People here in Washington like to complain about our crazy, archaic, sometimes-draconian liquor laws. Truth is, we actually have it pretty good compared to some other places. For instance, in Utah it wasn’t legal for a brewery to produce “strong beer” until 2008. Before 2008, you could only brew very low alcohol beers. Meaning, the maximum strength was defined as 3.2 percent Alcohol by Weight (ABW), which equals about 4.0 Alcohol by Volume (ABV). Ouch. Thankfully for Utah, that law has changed
In 2008, when Utah changed the law and allowed breweries to start brewing “strong beer,” business partners David Cole and Peter Erickson jumped on the opportunity and opened Epic Brewing Company. Over the years the brewery has gained a reputation for it’s great beers and has won a lot of medals. Today I’d like to welcome them to Washington. Epic Brewing Company will officially launch in Washington next week with two events. First, Tuesday night (Feb. 26) there will be an Epic night at The Pine Box. On Thursday (Feb. 28) there will be an event at The Beer Junction (blog sponsor).
Note that Epic Brewing Company of Salt Lake City, Utah should not be confused with Epic Ales of Seattle, which opened in 2009. They are two completely separate entities, related in name only.
Here is the official press release.
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Epic Brewing to Launch in Washington
Salt Lake City, UT, February 20th – After almost three years in business, Epic Brewing is set to expand its reach to Washington State with a line of 17 brews. Epic is currently available in twelve states, including the District of Columbia.
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The Washington launch will take place over the course of several days, from Tuesday, February 26th through Friday, February 27th, in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Epic’s National Sales Manager, Michael Malachowski, and Pacific Northwest Sales Rep, Eric Wilderson, will be in attendance at the events.
“We have been excited to launch in Washington for quite a while,” said Epic’s co-founder, Dave Cole, “And with the opening of our Denver facility close at hand, we felt the timing was finally right.”
The first event will take place at the Pine Box in Seattle on Tuesday, February 26th at 6pm, with seven different Epic brews available on draft. On Wednesday, February 27th at 5pm, Epic representatives will be at Pint Defiance in Tacoma with four brews on draft and 22oz bottles available as well. On Thursday, February 28that 5pm, Beer Junction in West Seattle will host a Brewers Night and on Friday, March 1stat 5pm, Bottleworks in Seattle will host the final event, also a Brewers Night.
“We are really looking forward to launching our beers in Seattle/Tacoma,” said Epic’s National Sales Manager, Michael Malachowski. “A lot of people have been asking when Epic would be available in Washington and we are thrilled to finally be able to make this announcement.”
Distribution in Washington will be handled by Alpha Beer Distributing located in Kent, WA.
