Paradise Creek:going postal near WSU

   While the brewery in a metal building in the back of a business park is the type most often seen, every now and then someone adapts a building once used for a quite different purpose into a place for making beer, while still honoring that older use.  I think of the Powerhouse in Puyullap, with its electrical switches on the walls, and Engine House No. 9 in Tacoma, festooned with firefighting gear.  And now Paradise Creek in Pullman, formerly the town post office.

The interior preserves the old fashioned barred windows from which postal clerks sold stamps, money orders, mailed packages, etc.  All that is lacking is the chained ball point pens that don't write.   A spacious restaurant space opens up behind the windows, where the mail used to be sorted.  I dined on barbecued beef brisket with their Dirty Blonde Ale, a tasty pairing.
     The only beer name that reflects on the USPS is called Postal Porter.  Now how is it neither these guys, nor their neighbors at the Palouse Falls brewery, could call their porter Pullman Porter?  I didn't ask; I would hate to hear another sad story about trademark law and beer names.
(Visited 6/01/12)