Tag Archives: sound brewery

Poulsbo has a lot of breweries, but it’s not quite ‘Brew City USA’

blog.valholl Poulsbo is about to get a fourth brewery.

As we reported last week, Silverdale’s Rainy Daze Brewing will move north late this summer to take over Sound Brewery‘s original tasting room on Bovela Lane. (Sound is moving its tasting room to the current Campana’s Italian Restaurant building on Viking Avenue.)

B0013216035--291405 Rainy Daze will join Sound, Slippery Pig Brewery and Valholl Brewing in Little Norway.

With four breweries in a city of less than 10,000 residents, Poulsbo will certainly have an embarrassment of malty riches. So it’s fun to wonder where Poulsbo rates among craft beer crazy towns.

There are all kinds of ways to rank cities and states based on beer. Which has the most breweries? The most breweries relative to population? What city produces the most barrels or consumes the most beer? And which has the “best” breweries?

When it comes to breweries per capita at least, Poulsbo isn’t ready to claim the title of “Brew City USA,” as it was recently dubbed in the North Kitsap Herald.

There are a number of cities here in Washington with higher ratios of breweries to people. After all, we live in a state with more than 300 licensed breweries and a lot of very small cities.

Using a database of licensed breweries from 2015 provided by the Liquor and Cannabis Board, and the state’s official population estimates, I put together a quick list of Washington cities blessed with high brewery-to-population ratios. I ignored breweries that didn’t report any production in 2015 and stuck with incorporated cities.

Poulsbo
Population: 9,950
Breweries: 4 (once Rainy Daze opens)
Ratio: 1 brewery per 2,488 residents

Westport
Population: 2,110
Breweries: 3
Ratio: 1 brewery per 703 residents

Stevenson
Population: 1,530
Breweries: 2
Ratio: 1 brewery per 765 residents

Roslyn
Population: 890
Breweries: 1
Ratio: 1 brewery per 890 residents

La Conner
Population: 895
Breweries: 1
Ratio: 1 brewery per 895 residents

White Salmon
Population: 2,420
Breweries: 1
Ratio: 1 brewery per 2,420 residents.

Based on a quick scan, it does appear Poulsbo could become the smallest city in the state with four or more breweries. That by itself would be an accolade worth toasting.

Kitsap brewers medal at Washington Beer Awards

Tad Sooter

Poulsbo’s Sound Brewery and Silverdale’s Rainy Daze Brewing claimed gold at the Washington Beer Awards this month.

Overall, four Kitsap-based breweries — Sound, Rainy Daze, Silver City Brewery and Bainbridge Brewing — combined for 13 medals.

Kitsap breweries made an especially strong showing in Belgian- and Abbey-inspired categories, where Sound picked up three golds.

Rainy Daze won the American-style pale ale category with its Stash Box III.

Here’s the full list of Kitsap medalists:

Other Wheat and Rye Beers

Bronze: Rainy Daze Brewing Co. – Rainy Rye IPA

English Ales

Bronze: Rainy Daze Brewing Co. – English Pale Continue reading →

Kitsap on Tap: Sound Brewery

Tad Sooter

Founded: 2011

Location: 650 NW Bovela Ln, Poulsbo

Online: Website, @soundbrewery, Facebook

Beer sold in: Taproom, kegs, bottles

Signature beers: Monk’s Indiscretion Belgian ale, Tripel Entendre Belgian tripel, Humulo Nimbus double IPA

What’s brewing: The Northwest craft beer scene is dominated by hoppy pale ales, which makes Sound Brewery’s offering stand out. Sound specializes put a modern touch on traditional Old World styles (it swept the “Abbey-Inspired Ales” category at the 2014 Washington Beer Awards), and produces nearly 30 varieties.

Because of its unusual selection, Sound markets farther afield. Its beers can be found across the Pacific Northwest and in several Canadian provinces. The brewery ships 45 kegs a month to Japan. Sound is expanding production to keep up with demand.

Viewpoint:

“Our motto is ‘tradition liberated.’ That means, to us, doing traditional styles really, really well, and then doing our own spins on traditional beers that are a little outside of the box.” — Mark Hood, founder/manager

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Kitsap On Tap is an exploration of West Sound’s rising craft beer industry. Find the print story, more beer features and ongoing coverage at kitsapsun.com/beer.

Sound Brewery expanding, but not to Courtesy Ford

Tad Sooter

Poulsbo’s Sound Brewery is expanding on Viking Avenue, but not into the landmark Courtesy Ford building.

General manager Mark Hood said the brewery was unable to reach terms with Courtesy Ford owners after four months of negotiation. Price was not the issue he said, declining to elaborate.

Instead of growing into the former car dealership, Sound Brewery will install a new, “high-tech” brewhouse in a 5,800-square-foot building across from Bovela Lane. The tasting room will remain at the brewery’s Bovela location, Hood said.

Sound Brewery will migrate production across to the new brewhouse over the next two years, while upgrading the existing tasting room. The company isn’t done searching for a larger location, Hood said.

“We’ll continue looking for other options in the area that will allow us to better serve our local customers, who’ve really made this expansion possible, and necessary,” Hood said.

Sound Brewery opened in 2011, the largest of a bevy of new brewhouses in North Kitsap.

Courtesy Ford closed in 2011. The 40,000-square-foot building and 4-acre property are listed for $2.35 million. Recently Kitsap Children’s Musical Theatre has used the building for rehearsal space.

(Meegan Reid photos)