In a town of about 16,000 on Fidalgo Island, Wash., part of the San Juan Island chain in the Olympic mountain range, you’ll find Anacortes Brewery. Along with their restaurant, Rockfish Grill, Anacortes Brewery has been supplying the island (and the Puget Sound region) with craft beer since 1994.
Celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2014, Anacortes is the ninth oldest craft brewery in a state which has one of the highest populations of craft breweries (201 breweries as of 2013). When asked about why he wanted to open a brewery, co-owner Rick Star replied with the following:
“My uncle was a brew master in Bavaria. When we would visit, he would take me into the underground lagering cellars, put a big coat on me, and I would follow him around from one giant open fermenter to another while he pulled up thermometers and wrote on clipboards. It was fascinating to me, and I always had a very positive association with smell of fermentation. Later when I neared the end of high school, my mother asked me what I planned to do with my life. I told her that I wanted to work in a brewery.”
Star began homebrewing in 1987 and joined the Maltose Falcons homebrew club in Southern California. After a move to the Seattle area, he continued homebrewing with The Brews Brothers.
While working for Boeing, he met his future business partner Allen Rhoades and bought pro brewing equipment in 2000. Anacortes is now producing 1,100 barrels of beer annually (40 different beer styles) on their 7 bbl system designed by Sound Brewing in Seattle and built by Ripley Stainless in Vancouver, BC.
Along the way, they have upgraded the original system adding extra fermentation and conditioning tanks to keep up with demand. Anacortes has even brewed a traditional European beer recipe.
“One of the first beers we brewed was a favorite of mine from my Uncle Peter’s brewery,” said Star. “The beer is called Klosterbier and was originally brewed for the Engelbreg Monastery which sits at the edge of the Spessart Forest overlooking the Main River Valley in Germany. Peter sent me the recipe, and we had to scale it down from 300 hectoliters to 7 bbls. When we got it all figured out, he flew out and helped us brew it.”
With beer in the family, Anacortes is continually looking to grow and improve their brand. Their barrel-aged products are also something to take note of. Their Magritte’s Schnozpipe, which is a SMaSH beer brewed with UK pale malt and Saaz hops, is aged for one year in oak with Brettanomyces bruxellensis, and finally lagered 4.5 years!
Anacortes is also ground zero for the Oyster Run, the largest motorcycle rally in the Pacific Northwest, ensuring that the brewery’s summers are anything but dull.
Craft beer is considered by many to be delicious, charming, mesmerizing and delightful, and the same is often said about the folks who enjoy it and make it. The personal impact that the people who own breweries, brew craft beer and serve it is not to be overlooked. Rick and the folks at Anacortes are no different. When asked about customer experience, Star summarized:
“I like connecting with our customers and take the time to learn as many names as I can. Being a small business owner, I’ve worn many hats including server, bartender, beer sales guy, delivery guy, head of marketing, head of HR, etc. I come into contact with a lot of folks during my day, and that’s the best part of the job.”
When you love what you do, others will love what you do as well. That brewery atmosphere carries over to the shelves of local stores where we buy craft beer.
Allan Wolfe is a craft beer brewer, reviewer and whisky connoisseur and is the Online Content Manager for Chilled Magazine. You’ll generally find him smoking a cigar while enjoying his favorite pint or dram. He’s always open to answering questions, talking beer or teaching anyone who is willing to listen about distilling!
CraftBeer.com is fully dedicated to small and independent U.S. breweries. We are published by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s small and independent craft brewers. Stories and opinions shared on CraftBeer.com do not imply endorsement by or positions taken by the Brewers Association or its members.
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