At the beginning of the year Poulsbo had no breweries. Now it has four.
The breweries produce small batches in kegs. None are bottling yet, but they hope to grow.
"Beer is in the air, I guess," Steve Roerig, brewer and owner of Battenkill, the newest of Poulbo's small-batch breweries told The Kitsap Sun's Tristan Baurick.
The three other brewers can't offer a better explanation of how a town of just 9,000 people could produce four breweries in a span of just four months.
Tammy Mattson, co-owner of Tizley's Europub in downtown Poulsbo, is surprised it didn't happen sooner:
"There's been a movement growing here toward a real beer culture, with people turning away from beers like Coors Light and more toward the smaller, craft breweries."
Many of the small breweries arise from home-brewers who decide to go commercial. So far, they haven't had any trouble selling out.
Brad Ginn of Sound Brewery says they're doing well in a slow economy because craft beer is seen as an affordable luxury. He recently quit his day job as an engineer for the city of Bremerton and says it was the best career move of his life:
"No way to compare it. I'm doing something I love, and I get to see people enjoy the fruits of my labor. Heck, I'm making beer. I'm everybody's best friend."
