PORT ANGELES — A new fire station-themed taphouse plans on bringing its own craft brews to town in the coming weeks.
Station 51 Taphouse, at 125 W. Front St. in the space last occupied by Zaks, will contract recipes through Firefighter Brewing in Lakewood, with the first beer coming within the next few weeks, said co-owner Kevin Davis.
The first three beers will be the Station 51 Pale Ale, Ladder 51 IPA and Station 51 Blonde, he said, with others coming later.
Davis, a soon-to-be retired firefighter, hopes to be brewing the beer himself by the end of the year — once his brewery is fully licensed.
Davis’ plan is for the eventual brewery to be located in the Dungeness area.
He and his business partner, Mark Quinet, based the taphouse’s theme on Davis’s firefighting career.
Davis has been a firefighter for 30 years, with the past 26 and a half years as a career firefighter with the Department of Defense.
He fought the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley fire five months after starting his career, he said.
“I’ve had so many fires and different emergencies over the years, but that one is by far the most memorable,” he said. “I was just a new, probationary firefighter and I got my career fire right then and there.”
After an extensive firefighting career, Davis said it’s time to turn his time toward making beer.
He’s been brewing for the past seven years and thought the fermented beverages were so good he could make a business out of it.
“I realized I was making beer that tastes as good as anything I’m buying in the store,” he said. “It’s been my passion to make beer for a long time now.
“So when I found that this place was available, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get my foot in the door with the business and then to bring my beer in eventually.”
Davis and Quinet took over Zaks on Feb. 29, then rebranded it as Station 51 Taphouse for a soft opening in May. The grand opening was June 3-4.
Local libations
The goal is to have the brews, cider and liquor be as local as possible, said Quinet, who oversees much of the day-to-day operations.
“The whole idea is we’re trying to keep it as local and Northwest as possible,”
They source beers from all around the Northwest, but try to put an emphasis on Washington and Oregon, he said.
It’s not just local beer though. Quinet said he’s been working on amassing a collection of local liquors from Washington and Oregon.
They have varieties of whiskeys from Washington and gins from Washington and Oregon.
“I’m trying to mirror what we do with the beer,” he said.
The taproom has 15 taps with one dedicated to ciders, and as bartenders empty a keg, they replace it with a different beer.
“Sometimes we will do two kegs of the same beer if it’s a popular beer, but for the most part, week to week our lineup changes every week,” he said.
Station 51 bought a third keg of one of the popular beers, Giant Pacific Octopus by Narrows Brewing Co., he said.
Gourmet hot dogs
While the taphouse keeps its beer selection interesting, it also has an evolving gourmet hot dog menu.
On that menu is a peanut butter bacon hot dog, a meal that has gotten quite a few people talking, he said.
They added the unusual hot dog to their menu after a customer recommended it.
“We tried it and it was really amazing,” Davis said. “That’s kind of become a real popular hot dog.”
Quinet said people have been pairing the peanut butter bacon hot dog with a peanut butter stout he had on tap in June.
“We’re experimenting with different things we do with hot dogs,” Quinet said. “The possibilities are endless with what we can do with hot dogs.”
For more information, phone 360-504-3645 or find the business on Facebook.
________
Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.