E-Malt.com News article: USA, WA: New Wild Earth Brewing Company in Roslyn offers local Belgian-style craft beers

A new brewery in Roslyn is offering people a local option for Belgian-style American craft beer.

Wild Earth Brewing Company opened on Super Bowl Sunday, and owner and brewer David Kilgour served his first brew in April, The Daily Record reported on May 15.

The brewing company produces small batches of beer for the taproom and limited distribution of bottles, kegs and growlers.

“We’re more focused on variety over quantity of beer,” brewer and owner David Kilgour said.

People can stop in and drink a pint on site, fill a growler, or buy some bottles to take with them. It’s a local experience, and the beer is made on site.

“Have a pint from the brewer right where it’s made,” Kilgour said.

Kilgour earned a liberal arts business degree, and spent the last eight years learning the craft of brewing in breweries in New Hampshire, Maine, New York and Washington.

Kilgour said it was always a goal to marry the production of beer with his business degree.

“I just really liked the process, and got my foot in the door over in Maine,” he said. “I continued looking for brewing jobs, working in different places from a production brewery to a small brew pub.”

Kilgour moved to the Upper County three years ago, and worked for 2 1/2 years at Roslyn Brewing Company, the other brewery in town, before deciding it was time to open up his own business.

“Roslyn and Central Washington can use some new unique flavors, and I wanted to bring Belgian styles to the customers,” he said.

Wild Earth Brewing Company has two house beers on tap, the Tamarack Belgian Pale Ale and the Ponderosa Belgian Red Ale, and also offers a different single batch series beer each month. Eventually, Kilgour plans to add a beer with more hops to the lineup.

Kilgour described the Ponderosa as a Belgian red ale with a sweet raisin flavor and a little tart cherry in the background.

“There’s a lot of trial and error as a home brewer just to figure out what works,” he said. “This one is just putting a lot of knowledge together. I did one five gallon batch at the house and it came out pretty good. I wanted to replicate it as one of the house beers.”

The Belgian Pale Ale uses a honey malt and Sorachi Ace hops with a house Belgian yeast to give the beer an underlying fruitiness.

“A lot of the West Coast beers are really focused on the hops,” Kilgour said. “The Belgian beers use yeast as their main characterizing ingredient versus the hops. I think it’s a nice aspect to market around and it produces a really unique product.”

Currently, Wild Earth Brewing beers can only be purchased offsite at Roslyn Grocery, but Kilgour expects that to change as word gets out.

“I’m hoping to develop that throughout the summer — develop the market and the local area, definitely Ellensburg,” he said.


16 May, 2014