In Yakima, itself, is Yakima Craft Brewing.
The best-selling beer, said brewmaster Jeff Winn, is the IPA, which is stronger and more bitter than most. “But our IPA is well-balanced, which is key,” he said. “We set out to brew an IPA that’s very hoppy yet doesn’t destroy your taste buds on the first sip. And we’re in hop country, so it would be foolish for us not to focus on hops.”
Their other beers are hoppy, too, he added, such as the amber ale, which is drier than most ambers with a hop focus. The pale ale, he said, “has an entirely different hop profile than [these beers] usually have. It’s very clean like a lager but isn’t a lager.” It’s just 5% alcohol, he added, which makes it great for hot weather drinking and for introducing people to craft beers.
And many of those people are wine drinkers.
“I think that, frankly, people can get worn out on wine,” said Winn. “There are also those who do not care for wine, but who go along on tasting trip to please someone else―usually a spouse. We’re happy to host those who are looking for an oasis. Also, you’d be surprised at the number of vintners we get in to taste.”
The brewery is typically open from 10 until 5 for tastings but it’s best to call ahead since it’s a two-man show. The two, Jeff and head brewer Chris Swedin, brew everything by hand “like you might have seen in the 1500s,” he explained. “It’s not a push-button brewery and is very different to modern places.”
In Winn’s eyes, although the Yakima Valley is now known for wine, it was beer country first. “To the best of my knowledge, hops were planted here before vineyards … you could say we’re trying to take it back.”
But the wine makers and the beer brewers all happily co-exist together, he explained. “We are really in the same overall market, so we all get along very well. And, we’ve been known to frequent their tasting rooms ourselves!”
And both groups do many tastings together, as well as shows and charity events. “They are a great group of people, and we are part of the same family. We don’t get the opportunity to collaborate as much as we’d like to, but we work together where there is cross-over in the different processes; say, liquor (water) processing, heating and cooling and facilities issues,” explained Winn.
And the collaboration also helps business. “We are particularly fortunate to have our beer featured at the tasting rooms of some local wineries―often exclusively. The reason for this is if you’re trying to attract wine tourists, you need to understand that not everyone is going to be into that, and if you can provide a beer alternative, that’s generally a good thing. We have yet to run into who thinks that combining the two could be anything other than positive.”
