Outside of Snohomish County there are a number of great breweries. Here’s a few to put on your list:
Mount Vernon
Opened in 2010 by Kurt and Lori Ahrens, this Skagit Valley brewery is known for its big beers that are an infusion of old English and Irish styles with Northwest ingredients. To fully understand, visit the taproom and try the Slainte Stout on nitro.
Bellingham
Bellingham has a long tradition of great breweries and this up-and-comer is one to keep an eye on. Started by three friends in 2012 and named for the Turkish word for lion, Aslan crafts 100 percent organic beers built on locally sourced ingredients.
Hood River, Ore.
After cutting his teeth as head brewer at Chuckanut Brewery in Bellingham, Josh Pfriem opened his own brewery in 2012 that focuses on Belgian-inspired beers with Northwest roots. Fun note: Pfriem and his wife, Annie, worked at Everett’s Alligator Soul.
Yakima
The Smith and Quinn families have grown hops in the Yakima Valley that have flavored beers across the Northwest since 1932. They decided to bring the beer drinkers to them in 2013, opening a hop-loving brewery smack dab in the middle of their hop fields.
Seattle
There is no hotter brewery in the Northwest right now than this one in Interbay. Crafting beers with names like Celestial Lineage and Kiln &Cone, Holy Mountain’s menu is constantly updating with saisons, farmhouse ales and other finely crafted ales.
Aaron Swaney: 425-339-3430; aswaney@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @swaney_aaron79. Follow the Hops and Sips blog at www.heraldnet.com/hopsandsips.
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