Holy Mountain Brewery, Brothers Cascadia Brewing, Penn Cove Brewing, Big Block Brewing, Sound to Summit Brewery, and the list goes on. All of these breweries have opened second, and even third, locations recently. Several other breweries around Seattle and across Washington have announced plans to do so. I list some of them below. But first…
What’s Fueling the Trend?
This trend is not confined to Seattle and the state of Washington. It’s happening across the nation. It’s a response to the current circumstances. It’s a mechanism for addressing the new, emerging realities of the craft beer industry. Like dwindling on-premise (keg) sales to restaurants and bars, reduced margins due to skyrocketing costs, increased competition for shelf space at retail outlets, and changing consumer habits, to name a few.
The most recent issue of The New Brewer, which is published quarterly by the Brewers Association, reported that last year sales were up 9 percent at brewery taprooms. It’s a rare bright spot in craft beer sales these days. Add to that, breweries enjoy a higher profit margin when selling their own beers across their own bars. So yeah, more taprooms, more brewpubs, more sales opportunities.
Washington’s latest spate of brewery and taproom openings
Here are some of the breweries that have opened new, second, or even third locations recently, including those that plan to do so sometime soon. Likely, there are some that I’ve missed. Also, there are some that have not yet made public announcements. Feel free to share what you know in the comments section below.
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The Good Society Brewery – (New taproom coming soon.) West Seattle’s beloved neighborhood brewery is getting ready to open a new taproom across town in the Queen Anne neighborhood. See our previous story.
Future Primitive Brewing – (New taproom coming very soon.) Quick, before the summer ends! Future Primitive Brewing, of White Center, is about to open its new taproom on Alki Beach. See our previous story. It should be open any day now for your sun-splashed drinking pleasure. Keep an eye on Instagram.
Penn Cove Brewing – (New brewery and taproom now open.) The Whidbey Island brewery recently expanded and opened a brewery on the mainland, an additional location in the town of Lake Stevens. It’s a brewpub with a full kitchen. See our previous story.
Holy Mountain Brewing – (New taproom now open.) The original taproom (21+) is in an industrial part of Seattle, but the new taproom is in the Phinney neighborhood, which is home to a lot of young families. Thus, they decided to make it all-ages. Read our previous story.
Old Stove Brewing (New brewery and taproom coming soon.)- The company recently announced that it will take over the brewery and taproom previously occupied by Lagunitas Brewing, which shut down the location at the beginning of the year. Read our previous story.
Mount Olympus Brewing – (New taproom coming soon.) Aberdeen’s Mount Olympus Brewing recently announced its plans to open a new location in Tumwater. All we know thus far is that it will be part of a new development called the Tumwater Craft District.
Sound to Summit Brewery – (New taproom now open.) Sound2Summit, located in Snohomish, recently opened a new location on the waterfront in Everett. Read our previous story.
Backwoods Brewing – (New taproom coming soon.) While the new location is not in Washington, the brewery located in Carson, WA recently announced its plan to open a new location in Hillsboro, Oregon. It’s the third location overall and the second location in Oregon. Read our previous story.
Brothers Cascadia Brewing – (New pub now open.) The original brewery and taproom is in the northern part of Vancouver, but Brothers Cascadia recently opened a pub downtown. See our previous story.
Vice Beer – (New taproom now open.) A Little Vice is the name of Vice Beer’s new location in downtown Vancouver. Not far from the aforementioned Brothers Cascadia location. See our previous story.
Big Block Brewing – (New taproom now open.) The Redmond-based brewery recently opened its third taproom. Now there are taprooms in Redmond, Sammamish, and in the small town of Carnation in the Snoqualmie River Valley. Read our previous story.
Garden Path Fermentation – (New bottleshop and taproom now open.) The brewery and its taproom are located in Burlington, but Garden Path opened a new location in Bellingham recently: The Great Northern Bottleshop and Lounge. Read our previous story.
Taneum Creek Brewing – The brewery in Cle Elum is preparing to open its new taproom. Currently, they’re selling bottle club memberships to help fund the project. Read our previous story.
District Brewing – (New taproom opening.) The main brewery/taproom is in Mount Vernon. The first satellite taproom opened last September in Ferndale, about 10 minutes north of Bellingham. Now, the company is set to open another satellite taproom, this one is near the town of Lynden, at the corner of Hannigan Road and Pole Road (Hwy 544.)
Pike Brewing – (New taproom opening). Pike Brewing, the legendary brewery and pub at Pike Place Market, opened a second location in December of last year: a taproom/pub in Ballard. Now, the company is poised to open another taproom at the Convention Center – part of a larger expansion project at the Convention Center. The whole thing is a bit behind schedule, but it’s coming soon. See our previous post. On top of that, they’re opening a new brewery in a different part of town. A production brewery, with the original location carrying on as a pub. That’s a whole different story.
Longmire Springs Brewing – (New brewery and taproom now open.) In the lovely little mountain town of Packwood, Longmire Springs Brewing opened its brewery and taproom in late June. See our previous story.
Larrabee Lager Company – (New brewery and taproom opening.) In Bellingham, a new brewery is set to open Friday, August 4th. It’s an entirely new venture, so it doesn’t really fit in with this story, but I figure it’s worth mentioning. Read our story.
Double Arrow Brewing – (New brewery and taproom opening). The opening date is set for Saturday, August 5th. The brewery and taproom is in Marysville. 13420 12th Ave NW, Marysville, WA 98271.
Sad to see nothing new happening on the west side of the Sound (Kitsap county, Mason county, etc). Just as a FYI to all the breweries out there, we’re starving (or should I say “parched”) over here for something new! Please consider expanding to this side of the Sound.