PORT ANGELES — There’s a burgeoning microbrew industry in Clallam County that has the potential to become a tourist attraction, local brewers told Port Angeles business leaders this week.
Ed Smith of Peaks Pub Brewing, Tom Curry of Barhop Brewing and Tom Martin of Fathom & League Hop Yard Brewery in Carlsborg told Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce members Monday that the local beer scene could spark economic development on the North Olympic Peninsula.
“Breweries are destinations,” Smith told a crowd of about 80 at the chamber’s weekly luncheon at the Port Angeles Red Lion Hotel.
“They will bring a lot of people to us.”
Smith, who purchased the pub at 130 S. Lincoln St. in 1999, said his customer base is about 80 percent local residents and 20 percent tourists this time of year.
That ratio basically flip-flops in the summer months, Smith said.
“We feel that we need the chamber, the [Port Angeles] Downtown Association, everybody to get behind breweries instead of just wineries,” Smith said.
“A lot of people come here just to drink beer, believe it or not, and with a little bit of help in advertising, we’ll get a whole lot more.”
Smith added: “We’re going to put Port Angeles back on the map.”
Curry, who opened Barhop Brewing in a 2,000-square-foot building behind Harbinger’s Winery just west of Port Angeles in May 2010 and the Barhop Taproom at 110 N. Laurel St. in downtown Port Angeles last July, makes small-batch, single-barrel, hand-crafted ales.
“There is a huge microbrew movement and craft beer movement, and it does draw people into this community,” Curry said.
“And the more brewers we have, the better we’re going to be.”
“It is Barhop’s intention, and I am sure my colleagues’ intention, to make Port Angeles a brewing destination.”
Martin is the founder and CBO — chief of brewing operations — of one of the Pacific Northwest’s newest commercial breweries.
Carlsborg brewery
He opened Fathom & League Hop Yard Brewery in 2009 after fine-tuning his craft as a hobbyist for several years.
Martin grows different kinds of hops for his one-barrel operation at his Carlsborg residence.
The Clallam County Public Utility District water engineer strives to make “world-class beer with locally grown ingredients” and pair them with local foods.
He said there is a good opportunity to merge the local brewing industry with organic farms that produce quality hops and grains.
“We’re inching closer to an all-local brew,” Martin said.
Available in Sequim
Fathom & League Hop Yard brews are available at the Alder Wood Bistro, 139 W. Alder St., Sequim.
They, along with Curry’s Taproom varieties, are on rotation at the Next Door Gastropub, 113 W. First St., and other Port Angeles restaurants.
Curry described the beer-making process as a “labor of love.”
“First and foremost, beer is fun,” he said.
“It’s a passion to make unique, hand-crafted, high-quality beer, to serve that beer in Port Angeles at the finer dining establishments, and to create a fun and casual atmosphere at our taproom, where customers can enjoy not just our products but the other unique microbrews and wines from Harbinger Winery,” Curry said.
Harbinger winemaker Sara Gagnon allowed Curry to work under her license after Harbinger’s brewer left in May 2010. Curry had his own licence by November 2010.
“If it weren’t for Sara, quite frankly, I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you,” Curry said.
Brewing supplies
Around the corner from the Taproom, Angeles Brewing Supplies is scheduled to open at 103 W. First St. later this month, according to its Facebook page.
In 1999, Peaks Pub had Budweiser, Coors and other plain-tasting national varieties on tap.
“We decided to do something crazy and do all micros,” Smith said.
Then, Smith invested in a two-barrel brewery about seven years ago and started making his own beer.
It expanded its brewing operation within the past year.
Peaks Pub has won awards in Canadian beer festivals over the past five years.
Martin brews his beer on a smaller scale — about one barrel, or 31 gallons, per month.
“I rely on the ambient temperature of the season for the type of beers that I brew,” he said.
“Fermentation is very dependent on temperature.”
Pilsner is a commonly brewed winter variety. In the summer, Martin usually is working on an ale of some kind.
One of his favorite fall brews is Discovery Imperial Stout, named after a ship that explored the Pacific Northwest coast, including Discovery Bay, in the late 1700s.
The crew came ashore at Diamond Point and brewed what is thought to be the first batch of beer in Pacific Northwest history, Martin said.
The brewers brought some of their beers for the chamber membership to sample.
Intricacies of beer
Smith said his patrons at Peaks Pub have become quite knowledgeable about the intricacies of beer.
“They know all their colors of beer,” Smith said.
“They know the difference between an IPA and a pale ale. And it’s just wonderful to educate people, and yet they turn around and educate more people.”
Curry, who is married to Olympic Medical Center Assistant Administrator Rhonda Curry, is the administrator for Family Medicine Port Angeles after having had a 31-year nursing-home career.
Last fall, his Catcher Rye Ale advanced to the final round of a contest at the Great American Beer Festival.
“This is by far the most fun I’ve had since I was 12 years old, throwing newspapers in San Francisco,” Tom Curry said.
“This is awesome.”
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
