Happy New Year from all of us at Reuben’s Brews! We hope you had a great holiday season.
They say time flies when you’re having fun – which probably explains how quickly 2015 went. Not only did we have a lot of fun, we also went through the biggest growth in our 3½ years of existence!
In May, we opened our second space, which included a new brewing system three times the size of our original system, and a larger taproom that’s now open seven days a week. With this new system, we were able to brew almost 2,800 barrels – three and a half times what we brewed in 2014. We also tripled the size of our team, growing from having only 3 employees to now having 11!
Here are a few of our other 2015 highlights:
- Named Mid-Size Brewery of the Year at the Washington Beer Awards. We also took home five medals for our beers.
- Won our first medals at the Great American Beer Festival – a gold for the Gose, and a bronze for the Dry Irish Stout.
- Signed on with three local distributors to get our draft and bottled beers to most of western Washington. We also began a small distribution in the UK.
- Our annual Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout (BBIS) release of 1,300 bottles sold out, with a 4-per-person limit, in just 2 hours. This unprecedented support is making us invest in more bourbon barrels this year – we’ve more than doubled production for 2016.
- KING 5’s Evening Magazine filmed an episode from our new taproom.
- Joined with our friends and neighbors Stoup Brewing and Populuxe Brewing to host the inaugural East Ballard Oktoberfest.
- Hosted around 50 local non-profit organizations and donated $18,000 as part of our Thank You Thursday program. Thank You Thursdays have now raised nearly $40,000 for local charities since the program started in 2013.
- We were asked to brew the official beer of 2016 Seattle Beer Week!
Phew! We’re still trying to catch our breath from all of that. But there isn’t much time to rest because we have some really exciting things in store for 2016!
In April 2013, we released our first beers in bottles. Since then, we’ve released more than 15 different brews in bottles, including seasonal and limited-edition beers. Now it’s time us to launch a new vessel – cans!
Our Colorado-made canning line arrived earlier this month. If everything goes as planned, 12oz cans of our GABF gold-medalist Gose should start rolling off the line in February. Look for a release event in the taproom on Washington Brewery Open House on February 20!
In mid-April, The Daily Pale, our official Seattle Beer Week beer, will hit the shelves in cans. The Daily Pale is a hop-forward ‘session’ IPA with an aroma and flavor profile driven by citrus and passionfruit, with kiwi and honeydew undertones. At 4.9% ABV and 55 IBU, it’s light in the body, but balanced and focused on hop flavor and aroma, with a crisp, clean finish.
Other can releases on the horizon include our Summer IPA in May, and Crikey in late June.
Crikey and Robust Porter will continue to be available in 22oz bottles year-round. We’ll also rotate in our classic seasonals and imperial seasonals every few months, as we do now.
When we step back and look at how far we’ve come, it’s a little overwhelming. But in a good way! It’s hard to believe how much we’ve grown from Adam and Grace’s garage, to the beautiful brewery and taproom we have today. Whether you’re a long-time fan or just discovered our beer, we thank you and appreciate your support. Without you, we wouldn’t be here.
Cheers to good health and great brews in 2016!
The team at Reuben’s