On Monday morning, Frank Sandoval arrived at work to find four bags stuffed full of hops on the back doorstep of his brewery, SnoTown Brewery.
“It was like Santa Claus was here,” Sandoval said.
The gift was from Judy Smith, of Snohomish, who visited SnoTown Brewery on Sunday night and was impressed with Sandoval’s beers. She and some friends picked the hops off of Smith’s arbor the next morning, and dropped them off for Sandoval to use in his brewing.
It’s the type of familial atmosphere that Sandoval hoped to bring to his hometown when he, and co-owner Keri Jensen, opened the new taproom/brewery in downtown Snohomish last month. SnoTown Brewery will host its official grand opening at 2 p.m. Sept. 19.
Officially licensed to brew under the name SnoTown Brewery a year ago, Sandoval and Jensen waited to open a taproom. They were initially looking for a space in an industrial area out of town, but in March found the space on 2nd Avenue, which was a longtime pet store and recently a thrift shop. The rent was a bit out of their price range, but Sandoval said they decided to take a leap of faith because of the location.
“We’re planning on getting a ton of drive-by traffic here,” Sandoval said. “And what really sold it for us is it’s right by the Centennial Trail. We’re getting a lot of families coming by.”
Because it doesn’t have a kitchen, SnoTown Brewery had a choice: Serve beer and wine and be 21-and-over or serve only beer and be family friendly. Because of the location, Sandoval said the choice was easy.
“We have a number of families that are regulars,” Sandoval said. “Families will cook a meal and bring it in and enjoy it here with our beer.”
There are board games to play and two flat-screen TVs to watch Seahawks games. Sandoval, who has played Johnny Cash in tribute bands for years, is also building a stage for future music performances.
Being located in Snohomish is special to Sandoval, who is a fourth-generation Snohomish resident and 1992 graduate of Snohomish High School. His mother’s pictures of turn-of-the-century downtown Snohomish grace the walls of the brewery.
Encouraged by Jensen, Sandoval, whose day job is installing gas lines for Infrasource, started brewing eight years ago. He joined Greater Everett Brewers League two years ago and learned from members like R.J. Whitlow, of 5 Rights Brewing, Nate McLaughlin, of Justice Brewing, and Jim Weisweaver, of At Large Brewing.
“There’s a lot of brewing knowledge in GEBL,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval purchased SnoTown’s 2-barrel brewing system from Marysville’s Whitewall Brewing earlier this summer. Going from a 10-gallon system to the new system was tough at first, Sandoval said. For example, Sandoval brewed his Down 2 Earth IPA at home 40 times, but on the new system it came out more like an amber.
So Sandoval decided to make lemonade out of lemons, taking that recipe and stripping the malt back a bit and turning up the hops to make his new IPA, Down 2 Earth Rev B. He did the opposite to make a new amber, which he plans on revealing this fall.
“I’m still learning,” Sandoval said of the new system.
As for the bags of hops, Sandoval said he’s planning on brewing a fresh hop ale.
Grand opening
Snohomish’s SnoTown Brewery will host a ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening at 2 p.m. Sept. 19. SnoTown Brewery recently opened its new space at 511 2nd St., Snohomish. There will be raffle giveaways, live music from The Lowdown Ramblers and food from The Hungry Pelican. Beers expected on tap include SnoTown’s Keri’s Blonde, Cit-Bay, a citrus-basil ale, Down 2 Earth IPA, Loose Rooster IPA, Black Market ESB and Jalapeno Blonde.
Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
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