The journey began with an idea. Of course. I learned through geneological research and keeping the family history that the Rowley family used to brew long ago. The radical movement to end alcohol consumption in America that resulted in Prohibition put that to an end. However, there had been a long tradition of "Home Brewing" that kept friends and family supplied with the necessary libations, from shine to brew. With the renewed interest in specialty brewing in the past thirty years, I dabbled in making wine and for several years, 1995 through 2004, I made several batches each year, some good and some awful. Even though living in the heart of one of the world's best wine regions in Washington, I was dissatisfied with making wine. I had no real love for it. I had no real interest in it. I wanted to take a leap into something that had more meaning, more tradition, more family history to it. I inhereited my grandfather's home brewing equipment and coupled with the applicably similar wine equipment I began brewing my first trial batches in 2016. Suprisingly, the skills between the two types of fermenting, and the knowledge of the process I had learned, paid off. The first successful brew, Batch Number 1-2018, was a drinkable and hoppy Tangerine IPA, and it was wiped out quickly. This year I lost a big batch and we relied on Nick's first successful brew, Chinook IPA, Batch 2-2020. It turned out really good. We had some problems with stuck fermentation for the first time and had to troubleshoot. Even so, his first brew was a good one.
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