Why no beer here?

Jeff Winn is a recent transplant to Yakima, but his love for the area is nothing new.

Winn, who spent 20 years working in senior management in the technology sector, spent his spare time drinking beer and making it at home.

For him, Yakima is ground zero for good beer, as the area supplies at least 75 percent of the nation's hops.

On his 40th birthday, he decided to get out of the tech business and realize his dream to start a brewery. He relocated to Yakima from Portland.

"Where we are is important," Winn said. "Yakima means everything to the beer business. Why (aren't) there more breweries? Why not go to the source?"

Winn met partner Chris Swedin through mutual contacts. The pair renovated a manufacturing space at 2920 River Road, a few blocks from where the street intersects with Fruitvale Boulevard, and opened the Yakima Craft Brewing Co. in June.

The arrival of a new brewery is a long-awaited occurrence for local beer lovers, especially those who still lament the loss of Yakima's lone brewery.

In 1982, Scottish native Bert Grant established Yakima Brewing & Malting Co. The brewery became nationally acclaimed for brews such as Grant's Scottish Ale.

Grant also formed Grant's Brewery Pub, the first brew pub in the nation since Prohibition. A brew pub is a restaurant where beer is made on-site.

For some, the loss of the local brewery and brew pub began in 1995, when Grant sold both to Stimson Lane Vineyards & Estates, now Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. Stimson Lane later sold the business to Paul Brown and Greg Tranum in 2001.

Under Brown and Tranum, the company faced financial problems, leading to the closure of both the brewery and brew pub at the end of 2005.

Swedin, co-owner of Yakima Craft Brewing, was there for the glory days of the brewery. He brewed beer at Grant's Brewery Pub, which was located at the old train depot in downtown Yakima.

"There was a lot of general disappointment (when Grant's closed)," Swedin said.

Central Washington does not lack breweries -- there are ones nearby in Prosser, Sunnyside and Ellensburg. And there are more in the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla.

But for local beer lovers, it didn't make sense that Yakima, which was located in the backyard of the majority of America's hop supply, lacked a craft brewery or brew pub.

According to the Brewers Association, a craft brewery is one that is small, independent and traditional. They are not the Anheuser-Buschs or the Budweisers of the world, which sell massive quantities of beer internationally. Craft brewers are known for having a process that focuses more on flavor and complexity rather than volume.

Yakima should be supporting multiple breweries, said Ralph Olson, general manager and partner at Hopunion LLC, a hop warehouse, seller and processor that specializes in the craft brewing industry.

"We're bigger than Prosser, Sunnyside and Ellensburg," he said.

Yakima Craft Brewing distributes to restaurants throughout the Yakima area and also bottles its beers to sell at retail shops such as Wray's Food & Drug. It started brewing a pale ale and then eventually developed three other varieties -- an IPA, an amber ale and a Scottish ale. It also is working on seasonal varieties such as a Belgian ale in the style of ones made in breweries of the Trappists, a monastic order.

Though the brewery has a piece of history from Bert Grant's brewing days -- a copper brewing kettle -- Yakima Craft Brewing's owners aren't looking to replace Grant's.

"We're not Grant's and don't try to be Grant's," Winn said. "We're happy to have a piece of history, but our beer has to stand for itself."

But that doesn't mean Yakima Craft Brewing can avoid facing the high profile Yakima Brewing and Malting Co. and Grant's Brewery Pub had in the community, said Jeff Clemmons, owner of the Beer Shoppe, one of several locations that offers Yakima Craft Brewing products.

"They have the double challenge of presenting a good beer in the Valley and not being compared to Grant's," he said. "They have a big hill to climb, and they're plugging away at it."

Winn agrees that the brewery can't rely on the Valley's hops reputation. To be successful, it must provide a superior product. The brewery's slogan, in fact, is "Just good beer."

And there's more desire for good beer, which the craft breweries are known for. Dollar sales of craft beers nationwide in the first half of 2008 increased 11 percent compared to this same period in 2007, according to the Brewers Association.

"People are starting to notice beers more," said Bob Hargreaves, owner of Bob's Keg & Cork. "They're getting away from the crap beers and going into the craft beers. They're going for quality instead of quantity."

Local breweries in the Valley also face the challenge of being in the middle of the Yakima Valley wine country.

Tourism often points to wineries, attracting visitors from all over the Northwest to the Yakima Valley, said Arlen Harris, executive director of the Washington Beer Commission.

"Even though they might appreciate beer, (it's not) the focus of these vacations," he said.

Yakima Craft Brewing wants to change that.

The owners have been advocates of the local beer industry and the community at large. In some beers, the owners use varieties of hops that are made only in the Yakima Valley. "We respect wineries," Winn said. "But where (are) the Washington Beer Country signs?"

Yakima Craft Brewing can appeal to consumers with its local identity, said Harris of the Washington Beer Commission.

"It's a civic responsibility to support your local companies, and local breweries are just exactly that," he said.

The owners of Yakima Craft Brewing Co. want to encourage the arrival of more breweries and brew pubs to the area.

And many in the industry think it can be done.

"I would like to see a couple brew pubs (and breweries)," Olson said. "There (are) a lot of people who want to start them, but it's taking that leap.

Like anything else, beer is a business. Having a good idea is not enough. There must be a willingness to work at raising funds and building a solid business plan.

That's advice the owners at Yakima Craft Brewing agree with, but running a brewery isn't all about the money.

"We don't want to be Anheuser-Busch," Winn said. "We're in it for the beer. It's enough for us to have a good fan base for our product."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.

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