WAITSBURG – It was time to sell the stuff – the house in Vancouver, Wash., and the appliance repair business.
When Court and Katie Ruppenthal’s only daughter left for college and said she wasn’t coming back, the 40-somethings took a hard look at their surroundings and decided to get out.
After four months bumping about Europe, they decided to make beer and new friends in Waitsburg, about 55 miles east of the Tri-Cities.
“We are a nano brewery, not a microbrewery,” Court said of the small establishment.
Court enrolled in the Walla Walla Institute for Enology and Viticulture, but started making beer in his spare time.
The Ruppenthals decided to settle in Waitsburg after they fell in love with the Walla Walla area, the slower pace of life and the dramatic seasons.
After finishing school and working for Walla Walla Vintners, Court decided opening a brewery would cost him less and offer quicker returns because his beer doesn’t have to be aged.
The brewery sells about six kinds of beers regularly but makes special or limited brews throughout the year.
On a recent “cream stout day,” Court and Ron Standring of Waitsburg tended a boiling mixture of 250 pounds of grain, 125 gallons of water and pelletized hops.
“This is the darkest beer we make. It’s nearly black,” Court said.
Court said he originally thought he would distribute most of his beers to restaurants and stores and sell very little out of the shop that used to house broken appliances. But the brewery has become a local favorite and most of the Piper Canyon Scotch Ale, Katie’s Kolsch and Oatmeal Porter never makes it out the door.
Court and Katie have developed a sort of kicked-back beer commune for the community and visitors. Parties are welcome to bring their own food, and customers can grill their own steaks and hamburgers on the patio.
Children are welcome and even have their own toy boxes and a tiny broom to push around the broken peanut shells that litter the concrete floors. “We have a cement floor and metal furniture,” Katie said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, they’re going to break something.’”
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