Lynnwood’s Special Brews celebrates 4th anniversary this Sunday

Special Brews, a bottleshop and bier cafe in Lynnwood, is celebrating its fourth anniversary Sunday with a chili cookoff and plenty of beer.

The celebration is from noon to 8 p.m. at Special Brews, which is roping off part of its parking lot to create beer garden for the 22 breweries in attendance. Each brewery is not only bringing its beer but also its best chili recipe. Attendees can vote for best chili and best beer.

Special Brews owner Jake Taylor, who lives in Everett and graduated from Snohomish, is still surprised how popular craft beer has become since he opened the shop in in 2011. Special Brews was originally half the size it is now. In August of 2013, Taylor took over a former TV shop next door and expanded the seating for patrons.

“At first we thought the bottleshop would be the draw, but it was actually the tiny bar,” Taylor said. “It went from a tiny portion to a large part of what we do.”

Special Brews, which has two full-time managers and seven employees, has more than 250 mug club members. Each mug club member has to try 100 different styles of beer before joining Special Brews’ club.

On Sunday, all proceeds, including money raised from a silent auction, go to support Tacoma’s Camp Eyabsut, which helps young burn survivors through team-building, challenging activities and friendship in a safe camp environment. Taylor said one of Special Brews’ early customers is a burn survivor and counselor and suggested supporting Camp Eyabsut.

For a list of the breweries in attendance and the beer they plan on bringing, visit www.heraldnet.com/hopsandsips.

Aaron Swaney: 425-339-3430; aswaney@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @swaney_aaron79. Follow the Hops and Sips blog at www.heraldnet.com/hopsandsips.

List of breweries

A look at the breweries attending Special Brews’ fourth anniversary celebration on Sunday and what beer each one is bringing:

Lagunitas (High Westified)

Skagit River (Whiskey barrel-aged Trumpeter stout)

Foggy Noggin (Wasky)

Ninkasi (Tripel)

Firestone Walker (Easy Jack)

Radeberger (Palm)

Scuttlebutt (Saison)

21st Amendment (Down to Earth)