Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest Introduces Readers to Skookum Brewery

Lisa Morrison's Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest is the kind of book that will have a permanent spot in the front seat of my car. It has information on brewpubs, bottle shops, and breweries throughout British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. There's advice for "don't miss" beers, along with great background information about the breweries and pubs. It's the perfect companion for summer road trips and a great resource for planning your, um . . . pit stops.

Read Part I for the review.

I was particularly excited to find the following written about one of my favorite off-the-beaten-path breweries, Skookum Brewery . . .

North of Everett, the landscape becomes decidedly more rural--but it is still surprising to find a brewery on a horse ranch. That is where you will find Skookum Brewery, a stone's throw off some dusty country roads in Arlington. Skookum is what happens when a family gets bitten by the brewing bug. After years in the constructions business, husband and wife owners Ron Wachter and Jackie Jenkins built their home on the acreage, repurposing a 1918 dairy bar that had been scheduled to be torn down in neighboring Marysville into their new home. The couple got permission to disassemble the barn, and stored it for a couple of years until the right property cam along. Part of the building that houses the brewery, which is also a former barn was built from those materials as well.

Skookum is a production brewery but holds tasting-room hours on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. That is when Wachter and Jenkins open up their home, literally, to the public. It is a mostly local crowd that gathers under umbrella-covered tables to catch up and sip from the nine or so beers that are usually on tap. Jackass IPA, a solid beer in the Northwest style; and Amber's Hot Friend, a hopped-up amber-style beer, are the best-sellers. After all, it's not every day you get to sip on a craft beer with horses whinnying in the nearby pasture and dogs frolicking at your feet.

Skookum Brewery, 19529 17th Dr. NE Arlington, 360-652-4917. skookumbrewing.com

(From Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest, Copyright © Lisa. M. Morrison. Published by Timber Press, Inc.)

Lisa M. Morrison will be in Seattle to promote Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday, May 17 at The Pike Brewing Company from 5-8 p.m. Her visit coincides with American Craft Beer Week (which incidentally overlaps with Seattle Beer Week).

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