The former Grainger building across
from Safeway could
soon be home to Bremerton’s fifth brewery.
Silverdale residents Dave and Dawn Dodge (pictured) bought the Callow Avenue building last year and have applied for licenses to begin brewing in a portion of the 11,000-square-foot space. They hope to launch their Bad Bulldog’s Brewery as early as December.
Dave is a retired Arizona police officer who home brews beer and now works at Sound Brewery in Poulsbo.
“It was a blessing,” Dave said of landing his job at Sound, which has familiarized him with brewing on a commercial scale. “They’ve been really inviting to me.”
The Dodges plan to build
out their Bremerton brewery in stages. They’ll start by installing
a 3.5-barrel brewing system in the lower level of the building and
open a simple tasting room with a patio for outdoor
seating.
Later the couple will add a full-scale tasting room one of the building’s street-level storefronts. A bar built around an opening in the floor will allow patrons to sip beers while watching brewers at work below.
Eventually the Dodges hope to transform the entire building into a beer-centric hub. The structure encompasses four separate commercial spaces with individual addresses, giving them plenty of room to experiment. They envision hosting a home brewers collective and perhaps a bottle shop.
It’s an ambitious vision, but Dawn is confident they can pull it off.
“When Dave decides to do something, he does it right,” she said.
Marijuana, not beer, was the Dodges’ initial plan for the building. They owned Emerald Coast Collective on Wheaton Way before it shut down at the end of June along with other medical marijuana dispensaries.
The couple applied for a license to place a recreational marijuana shop in the Grainger building, but were never approved. They joined a class action lawsuit against the Liquor and Cannabis Board with the hope of still landing a license.
If they prevail, Bad Bulldog’s Brewery could share the building with a marijuana store.
Excited to see this. Congrats on your new venture. My two cents… please sell food along with your Beer. Even a simple menu will bring me in more. Btw… I love the name.