If you drive Stevens Pass enough times, you learn the milepost markers of particular landmarks: the espresso shack in Index at mp 35, the summit at mp 67, Leavenworth at an even 100. Add mp 111, for that is the name of a new brewery in Cashmere. Opened in October 2012, it features a restaurant with plenty of pub food options and 27 taps flowing: two wines, one root beer, two ciders, and 23 guest tap craft beers.
The brewing operation, visible behind the bar, is a pair of ten-gallon systems. "Way smaller than nano," owner Melissa McLendon says with a laugh, "we're super-nano."
McClendon had just hired a brewer this May and said he was still figuring out how to work with the little system. She is hoping to buy a regular brewing system on the used equipment market; for now, MP 111 will have one or two of its own brews on tap now and then. at the moment there are none.
One noteworthy component of the draft taps: the two wines come from one-sixth barrel kegs. A CO2 delivery system is out of the question, of course (waiter, my merlot has bubbles in it), but rather than nitro, these wine kegs are pressured with argon gas. McClendon says the Millbrandt winery down the Columbia from Wenatchee, is one of just a few putting up wine in sixtels.
(Visited 05-08-14)
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