In April 2018, after homebrewing and working in professional breweries and hop farms in the Yakima Valley, and two years of raising money and building, Chris Baum, John Cope, Chad Roberts, David Paulson, and Karl Vanevenhoven opened Varietal Beer Co. in the Port of Sunnyside between Yakima and the Tri-Cities in Eastern Washington. The ownership all had a variety of dreams and life goals, but their Venn diagram centered on owning a brewery in the Yakima Valley. After earning the Enterprise Challenge held annually by the Yakima County Development Association and the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce, Varietal became a thing. They knew they couldn’t launch with their dream wild ales, so they added a variety of other beer styles to get rolling. The clean, hoppy beers turned heads, including ours. Baum will be at Peaks & Pints at 4:30 p.m. to record Episode 74 with the Grit & Grain Podcast. Stop by our giant craft beer lodge, grab Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Varietal Beer Company, then listen to Baum explain how they built Varietal and how they brew such damn great beer.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Varietal Beer Company
Varietal Fall Premium Pale
5.7% ABV
Fall Premium Pale is Varietal’s draft only homage to the classic American-style pale ale, with a malt-forward flavor built with barley and wheat from the Palouse and a bit of Munich and Crystal malts to add subtle caramel flavor and color. It’s hopped with Cascade and Chinook for that classic grapefruit zest meets pine flavor that you remember from your favorite pale ales.
Varietal Dark Guardian
7.2% ABV
Brewed with rye malt and roasted barley malts, plus mildly hopped with HBC 472, Dark Guardian Baltic porter is then lagered in oak barrels that previously held The Philosophy of Time Travel stout barleywine for a couple of months before blending and canning. Expect notes of roasty toasty dark chocolate.
Varietal Motile Isles
7.2% ABV
For LINC Malt’s Grainmaker event Varietal collaborated with Our Mutual Friend Brewing out of Denver and Colorado’s Troubadour Maltings to brew this West Coast IPA featuring Washington and Colorado barley malts, along with Colorado-grown Cascade hops from Billy Goat Farms, and Sunnyside-grown varieties of Belma and Cashmere hops. Motile Isles bright and refreshing with notes of berry, orange, and citrus fruits, finishing with appropriate bitterness.
Varietal Jangle
7.4% ABV
Jangle Bells serves as an elf at the North Pole for Santa Claus’s operations in the Rankin/Bass animated special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Along with his buddy Jingle Bells, he is sent into the outside world by Mrs. Claus to see if there are any people out there who still believe in Santa Claus. Jangle discovered plenty of holiday spirit and belief at Varietal Beer in Sunnyside, Washington. In fact, Varietal became so fond to Jangle they named their retro-modern winter IPA after him. Jangle, the beer, is brewed with Chinook and Centennial hop flavors boosted with Columbus Cryo for a citrus-forward IPA with dank, resinous pine notes.
Varietal Introspectre
7.8% ABV
Originally a WeedWolf series of experimental double IPAs release, Varietal brewed Introspectre again as an extra-large hazy IPA with tropical vibes from a hop blend of Citra, Comet, Simcoe Vista, HBC 1019, and Strata. It hits like fruit nectar with pear, dragonfruit, and tangelo.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
