The bucolic setting of the
Skookum Brewery in Arlington, log buildings behind horse pastures, posted here in August 2010, will now be just a memory for beer tourists. That location is still the home of Ron Walcher and Jackie Jenkins, and still the site where they brew. But the tasting room has been moved several miles southeast, to a metal building by the Arlington Airport.
Ron and Jackie had neighbors who never warmed to the idea of a brewpub at the end of their lane, to the extent of trying to get local government to shut them down. This was another case of a home brewing operation going commercial out of a garage (or barn, in Ron's case) and eventually having to move to more commercial space.
For now, the handsome brewing apparatus is still back at the home place, but the pub is a spacious and friendly area with plenty of seating. I confess, I always visited the old spot on sunny days and wondered how the clientele was faring on our more-than-occasional rainy times. Now the tasting room is weather-proof.
The warehouse space is so roomy, in fact, that they have lined out a shuffleboard court in the back and you can sip to the sound of pucks sliding down the concrete.
The beers were the popular favorites Ron has been making for several years now: His dark, bourbony Murder of Crows was my first choice, while D.B. enjoyed his Amber's Hot Friend. I had a sip of the Woody's Oak before carpet bombing my taste buds with the Crows: it wasn't quite the tangy resin taste I remmbered from the last time.
(Visited 11/24/12)
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