In Walla Walla there’s Mill Creek Brew Pub, serving just four brews but doing them all well.
The IPA is a typical Northwestern brew with lots of hops and bitterness, according to brewer Troy Robinson, but beware: it’s high in alcohol!
The Walla Walla Wheat has some great orange zest and fresh coriander flavors―a delicious, easy-drinking summertime beverage that refreshes with its citrus flavors.
For contrast there’s the Penitentiary Porter, with roasted malts and a light hop tone from English Golding hops; and the 22, a classic, European-style lager.
The brewpub’s owner, Gary Johnson, feels the wine industry that has blossomed in Walla Walla in the past 10 years has done great things. “It’s changed our town―for the better. It brings people here who want to try new things, new flavors―but you can only drink so much wine.”
British Columbia
British Columbia’s wine country is centered around the stunning Okanagan Valley, which stretches for 155 miles between the Cascade Mountains and the Monashee Mountains.
In Kelowna is Tree Brewing, next door to Peller Estates winery, with six regular brews on tap and rotating specialties like the Midwinter Spiced Ale or the summertime Hefeweizen. There are also occasional one-time beers such as the Double India Pale Ale, or the Weizenbock that’s a good spring beer, according to brewmaster Stefan Buhl, stronger than a hefeweizen, with mild banana and clove flavors.
Tree Brewing runs tours every Friday at 3pm year-round, with tastings from 11am to 5pm. The 30- to 40-minute tours take visitors through the beer-making process, from the malt intake through the packaging line.
Tree Brewing gets particularly busy in the afternoons, said Buhl. “In the summer we get a lot of groups who do wine tours and come by at the end of the day for something a little different. Within a day they can easily visit 10 or 12 wineries very close by.”
At the northern end of wine country is Crannóg Ales, which owner and brewer Brian MacIssac describes as a miniscule brewery, as opposed to a microbrewery, producing around 1,850 gallons of beer per year.
Located just 20 minutes from a bunch of wineries, on a 10-acre farm with its own hops, Crannóg is Canada’s only certified organic microbrewery. It reflects MacIssac’s Irish traditions of brewing full-flavored, complex ales that are also great session beers.
The four regular brews include the Red Branch Irish Ale, which contains chocolate malts and caramel, and the favorite, Back Hand of God Stout, and easy drinker that’s smooth and lightly hopped, with a distinct coffee and chocolate taste. “I tried to make this less one-dimensional and I hope it appeals to light beer drinkers too,” said MacIssac.
There are also a number of seasonal beers, often flavored with fruit from the farm, such as the Pooka Cherry Ale made with sour cherries; and in the late summer/fall there’s Bansidhe Ale, triple fermented with crab apples, plums and red or white blackcurrants, making for a crisp brew with 4.5% alcohol.
Tastings here are by appointment in a little pub―The Bloody Stump―on the farm. . “It’s often husbands dragging their wives here at the end of the day,” said MacIssac, “but then the wives get turned on to our beers, which they’re not used to after the overly carbonated commercial beers.”
