Today we are starting a new section of our blog that will be featuring more of the culture of the Northwest, rather then just the music. The culture will include anything from local companies, cool people, or even a products from the Northwest. We feel that this will add an important perspective to our company, and will also add an inside look at the culture around the Northwest. With that being said, on to the post!
Iron Horse Brewery was established by Greg Parker and his dad, Gary in Ellensburg, Washington. Greg moved his family across two states to acquire a failing (at the time) brewery and had to convince his wife that it was a great idea. Over the past years, Mitch and I have watched Irish Death, which is one of Iron Horse’s most popular beers, become very well known around the valley and even around the state.
Greg later took on Ross as a partner and hasn’t looked back. Iron horse has ballooned to a staff of 10+ which includes interns from around Washington. They currently brew about 10 beers, but often have rotating seasonal beers like most micro brewers do. The most popular brew for Iron Horse is Irish Death which is described as “Beer Candy” (their words not mine). You can see a brief description from their website below.
Created by the brewery’s founder, Quilter’s Irish Death is what we call a dark, smooth, ale. Any attempt at classifying it just ends up sending beer geeks into a style guidelines diatribe. So forget style guidelines. Is your pursuit of micro beer about tasting copies of a style that fit guidelines anyways? (Neither is ours) We lovingly refer to it as beer candy. While tempting to session this beer, the name is a necessary reminder that despite the surprising approachability, this beer weighs in at a hefty 7.8% ABV.
As you can see, this isn’t for the light weight drinker, at almost 8% Alcohol By Volume, one glass can be enough. Iron Horse’s other popular brews include 509 Style, which is a tip of the hat to the 509 area code, and Double Rainbow, a cleverly named brew that offers a mixture of hops and malts to form a double rainbow of flavors.
Iron Horse Brewery has given us at RMR an awesome look into what a simple idea, awesome work ethic, and following your dreams can really do. We really look up to these guys, as they are an inspiration to anyone that runs a local business. We know how much work goes in to getting a product out for people, and can respect that Iron Horse has done an amazing job with keeping true to themselves but still proving customers what they are looking for. I also need to give them credit for their awesome video series that they have put out, which talks about each brew individually, it’s a great look into the culture that the company has created (Example below).
Iron Horse currently has two locations, their Micro Pub, and the Brewery/Tasting Room. If you would like more information about them, I would recommend looking into the Iron Horse Brewery website or following them on Facebook or Twitter @IronHorseBeer.
