The Aberdeen-based brewery’s new taproom makes it easier for more people to try the beer.
UPDATE 3/3/2024 — We’ve just learned that the official grand opening event is on March 15th. For more details about that, follow Mount Olympus Brewing on social media.
Original Post — By now, it seems this might be a trend. Mount Olympus Brewing of Aberdeen, Washington recently opened a second taproom. Not another brewery and taproom, but a standalone taproom at a different location. I like to call this increasingly common kind of brewery outpost a satellite taproom. In this case, it’s further inland, in the city of Tumwater, closer to more people.
Last weekend, Mount Olympus Brewing opened Tumwater Taps about 50 miles east of Aberdeen in the Tumwater Craft District, just off Interstate 5. You can now sample the brewery’s beer, and Mount Olympus Brewing does make some tasty beer, without driving all the way out to Aberdeen.
The Tumwater Craft District is a new development aimed at providing commercial and retail spaces for craft-focused businesses. Not just beer makers, but distillers, cider makers, and so on. It’s also an event venue. Along with Tumwater Taps, the Tumwater Craft District is home to, among other things, South Sound Community College’s Brewing and Distilling program.
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So, is this satellite taproom thing a trend? Over the past 14 months, at least a dozen of Washington’s craft breweries opened additional taprooms (see our story about the Class of 2023). I know of at least three other breweries that are currently looking for the right location for an additional taproom. Does that make it a trend or is it just a coincidence? It’s hard to say at this point, but if it is a trend, it’s a reasonable response to the new shape of the craft beer marketplace.
The new realities in the craft beer world make it increasingly valuable for a brewery to create its own retail opportunities, whether it be selling beer by the pint or the six-pack. These days more than ever, the best way for a brewery to sell its beer is to sell its beer. That means relying less on distribution channels and relying more on its own retail channels. For most breweries that means using its own taproom, or taprooms, for an increasingly large portion of its beer sales.
Congrats to Mount Olympus Brewing. And an advance congratulations to all the breweries that will open new satellite taprooms in the coming months. Rest assured there will be more. You’ll read about ’em here.
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