announcement. Seriously, Kent is a city so starved for good beer that they could get crushed if they aren’t careful.

In addition to offering a lineup of Airways’ beers, the Beer & Bistro will offer a number of beers from other breweries. There are twelve taps in all, with one dedicated to cider. The current list of beer is included in the press release below.

We should have pictures for you soon.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Airways Brewing Beer & Bistro Opens in Downtown Kent Historic District

Kent, WA (11/01/11) – Airways Brewing Company, Kent’s Brewerysm, today opens the Airways Brewing Beer & Bistro – a new location in the Downtown Kent Historic District.

The Bistro is located at 320 W. Harrison Street, offers seating for 35 guests, and features a menu of pizzas, artisan sandwiches, soups and salads. Twelve taps pour only Washington produced products: Airways Brewing’s signature and seasonal beers, guest brews from other small and medium-sized breweries, and a dedicated Washington cider tap.

“We’re excited to finally be open in downtown Kent,” said Alex Dittmar, the company’s founder and head brewer. “It took a little longer than we had planned, and we still have some finishing touches, such as artwork and signage to put up, but we think we’ve got a great local pub that people will really enjoy.”

“Our goal with the Bistro is to be able to offer delicious food to go alongside beers and wines produced right here in this great state. Our menu is based on fresh produce and high quality meats for a healthier take on pub food. We plan to rotate selections frequently to take advantage of seasonal flavors,” said Dittmar.

“We think people will really enjoy the location, as well as what we’ll have to offer. It’s convenient to the ShoWare Center, the Sounder Rail Line, and Kent Station.”

In addition to Airways signature beers, and some special “one-off” creations, opening week beers include selections from M.T. Head Brewing in Graham, Valhöll Brewing & Slippery Pig Brewing from Poulsbo, Soos Creek Brewing in Covington, and Two Beers Brewing in Seattle.

The Bistro will be open for both lunch and dinner, Tuesday-Saturdays, starting at 11:00 a.m.
Founded in spring of 2010, Airways Brewing Company is located in Kent, Washington. The brewery has two locations – a production facility and tap room in the Kent Industrial area, and a Restaurant/Bistro in the Downtown Kent Historical District. Airways distributes its beer to microbrew specialty bars and taverns in the greater Seattle/Tacoma area.

Tuesday, November 1st: Opening Night Beer List

• Airways Jet City ESB 5.5% ABV 35 IBU
• Airways First Class IPA 5.5% ABV 44 IBU
• Airways Sky Hag IPA 7.8% ABV 99+ IBU
• Airways Über Hag IPA 8.0% ABV 99+ IBU
• Airways Rauchbier 6.0% ABV 29 IBU
• MT Head Brewing Bonehead Brown Ale 4.7% ABV (Graham, Washington)
• Valhöll Brewing Stouty Oatmeal Stout 7.0% ABV (Poulsbo, Washington)
• Slippery Pig Brewery Damndeleven Bitter 11% ABV (Poulsbo, Washington)
• Chuckanut Brewing 2011 Festbier 5% ABV (Bellingham, Washington)
• Soos Creek Brewing Rua Beoir Irish Red 5.6% ABV (Covington, Washington)
• Two Beers Brewing Persnickity Pale Ale 5.7% ABV (Seattle, Washington)
• Tieton Cider Works Cherry Cider 6.4% ABV (Tieton, Washington)

Upcoming Beers Include:

• Two Beers Heart of Darkness Imperial CDA
• Valhöll Brewing Poulsbo Abbey Wit
• Snoqualmie Brewing Avalanche Winter Warmer
• M.T. Head Dark Marc Black IPA
• Pike Brewing Naughty Nellie Golden Ale

Ballard’s newest brewery opens to the public today. Hilliard’s Beer invites the public to come visit their warehouse-style brewery today (Friday, October 7th) from 3:00 – 10:00. A local street-food vendor (Skillet) will be there serving food and a DJ will spin discs to help mark the occasion. Along with Hilliard’s Saison, with which many beer geeks are already familiar, expect to quaff Hilliard’s Amber. For the kids, they’ll serve root beer.

Hilliard’s is the first Washington craft brewery to employ an automated canning line. While 7 Seas Brewing in Gig Harbor and Two Beer Brewing in SoDo both package their beer in cans, they do it manually. Hilliard’s is now successfully canning its beers using an automated system Visit the Hilliard’s Beer website to see a video of the canning system in action.

According to one report in a local newspaper, the system is capable of filling 75,000 cans per hour. Obviously, that’s incorrect. Thirty cans per minute is a better estimate according to Cask Brewing Systems, the Canadian company that manufactured the system. Still, that’s very quick compared to doing it manually.
Cheers to Hilliard’s Beer!

Hilliard’s Beer
1550 NW 49th Street
Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 465-0078
MAP

Pretty much every brewery we talk to these days recognizes a need to expand in one way or another. While breweries in business parks and industrial buildings around Washington are knocking down walls to stretch their legs and increase brewery output, in downtown Seattle the Pike Brewing Company must grow with careful design.

Pike Brewing enjoys the benefits of its location next to the iconic Pike Place Market: just about every tourist visiting the city goes to the market and many of them leave Seattle with a belly full of Pike beer and a new Pike Brewing T-shirt. The challenge presented by the brewery’s location is space. Expansion is not so simple as knocking down walls and taking over the vacant space next door.

Pike Brewing recently completed an expansion project that accommodates a 30 percent increase in capacity. The company is now poised to begin providing more beer to a thirsty marketplace.

Here’s the word from Pike Brewing:

PIKE BREWING COMPANY COMPLETES
BREWERY EXPANSION

Seattle, Washington, October 3, 2011

Pike has recently added new stainless steel bright beer tanks, cylinder-conical fermenters, conditioning tanks, a state of the art glycol chiller and a high pressure steam keg filler, and a new gearbox and motor on our mash tun, all allowing us to increase production by approximately 30%.

Photo by Pike Brewing Company.

Pike Head Brewer, Dean Mochizuki, reports that, “Our tanks are now full and we have, for the first time in the last few years, sufficient stock to supply orders.” Pike Sales Manager, Steve Case, had advised distributors to sell Pike beers primarily to existing accounts until the increased capacity was realized. He is now advising, “Full steam ahead!” Steve, a seasoned professional, joined the brewery in early 2011 and reports that the Pike brand is “on fire!” Dean, who has been with the brewery nine years, was promoted to head brewer in April 2011 and has witnessed a lot of changes at the brewery since the Finkel family re-acquired it five years ago.

Pike is a gravity flow, steam brewery in the heart of Seattle’s Pike Place Market historical district. Pike was the brainchild of Charles Finkel, the founder of “Merchant du Vin.” Charles was the first to introduce a wide selection of brewing styles to the United States market; at the time, though it was the largest beer market in the world, there were only a few styles available. The Pike Brewery brews top fermented beers including Pike Pale, IPA, Double IPA, Naughty Nellie Golden, Dry Wit, Tandem Double, Monk’s Uncle Tripel, Old Bawdy Barley Wine, XXXXX Extra Stout, Auld Acquaintance, and others. Pike beers are distributed throughout the Pacific Northwest, and at select retailers around the country.

Because of Pike’s urban location, room to expand capacity is limited to the existing space. The original brewery on Western Avenue dates back to 1989 and is one-half block below the current brewery. When it opened, it was what would now be known as a ‘nano brewery,’ producing around 500 barrels of Pike’s top fermented ale per year. The company moved to its current location and added The Pike Pub in 1996; by the time Rose Ann and Charles Finkel sold Pike at the end of 1997, the brewery had experienced a ten-fold increase in production to around 5,000 barrels. In the ensuing years sales volume remained around the same level.

Photo by Pike Brewing Company.

According to Charles Finkel, “people presumed that the brewery was maxed out on production and that there was no room to expand. We originally designed the brewery to produce around 18,000 barrels of beer.” The expansion team was headed up by Pike Vice President and General Manager, Drew Gillespie. Drew reports, “We chose Newlands Systems of British Columbia to produce stainless steel tanks that are as beautiful as they are functional. Given the space restrictions, we had to trust that Newland’s could produce tanks to our minute specifications. Once delivered, Ballard Transfer of Seattle completed the installation. With less than an inch clearance in some areas, there were more than a few nervous moments; the tanks were raised into place and the team breathed a collective sigh of relief. The expanded glycol system was manufactured by Pro Refrigeration of Auburn WA and installed by Universal Refrigeration. KHS, a German firm, supplied the state of the art keg filler and conveyor system increasing our capacity to 30 kegs per hour. Seattle’s McKinstry Co, who originally built the brewery, replaced the aging mash tun gearbox and motor. When all the work was complete, the outside of Pike’s building got a beautiful new paint job befitting a world class brewery. Even with the expansion, Pike remains a small craft brewery. According to Charles and Rose Ann Finkel, “our sales growth is reliant on word of mouth, much of it from the thousands of people who visit the Pike Pub and tour the brewery annually. Our goal is not to be the biggest brewery, but rather, to be among the best breweries anywhere.”

If I told you they were hanging Budweiser neon signs in the windows at the Big Time Brewery, how would you feel? What if I told you that they were stocking the back bar with booze bottles? Personally, I might think it was a sign that the end was near: that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse might soon be marching up University Avenue. Well, it’s all true. Kind of.

On the scene with Hollywood at the Big Time Brewery

by Drew Cluley – Head Brewer, watchman, set re-decorator, and janitor at Big Time Brewery.

It has been a weird 24 hours at the Big Time Brewery. I guess it’s always weird when Hollywood knocks on your door. Yesterday (9/14) at 6am they started rolling in the gear to set up a few scenes from the movie that has been shooting around the U-District for the past four weeks. 21 And Over is a movie by John Lucas and Scott Moore, the writers of 2009’s blockbuster Hangover. The plot is a college student turns 21 the night before his medical school entrance exam and his childhood buddies show up at college to take him on his 21 run. Sounds like another Hangover in the making.

Rigging the lights over the bar.

When the Big Time was contacted and ultimately contracted to be a location we were requested to shut down for 2 days, Wednesday and Thursday , 9/14-15. Originally two 12 hour sessions were needed. Tuesday it was decided that they needed unfettered access for 48 hours. That is why I sit here at 5:15am watching the riggers set the next scene that will commence shooting at 3pm.  I put in a good 10 hours yesterday and will put in another 12 today as the management of Big Time aid and abet the re-inventing of the Big Time to Hollywood specifications.

It was shocking to see how much re-decorating was required. TV’s removed, the hanging of product placement signs from yellow fizzy mega brewers, new pendant lamps hung, 100 booze bottles staged on the back bar, a $400 cork back board and dart board installed, delivery and installation of neon signs from Hales, Rainier, Pyramid, blackout sheets on all windows and skylights, and hundreds of pounds of lights hung from the ceiling.

After 10 hours of set up the actors arrived at 4pm to begin rehearsals, and 80 extras began to cue up in the back alley to await their assigned placement.  Each was handed a beer or cocktail glass with varying amounts of liquid.  “Two Bud Lights” – were the 3 words that stung the most.  Here they are in the 23 year old Big Time Brew Pub, and the script calls for the actor to order 2 Bud Lights, not two Bhagwan’s, nor two Coal Creek Porters.  Boo product placement!  At least our tap handles and beer list remain.

5:15 a.m. All quiet on the set.

The movie does not yet have a release date but I will be interested to see what the Big Time looks like on the big screen and if it is recognizable as a brew pub, or if it just comes off like another anonymous college bar.

The Big Time will reopen on Friday 9/16 at 11:30am – with our regular line up of world class craft brewed beer.

Here is a brief video of the chaos.

For more on the movie click here.

Over in the Yakima Valley, it is harvest time. In case you did not know, the Yakima Valley contains approximately 75 percent of the total United States hop acreage, accounting for over 77 percent of the total United States hop crop. Those numbers come from the Hop Growers of America.

At this moment, the region responsible for growing the great majority of the nation’s hops is busy with picking and processing the essential herb. This is the time of year when brewers create fresh hop beers, which by definition must make use of the hops less than 24 hours after they’ve been harvested. Because of the proximity of the fresh hops, brewers in the Pacific Northwest have a distinct advantage when it comes to fresh hop beers. Some brewers have greater advantage than others.

This year, Two Beers Brewing will be first out of the gate. As far as we know, this Friday’s fresh hop release will be the first of the season.

It was almost two weeks ago that I stopped by the brewery and was greeted by Tyler Pickel, one of the brewers at Two Beers Brewing. In itself, that is not at all surprising. Seeing a big table covered with hop bines waiting to be harvested was unexpected. (Hops actually grow on bines and not vines. There is a botanical difference, but nobody will hold it against you if say vines.)

August 20th was too early for fresh hops like this. What gives? Knowing a bit about Tyler, I quickly put two and two together and sat down to help with the picking. “There’s a particularly part of the farm where the soil is warmer and the hops are ready to harvest a bit sooner,” Tyler tells me. “My dad harvested and delivered these today.”

Being a brewer with a family in the hop growing business has its advantages. Especially this time of year. Tyler’s family operates a farm near Sunnyside, WA.

The hops were harvested, delivered and picked on Friday, August 20th. The beer was brewed in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday, August 21st.  The brewery officially releases the beer this Friday, September 2nd at the Two Beers Brewing taproom in Seattle.

Rest assured, I’ll be there.

As I joyfully picked hops from the bines, I enjoyed a fresh glass of Heart of Darkness: a delicious new seasonal creation from Two Beers.  Here is the official press release about Fresh Hop and Heart of Darkness.

Two Beers Brewing Announces Release of Fresh Hop 2011 on Draft  and in 22-ounce Bottles; Accompanied by Two Full-Flavored Fall Seasonals

Seattleites can enjoy the first Fresh Hop of the season beginning September 2; a taste of fall is soon to follow with the release of Heart of Darkness CDA and Pumpkin Spice Ale

SEATTLE (August 30, 2011) – Claiming its spot as the first fresh hop style brew released in Seattle, Two Beers Brewing is proud to announce the arrival of its 2011 Fresh Hop.  Hop-enthusiasts can enjoy their first taste of this long-awaited beer beginning September 2 at the Two Beers Brewing tasting room, with Fresh Hop hitting shelves in 22-ounce bottles and appearing on tap across the Pacific Northwest beginning September 5. Accompanying Fresh Hop 2011 as Two Beers Brewing’s seasonal offerings are its Heart of Darkness Imperial CDA and Pumpkin Spice Ale.

“This is our favorite time of year,” said Joel VandenBrink, Two Beers Brewing founder and head brewer. “There’s nothing like the flavors of fall and what better way to welcome in the season than with a delicious, handcrafted local beer.”

First brewed in 2009, Fresh Hop enters its third season on the brewery’s fall lineup. This Northwest-inspired brew’s strong citrus aroma – featuring hints of grapefruit and passion fruit – can be attributed to the freshly picked, Yakima Valley-grown Centennial hops used to create it, harvested from Puterbaugh Farms, the family hop farm of Assistant Brewer Tyler Pickel. Copper in color with deep caramel malt tones, Fresh Hop 2011 settles in at 6.2 percent ABV resembling an aggressively dry-hopped mid-range IPA, but packing the punch only fresh hops can deliver. In addition to Centennial hops, this beer features locally grown Amarillo, Simcoe, Nugget and Columbus hops, helping this popular beer achieve its bright and delightfully bitter flavor.

“The creation of this beer is an annual tradition for the Two Beers Brewing team. We get a call that the hops are ready and by that night, we’re in the field pulling the vines down ourselves,” laughed VandenBrink. “We enjoy the work that goes into this beer, as well as the tribute it pays to Washington-grown hops and their important role in our industry.”

“This is an exciting time of year for consumers and pub owners because it’s when you get to experience beer at its best,” said Bob Brenlin, part-owner of Latona Pub, Fiddler’s Inn and Hopvine Pub, all known for their outstanding craft beer selection. “The aromas and flavors created by using freshly picked hops are like none other and the Two Beers Brewing Fresh Hop really delivers – so flavorful and aromatic, it’s as if there are hops just floating in your beer.”

Also joining the Two Beer Brewing tap list in September is the highly anticipated Heart of Darkness Imperial Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA). First brewed this spring as a limited release with help from the crew at LOT No. 3 – a Bellevue-based restaurant owned by the Heavy Restaurant Group – the Heart of Darkness Imperial CDA will be available on tap only at the Two Beers Brewing tasting room and in 22-ounce bottles at select retailers.  An imperial version of the emerging “Black IPA” style, the Heart of Darkness Imperial CDA mixes dark roasted specialty malts with highly citrus and floral hops, and is then dry-hopped with Columbus hops for a smooth finish. Flavors of molasses, dark cherry, oak and chocolate will grace the palate of all those that enjoy this unique, handcrafted brew.

Last but not least is the brewery’s popular Pumpkin Spice Ale, expected to hit taps throughout the Northwest beginning October 1. This perfectly spiced, deep copper colored ale – brewed with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice – was met with great interest for its complex flavors and aroma during its first run in fall of 2009. Malt forward with a nutmeg and clove aroma, drinkers of this fall-focused brew will enjoy cinnamon and ginger lingering on the tongue, with allspice rounding out the back end of the palate.

Two Beers Brewing will continue to distribute its five year-round offerings this fall, as well as a host of packaged products. In addition to Fresh Hop 2011 and Heart of Darkness Imperial CDA, craft beer enthusiasts can pick up Persnickety Pale Ale and Evo. IPA in 22-ounce bottles. Also available are Two Beers Brewing’s new 12-ounce cans – sold in six-packs at select retailers including Whole Foods and Central Markets – featuring Panorama Wheat, Evo. IPA and Trailhead ISA.

Offering twelve beers – including five year-round, seven seasonal and a host of intricate infusions – Two Beers Brewing also offers pints, growlers and kegs-to-go in its 4,800-square-foot SoDo brewery and tasting room, in addition to being available on tap in more than 300 restaurants and bars in Washington and Idaho. For more information, be sure to follow Two Beers Brewing on Facebook or visit www.twobeersbrewery.com.

It’s a shot across the bow. An early distant warning. A sure sign that the end is near. This is the very first release notice we’ve seen about the pending availability of a winter beer. For crying out loud, it’s still August!

Over at Elysian Brewing they’ve got a lot, uh, brewing, so to speak. Elysian is rapidly bringing together the new production facility in Georgetown that will vastly increase the brewery’s output. They recently announced that this year’s Great Pumpkin Beer Festival will be the largest ever, which is a bit hard to imagine considering the girth of last year’s event. (This year the event will take place at the new facility in Georgetown, by the way.) On top of that, Elysian just announced the pending availability of Bifrost, the brewery’s winter seasonal beer.

Maybe Dick Cantwell and his crew at Elysian are just too busy to notice that it is still summer. Looking out the window at a sunny August day, it is hard to imagine that winter is just around the corner. I’m not really willing to entertain the notion just yet. I’m not ready to start wearing long pants again. Anyway, here is the release notice from Elysian.

A FUNNY LITTLE BEER STORY
from Dick Cantwell

Bifrost replaced our original winter ale, Valkyrie, in the seasonal rotation shortly after our dishwasher drank four pints of it, was cut off and threw a glass at the bartender. Billy was the first person we fired. In an age when winter beers were invariably dark, and often spiced, Bifrost was like a ray of strong sunshine (it was also an age when winter beers were released in the wintertime, not August).

With lots of pale malt augmented only by a little 77° crystal and some Munich malt, Bifrost is a strong pale ale with a good amount of hop character (55 IBU, bittered with Magnum and finished with a combination of Amarillo and Styrian Goldings). Its name, however wintry it might sound, comes from the rainbow bridge linking Asgard, the Norse realm of the gods, with Earth.

ELYSIAN BIFROST Slides onto shelves Sept. 15

ABV 7.5% | AVAILABLE in 1/2 Bbl and 22oz bottles

When you step into the Elysian Brewing Company’s new facility on Airport Way South in Seattle’s Georgetown district, you’ll immediately notice one thing: it’s big. It’s vast. Actually, it’s 33,500 square feet.

Perhaps the space will feel a bit cozier when all ten of the 240-barrel stainless fermentation tanks arrive. Yep, you heard me right. Ten 240-barrel fermenters.

The brewdeck is huge. It’s enormous, actually. For those who do not know, the brewdeck is where the brewers stand above the open kettles to keep an eye on the boil. It is also the place from which they add specialty ingredients. In this case, the brewdeck needed to be large enough to accommodate full pallets of pumpkins—a design requirement written by Dick Cantwell, Elysian’s Brewmaster, co-owner and pumpkin geek.

Dick Cantwell, Dave Buhler, and Joe Bisacca: Elysian Co-Owners.

Most of the new brewery and production facility still lays in bits and pieces. It is coming together and starting to take shape. The packaging room (which is immense, as you should have presumed) is full of freestanding equipment awaiting proper deployment. Eagerly, a centrifuge awaits its first assignment.

“We won’t need to use filters,” Dick tells us, as we gaze lovingly at the pig-shaped centrifuge, a device which essentially replaces a filter. “Yeah, it does kind of look like a pig. Someone said we should paint it pink. No way.”

Turning our attention to the soon-to-be bottling line, which will eventually be able to pump out  12 ounce bottles at a rate of 400 per minute, Dick says, “Most of the equipment is not new. We’re reconditioning it. That’s what we’ve been doing: taking everything apart, cleaning, replacing parts and putting it back together.”

Casting our eyes upon what will eventually be the bottling line, Dick tells us that the brewery will venture into the world of 12 ounce bottles, packaged in six packs and half-cases, as soon as they’ve mastered the art of 22 ounce bottles.

There are a lot of other details. The floors in the building—formerly, a paint warehouse—are strong enough to handle things like pallets of beer, stacks of kegs, and 240-barrel fermentation tanks. Paint is heavier than beer. The massive cold room was requisitioned from Columbia Distributing. There are all sorts of details like that. They really don’t matter much to the beer drinking public. We just want the finished product. And we eagerly look forward to Elysian’s beers becoming more widely available in retail outlets both near and far.

The cold room. One big fridge. That is a person in the far corner.

Here’s something that does matter to Seattle-area beer lovers: the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest will now be in Georgetown. According to Dave Buhler, Elysian co-owner, the permits have already been approved by the city. We even heard rumors that they are contemplating a shuttle bus from the Capitol Hill brewpub so that the old neighborhood, which has always so strongly supported pumpkin fest, doesn’t feel totally abandoned. Will Pumpkin Fest be even bigger now that it will take place at the new digs? Well, perhaps, but most certainly there will be more elbow room.

We’ll have more details about the new production brewery in Georgetown when the beer actually starts flowing. We’ll also have more information about the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest as the date nears.