Founded in 2023 by Sam and Kate Milne, Larrabee Lager Company was a 10-year dream come true. Like many brewers, Sam’s passion for beer and homebrewing came about while attending a university — in his case, Western Washington University in Bellingham. When that hobby became a passion, it began his long career path. His first professional gig was Pyramid Brewing in Seattle before moving to Bellingham, where he’d previously studied. He impressed Kulshan Brewing owner David Vitt there, and his keg wash gig became a head brewer position five years later. Sam earned the 2018 Glen Hay Falconer Foundation Brewing Scholarship, sending him to two prestigious brewing schools: The Siebel Institute in Chicago and Doemens Academy in Munich. After graduating from the World Brewing Academy, he wanted to help build a brewery from the ground up. Brothers Matt and Ryan Goodwin, Joel, and Jordan Tampien were looking for a head brewer to help launch Brick West Brewing Company in Spokane. They hired him in December 2018 to help design, build, and operate the new brewery. He reworked how to convert the former 15,000 square foot Watts Automotive building into a 15-barrel brew on paper for months before moving his family to Spokane next April. Then Bellingham came a calling once again. After two years at Brick West, the Milnes returned to Bellingham in 2021 to follow their dream of opening their brewery. With Sam’s brewing background and training, they wanted to focus on creating world-class German lagers and name it after Larrabee State Park. At the 2024 Washington Beer Awards, Larrabee Lager earned three medals: a gold medal for its Light German-Style Lager, a silver medal for its German-Style Wheat Beer, and a bronze for its Kellerbier/Zwickelbier. On the strength of that performance, it earned honors as the Small Brewery of the Year. Even though Larrabee Lager opened in the summer of 2023, it’s still not widely known in the South Sound, as its self-distribution didn’t go beyond downtown Seattle. That’s changing. Larrabee recently signed a deal with Orcas Distributing, which distributes beer across Western Washington to markets up and down the I-5 corridor. While Sam is under the weather this week, Kate will sit with the Grit & Grain Podcast at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 12, in Peaks & Pints’ Events Room. Afterward, the party flows into Peaks’ main room for a Larrabee tap takeover. The Peaks’ Wednesday beer flight will also be Larrabee lagers — a flight we call Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Larrabee Lager.

Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Larrabee Lager

Larrabee Mexican Pale Lager

4.5% ABV

Bright, clean, and crisp, Larraveza Mexican-style pale lager is brewed with traditional methods and materials. The judicious use of yellow corn dries out the body, creating a sleek and satisfying finish.

Larrabee Northtown Pilsner

5.1% ABV

Sip Magazine’s 2023 Best of the Northwest named it the best German-style pilsner. A traditional decoction mash elevates the malt profile, creating a supportive base for elegant floral and herbaceous noble hop aromas. The taste is light, leaning toward grain and lemon.

Larrabee Double L Dunkel

5% ABV

German-style dunkel is a bottom-fermented lager. The word “dunkel” is German for “dark,” this dark beer style offers beer lovers balanced flavors of chocolate, bread crust, and caramel. Larrabee’s version hits the nose with toasty caramel sweetness, followed by light caramel with an equally light, earthy graininess. This is a subtle beer that emphasizes drinkability. It finishes dry and sweet.

Larrabee Palace Stroll Vienna Lager

5.4% ABV

Vienna lager, the brewing pride and joy of Austria’s largest city, Wein (Vienna), is a perfectly balanced amber lager that accentuates notes of warm toasted bread, almonds, and a hint of intricate caramel sweetness. Its low hop bitterness and relatively dry finish make this one sessionable lager.

Larrabee Larraveza Negra Mexican Dark Lager

5.5% ABV

A dark Mexican lager with German roots, Larraveza Negra combines a deep, roasted, malt-forward profile with hints of caramel, balanced by a crisp, clean finish. It’s rich in flavor with a remarkably smooth taste.

LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory