192 Brewing closing its Mount Vernon location. Kenmore not affected

192 Brewing is closing its Mount Vernon location. The Kenmore location, the popular Lake Trail Taproom, is not affected. Closing the Mount Vernon taproom, where the company also planned to build a brewery, is in part related to the closing of Skagit Valley Malting.

“With some sadness, but much consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close our Mount Vernon location,” said the announcement from Derek Wycoff, owner of 192 Brewing. “Last day open for our Mount Vernon location will be this Sunday, with 50% off draft for VIP members and Industry.” The closing does not impact operations at 192 Brewing’s Lake Trail Taproom in Kenmore.

Derek, who still calls the Skagit Valley his hometown, explains, “After reviewing the resources used on the continued operation, and the staffing challenges that were recurring, it became clear that we needed to make improvements to ensure more efficient operations to strengthen the brand and prepare to be better situated for future growth opportunities.”

The original concept was to bring higher-paying jobs to the industry in Skagit Valley and to promote the Skagit Valley agritourism industry, but Derek says that he has since observed that neither is actually needed at this time. Also, the concept involved building a brewery in Mount Vernon.

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“There has been a shortage of industry staff for several years now, even
starting before the Covid challenges,” said Derek. “Additionally, the plan to use our Mount Vernon location for a production facility was thwarted when we learned this spring that the Skagit Malting Facility had closed
up, only 2 days after we picked up our last grain order.”

*Derek picked up 192 Brewing’s final malt order just days before the unexpected closing of Skagit Valley Malt.*

192 Brewing intended to use grain from Skagit Valley Malting to brew beer at its Mount Vernon location. When Skagit Valley Malting closed in June of this year, that plan no longer made sense.

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“We have enjoyed being a part of this community, and have enjoyed watching it grow into a wide variety of great craft breweries available to the locals and tourists alike,” said Derek. “Our fingers are crossed that the malting facility will someday rise again, and we’ll support it once again if it does.”

Derek adds, “One small bright point, is that with the staffing challenges, we have only two part-time staff members affected by this outcome, and we will highly recommend both of them to anyone interested in more
staffing. They are absolutely fantastic!”

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192 VIP Mug Members, you still get perks. You will continue to receive your benefits whenever you visit 192’s Kenmore location, and they’ll look forward to seeing you when you do.

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