Yesterday we celebrated Silver City Brewery’s 20th anniversary with hundreds of hop leaf compatriots in Bremerton, Washington.
Silver City co-owner Scott Houmes and Brewmaster “Big Daddy” Don Spencer were standing just inside the gate when we entered at the noon opening bell. When we left at 3:30 p.m., the giant covered tent was packed with revelers; also packed was all the outdoor seating, with lines in front of the taproom taps and the taps inside the production room. In 1996, brothers Steve and Scott Houmes had a mission to create a happy, community-oriented restaurant and craft brewery. Happy and community was in full force yesterday inside the Bremerton brewery and every inch on their parking lot turned beer garden.
We came for the beer, and stayed for the beer.
Last summer, over a three-week period, Silver City replaced its 10-barrel system with a new 35-barrel brew house. Having grown to an annual capacity of 9,000 barrels in 2014, Silver City had far outpaced the size of the brew house. This past spring, two new 160 barrel, outdoor fermentation vessels were erected just in time for the brewery’s Nice Day IPA release, which was on tap yesterday along with Big Magnificent Bastard, Wily Temptress, Deutsch IPA (Pilot Series), Morillo IPA (Pilot Series), Clear Creek Pale Ale (first Silver City beer brewed), Bavarian-Style Hefeweizen, Old Scrooge Christmas Ale, Copper MTN Maibock, Macfarlane’s Scotch Ale and Whoop Pass Double IPA, just to name a few.
The beers party-goers filled their 33.8-ounce boot glass with most were the recently released Oktoberfest Lager and Überfest Imperial Oktoberfest Lager, although technically they could only receive a half-fill on the Uberfest as it rings in at 8% ABV. That’s right; Silver City didn’t mess around with its Überfest, which drinks more like a meal than a lager with Whole Leaf German Tettnang and a malt bill of German Barke Pilsner, Barke Munich, Cara-Munich and Melanoidin. We hit the bratwurst truck to lay a base for the delicious beer.
Speaking of bratwurst, there was a bratwurst-eating contest at the 20th Anniversary Party where the first to clean his or her plate won. We left before the stein-hoisting contest, as well as didn’t hear Andrew Landers & Mainstreet Struggleville and Bremerton’s own Wyrdoz perform. We did get to hang with Top Rung Brewing Co. brewer Tyler Mathis and his wife, Meredith, which is always a pleasure.
We also scored several sips of an amazing 10-year-old Old Scrooge Christmas Ale, thanks to Silver City Sales Executive Jordan Marsh. Brewer John Hopkins, who was on duty yesterday, timed a uniform change well scoring several sips, too.
The tents weren’t needed, as it was a beautiful day in Bremerton — both in weather and in company.
Happy 20th Anniversary Silver City! Thanks for the fun day.
LINK: history, photos and Have A Nice Day IPA at Silver City Brewery
