Chuck Watkins is like a lot of people who grew up in the great Pacific Northwest amidst the growth of the craft beer scene. He developed a love and understanding for the individual nature of small batch brewing. Always in the back of his mind was a desire to produce his own balanced, drinkable craft draft beers. So beginning around 2012 he began an unconventional journey to open a small batch brewery and tap room. It included recruiting others to join in and failed attempts at locating the business. Then Chuck’s wife Shelley came up with an obvious but brilliant idea. Let’s make beer in Millwood, the classic blue collar, mill town suburb of Spokane Washington where Shelley grew up. A place where a tap room that offers fresh crafted, drinkable microbeers would fit right in.
And so it is, the Millwood Brewing Company was brought into the world. A brewery that has seamlessly stitched its way into a community that calls this “their brewery”. The brewery and tap room occupy the old Cunningham Studio property as a community gathering place with its mashed together production scale brewery and a man cave style tap room. It’s become the ultimate Social. We support local musicians with Wednesday Live every week and quirky events throughout the year designed to bring laughter into our souls.
While interest in our brewery and our beers may exceed our supply at times, that’s ok, we prefer to grow the business organically while focusing on efficiencies and quality. For now it is easier to make better beer than it is to make more beer. Much of what has inspired the look, style and product names for the Millwood Brewing Company’s has local roots. Like Shelley’s Dad, the late Jerry Eslick “JSlick” who spent a career in the beer business has our JSlick Blonde Ale dedicated in his memory as a reminder to us all of what it takes to be a great human being. Other local inspired products include our Papermaker Pale Ale and Truck Bed Red. We’re keeping it local, just off Argonne in the heart of Millwood.
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